Tooting Bec 24H 2014 - Girl Power!!

Pre-race preps - life of a (pretend) full-time athlete
After the World 24 hour was cancelled for the second time this year (Czech Republic in June and then Taiwan in December),  I made the decision to return to the track where I'd run my first 24 hour race the previous year to try to further my distance.  I didn't want to have made selection for this year, only to not get to run and then for some reason not make selection for next year so I knew I had to run further.  I viewed my second attempt as a bit like that difficult second album - the first one had gone reasonably well (or well enough at least to make GB selection), and as I'd never done one before there was relatively little pressure.  However, now I had a distance I knew I had to at least match, and if all went well, run further than.  On top of that, I now knew just what physical and mental suffering felt like and the potential complications that could arise following the race - no work trips planned the week after for this one (something which was again brought up at my recent appraisal - the term "business risk" was used to describe me!! *See Tooting Bec 2013 write up for more detail...!!)

Don Ritchie MBE  - Legend!!

Preparation for the race had gone brilliantly.  I'd come off the back of the West Highland Way race in June feeling pretty strong and gaining confidence in my running abilities, and my runs felt like they were getting faster but with no extra effort put in.  As I'm required to take 2 weeks block leave at work, I decided to use it up before the race and get a solid 2 weeks training in - I could be a pretend full time athlete and just focus fully on Tooting Bec and reaching my distance.  And also spend some much overdue quality time with my dad back in the north-east.  The first week went brilliantly - my typical day involved a long lie, a run in the morning, lazing around and then another run in the afternoon.  At first I didn't believe my Garmin, my run's were quick, but I honestly didn't feel like I was pushing at all.  I started to think that maybe I should be doing a 10k or a marathon to make use of this new found speed I was discovering.

My dad completing his lap of the track

During the week, I had the honour to meet one of my absolute heroes - ultra running legend Don Ritchie.  I remember growing up in the north-east, we'd be out in the car with my dad and we'd often see the figure of Don pounding the roads around Lossiemouth and Elgin.  So I was over the moon when I got in touch and he invited me around for a cuppa - I had so many questions to ask a man that broke multiple world records and remains one of the greatest ultra runners that the UK and even World, has ever seen!!  There is so much I could write here about our meeting, I think that in itself merits another blog however, and I count down the days until he publishes an account of his running endeavours! I left Don's house feeling inspired and even more motivated and determined to train even harder for Tooting.  During the week, my dad and I also headed over to Morriston, which is the cinder track I used to train at when I was at high school.  It had again been badly damaged the previous week during flooding, so we went to see how bad it looked as I planned to do some laps while I was up and practice pacing for Tooting.  My dad, who was still recovering from having a knee replacement a few weeks previously, was out the car in a shot, and ended up doing a lap of the track, despite my protests.  I'm starting to see where I get my stubborn streak from.....

Beautiful Morayshire :)

I topped off the first week with back to back 35 milers taking me to 115 miles for the week - on the Saturday, I took in some of the Speyside Way route as the race was on and I wanted to cheer on some folk I knew were running.  I absolutely love the stretch between Spey Bay and Buckie, passing all the wee fishing villages that merge into Buckie and looking out for seals and dolphins along the coast.  My time at home was reminding me of just how much I miss the north east and living by the sea!  The second run on the Sunday went well too - I ran out along part of one of Don's old training routes, past the firing range at Kingston (very quickly as the flags were up and the squadron boys were out shooting!) and along the long forest track to Lossiemouth, stopping there for a quick ice-cream before making the return leg back home.  This full time athlete malarky was turning out to be a pretty good lifestyle choice!  I took the Monday off, and noted that my ankles were both feeling a bit achey. Then on the Tuesday, I was out on my morning run, going at a good pace when all of a sudden I had a really sharp pain up the front of my shin.  And so ended my time as a pretend full time athlete - week two was spent sitting on the sofa icing my shin.  There is such a fine line between training hard and overtraining and I guess on this occasion, although it didn't feel like I was particularly pushing it, I crossed it.

Lossiemouth beach

I managed to get an appointment with Del at Proactiv Physiotheraphy when I got back to Edinburgh - he's saved me in the run up to my last two races this year, finding solutions to various niggles I've had this year with my hamstring and foot, and he soon sent me on my way with a strapped ankle and telling off for not doing my strengthening exercises!  So, with a slightly dodgy ankle, a longer than planned taper, and an experimental "reverse-taper" in place (thanks to coach Marco for thinking of this!), I was soon on the flight down to Gatwick to meet up with my support crew Karen Hathaway (fellow GB 24 hour runner) and good friends Sarah and Dan Byrne.  We headed over to Sarah and Dan's house for my traditional pre-race meal (pizza and beer) and to quickly go over my race schedule, after which it was an early night at the local Travelodge for me and Karen.

