It was with a fair mix of nervousness and excitement that Em and I made our way to Chichester for the start of marathon number 6.
The marathon itself marks the half way point in what has been an amazing adventure so far, taking me to the limits of what I thought I was capable of and then miles past that! I reached the 500 mile point in my training a few days before, and so I am on target for the secondary 1000 mile challenge with a bit of wiggle room should things go pear shaped.
The race itself however was not quite as straightforward as some of the others had been, the race being a trail run and crossing tarmac, gravel, woodland, a field or two, and just for good measure, a mild spattering of hills. I don't usually do a lot of trail running or hill running for that matter, but have always felt quite comfortable with the latter.
I don't know whether any of you have been to the south downs lately, but when I say a "spattering" of hills, I mean that there's not an arwful lot but hills! The elevation is some 5500ft, which is roughly a mile straight upwards. The elevation graph for the South Downs Marathon makes the first Gloucester Marathon look like nothing more than a collection of minor ant hills!
Still, this year and challenge was all about trying new types of races and trying to push myself further and further, and the South Downs would certainly give me the opportunity to do just that!
Prior to the race, I was getting quite concerned with how the weather would pan out. The heat wave a few weeks ago would have made running a bit of a nightmare but luckily the weather was on my side and the course remained suitably dry and cool throughout, with only a light drizzle after I had finished the course.
Em and I had spent some time looking over the course maps to try and sort out where and when she would see me. I have been running with lucozade during my longer runs, which seems to have done the trick in terms of keeping my energy levels up, so we try and make it so that Em meets me every 6-8 miles with a fresh bottle. The problem with arranging this on the South Downs course is that the majority of it is inaccessible by road, which puts a slight spanner in the works. That being said, it all worked out for the best in the end!
The race itself was a very well organised event and larger than I thought it would be, but in some respects was quite a lonely race. I have found previously, in Orpington especially, that running in a group or a few groups throughout the race has made the the course fly by all that quicker, but this most recent installment was quite solitary from the get go. Those people that I did get the chance to speak where absolutely amazing, both in terms of their personalities and their achievements. I had the pleasure of speaking to one guy who was running his 500th marathon, another that was running his 47th marathon this year, and whilst I didn't get to talk to him, I did see a guy running it in bare foot! All of these providing great examples that I'm not quite insane yet!!
The first 10 miles of the race passed fairly quickly and I was feeling very strong when I reached the half way mark. My training lately has been more tempered that it was at the start of this challenge, and I think it has done me a world of good, perhaps I should start listening to people more often!!
Had a bit of drama just after the half way mark when I misplaced my foot going down hill and twisted my hip. A few days on and the pain has pretty much resolved, so it wasn't anything serious, but during the race it did give me a bit of stick.
Part of the challenge of the race was the down hill sections, which was a massive test of coordination and balance, two things which I apparently lack! The trail portions consisted of mainly small rocks and rubble, and so when you're heading down a steep hill at an increasingly uncontrollable speed, the probability of something going wrong starts getting higher and higher!
Before the race I thought that the hills were going to be bad, much worse than I had encountered before, but I entirely under-estimated the sheer scale of the South Downs. I had approached the race with the game plan of walking up the majority of the larger hills, which I soon realised would be all the highs, which turned out to be a blessing. Towards the end of the race I still had a fair bit left in the tank for the latter stages of the race, and even managed a sprint finish!
Overall, the race was an amazing experience with a great crowd at all of the check points. Having dipped my toes into trail running, I think I may look towards doing it more in the future as I liked the variation of the course, which helped to split up the distance into bite sized pieces.
With 6 marathons now done, I am "over the hill" so to speak, and looking forward to counting down the remaining races as they come. I am moving to Cardiff at the end of the month and so will be trying to join a new local running club with the hope of getting my training on track to try and improve both my long and short distance running ability.
Thanks for taking the time to read this blog, and as ever, if you've got any questions, comments, suggestions, complaints, rants, or anything really, just drop me a line!
Hope you're all well!
