20 weeks, 45 miles and a massive helping of Imposter Syndrome

I had planned to run on Monday and a few shorter runs this week followed by a new record for number of laps of Post Hill Woods today. Unfortunately only one of those things ended up happening!

I ran 5.4 miles on road on Monday and following a combination of not enough sleep and having overcommited in terms of socialising, didn’t run again until Saturday morning which was 3 laps of Post Hill Woods. This involved a 4:45am start to finish in time to drop my wife in Manchester before working in Harrogate from 10am. I then did a very quick 3 laps that evening compared to my usual pace and came in under an hour. My legs felt full of energy and I thought it would get the inclination to go faster tomorrow out of my system. I was aiming to do 18 laps so speed would not be my friend in that situation.

My plan for today was to be in the woods for 6am, have a steady 5 hour window to do 10 laps in and then my brother Ben to join me for the last 8 laps.

I had two episodes of the ‘Running Your Stories’ podcasts to listen to which got me through laps 1-3 and 4-6 virtually effortlessly. Unfortunately the next 4 were a bit harder. I had water, squash, sparkling water and cereal bars after 3,6,8 and 10 laps then went to Sainsburys to replenish my Aid Station section of the boot of my car. I had also packed a large container of coconut and peanut butter bagels this was mainly to get more drinks.

I bought two 600ml bottles of Pepsi Max, four 500ml bottles of still Lucozade Sport, some posh crisps and Haribo Starmix (the lack of more water at this juncture was possibly a sign I deserved what happened next!)

My brother Ben agreed to my pleas for a break every 2 laps and a steady pace. I really should start telling him when I plan a 21 mile warm up for our 17 mile schedule!, I managed the first lap but my legs were cramping up really badly and my thighs had chafed against the shorts which felt worse than it later turned out to be. I asked for a break to rest before starting our second lap and barely made it half a mile into the lap. I had to turn around half way up a hill as my legs would not move and told Ben I would meet him back at the car.

After a mini tantrum and binge of a ‘healthy’ helping of the assorted junk food I had brought, I decided to push on and try continue the rest of the run with Ben. My legs got back to feeling close to OK for the next 2 laps but my pace had fallen off a cliff. I wanted the first time I broke my 15 lap record to be a continuation where I was still running all of it but I was having to slow and walk brief sections before returning to a gait of barely running!

When we got back to my car again I sat for a minute and decided to call it a day. I didn’t have the stomach for another 2-3 hours to get the rest of the laps in at the pace I was moving at.

I have the Scafell Sky Race next Saturday and this will be the first time I am the ‘other side of the tape’ in one of Mountain Run’s events. Today’s effort has done little to dissuade the part of me that thinks their events are for proper mountain runners and I’m meant to still be the fat rugby player who hands out water at checkpoints halfway up a mountain.

The race has 3500m of ascent but is over 25 miles. Realistically I have managed close to a 90 mile week in the woods and got to over 3600m of climb in my most intensive training week so should finish, but I will still need to be at my absolute best to do so. Luckily my best running tends to come when I’ve got a bit of a chip on my shoulder about something and it’s a fucking boulder after today!

Things I’ve learnt from today are to take less fluids and more water and not emotionally eat when you’re barely over half way. I’m sure if I take this learning into next Saturday I’ll be fine