Last week I raced in my first ever track ultra marathon - 40 miles, or 161 laps of the 400 m track at Barry's Jenner Park, home of Les Croupiers Running Club and Barry Town United FC. This was by far the hardest race I have ever competed in - even harder than running 100 miles along the South Wales Coast path. You might think that the 161 laps had something to do with how hard it was, but that really didn't bother me at all. In this post I go into detail about how the race went, how I finished, and what I found hard about it. Carbohydrate loading I knew that the pace was going to be faster than any of my previous ultra marathons and that meant that I would be using glycogen as an energy source for large parts of the race, making carbohydrate loading important in the week leading up to the race. Maximising the glycogen stores in my muscles would put me in the best position to perform well. When preparing for traditional marathons, glycogen is definitely the primary energy source when I'm looking to run around 2:30 or under. In those situations I've used a depletion protocol to maximise my carbohydrate loading. This consists of a short interval session 5 days before the race. Usually something like 10-12 x 200 m uphill efforts with a walk recovery. The aim of this session is to deplete the muscles of glycogen so that the extra carbohydrate eaten during the loading period is stored, thus optimising the energy reserves. Then, the aim is to eat around 10 g of carbohydrate for every kg of body weight for the next 3 days (or 72 hours). I decided not to use the depletion protocol this time round as the high mileage that I run week in week out had already put me in a depleted state from which to optimise my loading. In addition, fat oxidisation would play an important role in my performance over 40 miles and I wanted to keep my training of a low enough intensity to keep this system working in the week leading up to the race. When I've practiced carbohydrate loading before, I've been eating an omnivorous diet consisting of meat and not as much fibre as I'm eating now that I'm predominantly plant-based. This was one big difference that I noticed this time round. Previously, carbohydrate loading has made me feel heavy and bloated for the 3 days of increased eating, making me want to stop eating before the loading period is done. I didn't experience that this time round and I felt as light as normal and had no signs of bloating at the end of the 3 days. One big challenge is eating enough carbohydrate during the loading period - 10 g per kg of bodyweight is a lot. I definitely think that eating a plant-based diet helped in this regard. Beans, legumes and oats are a good source of carbohydrates and fibre and they form a large part of my diet. One piece of advice that I would give to meat eaters is to reduce your protein intake during the 3 day loading period to provide some room to fit the carbohydrates in. A simple "hack" is to swap the meat that you would normally have in your meals for a sweet potato - a good, low sugar, high fibre source of carbohydrate. Welsh XC and taper 8 days before the 40 mile race I competed in the Welsh Cross Country Championships in Brecon. I'm not the biggest fan of cross country and I haven't raced in the Welsh Championships since 2020, but I took the opportunity to run for Swansea Harriers and test myself against some of the best runners in Wales. I arrived at the start line with around 96 miles already run for the week and planned to see what sort of position I was in after 2 laps. The course was 4 twisting and turning laps totalling 10.35 km. After having a jog around the course warming up I was excited to run it as it looked interesting and primed for surprises. The only thing I was concerned about was twisting an ankle on the rugged ground, so I decided I wouldn't do anything silly - just finish the race after putting in a decent effort and not getting injured. The first lap was all about learning the course - where could you relax, where were people starting to struggle, and where were the tough parts? I soon found out that there was no place to relax, and people were struggling everywhere. However, this provided opportunity. If I worked hard when people were struggling, the ultra training would help me hold on and hopefully finish well. I finished the first lap in 10th, not too bad. At the start of the second lap I started to feel more energetic so I decided to go for it. There were some short straights where I could use what little speed I have to do some overtaking. I moved my way up to 4th over lap number 2 and then it was all about holding on and hopefully tracking down 2nd and 3rd place. With someone on my shoulder breathing down my neck I was encouraged to keep pushing, but we never managed to close the gap on 3rd place. Eventually, I was out-sprinted in the final 50 m and came 5th by 3 seconds. I was pleased with my race - sprint finishes have never been my thing. I put in a good performance, finished in a good position for the team, and didn't have any mishaps. A perfect day. After a 4 mile cool-down on the track - I know, I seem to be running round in circles all the time - we were presented with the winners medals for the team race. As I was preparing to head to the car and start the drive home, I heard my named called out again. I was confused and went to investigate. I'd only gone and won the masters race! So, another trip to the top of the podium. I must say, although this is my first year as a masters athlete, I did feel slightly old for a second. On reflexion, I think it's a sign of longevity and I hope it sets a good example for my son that if you keep turning up and putting in the effort, you'll eventually be rewarded. The first 10 miles After a relatively light week I arrived at the start line of the Barry track 40 having run 64 miles for the week. My plan was always to make the week a 100+ mile week with the race. After such a light week and 3 days of carbohydrate loading I was feeling full of energy. I started the race with a 5:42 