Hellrunner 2017 - November

Race Central

So this was a re-visit of Hellrunner for me, and the second time in one year.  I won't really have as much to say, as my first blog was very detailed - and incredibly useful this time round.

The Prep

I started upping my training in October, when I entered, though I had been keeping fit with short runs and long mountain bike rides.  I knew the key was the hill reps, so I started pushing myself locally, on Hankley Common, which is an important military training area, and very similar to the Hellrunner terrain..  I was using Brooks ASR-13 running shoes, which I have to say area simply the best shoes I have ever owned - they are just so comfortable.

I was using Strava on my Apple Watch to help with training, which is great, as you don’t need your phone... and if you have a compression top sleeve over it, it will do a great job picking up your heart beat.  I was doing 3 runs a week, plus a gentle ‘social’ bike ride or two... and luckily, November was a period when I have less work, so I was free to obsess over all things running ;-)

Kit wise, I purchased a 2XU long sleeve compression top, to match my bottoms, and some tops and shorts from Sports Direct - cheap Karimoor gear, which does the job, whilst having some useful pockets.  My shoes, as mentioned before, were a great investment, and they totally suited my feet and running style.

Strava was great for the training - I found I could really push myself against my previous times, as well as friends times... it made a huge difference.

Day Before

I pretty well did exactly what I had done previously - getting all my gear ready.  The blog I’d written in January was great - this year I packed a waterproobf (which also proved useful).  My last day running was 3 days before - an 8 miler with some hill reps - though I didn’t push it.  I was still nervous, but wasn't worried about the water features - I'd done it before, and knew they were nothing compared to the hills.

Race Day

I left 5 minutes late (8.25am), and entered the site via the Griggs Green entrance (about 8.45am)... and was 2 cars from getting a parking space in the main site :-(. In future, I would say, try to enter via the Longmoor entrance, as it is quicker... if you are early enough

Race kit was varied...

I parked, probably 20 minutes from the main site... and it wasn’t the best signposts to locate the start.  I then waited in the car - by chance I was parked next to my running companion Henry (whom I ran hell runner with in January).  We chatted, until he had to leave - he was in the first wave of runners, so would be starting at 10am.  I moved off at about 9.35am, and just followed the few people in front of me.  Most people doing Hellrunner seem to have done it before, so they are the ones to follow.  I was in the second wave, so my start was at 10.20, and all the starts were running to time.  There were some new races earlier, with army folk with rucksacks etc.  So the track would be pretty churned up - but that’s the price of delaying your decision entry.

Wave 1 about to depart

As I wasn’t parked on site, I wore tracky bottoms and my down jacket, and carried my kit bag.  At 10am, I handed my bag into the baggage marquee.  I then paced around in circles... nervously.  10.20, we watched the Hellrunner chap speaking into his mic - we couldn’t hear him, as the speakers were pointing the wrong way... the Hellrunner devil chap danced around, and we were off!!!

The Race

I’d trained hard, so I saw this as a race, and pushed myself from the start.  At the very start, I was on the left of the pack (at the start gate), so had to run through a deep puddle... so was immediately wet!  The race continued, and apparently there were some extra hills.  It was pretty well as I remembered, and before I knew it, we were at the first bog... and the most incredible traffic jam.  There had been jams before, but this was a new level.  It felt like it took me 10 minutes to get through the bog, though I’d say it was longer than before.  This was very frustrating - again, a symptom of 2nd wave.  Furthermore, as I had caught up with a few first wave runners, the queues got worse.  OK, when I hit the hills, I was maxed out, but I could definitely have done this faster.

The lake was fun, as were the bogs.  And when we hit the final hills, they were definitely relentless... though I was prepared for more.  So onto the Bog Of Doom.

Up until this point, I was definitely feeling the effect of pushing myself - on one hill, I felt quite sick, but that faded.  I did take my gel at 4.4 miles, and I reckon it was a life saver... it just reloaded me!

