Long/specific run 3:51:00 [2] 31.5 km (7:20 / km) +1886m 5:39 / km
slept:8.5 shoes: Hooka Mafate EVO
My usual 10min prehab session before start
Had a really good night sleep - longer than usual - but still a bit tired when I woke up, and body felt stiff. Even after breakfast and heading out, I felt a bit low on energy, tired and stiff. Don't know why as I had eaten and rested well, but maybe this and last weekend catching up a bit? First two weekends on trails with decent vert.
Anyway - I wasn't dreading the run, but not particularly looking forward to it as I was feeling tired. Despite decent weather the first half hour was hard. Mostly mentally. The flat bit out of Keswick to Millbeck felt slow and I had to focus to get myself going properly. But - as soon as I started the climb up towards Ullock Pike I felt better. The views, going uphill (which I do enjoy) helped lifting my spirit, and it also helped that my body seemed to loosen up. Allthough I felt better it was never an amazing session/run. Got the job done but that's basically it. However - having finished thre run, had a solid lunch and started the drive back home, I felt really good and happy about the weekend overall - and having completed the long run as planned. And in the end - looking at the avg pace now - it was better than I thought. More or less same average as the day before.
For nutrition I increased a little bit from last weekend. Tried a stronger Tailwind "blend" in two of the bottles (300kcal pr bottle) and took a gel every 20-25mins. Roughly 380kcal avg pr hour. No stomach issues. Also tried the naked flavour of Tailwind which I do prefer. Though - I'm still not sure if the combo of Tailwind and Mountain fuel gels will work for 18+ hours. Combined it is a lot of fluids and not only does it fill up your stomach, I had to go for a piss 4 times on the run.... For LL50, no problems at all but TDS is a completely different issue.
Will order a different brand of gels (Can't remember what brand they do at UTMB (if there are gels at the aid stations....) but would be a good idea to test to see if that could work. Could potentially carry less in my vest. Will do some research and order.