It’s been about 18 months since I last posted! That’s pretty shameful. In that time, I’ve run three more ultras: Race to the Stones in 2022 and the HOWUM and Race to the King in 2023. All an adventure in their own and all providing learning experience (Race to the King I’m looking at you with your massive thunder storm).
This year I’ve got more going on running wise than ever before and lots more chances to learn.
First up is the bigmoose ultra fun run loopathon on 14 April 2024, where I’m due to run 50k in 10 5k loops. It’ll be great practice for later in the year and a chance to practice refuelling at checkpoints.
Next is the Newport Marathon two weeks later. I’ve never run a marathon length race so this will be totally different. I’m tail running with three other She Runs Cardiff runners and I’m really looking forward to giving something back to the running community.
At the moment, my next race is the BIG one – the Epona 100. One hundred miles ‘pottering’ around mid Wales. It’s more than I’ve ever run before. Almost twice as much more! Plus in addition to the miles there’s 17,500 feet of elevation Race to the King was about 102 kilometres, which is about 62 miles. For the Epona we’re likely to be running through not one, but two nights, and we’ll be out somewhere between 45 and 50 hours.
There’s lots to think about for the race, not just about whether we sleep or not, but what we eat, what we pack and most importantly how we train for something so long.
I was feeling massively overwhelmed when I was looking at the 100 mile training plans that were out there so I’ve decided to get a coach to help me. I’m being coached by Stu Obree. He’s got loads of experience, has run a lot of the races by the same organiser as the Epona (it’s Pegasus Ultra running who are behind the Epona, as well as the Wild Horse 200 and also the 6 main Pegasus Ultra races) and came with a number of recommendations. I’m two weeks in and I’m loving it. Stu plans my runs, all I have to do is run what’s in Training Peaks. It’s great for accountability and I don’t have to think about what sorts of sessions I need to do. Plus I get feedback after every run so I know where to improve.
It’s been a long time since I’ve done structured sessions and in the past two weeks I’ve done tempo runs and intervals. I’ve not quite nailed them but it’s been fun giving them a go. I’ve had a few niggles since I started but I’m hoping that’s just the adjustment from running junk miles for months.
The plan is to keep this blog going as a bit of a training log, alongside my Training Peaks calendar so that I’ve got something to look back on.
The Running Mumma 