Lakeland 100 Part 2

Hi Guys!

Part 2 is essentially a few notes I jotted about what went well and what could be improved on... There were no real disasters for me, the few legs from Blencathra to Dalemain I was unfamiliar with and time was lost here.

What worked well for me?

• Lots of running long distances in hilly places this year (back to back 3-8 hour runs at weekends in the Lakes, Snowdonia, Peak District) weekly elevation between 3000m and 8000m in peak training weeks - I love being out in the hills
• Short fast races during the Summer evenings (5-10k)
• Gear that I use I've trained with and practiced with many times
• Completed the event based on feelings. Ran what felt comfortable, drank when thirst, ate when hungry
• The majority of the course I knew I saved lots of time compared to the night section which I didn't really know well.
• Effective conditioning with run specific exercises (I created exercises to simulate the forces and motions of running) 
• Good nutrition to aid recovery from training 

What can I improve?

• Reduce the gear carried, I had much more stuff than I would have ever needed (even if the weather had been bad)
• A recce on the unfamiliar sections would have saved significant time during the night
• Avoid running 80 mile race the weekend before (wasn't sure how the legs would react thus the steady pace)
• Train specifically for a race (entered last minute so didn't do any specific training thus the race week before) 
• Perhaps having a little more food could have helped? energy levels were consistent throughout but would normally feel a bit more zippy up hills than I did on one or 2 during the middle, maybe a result of point 3...
• Pay a bit of attention to timings. I had assumed leaders would be hours ahead and chose to just keep going as I was until Ambleside someone informed me of the gap to the podium. I felt a bit too energetic towards the end which suggests I didn't push as hard as I could.

I've ended up on the list for next years Lakeland 100 so it appears that I'll be there. How exciting!