Countdown to the Round Ripon Ultra

Countdown to Round Ripon Ultra

The Chamonix dream in the distance

It's a week to go until the Round Ripon Ultra. A 35 mile jaunt rather surprisingly round Ripon. It's my first foray into the Ultra realm and part of a grand plan to try and take on my own slice of Chamonix next year.

This has been a strange training cycle. I've had a mixed run up (boom Boom) to this event. So I thought it would be good to go over a few things prior to race day.

Things that went well.

1. I got a running coach. This has been the biggest factor in getting me ready for the event (I cringe saying race when I wont be anywhere near the racing end of things). It has been the catalyst for most of the improvements seen below.

2. I've been more consistent and ran 5 times a week for the last 8 weeks barring two sets of night shifts where I ran 4 times. This has meant that I've logged a lot more miles than my previous marathon training schedules.

3 More structure, less junk. Because of the training plan my coach gave me I've had more focused runs and had a lot more variety.

4. Less Bored. I've changed the routes of my runs enough to make sure that I've not got bored training. When I think back to Loch Ness marathon I ended up hating going out to run because I was so bored of my route. The same running routes at run at the same pace were infuriatingly boring. Thankfully, variety seems to be the spice of running.

5. Trails are fun. This year I've  managed more running off road, though still less than Ideal for this type event. Lets face it off road is more fun.

Things that were less than Ideal (trying not to be too negative).

1. Length of training cycle. Although I've ran consistently I haven't had the longest plan. 8 weeks with my coach and 3 weeks before don't make ideal build up. I would have liked to have built up slower and spent longer doing bigger runs to make sure I have the confidence getting past the 26.2 mile distance fairly easily.

2.Runners physique. Sadly I probably should have lost a few more pounds leading up to this event. I've clearly fallen into the running more=eating more trap. I guess there's always December to lose weight right?

3 A cold. This week I've had a cold. Although I feel better now I don't know how it will effect me towards the end of the  race though the joy of it being my first Ultra means I wont know any difference.

One of the many runs through Tentsmuir

So what does it all mean?

(be bold Paul, be bold) I'm fairly confidant I'll finish. However I don't think I should be aiming for a specific time. The cut off time is 10 hours and given my longest run was 26.2 miles completed in 4hrs 42mins I should make with time to spare but I don't want to underestimate what the next 9 miles will do to me. Plus, Yorkshire weather. . The route has potential to be quiet boggy in places it might end up being a bit of a slog, if the weather turns nasty in the days leading up to the event. But it wouldn't be the north without a little rain to cleanse the soul.


All in all I'm looking forward to race and looking forward to testing my fitness. But I will really need to focus on making sure I don't get lost or make any silly mistakes. I'll try to take a similar tactic to Loch Katrine and start slow but make my way through the  race with an even pace hoping it allows me to finish well.