- Carried my own food and water in a backpack with bladder
- No one else ran with me at any point
Report:
I set a Fastest Known Time!!
In the process of running the first out and back FKT, I also took the fastest male time for half the route (one way) in the process.
I've been eyeing up a few FKTs since the start of the year, and so decided I'd go and get one before the year is over! This is the Camel Trail 'out and back' - so 27.8km from Wenfordbridge to Padstow and back again.
The route follows an old railway line along the river camel, so it's pancake flat the whole way and mostly tarmac or firm gravel.
I started with gloves and a second layer, it was freezing! After 10k I warmed up enough to strip off, although my hands later froze when exposed to the wind
Early in the run I was blessed with witnessing two Roe deer run across the path in front of me, so I knew it was going to be a great day!
I was determined to get the fuelling right today, so set up watch alerts for every 30 mins and had a mix of oat biscuits and fruit bars, which worked really well for me (highly recommend researching fuelling if you're new to marathons or ultras, sounds obvious but it can make or break you).
I reached Padstow and the 'end of Camel Trail' sign in 2:07:22, 25 mins quicker than the previous best men's time (the women's time is a rapid 4:05 min/km or 6:26/mile pace, one for another day perhaps!).
Then it was just a matter of going all the way back again! I took my headphones in case I got bored, and although it wasn't the most exciting route I managed to zone out and plough through the miles (turning off watch km notifications helped)
I hit marathon distance in 3h15 (my 3rd fastest), and 50km in 3h55 (2nd fastest), and then I paid the price for my quick pace in the final 5km. My HR spiked up and it was a real struggle to keep the legs turning. I pushed through telling myself it was only a temporary pain, and made it with an average pace of 4:46min/km - over the moon with that!!