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Jun 2021
5:17pm, 1 Jun 2021
928 posts
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Big_G
Thanks Jelly 
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Jun 2021
9:26pm, 1 Jun 2021
4,170 posts
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StuH
Cheers Jelly
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Jun 2021
12:35pm, 2 Jun 2021
41,904 posts
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DocM
Nice round up
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Jun 2021
3:07pm, 2 Jun 2021
12,170 posts
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chunkywizard
Thanks jelly. Can anyone help out for the next roundup?
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Jun 2021
3:37pm, 2 Jun 2021
197 posts
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riggys99
I will do it if that’s ok
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Jun 2021
6:04pm, 2 Jun 2021
12,173 posts
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chunkywizard
Sure, thanks for volunteering:-)
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Jun 2021
6:52pm, 5 Jun 2021
934 posts
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Big_G
Dartmoor Discovery today, 32-miles on the hills of Dartmoor. The only other time I did it was when it was anniversary edition and it was 34-miles, and I finished that in 6:06, and I was very much hoping to go under 5:30 today, so I needed a quicker overall pace.
I got to the race HQ in plenty of time, mainly to drop my bottles into the relevant aid station boxes, try and make the team pic, and use the loo etc. It was actually a bit chilly up on the moor just before the start, and a bit overcast too, but I did put suncream on just in case the sun did come out.
I started in Wave 2, which was the 5:00-5:30 group, and we went off 1-min behind the lead group. I did have a bit of a shock when 3 or 4 people in the third group went past me after only about 4-miles, but I just carried on and I did overtake them again later again anyway. Plan was pretty much to walk the big hills, and just run to feel on the rest of it, and that's what I did. I wasn't really looking at pace at any point, and didn't look at HR at all. I did wear my HRM and it tells me my average HR was 163 and my max in the race 180. My Max HR is 195, so not really sure what this is telling me, but I'll look over them at a later stage, and also try and do a comparison of my splits this year compared to last time.
I knew I wanted to try and beat 2018s effort, which although it was 34-miles that year, I knew the average pace that year was 10:40min/mile. That year I got to Half Marathon in about 2:01 and full marathon in about 4:31, and the finish in 6:06. I wanted/needed to beat those splits if I wanted to get under 5:30, and I did better them but not as much as I was hoping for (1:54 and 4:13 respectively, where I was hoping for closer to 1:45 and 4:00). Anyway, I was feeling good and also holding my own with those around me, and if anything picking off a few that may have gone out too quick. Last time, in the last 6-8 miles I lost quite a lot of places, but this time I more or less maintained where I was, with a few of us passing each other as we ticked the miles off. For me, this is probably the most pleasing thing as I did finish feeling quite strong this time and was able to maintain something of a reasonable pace for me.
Food wise, I had 3 or 4 gels, a few pieces of mint cake, 3 or 4 flapjacks, and quite a lot of melon that OH had in a cool box in the car. I did have cocktail sausages and mini-scotch eggs with OH but din't fancy them, so didn't have any of those during the race, but I feel I fuelled it okay this year. I did have a burger, quite a lot of the buffet at the finish, and a few sausages and scotch eggs afterwards, swilled down by a couple of hot cups of tea
Weather wise, it didn't really warm up at all, and in fact there was a misty rain I think probably from 28-miles (I may be out on that) and the temperature dropped a lot, but that suited me just fine. Possibly it may have been a bit chilly for some, but I was pleased.
I'm afraid I can't really comment on much of the course. It is a lovely course with ponies, geese, ducks, chickens, cows, sheep, stunning views etc, but I haven't got any stories to tell really. It was a bit busy with cars on occasion and I did get stopped a couple of times, but mainly it was fine.
Anyway, after all that I finished in 5:17 (watch time, awaiting official time) and I'm really pleased with it. I already think I could go quicker at another year, but I'm really pleased and I'm classing this as quite a big PB (or certainly quite bit better in terms of a performance) because this is an average of 9:43min/mile (32 miles) where as last time it was 10:40min/mile (34 miles). Approximately 31-miles of the courses are exactly the same.
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Jun 2021
7:03pm, 5 Jun 2021
2,021 posts
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SailorSteve
Bravo Big_G, great result in what sounds like good conditions for you. “I did finish feeling quite strong this time“ = icing on the cake😎
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Jun 2021
8:09pm, 5 Jun 2021
792 posts
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jelly (limegreenjelly)
Sounds fab big g!
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Jun 2021
8:29pm, 5 Jun 2021
4,715 posts
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RRR-CAZ 🇬🇧
Great running Big_G
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