Category: Running

https://www.runthroughtrails.com/beat-box-hill

When a friend asked if I was still running and suggested that we do this race, I wasn’t really that keen to start with. A very hilly and tough half-marathon which wasn’t in my training plan and didn’t really fit into any of my goals, did I really need to do this? But I enjoyed it immensely and am really grateful that they did suggest it. I’ll be looking to do more similar events in future. I’m also very grateful that I took up running and did that first half marathon back in 2022, opening up the possibility of doing events like this.

All my previous races have been on the road, with minimal elevation. I’ve gone into those races planning to set a PR, and have set pace targets to achieve that goal. I’m running looking at my watch, constantly calculating if I’m on target or not, assessing how I’m feeling, wondering if I need to push or back-off. This was completely different.

Around 700m of climbing on muddy trails meant PRs were not ever in question, and really I just wanted to enjoy the run. I couldn’t stop myself setting some sort of goal and had in my mind a 2:15 target, but there was no way to know if I was ahead or behind that target until the last few kilometres so it was academic really.

The weather was really almost perfect. It had been raining earlier in the week but the course wasn’t too muddy at all and there was just a touch of mist in the air. It was cool, not too windy and generally perfect conditions for autumn. Maybe there were good views on the course, I was head down most of the time!

I ran most of the way just on heartbeat and feel, trying to make sure I was under 170 for the first hour. I know from experience that I can red-line for about 40min so needed to stay out of the top zones until later in the race. There was one section around the middle which felt pretty flat and I pulled my pace back then to try to make sure I didn’t blow up. I didn’t try to push the hills, since from my research I understood that it would be a lot more fatigue for not much extra time. I did try to push the downhills a bit more though. I know how much better it feels to finish strong, so I was wary of going too hard too soon.

The race started at the top of Box Hill, with a bunch start. The starting section was quite narrow and also downhill which was a bit frustrating. I didn’t want to start too fast, but I did want to make the most of the downhill and let gravity help me out. After a while though things spread out and we got to the first section of uphill steps in any case. There were several sections of steps and nothing to do on these but walk.

I saw one person on a steep slippery section but generally the course was in good condition. It was mostly well marked as well apart from one section where I started following the 50k course before the marshall turned me around. I was cursing that extra 300m!

The aid stations looked great, but I was carrying 1 litre of DIY energy drink plus a few gels so I didn’t stop at any of them. Would rather reduce the weight I was carrying.

Our course numbers had a basic elevation profile printed on them, and I was trying to look down at that to work out whereabouts I was on the course and how many hills I had to go. I never managed to work it out though and just had to take whatever the course gave me. Walk the steps, and the steep hills but run as much as possible, then open out on the flat and push the downhill as much as safe. Such a difference from a flat road half where you’re constantly looking at the clock and thinking where you are compared to the pace targets. This felt more like a training run really.

So I was feeling really good about the run, legs felt reasonably strong but then I started to get cramps in my calves and shins. This was really annoying and there was nothing much to do except stop and stretch or walk until they went. There was a horrible section of steps towards the end that I went up ok, but the cramp was worse on the flat or downhill. It was frustrating that just when I wanted to open out my legs and stretch for home, I had to walk or do something to get rid of the cramps.

I even had to stop a couple of times when in sight of the finish, just to get my legs to bend properly. But I managed to get across finally in 2:11, so within my target time.

So the lesson for next time is to take more electrolytes before and during the run. Overall though, it was a really fun race. I found not having to worry about the time very liberating. It was one of the hardest races I’ve done though. I saw some blood in my urine later in the day (“runner’s bladder” apparently), and my wife was ill so I was on childcare duty in the afternoon and took the kids into town. I probably should have respected the effort a bit more as I didn’t sleep well and was in bits the next day as we flew away on holiday.

All in all a great experience though. Next time just take more electrolytes, and respect the recovery a little more!

Race Information

• Name: Guildford 10k
• Date: 8 October 2023
• Distance: 10k
• Location: Guildford, Surrey
• Website: https://www.guildford10k.com/
• Time: 44:32

Goals

Goal	Description	Completed?
A	Finish Strong, pace correctly	Yes
B	PR	Yes
C	Sub 44	No

Splits

Training

This is my local race, the course goes down past the end of my road and I was really looking forward to it. I had been entered in it since 2021 I think, but due to COVID, the organisers going bust and other issues it hadn’t been run for several years. I ran the Reigate Half Marathon (https://www.thesearesomethings.com/running/reigate-half-2023/) a few weeks earlier and my plan was to take a week off to recover from that, then do a week of faster stuff and a limited taper to the 10k. It actually took me almost 3 weeks to recover from the half, so that plan had gone out of the window and I did very little running between the events.

