Building up to the SBU35

Some Background

In 2012 a group from the St Bees Trier’s running club embarked on a relay run following the route of the St Bega’s trail. They set off from St Bega’s church (usually the finish) which sits on the edge of Bassentwaite Lake near Keswick. The went onward from the church heading  towards St Bees along the edge of Derwentwater, up over the notoriously steep Honister pass onwards to open fell then down into Ennerdale valley. From there they continued on to Ennerdale Bridge, over the top of Dent; the last hill, before heading down towards Cleator with St Bees Head visible ahead signalling the finish just six miles further on. The relay was completed after a few days of atrocious weather including torrential rain which had made normally gently flowing streams raging torrents requiring much care to wade through. Even in these adverse conditions all those that took part loved the experience so the seed of an idea began to germinate in one of the runner’s minds...

St Bees Relay 2012: Bit Boggy and wet on the last bit

 

Once the idea had been given the first spark of life it grew and grew until the event was an inevitability and the brain child of Jon was conceived: An Ultra distance event following as closely as possible the St Bega's Trail route.

 

Spring 2013

Jon Raymond of UKanTrail envisaged the event and as soon as I heard about it I knew it was a must do one, one to aim for and focus on, one to help in the preparation of as much as possible; there was simply no question, no option it was a must.

 

While Jon, family and others beavered away behind the scenes on details of route, setting up the website and Facebook page, twitter account and getting sponsors interested along with all the legal requirements and health and safety issues associated with such an undertaking, I started to up my training and look at up coming events. My base endurance was already reasonably strong having trained for the Workington to Keswick Walk a 30 mile “walk” that includes Honister pass at around 20 miles. The day the Workington to Keswick walk (W2K) was meant to happen arrived but the resulting snow drifts from the previous few days heavy snow lead to the postponement of the W2K.

Snow on road postpones W2K Charity Walk

 

Rather than waste all the training; Jon, Dave Barker (also from St Bees Triers) and I decided to run some of the SBU route aiming to cover a similar distance to that of the W2K. We ended up covering over 30 miles in under 6 hours which was further than Dave had ever run before by over 8 miles yet still he wanted to go further once we arrived at St Bee's Beach. It was clear then that he had the Ultra bug with the associated bloody mindedness and mental toughness to keep going beyond that normally perceived as the limit.

 

Top of Ennerdale Valley near Black Sail YHA

 

Dave, Jon and I on St Bees beach after the run

The next few weeks and months included many runs and races, averaging over 70 miles a week with many feet climbed and descended. The main aim of all this was to build up endurance, stamina and mental toughness ready for the long one: the SBU35. This included from the start of April to the end of July 18 races: fell, road and trail races from less than 3 miles to 50 miles. The races were used as tempo training, tune up races or just for fun. To mention them all in detail would become a long  laborious and repetitive list so some of the key ones are listed below (links are to the Garmin connect Data):

 

14th April - Workington to Keswick Charity Walk (W2K): my fourth running of the event. The original plan was to run this as fast as possible but the weather said no! Instead I decided to run it at about the same effort as I planned to do the SBU35 and practise fuelling strategies. The strong, well at times gale force winds (65mph was measured) made for a tough run but a good result as I once again finished as first man having had my fitness and endurance as well as refuelling strategies well tested.



W2K - ascent of Honister

 

19th May - Scafell Pike Trail Marathon: This one I entered quite late on as I wanted to challenge myself on a tough trail race. This meant I had no time to reccy the route which cost me on race day. By the first Checkpoint I was well up the field and in 7th place having paired up with Kristof Nowicki from about three miles in (he was 6th at this point). It all went wrong from there as we got disorientated in the fog and made the school boy error of not checking the compass, the result? Running nearly 1/2 mile the wrong way and having to back track. On regaining the line what did we go and do? Yes you got it, we got disoriented once again and ended up too low in the fog and had to climb up a steep gully to get back on track. At this point I decided it was better to go slow and run with someone who new the route while in the clag and pick the effort up again once the visibility improved. I had dropped to 22nd by the top of Scafell Pike but once the we dropped out of the clag and the trail became visible again I picked up the effort and so pace, passing a few on the descent and many more on the final leg. In the end I was 10th overall but 3rd fastest over the last 12 miles. Lesson learnt - next year reccy the route!
 