Race Day

Pre-race nerves....

Karen woke me up.  Thank god, because tattie-heid here, although setting the alarm on my phone and plugging it into the charger, hadn't actually turned the switch on - my phone was dead.  Great start, but then again, not surprising given my track record.  Speaking of which, after a hearty breakfast, we were on our way to London, via Gatwick to pick up Adrian Stott who was to be official time-keeper for the race.  Sarah and Dan had headed up earlier to set up, and when we got there, they had everything looking super organised - a tent was erected at the side of the track, compete with airbed (which I was instructed on no account during the next 24 hours was I to go anywhere near!), and we'd managed to nab a table from Johnny Fling, our neighbour for the next 24 hours, who was down supporting girlfriend Noanie.   The table was already heaving under the weight of the ridiculously long shopping list of food I'd given Sarah and Dan, and I thought it only prudent to do a quick check of some of Sarah's mini Rollo chocolate brownies that she'd baked especially for the occasion.  We were also set up a couple of tents along from Izzy Wykes; I'd met Izzy last year when we both had the honour of representing GB at the World Ultra Trail Champs in Wales.  Izzy had won the 145 mile GUCR earlier this year and was now trying a 24 hour for the first time, also with the aim of making the GB qualifying mark.

Round round baby, round round......

It wasn't long until we were all lining up at the start line.  It really didn't feel like a year ago since I had last toed the line here at Tooting, and it felt good to be back.  I had come with what I thought was an overly ambitious target - 230kms (vs a PB of 216km) - but I was confident I could get close to it if I just stuck to my plan and didn't get carried away in the early hours.

The gun fired and we were off.  As usual, a lot of people raced off at what would later turn out to be unsustainable paces, but I stuck to my pacing plan and let the others race ahead; there was still a long, long way to go.   The first few hours passed quickly; Noanie was right behind me and Izzy had taken a more cautious and leisurely start.  My crew (who were later joined by (not "the") Steve King) were fantastic - keeping a close eye on me to make sure I wasn't going too fast at the start, making sure I was eating properly and regularly, and keeping me updated with splits and progress.  Food that worked well this year included cheese and tomato quiche, homemade spanish omelette (it had been a winner during the West Highland way this year!), salt and vinegar square crisps and....my secret weapon - malteser cake.   I ate pretty well for probably the first 12 hours and then really started to struggle after that.  I just felt very sick and really had to force myself to eat things.

Running through the night is always one of the hardest parts of a 24 hour - but its a period I enjoy.  Some people leave the track and get their heads down for a few hours, others stay on and do a steady death march.   I like it when it gets quieter, you can just get your head down and bank some miles.  I was starting to go through a wee rough patch though, I wasn't eating as well and wasn't feeling quite as chirpy as at the start, so I pulled my cap down and tried to focus on just completing lap after lap and retreating into my head.  I'd bought an iPod shuffle specifically for Tooting (I lost the one that I bought for the event last year...) - I'm not really a big fan of using music in races, I think it gives the runner an advantage, and as such I don't think it should be allowed in races, but I thought I might as well take advantage of it as others were.  However, I never did figure out how to download my music from Spotify onto the iPod, so apart from half a lap sharing one of Noanie's earphones (NB Noanie has the most eclectic taste in music - "If I Had Words" from the movie Babe, will forever be synonomous with running round a track for 24 hours.  Along with, of course, Round Round by the Sugababes....!!), it was just me and my thoughts.

Noanie's "interesting" soundtrack

My name, along with Izzy and Noanie's,  had been creeping up the leader board - it wasn't something I'd been keeping an eye on, and I would have been worried to see my name at the top in the first few hours; it is something I was conscious of though - and reminded of when an enthusiastic supporter shouted out that he reckoned I'd take the lead by about 2am at the rate I was going.  This was quickly shouted down by Adrian, who was keen to make sure I was focussing on the full 24 hours and not positions this "early" on in the race.  Everyone knows that a 24 hour race doesn't really start until the final 6 hours, so at this point, position was irrelevant.  As it happens, I took the overall lead just under the half way mark, at which point I'd covered just over 76 miles.

The thing I love about Tooting is the atmosphere - everyone is so incredibly supportive, regardless of how their race is going or how they are feeling.  Some of the runners seemed to be more excited than I was at the fact I'd taken the lead, they were all so encouraging.  I remember running past Ann Bath at one point and her telling me she hadn't noticed her position when she ran past the score board, she'd been so busy looking at mine!

