Guerlédan 58km - part 1

We'd had a good night in Britanny and I'd eaten to excess. One of the local specialities is kig ha farz and I had second helpings. This dish is made from a knuckle of pork which is pot-roasted with carrots and potatoes and a black wheat stuffing which absorbs the juices and is served as an accompaniment to the meal. All of this was served with a lipig, a sauce made form onions and the cooking juices, slow-roasted for several hours. Delicious.

I stood on the starting line in the drizzle with my running top and my Gore jacket on, feeling my legs still tired from the previous day and my belly full of kig ha farz. The sun had disappeared and it felt like a typical day in the Lake District with the drizzle falling steadily and that feeling that you know that you won't be seeing the sun all day. I wasn't too excited about this race, unlike the 13km, as I knew what to expect. The only question was when. When would I feel so exhausted that I wouldn't want to continue? When would I experience that tiredness in my legs that saps all motivation? When would I feel like abandoning the race?

Laurence and I spoke to Claire in the tent sheltering from the rain and then we met up with the others from the club as they arrived. We were 13 in all and my aim was to be first from the club home with Gérald and Olivier as my closest competitors. The race was going to be tough and a real trail, unlike the Ecotrail in the Paris region that we ran in March. Some of the top trailers from the country, and all of the best Britanny trailers were there and the competition was announced to be fierce at the front. My objectives were simple: take it easy to begin with and keep it steady over the course; stay ahead of Gérald and Olivier and keep with them if they approached; and lastly, try and beat 6:30, the time I'd said that I'd manage to Nico. We wished best of luck to everyone and lined up at the start and then we were off.

There were over 800 runners registered for the race and there were plenty of people there despite the rain. All of the runners were well equipped with  trailshoes, bags, camelbaks, booster leggings, and caps or scarves. I had my Mizunos on as I wanted to be comfortable rather than trudging around with good grips but heavy shoes. The start was easy with everyone chatting away in a friendly manner as gradually the field stretched out as we ran for over 2km along the tow path beside the canal. This didn't last long before we pulled away up the hill into the forest and ran the loop that we'd run in the second half of the race the previous day. I was happy as I knew where I was going and what to expect but I could still feel the tiredness in my legs and my thigh pain which hadn't bothered me the day before. Gérald and Olivier were behind me as I'd worked my way up through the pack slightly until I'd found a pace that I was really comfortable with, just under 5:00 per km.

The ups and downs were endless as we left the loop after 7.5km and headed west towards Gouarec. We had some really steep hills which I walked from the start and I remember loooking at the Garmin after 1 hour and seeing that we'd only covered 10km (59:38 to be precise). We ran back down to the towpath at this point and I picked up speed here to run what would be my fastest kilometre of the whole course in 4:33! Luckily I didn't know this and I carried on through the town and out the other side back up some more steep hills to the crests to the north of the canal, now heading eastwards back towards the lake. This was a steep climb and I made this 14th kilometre in 8:34 and it was about this point that I began to wonder if I would be able to make it all of the way around the course. Somebody called out 156 to me and I wondered if I would be able to catch anybody and improve on this position as I wasn't feeling brilliant and I didn't seem to be making any headway against the runners ahead. I looked at the line of runners along the crest of the hills that reminded me strongly of walks in the Lake District or in Scotland with heather and bracken underfoot and drizzle and a strong sidewind blowing. At least I wasn't feeling too hot.

We passed the photographers on the last stretch of the hill top and then headed back down towards the lake. I could see it stretched out in the valley in front of me and the prospect of running the 30 odd kilometres around the bugger was not as appealing as it had been when I signed up for this challenge. We headed downhill now and my legs felt easier. In a nutshell, every uphill section was hell and I felt that I would never manage and every downhill and flat section I felt fine and caught runners ahead of me. At the bottom of the hill was the first feeding station and the dog who'd pestered me all the way down was finally reunited with its owner; only he was a runner too and set off again just as I did. There were a group of 3 trailers ahead of me and then the man with his dog, which he picked up in his arms to carry across the steel bridge over the canal. On the other side of the canal, we started the next section of the race that would take us around the lake. My focus was just on getting to the next feeding station at 33km, another 12km to go.

With the Garmin and my recorded splits, I am able to see in retrospect what happened; something that is impossible to analyse objectively as you run. The last section before the feeding station was along the flat and I'd caught several runners, averaging 5:00 per kilometre. We now ran alongside the lake where I'd hoped that the path would be flat beside the water, but unfortunately proved to be very difficult with sharp little rises and sharp descents, stopping any rhythm that I would begin to find. I was looking at my Garmin, stuck behind the 3 runners watching the splits with 6:11, 6:34 then 6:38 showing up. I was looking to average 6:00 per kilometre in order to maintain a 10km per hour average and finish in 6 hours allowing for a slowdown towards the end. This was too slow and my friend with his dog had the same idea - he pushed past and I followed. It had been too easy, not in the legs, but in the heartrate and I could feel my heart pound faster as we picked up the pace together, accompanied by the pointer. We ran the next few kilometres together at between 5:00 and 5:30 pace depending on the terrain. He tended to be faster up the hills (like most of the runners I met!) while I was faster along the flat and downhill.

We left the lakeside and the small tracks to a larger track south of the lake and I was able to pick up speed again. This helped my legs as I lengthened my stride, easing some of the calf and thigh muscles used in the hillier sections. I caught a number of runners here, including a female runner who I understood to be the second female in the race at this point. I was also able to leave the dog and runner behind which was good as the dog was beginning to annoy me. We crossed over the dam at this point and I saw a runner in black just ahead who kept looking back. I caught the runner up along the far side after the dam, which represented roughly the half-way point. I knew that we weren't far from the second feeding station and this cheered me up too. The runner in black was the first female runner and I enjoyed the satisfaction of knowing that I wouldn't be "chicked". Only it wasn't that easy - sure I 'd caught her up, but there were more uphills and she came back at me and overtook me again.

To be continued ...