Tooting Bec 24 hour track race 2013

Pre-race Ramble

I've wanted to do a 24 hour race for the last couple of years and had always targeted the Glenmore 24.  Being a trail runner it seemed the obvious choice and the atmosphere, as I'd discovered a couple of years ago when I went along to support clubmate Paul Houston for a stint, was fantastic.  But then someone put the thought of a 24-hour track event into my head and before I knew it I had entered.  I'd pretty much decided to run at Tooting Bec shortly after the World Trail Champs in July - after getting a taste for wearing a GB vest, I really wanted to try and see if I could get the qualifying distance for the 24-hour squad.  I'd spoken to Adrian about Tooting as the event is organised by Run and Become and it seemed the obvious choice.  Also, there was a small Scottish contingency heading down for the weekend - Marco and Richie were both running and I wanted  piece of the action!

 

Keziah (long-suffering support extraordinaire) had offered (agreed?) to come with me to London for the race so we got the train down at lunchtime on the Friday.  Quick tube ride to Balham and we found our Travelodge.  It wasn't the ideal accommodation - no twin rooms left so poor Keziah had to share a bed with me (Miss fidget and jumpy legs), the heating, which you couldn't adjust, was on full blast, and the window was locked shut for our "safety"....I overheat at the best of times, so it wasn't the most comfortable of stays!  We had our usual pre-race dinner when staying away from home (pizza and a beer) and after a restless night (me moaning constantly about it being too hot and trying to make the desk fan quiet) we got up in search of breakfast.  I'd found a place online before we got there, Trinity Stores, which looked great and it lived up to its reputation - would highly recommend it if anyone is ever staying in the Balham/Tooting Bec area and would probably say if not, then its worth the visit alone.  Anyway, enough pre-race rambling, on to the race.

The first half

We got a taxi down to the track - it was probably only about a 20 minute walk from where we were staying in Balham, but I wanted to stay off my feet as much as possible before it started and also had the usual unjustifiable amount of luggage and food with me to carry (well, for Keziah to carry for me).  We caught up with Adrian at registration and found a spot at the far end of the track for Keziah to get set up for her support duties.  About half an hour or so later Marco and Debbie arrived and got set up next to us, and then it was time for the race briefing.  I got chatting to one of the other runners, James, while we waited and we had the usual pre-race chat ("have you run a 24 hour before" etc).  Man, I thought I got nervous before races, James was hilarious - he was so nervous that he couldn't understand what I was saying.  Or actually, thinking back, he was probably just being polite and blaming it on nerves, because I'm not the most articulate of communicators and I guess I do have a pretty dodgy accent.  The conversation went something like this:  Whats your name?    Fionna.  Pura? Fionna.  Purina?  Fionna.  Pura? Sorry, I'm so nervous, Pura?  No, F.  Ah, F? About 5 minutes into the race briefing though, he turned round and just said "Fionna?".   My friends Dan and Sarah arrived during the briefing - they live in Crawley and had said they'd come see me run, so it was great to see they had made it, especially Sarah (no offence Dan - obviosly it was just as great to see you!) who is a fantastic baker and who had come bearing cakes.

We all got lined up for the start, I was feeling quite nervous but not too bad - similar feeling to the start of the Highland Fling earlier in the year when I'd been so nervous the entire week before that I think I'd run out of nervousness!   I'd been a bit worried about getting to the start line as I'd had a cold for the past 2 or 3 weeks that just wouldn't budge, so my tapering etc hadn't gone quite to plan (i.e. it was enforced and sudden, rather than..."tapered"), but I was pleased to feel good when I started running.  A lot of people raced off at the start which I expected them to do, but I held back, I had a plan and I knew I had to follow it if I wanted to run the whole 24 hours.  It was a bit annoying seeing some of the girls run off, and even get lapped by some, but I knew there was a long way to go.  I remember the first 4 hours passed by really quickly.  Adrian was fantastic, popping up every hour or so with a chitty of paper telling me my distance, laps and whether I was going too fast or too slow.  I knew that I was running slightly faster than I had planned, but everything felt really good and slow, and I knew I wasn't going too fast. I thought it would start to become a chore having to push the button on my Garmin after each lap, but it was fine, as was waving to the counters to alert them of each time I passed.

