Chris and I got around in 7:29 a couple of years ago, and ideally we'd have liked to have done it faster this year. I'd been concentrating a fair amount on the bike for the Dirty Reiver, so my running mileage has been a bit low in these past few months, which might turn out to be a bit of an issue. Having said that, we did a 21 mile recce a couple of weeks ago which was fine... but was then followed by being laid up in bed with cold/flu for a day and generally feeling pretty rubbish for the proceeding 2 weeks.
The 2 weeks leading up to the race.
Up at 4 for the drive to Chris's house and then onward to Langdale. Weather fairly decent. Good cloud coverage, no rain, not too much in the way of sun - it looked like being a decent day for a run.
We started at a ridiculous pace. I mean, ridiculous. Up over Silver Howe at a rate of knots- this is the bit that we always forget is there- the leg softener before the real hills begin.
The first thing I noticed was that I couldn't breathe through my nose as my sinuses were still blocked. Not so good. Then my hamstrings felt as tight and painful as ... well, I've never known them to be like that at all, ever. In the first, what, not even 4 miles in the race and my legs feel deathly and I can't breathe properly.
And we're going at what feels like a heck of a pace. (it might not have been, but having to breathe through my mouth, with a constant stream of snot coming out of my nose, it really felt like it).
Down into Grasmere we're playing around in 2nd/3rd place (definitely too fast), and then the climb up to Dollywagon where we dropped a couple of places. Up to Hellveyln, still not feeling amazing into the mist, Chris *says* that he feels like he is suffering and really doesn't look like it.... this might be a long day.
Down off Hellvelyn and my legs don't feel like theyre on all cylinders, but we still get down in good time, along and across the road and up to Wythburne- a long drag which might end up being a real hard point of the race. I decided that I might not be taking in enough food, so started to take in a bit more food (at this point, I'd drunk through more water than I would normally take on in a whole race- partially because my mouth was so dry from not being able to nose breath, and partially because of the rising humidity).
I felt awful.
Nothing to do but plough on and up. Around the bog and upward to the contour around and down to Stakes pass... the descent was hard. The legs felt empty, and as if to prove it, Chris was faster than me down the hill. That NEVER happens. I was aghast! Bad stomach issues, legs not working, and even the thing that doesn't desert me - the ability to go down hill- was gone.
Shocker.
Up and over to Angle tarn and my hip flexors are coming close to cramping, so much so that my abs are now working to flex my hips, meaning that I'm coming dangerously close to cramping abs (which is hilarious, if you don't know, so long as you aren't the one experiencing it).
Angle Tarn. The place to pull out if you're going to do it anywhere as it is a simple jog down the hill to Langdale.
It didn't even cross my mind.
Tangfastics and ANOTHER waterbottle refill (?!) off up to Esk Hause and Scafell Pike- which was crazy crazy busy. This took quite a while, but we were still moving forward. Chris was being a real gent and not bashing off up ahead leaving me trailing behind. The teams around us were moving well and even sneaky navigational lines weren't gaining us any time. (to be fair, they might have stopped us losing time though).
Top of scafell pike and a fairly decent line off - (though there appears to be a better one... needs reccying again), and then the descent where Chris was quite happily bimbling along next to me. (the indignity!) Legs really not happy, abs holding so hard that breathing - hard at the best of times through the nose was now being restricted at the lung level as well (nice). Add to that feeling sick from the taking on of so much water and food... this is not turning out to be an easy day.
I'm hanging now.
Chris later said this is the place where he really felt he could forge on. Unfortunately for Chris, this was where all I could think about was not making my steps so small and slow that I didn't stop altogether. The team we were with at this point, went on to claim 4th. I ended up going slower and slower, but the agony ended as we topped out and headed across to the Old Man of Coniston. Well, I say that the agony ended, but really, it just continued in a different format.
Across to the Old Man and back was fairly ok, punctuated by me having to remove a stone from my shoe. (I did think I was being a bit of a wuss having to do that, until I saw the offending stone was actually the size of the end of my little finger). Not the greatest line off and down to 3 shires stone (but we did get a flypast from an Apache), more water for a parched throat, and off down the road.
Blea tarn came and went, with support from a hugely enthusiastic Alice Willson (who, by rights probably should have been a little nearer to a hospital, having been due to give birth the day before), and then the final trundle down the Langdale valley to the end.
7th overall and 7:41(ish).
Missed out on a mug by a place, but to be honest, I was going as fast as I could given the circumstances. A few lessons learned - when you haven't quite got over a cold and still have sinus issues, breathing becomes a lot harder (and thus if you're mouth breathing, thirst becomes a real problem... even if you don't actually need to drink).
I can ALWAYS eat tangfastics, and I wonder if the sour taste helps stave off cramp (as I was on the edge for quite a lot of today).
Nothing trains you for running, like running.
What was up with my hamstrings? I have no idea.
Even going off too fast, I was still able to keep moving... stopping was not an option. .
Despite all these things, feeling shocking for a good portion of the race etc, we were still only 12 mins off out previous best time, when I was feeling good. Interesting food for thought in terms of the ability to keep going at an even pace when in a dark place.
Still, the nice thing about the OCT is that is it ALWAYS a stonking day out in the hills, covering a lot of ground and a lot of terrain. The challenge is part of the reason we do these things.
Thanks to Achilli Ratti for organising such a stand up event. An old school fell race, and long may it stay that way.
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