Kirkhill 8: I’m an ultra runner!

It was certainly with a little trepidation that I stood on the start line at Kirkhill, no idea of what I’d be able to achieve. In contrast to my usual Saturday morning at parkrun, nobody was barging to the front and everyone listened to the briefing!

Thanks at this point should go to Nicola – over the last week at work we’ve chatted running, nutrition and pre-race dreams on many occasions – and Bruce for putting up with my pre-race witters and jitters!

A Picnic on the Run

I’ll be completely honest in how this came about…

I love to run, I’m increasingly drawn to trails rather than road, and I’m not overly fond of gels. I’ve also done a few long distance trails over summer holidays, albeit with the luxury of baggage carriers, B & Bs and a maximum daily mileage of 15- 20 ish miles. On these holidays I’ve enjoyed the relaxed pace and have found myself able to stop for tea and cake before running again. My logic and lack of want to train fast on the road therefore led me to the ultra as I’ve often heard it said that it’s like a picnic on the run or an eating contest as much as a running race.

That in mind, I carefully considered options and packed my picnic to go, opting for flat Coke (carefully shaken and opened several times a day over the week to ensure no nasty explosions), Tailwind, bagel thins with peanut butter and jam, rice crispie squares, watermelon, crisps and a flask of tea! From the outset, I had a plan that if I was feeling scunnered I’d stop, have a cup of tea, and go again. The lovely race directors at CGM Ultra Racing didn’t even laugh at my suggestion when I told them this!

The only downside of carrying such a feast was the weight involved for the short walk to the start. Not helped by my massive bag of spare clothing!

Not Reknowned For Travelling Light

Just ask Bruce! In my defence, I usually have a range of toiletries and hair products. On this occasion, I decided to forgo these in favour of baby wipes and many items of clothing just in case. The clothing included the mandatory kit of waterproof trousers and jacket – I’ve not yet succumbed to a set of OMM or Montane running waterproofs, that may follow – and enough spare clothing for me and a few others, consisting of spare shorts, leggings, 2 short sleeved t-shirts, long sleeved t-shirt, 2 pairs of socks and a spare pair of trainers (Altra Lone Peak is my current shoe of choice – they did me proud, thanks to the guys at Out There in Banchory for the recommendation). Very much like my holiday packing, I only used one t-shirt and that was at the finish!

Arrival

Bruce was working a day shift allowing him to drop me off and collect me. While supportive, this also ensured that I was there for the duration unless able to bum a lift, walk to the bus stop or befall serious life-threatening injury.

Having clarted myself in suncream ahead of leaving home I was reluctant to put on clothes that would rub it off but a little concerned that I’d get chilly ahead of the start. Getting out of the car into the mist these fears very quickly subsided! The air was muggy and warm, the mist making the morning very atmospheric as a line of people laden with bags could be seen moving up the hill. Feeling apprehensive at this point, it felt to me a little like a horror film! What on earth was I walking into?!

That feeling thankfully changed completely on reaching the start, a sea of colour and chat. There were some familiar faces amongst them and I relaxed as I chatted to those that I knew and those I’d come to know a little more over the course of the day. All of the volunteers, and of course the race directors, were warm and friendly, creating a lovely atmosphere from the outset. I am so grateful to all of them for giving up their time and for their support and encouragement throughout the day.

Clothing bag in the changing tent, picnic at the feed station, it was time to join the blessedly short queue for the portaloo before the race briefing. Another bonus of a small event, the toilet queues are virtually non-existent!

Briefing given by Rod, I was clear on the expectations. Run, have fun, be kind, look after others, and absolutely no littering; although why anyone would always escapes me! Aside from being disqualified, my mum would go nuts if she ever found out!

One more toilet stop for luck and we were off!

Slow and Steady

I was very glad to have had the opportunity to recce the course in advance thanks to the CGM guys sharing plans to run on weekends ahead of the event. Initially signing up with a goal distance of 32 miles and no concept of what was feasible, having recced the route I’d concluded this may be a push too far, the ascent being not insignificant, the descent having completely mashed my quads following the initial outing, training not exactly being on point, and ultimately conscious that if this was going to be my first (only?) ultra I didn’t want to be disappointed. My target was therefore reset to more than a marathon!

Anyone who’s ever walked in the hills (except perhaps Bruce’s friend, Trevor) appreciates that 15 minute miles over anything other than flat terrain are a challenge to sustain.

The First Lap

8 am: It was fun setting off and seeing the crowd slowly spread out as we made our way onto the course. I set my own pace, trying to run easy and comfortable. Retrospectively I’d question if it was too fast. I’m not sure, ultimately I think I’d have slowed anyway as I was going further than I’ve ever done before.

