Blog 1 – “I’m going all in”

***Welcome to the first “official” blog of Trails and Tribulations… of ultra-running with Sam Middlemiss. If this is your first visit to the Blog then make sure you read the “About The Blog” section which can be found on the homepage.***

I start this blog by saying that “I’m going all-in”, all guns blazing. This will be my intention for ultra-running. I plan to fully immerse myself in the world of ultra and trail running and do everything I can to make myself as good a runner as I can. Well at least this is the theory. 

Now I am guilty, as I’m hoping others reading this are, of fully committing to a plan or regime, only to find out two weeks later that my attempt of cutting out coffee and alcohol has gone out the window as I finish a beer and take a sip of an espresso martini, a drink which well and truly flips the V at that plan I “committed” to. But I promise this time WILL be different. 

So, how better to make you commit to something, than signing up to and paying for it, off the back of very limited research and no prior training (and having never run any further than a half-marathon). That’s exactly what I have done. I have signed up for the VOGUM (Vale of Glamorgan Ultra Marathon), a 40-mile (64 km) route along the coast from Porthcawl to Penarth in South Wales. A nice local ultra on trails and roads I have some familiarity with, having at least walked or driven along parts of the route. So, the date for my first ultra-marathon is set (June 6th 2021 – COVID permitting), the countdown has begun, so I guess I best start training. 

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A little side note: I have also set myself the goal of having an ice-cold shower at least once a day after listening to an interesting podcast with the slightly eccentric, Wim Hof, who has a rather apt nickname of “The Iceman”. I definitely recommend giving his methods a research and check out the podcast I listened to, hosted by Jason Fox (from that SAS Who Dares Win program). I have put a link to the podcast at the bottom of the blog! In short, Wim Hof highlights all the inherent benefits of subjecting yourself to at least one cold shower a day. Sounds great in theory so will report back with how it goes at in a later blog. Brrrrr.

So back to the running. Where do I start? A quick google of “How to train for an ultra-marathon” brings up a myriad (another word I had to double check the meaning of) of training plans, regimes and advice, much of which conflict with each other. In the end, I decided to merge a handful of very neutral and straight-forward sounding articles to form a fairly elementary template for my training. Without going in to too much detail (because honestly my plan is not very detailed), my plan comprises a 16-week plan that will typically require me to go for a run 4 to 5 times a week, with each run being of a differing length and intensity. The length (both distance and duration) of the runs will increase incrementally (wooo another big word) as the weeks tick by, before the “taper” begins a few weeks prior to the event. For those wondering as I was when I first read about it, “tapering” is the act of reducing the volume of training in the 2-4 weeks prior to the event, in the hope of turning up to the race “fresh” and “energised”. As my initial research made abundantly clear, how you train for an ultra appears to be completely objective and constantly up for debate. I’m willing to find out by trial and error, which means my plan is by no means regimented. It will be flexible and adaptable to work around both my work and life commitments as well as how well my body “holds-up” and what feels right. However, the one overriding theme is that in order to get myself in shape for the ultra, I will have to run a lot!

So, time to get running. It’s the beginning of February, hence I have around 18 weeks until my first ultra and technically 2 weeks until the official “training plan” starts. Therefore, time to ease myself in to a regular running routine and start improving my “base” fitness. Only problem, is that I am still nursing a slight knee pain, I picked up from a post-Christmas “detox” run after predictably consuming too much turkey, alcohol and pigs in blankets. I self-diagnosed (rightly or wrongly) a very mild case of patella tendinitis, a common injury with runners and jumpers who do “too much, too soon” which would be how you would describe my post-Christmas detox run. Therefore, typical to form I carried out some online research and prescribed myself some knee rehab exercises and decided (wrongly as it turns out) to start by avoiding trails and stick to the smooth manicured pavements and roads for the time being. Two weeks of tedious daily knee exercises and wet and cold runs on uninspiring roads (normally in the dark after work), the knee has marginally improved however is still lingering. My impatience for both my knee and lack of “trail running” is growing. Therefore, I decide to throw caution to the wind and decide to go for my first official “trail run” on my weekend long run in my new hastily purchased trail running shoes. It turns out I shouldn’t have rushed into buying trail shoes without doing the necessary research, but this will be covered in an upcoming blog. 

So, the day for my transition in to the world of trail running has come, on a frosty Saturday morning in February. With COVID-19 restrictions still in place (will they ever end?) I am somewhat limited by where I can go running without having to drive beforehand. However, it turns out the big village/small town of Dinas Powys where I’m based has a wealth of trails of varying terrain and difficulty right on its doorstep. Therefore, after a brief 1km trot along the roads I pass through a “kissing gate” and on to the trail and the start of my official ultra-training.