5th June - Blencathra Fell Race: A blast out on one of the CFR (Cumberland Fell Runners) championship races. I was going really well until the old runners trots decided to say hello, but still a really good result, even if Steve Birkinshaw passed me in the last half mile as I could not descend for aforementioned reasons!
 
 

Steve pulling away on the final descent at Blencathra Fell race

9th June - Mabie Forest Trail Race: Susie and I decided to do this race as we were at Eden Festival on the same weekend and fancied a run out on the Sunday morning while most other people were still fast asleep. Absolutely shocked myself by finishing first so some speed was coming...

Juggling at Eden Festival


12th June - Gosforth 10: Bloody hell a new PB at 10 miles finishing in 59:17, finishing 3rd over all and first V40... Things were looking good!


Start of Gosforth 10

26th June - Bodyfit Paddle School 5K: Another PB and finishing in 17:19 beating my previous PB by nearly 30 seconds, who said you loose pace when Ultra Distance training?
 

First V40 and first Junior (SBU promoting!)

30th June - Lancaster Marathon: Last minute entry as I wanted to get a good for age time to be able to enter London Marathon in 2014 since Susie had an entry and I really wanted to be able to run it with her, well be there with her to be more accurate. Little did I know how hilly the route was with well over 1,500 feet of ascent. At the half way point I felt that my pacing was good as inside 1:30 for the first half but then ahead there loomed a hill, not too bad just one hill, oh there was another and another and my margins for success were diminishing. My confidence started to come back as my pace increased but then at around 23 miles another hill appeared in the distance and the GFA time was beginning to slip from my grasp. By the last mile or so I had to dig deep and really increase the effort practically sprinting across the line to finish with 13 seconds to spare in 3:04:47 in 5th place overall. This was not  meant to be a full on effort just a hard training run so I would still have enough energy for the marathon the following week but at least I had the time needed for a GFA London entry.

7th July - Lakeland Trails Marathon, Coniston: Really wanted to do well in this race but was not feeling great and it was a hot hot hot day! By about 10 miles in I was feeling the previous weekends marathon in my legs and was less than confident that I'd make a top five place which I really wanted so as to get a free entry for next year. Although I was slower than expected, others were suffering in the heat so I managed to pull into 4th place in the last couple of miles and stay there until crossing the line. Once again SBU T-shirt worn at the presentation to promote the event!

Lakeland Trails Marathon - 4th place so nearly the podium!



Eight Weeks to go...

Now it was into the last eight weeks before the SBU35 and time to focus on the up coming Lakeland 50 and tune up for the SBU. In general the mileage started to drop but the intensity on the runs was maintained. There was only one more race before the Lakeland 50, one last tune up then before the final big test.

23rd July - Fellside Fell Race: This was another counter for the CFR championship so a must do race. The aim was to take it steady at first and kick it in for the last couple of miles and this I did. Four of us ran together for the majority of the race as we were in cloud. Lessons learnt from the Scafell Marathon meant the compass came out early and we ran on bearings when no obvious path was visible. We were all together at the final checkpoint but as we dropped out of the cloud it was everyman for himself as we all took different lines down the fellside. Once again Steve Birkinshaw beat me but this time only by 3 seconds so I was getting closer and was 4th once again winning the V40 prize.

