Race information
What? Frozen Phoenix - 6hr timed race, finishing as many 5.3k loops as you please
When? December 30, 2018
How far? As far as you want in six hours!
Where? Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
Website: Phoenix Running
Strava activity: Frozen Phoenix 6hr Race
Finish time: 5:51 / 63.5km
Pre-race
I had eaten so much over the last few days, I even had to have a food taper a couple of days before. Probably a first for anyone doing a running taper when normally we're seeking calories to fuel us up for the big day. Instead I felt like I had been training for an eating competition. Anyhow, 30th December came and went just as fast any other day does. Except for today there was a scheduled 6 hour race, doing 2.65km out and back to make the 5.3km loop (see picture below) this race consisted of, except I had briefly forgotten this as I woke up. An early alarm over the Christmas break confused me at first. What is this alarm? Wait, work? Shit. No, it's Sunday that cant be right. What do I have on to-... ah its race day. My breakfast was exciting as it gets for me on race day - a bagel and a coffee. Keep it simple for my stomach as it is bound to suffer later with the fantastic tuck shop Phoenix Racing put on offer for their runners for this race.
It may not be the most mind stimulating of races, but the premise is pretty simple - 4 laps = half marathon, 8 laps = marathon, and any more than 9 = ultra marathon. So the question was, how many laps could I complete before the allotted six hours were up? Or, would my legs even cooperate for the six hours?
Race
A lot more people than I expected at the start line. With a relatively narrow path, this could be interesting with the out and back route. But it could also offer a great social opportunity. My plan was simple, but not too well thought out - run as far as I could within six hours without pushing too hard, eat a lot and don't get injured. I was aiming for around 5:20 minute kilometers, but admittedly went out a bit too fast... I decided to run the first loop without anything blaring in my ears, just the simple sound of my own breathing and footsteps was my song of choice. It was relatively quiet to begin with and after the first lap I decided to put on a Hardcore History podcast episode to keep my mind distracted. It was a total of three hours and I couldn't tell you a single thing about it, other then don't mess with the Spartans. Well, at least 3 hours had gone by pretty quickly without much of a thought at all! People often ask me what I think about when I'm running for this amount of time, and it's amazing how sometimes you can go phases of completely zoning out and not really think of anything at all. Running can really give you a mental break and forget all about your worries. But of course this does not always last for the whole time. As soon as I put on my running playlist after the half-way mark, my mind started to go on a run of its own. Thoughts of a past relationship, beer, buying a house, more beer, my running Britain challenge, and work started to plague my mind. With such a race, it can be dangerous to have negative thoughts (not that they were), since you run to the finish area after every lap. You could quite easily throw in the towel early and call it a night and enjoy that beer that had been on my mind, or worse, have a few beers & text my ex (I'm kidding).
At the half-way point I had covered 35km and was relatively pleased with how my race was going so far, with my legs only starting to complain. The social aspect of this race came to light with many runners passing by cheering each other on, and with one guy we high-fived every time we passed (yes, runners are that cool...). Going into the 9th lap to make it an ultra, my legs complaints started to become louder and louder. So at the end of this lap (after eating all my chocolate covered coffee beans), I decided to mix it up and add a walk break for a few minutes at the start of each lap to give my legs a bit of a respite. This is something that I should've added earlier, but at least I can take into my 100km race in January. At the end of lap 10 I knew getting 65km could be achievable, but I'd have to push it, and seeing as this was more of a training run for me, I decided to not pursue it. A decision welcomed by my legs and brain. So as I started my 12th and final lap, I couldn't quite believe my time was up already. I sometimes struggle to sit and watch TV for six hours, and now I had pretty much done running for that amount of time. To help ease recovery, I walked the whole way back on the last lap, with my Grammi joining in for the last few meters as I came to the finish line, a welcomed surprise. I managed a total of 63.5km in 5:51 hours, the furthest I have ever run to date.
Post-race
Had a few more sweeties from the tuck shop, my Grandpa had his beer stolen (jokingly) and spoke to the race director who was giving me some good tips for running Britain - he had done something similar, running (a marathon I think it was?) in each of the 47 England counties, consecutively! Amazing. It was then time for that beer that had been on my mind, a session IPA specifically and pork scratchings to compliment it (and for the much needed salt of course). I'd also like to thank all the friendly volunteers and race director for putting on a great event, it went as smooth as races can go, the tuck-shop was well stocked, and they have a great water refill system which worked a treat. In hindsight I wish I had added a walk break from the start, but apart from that and going a bit too fast in the beginning I had a good race. It also serves as great preparation for the running Britain challenge, testing out different gear and refuelling tactics, plus I will have to be doing a similar distance for 27 days straight! It still amazes me people do this for four times longer (the time) around a 400m track, maybe one day I'll tackle a 24hr track race. Next up is a recovery week (a bit of arch pain in both feet, other than that I feel good), then training for the Flitch Way 100km at the end of January. Hope everyone had a great NYE, and a good start to the new year!
