Ultraks: My Review

Gornergrat (3,100 metres above sea level) - 13km into Ultraks
 

It's been almost 2 weeks now since I ran the Matterhorn Ultraks in Zermatt, Switzerland - one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places on earth. I've recovered and had time to reflect on a race I will never forget. I say race - this was about survival; reaching the finish line in one piece, or at all!

It was very hard to prepare for Ultraks. 3,600 metres of ascent and descent across 46km was a challenge that was going to test my everything. So, a fortnight before Zermatt, I dragged my girlfriend, my brother, and his girlfriend camping to Wasdale in the Lake District to run up Scafell Pike - the tallest place we could drive to for a quick weekend away. At just shy of 1,000 metres high, I managed twice up and down - feeling slightly more confident by the end about the prospect of Sunnegga, Gornergrat, and Schwarzsee 14 days later. 

At the top of Skafell Pike - as you can see, the view was fantastic

When race day came I felt nervous. Probably more nervous about completing a race than any that I've done before. There, behind the starting line, I stood amongst the world's best sky runners - Kilian Journet, Emelie Forsberg, Luis Alberto Hernando, Phillip Reiter - it was easy to feel intimidated. 

It took me 8 km to settle down and to start enjoying the run, by which time I'd seen the sun rise over Sunnegga, after 600 metres of ascent, and experienced an incredible 65 minutes of running in the shadow of the Matterhorn. Words, and even photos, don't do justice to just how grand and stunning the scenery looked as I ran up through wooded trails and along the rocky tracks.

By 20 km, 2 of the 5 peaks had passed - Gorgergrat with the highest ascent of the day, surrounded by snow, ice and cheering spectators, many who'd taken the train from Zermatt to support us - but what followed almost floored me. The ascent up to Schwarzsee, a mere 700 metres, felt like it was vertical, and the 5km must have taken me almost an hour and 50 minutes. Feeling deflated, and knowing at this point that I still had 20km to go, a DNF felt like an attractive way out. And it may well have happened if it wasn't for my girlfriend at the peak, who'd secretly travelled there in the morning to cheer me on, and cheer me up!

From Schwarzsee, after a 5 minute break to eat and drink from the checkpoint, I made my way downhill towards the 30km mark. The funny thing about running up and down mountains across such a long distance is how much I came to look forward to the change in terrain. After 5 km uphill, with thighs screaming, I found myself longing for the downhills - and a chance to switch muscle groups. Several km later, and I found myself longing for the uphills (the relief didn't tend to last long!).

The final 10km of the race took in a checkpoint at Trift, and some meandering trails that passed a waterfall, and navigated around the edge of plunging valleys - with Zermatt visible in the distance. Seeing Zermatt was comforting, but still seemed so far away, even approaching the final few km! The crew at the final checkpoint were amazing, filling my bladder for me, passing food my way and offering up a massage. This kindness was incredibly motivating at such a late stage in the race, when my emotions were already taut.

Leaving Trift just as the rain started to fall, I knew it was 8km to home, and it went by fairly quickly in comparison to the race so far. A few choice songs on my iPod and I was able to pick up a little speed, helped by a drop of 700 metres over 3 km.

With the finish line in sight, and the rain falling heavily by now, my emotions were running almost as fast as my feet. I crossed the line, in the centre of Zermatt, after 7 hours and 50 minutes of running.

Ultraks, with it's beauty and it's devastating difficulty, will stick with me forever.

Meeting my idols

A final thanks once again to Men's Running, and Scott Running, for the entry into Ultraks. I would never have done this without their opportunity.

Skyrunner!

A week and a half on from my seventh marathon of the year, and I'm looking ahead to my next! It's 3 and a half weeks until I face the tough mountains of the Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland. I'm pretty nervous about this one... 3,300 meters of ascent and descent will be more than I've ever done before; and the profile of the course is aggresively up and down! This type of race is also known as Skyrunning - awesome.
In preparation I'm heading up to the Lake District a fortnight before the challenge to test my legs on Skafell Pike. At just shy of 1,000 meters, three times up and down should do the trick...! Gulp.
It's going to be an amazing experience, and I can only imagine the views. Zermatt is famous for not allowing any cars to drive into the town (unless they're eco-friendly electric cars!), so the pollution and noise is going to be about as minimal as it could be.
I'd like to thank Mens Running magazine, and Scotts for this too. I won a place in the 46 km race through the magazine, and Scotts will be looking after me when I'm there as the main sponsor for the event. They've also posted me a t shirt, which I've been testing out this week, and a pair of trail shoes which I'm heading out into Hampstead Heath with tomorrow morning.
Wish me luck!