27th July - Lakeland 50: Having run this in 2012 as part of a corporate team (we had missed the main entry) and winning that category I, along with the other team members, had a free entry into the 2013 event. In 2012 Adam Lloyd had badly sprained his ankle at about the half way point but still managed to push on to the finish when most people would have pulled out. We both knew that we could go much much faster in 2013, Adam going for around 9 1/2 hours and me going for under 9 hours. The day was another hot one, so it looked like the target times may need adjusting but as long as we stuck to our plans and paced it well then anything was possible and all we could do was our best. We set off a bit quicker than the intended pace to avoid getting caught up in bottlenecks at the early gates and styles. Once we were on the wider path I eased back and Adam followed suit. Adam and I ran together to the first checkpoint as planned then as previously decided once I started to pull away on the first big climb Adam rather than force it (he had not been able to train well) stuck at a pace he felt he could maintain. The heat made for a hard days running but my pacing was working passing a few runners between the first and third checkpoints. I was glad of the race pack Dave Barker had lent me for the day and my new shoes (first time I had run in them) were doing a good job. The water bottle on the front became a cooling down tool being poured over my head when the heat became too much. Shortly after the third checkpoint I buddied up with another runner, Mark Russell, whom I caught on one of the climbs. 

Mark and I coming into the Ambleside Checkpoint

We ran together to the fourth checkpoint at Ambleside where I was surprised to see Marcus Scotney, later we were told that he had pulled out at the previous checkpoint so we were further up the field now... At the next checkpoint we were gobsmacked and incredulous when told only three other LL50 runners had passed through the checkpoint before us so the race was on. We were both starting to suffer now and although together decided to run at our own pace which meant we kept changing position as we went along, sometimes Mark pulling ahead, sometime me and occasionally running together. By the final checkpoint mild cramp was beginning to come but otherwise I still felt strong; just needed a bit more food and take the last climb steady while visualising the final descent into Coniston as I knew I would be able to pull away on that last bit.
 



Finishing the Lakeland 50

As I descended into Coniston I picked up the effort and speed to make sure Mark would not catch me in the end I pulled away by over two minutes over the last 1.5 miles which in hind sight makes me wonder how fast could I have gone? Finished in 4th in a time of 8:39:18 with Adam coming in 11th in a time of 9:17:50 so we both smashed our targets!

 

Five Weeks and Counting...

With the Lakeland 50 done and dusted it was time to recovery for a couple of weeks, then do one more tune up race before tapering for the SBU35. Would I actually do this, of course not this is me after all - give the advice but don't listen to my own, well rarely anyway...
 
7th August - Ellenbrough 10K: Equalled my PB of 35:52 finishing 4th and 1st V40
 
10th August - Edinburgh parkrun: New PB by 3 seconds 17:16!
 
Next up was the Col half marathon or that had been the original plan. Circumstances meant this was not to be so Susie and I both entered the Silloth Beach Half marathon instead...
 
18th August - Silloth Beach Half Marathon: I was looking forward to this event as it was different, an out and back along the beach at Silloth. The wind was strong on the day so fast times were not going to happen and looking around I could see none of the speedsters from the area... Derwent AC, my first claim club also had a team entered so we were hopefully there as well. There is a very good race report on the Tyne Bridge Harriers website so I will keep my race write up short! It was fairly clear early on that as long as I didn't injure myself the win was in the bag and at the turn I was well over half a mile ahead of the second placed runner Dave Young from Tyne Bridge Harriers. I ended up running just over marathon effort (based on WHR) as there was no need to kill myself on the run! The strong blustery wind had a massive affect on the times with my time out to the turn being 48:30 but it took less than 41 minutes to come back. I finished in 1:29:24 with Dave finishing just under ten minutes later in 1:39:20. The first lady was Helen Young from Wigton finished in 1:46:17 with Susie finishing in 2:06:43. Derwent won the relay prize with completing the full distance in 4 legs of 3 to 3.5 miles (approx) in 1:49:19. All in all an excellent day and an event well worth taking part in again, highly recommended!

Messing about at about 9 miles

 

The trophy winners

Now there was less than two weeks to go until the SBU but there were still a couple of races to do, one as a tune up and the other because it was once again a CFR championship counter. In both the Round Latrigg and Ennerdale Show Fell Races I got new PBs for the courses so felt ready to give the SBU a blast...

Had I prepared enough? Was I ready to do the SBU inside 5 1/2 hours as targeted? Were my hydration and refuelling strategies ready? Just one thing left to do: test my new race pack, to be continued...