7 weeks left, 63.4 miles and my first measured 50+ mile weekend

This week was more challenging than I expected in lots of ways. I didn’t feel remotely like running on Tuesday morning after last weekend’s efforts. In the interests of doing something rather than nothing, I did 10 miles in the gym on a stationary bike instead.

I tried again on Thursday and my legs felt very heavy throughout my first mile at the gym and my ankle was locking out so I hopped back on the stationary bike again for another 10 miles.

Luckily I found something from somewhere that evening and managed to head out for my 5.4 mile loop. I took out my GPS watch which helped maintain some enthusiasm. I have been trying to eat a bit healthier at work and blame the reduced carb intake for my last 2 miles being a bit sluggish.

On Friday night I went out for another 5.4 miles. I spent most of my time on this run thinking about what to aim for over the weekend and decided to try run over the race distance spread across 4 sessions of 12.9 miles each.

I unofficially ran over 50 miles at the Skiddaw race taking into account the descent down the wrong side and having to go back up most of the mountain but this would be my first time covering that distance knowing the measurements are correct.

I had decided the 12.9 miles would be a 7.5 mile loop followed by a 5.4 mile loop twice each day. My ankle was a bit of a concern for the start of each session but wasn’t a problem once I had warmed up.

My uncle-in-law Tim had recommended some Lucozade electrolyte powder that I bought after my first 12.9 miles on Saturday morning and had a combined 7L of over the course of the weekend. I had 1L of this either side of the sessions and found it gave me a small amount of extra energy. Its a good thing I’ve taken up a sport where marginal gains are so important!

I have long believed a lot of people who run or do other sports where supplements can improve performance overdo it with them and become dependent on them to do something they were capable of doing without. Anything under 20 miles I really shouldn’t need them but I did notice the benefit in terms of recovery between sessions this weekend.

I’m going to aim to get one 75 mile week in the next few weeks then use the remaining weeks as a taper before the race. Having ran slightly above race distance with my combined mileage this weekend is certainly a confidence boost I can take into the race.