Have just completed my first high mileage back to back sessions in preparation for MdS. Last did some back to back sessions - albeit lower mileage three years ago when training for Antarctic Marathon.
The first session was in the Lake District on The Dales Way. In the car and on the way by 7.15 - temperature hovering around zero, although much better than New Years eve. As I got nearer to Crook and the start of the Dales Way I became increasingly reluctant to get out of the warm cocoon of my car into the cold and dark outside. Turned heater down and car seat heater off to make it less of a problem!
What a great place to train. Good weather, despite the cold, lovely scenery and challenging terrain to run / walk on. The Dales way is a well marked route, making it very easy for someone like me with no navigation skills. Unfortunately when I got to Burneside the route markers disappeared and I ended up doing a detour round Kendal and on to the A6 Shap Road before rejoining The Dales Way. Learned another lesson as having had a look at my map, I decided to keep it out of my bag and set off without fastening my front pack. A few yards further on and the contents hit the road - my phone and camera appear to be able to bounce quite well without any damage!
Turned round after just over 14 miles and thought finding my way back would be easy - just follow the way I came. Towards the end of the session I suddenly realised that I was heading in the wrong direction and appear to have gone round in a circle and was heading back the way I had set off in the morning! Rather than risk getting it all wrong again I decided to keep to the roads and headed into Crook and then along the main road towards Bowness in the fading light. Fortunately I had my head torch with me so that traffic could see me.
Got back to car after 29 miles in 7.5 hours. Had set off with a backpack weighing 11kgs (about 24 lbs) including 3.5 litres of water - so probably at upper limit of what I will be carrying in MdS. My aim was to walk uphill and run the level sections and downhill. Managed to do this apart from some sections where there were sheets of ice and common sense indicated walking was a better option! Tired but OK at end - and enjoyed a great flask of soup before heading home.
Would loved to have stayed in bed this morning - but won't have that luxury in March, and as I was planning a beach run had to get off so that I could run before the tide came in. The plan was a 20 mile session on the beach and the aim was to keep running the whole way. Reduced backpack weight to about 8kgs. Legs felt very heavy initially but then got into some sort of rhythm and kept plodding along at a slow pace. Left the car in Lytham and ran to Red Bank Road in Bispham, which was exactly 10 miles. Turned round and had to keep resisting temptation to walk - I think if I had stopped running I would not have got going again. Reached South Pier at 14 miles and had rest of run broken down in my head to short manageable distances. However, I had not taken into account the incoming tide. Although there was lots of beach to run on there was a channel right across my path which had filled with water, and so I had the option of wading through cold water 12 inches high or heading back to South Pier and then running along the prom! A no brainer, although again very tempting to start walking because of the excuse of the extra distance. As a result I ended up doing 20.7 miles in 4hrs 40mins - a very slow run but very satisfying.
Got back from my run and opened post to find a cheque for £100 - that's £125 with gift aid - as sponsorship. That will make a big difference to the Children of Watamu - and makes a big difference to me, acting as a huge encouragement to put myself through some tough training sessions in preparation for my biggest challenge to date.
So that's 49.7 miles in 2 days with a total running time of about 12 hours, and I feel really good tonight. Could happily go for another run tomorrow, but the plan is a rest day and so am looking forward to a lie in and a lazy day!
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