Karen checking my malteser cake levels....
Dan and Steve ignoring my diva requests

By now my toes were starting to feel pretty bashed.  After the state my feet were in after last year's race, I'd been sure this time to absolutely smother them in vaseline.  However, the issue seemed to be more that my toes were bashing off the top of my shoes - I should have taped them.   I've never yet taken my shoes off during a race, I prefer just to run on and deal with the consequences at the end.  However, on this occasion, there were seriously bad things going on inside my shoes, and I was starting to hobble a bit, so I had to make the decision to stop, take my shoes and socks off and tape my toes.  Blisters had already started to form under my toenails and were pushing them off, so the quick fix was for Karen (poor, poor Karen) to quickly tape them on.  It wasn't the quickest of manoeuvres, not helped by the fact that I didn't have proper tape, so I wasted probably a lap or so doing this.  Lesson learnt though - tape toes before future track races!  And bring proper tape!  On a positive note however, my ankle was holding up well and as such, my shin was feeling fine.  This had been a worry right up until the start of the race, and I'd debated whether or not to tape my ankle from the start.  In the end I decided to just go for it and hope my ankle would hold out - and so far, it seemed to be doing pretty good.

Waving regally to the lap counters (and not assaulting 81 year old
record breaker Geoff!)

I went through the 100 mile mark at  16 hours 11 mins - 13 minutes slower than last year.  This was a good thing though - last year I'd got distracted when I found out that I was close to beating the current 100 mile Scottish record, so I'd shifted focus to achieving that, rather than remaining focussed on the full 24 hours.  As it turned out, I missed out on the record, and suffered later on in the race for my unscheduled increase in pace.  That's why when Adrian told me that I was close to breaking good friend Sharon Law's 200km Scottish record, I didn't want to know, as I was conscious that I was going for a good 24 hour distance, and not a 200km record.  However, when Adrian then added that Sharon has achieved the record on her way to breaking the Scottish 24 hour record, it gave me the renewed focus I needed - I was actually on track to achieving somewhere close to the overly ambitious target I had set.  I went through the 200km mark in 20 hours 28 mins, 18 minutes inside the old record.  If I could just keep the pace going for another 3.5 hours, I was well on my way to achieving the distance I'd come for.

Mind games

By now I was really starting to hurt and having to dig deep.  I'd been running for almost 21 hours, and apart from the couple of minutes trackside taping my feet and a few toilet breaks, I'd been on the track keeping a pretty steady pace from the start.  Izzy by now however was looking stronger and stronger; from her cautious start, she just seemed to be going from strength to strength.  She was now only 2 miles - or 8 laps - behind me and showing no signs of letting up.  Any thoughts of easing up and just cruising for the last few hours were now clearly out the window, Izzy was pushing me and pushing me hard.  At the time, I was cursing her for it, but in actual fact, having her there was helping us both achieve distances we probably never imagined we could achieve - Izzy was pushing hard to chase me, and I was pushing hard to keep ahead of her.  By now, Noanie was clearly ahead as well in 3rd, and it looked like, unbelievably, the girls were going to get a clean sweep of the podium.

I pulled my cap down over my eyes, and tried to retreat into my head, telling myself that if i just kept pushing, it would soon be over and would all be worth it.  I had a mantra I kept repeating over and over in my head, trying to trick my body into thinking that I was feeling good and happy - "I'm strong, I'm strong, I can do this, so determined".  Sounds cheesy as hell now, but at the time, it was working and that's all that mattered!  With 45 minutes to go, I passed  Sharon's previous 24h record.  There was no time to celebrate though or ease off, and as I passed Dan, he shouted out "You've got the record  Now go and finish the job!!"  That gave me the extra boost I needed -  I hadn't led for this long for Izzy to pass me in the final hour, so again, head down, I focussed on trying to cover as many laps as possible.

Final results - girls get
the clean sweep!

The last half hour dragged!  By now my legs were cramping - I had to step off the track briefly to do some stretches against the fence and stretch my hamstrings and calves out.  Also, my speed was restricted now, I couldn't run any faster, as every time I tried to speed up, my muscles threatened to cramp up.  I remember seeing Izzy nip off the track to the bathroom and running past my crew shouting "Izzy's just gone for a pee - if I need to pee now, I'm doing it in my shorts!!!", so determined I was to keep my lead!  Luckily, I didn't need a pee, and with one minute to go, Karen and Dan joined me to mark my final distance.

The hooter went and the race was over - I'd exceeded my original target, running a total distance of 232.9kms (144 miles), knocking 4 miles off the previous Scottish record. I'd also broken the female course record and become the first female in the history of the race to win it outright!  In fact, girls had achieved the clean sweep, with Izzy clocking up an impressive 142 miles for her debut 24 hour race and Noanie in third overall with 132 miles; each of us achieving GB qualification standards.  Our distances also place me and Izzy 5th and 6th respectively on the GB all-time 24 hour list!! To say I was over the moon is an understatement!

