On Saturday Carl and I took part in the Pilgrim Challenge a 33 mile run across the North Downs Way from Farnham to Merstham. This was to be the first real test of my running fitness and an opportunity to try out my new Raidlight waist belt which I think I'll be using on the UTMB. I had fairly big reservations about this run as Carl and I had not done anywhere near enough running - a few 9 mile runs home, a couple of 8 mile runs along the river and only one 10 mile run each did not look nearly enough for 33miles of trail running! Having not run over 15 miles in one go since Namibia last May this looked like it may have been a step too far too soon! Anyway we started well and found a good rhythm, conditions were pretty muddy which made the downhills and uphills a little bit more exciting!
There were loads of people on the race training for the MDS and a few for Atacama - you can spot the MDS lot from a mile away as they all use the Raidlight back pack! As always on these things people who pass you will chat and discuss what you're training for and encourage you and we were also doing the same with those we passed. I gave the Atacama lot the benefit of my Racing the Planet experience!! Ha ha - not sure if that helped them or not though I did see them all finish as a group later in the day so clearly didn't put them off completely! I told them to look out for the girls of Team Good Sport.
It turned out that trying new kit out over long distances for the first time is not the best idea! By the time we reached checkpoint 2 my powders had exploded in my bag covering everything and my back was being rubbed raw and I could feel a little blood on my hips from where the waist belt was rubbing. I kind of felt this made it a better test as I am absolutely sure I'll be in a whole world of pain for most of the UTMB!
Despite going off the North Downs Way twice (!!) and giving ourselves and extra couple of miles to run for our troubles we actually did much better than expected, the legs kept going even through the thigh burning climb up Boxhill and the thought of being done and dusted in time for England vs Wales in the 6 Nations helped us fly through the last 6 miles. We ended up completing the course in under 7hrs putting us 34th out of 90 odd starters. Given that I honestly thought our legs would go and we might not finish at all this was pretty pleasing and sets up my training for the UTMB quite nicely!
More importantly we made it home, picking up GBK burgers on on the way, and were in front of the tv in time to see the English beat the Welsh all washed down with a couple of cold beers! Perfect day!
Next event is the Jurassic Coast challenge, 3 marathons in 3 days on the coastal path (more hills!).
There were loads of people on the race training for the MDS and a few for Atacama - you can spot the MDS lot from a mile away as they all use the Raidlight back pack! As always on these things people who pass you will chat and discuss what you're training for and encourage you and we were also doing the same with those we passed. I gave the Atacama lot the benefit of my Racing the Planet experience!! Ha ha - not sure if that helped them or not though I did see them all finish as a group later in the day so clearly didn't put them off completely! I told them to look out for the girls of Team Good Sport.
It turned out that trying new kit out over long distances for the first time is not the best idea! By the time we reached checkpoint 2 my powders had exploded in my bag covering everything and my back was being rubbed raw and I could feel a little blood on my hips from where the waist belt was rubbing. I kind of felt this made it a better test as I am absolutely sure I'll be in a whole world of pain for most of the UTMB!
Despite going off the North Downs Way twice (!!) and giving ourselves and extra couple of miles to run for our troubles we actually did much better than expected, the legs kept going even through the thigh burning climb up Boxhill and the thought of being done and dusted in time for England vs Wales in the 6 Nations helped us fly through the last 6 miles. We ended up completing the course in under 7hrs putting us 34th out of 90 odd starters. Given that I honestly thought our legs would go and we might not finish at all this was pretty pleasing and sets up my training for the UTMB quite nicely!
More importantly we made it home, picking up GBK burgers on on the way, and were in front of the tv in time to see the English beat the Welsh all washed down with a couple of cold beers! Perfect day!
Next event is the Jurassic Coast challenge, 3 marathons in 3 days on the coastal path (more hills!).
