Rich Runs Too Far

Strava is both the greatest and worst thing to happen to my running. That's a lie, running shoes is definitely the best thing to happen to my running, closely followed by my Forerunner 235 (soon to be my Fenix 5 I am sure) and then my Runderwear pants (I wish this was paid advertising!) But the point stands, sometimes I just want to tell Strava to go fuck itself and sometimes I want to invite the ol' gal in for some hot coco. Why? Well let's look at both sidea of the coin: Pro: You can review your runs in great depth, looking at how your performace stacks up to previous attempts, something that is quite handy for long events. You can use the incredible amount of information to support your training, both increasing and/or reducing intensity and miles. Really, it's a spreadsheet nerds dream. Cons: EGO! Ego always ruins everything. "I'm faster than this person.." "I'm never going to be faster than that person..." and all kinds of in betwee...

Race information What?  Mendip Marauder When?  August 4th, 2010 How far?  50 miles Where?  Frome to Weston-Super-Mare, UK Website :  https://www.albionrunning.org/mendip-marauder Strava activity :  https://www.strava.com/activities/1750018436 Goals Goal Description   A Survive - PASS! B Complete sub 12 hours - FAIL! Pictures Saved story at here Training Not a lot of specific training was done for this one.  Two weeks earlier I had completed the Race to the Stones event (62 miles) and felt perfectly fine afterwards. I had a few tiny runs in the two weeks between, but mostly just went into this one feeling just fine....bar the poor sleep in the few nights leading up! Pre-race Where to start! Nice breakfast, plus coffee and then my step dad picked me up and took me to the start line. Here was the first issue...NO TOILETS! What would I do without my traditional pre-race poop?! We hopped back in the car, found a local sup...

The Race to the Stones event was to be the one that broke my mind. I had originally planned my slate of Ultras in ascending order, distance wise, so that they got tougher so as to make me stop increasing the length of my races. That did not happen, in fact I came away with more confidence for longer races, learnt how much stronger my mental game is and I even learnt to enjoy the grind. The day started with an INCREDIBLE breakfast burrito made by myself that included sausage, hash browns, avocado and hot sauce...so delicious. From there I was picked up by a fellow runner and my long 'suffering' chauffeur. We chatted for a bit, then I fell asleep and then we were there...HURRAH! Disembarking from the chariot, we walked into the event and my thought process was simple...COFFEEEEEE1111! As the event was fully catered I was expecting a nice, fresh, barrista made-from-the-bean americano to whoop my system into readiness mode. This was [perhaps] the only fail on the organiser...

Race information What?  Pewsey Downsaround When?  April 22nd, 2018 How far?  36.14 miles Where?  Pewsey, UK Website : https://www.ldwa.org.uk/Wiltshire/W/5380/pewsey-downsaround-2018-information.html Strava activity : https://www.strava.com/activities/1526416771 Goals Goal Description   A Survive - PASS! B Complete sub 7 hours - FAIL! Pictures Saved story at here Training This is where the red flags fly! I the weeks leading up the the race, my entire family went down ill, including myself. During this time I managed a total of 6 miles in the three weeks leading up to the race...which is not good! This and having a severely stressed central nervous system are not a good thing to have going into an ultramarathon! So, training was severely lacking. Pre-race I felt really good on the morning. Sleep the night before was ok, I had a good breakfast and I was highly confident in the day. I had a wonderful journey up and a good ch...