Running

Cheers all.

[tldr] This is bit of a braindump for as i'll forget things over time and don't have a blog etc:

After a standard taper of nasty fly bites, kit fails & allergic reactions I arrived in Meriden 9pm a bit early so checked out a possible shortcut direct from the start to cut a dogleg, it was on which was a nice bonus even if it only saved all of 50metres or so.

At the start a guy heading to Stockport said he'd tag along with me for a bit, we had good chats which helped pass time in the pouring rain. We we're upto a group of 6 at one point then we started to spread out. Once we got onto the canal the rain stopped and I decided to push on with a 40min run 20 walk plan which worked well upto Hopwas where I left the canal to straight line over a hill as that is quicker than the loop around via canal.

Lichfield I was 2hrs up on November progress and there I caught up Charlie Sharpe who'd taken the A38 (!!) so had spent 3 wet hrs moving slow on the grass verge getting to know the spray from hgv's. We chatted and walked / jogged for a bit then split so I could take a short xc route, the road route was quicker but I was only 50m or so behind him when I stopped for brekkie in Rugeley.

Canal running is dull, fact but the nav gains and lack of motors are great. Passed last years late lunch pub around 10am so about 4hrs up.

47 miles in ~12 hrs when things fell apart. Sore outside/underside of left foot from repeated impact. Roclites aren't the best for long stretches on hard stuff but there's always a compromise on mixed terrain route.

Was trading places with 2 other runners* both of whom had support crews, I'd met one supporter in rugeley as she was grabbing her brekkie the same time as me. The other runner later caught me on a bench and told me his support was 1/2 mile away and could refill my water bottles (I added Nuun electrolyte) for me, which was great of them they also fed me melon at this point. That was the only outside help I had. Nutrition was Fish n Chips on arrival at Meriden, then 1 bar per hour - Trek, Nakd, or Snickers - plus mini Babybel, & dried apricots occasionally.

• both aiming for 60 atcf both dropped at Stoke. Wonder if moving slow with tiring supporters makes it easier to make stop call as pressing on slowly affects more people?
  
  

Walking the canal path was helped by frequent benches to sit on. It got daft when seeing a bench in the distance lifted the spirits a long way. At one point some trail runners coming the other way asked if I was ok and one said 'it's ok we've all been there', which was well meant but did feel a bit patronising as I think they thought I'd bonked on a training run.

Was through Stoke about 3pm (7pm bailed last time) and into Kidsgrove by half 5 ish. Stopped to deal with 3 hotspots on my feet, compeed ftw was thinking a change of shoes would've been nice.

Last bit of canal one boat was playing Tonight Tonight by Smashing Pumpkins, it got a bit dusty / emotional as the closing lyric "The impossible is possible tonight, Believe in me as I believe in you, tonight" was in my head, seemed appropriate at the time.

I then had to catch a woman falling from her bike as she slowed and lost balance up cobbles past a lock and was falling into me (better that than the water). Her & her hubby were grateful.

The a50 to Holmes Chapel seemed to be all uphill despite map contours saying otherwise. When looking back along the road it also looked uphill. Swearing at roads changes nothing. There were no benches, even in the villages. If there's a campaign group along the lines of 'Providing Benches for villages on A-roads in rural England' please sign me up as a life member.

After a stop at the coop to get chocomilk, where I may have been a bit tearful explaining to cashier who asked what I'd been doing, the anxiety of stopping tracker too soon left me doing tricky maths to work out 60miles in km, 100-3.2=96.8 i was about 500m further on and tracker website confirmed this. I was a shivering wreck suddenly so took best option of heading to the ace craft ale pub next door to the coop for beer, peanuts & most importantly warmth.

There were trains running back to Manc but my Mum kindly drove over and dropped me home.

I stayed awake to see the event finish online then was asleep before my head had hit the pillow.

My route will show on the lfgss tri group in 4 parts of diminishing pace. 11 min miling at the start to 20min miling towards the end tells a big story of how not to pace a 24hr event.

Apart from sore foot and itchy rash I feel good today. One slightly tight muscle at top of left leg, will roller that tomorrow if I can summon up the courage.

Kit that was ace:

Inov8 Gators - no debris in shoes
Alpkit Khoulin trail tights - great temperature regulation and fine when wet
Merino ls top - as per tights
OMM ultra 8 bag and comprssor pod - both repaired by me late on but held up well to the job and were comfy to carry the kit i wanted
Omm bum bag (thanks @andy_k) - quick to reach snacks & other stuff means less stopping
Petzl Nao - bright. Enough said.
Montane Minimus - 2yrs old with tenacious tape repairs, kept the rain off for 3hrs
Merino socks & merino sealskins - warm when wet, slight rubbing by 60 miles
Compeed - did the job when needed
Omm insulated vest thingy - helped take edge off chilly breeze late pm & at finish
Anker Powerbanks mini & bigger - kept electronics going all day for strava & fb updates etc

Stuff I could have left at home but always carry just incase:
Waterproof Trousers
Survival Bivvy (would've used at end though if had been away from anywhere warm)
First Aid kit
Compass
Spare headtorch & spare mobile

Stuff I didn't use so needn't have carried:
Drybag with spare ls merino top (would've used at end though if had been away from anywhere warm) spare socks, additional buff.
9 extra snack bars!
Mains Plug bit for usb charging cables
Tenacious Repair tape & extra gaffer tape

Stuff that broke:
Salamon Soft Flask - brand new first use as old one had split, this one split within 6hrs. Not impressed at £15 a go.

November is up in the air. I may go to do a shorter but specific target e.g 30 miles over more ascent. One early idea is make same pace to Rugeley, then hit up Cannock Parkrun before heading on across the 30 line to finish by lunchtime...

Local Trail Marathon then Gritstone Grind before then though, after a couple weeks downtime of course.

[/tldr]

https://youtu.be/NOG3eus4ZSo

Pics:
Tracker at finish
Kit
Briefing
Canal Selfie (I'm not a fan of selfies but anything to break the monotony!)

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