Let's see how far we can go... (OVW Marathon)
Just over 3 weeks ago I ran a local trail marathon, the Ouse Valley Way marathon to be precise. It's a race that's been reintroduced/relaunched this year and was previously organised by the local running club, Riverside runners, but after an absence of a few year is now organised by BRJ Run & Tri, in Huntingdon.
I've run parts of the route since I moved to the area, which is flat, so, so flat, so I had an idea of what to expect and in training runs had slowly been doing more and more of the route, but in reverse, because, er, that's how I do things....
During training I'd done 20 miles about 5 weeks before the race and was hoping to get a 22 miler under my belt before ending the psychological mind melt that is 'taper', but my last 2 attempts ended at 19 and 16 miles, both times I'd just run out of energy, fuelling, hot weather, all possible excuses but also planting a massive seed in my head and reminders of how I felt during the last 6 miles of Brighton Marathon last April.
Fast forward the last couple of weeks and I turned up on race day full of niggles and with the mind set of 'let's see how far you can go' and not setting myself a target time and choosing a pace plucked from thin air, although looking back I think it was my target pace for Brighton marathon. My quads were a bit sore after going to Xtreme360 trampolining with niece and nephew the day before.
There was a good turnout from the running club, including several who were doing their first, various niggles were discussed but overall everyone seemed to be looking forward to the race.
So not to congest the public footpaths, which were single track in places, we set off in groups of 10 based on our predicted time, conditions were pretty spot on for marathon running with only a slight head wind. We were off....
Three from the group sped off and I let them, they were running their race, I would run mine. The first km was running through the village of Earith before hitting the Ouse valley way and the trail, as mentioned earlier it's flat but still a good workout for the ankles as it's pretty uneven. I pulled to one side and let another two runners pass (including the eventual 1st woman), my pace had stayed reasonably even, so either they'd got bored or it was part of some complex strategy.
Fuelling wise, and due to my aborted runs a few weeks before, I'd chosen to carry a lot of gels and hope that the stomach behaved, I also carried a Salomon 500ml soft flask with half a sachet of Tailwind in. There would be quite a few water stations but I wanted to just keep going through the 1st few and rely on them later in the race, I have developed a habit of not taking on enough water on long runs which has led to my urine being a worrying brown during SDW50 and some of the training runs for the Centurion event. I was hopeful that this race there wouldn't be those issues....
There were a few sections of tarmac as the trail entered villages before rejoining the trail and as the race progressed I let my pace naturally quicken on these tarmac sections as I was feeling ok, it might have only been 10 seconds or so per/km but it just felt the right thing for me to do. The first hour went by with no issues, as expected, and I took the first gel and had planned to take on some fuel every 30 minutes, which is longer than usual but I was of the mindset that my pace was likely to be burning fat than carbs and if anything the gels were a placebo. There was great support along the course with the water stations well stocked, I mixed up the quaffing of gels with jelly babies, but lets be honest it was just more sugar so if the stomach was going to play up this wasn't going to make much difference.
I don't know why but I was keeping a count of how people passed me and how many I overtook, not something I would normally do, but with a small field of competitors the numbers were never likely to be huge and I suppose it would take my mind off the forthcoming pain once we got towards the end of the race. Throughout the race I pretty much ran solo, I has passed a couple of club runners and wished them good luck for the rest of the race. I was quite impressed with passing one of our runners who was a good long distance runner (although later found out he'd done an ironman the day before). Having run the majority of the course I didn't need to keep an eye out for the Ouse valley way signs, the field was spreading out and I'm sure if you didn't know the area well there are opportunities to get lost.
As we approached a village there was a spray painted arrow on the floor and then in eyeshot a Ouse valley way sign to go left, race instructions were to follow the Ouse valley way until towards the end. A guy running 50 metres ahead had carried on missing the sign, I tried to shout to him but he couldn't hear, but then some doubt hit my mind, was he going the right way? The arrow did sort off indicate to carry on but there was a sign, after running straight ahead 200m then going back on myself to head towards the Ouse valley way some other runners caught up with me and said 'it's ahead, not down the trail' so I ran with them a few hundred metres where there was a water station, it hadn't added much to my time and I wasn't that bothered about my indecision. I knocked back 2 cups of water and carried on.