Keziah headed back to the hotel at around 11pm and it was a great surprise to see that Sarah and Dan, who had originally only planned to pop along for a bit during the day, had returned and agreed to take on the night shift.  It didn't seem to take too long until we were changing direction for the 3rd time - and so 12 hours were done.

The second half

I managed to pretty much run non-stop (except for toilet breaks) for the first half of the race; that had been the plan and I was glad it was going well.  I'd decided I wanted to just keep running for as long as I could and then incorporate walking breaks with running later on in the race. Some people add walking breaks right from the start of the race, and maybe this is something I'll think about trying when I do a 24-hour again in the future.  Sometime during the second half, I remember twisting my right ankle slightly when I was grabbing some food and it was starting to hurt, so I had to stop a couple of times to spray some deep heat on it.  It started to bruise and I noticed after a while I was running more on the toes of my left foot, probably to compensate.  So, after a while, my ankle stopped hurting, because my left shin was hurting me so much, probably as a result of me running slightly differently.  Running round and round a 400 metre track for hours on end, I was starting to discover, wasn't quite so kind on the body as running on varied trails.

I got through the 100mile mark at 15 hours 58 minutes.  Things were starting to hurt, my shin was feeling worse and every time I stopped to walk a bit and tried to run again it took a while to be able to run properly.  My head still felt good though and it never crossed my mind once that I'd stop or not finish.  I had some up and down moments, but every time there was a low point, it didn't take too long to get over it.  There was one diva moment which involved me hurtling my iPod shuffle at Keziah (I've lost count of the amount of times I've apologised about this....), but I think I was pretty well behaved apart from that.  It was great having the support of some of the GB girls who had turned up at the track - Debbie to support Marco, and also Emily and Karen who I'd never met before, all of whom were so encouraging.  The other runners were all great support too.  Richie was amazing; he had been having a hard time from more or less the start of the race, not being able to keep any food down and constantly having to step off the track to throw up - but every time he got back running and our paths crossed, he had nothing but encouraging words to say (if it had been me a) I would have said sod it if I was throwing up repeatedly and given up hours ago and b) I'd have been in such a bad mood I wouldnt have been talking to anyone!).  Marco was slightly annoying because he just seemed to be floating past every time, making it look far too easy, and to top it off he looked like he was actually having fun, smiling away and singing randomly :)

It was great seeing the floodlights go off and knowing that I'd got through the night.  I think mentally, I was thinking of time in terms of hours and how long I had been running for, and not in terms of what time it actually was.  I think this made it easier as I was never thinking of it being e.g. 2 or 3 in the morning.  The fact that we changed direction every 4 hours also helped break the race up, it was actually something to look forward to, another 4 hours that could be ticked off.  Toilet breaks also started to become something to look forward to.  But at the same time, they became more challenging, because after a while, every time I sat down I felt like I was going to fall asleep, and then when I stood up, I felt really dizzy and wobbly.  It didn't take long to run off and get back into the rhythm of things on the track though.

Later on in the morning, I saw Marco go through another lap and pick up a GB flag to run a lap with - he'd made his qualifying distance to get selection for the 24-hour world champs.  I was so chuffed for him, I knew that this is what he'd been working hard for, and it also helped spur me on more too - this is why I'd come to run.  Again, the GB girls were great when I came by, telling me that I'd be the next person to get to run with the flag.  I remember going through some low points through - my shin was so painful, I wanted to get the distance so much, but I felt that time was ticking on and I was slowing down.  But then I ran another lap and Adrian caught up with me and told me I only had 8 laps to go until I had reached the distance.  I had been about to walk again before he told me, so it spurred me on to dig deep and keep pushing.  It was a fantastic feeling to know I'd made the qualifying distance and I still had an hour to spare.

Reaching the GB qualifying distance.

 After my 8 laps, and lap of getting to run with the flag, I had to walk.  The pain by now was too much in my shin, even walking felt bad.  It was so frustrating, because apart from that, and obviously being exhausted, I felt I could have at least shuffled a bit faster.  I said from the start as well that I'd run the last minute or so before the time was up - but again, I had to just keep walking and watch the others push on for every single extra metre - some of them were absolutely sprinting, and all I could do was walk.  Turns out tracks aren't as soft and spongy as they look.

