Plodding along and end of year race plans

 It's been two months since The Divide 200, and after having a couple of weeks just recovering and not really doing very much, running has now recommenced at a far more leisurely pace, with the weekly speed session thrown in just to keep thing ticking over.

My mileage in recent weeks has been hovering around 50 miles or so which as seemed manageable without overdoing things. I have been getting out to the local trails, and it's been nice just enjoying the running without any pressure. We've been really lucky with the weather this autumn again and even now as we fast approach mid-November, there is still no snow on the ground and temperatures are well above freezing. We did have snow a week or so ago, but it melted within a couple of days and everything is back to being that dull brown colour, although there are still quite a few lawns in the area that are still looking nice and green.

I have been enjoying my running and I wasn't planning on doing any more races this year, but then I ended up registering for Bar-ka-koo 55km trail race. I competed in the inaugural race back in 2020 whilst still in the midst of the Covid era, and I ended up with the overall win in a little over 9 hours. It was cold that year, and we ran in a good 2 feet of deep, fresh snow which I absolutely loved. It added a new challenge to the trails that I enjoyed, and I really wanted to go back and do it all over again. The trouble is that the lack of snow right now is making me less motivated to do the run. We can run on those trails in the summer months and the conditions would be similar - I want a winter race where I feel more challenged, but then that's just me. I also feel that without the snow, course records will be easily broken, and quite possibly by a good margin. Call me a childish brat, but I currently hold the ladies' course record, and if it gets broken on a course that is entirely free of snow, I would feel cheated and disappointed  - conditions would not be comparable, and that's a shame :(

Regardless of whether I do actually do Barkakoo or not, I have ended up registering for another race anyway - The Dark 24 hour race. This is another crazy creation by the Sinister Sports team, and involves running a 500m looped course in a mine, about 200 ft underground. There is no natural light in there, the lighting will be dim, and the tunnel is only about 4 metres wide - it's going to be a strange and challenging experience and something I am intrigued about, curious to know how I and others will cope in there for the duration of the race. Of course I don't have any particular goal for this race - I just want to do it because it's different. I'm not one to follow the crowds and much prefer doing things out of the ordinary, to test myself in ways I've not been tested before in the hope that it will make me stronger else where. The race is on December 2nd - I'm nervous, but excited too!

Of course with planning on a couple more races, despite both being low key, I have upped my longer runs at the weekends a little bit, and have done a couple of 25k runs to get me ready. Devon trails have been my go to place although a visit to the river valley in Edmonton last weekend did provide a nice change of scenery and I did the Fat Ass loop so I didn't have to think about a route too much.

Unfortunately, this past week has been a bit of a stressful and emotional week. My old boy Wilson was attacked at the dog park and ended up with a bit wound on his side which needed veterinary attention. He ended up with stitches and two drain tubes, along with a week's worth of medication in the form of painkillers and antibiotics. He was out of action for a couple of days whilst recovering, and I felt at a loss not being able to take the pups for their usual walks. I skipped a couple of runs as I didn't want to leave him in the house on his own in case he ended up hurting himself further, so my methods of stress relief ie. dog walks and running, were in short supply and it's been quite the week! Thankfully a visit to the vets yesterday to have the tubes removed confirmed that Wilson is on the mend, and he is certainly much more lively and playful again, and pretty much back to his usual self - phew!

Knowing that Wilson is on the mend, I got out for a run today, completing a speed session that consisted of 8 x 400m repeats. I really struggle to hit anywhere close to 6 minute miles these days, so I was happy enough to run around 6.25s today. It still felt hard but I got the session done which is of course the main thing. It was also nice to run in the day light - we are now back to normal time and the dark nights are back, so getting out during the day is always such a treat at this time of year.

400m repeats in daylight!

There are only a couple of weeks until The Dark 24 hour event, so I certainly won't be doing much more to prepare for things. The plan at the minute is to just enjoy and learn from the experience, and not focus too much on how many laps I'd like to do. Using my mantra from the Divide 200 - forward moving motion, no unnecessary stopping - and we'll just wait and see how far that will take me. 

