Now that the dust has settled, quite literally, due to the hot dusty conditions at Bramham Park, Leeds for the Mizuno Endure 24, 24 hour race and I have had time to reflect. I can only say it was a successful and very enjoyable event.
As stated in previous posts I was running this as part of a mixed pair, with my sister Catherine. Neither of us had tried this sort of race before and both of us had had injury problems leading up to the race. So it was a bit of a step into the unknown.
Our plan was to run the 5 mile loop alternatively but to keep the plan fluid enough to adapt to any changes in circumstances. Catherine led off on the first leg, coming back in 57 minutes, which was slightly quicker than she had targeted. I came back on the second leg in 43 minutes, definitely faster than I had intended. Despite trying to slow down my subsequent legs were at 45.27 and 47.56.
This I reasoned was going to have two adverse effects on our run. Firstly, I was going to 'blow up' before the 24 hours were out and by my running quicker than planned, Catherine was not getting the recovery she had been expecting. Luckily, this is where providence stepped in and as I returned from my 3rd leg I was unable to find Catherine in the 'change over' area. So rather than wait I set of on another 5 mile loop and naturally slowed to a 56.11leg.
Things now evened themselves out and I started averaging just over the hour per lap to Catherine's roughly 1.20. However after lap 10 Catherine's ankle injury made a reappearance and I set out on leg 11 wondering whether Catherine would be able to continue.
On my return to the change over, she was in some obvious discomfort but told me she would do 2 legs at a very slow pace to allow me to get some rest. I followed this with a 15 mile stint before Catherine painfully forced herself around what was to be her final lap.
I finished up with a 20 mile stint slowing badly over the last 10 miles to bring us home with 105 miles 'on the clock'.
This was a great event and for our first attempt am happy with the distance we covered. Thanks must go to our support team also - Beth, Francesca, Anita, Ross and Terry.
once again thanks to Francesca for photos
As stated in previous posts I was running this as part of a mixed pair, with my sister Catherine. Neither of us had tried this sort of race before and both of us had had injury problems leading up to the race. So it was a bit of a step into the unknown.
Our plan was to run the 5 mile loop alternatively but to keep the plan fluid enough to adapt to any changes in circumstances. Catherine led off on the first leg, coming back in 57 minutes, which was slightly quicker than she had targeted. I came back on the second leg in 43 minutes, definitely faster than I had intended. Despite trying to slow down my subsequent legs were at 45.27 and 47.56.
This I reasoned was going to have two adverse effects on our run. Firstly, I was going to 'blow up' before the 24 hours were out and by my running quicker than planned, Catherine was not getting the recovery she had been expecting. Luckily, this is where providence stepped in and as I returned from my 3rd leg I was unable to find Catherine in the 'change over' area. So rather than wait I set of on another 5 mile loop and naturally slowed to a 56.11leg.
Things now evened themselves out and I started averaging just over the hour per lap to Catherine's roughly 1.20. However after lap 10 Catherine's ankle injury made a reappearance and I set out on leg 11 wondering whether Catherine would be able to continue.
On my return to the change over, she was in some obvious discomfort but told me she would do 2 legs at a very slow pace to allow me to get some rest. I followed this with a 15 mile stint before Catherine painfully forced herself around what was to be her final lap.
I finished up with a 20 mile stint slowing badly over the last 10 miles to bring us home with 105 miles 'on the clock'.
This was a great event and for our first attempt am happy with the distance we covered. Thanks must go to our support team also - Beth, Francesca, Anita, Ross and Terry.
once again thanks to Francesca for photos
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