Enduroman 2015
Notice how I didn’t put Double Enduroman 2015?
This was to be honest a ‘let’s see if I can do it’ rather than ‘I will do it event’
As some of you may know, I put my back out in June last year on day 1 of my home grown quin. Since then I hadn’t cycled more than 32k until the event. Running was better, not much better, but better. Lots of 10ks and under, a fair few 15ks and 3 half marathons (I think) in May. Plenty of training for a 2x1 double!
Race day.
The swim.
I pitched up at the lake at 0600 ready (unready) as I’ll ever be and after a quick race brief we were off. It was 13 laps of the Avon Tyrrell lake. There’s not much really to say about this apart from I can’t count. When I thought I was on lap 10 I was told by the marshalls that I had one lap to go. Result.
Swim time 1:10:08
The bike.
My tent was half way up the slope between the lake and the bike racks so I stopped to drug up and get changed. All in all it was about 12 minutes I think but I didn’t care. Truth be told I was glad to make it even that far.
I got on the bike for the 10 lap course. Lots of ups and downs and of course The Bastard Hill of Doom. I remembered this from 2011 but somehow it didn’t seem as bad as last time.
I was bored, bored, bored. It was during this bike ride that I discovered that I didn’t like cycling. In hindsight I realise that it was because I got so knackered that I felt that way.
At about midpoint I could feel myself going down so I forced some food down me. Hoisin duck wrap I think. More drugs and I carried on feeling much better. I was also getting grumpier and grumpier. I was starting to catch up the other competitor ( there were just the two of us in the 2x1 category) so that made me feel a whole lot better, here’s me on next to no training catching up the other guy who had trained massively.
By this time I was getting really cross with the people cycling for pleasure. Twats. Why would they do this? One bloke was just going up and down the BHoD.
Then on lap 10 on the BHoD I bonked. Totally. I started weaving up the hill ( I swear I saw a ladybird saunter past me!) when a car pulled alongside me to cheer on what the driver thought was a random competitor. Turns out it was my mate Jase Briley (double finisher 2014) I told him I was bonking and he stiopped and fed me an energy bar, we had a five minute chat while I got sorted and off I went. It was about 1k to the finish of the bike course and I wouldn’t have made it without him. Cheers Jase. You star.
I finished the bike about 7 minutes behind the other bloke. Result, H.W.T.
Bike time 7:28:54
The run.
This was 24 laps of a 1.01 mile course or thereabouts. It had changed slightly from when I last did it but it still had the right mix of on and off road, hills woods, roots etc so it was still a challenge. I plodded off merrily for half a lap or so until I got to my tent to change out of my bike kit and off I went having told Pete (my crewman) that I was ok and didn’t need anymore painkillers. Several laps later I started to get cross as I realised that I had stopped being supplied with drugs! So I got to my tent and sat down in a huff and Pete (my dealer) fixed me up and all was rosy on planet Stu again, so off I fucked leaving Pete with a massive guilt trip for listening to me and doing as I asked. Sorry bud!
About halfway through the run( maybe more, I’m unsure as I wasn’t self aware by then)my mind gave in. I was bonking mentally except I didn’t know it. I’m fairly experienced in this kind of event but I just didn’t twig what was happening to me. So after a few more laps of misery I made the decision to quit (I was all teary eyed when I had finally made this decision but I stopped that shit before I got to my tent and I hoped the crew didn’t notice but I fear they may have done) . I told Jayne and Pete that I was going to can it and asked Jayne to come up to the race hq with me, it was about half a mile during which time she tried to talk me out of it but I was having none of it. We went and had a chat with Eddie Ette the race director and as ever he was the clear voice of reason. He said I only had 10 laps to go and I could walk it with Jayne no problem and it would be a shame to bin it as I’d regret it in the morning. So I did as I was told and carried on.
Within a lap or two I was ok again. Both Pete and Jayne did a few laps with me and I think I actually ran quite a lot of it, and so to the last lap. I asked Jayne to do the last half mile with me and when I got to the HQ I just stopped. I didn’t give myself or anyone else a chance to try to talk me into carrying on for day two as I knew I would have done myself an injury and I’ve just spent the last year like that. So I handed in my chip., Unexpectedly I got a finishers medal as I’d completed a single Enduroman and that now hangs on my wall as a reminder to my eternal shame of failure.
Run time 6:29:37 Slightly less than 2 hours slower than the other bloke, he was a whippet!
Total time 15:08:40
There and then I decided to retire from ultra tri’s as I just seem to spend half my life with injuries but now I’m recovered I’ve changed my mind.
I’m still not over the feelings of disappointment due to pulling out (that will take some time) but worse than that, much much worse is the embarrassment I feel for letting my wife and friend see how pathetically weak I was during that run. I am appalled at myself. Never again.
It won’t happen next year ahem…