20 Miles – Just Your Average Sunday Morning…

Sunday morning lie-in? Not today thanks, I’m running 20 miles…
 A look into the crazy world of distance running.

If you asked me what I normally do between 10 and 12 on a Sunday morning, I could very easily tell you. Like a sensible student should, I sleep. But last Sunday, for a bit of a change, I did the Wymondham Athletic Club 20 Miler instead.

Having never run further than a half-marathon before, I was mildly apprehensive about even finishing, and after discussing with the marathon veteran giving me a lift, I decided to aim for a time around 2 hours 40 minutes – let me put that into perspective.

To run 20 miles in 2h40 you need to run a mile every 8 minutes; for comparison consider how it’s humanly possible to run a mile in under half that time – think Roger Bannister, and when Paula Radcliffe ran her 2h15 marathon she was running a mile every 5m10s or so. But then she is a pro athlete both genetically inclined to be a brilliant distance runner and with extremely effective training and nutrition on her side.

I on the other hand, went on an alliterative night out in Norwich on Friday to Carnival, Karma and Kartel, and prepared for the race by lazing around on Saturday and eating loads of pasta.

I got up at an unearthly 7.30am for pre-race breakfast of muesli, with banana, with strawberry yogurt, and a pint of energy/electrolyte drink. Got out my ‘Psyching Up’ playlist and listened to a few tracks including Foo Fighter’s ‘Pretender’ and Flux Pavilion ‘I Can’t Stop’, and before I knew it we were lining up in the centre of Wymondham to get started.

The morning of the race was fairly cold, pretty rainy, and generally miserable. That might sound horrible conditions to be out in for 2.5 hours in minimal clothing, but actually it’s pretty perfect race conditions.

You definitely don’t want it to be hot, and a lot of wind or rain and extreme cold are not nice, but really, about 10 degrees c, breezy and wet is about as good as you can hope for.

10am sharp and we were off – one of the biggest challenges for amateur runners is finding your pace, particularly avoiding ‘leaping of the start line like a gazelle’ and tiring yourself too soon.

The race organisers had kindly provided mile markers every mile, and as the first one came into view I was looking too quick, 7.15 was a fair way off the 8 minute pace I wanted.

I told myself I would slow down and tried to, but when I finished mile 4 at 29.50 I was feeling pretty good so I bravely decided to readjust to 7m30-a-mile pace and try to finish under 2h30.

It nearly happened. But after about 18 miles I felt the start of what marathon runners call ‘hitting the wall’ – when the glycogen in the liver and muscles runs out and you have to burn fatty acids to generate the energy you need to keep going.

They require more oxygen, so your heart has to work a whole lot harder and you feel utterly wrecked… and stopping starts to look like a great idea… you remember that there isn’t actually any reason you’re putting yourself through this.

It is an experience of time, distance and pain, and does not really come across accurately in words on a page.

I finished in 2 hours, 31 minutes and 20 seconds, 59th of 248, and later found out I was the youngest male runner.

A lot of runners say half the effort of going for a run is getting changed, ready and out the door – that is not very hard is it? See you out there.