2009 Race - Learnings

I was too complacent and naive. I thought that having recce'd the route a handful of times, including the Fling and a few ultra distance runs, and having completed an 85 mile run, would give me an idea of how this 95 mile run would feel. It didn't.

Attention to detail. I'm great at this. But as was clear this weekend, sometimes at the expense of the basics. I spent so long working out the exact details of how everyone was getting there, budgets, checkpoint plans, booking flights and hotels, exact food requirements, numerous packing lists, but ignored the basics of where I would need my crew to be. I though the mandatory checkpoints would be enough.

Sleep. This was the main problem and in my mind at least, it was either directly responsible for causing other problems, or at least worsened problems that would have happened anyway. I've run through the night before. I did during the Ridgeway. And while I wasn't amazingly alert the whole time, I was fine to continue. This time the tiredness was like nothing I'd ever experienced. And it set in during the day - around noon I think, so it wasn't my bodyclock being influenced by darkness. I'd had no sleep the night before, as the race started at 1am. I had originally booked a hotel room to crash in for a few hours, but cancelled it, partly due to the cost. That was a petty reason for a fatal error. Next time I will travel on the Thursday, and get plenty of sleep that night and during the day on the Friday.

I don't think my time plan was wrong. I think I'll stick with it for next time, or hopefully even reduce it, as I want a sub 25 (9 hour pb). A lot of time was lost through long stops, which I needed due to the tiredness, but that I hadn't allowed much time for. Up until Kingshouse, I was not far behind schedule, but the section in the dark was a shocker, and from then on it was just a case of keep moving forward. Time targets no longer mattered, and so I didn't push it, where perhaps I was able to.

I should have had more crew stops. As an independent person, I wanted the minimum support and to make my crew's duties as simple as possible. Perhaps if I'd got them more involved they would have had that simpler job, rather than needing, at times, to focus on just keeping me conscious. Next year I will add in crew stops at Drymen, Carmyle Cottage (planned this time!), Victoria Bridge and maybe at the Braveheart carpark before the final mile.

I considered using plastic boxes to store my stuff for the crew to find everything easily, but dismissed it for the awkwardness of travelling with them. Any awkwardness will be worth it, so I will use them next year.

The ability to lie down in a vehicle would have been great. I squeezed into the back seat a few times, but to curl my legs up when they were already aching was very uncomfortable. Next year we will use Hendo's new Bongo.

I need to investigate taping my feet up. I usually just put up with blistered feet after getting them wet (apart from Northants where I was saving myself for WHWR so stopped completely), but it did slow me down, as on that route in particular, it is so rocky and uneven that there is always going to be pressure on sore bits.

I need to be less stubborn. I refused to take painkillers and pro plus until after halfway, as I didn't want to be relying on them. But I needed them, and should have taken them. And I should have used bodyglide, rather than think I just wouldn't bother. Nothing serious, and probably nothing that slowed me particularly, but I would have been more comfortable.

I wanted to run alone as much as possible, but I should have planned in buddy runners from earlier (although I still want to do Rannoch Moor alone next year). As it turned out, half of my support crew were injured anyway, but seeing how other runners got on suggests that in most of the second half a support runner (or preferably two at a time as Karen had planned) would have helped me focus.

I didn't put midgie spray on from the start. As it was dark, I figured it wasn't necessary. But from Drymen onwards it was light and the numerous bites on my arms are all from this section. At Balmaha and all other stops I was regularly sprayed with ASSS and strong insect repellent.

I didn't eat at Balmaha, as the midgies were too impossible to stand around in. I have not experienced the midgies before so was unaware of the impact, but if I'd had a crew stop at Drymen, I wouldn't have gone 27 miles without eating.

I still need to work on nutrition. The crew did a great job, and apart from Balmaha and I think towards the end when I couldn't eat, they made sure I had something to eat at each stop. But I could only eat tiny amounts, and over the whole race my calorie intake must have been around 1,800, compared to expenditure of around 12,000. Good way to lose weight anyway, I'm still half a stone lighter, despite eating everything I can get my hands on for the last few days. I need to find something that I can comfortably eat and digest. Pasta, brioche and mullerice was ok for the first few stops, but after that I had to force it down and mostly played with it to make it look like I was eating.

But I'm not all negative - there were things that went perfectly - my crew were fabulous and needed to do far more than I thought they'd have to, but they rose to the challenge magnificently. I was drinking plenty (and near the end having 1-2 pit stops every mile!), and I did genuinely enjoy running some sections. At the beginning, and for a long time into the race I felt strong and fresh. Clothing was fine - apart from the chafing that inevitably happens, there were no issues. My waterproofs were very comfortable, although I don't think it rained when I was wearing them so they are perhaps still untested. The rest of my gear was all previously tried and tested, and apart from one iPod playing up, all was fine.

As the memory of the tiredness and confusion and pain fades, I'm starting to convince myself that I enjoyed it all.