Pooped

Unbelievably happy as I was however, I was exhausted.  And feeling, very, very sick.  One thing I'd learned from last year though, and vowed never to do again, was to travel home by train after the race.  This year, after a wee sip of beer, quick shower, and flaking out in the changing rooms in the middle of the presentations, Karen kindly gave Adrian and me a lift to Heathrow.  Two wheelchair rides, a plane journey and lift in Adrian's car later and I was soon back home - much more civilised than travelling in the underground, having to negotiate stairs (seriously, try that after running for 24 hours), freezing cold trains and a deathly slow walk up the Waverley ramp in Edinburgh...!

Lessons learned from this year:

1. The importance of a great support crew: similar to me having excellent support during the WHW this year, I was lucky enough to be supported by Karen, an experienced 24 hour runner, and also Dan and Sarah who helped support me last year.  Coupled with new friend Steve, I could not have been in better hands - being able to run and know that I didn't have to worry about anything - if there were any issues, I had a brilliant support crew who could figure things out for me and make sure I was keeping fuelled, happy and moving forward.
2. No matter how much food you have, you'll always feel like something you don't have: I don't think Sarah and Dan knew what they had let themselves in for when they offered to do my pre-race shopping for me.....the realisation probably began to sink in after they received my shopping list.  And then hit me when Karen and I went around to theirs on the Friday night for pizza and beer and were greeted by THE biggest food mountain imaginable.  Despite this, I still found myself craving things I didn't have.  Chocolate soya milk, which I absolutely devoured last year, was not doing it for me this year at all.  And when I saw my crew making cups of tea, I had a sudden craving for milk, so started drinking gallons of the stuff.  I don't even drink milk, preferring instead to drink rice or soya based alternatives!  I also had a random craving for fresh orange and a smoothie - again, things I don't usually drink in races or day to day!  I can't thank enough the runner who gave me one of his smoothies - it was just what I needed!
3. Foot care / Vaseline: So I was wise this year in that I absolutely sloshed on vaseline all over my feet and toes before the race.  Unwise though for not taping my toes.  I am already mourning the impending loss of several toenails.....Vaseline in general - you can never use too much.  And should never put off reapplying during a race.  Enough said.
4. Tea: It probably has no nutritional value whatsoever (except for caffeine boost?) but I cannot get enough of it, especially in the latter hours of a 24 hour!
5. Holidays: 2 days post race are not enough!  First week back at work was not particularly enjoyable (did you know its actually possible to fall asleep with your eyes open??).  This has now resulted in me getting post-race lurgy.....Where possible, better plan holiday allowance (I now have zero holidays left for the rest of the year.....:( )
6. Have a plan, have confidence in your plan, and stick to it: I went to Tooting this year with a very structured plan in place. I knew exactly how many laps I should be running each hour, when I should be walking, what I should be eating (obviously the latter of these went out the window after a few hours...!) and I made sure I stuck to it.  Even at the start, when people were racing off, I had confidence in my plan knowing that if I stuck to it, there was a huge likelihood I would achieve my distance.  This of course went out the window in the last 3 hours as Izzy continued to push me hard and I just had to grit my teeth, get my head down and dig deeper than originally planned!
7. Keep positive: As I've learned even more this year, a huge proportion of success in ultra running comes down to keeping a positive mentality.  Karen played a huge part during Tooting this year, telling me to keep smiling.  And if that means chanting cheesy mantras over and over in your head and telling yourself that you are feeling great even when you're not, then that's the way to do it!  
8. If offered a wheelchair at an airport, take it: Also, it helps if the person you are travelling with is wearing full GB outfit (it means if you flake out in the middle of the airport, you don't look so much like a random drunk/hobo/crazy person).  If being pushed in aforementioned wheelchair by Adrian Stott, keep your wits about you - he has a tendency to veer for peoples toes....
9. Pizza and Beer is a pre-race winner:  but only 1 beer.
10. As elegantly put by Karen: BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND YOU CAN DO ANYTHING (except perhaps fly)!!!!

Special thanks to:

• My amazing support crew - Karen, Dan, Sarah, and Steve.  And also to folk at the AAM London office who popped along at various points to come cheer me on
• The rest of the GB girls - Debbie, Sharon, Emily, Jo Z - for sending updates and words of encouragement during the race
• Adrian - for keeping me updated during the race of splits etc and for all his help pre-race. And to him and Arpita for getting me home after!
• Run & Become and all the lap counters/organisers - for putting on such a fabulous and well-organised race
• Marco and Mark - for helping me with training schedules and pushing me hard 
• The rest of the competitors - for making it such a friendly, encouraging and welcoming environment to run in
• My dad - for putting up with my full-time athlete persona for 2 weeks....:)
• 2Pure for supplying me with OSMO products for the race; and Nelsons Arnicare for post-race Arnicare gel.

Race Links
Run and Become race report
Scottish Athletics race report
Ultrarunning World race report