Training Log Archive: GD44

Event: The Fellsman
 

The Fellsman

First attempt at this iconic ultra fell race. I only heard about it in 2014 and decided it would be the longest ultra that I would to in 2015.

Fantastic event with great organisation. 24 checkpoints in all over a very hilly and boggy course. I felt strong in the first 30 miles but I slowed down quite a bit in the second half. Check out the 10 mile splits below:

mi	split	time	mph	ahr	max
10	02:01:54	02:01:54	4.9	136	152
20	01:52:49	03:54:43	5.3	138	149
30	02:32:28	06:27:11	3.9	126	143
40	02:26:27	08:53:39	4.1	120	132
50	02:47:46	11:41:25	3.6	115	127
60	02:48:29	14:29:53	3.6	107	124

I was targetting a time of between 15 and 16 hours so I would have taken a time of 14.5hrs before the race. However I thought I was on for a sub 14hr time half way around! Always a next time!

Weather
0830-1430 Intermittent rain
1430 - 1600 Sleet and snow (Blea Moor, Stonehouse, Great Knoutberry)
1600 - Dry with clear skies

Kit
Inov8 22 rucksack
La Sportiva Raptors - good cushioning. Good compromise between grippy fell shoes and comfort. Little slippy on the descents but comfy.
X Socks Trek Lite
Montane tights
Endurancelife short sleeve tech tee
Endurancelife arm warmers
Montane featherlite gilet
Montane Air waterproof jacket - wore it for the majority of the event
Montane Atomic 2 w/p trousers - wore from Stonehouse CP
Montane gloves - wore for about 2 hours when sleet/snowing
Myo XP headtorch
750ml Radlight bottle

Other kit carried not worn
Helly Hansen l/s baselayer
Other l/s baselayer
Montane insulated top (red one)
dry bag to hold everything
first aid kit
emergency shelter - big orange heavy one (300g) as I thought the ultralight weight ones were not allowed. Mistake - take Adventure Medical Kit type on next time.

Nutrition
Mandatory 300g emergency rations (6 packs of CLIF shot bloks) - for emergency use only
2 x CLIF Shot bloks
2 x CLIF gels

I had worked out approx periods between the feed stations in advance of the race and written them on the 10 pages of course maps that I had prepared and laminated before the race. So I grabbed some food at each of the feed stations (approx 1.5hr apart). Tried to stick by the 60g Carbs/hr rule but probably failed.

Points for next time
Take waterproof mitts to cover gloves to avoid getting them wet.
Take diagonal footpath on approach to Dent
Take more direct route up Dodd Fell? Some others did. I lost a few minutes here as I started following somebody else who went too far along the track before turning right.
Take a line further south between Yokenthwaite Moor (Middle Tongue) CP and Hell Gap CP. Those following the southern wall were much faster. Head for gap in first wall then head directly east to wall junction. The follow wall east to track, then north up track.
Take more direct line from SD964774 & SD965767 (or even from further back at Memorial Cross). Others were flying past me on this line.
From SD999714, leave corner in fence and head directly to footpath, then left along it to avoid long slog through babies heads direct route.

C • Good effort. 2

C • Fleet Moss to Middle Tongue 2

Ride to work

5min warm up on treadmill

Lower body stretches with long holds

Pull ups - 7, long break, 7, long break, 7

First time in gym for over a week. Felt good.

Ride home

MDC Tuesday Night Training Run - Cwm Lickey

My quads were struggling a little tonight but pushed anyways as I hadn't done much in the last 2 days.

Large group out tonight...some long stops waiting for the tail to catch up but this improved as the the tail took shorter routes back.

Beautiful warm evening.

My food order got missed at the Queen Inn so I cancelled it and had Pie & Chips from the chippy when I got home! :-)

Run from car park to arena

British Orienteering Relay Champs - Forest of Dean (Cannop Ponds)

Race Map

I was teamed with Adrian Moir (Bwlch) and Laurence Snowden (Llangorse). I ran leg 1 and started in a mass start with over 100 people!

We finished in 17th place out of 31 teams.

18 people did course 3-ACB (Length 5.3km, 135m climb, 18 controls)

I made several errors which contributed to my slow time:

S>1: Got caught in a narrow trail through a dense woodland. I was unable to pass the others in front and ended up walking. Small issue. My time: 2:52 (12th). Fastest time: 1:59
1>2: Not bad. 4:48(7th). Fastest: 3:16.
2>3: Not bad. 2:22 (5th). Fastest: 2:06.
3>4: Ran around the dense woodland. I hadn't paid enough attention to the checkpoint illustrations. I was looking for the checkpoint at the top of the knoll but it was actually on the west side out of sight. Lost 1m. 3:59 (14th). Fastest 2:26.
4>5: Biggest mistake. For some reason I was looking at 5>6 and the map wasn't matching the ground. I lost 5 minutes! 8:45 (17th). Fastest: 3:02.
5>6: Not bad. 3:27 (11th). Fastest: 2:13.
6>7: Not bad: 1:31 (3rd). Fastest: 1:14
7>8: OK but probably should have gone around the back of the knoll instead of over it. 2:13 (12th). Fastest 1:10
8>9: I decided to take the non-direct route and go back onto the track and then back down to the CP. I went for the wrong CP but soon spotted the correct one about 50m away. 3:37 (14). Fastest 1:54. Lost about 30s.
9>10: Not bad. 1:37 (3rd). Fastest 1:21
10>11: 3:20 (3rd). Fastest 2:45.
11>12: 2:28 (12th). Fastest 1:29. I hadn't gone far enough to get this one. The vegetation boundary line on the map didn't seem to match the match what was on the ground. Lost over 30s.
12>13: 3:02 (3rd). Fastest 2:41
13>14: 1:04 (2nd). Fastest 1:02
14>15: 3:35 (16th). Fastest 1:31. Had a stinker on this one. Good line in. Misread the code on the CP so carried on to another. Code was wrong, realised my mistake and had to double back! Lost 1:40.
15>16: Not bad. 0:46 (4th). Fastest 0:38.
16>17: Not bad. 0:29 (4th). Fastest 0:24.
17>18: I got fastest leg to last CP with 2:26! Second fastest was 2:31.
18>F: 0:58. This doesn't really count as it occurred after the handover to the leg 2 runner in any case.

If I hadn't made the mistakes I probably would have saved myself 8:40. So I would have done it in about 45 mins.

My HR belt came loose after a few minutes so disregard HR. I've put my HR in zone 2 for the entire event but probably spanned Z1-Z3.