It was a weird feeling to just stop after 24 hours - knowing that I'd run the distance that I needed (but not quite the distance I had set out to achieve), and knowing that I'd come 2nd overall behind Marco.  I wasn't quite sure what to do - Keziah had walked the last few minutes with me so she could put down my distance marker, and then Sarah and Dan, and by this point, an old PhD colleague, Sven who had said he'd try to come watch, came over to stand with me.  We stood about for a couple of minutes and then it was time for a shower (Keziah had told me there was no way she was letting me get on the train without having a shower).

Without going into too much detail, undressing was a challenge (sore shin, sore muscles), I almost passed out when I took my socks off and saw my feet (I used to have nice feet) and I can't apologise enough for screaming so much when I was in the shower.  No matter how much vaseline I use, I always seem to miss bits.

I headed out for prize giving where I caught up with Marco and Debbie - Marco had collapsed a couple of times after the race. Something to do with running so far and so fast I guess!  We waited for the prizegiving and then had to rush to get our train home.  

The Journey Home

I never ever want to go in an underground straight after a 24 hour race again. I want to have a plush limo drive me to the airport where I have a private jet with huge comfy double bed, fly me back home.  Sven kindly offered to drive us to the tube station.  Which had steps. Which took me a long time to walk down.  The tube ride to Kings Cross was pretty horrible. I keep falling asleep.  And feeling like I was going to sick.  The train ride to Edinburgh was horrible. We had paid extra for first class but it was freezing. And my shin hurt. And I kept falling asleep. And dribbling.  And I felt sick.  The walk from the train up the Waverley ramp verged on horrific. I was so tired. And my shin hurt so much.  I kept having to stop every couple of steps to hang over the railings because I thought I was going to be sick. And cry.  People thought I was drunk. Keziah thought I was scary.  Keziah's boyfriend Mark, who had come to pick us up, just looked really uncomfortable.  After being deposited at home, I somehow managed to get upstairs and into bed.  I remember phoning my dad to tell him I'd got home ok, but he couldn't understand me because I couldn't talk properly.  And then I slept.

 The aftermath

In summary:
Monday: woke up in so much pain; Mark was still in London at a cycling/work thing so I was home alone; I was starving but every time I moved to try get out of bed I thought I was going to be sick. Or pass out. Finally managed to rake about in cupboard and find some of Mark's elephant strength iboprufen.  Lay on floor crying for half an hour waiting for the prufen to kick in.  Slept.  Woke up and cried some more.  Slept some more.
Tuesday: got doped up to the max on Mark's brufen and attempted to drive to the railway station.  Cried every time I went over a bump or had to push down on the clutch.  Still not sure how I actually managed to get to the railway station.....hobbled into work; my boss took one look at me and frogmarched (hopped) me to A&E.  Got some x-rays, prodded and poked and sent home with some not-too-snazzy crutches and wonder drugs.
Wednesday: Saw the physio; he reckoned it was on its way to being compartment syndrome.  Told me to phone Dr. 
Thursday: Back to A&E; more x-rays; saw hot orthopaedic surgeon who told me I had nice calfs......not compartment syndrome though, just something to do with having run 24 hours non-stop.....
 Friday: meant to be on a flight to Sydney, Oz......instead, bored witless, lying on my couch with my feet elevated.

 Things I've learned from Tooting.

• Running round a 400 metre track for 24 hours actually isn't boring.  That doesn't actually say a lot about myself...I guess I've always enjoyed doing repetitive, mundane tasks.......
• There is no such thing as too much vaseline.
• I love eating pineapple
• Chocolate soya milk is amazing.
• There is no pain like the pain of having a shower straight after a 24-hour race. 
• There is no pain like the pain of having to walk after sitting in a train for 4.5 hours straight after a 24-hour race.
• Always keep a supply of extra strong iboprufen and co-codamal to hand for post-race.
• The quickest route to A&E at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
• How to use crutches.  Badly.
• What compartment syndrome is.  And what it isn't.
• How to get the best night sleep ever (800mg iboprufen, co-codamol and red wine)
• It's best not to organise a flight to Australia 5 day's after competing in a 24-hour race.
• It's best not to organise a flight to Japan 13 days after competing in a 24-hour race.
• Cancelling a business trip the week you are meant to travel does not make you very popular with colleagues.
• But most importantly - that the human body is amazing - you can push yourself so much further than you can imagine and recover so much quicker than thought. 

Race report can be found here: http://run.runandbecome.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/24-Hour-Results-2013.pdf
and photos here: http://run.runandbecome.com/london-running-news/self-transcendence-24hr-race-2013/