2 weeks, 29 miles and some healthy pre race nerves

This week has taken ages to finally finish. I don’t tend to like taper weeks as I have to trust in the training I have done and come to terms with the fact that what mileage I cover over the 2-3 weeks won’t add anything to the endurance I’ve tried to build up over the preceding 5 months. There is a positive and a negative side to this, while it can take some pressure off knowing that pace won’t really matter and you only need to cover around half the miles of other weeks, the feeling of doing something constructive towards your ability to finish isn’t quite the same from resting and slowing the pace than you get from big training runs or high mileage weeks.

I stuck very rigidly to the training plan and only covered the advised distance in each of the 4 sessions. This was difficult as I wanted to run on each of the 3 rest days but managed to avoid doing so. My midweek runs of 5.4 and 7.5 miles were both pretty comfortable and I could “switch off” for large parts of them.

I finished the week with 2 laps of the 5.4 mile route yesterday and one lap this morning. These were harder as my sleep pattern had gone haywire. This is likely attributable to the lack of training as well as consuming similar levels of caffiene to the full training weeks.

I think the nerves have been because of the finality this race is going to have. If I end up as a DNF, it will be 50 weeks until the St Illtyd 100km race where I’d get another go at that distance which will feel like an eternity! Also, while writing this blog each week does help massively with motivation over the 4-6 months before a race, it does run the risk of appearing to build you up to be something you’re not if things don’t go to plan.

It is 3 years since I signed up to run the Round Ripon 35 mile ultra and while the other races I’ve ran since have been slightly longer and posed more of a challenge, either due to a higher total elevation gain or the inclusion of alcohol, being capable of finishing this does feel like a step forward from these.

Knowing how nervous I was then about doing 9 miles further than a marathon, how confident I am now in finishing on Saturday is a sign of progression during this time regardless of how long it takes me or whatever difficulties I’ll face during.

I’m looking forward to being at the start line and able to put away the feeling of coming slightly short of my aim from the Last One Standing race.

There are certain fixed personality traits runners like to prove to themselves, which impact on what races they sign up for. This was brilliantly illustrated in the quote below. Hopefully I’ll like what I see in 6 days!