So it's Friday afternoon and I have finished work and now it's time to get home get showered and changed and kit in the car and then head over to Belvoir Castle where I will be taking on my first ever ultra marathon and first ever endurance race at Equinox24.
Driving on the way to Equinox24 I'm feeling great and loving the weather forecast for the weekend. I arrive at Equinox and straight away you could feel the atmosphere brewing to what be a great weekend.
This weekend wasn't so much about the running but to celebrate a great session racing and hitting some great milestones along the way. I also wanted to see how far I could actually run in 24 hours.
Everything was pretty straight forward when arrived at Equinox, solo campers on one side and teams to be on the other side. I was quite fortunate that I had a few friends running in teams so I had a great support team and was able to camp with them to make it easier.
Friday night was very relaxed, bbq and a few beers probably not the best pre run strategy but it's not camping unless you have beer and bbq.
Saturday morning was just as relaxed I spent a bit of my time getting myself organised for example next 24 hours. Laying out clothing, food, medication, hydration and food so I knew exactly where it would be when I needed it. Bacon rolls were being cooked and coffee was being brewed again perfect running food for a 24 hour endurance race. It wasn't long till the start time and I was at the race brief and looking forward to get going.
And we're off.
I said to myself to take each lap steady and if I felt like walking then just walk I had 24 hours to get through and I didn't need to race. First lap and I find myself in to a steady groove and I find myself chatting to some random quite early on going up the first hill and after talking I soon discovered that I was running and keeping up with the overall solo winner from last year by this time we were at the steep hill called 'THAT HILL'. Once we hit the top of the hill I had to slow down as I knew I wouldn't keep that pace for long. Was good running with him as I was able to get some good tips from him before he ran off and was just a blur.
First lap went a bit too well completing in just over 50 mins. This was not the pace I wanted to run at. I was planning on running slower. I never even stopped off at camp to grab any water or food. Straight away I wish I had and had to wait till the 5km mark for some water. After the second lap I made sure I stopped and had some food and water.
My plan was to now stop at the halfway mark and have some water and again at the end of every lap to grab something to drink and food and to have a quick stretch.
On the third lap I said to myself that this pace would be too difficult to keep at and I had to get some sort of plan to make sure that my legs didn't blow up. The first 4km were relatively flat before the first hill. My plan was to jog the first 4km and then walk to the 5km mark which gets to the top of the first hill. Then to jog to the water point and have a drink and then run down hill to the foot of the next hill (THAT HILL) and walk up it then to the 8km mark to jog or walk. From the 8km mark to jog to the finish of the lap. The last km of each lap I always wanted to run as it was great having everyone cheering you on shouting 'COME ON SOLO' with cow bells ringing. The only thing I hated about the last km was the amount of bbq's that were going on in could of stopped off at every one and had a burger. I found this was a great way to split the race up and to keep focused also talking to people on the way round was another one of my tactics. This would help pass the time and before you knew it you had covered 2km.
As the laps went on my legs were getting tired but I still felt good. As it got close to 7pm I just finished another lap and was time to grab my head torch and start the night session. I wasn't looking forward to this part as I knew that I would start getting tired and no amount of coffee or cake would change that. As the sunset the atmosphere changed. People were were concentrating on staying awake and just to keep going. It was good seeing people who were in teams still running hard and putting in some quick times throughout the night.
I reduced my running and started walking more. The only reason for this was there was a lot of off road running on uneven ground and I didn't want to get injured. I had to stop at around 2 am as I didn't feel good at all. I couldn't decided if I was hungry or thirsty or if I wanted t carry on. I ended up sitting on a chair for a while not knowing what to do. I eventually listened to my body and had a quick 90 minute power nap.
When I woke up I had a quick bite to eat and a drink and I was on my way the next lap went quite well and I was happy with how it went but I was still tired. Decided to walk the next lap with a friend who was also doing it solo. He was one lap in front of me and he was struggling to run at all so we decided that we would both walk together. For both of us it was our first Ultra Marathon and first 24 hour endurance race so as we walked round we were both commenting that this is the furthest we have ever ran he was completing his 11th lap and I was on my 10th lap. As we finished he lap we both decided that we would relax and have a good rest and see how we feel.
During the rest I decided to have a shower and get changed in to clean running gear and went back to sleep. I was so pleased and proud to have completed 100km and I knew I had enough left in my to do one more lap. So after a nap and breakfast we set off on out last lap. There was three of us walking together and we decided that we would walk most of it and just run when we could. We stuck together on the whole lap talking about the highs and lows of the past 24 hours and how much we have enjoyed the event. I said I would never do this solo again but would be open to the idea of doing it as a team.
As we get to the 9km mark of the last lap it was great seeing everyone cheering us on to the end. The end is near and the last 200 metres . We all said we wouldn't do an extra lap and as we crossed the finish line I was really tempted to go again for 1 more lap. For once common sense took over and I stopped.
So that was it 24 hours and I managed 110km. Was really pleased with what I had achieved with no specific training put towards this event. This is definitely an event I would love to do again and saying that I have already signed up to do this again as a solo runner even though I said I wouldn't. 2016 I will better prepare myself for this and see if can do it without sleeping and just walk when I feel bad.
The organisers of this event do need a mention, from the moment I had signed up to the event till the end they have been amazing. I look forward to see you guys again at the end of 2016 event with yet another solo medal.