Instead I had done some low-impact circuit work, and also gone for long bike rides at the weekend, to try to keep some condition but make sure that my foot and knee issues would let me actually complete the race and enjoy it.

Pre-race

It was great being able to take a gentle 30min stroll down to the start eating a banana and drinking some water, drop my bag off and get ready with little stress. Being 10k I wasn’t too worried about fuelling myself or any logistical issues, so I felt really relaxed at the start. It was an 8am start which actually suited me well considering I normally run early morning. I had also made sure to tape my nipples this time.

The race pack had been sent out earlier so I didn’t have to worry about doing my number or anything either.

I decided to take a different approach to my last two races, and I had come across a quote in Build Your Running Body, along the lines of “it is amazing what you can achieve if you reach the half-way point strong”. The course is out and back, and slightly uphill on the way out. I decided therefore to aim to get to the half-way point at 23 minutes and then see what I could do in the second half. This would make it tough to get under 44minutes considering my 5k PB is 21:07, but maybe I would be ahead of time and the downhill could help me here. I also knew from the half-marathon that I could spend about 45min with my heart rate in the 180s which should be long enough to get me home.

Race

They called us to the start by expected finish time and I was surprised to see how close the 44minute group was to the start. Unsurprisingly, the 10k is more accessible than the half-marathons I was used to, and so I was one of the more serious runners there. I had a gel on the start line, teed up my music (no need for podcasts or audiobooks) and got ready to go. The start of the course is the most uphill so I wasn’t too worried to be behind target in the first k and I saw my lap paces coming in line with what I wanted. I made a conscious effort in the first few k to tell myself that I was enjoying the race and feeling good and I think this positive attitude really helped. My road is about 2.2k into the race so I looked forward to running past the family. I tried to keep the HR under 180, backing off when I saw it getting a bit high. Was great thinking that it was all single digit km to go though.

I took a caffeine bullet at about 4k, I could probably have taken it earlier but I was just feeling really good so held off. I got to the turning point at 23:16, a little behind where I would ideally be, but I was feeling strong so was ready to amaze myself.

It was great coming downhill for the second half of the race. I saw the family again with 2.2k to go and inadvertently knocked over my son while giving him a high-five which gave me something else to think about. Maybe the 7th kilometer was a bit harder and I had to dig a bit deeper, but I was overtaking people and feeling positive. The tunes were good and I was talking to myself most of the way.

The last km is really downhill, and I came through as quick as I could, trying to catch the person in front. I was surprised to see the finish line come up sooner than I expected but I didn’t have much left at the end

Post-race

I felt good post race, again a nice change to not be so spent. I was a bit disappointed with my time as I thought I had a 44:27 PB and so I hadn’t made it, but turns out my PB was 44:57 so I had knocked 30s off it. Caught up with the other 10.8s who were running and went for a PB rumbler and breakfast before walking back home.

Lessons for next time

• Run the race that you have in you that day, listen to your body and be prepared to change plan
• Get to half-way feeling strong and then see what you’ve got – makes for a much more enjoyable race even if you could maybe run a quicker time
• 10k is a fun distance, should maybe do more of them
• 3 weeks is probably the minimum I need between events
• Make sure the Strava beacon thing is working correctly

A great event which I will definitely do next year, assuming they manage to put it on again.

Race Information

• Name: Run Reigate Half
• Date: Sept 17 2023
• Distance: 21.1km
• Location: Reigate, Surrey UK
• Website: https://www.runseries.co.uk/run-reigate
• Time: 1:49:10

Goals

Goal	Description	Completed
A	Sub 1:40	No
B	PB (sub 1:41)	No
C	Finish Strong & Enjoy it	No comment…

Splits

Training

I used a half-marathon plan from Ben Parkes for this event and the training generally went pretty well and I enjoyed the plan and the mix of runs. It had me running further than I ever had before, and doing more volume than I had before but I wasn’t injured and I was able to achieve all the specified paces for the effort sessions. Due to the summer holidays and planned trips, I did miss the last three long runs. I’m ok with that decision, as I chose to prioritise being on holiday with my young family rather than going out for 2hr runs. But I can’t help that think this affected by race performance

So the training went well, up until the last couple of weeks. 10 days before the event (Thursday) I did a double session of run in the morning and 30min strength workout in the evening (as per the plan). I probably pushed the strength work too hard as I was back home so could do Nordic hamstring curls and weighted squats which I hadn’t been able to do while on holiday. Then I was still tight when I went to run on Saturday morning, meaning that I had bad form and that evening was dealing with what felt like some plantar fascitis in my left foot and ITB issues in my right knee. Maybe unrelated, but I also seemed to have got ill – sleeping HR was elevated and I was very snotty and congested. The week of the race I just did two 30 min runs and by Sunday I was hopeful that I had enough miles in the bank from earlier in my training to get me round and to achieve my goals.

