Cardiff City Ultra

So was that time of year again, a one way bus ride to Brecon. Since 2011 I have completed the Cardiff City Ultra held in May by Ultrarace.

After finishing powerlifting in 2009 and then completing my first marathon in 2010 I wanted to go longer. I was unaware of the ultra-running scene at this point so started looking at long distance cycle and walking routes with the aim to complete them myself. Living in Cardiff at the time I had the Taff trail on my doorstep, so I started looking on the internet for people that may have run the route to gain a little insight on how to complete such a distance. I knew I had it in me but I was also aware that it would be a bit more technical than just getting dropped off in Brecon and running home. So during my searching I stumbled on some ultra-running blogs and info on the many long distance races out there. So I started getting familiar with the hows and whys of ultra-marathon running and looking for races. It was then that I stumbled across the Cardiff City Ultra, 50 miles from Brecon to Cardiff following the Taff trail and National cycle route 8. Nice and easy to navigate and close to home. From my reading I also developed the opinion that even though technically speaking anything over 26.2miles is an ultra-marathon that 50 miles was the minimum ultra-marathon distance, 50km, 40miles, yes are ultras, but I believe you get your ultra-stripes from completing 50miles and then 100miles. this is why I decided to go straight in for the 50 mile option.

2011 race

Leading up to this training had not gone well. Some personal problems took an emotional toll and along with starting a new, busy, job I had a lot of things to contend with so training suffered. None the less I managed to finish in 11.27 coming 78/103.

2012 race

Now this was an interesting one. Again training had not gone well, I can’t remember why. I think it was lack of motivation and time balancing work and family. So I got going from Brecon and started running with Luke who had also done it in 2011. We were making decent time, which I wouldn’t have done without him because of my lack of training. We got into CP4 on 8.20, so making good time but leaving here I could barely walk, pain and nausea were too much. I made it to about 43miles and had to stop, I had blurred vision and slurred speech. I called my farther and asked him to come get me at Taffs Well train station as I was just around the corner from there. I sat down and vomited several times. Not much coming up as I had barely eaten for a few hours. Following that I felt a little better, so I got on the phone to my farther and told him what happened and that I was going to continue. I managed to jog for a few more miles with some walking breaks. I thought I was going to make it but at about mile 46 I started getting blurred vision and slurred speech again by mile 47ish I sat on a wall and started vomiting again, mostly over myself. When I had recovered a bit I phoned my farther again and asked him to come and get me. He didn’t know where I was so he said he would walk out to meet me. Again I felt a little better but still very ill. I managed to get going again, slowly but still moving forward. I met my farther at about mile 48 and we walked most of the way to the finish in a time of 12.03 coming 118/125.

I got a stress fracture following this race and only ran the Real Relay in the months following. In October however I got my act together and started running back and fore work and getting in some consistent running.