The time and distance continued to tick over, the fuelling was roughly every 45 minutes now and was a mixture of jelly babies and gels and stopping to take on plenty of water at stations, just before half way I noticed my stomach was sloshing around and I'd managed to subdue to the need to pee as long as possible. I stopped off to pee under a bridge not far from Godsmanchester, missing being disturbed by some dog walkers by about 6 seconds. Feeling 4 stone lighter and knowing I was almost half way gave me a skip in my step.
Despite barely checking my watch so far I made an effort to see what my time was at half way, just over 2 hours, I was happy with that, I knew I'd slow during the second half of the race but there was potential to not be far off my Brighton marathon time, and for a trail marathon (admittedly flat) I'd consider that a good day out.
I was now running sections of the Ouse Valley way that I had run a lot so naturally you can break it down into segments, 'soon it'll be the marina, then we're not far from.....' etc this gave me a bit of a boost mentally, 16 miles done, energy levels good, stomach ok, taking on water but no sloshing. All going to plan. Stopping at water stations to take on water was helping rather than the usual inhale half a cup, spill the rest, breathing out of sync a bit. All the volunteers were very supportive and encouraging and there were plenty of stations, great organisation.
A lady at the side of the river was offering jelly babies on a plate, I thanked her and inhaled/chewed them down quick smart, then a massive coughing fit as a piece stuck in my throat. Luckily a water station wasn't too far, all sorted, can't be far now...
Glance at the watch, time is progressing, distance isn't, a quick flick through the options and problem found, GPS lost, looks like at about 18 miles, whenever that was. I was planning to try to not slow down too much towards the end of the race despite knowing/thinking I was going to start aching soon, without GPS giving me a pace per km it wouldn't have much idea.
So looks like I'd be running 'by feel' for the rest of the race, I tried to work out how far there was to go based on places we passed so thought we must be near 20 miles, I'd been picking off the odd person here and there as we approached St Neots, including a guy walking who had been one of the people in our group to speed off at the start, I was feeling ok, had stopped with the gels and took on water and jelly babies at stations, seeing more people from running club at the stations who offered words of encouragement.
A marshall stopped traffic to let me cross as I entered the meadows, I could mentally see the finish line now, I was surprised by how good I felt, hips and knees were starting to seize as expected at that distance, my troublesome foot, achilles and ankle were nowhere to be found, the pace I was running felt comfortable and the time on watch was looking like I was making good progress. ALLEZ ALLEZ!
We must be at 22 odd miles by now, 'How far? My GPS has gone' I asked another racer as I passed him, 'Not sure, my GPS went weird as well, maybe 23?'
Under the bridge and then the 24mile station where members of running club were, Darren was taking pictures, I managed jazz hands and a smile that hid it was staring to hurt. 'Is this 24 miles?' I asked, '24-ish' Karen replied. A glance at the watch, it must be wrong, if I can keep it going for the last couple of miles I'd be onto a PB, and then as if on cue, everything hurt.
Up ahead I could see a runner from our club, the good distance runner that ran an Ironman the day before (he'd overtaken me just after half way), I crossed the bridge at the lock, a marshall encouraged 'you can catch him', and I could see I was starting to eat up the distance, head was good but the legs were tightening, no need to look at the watch now, what will be will be.
Now just over a mile to go, I picked up my pace, it wasn't a shuffle towards the finish it was actual running, I passed the running club member on the bridge 'well done you, strong finish', he encouraged, I returned the compliment and kicked on again. As I approached a marshall directing I noticed a runner lying down being covered in coats with others trying to keep him warm, 'is he ok?' I asked, they assured me he'd be fine. The final half mile seemed to go on forever, hams and calves were cramping, I passed the St Johns ambulance people who were walking so I assumed the runner wasn't in any serious harm.
'Almost there' a dog walker shouted, 'People have been telling me that for 26 miles' I replied.
And then it was there, a few people cheering you over the line, watch stopped, a bottle of water and medal given to you. It was done.
A glance at the watch and it was a 7 minute PB, which meant I either ran an even split or slight negative split marathon, struggling to work out how I'd done that..............ARGGHHHH MY BLOODY CALVES FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK
The race went from being 'lets see how far we can go' to being a massive boost mentally, I have a bit more faith in my ability by putting less pressure on myself, for races such as ultras this has put my head in a good place.