To finish this blog post where I started, my seventh marathon was on the trails of Hertfordshire. I ran the Fairlands Valley Marathon, organised by local Stevenage running club, the Fairlands Valley Spartans.
The race was interesting! Rather than a marked course, competitors were given written directions (turn left at the set of trees, follow the fence and then bear right acros the field...) and off we went! To further confuse my directionless brain, the marathon ran alongside 12, 18 and 50 km races. Needless to say, at mile 22, an Ultrarunner behind me yelled "mate, the path goes this way!" and off I trotted on a half hour, 3 mile, detour. Realising my mistake, unsurprisingly, led to feeling demoralised and tired, and with 4 miles still to go, when I should have had one. I still managed to pull out 18th place (out of 155), so it could have been worse, and of course I should say that for the most part the course was very pretty - taking me through woods and cross country trails. My highlight: running through a beautiful village called Datchworth, where my Grandparents lived while they were still alive. I haven't been back there since, and running through was quite emotional.
I will be back next year, when I plan to run with a vengance and win the race!

Back on Track

This is a long overdue post; a lot has happened since the last time I wrote.

South Downs Marathon (marathon number 6!)
This was a fantastic run. The scenery was inspiring, the route was amazing, and the people incredibly friendly. I will definitely be going back.
For the overall day, this has been my favourite marathon of the year so far.














June
June was a weird month. I had a couple of bad weeks - with Glastonbury to blame for no running for 5 days (as well as a lot of drinking!); but the fortnight since has been pretty good, and I'm on track to run over 50 miles this week.
I also had some pretty good experiences during June:
- Mark Hines talking about ultra marathons! His trek across the Yukon was incredible, as is the ultramarathon through the Brazilian jungle
- Barefoot Ted was incredibly funny. He spoke to us (Peter joined me for this talk) about his story of getting into barefoot running, before taking us on a jog around Green Park. I've never seen so many Vibram wearings in one small place before...!
- Sean Conway was my favourite talk. Organised by the amazing charity My Million to One, Sean gave a hugely inspiring, and incredibly motivating, talk about his experiences cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats, cycling around the world, and of his plans to swim from LE to JO'G - which is now underway. Also, and perhaps most importantly, he's ginger.

To top off June, I've won 2 competitions! Primal Lifestyle ran a competition to win a pair of new season Vibrams. They enjoyed my story about how I got into barefoot running so much that they gave me the prize, which arrived today! The second was entry into the Ultraks marathon in Zermatt Switzerland in August, organised by Men's Running. It's going to be a crazy race - 3,300 meters of climb and the same descent around the Matterhorn mountain range. Wish me luck!

My final note is to say yet again that I love running around Hampstead Heath. I had a great 10 mile run yesterday with my running club, the Mornington Chasers, and tonight I ran a further 11 miles with Peter up around the woods and down through the extension. Good fun.

Oh, and I've decided that doing the aeroplane across the finish line of a race is a good way to end a marathon :-)

Lost: Running Mojo. If found please return to 12-Months 12-Marathons...

Mojo, where did you go?
Was it because of the Edinburgh Marathon?
Was it because my knee hurt this week?
Was it because I had my prized Garmin stolen?
Surely you're not getting tired of running marathons already? We're not even half way through the year!

Whatever the reason I'm pleased you're making a return - I've missed you! This week has felt stressful without you.
Perhaps all you needed was a 9 miler around a sunny Hampstead Heath this weekend. Perhaps you just needed an early night? I know the incredible kindness of Peter, who bought me a replacement Garmin, helped a lot. He's an incredibly selfless individual.
Maybe I just realised that the only way to find you again is to go for a run?

In any case, I have a treat for you. A Chi running session with Gray Caws tomorrow evening, and perhaps a session at the track on Thursday (watching, not running) while some fasties leg it around at breakneck speed.
Then, on Saturday I have marathon number 6 for you. So soon you ask? Edinburgh was only a week ago?! Yes, but the South Downs Marathon is a trail marathon - you like trail marathons.
Then, as if that wasn't enough, the day after you've got a City Trail event run by Salomon, featuring on hand help from Mark Hines - the explorer you're going to see on the 17th June.

If that doesn't bring you back, we're screwed.

