I wasn’t going to write anything but actually my friend Carly was right, this race experience is a good learning point. Reflecting on failure is a strong thing from which we can grow. Making mistakes is a basic human behaviour. Being brave enough to try, is something I actually encourage my daughter, my team at work and the athletes I coach but sometimes you can make smarter choices. In this case I should have done that.
As a 50 year old man I only have so many race seasons left and getting older is something that plays on my mind when it comes to this ultra running lark. I find my mind wandering to the retirement years when I will be that cheery volunteer spending some of my free time up at races, filling your bottles and sharing words of encouragement. For now though I want to experience two big races a year but planning those is key and in 2025 I really didn’t think it through.
In September 2024 I ran a very technical 70ish KM race in Bulgaria and was pretty happy with my race, especially the downhill section at the end, I ran so well. I am not great on super rocky terrain as I just don’t get to practice on it a lot. I then took two weeks off, before launching into Northern Traverse training, 6 months of training to be slow (for me), to be strong in mind and body. Even though the race went well, I walked a bit too much due to the rib injury. Recovery was delayed, sleeping was hard for two weeks due to this issue.
I gingerly came back to running at the start of May to train for the Grossglockner 110km race at the end of July. Less than 3 months. That should have been my first sign!
Sessions happened, running happened, all the strength work was being done. I started looking at more detailed race videos and planning the rough timings. My ego said I could do sub 24 hours. There was a small voice that was talking a bit of doubt but shoved it down into my toes.
Then I had a weird calf/plantar issue that came on from a gym session. I managed it, even managed to run the Tea & Trails Ultra with bonus bits. 58km with 2800m in 9.5 hours easy going. No plantar issues. Checked in with physio, worked her magic, gave me exercises. No further issues there. Watched more videos of the race route, got a bit more worried about the technicality of the first half.
The little voice in my toes moved up and was telling me to drop down to the 55km, I slapped it away. My ego was telling me this is the 2nd big race, you are committed you can do this. I adjusted my expectations to 24-26hours. “Just have a fun day in the mountains” was the mantra.
I won’t go into the race in full detail but some low lights are:
We (Dai and I) started our journey at 10pm on Friday night. It had been raining most of the afternoon (nearly every afternoon we had been in Kaprun), but stopped just before the start. The jackets came off as it was warm. I lost Dai ( he ran on ahead) on the first mini climb where I wasted time getting poles out for like 60m.
The ground under foot was already a bit sloppy. There was a 1500m climb up the first aid station, it included traversing under/through a waterfall using chains, some steps and slippy rocks. I didn’t put my jacket on. Error! Oh and it had started raining again.
Then my stomach started to play up. Jacket went on, we continued to climb. Reached the aid, used toilet, had some yummy soup. Put gloves on and pushed on up round a reservoir.
The rest is a bit of blur, lots of boulder fields, some bridges, lots of rocks. Then down hill on rocks and boulders, then mud and slipping, swearing lots.
This was the beginning of the “This is not fun” feelings. I felt tired I felt under prepared to run. People kept passing me. The doubts crept in. The regret, I was also blaming my mood on the weather. It was true that I wanted a nice summer mountain race and this just want delivering. I went knee deep in mud and swore some more.
The truth though is, that I wasn’t fit enough. I kept moving and kept thinking, no big decisions. I made it to the 2nd aid station, 30mins ahead of my schedule and plenty ahead of cut off. Had some more soup and fruit. Re tied my “caked in mud” shoes, thanked the volunteers then headed up another rocky, boulder strewn climb. Poles were useless, I was actually climbing ok and getting fuel in well. Then the 80km fast runners came speeding past me up hill, that was depressing but not unexpected. I must have been moving very slowly. At the top of this climb I just had enough and I looked down at the descent and sighed. It was at this point, I mentally checked out. My frazzled brain really hated not being about to skip down these rocks.
It’s a funny feeling, being content in your choice to quit. I thought I might be annoyed, I mean was super annoyed at the weather. I was annoyed with myself for not dropping down to the 55km, I was annoyed at my lack of fitness. I wasn’t annoyed with my choice to choose fun though and that’s important.
Anyway, I got myself to the water stop near outside a hut. I could have DNF’d there but I wanted to get some of my moneys worth. It was all downhill on nice tracks to the halfway aid anyway. I had some coke and topped up my water. I sent a message to Ale as didn’t want to put it into the group. No signal, no worries I will just run on. Ironically it had stopped raining.
At some point down the track in the lush valley, I got signal and my message was sent but I also got one from Gif in our group chat. She was on the 55 and was telling us all races were cancelled.
Oh the irony! I did have a little chuckle to myself.
My race finished 49km in with 2766m of climbing. A solid 11 hours out. I was still over 2 hours ahead of cut off, which had been reduced to 28 hours total. The route had been changed after this aid a couple of times due to potential adverse weather but the organisers felt with all the rain and temperature drops it was unsafe to have 3 races worth of people go over one section. Fair enough to them, I don’t judge as they are the experts.
So this is me now a couple of weeks on reflecting on how “I need to approach” training for a 100km mountain race.
In 2023 I ran Laverado 120km. It was so close to being a perfect race. If it wasn’t for the stupid leg issue on the last section. That problem has now been sorted with strength training correctly thank gawd! The training block for that race was 6 months. It had a weekend in the lakes, the Maverick Exmoor race (58km 2800m+) and a 4 day training camp in the alps. All these things along with the excellent plan by Sam contributed to this success of this race. The key though is time and exposure to the terrain.
In that race I was full of energy until nearing the end, even in the lows I was able to truck on. Then the highs came back. I was able to run until I couldn’t because of the leg imbalance.
What are the conclusions then?
Do not take these mountain races for granted, just because you have completed events like this before doesn’t earn you the right to be on the start line again. They are bloody hard, fun but they will show your weakness quickly.
Be prepared to go all in again on training. The hard works starts on day 1 of the plan and continues until the end of the race.
I won’t be jumping into a mountain 100km again unless I can have a solid 6 months training block.
Switching from a “hiking” type race to something where I want to run, cannot be done in 3 months!
Listen to that little voice, often it’s right
Leave the ego
Most importantly…choose fun
Will I go back to the Grossglockner ultra? Now I have seen bits of the last part of the course, maybe I will go back and do the 55km…a stunning part of the world, if it’s not raining all the time!
I want to do some more running in 2026! If I pick a mountain race, it will be 50km and it will be so much fun! For now Spine challenger south training awaits.
The Life of Jay Z 