Pre-race

I didn’t sleep that well, and then the taxi that I had booked to get me to the station was late so not an ideal pre-race. I got the train on time though and then headed to the event. On the train I ate a banana and a chia flapjack bar and drank a flask of coffee. I normally run fasted first thing in the morning, this event was a bit later but I didn’t want to have too much food inside me. I arrived at the event in plenty of time, picked up my race number and used the toilets before the queues built up.

I had quite a lot of time to kill so tried to relax as much as possible before it was time to head over to the start pen. I’d been weighing up what pacing strategy to follow, in the end I decided to just go with the 1:40 pacers and let them worry about all the pacing. I hoped this would allow me to settle into the run more. The alternative was to try to start slower and run negative splits and also slow on the hills more but I decided that having a group would be more helpful based on my last experience (https://www.reddit.com/r/running/comments/11r5u5y/surrey_half_race_report_learning_lessons/).

The course was hillier than my last half-marathon, but I’d trained more for this one (with the exception of the last couple of weeks) so I hoped that a PR was still a plausible goal.

Race

I felt great at the start, there was music playing and a really good atmosphere. There was a bit of a false start which was weird but then we were underway. The course started with a bit of a hill and the pacers went up it pretty fast, maybe faster than I would have done on my own. I decided to stick with them though rather than changing plan. In hindsight I should maybe have gone slower up and faster down the hills but who knows.

Everything was going pretty well, I tried to not look at my watch too much and just sat behind the pacers hoping they would pull me round. I had a gel at about 33min in, and tried to take water from the water stations. It was quite hot and humid and I was sweating a lot. The water was in paper cups which were difficult to drink from and so I ended up mostly pouring them over myself but my gels were isotonic so I wasn’t too worried.

After about 14km it became clear that I wasn’t going to be able to stick with the pacers much longer. My legs were really heavy and I wasn’t going to be to keep that pace to the end. The last time this had happened I really pushed myself into the pain cave to get round, this time I decided that I would drop the pace right off and treat this as a training race before a 10k that I have in a few weeks. Today wasn’t going to be my day for whatever reason, and so I decided to back off. I tell myself this, but realistically I’m not sure I could have done anything else and my HR was still 180+ for most of the last 7k. I saw the 1:45 pacers go past me but I was really suffering.

Throwing water over myself and the warm conditions meant that my shirt was sodden. This would have bad consequences for my left nipple.

There was one brutal hill right in the last 2k and I pushed hard up this, with some encouragement from the crowd. I was looking forward to cruising down the other side but got cramp in my left hamstring which I’ve not had on a run before. I don’t think the 3 gels and bits of water from the stations was enough for the conditions today.

My right nipple had also bled through my (white) shirt by now. Again not something I’d had before or was expecting, but think it was down to just how wet my shirt was from all the sweat and the water. So a few funny comments from spectators, and shocked looks from children but by this point I just wanted to get to the finish. I tried to smile for the cameras as I came across the finish, but this is the face of a broken man:

Post-race

I couldn’t stop sweating for about 20min after the race. Very tired, despite “backing off” for the last 7k and giving up on the PB. I stretched off, had a couple of beers and headed off. It was a great event, really well organised and a good course. Would be really fun to reach that final hill with something in the tank and then fly up and down it into the finish.

My legs were sore for days afterwards, quads were really sore for about a week. The run also really aggravated the plantar fascitis and ITB issue that I’d picked up the week before the race. Was actually struggling to get down stairs

Lessons for next time:

• Running with DOMS is a bad idea and will impact you long-term. Go easy on the weights if you haven’t done them for a while
• Park the ego, go with the slower pacer group or do own thing and finish stronger for a more enjoyable race
• When it’s hot I need to take my own water + electrolytes and actually drink what’s given out on the course
• Tape / Vaseline / Bodyglide nipples!!

This was a great event though which I’m keen to do again to lay to rest some demons. I’m not sure it’s a PR-friendly course with that big hill at the end, but I imagine there can be an awesome runner’s high coming down the other side if you have paced yourself appropriately