Eat For You Dietitian

Last weekend I did it! I completed Day 1 50km Race To The Stones! It involved tough terrain, hills (up,down,up,down etc.), beautiful views, all the snacks every 10km or so, mentally challenging and then I saw the finish line. I am still in awe of the runners and walkers who completed the full 100km distance non-stop and in 2 days as after I completed 50km+ 1 distance I could not imagine doing that again! But then again I said that after my first 5km, 10km, half marathon races but here I am. An official ultra-marathoner.

Before Race Day: Hydration and Carb Loading key aspects to cover

I had a bit of an issue in achieving the carb loading aspect which carried on during race day. IBS-related symptoms were quite severe making me feel quite bloated and full. When you have to achieve at least 300g carbohydrates in your meals and snacks, feeling full constantly did not help.

Hydration always comes easy to me as I love water and easily achieve 2.5litres a day. Please add up how much fluid you drink (water,tea,coffee) as I have met an extraordinary amount of people who drink less than 1 litre a day. How??

Race Day: What to eat for breakfast? This is different for everyone. I stick to 3 options – wholegrain toast with peanut butter and jam OR weetabix with berries and nuts OR wholegrain toast with scrambled eggs. For me it depends how I’m feeling in the morning and it always has to be accompanied with a strong instant black coffee and eaten at least 2 hours before the start time. Any shorter then I will feel very uncomfortable when I start.

Stepping up to the start line: Everyone who took part will agree the traffic up to the car park for the start line was insane. Everyone had to abandon their family supporting them to walk to the start line. I missed my wave so my partner could see me off and I only made it with 2 minutes to spare and I needed a bit of time to chill.

8:05am was the countdown!! Despite still feeling bloated and full, running felt amazing with the wave group.

Everyone was buzzing and excited. I took my easy pace 6.30-7min/km as planned and taking it the whole atmosphere.

Then the hills! Who told me I didn’t need to do regular hill runs? Luckily I did do a few Richmond Park runs which is full of hills but nothing could’ve prepared me for the inclines. I took a note of everyone I was with who was walking (not that I could’ve run up anyways) up the hills.

But then something even worse for me, extreme downhill. Now I have this fear of falls flat on my face so unlike other people racing it down I was being careful as it was rough trails and loads of logs/stones everywhere. Made it down, phew and I started running again about 12km in I was loving it … one tiny distraction at around 15-17km and I trip over a big log hard on my left knee. Ouch!

You can imagine that a swelling knee impacts on your ability to continue walking let alone running. But I still had at least 30km to go. Mentally the last 30km were the most challenging I’ve had to face. First of all I had to make it to Pitstop 2 with a bloody knee and then 10km+ in between pit stops made it a bit easier. Friendly faces welcoming me to all the drinks and refreshments felt like I could carry on till the next one until I finally I reached basecamp (half way point for those continuing the full 100km).

Somewhere in the last 20km it actually hurt less to run than it did to walk but I could only bring myself to run for 2-3km at a time. I wasn’t out of breath but each kilometre felt like it was a mile.

If you truly want to know it took me 7hrs16mins to complete 51km in total. On average it is 8.14min/km. If you think that’s slow then that is your opinion but it won’t hide the fact that I finished an ultra marathon race. And I did it with a smile … followed shortly with a free plate of pasta.