South Downs Way 100 - Aims

I think it's quite useful to set down what you hope to achieve from a big event.  For me it's a bit of a commitment to what you want to do and if it all goes horribly wrong it can stop you trying to reinvent what you wanted to do to fit events.

So general aims for the race:

• Pace well - I'm a bit of a believer in Stuart Mills mantra of bag the miles while you feel good but I got this wrong on the Lakeland 100 last year and it led to me being really slow on the second half of the race.  I know I'll be tempted to run too fast to start off with and I need to watch this.  I'll be happier if I run a slower well paced race than if I run too fast at the start and end up walking a lot.
• Feed well - I'm getting better at this but I still didn't get it quite right at Peddar's Way and the last few miles were pretty grim as a result.  I want to try to have a 'little and often' approach this time which feeds into my next aim...
• Don't take too long at CPs - definitely been guilty of this in the past, partly because the CPs tend to be staffed by such nice people who make a fuss of you.  I kept it short and sweet on Peddar's Way and want to do the same.

Time aims for the race:

• Main target - sub-24 hours.  I think this is achievable.  I felt really comfortable at the end of my last long training run which was 40 miles in 8:38.
• Really Good Day Target - sub-20 hours.  Really don't think I've got this in me yet, particularly as I don't know the course but then I surprised myself at Peddar's Way.
• Not So Good Day Target - finish within the cutoff.