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P & D Spring marathon 2023
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Great job, Steve!
Macca, I hope it doesn't affect you too much. No doubt your immune system was smashed from the race.
3 recovery yesterday and 6 miles today - 5 miles progression (not silly speeds - last mile came in at 9:11) and a mile cooling down. I've got mile relays on the 25th so want to get my cadence back to what it was.
Only problem is I've got a tight right calf (has been a bit tight since the ultra and the Wimbledon race and 10K hasn't helped) and my left hip feels a bit janky (it's the right one where I have the groin issue). I've been quite conservative in my mileage since the ultra plus I've been doing my hip programme but I'm still stiff and sore in places. I don't think taking a full rest is going to help either, as I'm not convinced my issue isn't caused by sitting!
NE - there will be an Autumn thread soon
Cal - not sure if you ever do strides, they seem to have helped me get moving better again. Takes a bit of preserving with.
Badwater 135
I submitted my application of race CV and answers to various questions safe in the knowledge I was unlikely to be one of the 100 athletes from around the world invited to attend the race. Imagine my surprise on hearing my name in the entrant list on a live Facebook feed, I had to replay it a few times to make sure.
Initial excitement was replaced with fear as the enormity of the logistics dawned on me. A crew of between 2 and 4 was required to follow all runners along the course with food, water, ice, or anything else they needed. I had visions of being on the start line with no crew, watching the field start and running away. Fortunately a casual remark to 3 friends of "anyone fancy a trip to Death Valley" sparked some interest and many teams calls later we had a crack crew formed, albeit light on ultra crewing or running experience.
Over the months leading up to July 4th, a decent block of training was banked with a few marathons, a 10O miler, 3 consecutive weeks of 100 miles plus and many half hour sessions in a sauna. Not quite the best shape of my life, but I did feel that I was more prepared than for any previous ultra.
The Saturday before the race (Tues), we assembled near Gatwick to travel to the airport together for the Sunday flight to Las Vegas. A couple of beers were consumed to settle pre match nerves but just as it was lights out, I noticed a SOS text from BA saying our flight was cancelled. Immediately onto the website, there were no other flights from Gatwick and only connecting flights from Heathrow. With car parking booked at Gatwick we drove there, caught a bus to Heathrow, then caught a flight to Chicago. This was due to land a few hours later than originally scheduled at Las Vegas pushing back our plans to buy equipment and provisions, a minor irritation. We landed in Chicago and waited around 4 hours to board the plane to Vegas. Everyone sat down and strapped in, a message came over the tannoy that the flight was cancelled and we were to de-plane. We were put on the next flight but that kept getting pushed back until around 4 hours later we took off. We arrived at Vegas around 1am local time, 9am UK and made our way to the car hire pick up to find the car we booked was no longer available. Apparently the type of car you book is more in hope than guarantee so instead of a people carrier we ended up with a jeep. A little less refined and less space but better for parking in the sand at the side of the road whilst crewing.
So at around 2am we left Vegas for the 4-5 hour journey to Lone Pine following much of the actual race route. We stopped at Furnace Creek for petrol and couldn't believe the heat. It was around 3am, pitch black and a gentle breeze was blowing hot dry air in our faces.
We travelled much of the course in darkness but around Panamint Valley, day dawned revealing an overwhelming view of the descent and ascent into and out of the valley. It was a Hollywood movie backdrop, think Starwars etc.
We finally reached our hotel in Lone Pine around 7am, some 30+ hrs from when we set off and absolutely knackered from a missed nights sleep. "Too early for check in", we were told, no this was yesterdays check in. We found a quick breakfast then maybe had 4 hrs sleep before buying provisions for the run. Number collection was attended before race briefing then racer group photo. I squeezed in an easy 4 mile run before dinner to shake the travel out of my legs. Even at 7pm and altitude 4,000ft it was hot and the Sun strong.
With jet lag, crew were up and about earlier than I would have liked and were anxious to get on the road for the drive to Badwater Basin, some 4hrs away, a little more with a couple of food and photo stops. We stopped at Furnace Creek for the obligatory temperature photo and made it to Badwater Basin in comfortable time for the 8pm start. I had retreated into myself hours earlier that day but now it was time.
Badwater Basin to Furnace Creek 0-17 miles 2hrs 48mins
Having watched every youtube video I could find, Badwater Basin seemed very familiar but it doesn't prepare you for standing at the start line of a such an iconic race. A rousing rendition of Star Spangled Banner preceded the start, up the boardwalk and onto the road in the dimming light. I settled into an easy pace and took in the waves and cheers of racers and crews arriving for the later wave starts. I was in the first wave with the runners who had presumably estimated the longest times. I soon found myself at the front of the field, I was leading Badwater 135 lol. As I ran, night fell and stars started to appear. One particularly bright star on its own to the west stood out and choked me up a bit. Crew assistance seemed to be working smoothly and whilst the air was hot, it didn't seem ridiculously so, I even turned down ice bandannas.
