Once the decision had been made not to race my running enjoyment returned quite quickly and became something that I looked forward to, the pressure was gone and I could just enjoy being out doing the thing I love most. I went to London, as a spectator, and had a brilliant day supporting friends. I signed up for Halstead Marathon as it would be my 9th time and when you have done 10 you get to join the 262 club, so went along just to enjoy a day out running, it was amazing, great support along the route from friends and from the marshals and organisers and I finished in 4:32, my third fastest marathon, maybe there is something in this 'no pressure' running!
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| Enjoying Halstead Marathon |
I was feeling pretty good after Halstead, actually feeling like I could still run! I have some shorter races planned, Felsted 10k and the Great East Half, a loosely forming plan was to train to do these in reasonable times, keeping in mind that it wasn't to become stressful again. Life in general is much more settled at the moment and I feel happier in myself and that's how I would like it to stay! In my mind my days of ultra running were done...
Then things happen, Ben had to have surgery on his eye, which has happened many times over the years as a result of glaucoma, first time as an adult, and while he was in hospital and recovering I thought I would catch up with some reading...
I made the mistake of reading a new ultra running book The Rise of the Ultra Runners by Adharanand Finn (well worth a read) and it got me thinking. I remembered how much I love being out on the trails, pushing my body. I started looking at ultra races, thinking 50 miles would be a good distance, you don't get the night, sleep deprivation bit, which is where it often goes wrong for me, but it's still a long way! I couldn't find anything local that grabbed me or was affordable at the moment, but the itch was there, I wanted to do a 50 mile run! So I planned my own, I had run the Saffron Trail as a race before. It's a 70 mile trail from Southend to Saffron Walden. It passes through Felsted and onto the Flitch way at about 49 miles, so I decided I would run from Southend to Felsted on the Saffron Trail, pick up the Flitch Way and run home, about 55 miles. Half term was a week away so what better time to do it!
Len very kindly agreed to take me to Southend so I could have a 6am start on Sunday 26th May! Talking at school I then decided if I was going to do this I could maybe raise some money to help equip a new sensory room we are having built. (Donate here if you can). Many thanks to all those who have donated so far, the current total is £260.
I have never run this distance unsupported before, but was excited as we set off (Len ran the first couple of miles with me) on Sunday morning.
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| Southend 6am Sunday and ready for an adventure! |
It was unfortunate timing that my period had started the day before, so had that to plan for too, as it happened a garage, a pub and a shopping centre meant I didn't have to deal with it behind a tree, which is always good!
As there hasn't been much rain the trails were dry and mostly runnable, the weather was lovely, maybe a little warm but as I left Len and set of on my own, I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Sunday! My navigation was good, I was using my handheld GPS, and the miles ticked by and I was genuinely happy and enjoying the running. It was daunting at times realising you weren't gong to have a CP where you can eat, fill bottles etc, but I had enough drink to get through 20 miles or so I guessed. What I hadn't considered was that nowhere is open before 10am on a Sunday morning, so my plan to be able to refill bottles, maybe have a cup of tea, at Battlesbridge were scuppered! I didn't panic too much as I had enough for a few more miles! As it happened it was Danbury about 25 miles in before I found somewhere open. I downed a coke in a pub, the very bemused guy behind the bar filled my bottles, I used the loo and was on my way. He had asked if I wanted food and looked in disbelief as I replied no thanks I still have 30 miles to run!
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| Creepy wood with graves! |
The wood at Hanningfield with random graves always amuses me as I run through.What isn't so amusing on these runs is stinging nettles, I now refer to them as the wasps of the plant world, overgrown footpaths do tend to make me swear a bit and getting scratched and stung just isn't pleasant, there did seem to be a lot of fields where farmers had let the crops grow over the path!
Early on in the run I came to a farm, where they obviously don't like the fact that a footpath runs through it. The telltale sign was a massive red sign saying 'Beware Guard Dogs Loose at Night' It was 8am so I guessed I was safe. I made sure I didn't stray from the path through the farm buildings and then turned to head across the field to a railway crossing. As I left the farm yard an electronic voice boomed across 'Warning... You are being filmed by security camera'! It was unexpected and I must have jumped three foot into the air, amusing for whoever watches the footage I imagine!
It was weird running through Chelmsford (34 miles in) after hours of solitude suddenly to be in a city centre, smelly, scratched and probably not looking my best I got some odd looks! I stopped for a quick pit-stop, refilled bottles, got some calories in, used the loo and went on my way.
I still had about 20 or so miles to go and was beginning to feel a little achy, my feet were good, no signs of hot spots or blisters, suddenly though 20 miles seemed a very long way and my mood dipped a little. I made a stupid navigation error in Admirals Park which resulted in me going back the way I had just come (don't ask, have no clue what I did!). Tiredness and lack of concentration I guess are to blame, once I was back headed the right way, I refocused and my mood lifted I stopped worrying about how much further there was to go and tried to just think about the current mile.
I had my phone off for most of the day, but turned it on every 5 miles to take a photo, sometimes post an update and read messages of encouragement, with no CPs or other runners it was nice to have that to look forward to, but for the most part I enjoyed the solitude and time to myself.
I knew once I got to Felsted and could get on the Flitch Way it would be easier as I know the way home from there so the navigation would be easy. It did feel at times as though I would never reach Felsted, I didn't seem to be getting any close each time I looked at the map! Finally I got there and decided to join the Flitch at Bannister Green, where I had a five minute rest, ate some more food and got my head together for the last 5.7 miles!
Those last miles were tough, everything hurt, not injured hurt, just knackered! Two people actually asked if I was ok as I shuffled along! I was reduced to walking, shuffly running then stopping to stretch my quads and hamstrings for the last 3 miles, it was a routine that sort of worked and finally I reached my road and it was done!
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| Was very happy to see this! |
Would I do it again... most definitely, I loved almost every minute. I just love ultra running, as I said earlier I am feeling so much happier in myself at the moment and being able to go out and have a mini adventure was just the best thing I could do for me this week. It was great to be able to raise some money too.
I will probably do some official ultra races at some point in the future, but I loved the challenge of having to look after myself, so for now I will keep my ultra running very low key and plan my own routes and just enjoy being out there, no pressure but still challenging.
Happy running xxx
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