Experiencing the Gin Pit Double 2022

As the race organiser, my primary focus is to make sure the event goes smoothly and all the runners enjoy themselves, without too many of them getting lost. In the days leading up to the event, I have lots of last-minute emails to respond to, registration forms to sort, water to distribute to marshals and then the day before, all the signs to put up. I can drive round part of the course to do this but sections of the course need to be run to get to the points where the signs need to go. Basically, it is always a mad busy week for me where I feel my feet don’t touch the ground.

By race day, I’ve had no time to think about my own race preparation and certainly had not relaxed or tapered. I do love getting the opportunity to run the event but should I be needed somewhere, I would decline to run and do what is required. Luckily, I have some great family and running friends who are brilliant and for day 1 I had plenty of help so was able to get out on the course and run.

Early in the morning I had finished putting up the last few signs and it was very cold, not far off freezing. With this in mind and with my recent training having been in the winter, I wore leggings, buff, gloves, and a long sleeve thermal top. I soon realised that this was very wrong for the day which soon warmed up in the lovely sunshine. By mile 10, I had become overly warm, had been sweating for miles and starting to feel dehydrated. The weather was simply too good and something that none of us was used to after months of winter training. On top of this there had been a light tail wind which made it feel like the air was still around me while running. I got to Louise who was marshalling at check point 3 and she kindly let me leave lots of my kit with her and I continued in just a t-shirt and my leggings of cause. Even with this reduced attire and full bottle of water, it was too little too late and I was too far gone with my dehydration. All I could do was simply dig in and grind out the last 9 miles to get my carcass back to the finish at the Gin Pit. It took me two hours to complete the first half and a hard fort two and a half hours for the second half. On my return to the club house, it was necessary for me to have a lie down in the club house for 20 minutes.

Due to my right hamstring and hip injuries through January to March, my training had been lacking and very inconsistent. I was pleased to accomplish day 1 and hadn’t planned to do day 2 but again all my family and friends were fantastically dependable, and I had all the help I needed to run the day. This gave me the option to go again, and so I did. After overheating the previous day, I was anything but fresh and wondered what I could manage.

I hoped I could run a little better with some improved preparation. I went for shorts and less clothes to hopefully keep a little cooler. This worked for the first half, I didn’t run any quicker but felt better for it. You would think I might have cracked it but sadly not, I was tired from all my recent day’s efforts and just didn’t have the energy I needed to propel myself properly around the course and seriously started to fade again over the last 7 or 8 miles. I could have done with another gel but had only brought two out with me. Luckily for me, my good friend Simon was marshalling at the last check point and had brough Jelly Babies to give the runners. I helped myself to a handful and within a mile felt the benefits and had enough fuel to finish off the run. Still, it was a tough old test but a pleasing 5 minutes quicker than the previous day. These were both very slow times for me but considering my lack of training and preparation, just to manage a double marathon was a success and a real mental boost for my Brathay 10 marathons in 10 days training. I now only have 2 months to get myself ready for day 1 on Friday 13^th May.