London to Paris Challenge - Race Report

[markbayliss]

Enduroman Arch to Arc

Film of event - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUFu9sNK_UQ

Wednesday 5th September 2012 was the day I had been looking forward to for 2 ½ years. I entered this event the day before Brighton Marathon back in April 2010. I was sitting on my sofa resting before the marathon with very little motivation for the event, I needed a challenge! The Arch to Arc would be perfect, and so the story starts.

I enjoy the preparations, logistics & kit needed for events as much as the training and the event itself. I also enjoy writing the plan. I’m self coached and always have been, I write a blue print of what needs to be done. Where am I now, where do I need to be?

I like asking questions, I like getting other peoples advise and deciding for myself how I’m going to use that information. Everyone has an opinion (right or wrong) but I always ask and always listen.

At this point in time I had swum the channel, swum Lake Zurich twice (26.4km), done 1 Ironman, 4 marathons & 1 ultra. I was also training for the 2011 Marathon des Sables so I was happy with where I was. So it was all about where I need to be and how I would get there.

In the next 2 years before the Arch to Arc I completed Zurich again, a channel relay, the 2011 Marathon des Sables, Austria Ironman, 8 marathons & 11 ultras.

I also failed in 3 big ultras. Each failure was a huge stepping stone to success, you learn so much from failure. Sept 2010 I pulled out of the London to Brighton run (56 miles) after 10 hrs and 42 miles. Aug 2011 I pulled out of the Ridgeway run (85 miles) after 14hrs 18mins and 61.5 miles. April 2012 I pulled out of the ONER (78.6 miles) after 17hrs 50 mins and 58.7 miles.

I’m always writing my training plan as it changes each day. If session goes well, badly or you miss it has an impact on the next session especially the next major session. One of my priorities is to hit the major sessions. If that means resting before that’s what I do.

One of the big changes I made to my training was at the beginning of 2012 when I realised time was going to be a big issue. I work 12 hrs days, 5 days a week! I knew I need to be super strong for the swim.

I joined Dynamo Boxing Gym in Croydon, it’s 2 mins from my office and I could train between 6am and 7am. I started working with Adam and the team in February and it’s been one of the keys to my success.

Another concern was injury, I’m always very lucky with injury but you never know. I got regular massage and the odd physio session. This was all proactive and preventative. I never did get injured and I’m very thankful to Kerry, Christina and Tim for helping me with that.

This year was key to everything so to help with discipline I decided not to drink alcohol. Not for the health benefits but to remind me how focussed I needed to be 24/7.

My amazing wife Lucinda was also swimming the Channel this year so we were going to be doing lots of training together, in fact I couldn’t have done it without her.

Our 2 holidays of the year turned in to training camps. First was the SwimTrek long distance camp in Gozo and 2nd was a training camp in Jersey with Jersey Long Distance Swimming Club. I obviously trained hard at both but the major session in Gozo was a 6 hr sea swim in 15 C. In Jersey I ran round the whole island. 48 miles in 10hrs. Both these trips were major parts of my training this year.

I spent a lot of time acclimatising for the cold water. I started at Tooting Bec Lido in November 2011 when the water was 9 C, by February it had got -1 C. From then it slowly got warmer and I was soon in the lakes and the sea.

I started training in Dover with Freda Streeter in May and did most of my sea swimming there for the rest of the season. It’s an amazing place to train for swimming the channel, the people you meet are just so motivational.

So all this got me to the start line. What got me to the finish line was my amazing team.

Thank you Lucinda, Mum, Dad, Pam, Eards, Rick, Mark, Andy, Rundle, Ryan, Martyn, Brett & Eddie you were fantastic.

Everyone one in the team had a job, everyone did their job to perfection, all I had to do was not stop.

So at 10:30am Wednesday 5th September I started from Marble Arch. As I ran through Hyde Park the relief hit me as I hoped it would. The hardest part is getting to the start line fit and healthy, the easy bit is getting to the finish line. I knew I would see the Arc de Triomphe soon!

I’m 93kg so running isn’t the easiest but all I had to do was keep putting one foot in front of the other and I couldn’t go too wrong. I was hoping the run section would take around 24hrs but I wasn’t fussed, i just wanted to get to Dover without feeling tired. I got there in 26hrs 20mins 37secs and had very sore feet & quads but didn’t feel tired. I was very happy as you don’t need your feet or quads to swim.

To keep myself from not getting tired I moved as slowly as possible and ate & drank as much as possible. Which was a mixture of rice cakes with strawberry jam, plain bagels with honey, malt loaf with butter and cereal bars. All I drank was water. At about 37 miles Mark came out with his daughter Sophia and my wife Lucinda with dinner for me. It was important to me to keep the distinction between night and day and try and make the whole event as normal to life as possible. I had 2 jackets potatoes with cheese & tuna, washed down with coffee. I had found it tough for an hour or so up to this point. The hot food and the sit down kept me going right in to the night.

