Brecon 50 - run retrospective

Doing scrum for an ultramarathon

Being a software developer and occasional project manager, looking back on how things have gone and trying to improve them is built into my day to day life, so it's natural to do the same thing after a big event like a race.

What went well

Food. Food went really well, pure peanut butter has enough carb to keep me going, mixed with enough fat and protein that it doesn't make me ill. I didn't even get bored of it, as I was hungry enough to eat pretty much anything.

Kit. I'll post about kit separately, but mostly my kit choices worked really well. I'm pretty good at kit selection by now.

Pacing. I took Bernd Heinrich's advice and started very slow. That gave my metabolism time to ramp up, and I maintained my target pace to the very end.

Rereading 'Why we run'. My favourite running book. I should rely on it more.

Enjoyment. In 2012 I finished the Fellsman swearing I'd never do it again. In 2019 I've finished every ultra feeling like I want to go out and do another, just as soon as I've had a few weeks rest. I was very very glad to see the end of the Brecon, but not for one second did I regret entering.

Photos. My old Samsung B2100 takes adequate pictures and is totally waterproof.

Navigation. This was the first time using a gps track as primary. Having the gps in my hand / pocket and being able to check every few seconds made the navigation easy. I'd have been much slower with just the map on an unfamiliar route. Hacking contours onto the Garmin Topoactive made a huge difference, without the contours I'd have been much less confident about my surroundings**.

Running solo. Over the years I've sometimes run slow times because I didn't want to say to people 'I want to go faster than you're going'. I've learned to understand that I don't feel snubbed if someone disappears and gets a much faster time than me, so I shouldn't feel bad about 'running on'.
In general I'm very happy running ultras alone. I enjoy the thinking time you get in a 15 hour race, although I never feel like I've gained any great insights in that time. It's very relaxing to be running alone for that long though.

What didn't go well

Confidence. For most of the day I was bricking it about going over Y Gribyn in 60mph winds, or struggling to navigate round it. I worried about messing up any alternate route and getting disqualified or ending up somewhere bad. This was habitual over-worrying - I'm an experienced mountain runner and a better navigator than most, I was carrying a well set up gps and spare batteries, as well as a good map and compass, a mobile phone, a PLB and full mountain safety kit ( warm clothing, survival bag etc ). But being scared and cautious keeps me alive, so that's ok.

Water bottles. I had hip pain towards the end because I'd habitually drunk my right hand bottle dry, and left my left hand bottle full which unbalanced my pack. I should vary my drinking to keep my pack balanced.

Shoes. BAD shoe choice.

Video. One of my fellow runners took some video on the top to demonstrate how awful it was. I never thought of that.

The last few miles. I really could have run more in the last 4 miles. Once I met up with the guys in front I couldn't be arsed to overtake, and in truth I could have gained a few minutes if I'd bothered.

CP3. I was getting tired at CP3 and stood around much too long chatting. This is common for me towards the end of an ultra, I'll grab any excuse to chat with marshalls, members of the public etc rather than getting on with running.

Waterproofs. Two things: I need to sew up the pocket slits in my waterproof trousers, they inflated and blew the warm air out; and I should have put them on as soon as my legs started getting properly cold.



** the gps knows exactly where I am. It's a sign of a habitual map reader that I'm more confident about my location if I can understand the surrounding topography. In truth, the gps knows where I am to within a metre, my understanding of the contours just makes me feel better.