2013 race

As I completed the inaugural race in 2011 and the second in 2012 I now consider this race my home ultra. The difference this year was that I had been running pretty consistently, although I had not got in any long runs, and with a couple of good results in recent races I was feeling confident of a good time, I was aiming for 8.30-10hrs. 2 days before the race awoke in the night with severe cramping pains in my abdomen. So I plodded of the toilet and was unable to poo. This went on for the next 2 days but eventually I was feeling not too bad the night before the race. So I was up nice and early and in the car to Cardiff. Met some familiar faces on the bus and in Brecon theatre and got chatting. Race briefing was in the theatre this year, short and sweet then outside for a quick photo and then off we went. Didn’t feel quite right from the start, maybe some nerves as I knew I wanted to be hitting some specific times but also my gut still wasn’t at its best. With this about 3 miles in I had to make an emergency stop in a secluded field! Feeling lighter and better after this I plodded on. Now my new race strategy is to limit stopping. Sadly this included messing abut on my phone and taking photos as proved in my last race that seconds really do count. I have also started to try and reduce the amount of kit I carry and have been tempted to use bottles instead of a bladder but with a bladder I find, even though it is heavier, I don’t need to stop at some aid stations. So I ran through the first CP in 1hr18mins. Now on the trail heading up the reservoir I could feel my guts getting heavy again and needed to dive into the trees. I was barely 2 hours in and had to stop twice, I thought this was going to be a long day and resided myself to the fact that I may not be able to hit my targets if this illness didn’t subside. Well luckily for me that was the last episode of that kind for the day. So on I ran, getting to CP2 and running through in 3hrs9mins, should have stopped here though as I had less water than I thought and with the increasing temperature that was a huge mistake. On target for a sub 9 I was feeling ok, but running out water an hour before CP3 wasn’t easy. Running through Merthyr is a good marker as its half way. I think I hit the marathon mark at about 4hrs20mins. I did slow down a bit coming up to CP3, it was getting hot and with no water I was suffering. I got in on 4hrs48mins which was still on target for sub 9hrs. Filling up my bladder to the rim as it was a long way between CPs 3 and 4, leaving it just hit me, nausea and abdominal cramps. I could barely walk and breathing hurt a lot. Eating was unthinkable and even small sips of water sent my guts into spasm. Damn! Do I carry on or go back to the checkpoint? The thought did cross my mind, I made a call to the missis as I didn’t know what to do and needed someone to talk to take my mind off things, I was really suffering. Michelle said later that I really worried her as I sounded bad. I managed to keep moving forward, albeit only a walk. These cramps were not going so I used the excuse to get some stones out my shoes to have a seat and rest. The fact that I felt so bad at this point was made worse by the fact that it’s always at this point in this race that hurts most for me, after CP3 through to Pontypridd. From Pontypridd I’m on very familiar territory and so feel a little more comfortable, almost home! As I was getting into Ponty Chelle phoned me, I was still feeling low at this point and had seriously considered calling for someone to come and pick me up, so when she said that my mother would come get me if I wanted I was in dilemma. All this suffering could end, I could go home and have a nice chill out. I thought it was a good days effort, especially as I was ill leading up to the race. I was ready to quit the race and give up ultra-running altogether, I kept thinking why am I putting myself through all this pain, for what, a medal? Yep, a medal. Another one to go in the drawer but that’s all I could picture, having three medals for this race gave me that little nudge to stick with it. I think it made me realise that all the pain would fade but I would really regret not keeping going and getting that third medal, or maybe not just the medal but just finishing, which is what the medal represents. Despite this I was reluctant to stop so she said that my father was coming to the finish so if I got any worse then I could call him to come and get me, with this in mind I plodded on. Finally I was able to get some sort of running done as I got into Ponty, but one thing about doing this race for the third time was that I knew exactly how far I had to go. Finally getting into CP4 at 7hr44mins, that’s almost 3hrs between CPs3 and 4 about 13miles was slow going but better than I thought considering. I was still on for a sub 10hrs which I was happy with but not being able to eat or drink since CP3 I was worried if I had it in me as it was still a long way. I was still able to run but needed some walking breaks to alleviate the pain when breathing harder when running. Passed Tongwynlias and onto the trail that now is directly next to the River Taff. It was nice here with a little breeze from the river. I got to about 45-46miles on 9hrs and seen a couple of guys walking, we chatted a bit and they were happy that they could make a sub10hrs by just walking it in, it would be close but possible. But, as I was still able to run I opted to keep running just to make sure. So I kept going, passing familiar sights, lots of people out on the trail cycling, running and walking. A lot of them passing on encouragement, I guess they must have spoken to someone in front of me as most seemed to know what we were up to. My farther called and said he was at the finish with my little girl Imogen so I pushed on, past the cricket ground and then finally seen the crowd waiting on the trail, a right turning off the trail and down to the finish and medal number 3! 9hrs42mins, coming 72 out of 140 starters.

Nutrition wise I have still been living the low carb high fat lifestyle. I think this was definitely my saving grace during this race as I was unable to eat for the last 5hrs I was able to efficiently tap into my fat reserves and keep going and not bonk. So for the race in total I ate a mini pepperami at 1hr, 2hrs then at CP3. I planned to get one down every hour, salty, protein and fatty food in a small mouthful and easy to carry. I’d prefer not to eat them but they are the most convenient thing I can find. A pink lady apple at 3hrs, 4hrs15mins. As I was running I realise that I may still require some carb intake, especially on such a long run. I carried gels but only as a precaution. I tried one at about the 35mile mark but couldn’t stomach it. I did order some Gu gels the week before. I used these in my Llanelli and Brecon races and they were quite nice, but they had not come in time so I got a couple of other brands, not good, so I binned it and carried on. At CP 4 I did eat 3 little sweets but I could feel my guts cramping up again so avoided eating anything else.

Analgesia wise I took a Co-codamol 8/500 and buscopan at 1hr37mins, more to slow my gut motility and help with the cramps. Another Co-codamol 8/500 at 3hr30mins then a further hit of Co-codamol 88/500 and buscopan at 5hr30mins. They seemed to work as I only needed to poo at 30mins and 1hr37mins. I needed a last paracetamol at 7hrs30mins to help with the cramps.

Injury wise my hip seemed to hold out, I could feel it niggling but that’s all it amounted to really. It didn’t seem to pull or give way on me at all. Achilles and knees felt ok as well. Left shoulder was aching a bit but didn’t cause too much trouble. Generally ached all over but that’s expected when running these distances.

I suppose I’m happy as I did get my target time, but if I had been feeling better I think I would defiantly have got a sub9hrs and maybe around the 8 and half hours mark, definitely next year! Thinking about it I am quite proud of what I achieved, just completing the race considering the way I felt not least getting under10hrs and beating my previous times by over 1 and half hours. And having the fortitude or whatever it is, stupidity maybe, to keep going despite the offer of a lift home, yes definitely proud to have it, and that medal!