Training Log Archive: RunarS

From Pooley Bridge to Troutbeck. Had a full backpack w/3 bottles of tailwind, gels, some extra food and clothing. Heavier than it would normally be for a race.

Really good night sleep - 8 hours, woke up 6am by myself, no alarm.

Was a bit worried before yesterday evening - that the run from Ambleside to Coniston might have been sligthly faster/harder than ideal, and if that + the other sessions in the Lakes, would make my legs stiff and sore from the start. But it was thge oposite. I felt really good. All the stiffnes in my calfs that I felt beofre the start yesterday was gone, and I felt positive and happy to get going. A bit later than I wanted really, but the first bus from Troutbeck to Pooley Bridge wasn't until 9:50.
First 20-25km went well, with the first 8km very easy runable - with a small climb, and then the longest climb of the course. Which I always quite enjoy. The run on top of the fells down to the reservoir the same - enjoyable and calm, nice weather. Had forgotten how much I dislike the run alongside the reservoir and into Mardale head though. It is long, boring and I never seem to get into a good rhythm here. The trail start off being really nice, runable single track, but then it just turns into this trail that seem runable when you look at a map, but that changes continously and breaks your stride and rhythm- No real climb but steep annoying little hills. And Mardale head never seems to get any closer.... Very happy when that was over and I could start the climb up to the pass. Was starting to feel it though, and I guess that preivous day(s) were catching up with me and allthough I thought I started of a very comfortable pace in the morning, I had probably gone of slightly too fast. This is the longest I've run in training for quite some time, and with the full packpack added to that, I started to feel a bit sluggish. Kept a decent pace down to the bootom of the valley and across to Kentmere, but the last climb between Kentmere and Troutbeck was hard going. At this point I was quite happy that it was only a few km left. Finished the downhill section and got to the car at about the time I had predicted. So all in all - decent pace and a good day out, but I am definitely not in peak trail shape yet...hahaha. No surprise. But good to be back out for a long run with decent climb again.

I upped my intake of carbs on this run, emptying all three bottles of tailwind (600kcals) and taking a gel every 25mins (Total of 8 - 650kcal), roughly 315kcal pr hour average. So that is approx 75kcal more pr hour than I've done previously on similar training runs and in races. No stomach issues but would this be sustainable for another 10 or even 15 hours? Not sure about that. Also - I was really fed up with the flavour of both the tailwind and the gels (lime and coca cola w/caffein - the last 4) in the end. Need to try different options. Might also opt for the non-flavoured tailwind to see if that feels better. Salt tablet did not arrive before the weeken (got them now) so did not have the chance to try them either.

Even though I felt tired for the last 10-15km, I still enjoyed (most) of the run. And on average for the two days, the pace overall was similar to a 7h30ish min finish, allthuogh the effort was definitely not sustainable for 80km yesterday.

Also tried the Peregrine 10 for this one - to see if they could be an option for longer races. No - definitely not. They are good for shorter trainings but they do rub my acchiles and the side of my ankle a bit, and over time it get quite annoying. Might be better over time - when worn in. But my initial thought is that these will be for shorter 60-90mins training runs.