Beyond Endurance - Rhys Harries

I have to admit I cant think of anything better than being outdoors doing some sort of sport in this weather. Today I decided to take on the coastal path for 4hrs just to get the time on my feet, ideally its too close to the flat out London Marathon for me but then what can I do, ive got a 50miler in a month!

I filled my Camelbak with 4 pints of water and put one of the electrolyte tablets in and planned on drinking little and often, I had 2 of my cliff bars (which I found out have 9g of Protein in so no need to get extra protein bars as plenty of these plus other stuff should cover that) and 2 of the cliff shots. What I decided on was I'd take on board 1 of them every 45mins, meaning I'd have enough for 3 hrs then thought id just use water for the last hour. Lets just say this wasnt enough if im thinking how much further I need to go.

Anywey set off at 8.30am full of beans - loving the sunshine, the coastal path and running like a trooper (too fast) before coming to a monster of a hill, I walked this quick but walked it and I was still breathing hard at the top so I'm going to forget running up steep hills, its too energy sapping for such a distance. On the plus side it means I can eat and drink more on the hills - 45 mins came so I ate a cliff bar, a bit chewy but taste great and agree with my stomach so good. All going good so far.

Came to 1hr 30mins so I ate the cliff shotz - these were sweet but gave a good hit, only thing I found I had to drink a fair bit to wash them down so felt it in the stomach a bit, but not too much. (I may eat half the pack at a time next time, we'll see). This is when I started to bonk, (jib out in easier words) 1hr 45mins and I wanted more food, that was 30mins ahead of schedule but I needed something so I ate another cliff bar and kept going.

Came to about 13 miles and could really feel itin the hamstrings even tho I was going so slow, I could feel it in exactly the same area as I did in London which tells me I was not recoverd enough really so from here on was a toughy. Stopped of in the cafe as I was still hungry and with the sore legs really wanted a boost - here I had a little change so opted for the carrot cake, it hit the spot at the time and I'd advise anyone to pay the new cafe in poppit a visit! (Got a shout in for you there Chris :)

On I went feeling stiff from the quick break but plodded on. 3hrs in I finished my hydration, (what an idiot for not checking it in poppit) the heat made my mouth really dry in no time so the last 50mins was a real push but got home and realised - I absolutely loved it. (Not so much the post run Ice bath)

Plus point

* Feet were fine
* Food especially cliff bars tasted good
* I havnt got a problem with eating on the run
* Got 4hrs done a week after hitting London hard

Negative points

* 45mins is too long for me before eating
* Eat more - Maybe il try eating some substantial food atabout 2hrs - maybe a whole Malt Loaf take a 5min walk break to do this then re-start
* I need to drink more as I was so dehydrated - I need to refill the Camelbak at every checkpoint so that I can drink lots, especially if its hot.
* I only did near half the distance!!