Saturday 27 October 2012

Round Rotherham 50 mile trail race

Last Saturday I had my final adventure of the season on the trails round Rotherham. I have done this race a number of times before, when the race was run in December, and more significantly, before I started training specifically for ultras. I was keen to see how my time now would compare to my previous outings (9:20 hours at best), as I now feel far more confident over these kind of distances.

The relatively flat nature of the course meant that I ran almost the full 50 miles, only taking the odd walking break, giving the effort a very different feel to the normal ultras I compete in which generally have far rougher terrain and significantly more ascent.

My plan was to set off at a slightly quicker pace than I normally would in an ultra, see how long I could maintain a healthy pace and then hang on for dear life over the latter stages. For those that know me (or regularly read my race reports) you will know that this plan differs from my normal routine of steady start and finish strong - I just wanted to try something different in this end-of-season race.

Sunrise

The video tells the story of the race in more animated detail, but needless-to-say, I finished the season off in good style with a new PB by 1:15 hours, finishing in 8:04 hours for 22nd place.

What really suprised me was how much my quads suffered despite the lack of hills. I can only think that the continuous running took it's toll on my legs as the last couple of hours were tough!

One week on, I am well into my post season recovery period and just intend to do 2 or 3 nice easy jogs of 3-5 miles each week until the start of December when I should be chomping at the bit, ready to kick-start the winters training.

The next couple of blog posts are going to have to be a "review of the season", followed by a "lessons learned"; it's the blog-law, isn't it?


6 comments:

Jonathan said...

Awesome video, it really brings it back and its cool to spot myself as well.

Johnny (guy in the cap with the excessive sprint finish)

Dale Jamieson said...

congratulations Dave, what a season you've had.

Andy Cole said...

Well done Dave, great finish to your season. I've suffered with quads at Rotherham too; it could be because although it feels like a flat course but there's actually about 2000ft of climbing, and you tend not to slow down for the hills.

Nick said...

Amazing result, Dave. Well done. Your injury problems must be well behind you now.
Strangely enough I suffered no muscle trauma at all. The fact that I was 2 hours slower than you might have had something to do with it. ;-)

Debs M-C said...

Well done, Dave. Nice work. You've certainly come back with a bang.

The GM and I ran passed your school on Friday.

Debs

Forest Bethell said...

A great video of your race and your insight of things. Excellent run :)