The Ouse Valley Way marathon was a great race, very well organised, the number of aid stations was spot on and the marshalls/volunteers were very vocal and encouraging. Well done BRJ Run & Tri, a welcome addition to the local racing calendar.
I've run parts of the route since I moved to the area, which is flat, so, so flat, so I had an idea of what to expect and in training runs had slowly been doing more and more of the route, but in reverse, because, er, that's how I do things....
During training I'd done 20 miles about 5 weeks before the race and was hoping to get a 22 miler under my belt before ending the psychological mind melt that is 'taper', but my last 2 attempts ended at 19 and 16 miles, both times I'd just run out of energy, fuelling, hot weather, all possible excuses but also planting a massive seed in my head and reminders of how I felt during the last 6 miles of Brighton Marathon last April.
Fast forward the last couple of weeks and I turned up on race day full of niggles and with the mind set of 'let's see how far you can go' and not setting myself a target time and choosing a pace plucked from thin air, although looking back I think it was my target pace for Brighton marathon. My quads were a bit sore after going to Xtreme360 trampolining with niece and nephew the day before.
There was a good turnout from the running club, including several who were doing their first, various niggles were discussed but overall everyone seemed to be looking forward to the race.
So not to congest the public footpaths, which were single track in places, we set off in groups of 10 based on our predicted time, conditions were pretty spot on for marathon running with only a slight head wind. We were off....
Three from the group sped off and I let them, they were running their race, I would run mine. The first km was running through the village of Earith before hitting the Ouse valley way and the trail, as mentioned earlier it's flat but still a good workout for the ankles as it's pretty uneven. I pulled to one side and let another two runners pass (including the eventual 1st woman), my pace had stayed reasonably even, so either they'd got bored or it was part of some complex strategy.
Fuelling wise, and due to my aborted runs a few weeks before, I'd chosen to carry a lot of gels and hope that the stomach behaved, I also carried a Salomon 500ml soft flask with half a sachet of Tailwind in. There would be quite a few water stations but I wanted to just keep going through the 1st few and rely on them later in the race, I have developed a habit of not taking on enough water on long runs which has led to my urine being a worrying brown during SDW50 and some of the training runs for the Centurion event. I was hopeful that this race there wouldn't be those issues....
There were a few sections of tarmac as the trail entered villages before rejoining the trail and as the race progressed I let my pace naturally quicken on these tarmac sections as I was feeling ok, it might have only been 10 seconds or so per/km but it just felt the right thing for me to do. The first hour went by with no issues, as expected, and I took the first gel and had planned to take on some fuel every 30 minutes, which is longer than usual but I was of the mindset that my pace was likely to be burning fat than carbs and if anything the gels were a placebo. There was great support along the course with the water stations well stocked, I mixed up the quaffing of gels with jelly babies, but lets be honest it was just more sugar so if the stomach was going to play up this wasn't going to make much difference.
I don't know why but I was keeping a count of how people passed me and how many I overtook, not something I would normally do, but with a small field of competitors the numbers were never likely to be huge and I suppose it would take my mind off the forthcoming pain once we got towards the end of the race. Throughout the race I pretty much ran solo, I has passed a couple of club runners and wished them good luck for the rest of the race. I was quite impressed with passing one of our runners who was a good long distance runner (although later found out he'd done an ironman the day before). Having run the majority of the course I didn't need to keep an eye out for the Ouse valley way signs, the field was spreading out and I'm sure if you didn't know the area well there are opportunities to get lost.
As we approached a village there was a spray painted arrow on the floor and then in eyeshot a Ouse valley way sign to go left, race instructions were to follow the Ouse valley way until towards the end. A guy running 50 metres ahead had carried on missing the sign, I tried to shout to him but he couldn't hear, but then some doubt hit my mind, was he going the right way? The arrow did sort off indicate to carry on but there was a sign, after running straight ahead 200m then going back on myself to head towards the Ouse valley way some other runners caught up with me and said 'it's ahead, not down the trail' so I ran with them a few hundred metres where there was a water station, it hadn't added much to my time and I wasn't that bothered about my indecision. I knocked back 2 cups of water and carried on.
The time and distance continued to tick over, the fuelling was roughly every 45 minutes now and was a mixture of jelly babies and gels and stopping to take on plenty of water at stations, just before half way I noticed my stomach was sloshing around and I'd managed to subdue to the need to pee as long as possible. I stopped off to pee under a bridge not far from Godsmanchester, missing being disturbed by some dog walkers by about 6 seconds. Feeling 4 stone lighter and knowing I was almost half way gave me a skip in my step.
