Well this was a funny couple of races for a number of reasons. Before We left to travel down to Wales I had posted on Facebook that I wasn't feeling too well. Something I somehow managed to forget until I returned to Telford really confused about how bad the weekend had gone.
We arrived in Aberdyfi about 7pm on Friday and met up with Mum and Dad, My Sister and Brother in law and my cousin Charlotte. We had a rather late meal of Chicken, spuds, Salad and some bread. We also had beer and red wine bef
ore retiring to bed. In the last paragraph I reckon 4 of my problems arose - a meal after 10.30 before a race, no real carbs, beer and not hitting the sac till Midnight.
I awoke on Saturday and got ready for the 1st race of the day - The 10K Quarry challenge
. Debbie (who ran the 3K race with Emily) and Mierig (ran the 5.5 Mile race) picked me up at half nine. It was pouring down and we had to wait half an hour for the train to arrive to take us
out to the start. Meirig and I stood there in black bin bags to keep warm and sort of dry.
Once on the train we were dropped off at the relevant train stations so that we
could start the race. The 10K race started bang in the middle of a field in a valley - the wind was unbelievable. I think at one point I was nearly moving backwards. I met Lee and Kathy from the club and had a nice chat. Then as it neared 11.30 we lined up, only for the lady to blow the horn too early and after running 50 yards we were called back to re line up. At 11.37 the train tooted and we were off. The first 0.5 miles are horrible as you have to run across an open field before climbing up a very steep path. I managed to get half way up before having to walk.
I was starting to get stomach cramps which I have never had in my life of running
. We continued to run through boggy fields and past Dolgech water falls. My stomach was really playing up and I wished there were some loo's out on the course.
After 6 miles of running we arrived back and finished on the high street of Tywyn and people were cheering us on. I finished race one 116th out of 337 in a time of 57.12 (about 90 seconds faster than last year).
As soon as I crossed the line I found the nearest loos... (nuff said).
I then met Lucy and Holly and forced some bread and butter down my throat. I then
made mistake number 5, 6, and 7. There was only an hour between races and as Im training for the Beacons Ultra was trying to experiment with foods. I had some peanuts, haribos and a can of Monster energy drink.
I met Nige from Tough Guy and his friend Jim and together with Keith we lined up on the start line and waited for the whistle of the train to start the main 14 mile race. Lucy and Holly were on the train to cheer us on. As soon as I started running I felt sick and just wanted to hurl. So mistakes 5-7 had been made.
The sun had burnt off the clouds so there was no rain for this race however the wind remained, making the first 7 miles easier than the return.
The sick feeling continued and the stomach cramps returned. At 4 miles I seri
ously wanted to just pull out. I had one medal from the mornings race so I could have still hold my head high. I then convinced my self to get to the toilets at 6 miles. I got there and must have been in there for a while... I then made my self get to 7 miles as that would be half way and the same distance back to the start. There was plenty of walking going on, but I didn't care - I just wanted to finish and lie down.
There was no way I would beat either train today and as I came back into Tywyn
for the 2nd time in 3 hours the crowds cheered and I felt like death. I made it to the beer tent to meet up with everyone and collapsed on the floor and didn't move for 20 minutes. In that time Clare had put a can of beer on my stomach for me. It stayed sealed and I rolled over and lay there for another 20 minutes.
Nothing really improved for the rest of the day. I had the can Clare had brought me with Jon, Claire, Sarah and Kathy from the club. Then went back to the caravan to have the usual post train BBQ with the family and friends. I didn't fancy any food but finally managed to get something down my throat. At 9pm I left everyone and went to bed. A complete first. Early to bed, not drunk with little food after Race the train.
I awoke on Sunday and didn't feel stiff, but still wasnt feeling the best. I was supposed to be running 10 miles, but thought better of it. So we traveled back to Telford and whilst Lucy was shopping I ran the 4 miles back home to stretch the legs. When I finally got home I logged on to Facebook and re read what I'd written on Friday afternoon before the hardest weekend of my running career. What did it say?? "Denzil isn't feeling the best". Maybe I should have remembered that before running 24 miles and 2 races.
