My first spontaneous 50mile Ultra Marathon!

 Statistics 

Distance: 50miles

Pace:10:57mm

Time: 9hrs 5mins

After 2 back to back long runs with Jo at the weekend Monday was meant to be a rest day: we are following a training plan. However, we had heavy snow: about 10cm (heavy compared to our regular falling of snow). Still, nothing compared to the Yorkshire dales who have had 2 months of daily snow (and unfortunate floods) with snowdrifts of 8ft tall up the iconic climbs like Fleet Moss. Although the snow was enough to cause disruption to the roads; subsequently, it forced Jo to choose an alternative mode of transport to work. Thus, I suggested we run; she hesitantly agreed as she knew I’d run back and have a long run on our rest day (20miles).

We got up at 5am and set off in the Dark to the Royal Derby hospital, Jo's place of work (a senior clinical paediatric physiotherapist). The roads we incredibly icy and even the a6 had a surprising amount of snow on it despite it being the main road. It put my mind at rest that I escorted her to work safely as some cars were skidding all over the place. The conditions were cold but magical with the street lights illuminating the fresh white snow.

After waving goodbye to Jo and wishing her good luck that the wards were not too busy (the hospitals are currently overflowing with patients due to the Covid 19 pandemic that has been going on for nearly a year), I set back off in the direction of home. The weather was beautiful, cold but so pretty, so I decided to run an alternative route back, offroad to find some picturesque and fresh snow tracks to run around in; I was in luck and found some stunning paths with the sunset gleaming behind me!

It was that much fun I extended the original planned route home by another 10 miles along the popular and picturesque Chevin ridgeline. It is a technical bridleway that fell runners, walkers and cyclists are always present; it provides a beautiful panoramic view over Belper, and it was even more stunning with the white snow everywhere. 

I then decided to go higher up and aim for Alport heights and what a fantastic place and area it was to run when the snow has fallen. The snow was above my ankles, the views went for miles, and you got a sense of running in the middle of nowhere; the roads were impossible to pass by a car, so I had the area to myself. After this I did some long off-road technical descending through my favourite local woods: Ambergate; then I reached home.

I was now at 30 miles, and at the back of my mind, I wanted to aim for 50 miles. The conditions were challenging, very slippy, but just spectacular. Jo and I have been watching multiple inspirational adventures and sporting documentaries of ultra-endurance athletes: The Pennine 268mile run, Bob Graham attempts and the infamous Marathon De Sable. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you perceive it, they prove to be very powerful at influencing my mindset. Consequently, it leads to me thinking my body can tackle anything after watching them and hearing the repeated 'Ultras are 80% mental and 20% Physical'.  Even if I had 10%physical fitness, I knew my mindset was focussed through multiple experiences of endurance events of running and cycling. In light of this, I had a lunch stop at home to refuel and pack a bag; I didn't have enough provisions in my rucksack due to my initial 20mile run to Derby and back. Nevertheless, I braved the snowy outdoors once more to run another 20 miles to get to the magical 50 miles! 

My legs were feeling fresh (I was surprised as I've only been doing 40miles per week training) although, my heart rate was full of adrenaline. Thus, I cautiously brought my HR back down after seeing the watch displaying I was veering into zone 4; an unsuitable intensity for long-distance runs.  Whenever my heart rate rose too much, I would be disciplined to take on some energy. I had tailwind (carb drink) and a couple of jelly babies; these are the only things I eat during long-distance events; it is a proven formula for my temperamental stomach. This was a fabulous tactic as it ensured I constantly kept my energy high and ran at a conservative pace to make my first 50 mile run achievable.

At mile 40, I met Sam: I messaged him during lunch stop that my spontaneous mindset has gone out to do 50 miles and wanted him to keep me company; he didn't bat an eyelid and wasn't surprised at all. This is plausibly a result of me undertaking a similar activity when I cycled a spontaneous 200 miler after an original 100mile I planned. We picked up the pace quite significantly, averaging 9-minute miles for a large proportion of my final section (20% of the run). The last 10 miles flew by with him.

Mile 49

Samuel right/myself left

I have completed my first 50mile ultra run...in the snow...in winter! I'm ecstatic, to say the least, I hadn't planned to do it at all; it was spontaneous without any plans, just running through feel and where I fancied exploring in the snow; it was exhilarating! My body felt great, and my mindset was strong and focussed (endurance events are a mindset). It was an excellent outing, I didn't bonk, I paced a perfect 9hr 5min 50 miler; it included over 1hr stops: lunch and chatting to friends that I bumped into around the area. To summarise, I absolutely loved it; it has inspired me to get back on the ultrarunning scene again after I had fallen in love with cycling for the past years.

50 MILES COMPLETE!

It is making me consider doing a Bob graham round sooner than I planned and I would like to go for a sub 8hr 50 miler now.

Belper Covid Birthday Celebration

Statistics

Distance: The whole of Belper: 100miles

Elevation: 10,259ft

With the recent announcement of lockdown version 3, I wanted to celebrate my 22nd birthday within the remits and regulations subscribed from the government.  Thus I devised a 100mile route throughout Belper which Samuel willingly agreed to join me on (I thought he may have been put off after dragging him out for some repeated 100milers part of my 1000km, Festive challenge the previous week). We turned around at every dead end culdesac, up to every possible hill and car park available to ride a bike. It created one significantly lit up strata map from the highlighted GPS activity and a 99% success rate of riding every road in Belper!

It was a silly, formidable but a  rememberable challenge that has put a positive spin on the relentless Covid 19 pandemic; we had one fantastic day together, thank you to Samuel for joining me for my Birthday and treating me to lunch!