UKH

Hi folks. Over Christmas dinner, my cousin convinced me to sign up for my first off road race, indeed my first running race period. It's the mighty deerstalker FWIW, and it's next weekend.

I'm fairly happy with how my training has gone. I was used to hillwalking, but had never done more than 5km round the streets before Jan. Now, my biggest run is ~19km, ~650m ascent off road. However, I'm not really sure what to do with this final week.

Last Wed I took a notion to go for a PB 10km on road after work. Today I went for 12km off road hill run and my legs felt like lead, so I'm unsure about running this coming week. I think I have a beginners concern about losing all my fitness in a week if I do nothing! Another factor is about every other run I get a twinge somewhere; left knee, right hamstring-arse interface, today it's my left achilles, plus the odd blister.

Any advice for a noob on what to do from now 'til next Sat? I've no illusions of putting in a winning time, just want to feel in the best condition I can be for the training I've done.

In reply to Taurig:

How far is the race?

In reply to ablackett:

Hey. It's 16km and something like 580m ascent. Done in the dark and with a few obstacles like a river wade, scree slope climb, lower down some ropes (not abseil, just for security down a steep bit I think).

In reply to Taurig:. And what do you normally do for training?

In reply to wbo:

Well, starting from a lowly position of 5km on road, I built up to around 17km on road over a month or so, just weekday evenings really. Then I took myself offroad, cut down on the distance a little but started adding in the ascent/descent. I built that up over a few weeks 'til I was over the race figures, so I knew I could manage it. Training for the last few weeks has been 1-2 midweek runs on road of around 10km, then a longer offroad run at the weekend.

In reply to Taurig:

>Any advice for a noob on what to do from now 'til next Sat?
Taper and eat cake.
You wont get any fitter in a week, you'll only hurt or knacker yourself out if you go long and/ or hard. A gentle 5 or even 3k, at well below your normal pace, in case you're worried about your legs seizing up. Do it early in the week, and then 'carb load' a day or two before hand.

I'm doing a 50k next Sat. I've done my long runs. I might do 10k tomorrow, to see if my kit selection works. (I've also been carb loading since Christmas.)

Adrenaline will get you round, especially if you've done a similar distance. Just don't start at a blazing pace. Have fun.

In reply to dread-i:

UKC sanctioned cake eating, suits me!

Seriously though, when you put it like that i.e. you won't get any fitter in a week, it does make sense. Maybe a 5km on Wed and regular stretching would be the best thing?

Since starting to do a bit of running and reading about the Skyline, Ramsay round etc. I realise the deerstalker is practically a fun run, but it's been fun pushing past what I previously wouldn't have considered

In reply to Taurig:

You won't have any problems with finishing, go out to enjoy and you will, forget the clock.
You mentioned "injury niggles" an indication you are on your limit in training, so take it very easy this last week, there is nothing to be gained (as already said). Walk, jog, rest for the week as your body feels, you will not get any fitter.
This is your first hill race, aim to complete it irrespective of times, enjoy the atmosphere and take it from there.
You're fine, have a great evening.

In reply to Taurig:

Just enjoy it, do nothing different, nothing long, don't overly rest. I'd train as normal. It doesnt make that big a difference..

In reply to Taurig:

While you are resting on Thurs and Fri you can research the wealth of attractive races on the Scottish calendar. The Mighty Deerstalker is an overpriced event. There are loads of fun and companionable races out there for a much more modest outlay. And it's quite hard to come last.

In reply to personally id go running the same days you normally go to stop myself getting twitchy, but limit them to 20, 25 mins

In reply to digby:

Apologies, didn't realise there were further replies. Well, it went quite well in the end. Quite tough but not in a crawl across the line way. Queues and single-file walking at bits was a bit frustrating, but managed to do a healthy amount of overtaking.

Digby, any pointers on alternatives in Scotland to look at? I'm less interested in the obstacles-in-fields races like Tough Mudder, prefer to be more natural hill, bog, river like Deerstalker if possible.

In reply to Taurig:

If you want to increase your distance the Glencoe marathon would be a good next step. The terrain is varied but the bulk of the race (devils staircase to Fort William) is on the west highland way. The race is spaced out enough that you never get held up at bottlenecks or on climbs.

I did the Deerstalker for years but stopped when the queues got too long.

In reply to Taurig:

Have a look at the SHR website for listings of Scottish hill races. There are loads of them, over all sorts of distances and elevations.
http://www.scottishhillrunners.uk/Home.aspx

If you can get a team together, you can come and do our Comrie Hills Relay in September.
http://www.strathearnharriers.org.uk/racing/club-races/simon-wake-comrie-hi...