UTSW Recce 1 - The First 48 miles (ish)

We drove down after work on the Friday afternoon, arriving at Porthleven around 7.30pm.

Our aim was to get as far as St Ives but got a bit lost around Pendeen / St Just and finally gave up at the Gunards Head which turned out to be a lucky decision as the hotel of the same name served us up a delicious cooked breakfast whilst calling a taxi to take us back to the car in Porthleven where we  began.

We covered 48.5 in about 11.5hrs stopping at about 8am. There was lots of standing around head scratching whilst trying to find the correct path included. The route is not obvious in the dark. I have a lot to learn when I come back for a more sedate recce with Gemma in June.

On the run I felt as though I was only just hanging in there even when we were fresh - really doubting whether I can do the 100 now. Trying to think of reasons why I felt so weak:

Feet: the terrain is ridiculous (hands and feet scrambling) in places and unrunnable (is that a word? So many random angled rocks. Dan even fell off the trail - could have been a very nasty accident but he was lucky enough to have a bramble bush save him from falling of a cliff ) roclites 285's did not have enough protection and after about 15 miles I was already suffering. By 35 I could hardly run.

Sleep: if I am going to do the 100 I need to have slept properly in the preceding week. I was too sleepy and yawning then I tried taking pro plus at lands end but made me feel sick so I gave up 

Nutrition - In 12h I consumed:



1 x cliff build bar mint (before set off) 270kcal

2 x perpetuem (1 sachet per 750ml) 270kcal x2 = 640

1 x pulsin sports protien bar 210kcal

1 x bounce peanut ball 210kcal

1 x large plain flapjack 350kcal

1 x bag veggie percy pigs 625kcal

1 x snickers duo 488kcal

1 x 250ml redbull 114kcal




All that comes to 2907kcal which equate to about 250 calories per hour. Considering I burn about 460 calories per hour I am looking at a deficit of 210 per hour or 2700 in total over the 12 hour period. I definitely need to eat a bit more and think the Perpetuem could be the key. I hadn't tried it before but after winning a case of it at the Hardmoors 55 race this was my first test and I was surprised at how pleasantly tasteless and therefore palatable at 3am it was.

Loss of running form; as I now realise - walking fitness (from trekking for 4 weeks in Nepal) does not transfer to run speed! 

Dan looking like he wasn't trying, ever...

OK, so those reasons seem to fit and aren't insurmountable but either way, UTSW 100 is going to be incredibly difficult.

Hmmm I can fix the feet issue - hopefully I haven't done any serious damage (taking off wet sock and putting flip flops on felt amazing) - and will begin new avenue of research looking for shoes with a protection plate in the sole. iRunfar' Byron Powell has a lot of helpful reviews and since it is impossible to get hands on the Salomon Sense which would be my first choice, I leaning toward New Balance MT110 and Brooks Cascadia 7 (even though they have a 9mm drop - I've run thousands of kms in Salomon XA Pro which also have 9mm drop so I'm fairly sure they could work even if not perfect). I definitely feel the need for a rock stop plate of some description so inov-8 are out the window on this one. If anyone has any experience they'd be willing to share I'll be exceptionally grateful to hear about it.


Sleep - I just have to be disciplined and running form will return. 


Dan won't be in my field of vision. Out of sight, out of mind. Seriously though - it was inspiring to run with someone of that calibre. I am certainly more motivated now to improve.

Just to go back to that breakfast  [it was clear evidence to me that the night, although long and tiring, had been at a very low intensity due to the pain in my feet and navigation - usually I would feel to nauseous after a hard run to face eating proper food for a few hours] it was amazing -served up by the exceedingly helpful people at The Gunnard's Head - locally grown apple juice,   full fat homemade yoghurt with nutty friuty muesli and compot, homemade bread and rhubarb jam, cornish honey and butter, thick bacon, tasty mushrooms, black pud, slice of large sausages, poached egg and I devoured it nom nom nom.... well worth not getting to St Ives for that!