Cotswold 35.35 Ultra Challenge

I must be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to this race - and I don't say that about racing very often.  I think it was due to the fact my training had been disrupted over the previous two weeks because of a cough, which still hasn't completely gone, and I wasn't sure how it would affect me and what sort of shape I was in.  As the race was being used as the trial for the GB team for the World & European 100km championships in April I knew I had to just give it a go and see what happened. 

It was a really cold day (which didn't help my motivation!) and as I've never raced an ultra, or a marathon, in winter I had a dilemma over how much kit to wear!  I knew I'd be too cold in my normal racing kit as I'd be running at a slower pace, and I'd be out there for a longer time.  Likewise, I was going to be racing rather than training so thought that the long tights and several layers I'd wear on a long run might be a bit too much!  After much deliberation I settled on something in between (longer shorts and 2 layers on my top) but did stick with my heavy duty, thickly padded gloves.  Why is it that even after 25 years running I still can't decide what kit to wear?!

The course was four laps on country lanes around the villages of Temple Guiting, Kineton and Barton, passing the Cotswold Farm Park four times in the process.  The first lap was a mile shorter than the others so the race officials walked everyone together down the road to the start.  I had a minor panic as my left hip flexor suddenly started to cramp up - and I was only gently walking to the start!  It was giving me a lot of pain and put yet another doubt into my mind about how the race would go.

Eventually we set off and almost as soon as I started running the pain in my hip subsided, and I never even thought about it again for the rest of the race - thank goodness!  I was running with Emily Gelder early on and, knowing she was in good shape and looking for a good position, decided to try and stick with her for as long as I could.  After a flat / downhill start we turned a corner at about the 2 mile mark and started climbing ... ... and climbing ... ... and carried on climbing for about a mile - and it wasn't just gradual either, it was a real killer (especially by lap 4!).  I found myself drifting in front of Emily as we climbed - I hadn't planned that, but decided then to just run at a pace which I felt was comfortable.  As I got into my running I started to enjoy it more - the sun was shining, the covering of snow had melted and the scenery was beautiful.  I was even starting to feel quite warm and wondering if my 2 layers would be too much after all.

After the big hill there was a flattish section before we made a sharp left hand turn, straight into a biting headwind.  No, I had been right in wearing 2 layers after all!  The wind picked up during the race and by the 3rd and 4^th laps this section of about 3 miles into the strong, cold wind, coupled with some more uphills too, was extremely testing - mentally and physically.  After the 7 mile point we turned again and enjoyed a few miles downhill with a following wind.  We then did the whole thing 3 more times (unless you were doing the marathon in which case you only had to do it twice more).

I had no idea how far I was in front of Emily, so just kept running at my own pace.  It was difficult to maintain a steady rhythm with the hills and wind - going up the big hill I was running about 8 minute miling and downhill with the wind behind I was sometimes doing around 6.15 ish - faster than I wanted to but I didn't feel I was putting any extra effort in!

We spent part of the race dodging horses and horse boxes - there was a riding event on at the Farm Park and they were sharing some of the roads with us.  At one point I had a horse trotting behind me, getting closer and closer - I felt a bit like I was being chased but luckily it turned off into a field.  It was a well organised race though, with plenty of marshals and 3 drinks stations per lap.  They also had quite a good system for lap counting - each runner was given 3 wristbands beforehand and at the end of each lap there was a marshal telling you to discard one; when you'd run the last lap with no wristband you knew you could finish!  The slight drawback was that I couldn't get the bands off over my thick gloves, so had to take the glove off first!

By the last lap my legs were definitely beginning to feel the hills.  My quads and ITs were screaming at me on the downhill sections and I was running very tentatively.  I still didn't know how far Emily was behind me - my coach had said about 6 minutes at one point, but I didn't know whether she was gaining on me as I slowed on the last lap, especially as I had to make a toilet stop.  As it happened she wasn't - I eventually crossed the finish line in 4.06.15, as first female, and Emily was second in 4.23.03.  I later found out that I was 4^th overall too, and that I went through the marathon in 2.59.48. 

Hopefully I've done enough to be selected for the World 100k, so I need to make sure I stay in one piece between now and 22nd April.

Can't decide how much kit to wear?!