The race is over Steemians, and I'm afraid to say I didn't quite go the distance. I had to withdraw at the 55km rest station. My first ever DNF, a milestone I'm not exactly thrilled with. Feeling pretty pissed off with myself, actually.
I'm looking back on the whole experience today, and analysing where I went wrong, and what I would do differently next time around.
For sure, the mega-fast 10km training run I did in my taper weeks was a mistake. Sure, when I finished that run and could see how far my fitness had progressed I got a massive confidence boost for a few hours, but as soon as I realised I'd hurt my knee that boost was replaced with doubt. I'm not convinced that my knee was the reason I dropped out however.
I ran a 40 mile race in May, and it went really well. Naturally it hurt, but I got around in 8 hours and still had a smile on my face at the finish line.
I should have built on this and kept training, but instead I went to Greece for 3 weeks to hang out on a sail boat. Spending 3 weeks confined to a space that's only 56 feet long is not a great way to build fitness. Drinking beer for 12 hours a day is also not conducive to increased fitness. I came back from that trip essentially starting again from square 1.
From ~20km into the race yesterday I started having issues with hydration. Taking on fluid & energy in an ultra is absolutely critical and I'd been making a good fist of forcing in oats and sugary squash all morning. I got to the second rest station at 22km without too much bother. After this station there is a humongous hill to climb, and as I approached the top of the hill, pretty much everything I had already consumed that day came straight back up in what was probably a really epic display of regurgitation.
Not good. Now I'm facing something like another 80 km of hills with no food or liquid in me, and I really have no idea how this is all going to pan out. Keep watching this space, I'll be back shortly to cover the second half, and eventual end of my race.
