Lakeland 50: Part 2 - Things That Went To Plan

In Part 1 of this series I described the Lakeland 50 and how we came to be there. Here's Part 2 where I'll start talking about our experience of the race. 

Rather than posting a blow-by-blow account (I have written one for my own benefit, but it’s over 8000 words long!), I’m just going to post my thoughts on what went to plan and what didn’t. I’ll start today with the positives, which is a disappointingly short list.

Things that went to plan:

• We finished!

• We executed the first part of our race plan to the letter: in order not to get swept up in the moment and start too fast, we were going to walk the first 6km loop around the Dalemain Estate, before adopting a run/walk strategy for the rest. In fact, we didn’t run at all for the first 12km. It was heartening that we were easily keeping pace with, and even getting well ahead of, many run/walking around us (they’d pass on the downs; we’d pass on the flats; we pulled well ahead on the sustained ups). 

Part of the 6km loop on the Dalemain Estate

• We were in and out of Ambleside Check Point in 4 minutes. Okay I'm clutching at straws to find positives here, but one of our objectives was not to lose unnecessary time at Check Points.
  

• We were also in and out of Chapel Stile Check Point in 4 minutes. This was perhaps my proudest achievement of the whole event, other than finishing, in that we both ate a bowl of stew here, and that involved me having to empty out half of my pack to find my spoon (wrapped in the sock I’d taken off a while before; how hygienic). We also ate sequentially because Mick couldn’t be bothered finding his own spoon. I would think I had mistimed us, but our official trackers both confirm our stunning efficiency.

• We managed one heck of a sprint finish! The final mile was our fastest.

Oh dear! What a short list. The next post, with 'Things that didn't go to plan' will, unfortunately, be significantly longer.