DO IT
This was definitely one of the highlights of my life. I had done the UK ironman and a half ironman in 2007 and the London marathon a few years back but the sense of achievement from this is in a different league. I wanted to do something challenging in 2008 but wasn't sure what to do. I made the decision to attempt this in January partly on the basis that it meant I could relax over the summer, partly because I loved the idea of a continuous route rather than laps and partly because I had been walking around Torridon before and knew how beautiful the area was.
THE DAY ITSELF
I knew the water was going to be cold and that was reinforced by seeing the snow on the mountains on the way up to Morar. Loch Morar is apparently the deepest loch in Europe - so it is not a surprise that the water was freezing. We started just after 5am. I fell back from the leaders quickly and as a result lost sight of the kayak to follow and whilst it wasn't rough, the combination of the small waves after the first island. facing into the rising sun, the cold and stomach pains meant I lost my sense of direction despite what looks a really simple route. I was zigzagging around and in a lot of discomfort and apparently I swam about an extra mile and half. After probably about 3-3.5 miles of swimming I reached calmer water and also had a kayak to follow and so made it back to T1 quite steadily. After around three hours and about 5 miles of swimming I was absolutely frozen and was shaking uncontrollably when I got out of the water. Three out of the 8 starters gave up during the swim and I can easily understand why!
After a couple of cups of tea and two bowls of porridge and about 40 minutes of being wrapped up in about five layers of clothing I was feeling a bit better but still cold. I decided to head out on the bike to see if I could warm up. It took about two hours for the pain in my kidneys to fully subside but after that the bike ride was uneventful and with the weather forecast to deteriorate later there was an incentive to keep the pace pretty steady. The scenery was spectacular - with the contrasts of lush valleys, barren moorland, snow and rocky mountains and beautiful coastline. I felt really good and really enjoyed the bike ride. My brother Steve and my cousin's family gave me fab support and keep me fed and watered. Meeting a group at lunchtime where someone was trying to break the world record for the most munroes climbed in 24 hours reminded me that we weren't the only nutters in NW Scotland that day. I had figured that I would have supper about 15 miles before the end of the bike ride so that I could take some proper food on board before the run. So I stopped for a bit before coming down the hill to Torridon - thinking I was nearly there but also that the ride had been a bit easier than I was expecting. However, the last 6-7 miles on the coast road gave the route a bit more bite and made it feel like I had expected! Ross and Chris had decided they wouldn't tell us about this bit at the end and I believe all of us had arrived at T2 and called them unflattering things! I got to the end of the bike by about 9.15pm and started out on the run by 9.30pm - giving myself 7.5 hours to do the 35 miles with all the hills if I was going to beat my 24 hour target.
The scenery at the start of the run was awesome - it felt like the longest sunset ever. I did the first 17 miles or so of the run in 3 hours very comfortably without pushing myself on any climbs but it felt much tougher as it got really dark and the clouds came swarming in. Then the rain started and wind began to pick up - unfortunately but not surprisingly blowing from the South/ South West - against us! The conditions deteriorated as we went up the Pass of Cattle - extremely strong winds and torrential/horizontal rain. I got a bit of shelter by going behind the car with its boot up and Chris kindly lent me his waterproof trousers which I'd forgotten to bring with me and which I needed as the temperature dropped to 5 degrees and the wind and rain hammered into me. I made it to the top with about 2.5 hours to do the last thirteen miles if I was going to be sub 24hours. I ran down the pass and got to about 6 miles to go with about an hour and half to go so was feeling pretty confident. However, I had forgotten there was one more big hill to go which seemed to go on forever and so only beat my 24 hour target by 5 minutes.
My brother Steve and my cousin Claire, Paul, Emma and Kirsty were awesome with their support. The event was truly spectacular - everything I hoped it would be. A huge thanks to Chris and Ross for putting it on.
TIPS
I knew swimming was my weak point and wish I had done more to improve my speed so that I would have been hoping to get around in well under 2 hours. I also wish I had done some more true open water training - the River Cam whilst a similar temperature is pretty easy to navigate from Cambridge to Grantchester!
Proper wet weather gear - whilst I had taken lots of layers - I forgot my waterproof trousers which I really needed.
I was lucky nothing went wrong with the bike as I would not have been able to sort out anything beyond a puncture and being more prepared or having a spare bike available would have taken a significant worry away.
The things I felt I got right that were important were:
- Running training - built it up in the winter/spring and then cut it back and didn''t ever go over 22 miles so never did myself it.
- I did just enough bike training - the Chiltern Hundred followed by riding back to Cambridge really boosted my confidence given the lack of hills around Cambridge and cycling regularly from Cambridge to work in London and back helped clock up the necessary miles without interfering too much with family life or work.
- Having enough support on the the day - at least two people and ideally more are really necessary.
- Eating and drinking well on the day - porridge, some hearty soups and and other bits of proper food really gave me a boost.
