Deeside Way Ultra (D33)

Towards the end of 2017 I quit my job, enrolled on a 16-week intensive software engineering course, and moved to Edinburgh.

This meant balancing a full day of coding (learning new languages every couple of weeks), training and homework. Who hasn't got the train to Falkirk High on a Saturday morning, run 50km along the canal and then settled down with an alcohol free beer and a software assignment in the afternoon? Totally normal Saturday. I have had to be pretty flexible with my training to fit everything in, especially after I noticed that my early morning runs were getting slower and slower. My body simply wasn't up for crawling out of bed and going straight out in -5. I thought about what I was getting out of it and decided to shift most of my training to what I could grab at lunchtime and more structured evening sessions (returning to homework afterwards). I didn't get up to 100k-weeks until Christmas and have only had a couple of 70 mile weeks in 2018. Despite this that 50km canal run went pretty well and I was feeling confident. Then came the Beast From The East. The first few days were pretty good, a bit of strength and conditioning! I ran up and down Arthur's Seat on 1 March, with drifts up to my hips, a red weather warning and a grin on my face. After that Edinburgh was a mess of slush and I picked up a niggle sliding around so switched to treadmill running. That week saw a huge drop in mileage and the following one had too much rest so I got to race day sluggish rather than refreshed.

I was looking forward to seeing the Deeside Way but the weather forecast was pretty bad. An easterly wind increasing throughout the day and rain for most of it. This meant a tailwind out and headwind home. I run best when it's hot and dry so these weren't be favourite conditions!

I said hello to the race medic before the race, confirming I had an epipen as agreed. The race briefing was nice and short then we were lined up and away. I fell in with the second men's group, running in quiet concentration at 7'00" to 7'14' pace. I felt comfortable but knew I would pay later. Headwinds are really not my forte so I wanted to bank some fast miles on the way out.

The first checkpoint was very smooth - as they all were - and then we pushed on down the hill and onwards. The weather was getting worse and my light Salomon jacket had long since stopped being waterproof but I wasn't too cold. A mile or so before Banchory we passed a stationary steam train, blowing out clouds of steam. Then we were sloshing along the path to the checkpoint and turn. I really needed the loo but knew that the second I stopped I would lose the race. In hindsight I should have just stopped as it made for an uncomfortable hour before I did... 

Doubling back you get to see everyone else still heading out and get to encourage each other. A good few folk were telling me I was first woman, which I knew, but I was also pretty sure that wasn't going to last. The face-full of rain and sloshing shoes added to my pessimism. Suddenly the steam train engine came puffing towards us, billowing steam and looking magnificent.

As the wind blew and my wet kit weighed me down my pace began to drop. Coming up to the final check point Lynne glided by. Quite how anyone makes running into a headwind look so easy I don't know! I was pleased that this checkpoint signalled a change from berry Tailwind to the caffeinated raspberry buzz flavour. I ran on Tailwind for the whole race, so no faffing with food I didn't want to eat. 

I had been running almost entirely on my own since the group broke up around mile seven, so when Willie caught and passed me around 26 or 27 miles I tried to go with him. He was really motoring though so I was soon alone again, naturally.

Most of my training had been in the Pentlands and along the Water of Leith, with long hilly efforts and only the one long hard canal run so my legs were pretty sore from running on the road. Actually they weren't pretty sore they hurt so much I was occasionally wincing. My right quad and IT band were really tight. This did at least take my mind off the left calf I had been worrying about since mile six...

The last miles were much longer on the way in than they had been on the way out but eventually Duthie Park arrived. I was sopping wet, stiff and sore and a little dissatisfied. 

I went off for a hot bath and dry clothes before returning for the prize giving and a chat with pals. The runners coming in then looked absolutely frozen and some had hypothermia, but were looked after by the excellent medical team. 

I weighed my tops and pack (which had had some time to dry) when I got home: 3.2kg. A properly waterproof jacket would have been smart.

The lingering sense of disappointment with my performance persisted on the train home so I thought it through and eventually came up with some positives: I had carried out my plan (albeit running slower on the way back than anticipated); I had gone through marathon distance in 3.14.02, which isn't shabby; I had finished in the top ten overall, which is a good way of taking the weather into account; I hadn't got hypothermia or had mast cell problems; I was never training for this race, but using it to build towards the Fling and West Highland Way. All things considered, it was, dare I type it? Goodish.