The mist continued to shroud us as we climbed towards Tappie Tower and I hoped that the early Met Office forecast (released before 5 am) was correct as it would see us with cloud cover throughout the day.

I sipped my Tailwind regularly realising part way round that I’d split one sachet between 2 bottles thereby diluting it too much. I tried in my head to recalculate the carbohydrate requirements and how this fitted. Not sure I was entirely successful but I did understand I’d need to eat something early on to compensate.

I got chatting with another runner (Rob) and ran a bit with him. This was a good way to pass some time and a chance to learn more about the wonderful world of ultras from someone with lots of experience.

Lap 2

Coming into the finish area the bell rang, my number was called out and my food bag was offered. What a slick operation! There were also cheers and shouts of encouragement and this continued every lap thereafter. It was great to see the Metro legends (Peter and Phil) who’d been there from the outset. I grabbed my cap as the sun was breaking through, carrying on and calling out my number as I passed the volunteers recording laps.

By this point the cloud was beginning to clear, beautiful blue sky and views appearing all around. The thought of many hours in sunshine was a little scary as far as my vitiligo is concerned. I slapped some more suncream onto my legs.

The course is flat as it briefly runs parallel to the AWPR below, then slowly leading up to a gate on the fire road. The road continues, rising gently in places until the ascent to Tappie Tower. Here I was advised that pretty much everyone walks, the path rising quite steeply and the terrain being a little more technical adding a wee challenge for the uncoordinated folks like me!

Beyond Tappie Tower there’s a nice descent to the fire road again. Then a smaller path leads to the Mountjoy car park, although we didn’t head quite as far as that. This was the only real muddy bit, a large puddle avoided by skirting around the edge and pushing the lower branches of the fir tree away.

This path is fast – a quad killer if you’re not used to fast descent and I’d imagine a good one for going over the bars (or dyke) if you get up too much speed on your bike! I reined in the pace, not wishing to mash my quads too much at this stage, then walked up the ‘mud slide’; don’t think anyone would have stood much chance of running it with that gradient. Thankfully the rain hadn’t continued from Thursday; if it had, I may well have been sliding back down too! This climb was used for recovery and eating from hereon in.

The long straight fire road beyond this heralded the last of the climbs and walks with the puddle by the log stacks indicating where I ‘had’ to start running again. More fire road continued until the lovely single track section that led back towards the wildlife bridge over the AWPR and the finish area.

Lap 3

Passing through for Lap 3, I picked up a Rice Crispie Square and continued on. Rob announced he was going to slow down a little as he was ahead of schedule (or fed up of my chat?) and we parted ways. The gap didn’t get much bigger as I wasn’t going fast and was very much enjoying the opportunity to walk up hills to get a break, recoup energy and eat.

As I later said to Bruce, I don’t think I’ll get away with saying I can’t eat on the go from hereafter when we’re hill walking! I’m usually the one to stop and eat but I’ve now proven I can do this on the move.

I was delighted to be greeted by my friend, Helen as I hit the fire road beyond the mud slide. I stopped to chat briefly and give her an hug and she advised she’d be back later in the day.

I also saw Gordon, Nicola and James’ dad, a few times over the day and was grateful for his encouragement.

By this point I’d settled into the day. My watch was solely displaying heart rate only and I slowed to a walk if this became too high. I saw the lap pace with every additional mile ticked off, but unlike in a road race this wasn’t a focus. All I wanted was to be under 15 minutes per mile and I was largely successful in ignoring the other numbers telling me the number of miles I’d done and the overall time I’d been moving.

Laps 4-7: Going Beyond Marathon Distance

The laps continued.

I enjoyed the support passing through the finish area, picked up snacks, topped up my bottles and continued my picnic, successfully consuming another Rice Crispie Square, a couple of halves of my bagel thin and a packet of crisps, not all at once I hasten to add!

Another Tappie Tower, now glorious in the sunshine.

Another descent from the tower, enjoying the ease of going downhill for another couple of laps.

I achieved my goal, going beyond the marathon distance. From this point on the head games really started. I knew I just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other but I was tiring and my pace was slowing. There was a lot more (fast) walking and I found it harder to keep running, trying to do this as often as I felt able. The pace slipped and miles 27 and 28 were 15:25 and 15:14 respectively.

Mental Battles: Stick or Twist?

I started to think more about time during my 7th lap. Conscious that the pace had slipped, no more 12s, only 14s and 15s, the doubts began to creep in. I knew from the briefing that the options were to finish a lap or lose that distance. I also knew that if I continued to slow there was the potential that I’d run out of time, not managing to complete the 8th lap.