Pondering The Divide 200 Take 2

 A month after completing The Divide 200, I finally finished writing about my experience, and so I allowed myself to read other blogs written by fellow runners who had also taken part in the race. I'd avoided looking at others as I didn't want their thoughts and experiences influencing what I wrote - I wanted to remember things from my own first hand experience, and I didn't want to compare things to anybody else, especially when I hadn't fully digested what I had achieved in those four or so days out on The Great Divide trail.

I really enjoyed reading other people's blogs and I was fascinated to hear about how their races had gone, but the more I read, the more something became more noticeable to me - my race sounded so boring when compared to others! My race had no drama, no real mind games, no thoughts of quitting or doubting my ability, I didn't have any "dirt naps" at the side of the trail in the middle of nowhere, where I was too tired to carry on - even my hallucinations of boats and RVs were bland and boring compared to some of the others storied I had heard or read about. 

This really got me thinking and perhaps over analysing my own race - did I run the race too cautiously, or did I have such a strong and robust race plan and strategy, that everything just fell in to place at the right place and the right time? It was likely a combination of the two, but it has led me to wonder whether I could have finished in a much faster time had I gone into the race chasing a time rather than just chasing a finish. In hindsight, I do think that I am capable of finishing in around 78 hours, a good 6+ hours faster, which is quite a considerable amount of time. 

When thinking this, it is of course important to remember that we were very lucky with the weather back in September. Yes it got quite warm during the day which affected some people, and it got quite chilly overnight, but we had no extreme weather to contend with - some of those trails would far more difficult to negotiate had we been faced with heavy rain or storms, high winds, or even ice and snow. There's also the consideration about air quality - what if smoke had affected the race, not enough to stop the event, but enough to have some impact on some of the runners? So many variables could dramatically change the race result we all had, but if - and it's a might big if - if conditions were the same, could I realistically run The Divide 200 in sub 80 hours?

The trouble is that I don't really know where I could claw back that time as I was already quite efficient the aid stations, and was disciplined when it came to eating and sleeping at the crew areas. My base speed is also unlikely to improve, and if it did, it would be minimal and likely not have any real impact in a race of this distance. I was also probably at my fittest at the time of the race, and I would consider my preparation for the race being spot on. I really don't know what I could have done any differently.

Which brings me to question whether I could run faster, and if so, how? I know I could shave some time off at the crew aid stations - I likely spent a good 2 to 2 and a half hours at these aid stations and I think I could shave some time off there without any detriment to sleeping or refuelling. 

There were three occasions during the race where I went off course and had to retrace my steps. This would likely save me around 20 minutes as I now know the course and hopefully wouldn't make those same mistakes again.

The only other areas where improvements can be made would be in training. I would need to do more hill work and more strength work so I could climb those hills much more quickly. I actually didn't do too bad all things considered, but just gaining a few minutes on those climbs would make a huge difference. I also did a lot of walking, even on the flatter sections and even though my walking pace was faster than some folks could run, I could certainly improve and walk far less than I did.

This is all food for thought and I certainly have no idea whether changing things would have helped or hindered my final result - after all, I was bloody chuffed with my finish and everything went perfectly for me on the day.

But I am a curious runner, and I'm always curious to know what if ...? Of course I've put my name into the hat for the lottery again for next year, and this time I have three tickets. I'll be really happy to have my name drawn again although now I have something to compare things to, I might feel a little more pressure on myself. Going into the unknown this year felt exciting as I really couldn't fail with something I had never done before. Next time though I've set a benchmark, and that's scary. Yet at the same time, I'm excited to see if I can improve and how.

But whilst I would love my name to be drawn and would love the opportunity to go back and do it all again, I'm also happy for others to experience the event themselves whilst I find other goals to pursue next year. I guess I will know on December 1st :)