The run wasn’t too bad, I enjoyed running out through London and watching the postcodes go by. The first major landmark was the M25, it was great to arrive there and know that I was well on my way. Maidstone was also good as I was very nearly half way. A little after Maidstone the running got harder and I was walking a lot, I was happy enough as I knew getting to Dover was the priority not the time I got there. My quads and feet were getting sore but that was the only real issue. I had 2 x 15 mins sleeps during the run which were a big help. The sun came up as I was coming up to Folkestone Race Course where I stopped for a bacon & egg roll and a cup of tea. I had a radio interview with BBC London 94.9 about 9am. The next couple of hours were ok but as I got to the top of the hill outside Dover my feet were very painful and the last 7 miles took a while. I got to Dover and started the recovery process as I crossed the line about lunch time. I was asleep by 15:00 and back up again at 21:00. I had breakfast of Shredded Wheat, bananas and crumpets.

At 02:15 on Thursday I was getting on the boat Anastasia in Dover Marina and motored round to Shakespeare beach. I jumped off the back of the boat swam to the beach where Lucinda and my Dad were waiting. I said my goodbyes and starting swimming in to the night. 11hrs 48hrs I was being greeted by a French restaurant owner as I was swimming up to his beach side restaurant at Cap Gris Nez. He gave me a glass of champagne and off I went back to my boat again. I had to be motored up to Calais to start my bike leg, this took an hour and it was great opportunity for a little sleep.

The swim was very uneventful, I enjoyed every second of it and was given a drink of energy drink and a bit of chocolate or banana every 45 mins.

In Calais I had mussels and chips with a can of coke in a local restaurant and got changed in to my bike gear. Between finishing my swim and starting my bike was only 3hrs 22 mins.

The start of the bike was great, I knew I was on the homeward stretch. It was still along way to go 181 miles but i was very comfortable on the bike and very happy with everything. Before long it was getting dark and I started feeling like food again. We stumbled across a road side dinner and I had a cheese burger and a coffee and that got me going again. During the rest of the bike I didn’t eat much but had bars of chocolate, cereal bars and bananas. As I got to about 2am I started to get very tired. I stopped for 2 sleeps of 30 mins not far apart from each other and they didn’t refresh me at all. At about 4am I stopped for 1hr 30mins which was a great idea. When I woke up there was only about 1hr until sunrise and as soon as the sun came up I was like a different person. There was still about 6 hrs to go but I felt great. I stopped for breakfast about 9am in a bakers, I enjoyed this and we may have stayed there a bit too long. From then on in I was so close to Paris that nothing could stop me. For about the last 10 miles I had to stay at the speed of the support car which was fine as I was in no rush. Before long I was in the centre of Paris and very soon turning on to the Champs Elysees. The feeling was amazing and I was so happy. As I got closer to the Arc de Triomphe I could see Lucinda and it was just fantastic to finish with my lovely wife waiting for me. The bike took 18hrs 9mins and the overall time from leaving Marble Arch to finishing including all rest stops etc was 73hrs 39mins 12secs. I couldn’t be happier.

After a few photos we packed up the car and headed home. I managed a couple of beers in the evening and I was back to work on Monday.

It’s been an amazing journey not just the 3 days itself but the 2 year build up and I have enjoyed everything about it. I can’t wait to get myself into the next big challenge, just not sure what it is yet...........................

[Ronnie]

Hi Mark
Fantastic write up, my daughter overheard me telling my wife about your adventure before you started. she then came home showing me an article in the Metro that she had just read, she was well impressed, once again congratulations, Olympics in 4 years!!!.

Regards
Ron

[Mark Leedham]

Mark

Great achivement - well done.
I looked at you YouTube video on your training - looked hard work and massive committment.
Saw you on London Tonight and read about you in Metro.

[Sylv]

Awesome achievement Mark and a good read. I like the details about what you ate.
Hope you can find a suitable new challenge! (i just heard about the Norseman? - it looks terrifying!)

[Dombo]

Great achievement, brilliant write-up. Chapeau!

[Andrew G]

Thanks for the great write up and video Mark. I hope you raise a hat full of cash for your charity.
[insert Roy Castle trumpet solo]RECORD BREAKER!

[Phil H]

Amazing thing. Some unconventional nutrition there.

Is the time official? Can we update Wikipedia?

[markbayliss]

The Noresman is on the to do list!

Yep the time is offical: It's all on http://www.enduroman.com/

I've just about recovered and training starts again tomorrow.