Portsmouth Coastal Marathon

Portsmouth Coastal Marathon - 50k version

17th December 2017

 

"Never fail to take a race seriously"

or

"Never take a race too seriously"

 

Also known as the 25k shoe test.....

 

This is an old favourite. I have done Portsmouth 2 or 3 times, it has been a good atmosphere, very relaxed, and a good pre-Christmas calorie burn, to justify the turkey. I did my first ever "ultra" here at Portsmouth. A few years ago I was dabbling in the idea of doing an ultra, and had entered the Thames Trot. That year I decided a perfect preparation would be to extend Portsmouth to 52 k. I arrived at the race early, and then an hour before the start trotted off into Portsmouth to do a 10 km loop. I arrived back at the start line just as the start signal went, and I carried on with the 42K. I was thus the one and only entrant to the first Portsmouth Coastal Ultra. Just after that they clearly realised a Pompy 50k was a brilliant idea so now its an official event. I DNS'd the Trot though. That story to be continued...

Start

This year I entered the race really late. I signed up the day after Wendover, together with two other races. I really need to keep myself away from keyboards with an Internet connection until post race endorphin rush has settled. It is the running equivalent to amorous drunken texting, with similar regret when sobriety returns.

Nice morning (cold)

 

The rationale this year was to leap straight back into training, mindful that April was just a few months away. I took my the race preparations seriously. I previously wore a Santa hat with a bell. The hat is quite useful for a December coastal run. However last time the bell on the hat drove me nearly nuts after 4 hours, so I decided to select a bell-less hat this time, with small pom-pom - experience has shown that being banged on the neck by a large pom-pom for 40 km is also a little irritating. However I felt the need to bling it up this year, so decorated my backpack with some very nice fairy lights, as below:

ultra serious

 

I arrived at the race pretty early. I have to say the ultra lot at Portsmouth looked pretty serious. I was disappointed by the Santa hat count, only spotting one or two others. The Mara lot are much more festive. Come on guys get in the spirit!
 

Quite nice still...

The other dilemma I had had before Portsmouth was what she was to wear. I could not remember whether I wore trail or roadies last time. I did remember that the Billy track was horribly muddy. In the end I decided to go with the Roclites, and my Omni's in the backpack. Just a training run remember...

They are not kidding...

 

After the start we headed off and down the prom, which is an easy and pleasant start to the race. It is really wide allowing you to find the right pace, and chat with folk.

Clouds?

I ended up pacing pretty fast though. That is the problem with Portsmouth. Before long I was doing the mental arithmetic on the splits, and then working out that a 5 hour finish would be very doable. The training run had just become a time trial. Oops.  I chatted with a few people, took some photos, and enjoyed seeing the front runners from the Marathon cruising past. The Billy track was nothing like I remembered it from 2 or 3 years ago. It looks like the Council had invested in serious concrete and it was really dry and hard underfoot. I started to get really fed up with the Trail shoes, not least because my left first metatarsophalangeal joint was still sore after Wendover. We passed the turn point of the Mara and headed out into unknown territory and towards the Inn on the beach.

Beyond the Mara turn point - the unknown territory

The bit just beyond there is pretty hard work, trotting across shingle. I lost it with the Roclites, so decided to change shoes. It felt really weird running in the Omni's, like running in platforms. It was less hard impact though, so felt better. I was still eyeballing the time, and thinking of the splits.

Shoe Change

 

We passed the 40k sign and I figured out that I had about 1 minute in hand, to make a 5 hour finish. Just after that that my legs really started to hurt. I am not sure why, but I guess partly not having got over the 50 three weeks previously, and not being used to running indefinitely on the flat. All of my training and racing this year has been hilly, and the change in place from flat to walking up, and descending, is very different from constant flat. I started walking, so felt completely useless and a total failure of a human being. A bit after that I gave myself a bit of CBT, worked out I was probably being a bit harsh on myself, managed to shift into ultra shuffle mode and felt a bit better. Just then it started raining, sheer joy :-)

Misery in the rain :-)

5 hours had clearly gone, and with that I told myself to just chill and enjoy the hard part of the race, which is what you pay your money for. The last kilometre or so on the Prom was okay, although it was nice to finish.

On reflection I both love and hate this race in equal portions. It is a great pre-Christmas activity, even though the route itself is mostly dull. The worst ever run I did here was when I tried to PB the Marathon course and completely blew up at halfway, limping home for the following 2 hours. I guess the learning point from this time was if you have a plan ("its a chilled training run") don't turn it into a time trial and then beat yourself up when you fail.

Anyway I now have the definitive view on what shoes to wear at the Portsmouth Coastal. Comparing 25k out (trail) and 25k back (road), I can say definitively that THIS IS A ROADIE COURSE! Sure there are bits where you slide in roadies, but it is essentially high impact, and unless you have a good low-impact technique, you need cushioning to enjoy this one.

I will of course be back. My thoughts of "never again" lasted about 5 minutes after the finish.

Its over...