I debated it in my head: stick or twist? It was just before 2:30 pm as I made my way towards the finish area. If I gambled I’d have a good 80 minutes to get around the last lap. However, the pace had slowed and I wasn’t certain I wanted that pressure, the fear of being cut off large on my mind. However, if I played it safe I’d potentially be waiting 25 minutes for the wee lap to open, wasting a fair bit of time and losing the extra mileage.

Voicing my thoughts as I filled my bottle with Coke again, the lovely marshal advised me to go for it, his words of wisdom being that I’d more time left than any of my previous laps had taken. Buoyed by his support and the words of encouragement the Metro men had given me at the end of lap 6, I suddenly felt hugely emotional, realising that my dream was coming true as I’d hit 32 miles heading up to the gate one last time.

I burst into spontaneous tears, crying as I called out my number (53) and headed off on my way.

Twist: One More Lap

It was reminiscent of my first marathon (Amsterdam, 2008) at this point; in that event I cried for the last 5k! Thankfully the tears didn’t last that long on this occasion!

I spoke with another runner, both of us unsure whether we had another lap is us (spoiler alert: we did!) and we walked and talked for a bit before he pushed on. I continued, more walking than running, logging my slowest mile (33 in 15:41) and was absolutely delighted when I saw Helen again, this time with Wendy too! An ex-runner and a runner, they understand the effort involved and were happy to share in my emotion! Sweaty hugs and more tears (thanks ladies), they joined me in a brisk walk to the puddle by the log stacks where I announced my need to run again and we parted ways with more cheers from Helen. I’m not sure how far this run took me but I was so grateful for the boost they gave me. The shuffle continued.

The Wee Loop

Arriving back one final time I quizzed Adam as to whether wee wee loop was open – ‘no’ – and how long the wee loop was – ‘1.2 miles, stop asking questions and you’ll have enough time for 2!’

As it transpired on tired legs I just had enough time for one, the wee loop taking in the single track bit of the big loop again. Here I was lapped again by familiar faces including Elizabeth who’s been generous with her advice in the run up to the event (finishing first overall) and James (PhysioRun) who’s also been very helpful.

The Wee Wee Loop

On finishing the first the wee loop (once) it was on to the wee wee loop, up the fire road to the gate and back. It was amazing how knowing that I had less than 10 minutes left to run and I suddenly found myself with a burst of motivation and energy. I ran up to the gate and back down a couple of times, was handed a tent peg with my number on it, reaching the gate a third time as the hooter sounded for 4 pm. Putting my peg into the ground at the next marker that was it. Race over.

The Aftermath

On finishing I nipped to the toilet before ambling along to the finish area. This is an important point as by the time I’d chatted to folks and arrived there I was both super elated and relieved to be done, apparently not registering all that was around me.

I enjoyed a buttery and some more Coke – I do wonder if I’d had the Coke slightly earlier if my legs might have keep going a wee bit longer as it definitely hit the spot – and chatted to friends and clubmates.

It was only polite to stay for the prize giving and it was great to celebrate the success of others, Elizabeth and Lorna receiving prizes. From there I headed off to have Bruce find me, happily permitting me to relieve myself of a bag.

We stopped off at Lidl on route home to get me a celebratory cider (I stayed in the car) and enjoyed the sunshine in the garden for a bit. I began to get shivery so headed in for a bath, delighted to find that my Soltan Factor 50 had done the job, protecting my depigmented skin. Sunburn 0: Soltan 1

A very early night saw me drop off quickly, then wake up a few hours later with very heavy legs. Thankfully this largely eased by the time I woke again.

Special Delivery

Catching up on Facebook I realised that Nicola had bagged a lovely medal! A medal? I’m an ultra runner too! I need to have one!

Questioning her on this, she advised it was in the yellow bag. Not sure how, but I didn’t see any yellow bags! Those that know me well will understand this … many things allude me, directional sense and observational powers being two of them!

My thinking until this point had been that it was a low key race, more races now opting for sustainability and forgoing unnecessary extras. It could also be that ultra runners are more cool than road runners, not having the same need to rifle through their bag, don their medal and wear it everywhere for at least a week!

I dropped a message to the CGM crew and was delighted when Andrew responded to say that not only did he have the goodie bags but he’d drop one off at my house!

Thus I end my blog with huge thanks to Andrew for this exceptional kindness, the CGM crew for such a great day out, the weather gods – without the sunshine it may have been a very different story – and all the awesome people that made running alongside them such a pleasure!

Unlike the last marathon I did, I finished this one thinking, ‘what’s next?’

Here’s to recovery and planning! I await the final results, but am delighted to say that I exceeded my original dream goal.