first mile and it felt very comfortable. My mind started to do some maths. Sub 4 hours was well and truly in the bag if I could maintain this pace. I even had some wiggle room if the wheels came off. Still, I had to be disciplined and make sure I got my fuelling right. There was a long way to go. The 2nd mile came and went in 5:35, the 3rd in 5:26, and the 4th in 5:19. I ran most of the first 10 miles with Ollie Garrod. Ollie had won the race the previous 2 years and was going for a hat-trick of wins. At one point, having never seen one another before, we had a brief chat about what we were both looking to do. "I'm having a go at the World Record; 3:48", Ollie told me. So I was on world record pace as I went through 10 miles in 55:47! The marathon and 50 km splits As I was feeling good, I decided to make hay while the sun shone. I could possibly have been more disciplined, slowed down the pace, and put in a few 6:00 miles. However, I have learnt from racing over the shorter distances that I can push through the pain and fatigue at the end of a race. It will always feel difficult and for me, it's all about putting myself in a good position to finish well before it starts to get difficult. Other people have different approaches, but for me I prefer to go out hard and then hang on at the end. It's how I've run all of my PBs, and all of my ultras so far. I prefer to give myself some wiggle room at the end of the race. So, I went through a half marathon in about 1:13, 20 miles in 1:52, a marathon in about 2:27, 30 miles in 2:50, and 50 km in around 2:56. That's when things started to get hard. The last 10 miles My first mile split slower than 6:00 was mile 31, which was a 6:03 mile. Not a problem, I brought my average back down with a 5:58 32nd mile. But then, mile 33 was a 6:13, and mile 44 was a 6:13. Things were starting to get difficult. As I approached the last 5 miles, the fatigue and dehydration really started to kick in. My vision was narrowing, I was getting black spots in my peripheral vision, and my legs were losing all their coordination. I've only ever experienced this once before when I didn't fuel for the London marathon properly in 2014, but that's a story for another day. At one point in Barry I heard the announcer say that the race was all about what happened in the last 10 miles and this was very true for me. I just had to dig deep. I'd bought myself enough time early in the race and even though the pace was dropping I was still on course for a special performance. As I was mid-way through mile 37, Ollie finished, breaking the world record and clocking 3:45. Wow! The next time I passed the home straight I shouted over to my mum who was helping my dad with lap counting; "How many laps have I got left?". "17", she replied. I couldn't believe it - Ollie had never lapped me 17 times! I was devastated and I think my mum and my wife could tell from the expression on my face. The next time round I asked them to double check. Looking back this was actually my slowest mile, at 6:33. As I came round to the home straight again, I heard them both shout out, "12 laps". Yes! Relief. I had a new bound of energy that helped me through the next few miles. As I approached the home straight with 4 laps to go, I heard a shout from Sam Richards (Pontypridd Roadents) in the stand; "A 6:00 mile and you'll go under 4 hours". After my last 2 miles being 6:23 and 6:23 I knew this was going to be tough, not to mention the loss of coordination, narrowing vision, and black spots! I managed to hold a 6:00/mile pace but I ran it very close. I reached the home straight for the penultimate time and everyone in the crowd was excited - "90 seconds to do 1 lap". I've done it hundreds, maybe thousands of times before. It was on. The crowd encouraged me to the finish and I made it across the line with 4 seconds to spare. 3:59:56. What a day! Pacing and fuelling I started the day with a plan. I broke everything down into 4's. First off, fuelling - I planned to take something in every 4 miles; 200 ml isotonic drink at 4 and 8 miles, a gel at 12 miles, and then repeat this to the end of the race. I also built a pacing strategy around this - 4 laps comfortable and then 1 lap faster. I stuck to both of these plans for the most part, with one or two exceptions. The fast pace for the first 30 miles meant that my comfortable laps were fast and my faster laps were really fast. I think I even did one at sub 5:00/mile pace! As for fuelling, I took fuel in every 4 miles as planned, but I opted to ditch the final gel at 36 miles and go for a drink instead. I think this really helped as I was obviously dehydrated (and continue to be 4 days later). One thing I think I should plan for in future is to take more fluids in. If I managed to dehydrate myself on a cold day in Barry, hydration is going to be important in all my races in future. Welsh Champion and Championship record On the whole, I had a great day and I learnt a lot that will help me in ultra running in the future. For the second time in a week I was a Welsh Champion and I'd set a Welsh Championship record in the process. And to top it all off, my time of 3:59:56 was the 17th fastest time ever in the world! Getting back to running...and 100 km in 4 weeks I've got no time to waste now. My next ultra is fast approaching - the NIURA 100 km in Belfast is 4 weeks after the Barry 40. I've been taking it easy for the first week with a 20 min jog on Monday, 2 x 5 mile runs on Tuesday and Wednesday, and an easy 10 km on Thursday. This week is all about recovering so that I'm ready to go again in under 4 weeks time.
Photo attribution: Thanks to Paul Stillman.
3 Comments
Val Rothwell
18/3/2023 04:07:38 am
An absolute mammoth effort Dan!! Well done 💪👏👏👏 now looking forward to Belfast 👍
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Adam Beale
19/5/2023 10:29:47 am
Really enjoyed reading this. A nice, easy to follow breakdown of the entire buildup and race itself. Congratulations on a set of fantastic results.
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