Running

Thought I would do a quick write up of my Centurion Winter Downs 200 experience last week, mostly so I can look back and remember the highs and lows before I forget it all and might help others if they are looking at a longer race! Please excuse my terrible writing style and lack of punctuation…

Signed up almost straight away when the race was released, I’d been trying not to commit to any big races for at least a year as the training required eats up so much family time but this was just too tempting and fitted well as it is close to home, a good time of year when work is quiet, no pacers required (I don’t have many running friends) and takes in most of the South Downs Way which I missed out on running in 2021.

Training went ok, had a calf tear for a couple of months but was still able to cycle and hike so didn’t loose too much fitness. Otherwise, training went well and generally was less intrusive as I got it done early morning on the treadmill more so this time and was smarter with fitting in recce runs either overnight or on weekdays when the kids were at school. Also have got into a reasonably good routine with strength training for the first time in my life, which has made a huge difference to the outcome I think.

Kit planning was on another level. I was trying to avoid going nuts buying all the shiny things, but even so the breadth of kit options needed was insane and then packing for all eventualities took two and a half days! However, I was fully aware that to succeed in this sort of race I would need to adapt and trouble shoot whenever problems arose.

Registration was on Tuesday night, no problems, all went very quickly but having gone into work Tuesday morning, panic shopped for last minute bits in the afternoon, travelled to Box Hill and back for registration I’d had a far from restful pre-event day. I also crammed my way through “How to fix your feet” on the train, a very in-depth manual on everything footcare for endurance races as my biggest fear was my feet falling apart and not having a clue what to do about it…

Managed to get a reasonable nights sleep, took a couple of Night Nurse which knocked me out as I’m terrible for anxiety dreams pre-race normally, not the best move for the next day though as they seem to take until midday to wear off! Made it to the start line with no stresses.

Set off feeling ok but not full of energy, was able to keep up a decent pace but it felt hard work, which given the length of race was pretty worrying. Got to my first two crew stops fine and refuelled but was uncrewed for the first night, which on paper seemed fine as the first aid station was at 49 miles and then push on through the night for an early sleep point. Didn’t get into the Aid point until 9pm, so 13 hours for 49 miles. The Vanguard Way was proving extremely unpleasant. There had been a burst river turn into a lake across the course which was knee deep and the rest of trails resembled mud soup, and basically unrunnable. All the slipping was putting strain on everything and it felt like I had sprained my right ankle. Thankfully I had my cheat sticks, how people were doing it without poles is beyond me. Everyone was fixated on the promised land of the South Downs Way, which was only 16 miles away from the first aid station. My feet were starting to show signs of damage with the wet causing folding in the skin that was getting pretty painful and the mud on my calves had chafed all over. I’d made the mistake to assume I would be fine with only changing socks at aid stations so didn’t have the right dry socks with my crew at any useful point but Trench foot cream is my saviour and is one or the main reasons I didn’t suffer more.

Got to Alfriston at the start of SDW at 02:30, hoorah, runnable trails at last! Trouble was, though runnable, some parts of the trail are extremely dull. There is a section of concrete strip up a very long climb, too steep to run, not steep enough to be hard work and at 4am I was hallucinating all over the place. My brain started seeing every shadow or crack as something else, all sorts of animals and objects littered the trail while I sleepily swerved my way up the hills. Nothing disturbing though thankfully but concerning to be hallucinating and sleepwalking on night one! Finally snapped myself out of it by singing loudly to “gothic alternative metal”.

A 7am pit stop in Housedean Esso was a relief and was shortly followed by a stunning sunrise on the next climb which brought rejuvenated energy to carry me to the first sleep point at 92 miles. Got in about 10am, ate and got my head down. Had planned for 90 mins sleep but woke up after 45 mins. Was out the door by 12:30. It was looking pretty bleak but once off the hill it cleared up and had a good afternoon and was treated to a an equally stunning sunset near Steyning Bowl.

By the evening I was starting to realise that I’d been ploughing through endless sugary snacks and Tailwind and it was all getting too much. I often reach this point in a long race and get nauseous, and still don’t seem to have learnt to wind it in before I tip over the edge. Luckily I had the luxury of crew assistance every 7 or so miles until about 3am on the second night so moved to eating only savoury food at the stops and only water in between which seemed to be a good reset.

Working out that I still had 17 miles to the next sleep stop I started the climb out of Cocking around midnight pretty despondent. I’d hoped I would be getting there early morning while still dark, get a good sleep and get out as the sun came up so as to not waste daylight running but that was way behind for that to happen. I immediately started to feel sleepy but was quick to react this time with more sing along music. I started to tell myself that this was a running race, not a walking race and actually found a huge boost. Running didn’t hurt, I could still run with a mid-foot strike and nasal breathing. I felt like a natural born runner efficiently cruising through the night. This section is also very runnable and I started banging out 11 or 12 minute miles all of sudden, which felt amazing after 120 miles of trudging out 16 to 20 minute miles in the slop and hills. This mantra kept going most of the night and I came into the next sleep station at around 5am, much quicker than I had forecast and still running and passing people on the long track down to the Sustainability Center just after Butser Hill. Got two and a half hours sleep, again waking without an alarm and headed off just after 10am.

The third day looked positive with crew points every 10 miles or so up until midnight. By the afternoon my right knee was getting sore which I decided was due to blisters on my foot changing my gait so decided it was time to start treating those. Some rather unpleasant jabbing a sharp knife in between toes to pop and drain from my unphased sister-in-law sorted them. Taped them up and was on my way. Unfortunately, my knee still didn’t improve but at least the blisters stopped bothering me. Had chips sitting in the Alton Waitrose carpark. Tried taping the knee at midnight at my last crew point for the night. Was a nice placebo for a while but not long after the other knee joined in with the complaints. I could still run, my calves and thighs were still pain free but it was pretty uncomfortable, but I really wanted to get it done, I wasn’t going to walk the final marathon distance. Run walk Jeffing was the tactic and it worked. The third night was tough, but there were no sleepy gremlins and I kept moving, overtaking people quite a bit. Got all David Goggins on myself and started “taking souls” by fixating on catching runner after runner.

Headed out of Farnham to start the North Downs Way feeling positive, was soon kicking myself as I’d forgotten about another flooded section and left pretty much all my footcare stuff in the car. Luckily the final aid station had hot radiators so I got my socks partially dried. Tried to sleep for 15 mins but just closed my eyes and listened to the conversations going on around me.

Sunrise took a long time to come and there was times when the fog was so thick I couldn’t see anything outside the puddle of light from my headtorch, especially up near St Martha’s Church but I was still running intermittently.

My crew decided to come meet me at Denbies Hillside, which I felt was imposing too much on them to get out early but was very grateful as it meant dry socks and shoes for the last five miles!!! The drop down from Denbies was just steep enough to be runnable without killing my ever ouchy knees, “took another soul” on the way down!

The course has a nasty sting in the tail with a climb back up the box hill steps followed by a steep decent down to Juniper Hall but I was on a mission and got up the stairs like I was trying to get the Strava segment!

My kids were waiting to run over the line with me and had made me a medal and trophy. I had thoroughly enjoyed myself and got to the finish line in a state to be able to enjoy it with my kids.

Although the conditions under foot were dreadful thankfully it wasn’t too cold or rainy above making this eminently achievable. Future years may be less hospitable!

Time: 74:03:09 Position: 20

TLDR: what a fantastic well organised event with endless ups and downs, plenty of challenges and problem solving along the way and that by staying positive and pushing myself I could keep going and enjoy the experience.