So the Bog Of Doom... it’s the most iconic feature of the Hellrunner Down South, and yes, it didn’t disappoint. There wasn’t quite as much water level this time, which actually meant it was harder to wade through - you couldn’t bounce. Apparently, just before I had got there, the ‘aqua man’ had placed a log across, so you had to go UNDER. This I did - which was great - as I wouldn’t have chosen to fully submerge. As soon as I jumped into the bog, I could hear my wife and middle / youngest sons cheering me on. Again, this was pretty emotional, though a real highlight. I was buzzing, even as fell flat on my face as I approached the bog exit...

with medal, water, and goody bag

The Finish

At the finish with my support crew

And before I knew it, I was jogging over the finish line, and being handed my rather superb medal, the goody bag, and my new Hellrunner 2017 (Nov) T-Shirt! I approached my wife, Holly, and asked he to help turn off my Strava. Correction, I motioned to my wrist and the watch, and couldn’t make a sound - I would have cried if I did... and that wouldn’t have been right ;-) (at the finish, everything is wet, so touchscreens don't work very well!).
And the biggest surprise, was I had finished 10 minutes quicker than I did in January. I was incredibly happy with this... and knew I could have done better if it hadn’t been for the hold ups. We took photos, I drank water, then I searched for the changing block. There was a tiny portion of the marquee set aside for this purpose - hidden away. I literally had to ask 6 people until I was directed to it. Luckily, I had my taupaline and towels, so I simply changed outside, with only a few accidental flashes. The walk back to the car, was OK, though I could imagine it being really tough if you had given the race 100%. The drive out was interesting, as there were no exit signs. I followed a car that looked like it knew where it was going - which it didn’t... and other cars followed me.  Eventually, I left the site and headed home, to a warm bubble bath, whilst my entire kit went through the washing machine - easy wash at 30! And it came out clean - or at least most of it did! Interestingly enough, the best implement to clean the muck off me in the bath was an exfoliating glove (or two of them) - the mud was really tough to get out before I used this.

Did I clean it all off?

What next...

And now, as I sit in a gymnastics hall, whilst my middle son leaps around and participates in a ‘gymnastic birthday party’!!!, I take the chance to chill and reflect. It was great fun, the training was hard, and I do feel shattered. Would I do it again? I reckon I would... but this time, DON’T wait till later to enter it, as you will be put in the 2nd wave, or heaven forbid, the 3rd wave!  It's great that so many people do this, and incredible that there is a whole race with people with rucksacks on... but you do end up dodging them if you are in a late starting wave.  But that's only my fault, as I delayed my entry!

 I guess my change in attitude, has been from simply completing the course... to completing the course with a competitive time - and beating what I have done before. Which I guess can only be a good thing.

The Stats

Strava!

note the pace dropping right down for the Hills of Hell

not sure how accurate this is, as the watch has no altimeter...

Definitely a higher average than usual.

... and so I'm a Veteran...  will it get better for hereon, or worse?

...and some additional details

So I did fairly well this year, so I was obviously doing something right... and here are a few points - maybe so I can learn from them next time.

Food

The day before, I had pasta in the day, and pasta in the evening - basically carbs.

In the morning, on the day of the race, at around 7.30, I made myself a smoothie, with milk, almond milk, oats, blueberries, dried apricots, apple, banana, and maple syrup - using an Ultra Ninja food processor.

Before the race, in the central race area, I had a couple of sample Cliff bar cubes, plus and energy gel cube.

During the race, at the 4.6 milked drinks station, I ate / drank my Apple Crumble flavour Torq Gel sachet... which gave me a huge boost.  If this was just in my head, then who cares, ‘cos it worked.

After, I ate whatever there was in the goody bag... (I should really have had a protein drink prepared... this seemed to work when I was cycling the South Downs Way).

Kit
Shoes

OK, my Brooks ASR-13s are the best shoes I’ve had... not that I felt like I could have had a little more grip on the very steep sections.  I do look enviously at the Salomon folk at these races, with their nobly soles, and quick tying laces, but I have never been able to fit the shoes.  My feet are simply too wide... or just a weird shape.  Maybe I can change the laces, but the only reason for this would be so that I can undo them at the very end - I had double knotted my Brooks, and they were very hard to undo after the race, with freezing fingers.

Coming out of ‘Mud Pit Of Hell’ (the thickest bog), my shoes definitely felt heavier, but that feeling soon wore off.  Maybe other shoes suffer equally?

Clothing

This is a tough one.  Socks were fine, shorts and 2XU ‘under-shorts’ did a great job (the Karimoor shorts were brilliant for putting my gloves in, and keeping the gel pack in the rear pocket).  I had the long sleeve compression top with a short sleeved T over it... and at one point I was getting too hot, so I tried lifting the compression top up... but it’s too tight, so felt uncomfortable.  It was just for a small part of the race I was too hot, and the rest of the time it was good.  So I’m not sure what the answer is.  Maybe just one  closer fitting t-shirt?  It was around 5 degrees on the day, with a misting of rain, so not really that cold.  If I’d been in the first wave, there wouldn’t have been so much hanging around in the first bog, where the severe cold definitely got to me.