Despite barely checking my watch so far I made an effort to see what my time was at half way, just over 2 hours, I was happy with that, I knew I'd slow during the second half of the race but there was potential to not be far off my Brighton marathon time, and for a trail marathon (admittedly flat) I'd consider that a good day out.
I was now running sections of the Ouse Valley way that I had run a lot so naturally you can break it down into segments, 'soon it'll be the marina, then we're not far from.....' etc this gave me a bit of a boost mentally, 16 miles done, energy levels good, stomach ok, taking on water but no sloshing. All going to plan. Stopping at water stations to take on water was helping rather than the usual inhale half a cup, spill the rest, breathing out of sync a bit. All the volunteers were very supportive and encouraging and there were plenty of stations, great organisation.
A lady at the side of the river was offering jelly babies on a plate, I thanked her and inhaled/chewed them down quick smart, then a massive coughing fit as a piece stuck in my throat. Luckily a water station wasn't too far, all sorted, can't be far now...
Glance at the watch, time is progressing, distance isn't, a quick flick through the options and problem found, GPS lost, looks like at about 18 miles, whenever that was. I was planning to try to not slow down too much towards the end of the race despite knowing/thinking I was going to start aching soon, without GPS giving me a pace per km it wouldn't have much idea.
So looks like I'd be running 'by feel' for the rest of the race, I tried to work out how far there was to go based on places we passed so thought we must be near 20 miles, I'd been picking off the odd person here and there as we approached St Neots, including a guy walking who had been one of the people in our group to speed off at the start, I was feeling ok, had stopped with the gels and took on water and jelly babies at stations, seeing more people from running club at the stations who offered words of encouragement.
A marshall stopped traffic to let me cross as I entered the meadows, I could mentally see the finish line now, I was surprised by how good I felt, hips and knees were starting to seize as expected at that distance, my troublesome foot, achilles and ankle were nowhere to be found, the pace I was running felt comfortable and the time on watch was looking like I was making good progress. ALLEZ ALLEZ!
We must be at 22 odd miles by now, 'How far? My GPS has gone' I asked another racer as I passed him, 'Not sure, my GPS went weird as well, maybe 23?'
Under the bridge and then the 24mile station where members of running club were, Darren was taking pictures, I managed jazz hands and a smile that hid it was staring to hurt. 'Is this 24 miles?' I asked, '24-ish' Karen replied. A glance at the watch, it must be wrong, if I can keep it going for the last couple of miles I'd be onto a PB, and then as if on cue, everything hurt.
Up ahead I could see a runner from our club, the good distance runner that ran an Ironman the day before (he'd overtaken me just after half way), I crossed the bridge at the lock, a marshall encouraged 'you can catch him', and I could see I was starting to eat up the distance, head was good but the legs were tightening, no need to look at the watch now, what will be will be.
Now just over a mile to go, I picked up my pace, it wasn't a shuffle towards the finish it was actual running, I passed the running club member on the bridge 'well done you, strong finish', he encouraged, I returned the compliment and kicked on again. As I approached a marshall directing I noticed a runner lying down being covered in coats with others trying to keep him warm, 'is he ok?' I asked, they assured me he'd be fine. The final half mile seemed to go on forever, hams and calves were cramping, I passed the St Johns ambulance people who were walking so I assumed the runner wasn't in any serious harm.
'Almost there' a dog walker shouted, 'People have been telling me that for 26 miles' I replied.
And then it was there, a few people cheering you over the line, watch stopped, a bottle of water and medal given to you. It was done.
A glance at the watch and it was a 7 minute PB, which meant I either ran an even split or slight negative split marathon, struggling to work out how I'd done that..............ARGGHHHH MY BLOODY CALVES FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK
The race went from being 'lets see how far we can go' to being a massive boost mentally, I have a bit more faith in my ability by putting less pressure on myself, for races such as ultras this has put my head in a good place.
The Ouse Valley Way marathon was a great race, very well organised, the number of aid stations was spot on and the marshalls/volunteers were very vocal and encouraging. Well done BRJ Run & Tri, a welcome addition to the local racing calendar.
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