Hampstead Heath in the sunshine this weekend. Can't not love it.

Edinburgh

5 down!
(7 to go...)
This weekend was the Edinburgh Marathon. It was my slowest time so far this year, with 3 hours 51 minutes 31 seconds - a full 31 minutes slower than I ran my PB in Paris, but one of the most scenic. The route followed the coast for the majority of the run, looping through a small wood at 18 miles before heading back to the finish. It is very similar to the Brighton marathon route actually, which I ran 2 years ago.
On the downside I didn't feel too prepared for this marathon. While I'd told myself I should go easy on this run anyway (considering I'm almost halfway through the year and have the South Downs Marathon a fortnight later), an aching right knee and tender feet meant this was enforced. Because accomodation was so expensive we (Kate and I) also decided to get an overnight coach to Edinburgh. Running a marathon can be hard, but after a bad nights very interrupted sleep sitting upright on a coach, it can be a little tougher!
I'm not overly concerned by this - I was very aware that some marathons would be quick, and some would be slow. If I take anything from Edinburgh, it's that I need to sleep well, and prepare well (mentally and physically) before a marathon.
I'm much more excited about my next marathon, being that it's a trail run along the South Downs, and imagine I'll bounce back well from this weekend.


As an afterthought; I've been watching a lot of Barefoot Ted YouTube videos this week. If you've read Born to Run this will mean something to you, and if not, in a nutshell, he's one of the most prolific barefoot runners in the world. He's worth checking out, and if you like what you see then you could always head out to the Barefoot Connections Conference in late June.
And despite not wanting to make this post unnecessarily long - if you don't know who Kilian Journet is, then please search his name in YouTube too! He's an incredibly talented ultra runner, winning the Zegama Skyrunner marathon in Northern Spain this weekend. He's a real inspiration to watch running.

A Week of 2 Halves, and 38.44

38.44.
My time at last weekends Wheathampstead 10k! And, a personal best, personal record, record time - however you want to call it.
It was a great race, and a great day. I ran well - with a 10 second slower middle mile (during the ascending part of the course), but otherwise relatively consistent pacing. The sun was out, I had about 10 friends also running, and we followed it up with a BBQ. Perfect.
I feel that I can attribute my PB to a number of things, but first and foremost I believe it was largely in my mind. I know this route; I know the hills; I know the finish line; and I know what to expect. I think the 'homecoming' aspect of the run motivated me more than the training I'd achieved - in fact I didn't feel like my training had gone that well!
Overall I was a little surprised to achieve a PB. I ran a 10k a little over a month ago in Regents Park - a flat course - and was 25 seconds slower there than I was last weekend. My lasting feeling, as a result, is a satisfied warm feeling, very content with my new record.

The title of this post relates to the latter part of this week; we were burgled on Thursday night.
Aside from the feelings of invasion, and the monetary loss, the burglary is relevant to this blog because they stole both my Garmin watch and my iPod shuffle. I loved that Garmin, and had only owned it since Christmas. Since then I've used it on average about 8 or 9 times a week, with my cycling and running back and forth to work and my long weekend runs. I will miss that Garmin!

Wheathampstead 10k

I am very excited! Tomorrow is the Wheathampstead 10k, and I'm really looking forward to hitting home soil to try and beat my PB!
...whether I'll do this or not, I'm not entirely sure however! My training this week has been a bit hit and miss. On the plus side I ran my fastest run to work to date (5.3 km in 21 minutes 30 seconds); but on the down side I got quite drunk on Wednesday and Thursday and didn't get great sleep - neither particularly conducive to a PB. I tried to promise myself I'd be good, but the combination of a new starter on my team at work, and a gig meant that my plan went out of the window!
Whether I beat my PB or not, I know it's going to be a great race. I love the scenery of Wheathampstead, and the history of the race for me makes it equally important. They've changed the course this year to (hopefully) make it a better event. In previous years there's been an annoying little loop of the playing fields when you're within site of the finish. It can be quite demoralising when you think you're done! I think the new course could work well, but it will mean running the last 3km along the same track as the first - and I'm not normally a fan of out and back routes for this reason. It will also mean we don't run along the river, a particularly pleasant part of previous years. However - the additional part of the course at halfway will see us running through bluebell woods, so I'm sure this will make up for it!

To top off what should be a great race (PB or otherwise) I've managed to convince about 15 people to join the race, and will be BBQing back at Chez Ben afterwards. What a great way to spend a Sunday!