Furnace Creek to Stovepipe Wells 17-42 miles 6hrs 44mins
I left Furnace Creek in first place, drinking and eating well. I fancied a short walk break on an undulating section where a chap passed me, I was happy to hand over the baton. Shortly thereafter, with little warning my legs gave up and my stomach started to protest. All I wanted was to walk and drink coke. Runners and their crew cars were streaming past, I noticed Ashley Poulsen pass, the eventual overall winner, I had expected this but thought it might be a little further down the road. Feeling the heat a lot more now I engaged operation ice, in hindsight I should probably have engaged it from the start. At each crew stop I took a good spraying and filled my arm sleeves with ice. I started to pick up ever so slightly on the mild descent into Stovepipe Wells as the sun came up. Just before SPW I used a long drop toilet, it was disgusting but marginally more attractive than a biffy bag. I was later told by my crew that a Black Widow had made its home there.
Stovepipe Wells to Panamint Springs 42-72 miles. 9hrs 09mins
I had a sandwich at SPW and felt lifted enough to run the initial mile or two of gentle ascent. There's about 17mile of ascent, the later part, definitely not runnable for most of the field. I remember sharing a bit of banter with other runners and crew and got a buzz from reaching the first time cut off, at 10am, a 2,000ft elevation sign at mile 50. I looked back a few times at Death Valley, glad I had escaped before the midday Sun had taken hold. In total, this was a 5,000ft climb and towards the end I was struggling. My crew were driving ahead 2 miles at a time but with the climbing, this became too far, I'd turn a corner hoping to see them, crestfallen to see another turn or false summit. We shortened the gaps for the last couple of stops. Aware that a long downhill stretch was coming I was wondering if I'd be able to get my legs to turn over after hours of trudging up hill. At the summit a few spectators provided a bit of a buzz and someone told me I was being Facebook live streamed so I had to run that bit and as the road fell away I continued to run, my only concern being not to damage my quads but they held up. Some 9 miles later I reached Panamint Valley floor. This was only a short section of around 4 miles but the afternoon temperature had peaked. This was to be the hottest part of the course, this was what I had signed up for. A fighter jet made a low pass immediately overhead, so low I felt the need to duck.
Panamint Springs to Darwin 72-90 miles 6hrs 33mins
Panamint Springs had a 24hr cut off which I made with room to spare but the heat of the last few miles had again sucked the energy out of me. I had some chips here but my crew seemed keen to spend more time here whilst I was eager to press on. I later learned one of the crew felt a bit rough but I didn't pick up on it at the time. Immediately out of PS begins a 3,000ft climb of switchbacks. I remember standing beside a car thinking I could feel the heat of the engine burning my legs. Then I realised it was the Sun and that I had forgotten to apply suncream to my legs. By the time this summit was reached there was no energy left for running. It was a march into the fading light along a very runnable section towards the Darwin check point at mile 90.
Darwin to Olancha 90 to 118 miles 8hrs 42mins
Complete darkness had fallen and the toughest part of the race, for me, ensued. It was a very runnable slightly downhill stretch but I had no running to offer. I felt for my crew here. I was walking 2 mile stretches, leaning on the car to take on a little food and drink then repeat. It was going to be a long last 30-40 miles at this rate. I was mentally preparing myself to hear someone suggest we throw the towel in, or perhaps I should suggest it. They had never crewed before and I don't think I had explained how low the miserable depths of walking it in could be. Following a turn, there was now an almost perfectly straight 15 mile road to the next checkpoint. I managed a few 3/4 mile sections of running here but as the Sun came up it was fairly demoralising to see no end in sight of this section.
Olancha to Lone Pine 118 to 122 miles 1hr 09mins
We finally made it to Olancha. Due to record snow falls over winter, the melt had flooded the original route which was now closed, so to maintain the race distance a short section by car was mandated with a 23min credit to offset the time in the car, all marshalled so no loss or gain possible. I got in the car and soon thereafter fell asleep. I remember been woken and thinking why did you do that but for whatever amount of minutes it was, it did the trick. I stepped out of the car and shared a joke about skateboarding with a cool Californian (I think) dude. On 23 mins I was released. My whole mood had changed now. A bit of crude maths suggested a sub 40hr finish might be possible. This 4m section was flat, I had run it before on a shake out run and it was the penultimate section. I think I was about 4th or 5th fastest overall for this section, just need to extrapolate that performance over the rest of the 135 miles.
