On the bus from Inverness to Fort William for the start of the Great Glen ultra, I recall thinking that I could forget about my target times as this race was just about finishing and getting the 3 UTMB points that attracted.
At around 7am the next day, I DNF-ed.
DNF - Did Not Finish
The only other time I have DNF-ed a race, I'd torn my quad so I had a very valid reason for not continuing that race.
I wasn't injured during the Great Glen. A quick 10 mile recovery run the following day proved that.
What went wrong, and why did I pull out of the race?
I have no real idea. But I can say wholeheartedly that it wasn't a decision I took lightly. Any ambitions that I've got of entering the UTMB next year are totally out of the question - I won't have enough points.
The race started well. Neptune's Staircase at 1am.
Bill's race briefing warned us not to fall in the canal, amongst other things, then a horn sounded to signal us on our way.
I knew before this race that I needed to work on my pacing during ultras; I always start off strongly before fading badly in the later stages. After briefly chatting with Stuart Chalmers through the week, I'd decided not to try to run to a pace but to wear my heart rate chest strap (which I never normally do in ultras) and run to a constant heart rate.
I picked a heart rate that I felt was easily sustainable over 72 miles but was still sufficiently high to allow me to run fast enough to satiate my competitive spirit.
The first checkpoint (10 miles in) came and went (no drop bag here, just a top up of water); I was on course for a sub 13h finish if I could maintain an even pacing.
We'd already witnessed an extraordinarily beautiful sunrise when CP2 came at 20 miles in. Alexa (who I crewed at WHW race with 2 weeks previously) was there to hand me my drop bag and replenish my empty water bottles.
"How's your race, Rich?" "Feeling good, so far so good" was my response.
Having downed a Muller rice and pocketed my other food to eat on the way, I was back on the trail.
I rarely spend much time at check points in races, as I think they're a very easy way to lose loads of time; so I generally just grab my supplies and get on my way (having spent the preceding couple of km's figuring out in my head what I need and want).
I was followed out of the CP by who turned out to be the equal first lady and another guy (Norman / Norry, sorry didn't catch your name!). I was happy enough to listen to the 2 of them chatting as I ran slightly ahead of them.
As the trail dropped out of the woods and back alongside the canal, I started to hit a massive low. I'd been eating and drinking plenty, so I don't think that was the problem; I had another gel anyway just in case.
I took a walking break, and let a number of folk past me, to see if the problem was that I'd been pushing too hard. As I was walking, I felt myself drifting off to sleep; I opened my eyes again just in time to catch myself veering towards the canal (with Bill's pre-race brief ringing in my ears); it was a scary thought that there was no-one in sight ahead or behind who would've seen me splash into that water...
By this point, I was already wondering whether I had another 40 miles of running in me.
Did I have that much running in me? Well, some of me... my legs felt like they'd be able to keep going, but my head wasn't in it.
I reached CP3 (30 miles) at Fort Augustus, still on course for a good finishing time; but as Ada was asking me if I had a drop bag to collect (I didn't here either), I was already shaking my head and telling her that I'd get the bus back to Inverness.
So, things I need to figure out in the coming weeks (and well before TDS...):
- What I eat, when I eat it and which CP's I put it at
- Caffeine! (I don't function in the morning without at least a couple of decent coffees, so maybe that would've helped)
- Pacing (running to a heart rate seemed to have been working for me, I don't thing I was pushing too hard; but I do think I need to experiment on what target or range of heart rates works for me)
Anyway, no time to dwell on the disappointment of my first non-injury DNF... I'm running the Devil in 3 1/2 weeks and then heading out to Chamonix. Onwards and forwards!
