As some of you might now, I just took on the mighty Jurassic Coast Challenge for the 4th time this previous weekend. One hell of a challenge incorporating 100km of trail, beach and hills. Lots and lots of big, hairy stunning and shitty hills! This was a key part of my training for the 300km challenge I am tacking in September, and a route I completed on a messed up ankle and heel last year. So to get this out of the way, I had to take a DNF, retiring after just 60km. It was less than ideal and it didn't feel great at the time, but I'll get to what happened in a couple of minutes. Surprisingly, I felt ok about the decision as it was absolutely the right one for me to make given what I'm attempting and after what happened last year, by forcing the issue. This year I had so much more than myself to think about. My wife and her friend were running their first 35k. They had to travel down much later with also both my kids in tow to cheer them on. They arrived pretty late, but I got a decent nights' sleep.
I wanted to see my buddy - G, finally cross the finish line for this challenge having had to retire halfway through the previous 2 attempts. I knew he absolutely had to finish this one after the monster amount of work he put into this. He finished! And he smashed it in a great time of a little over 23 hours. Couldn't be prouder!!
For me though the day was interesting...
It was cold and grey when I started. I had layers, fueling and my legs felt good. Really good, in fact! I barely noticed my Achilles issues, which have been ever present for the last 3 years. This was pretty remarkable, in fact. I commented to G at the start that my heart rate was tracking higher than usual, but put it down to a little adrenaline at the prospect of setting off. By the time I got up the first Big hill after 2km, sub 20 hours looked to be on!
After 15 minutes the skies cleared, the temperature went up and the sun came out. For the first time in any of the running I've done this year. My heart rate was tracking high again but I felt comfortable jogging long stretches. The sun, though, was to be part of my undoing...
I came into the first rest stop at 12km in great shape (albeit sweating quite a bit more than I'd have expected). I used the facilities and moved on not lingering, just simply filling my fluids again, answering a call of nature, and moving out.
The next leg went really well. Despite a couple of bottlenecks on one of the narrow stretches, my feet held up fine, though had to stop for a few minutes to treat a hotspot early sat outside a shop in Swanage. It was wisdom and experience that made me stop early and deal with it.
This left me feeling pretty good about my decision making, though the sweating was not letting up, I was down to my running t-shirt and cap (both black). My average pace was good and leaving me some wriggle room at rest stops when it became tough to still break 20 hours.
The next stop at 25km I was flying around faster than before. A quick sock change, fluid refill, some sunscreen and ate while walking out of the stop just before the next steep climb.
Thinking back, this climb felt harder than it should have been. But I dismissed it and simply went up it. Then I jogged a number of km on the rolling ridgeway across the Purbecks. I was getting pretty hot, but pace was where I'd hope it would be, and energy was there as i approached 32km. What came next was something I'd not encountered for 30 years, but I recognised the feeling...
It started as I met The Wall - Bindon Hill. A beast of a very long and very steep climb that I'd encountered 3 times before. All 3 previous times I had gone straight up it. Not fast, but step by step up, only ever stopping at the top. I knew how I should feel going up this behemoth.... and this time felt very different. I'd gone up less than 25% of the face of it, before I went light headed, crazy hot, and had to sit down. my Heart rate was deep into my Zone 6 (in the 170's BPM), that wasn't unusual, but only at the start?!
I overheated almost instantly.
This climb, sit down, climb, sit down cycle repeated 3 more times! Each time getting hotter and hotter. There was almost no breeze and no way to cool my core down. At the top I took off my shirt and moved the 5k to the next rest stop where I had to keep lying down to try and cool off. This wasn't good at all.
By the time I fell (literally) into the next rest stop I was struggling to stand up and think straight. I poured electrolyte over my head to try and cool it down and lay shirtless on the grass for 40 minutes panting like an exhausted dog. Which was mad as my legs were fine. When I cooled enough to stand up again, I grabbed some lemon bon bons and headed onto the most challenging stretch of the 3 monster hills.
This became a waking hell (as no way I could run for the first few km of this hilly stretch) . Every few steps I was having to stop. Again, something I've never had to do before. All with the same problem, overheating. By this point the hottest part of the day was over yet I just kept overheating. When I got to the top of the final climb I was sweating like a maniac and could not cool down at all.
