Wendover 100 - The race that I was never going to do

Wendover Woods is a pretty special place for me; I love it up there and have spent many a happy hour jogging around while the dog chases squirrels and gets lost. So at some point in the past, running the Wendover 50 seemed like a sensible thing to do. After I finished it for the second time, I knew that I didn't have a 6th lap in me, and wondered why the hell anyone would run 10 times around that loop .

But it was a race which kept looking at me and waving and I realised that I needed to get it done so that I knew, once and for all, if I had it in me. By the time I rocked up in Trig field on Fri 07 July and saw the Centurion flags flying, I felt super excited and ready to go, I had UTS in my legs and was feeling recovered from various hurty bits. This feeling was magnified after a bit of time wandering around and chatting to all the folk getting prepped; only 30 runners and many familiar faces, it felt really special.

James had done a pre-race write up in which he mentioned that he had only ever given out 5 sub 24 belt buckles. Something fired up inside of me and I couldn't stop thinking about it; I did the maths and I didn't think it was possible but it kept smoldering.....and I kept wondering! I knew that I couldn't plan for 10 exact loops like I had done with the 50 because the wheels always fall off. I knew that I can comfortably do 2 hour loops running well within myself. What I didn't know was what 5 of them would do to me and how that would affect the last few laps. So I planned to just run within myself and see what happens which is probably the most race planning I have ever done. My watch had stopped working properly the week before so I hoped to use it as just a watch to tell me the time in the last lap (it didn't even last that long), I avoided looking at the timer at the trig point CP so as to avoid 'you are going too slow' or 'you are going too fast' thoughts. I put my ipod on and locked myself in a little bubble, ignoring the world around me, not giving myself the opportunity to realise what I was doing.

I have divided that route into power walking bits (up the hills), jogging/shuffling bits (e.g. from the back of Hale up to the start of the hill-with-no-name-which-now-has-a-name and then proper running (anything slightly downhill). I knew I could do this for 5 laps and hoped to do it for at least 6 which I managed. By lap 7 the jogging bits became jogging and power walking; I often just do 5/6 paces jog, 5/6 power walk; its remarkably efficient and allows me to go a bit faster than walking but keep a bit in the bank. By lap 10 it was pretty much power walking ups and running down hill, I made sure that I ran down every hill even though it generally took me a bit longer to get going than it had done. I realised by lap 10 that my legs felt ok'ish (within reason) but it was all the other systems which were struggling. All those walking lunges and bulgarian jump squats with a 3kg ball were paying off and I had trained that eccentric quad action well.

The first five laps were fine, lap 6 I felt great and ready to take on the world and I thought I would get to the end of lap 7 before the wheels off but that was not to be. To be slightly scientific, we need between 30-60g of carb per hour of exercise which I was easily taking plus a couple of peanut butter sandwiches which I had in my pack. I was drinking loads which is unusual for me and an ice lolly at Hale on lap four was like a gift from the gods. However we also know that there are a finite amount of carriers capable of taking the various sugars from the intestine into the blood stream; if you put too many in and they can't cross over then the body often finds other ways to get rid of them. Perhaps I ate too many carbs in hot weather but the start of lap 7 saw a lovely session of me revisiting the PH chews and coffee which I had consumed leaving me unable to stomach very little from then on without dry wretching (nice huh!). Luckily it was dark and cooler so I could get away with sipping small bits of water and sucking on a jelly bean.

After a head torch battery phaff before lap 8, James had told me that I had four hours until day light. So I told myself that I had to get another lap done and try to be at the back of hale CP by day break if I was going to break 24 so that became my next goal. I used the changing colour of the sky to incentivise me throughout those loops.

I had visualised me putting it all out there on lap 10 and pushing hard to the end. The reality was that I had what I had and jogged down the first hill knowing that it was one foot in front of the other but I had finally allowed myself to look at the clock as I ran into the final Trig CP and seen 06.14 and so thought I had it in me. I didn't need to push as that would have broken me, but I did need to continue to be consistent with my pace on the different sections. Keep running downhill, keep running downhill, keep running downhill.

I think that this is a race of perspective. It is hard, not because of the hills (although they clearly contribute), it's hard because it's completely and utterly relentless, there is no respite. You are either pushing up a ruthless hill or smashing your quads going down a long and steady one with a ridiculous amount of tree roots thrown into the equation ready to trip you up. So I tried to use this thought to adjust my perspective of what I was doing. I hate the Snake, I can't quite express how much I hate that uneven, slippery, chalky slope of crappy hell. So I decided that I can either get to the bottom each time and weep a bit more inside or I can tell myself that it is not as long as many of the climbs I have done over the last couple of years and there is no grade one scrambling at the top (like on UTS); my mantra was 'at least it's a short hill, horrible, but short, just get it done'. I used that approach on all the nasty bits, not looking to see what I had ahead but focussing on what I had already achieved within that race and on other races. I did most of Jurassic 100 with Sebastian, former winner of WW100 and he had me pushing myself up hills that I would not have done that hard on my own; he showed me what I could do, so I put on a really bad French accent on my internal monologue and visualised him when I was struggling and remembered that I had somehow survived running with him, so I could survive again.

The key to my success on this race though was largely down to the organisation and the people involved. One thing you can rely on with Centurion is that the race will be seriously well organaised and the people on point are experts in ultra marathon running. Having Zoe and the girls on the day time shift was fab, they knew what I needed, no bullshit and made sure that my headtorch was put into my bag at the right time. Then the night shift was Stu and Spencer. As soon as I knew that they were on stag for the night shift, I knew I would be ok; they know their ultra running and they know me. No phaffing, no being-over-nice stuff, just practical get it done crewing. Obvious when Spencer got some coffee down me then said 'off you pop then', no phaffing allowed.

Coming into the finish was awesome. I would say that the slightly extended curving grass track from the bloody annoying stile had lost its novelty value early on but it was amazing to run past all the people getting ready for the 50 and then into the finish line to be met by all the amazing people who had helped me get to that point. First female, second overall, new course record and quite a bit in front of the next guy was more than I could have expected; most importantly, I got my sub 24 buckle.

It's really hard to express just how special this race is, as James described it it's 'a bit of a zen bubble'. It really was, it felt like I was playing a small part in a fantastic production and it was a privilege to be part of it all. James - you are awesome at what you do.

Massive thanks clearly to Shelley G-S , my fab running coach; purveyor of unpleasant treadmill sessions, the queen of 'well just get on with it', producer of immaculate spreadsheets and wonderful friend. In the next training block I promise not to mess up your green/amber/red system and might actually do what you tell me to do on the days you tell me to do it. Couldn't have done this without you buddy.

And of course to Long Suffering Husband, the two boys and the small hairy training partner. Seeing them on three of the Trig hills and at the finish was unreal and totally made the whole race for me.

So thank you Centurion and thank you to the Centurion Army who make it all possible. See you soon - Happy Trails.