On Sunday 23rd June I finally made it into the bracket of ultra runner along with Wayne and Ben. For regular readers of my blog you will pretty much know the blood, sweat and tears I have been through to get to that point. New readers may be thinking so what? It's no big deal with months of training and running experience most people can become one. What makes the 23rd June special for me is the journey I have gone on in the space of 12 months.
This very night as I write this 12 months ago I was sat in a hotel about to embark on the biggest trip of my life. I was taking a group of pupils to the Himalayas which for all concerned turned out to be life changing. The trip was an amazing experience and something I would love to do again albeit in another country. I pushed my body to its limits trekking upto 5500m in the wild, remote mountains of India. When we set up camp there was plenty of time to reflect on things and I made a few decisions that I am so glad I made. One of them was to get back from the trip in one piece and train for Tough Mudder. A decision that has changed my life for the better. I came back from the trip and immediately started training with Wayne and a few staff from work and we completed Tough Mudder in Oct 2012.
The Himalayan mountains where I had my epiphany
Once that was completed we would go out and run at the weekends but with no real purpose. At the beginning of April we made the decision to train for the Witton Weaver Trail. This is a route that consisted of 32 miles of fields, paths, trails and hills, hills and more hills. It was not an official race, just 3 daft blokes proving to themselves they were tough. I won't bore you to death about the training as you can read what happened from previous posts but each week there was always something that put into doubt whether we would complete the challenge.
The stats of our training were this: 20 runs which covered 208 miles in the space of 2 1/2 months. We would do one run midweek and then back to back runs at the weekend. I had never run a marathon distance before although Wayne and Ben had. Not one training run was longer than 18 miles. I'm not sure if that kind of training is enough for an ultra but we all knew mentally we could do it. I used to say there was nothing wrong with our engines it would just be a case of the bodywork holding out.
On the morning of the run at 5am when I woke up it was raining really hard. Only once in our training runs had it rained. This was not the start we envisaged. Nonetheless we got ready for the run and spirits were still high. My bag was loaded with gels, flapjacks, cereal bars and 3 bottles of lucazade. These would become so important later on.
We set off at 6am with the wind and rain against us. About 1.5 miles into the run I had to change the bandages on my calves as they were too tight. However, in doing this I actually felt my calf tighten up. Disaster had struck and this was not what I wanted. Like previous runs though I had to suck it up and get on with it. I couldn't let the boys down or the people that believed in me. The first ten miles was a pretty miserable time for me. I kept thinking I would have to bail out and call for my family to pick me up. The weather was awful, the trails were sapping and it dawned on me that maybe we were underprepared for this and stupid for doing it. But then I kept thinking to myself stop feeling sorry for yourself and don't you dare quit. Amazingly after the initial 10 miles I started to feel better and was beginning to enjoy it.
Ben and me after about 2 miles into the run
The next 10 miles was a good stage of the run. My calf was tight but I was able to manage it. We stopped at intervals for a sugar boost. I can't stress how important it is to do this. It doesn't matter what your poison is, you must have snacks with you or you simply won't make it. Wayne had creme eggs as his choice of snack. Ben had Kendal mint cakes. All the articles that say you must have this product or that product is just a big selling con. All three of us had different nutrition and all three got through the run. It's purely down to personal preference. Just make sure you train with that nutrition so you know if your body can cope with it.
Wayne and Ben after about 10 miles
Once we hit mile 20 this is when it became really tough. Wayne has had problems with his knees in the past and we had to strap them up with bandage about 15 miles in. Now they were really starting to hurt him. We had to slow the pace down which I didn't mind at all. I felt a bit sorry for Ben as he is as fit as a fiddle and had to keep waiting for me and Wayne to catch up. We got back onto the moors after the reservoir section of the run and we were looking at maybe completing marathon distance in under 6 hours.
That was one step too far really for us. As soon as we started thinking we could do it the wind started to blow in our faces and we had a steep hill climb yet to do. I tried to increase the pace but I was physically exhausted. Wayne was really struggling with his knees to the point where he was seeing stars he was in that much pain. The paths that we were running along had turned into streams of water which was sapping the energy from us. We eventually completed the marathon distance in 6 hours and 5 mins. I was a bit gutted about it to be honest. However, it was the first time I had ever hit that distance so a remarkable achievement all the same.
The official spot where I became an Ultra Runner on Darwen Moors
When we reached Darwen Tower we were about three miles from the finish point. We asked a lady if she would take a picture for us and she asked what we were doing. She thought we were absolutely mental for doing what we had. Funny that because everyone else thinks the same. It was at this point I kept thinking of the 'honour bar' that I have mentioned in previous posts. When I got there I was going to buy a big fat chocolate muffin and wash it down with a cold can of coke. We plodded on and eventually got to the bar. I couldn't believe my eyes when I got there. After weeks of training, 30 miles of running, 7 hours on my feet there was absolutely nothing to buy from the bar!!! I was absolutely gutted as you can see from my pic. Aaaarrrrrgghhhhhh!!!
Vale Ultras at Darwen Tower
Disaster at the honour bar
Anyway, we were now about one and a half miles away. It felt like the longest thirty minutes of my life. I could barely run anymore and had to keep pulling a snack out just to drain some energy from somewhere. I think Wayne was worried I may not make it and he offered me his drink which was good of him. We eventually completed the Witton Weavers Trail in 7.5 hours.
Vale Ultras at the finish point of 32 miles
Stats of the run
How did it feel when I finished? Wayne always said to me that when you do this run you won't enjoy it and you won't be proud of your achievements until days maybe even weeks after we had completed it. As ever he was right! I didn't enjoy it, I didn't feel the elation I thought I might. I as just in absolute agony and completely exhausted. My internal body system was shot to bits. That's why I thought I would give it a week before I wrote this post.
A week on now and I completely understand Wayne and his comment. I'm so proud of what I have achieved. The last week has been painful and I have yet to go out and run but there is no need to further damage my calf. I couldn't walk properly for three days and only now is my internal system functioning properly. I have been asked would I do it again! Hell no! The training needed and actual race day was too demanding for a man with a young family. That's not to say I won't attempt marathon distance events again. On my bucket list is a space for a city marathon somewhere in the world. I quite fancy the Las Vegas one for some reason, can't think why? ;-)
So what is now to become of the Vale Ultras? I will be changing the name of the blog now to Vale Spartans. We have decided that we are going to try to complete the Spartan Trifecta in the autumn. Three obstacle races consisting of 5km, 12km and 12 miles. I think this is more my thing than ultra running. Wayne has officially retired from distances over 12 miles anyway so I'm happy about that as well.
In the space of a year I have really pushed my body to the limits. What have I learned from these experiences? It's pretty simple really and I hope anyone reading this will understand it when I say that the mind is stronger than the body. My mental strength is what got me through the challenges I have faced this year. I haven't trained conventionally for any of these experiences. However, mentally I knew I could do it and if it looked like I wouldn't I was never going to quit. To succeed at anything you need your mind to say yes I can do it. As soon as you say you can't, you won't!
A big thank you to Wayne and Ben I would never have achieved any of this without you two.
I hope you, the readers, have enjoyed these posts. Be sure to look out for the new ones based on our Spartan training!
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