I jogged slowly, with the worst part of the course behind me, but knew it was over for the full 100. A couple of hours later I came into 58km (though GPS clocked 60km) dripping with sweat. I went to the medics and clocked a body temp of 38.5C. This was at 10pm at night and not running at all for an hour.
Even with one of the most beautiful views in head of me, this was the first time I'd never enjoyed this part of the course:
The Medic confirmed it was mild heatstroke. A fact confirmed with a resting heart rate of 130bpm and still sweating 2 hours later having not done anything during that period. It was over. It had to be. I made a promise this year that if there was something that would only get worse if I continued then I'd pull out. I didn't do that last year, and despite finishing the full 100, it decimated my chance to go for the 300km a few months later. Even after a couple of hours, and feeling a little better I believe I could have gone on. The problem was I had no idea if doing so would send my core temp up again. It just felt risky and could leave me with bigger problems that could linger. Everything from stumbling in the dark on a trail, rolling an ankle, or falling off a 5ft high concrete Style at the top of a big hill I knew was still to come, all because I couldn't concentrate on what I was doing due to the addled thinking, etc. I made that promise and exercised my own judgment to act with the bigger picture in mind. Up until the problems took hold I was on a great pace. But this year, it wasn't the goal that I wanted most. The greatest victory in this defeat I have, is that I am free of injury for the first time, after putting 60 hard KMs through my legs. I've recovered very quickly and can get back to training for the main event in September unhindered.
I cannot tell you how much of a win that is for me. Having been through years of pain and physical discomfort each and every day, as well as crazy amounts of rehab, treatment, and countless starts only to break down again, I am happy. I can train after only a week on fresh legs and clear of any major issues. I can now push on through an aggressive 14 week summer training block and do everything possible to give myself the best chance of success in the Outer Hebrides this autumn.
Factors I've considered...
Having reflected, there were a few things that contributed to this DNF.
Split Focus
The day itself started with a little hit on my own focus. Maybe complacency in finishing it last year while carrying a problematic injury throughout, meant I was free to put attention on getting my wife squared away. Not a big deal but it was something different to last year.
It meant I was planning for 3 people in the days leading up to the task at hand. And I am more than OK with that as I know both were very anxious knowing what this course has done to me before. This was about getting them supported properly.
I was in the middle of one of the most stressful times of my life with my family after a major crisis only days earlier. It was certainly on my mind, and distraction may mean I wasn't paying enough attention on the course. Let your guard down, take it for granted and it will punish you. And it did.
It's hard to say for sure, but in the grand scheme of what is important in life, finishing this 100K that I've already done, albeit in a bit of a faster time, was nowhere near as important as this other situation, so perhaps it simply didn't matter enough to risk overheating in the final 40k. All of this feels it will have an impact. If I'm not fully focused on me, then how full is my commitment to seeing it all the way through? That commitment is essential to get you through the hardest times on a challenge like this.
Caution
I was cautious. When you have been as injured as much and as long as I have, it does make you concerned about pushing yourself and unravelling months of progress, knowing that a much bigger task is only a few months away. Last year I was clear... I was finishing. Even if it killed me. This year I was clear on stepping out rather than risk lasting damage. I wasn't as committed. That was definitely a factor, and probably a big one. Last year if I could move, I would finish. This year it was 'if it started to hurt badly then I would stop and save it for 300'. A commitment to the bigger goal at the expense of the smaller one. The sacrificial lamb, for the greater good.
Purpose
All of which overall suggests that it didn't mean enough to me. I know this to be true as despite loving this challenge, I never need to do this course again. If my JCC sub 20hr target was that important I'd be rushing to sign up to do it next year. I'm not. Time would have been nice, but I've realised my journey right now is about how FAR I can go, rather than how FAST I can get there.
That's what inspires me. That's what is giving me possibility.
This was ALWAYS what the journey for me was ever about, ever since I started. This is the way... 'How far can I go?'. It's the adventure that brings me to life, and that is always about the journey and not the destination.
Thanks for reading.
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