Lone Pine To Finish 122 to 135 miles 3hrs 42mins
I was a man possessed now. On turning onto Whitney Portal Road I continued with a jog march up the ascent. A coffee fuelled me further. A few turns later revealed a seemingly endless road up the lower slopes then tracking a large zig zag up the mountain. They can't get cars up there I thought, they can. Despite the 120+ miles in my legs, lack of sleep and thinning air (around 5,000ft with 3,000 more to go), I was bowled over by the beauty of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Whilst Death Valley had its own unique beauty and awe, I couldn't reconcile how these unlikely bedfellows could coexist. With the air thinning and the ascent steepening it became a case of maintaining a steady march. This went on for hours but with the scenery, didn't feel like it. I passed the last checkpoint, recognising one of the marshalls from YouTube. A huge sense of deja vu swamped me, again probably due to YouTube. A few more switchbacks negotiated then suddenly there was my crew waiting for me to complete the last 20 metres together. Finished, and I was. I am now a Badwater veteran.
Macca - great report and congratulations on completing Badwater, such a terrifying race.
I was tracking a friend of mine, the Irish guy Ray, and ended up tracking you too as you were in the same wave and quite close together on times and your pic came up on FB with your name on your vest. I think he finished a couple of hours behind you.
Miles makes smiles.
Progression
Shades - I remember your friend, we yo-yo’d a bit around 110-120 miles irrc, then bumped into each other at Gatwick. Wish him all the best.
What an experience.
Bloody immense.
An incredible mental and physical performance in its own right but with the long journey, disruptions, lack of sleep massively more so.
Genuinely blown over.
Great report and photos.
So pleased for you.
Very well done Macca, very well done Crew.
17 miles on Saturday and 5 miles on Sunday to finish the week with 54 miles. Today was another MP-10s workout, but 4*1.5m, average paces were 6:45/42/44/41, again felt good, 11 miles in total with warm up and cool down.
TR lol. I think just 2 days of feeling rubbish counts as I got away lightly with covid. I did go off food and alcohol which got me down to race weight which I thought was too good an opportunity to waste so entered a low key half at the last minute for this morning. Aiming for anything sub 1:25 (3 years since my last half) sub 1:20 pace was probably a bit ambitious but the course was pancake flat, albeit a solo time trial for most of it. It was a mixture of 10k runners (1 loop) and half runners (2 loops) but on an out and back I worked out I was third from the different coloured bibs. 1 and 2 were pulling away so it was a case of holding off no 4. I counted he was about 20 secs behind on an out and back around mile 7 or 8 although looking stronger than I felt but around mile 10 or 11 on another out and back it was around 40s so just a case of not blowing up. Nice to get on the podium and a decent place to be for the autumn campaign...........
Sounds like you’ve bounced back unbelievably well.
Nothing much here. Not running enough but maintaining my 21:xx parkrun times.
Jools - are you still having post CV issues? Or niggles?
I'm running 40+ miles over the Brecon Beacons tomorrow supporting a clubmate on her South Wales Traverse attempt. Should be OK for that: it'll be slow & Anglesey proved I've still got plenty of stamina.
Jools - i defo hear you on that, my first few months of the year were running with discomfort and hurty mechanics. I got the hump in Brighton week when i couldn't do strides at mp and deferred my place.
Cal - sorry to hear that too, is that a new or existing issue?
Monday: rest
Tuesday 25M bike followed by 42M across the Brecons finishing at 3am. Due to almost no vaguely long runs, minimal hill work & various niggles it was always going to be painful. Worth it as my clubmate became only the 5th woman in 40 yrs to complete the SWT within 24 hrs & I got to spend some time moving through this:
The subsequent recovery has been much slower than when I did the full 75M but I was on top form then.
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 20M MTB & 7M walk - started as a hobble but freed up after a mile and got a decent pace on.
Friday: 16M MTB & 4M jog which was really tough.
Today: parkrun + 5M as wu/cd & 5M MTB
1M wu from the car park was stiff legged & slow. Glute/ITB had me limping around whilst listening to the run briefing.
Miraculously I got off to a decent start, everything felt OK & I was reasonably strong on the long climb to the summit. Continued to push hard on the descent & finished in 21:11 for 7th place which is an improvement on the last couple of runs on this course when I was suffering the post-covid blues. Onwards & Upwards
Macca - Nice work on the podium finish.
Recovery week last week (45 miles), but did a 2*15 minute LT session with paces coming out to 6:27/6:26. This week was about 58 miles with a 20 mile long run on Saturday, which was both very wet and cold!
Hope rehab is progressing Cal, I know it's not fun but do all the right things and you'll get there.
I popped up to the lakes for Lakeland 100 10 days ago. As it was my 5th a piece of slate was waiting to commemorate so it was all about the finish rather than time but a solid time nonetheless. Now back onto P&D with the distraction of Spartathlon, hopefully some residual heat adaption remains but it was cold and wet on todays run.
Macca - blimey another big race, steely as ever.
I'm banged up from a wet and slippery Harting trail 10m Sunday, it's usually dry and dusty up on the south downs in August.
We should get an Autumn thread going.........