I realised, a few days later, on another trail run, when the weather had somewhat warmed up, that I was blessed to have had my first trail run on a very cold and frosty morning. The mud and bogs which a few days later would be up to my ankles, were rock hard and frozen over, allowing me to skip over the boggy bits with the elegance of a gazelle. Well, that’s at least how it felt, but I can only imagine the reality. But no matter, as far as I was concerned, I was flying.

After a few more kilometres, my hands were finally starting to defrost and I had got over the initial shock of running on the uneven and undulating surfaces, I realised this whole trail running malarky is actually quite enjoyable. Instead of having cars, vans and lorries sweeping past leaving a trail of choking fumes and noise, I was surrounded by trees, hills and streams and accompanied by the sounds of birds and the trickling river. I also noticed, for the first time, instead of frequently looking at my watch to check my pace, that I’m guilty of while road running, my focus was largely on the few metres ahead of me, picking out my next steps with the goal of not falling arse over tit. For once I put my inner competitor to one side and focused on the enjoyment of the run itself. 

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Now this next bit may sound cringey and was even worse to write down, but after a few further kilometres of hills, woodlands and fields, I had an epiphany, a moment of realisation. I thought to myself….”this is what it is all about”. Even though I was no more than 5/6 kms from the urban streets of Cardiff, I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere, miles away from the daily stresses of work and life, and had a sense of freedom. I did warn you it would sound cringey and my toes are curling just writing it. I am fortunate to not be an overly stressed or anxious person, and have the benefit of reliable job and an excellent support team, *cough* I mean beautiful and accommodating fiancée. However, I do have a certain level of restlessness and agitation if I don’t get outdoors enough and I’m often left feeling like I need to be doing more with my life. The problem is I don’t know what I need to be doing more of. But on this run and the runs that followed I realised that trail running may offer an opportunity to satisfy that void and provide the fulfilment I’m aching for.

This concludes the main ‘bulk’ of my first blog, however continue on below, for a feature which will reoccur in the weeks to come currently called “Stats, Thoughts and Recomendations of the Week” – The name is working progress. Suggestions welcomed!

Stats, Thoughts and Recommendations of the Week (or in this blog’s case first 2 weeks)

Each blog will finish with this little section, which for the time being has been called “Stats, Thoughts and Recommendations” which admittedly isn’t the catchiest title ever. Therefore, if anyone has a snappy, catchy name, then I would love to hear some suggestions in the comments below! This segment will share anything of note or interest which has caught my attention for that week’s training, such as my “training song of the week”. It will also share my running stats for the week for those interested.

Here are some of my highlights/recommendations from the week(s) (February 1st – 14th):

1) Podcast of the Week – Jason Fox Wild Tales Podcast: The Episode with Wim Hof – Link found here

As mentioned earlier on, I would definitely recommend listening to Jason Fox’s Wild Tales Podcasts, and in particular the episode with the engagingly eccentric Wim Hof otherwise known as “The Iceman”. It may even inspire/coax you in to taking a cold shower everyday like I am!

2) Song of the Week – Panama by Van Halen

Absolute banger of a rock anthem that should be on any running playlist! If it isn’t on yours already, then get it on there. Albeit definitely a track for your higher tempo runs!

Also, try not to catch yourself singing along at the top of your lungs as you unwittingly, pass a bus stop you assumed to be empty. I sadly found out the hard way that you should never assume, as the poor lady waiting for the bus was stunned to see me, a sweat covered lump, swoop by shouting “Panamaaaa” as if if no one was listening. Sadly, they were.

**Warning** – I have a very unique and varied taste in music as the “song of the week” section will exemplify.

3) STATS

I love stats! Whether it be my average heart rate, average pace, grade-adjusted pace or elevation gained, I love stats. For full training stats make sure you follow my Strava which can be found here. Therefore each week I will presents the summary of stats for the week, or in case of this blog the first 2 weeks of “proper” training:

• February 1st to 7th
  • Total distance (running only): 57km (35.4 miles)
  • Total time: 4 hours 34 minutes
  • Total Elevation Gain: 234m (768 ft)

• February 8th to 14th
  • Total distance (running only): 54km (33.6 miles)
  • Total time: 4 hours 42 minutes
  • Total Elevation Gain: 878m (2,880 ft)

• Total Accumulative Running Stats (Since February 1st 2021):
  • Total distance (running only): 111km (70 miles)
  • Total time: 9 hours 16 minutes
  • Total Elevation Gain: 1,112m (3,648 ft)

Thanks again for reading. I hope you enjoyed the first instalment of Trails and Tribulations. Please let me know your feedback (good and bad). If you’d like to keep up to date with the blog and the training please do give me a follow on Instagram and Strava, both of which can be access via the button links below. Thanks again and see you soon for the next blog in a week or so time!

Instagram and Strava Links below!