Breaking world records
Pip recently sat down with ultra runner, Carla Molinaro, to discuss their experiences of breaking world records.
Pip currently holds two world records for the fastest time sailing solo round the Isle of Wight, and the overall 60ft boat record. Carla currently holds the women’s LEJOG record, having run the length of Great Britain covering 1,327km in 12 days, 30 minutes and 14 seconds.
Ultra runner, Carla Molinaro. Photo: Fahwaaz C
Why did you want to set a world record?
Carla: I love multi-day stuff, I’ve done a few. All of them had been building up towards this race in some way. The dynamic of one day racing is nice but once you’ve done it you’ve finished - there is something about dragging yourself out of bed the next day and getting out there and doing it again and seeing how resilient your body is and if you can do these things that you’ve set out to do.
I wanted to attempt the record because I had nothing else to do! All of a sudden I had no races and I thought what can I do? I had been listening to a podcast and a seed had been planted in my head and I thought it would be a good idea.
I looked on the Guinness website, applied for the 12-week period, and got planning. I recorded everything on a GPX, had a backup tracker, had photos at county borders and certain parts of the trip, and documented the journey.
To prepare I had a good level of base fitness – I would do 15k each day, the next week 20k, the next week 25k and I built that up until I was doing four 50ks in a row. And then I would just practice, practice eating as much as I could, getting my stomach used to being able to fuel itself, and building up that mileage. There’s a fine line with running events – you want to go in slightly undercooked than at the peak of your performance because you don’t want to tip yourself over the edge and get injured.
Pip: I had to give 28 days notice, had a tracker fitted to the boat and a spare tracker. It was ratified through the World Sailing Speed Record Council, it was a certified course, but it was very weather dependent, I needed specific wind angles. I did the first attempt in 2020 and I had a lot of support, my friends and team came down to the start line, and I was well ahead of the record but I fell behind at the end and decided not to ratify it. The second time, I went out and did it on my own. I had one window to do the record attempt and the wind looked right and I thought I’d give it a go. I made sure I was well prepped in terms of food – I had a day bag of food and had to eat everything in that bag for 24 hours. When sailing I’m constantly aware and asking myself what I need – I know I either need to eat, sleep or drink. I have a process of asking myself that every hour and testing how tired I am by doing mental arithmetic especially if I am about to make navigational decisions, if I can’t do that I know I need to rest.
How do you sleep when you’re hyped up?
Carla: LEJOG was difficult because my muscles were fired up the whole time so I didn’t sleep that much. I was lying in bed for five hours at a time. That was difficult – but something I had to accept. Sometimes if it’s a one-day event/race, then I try and nap a bit more in the week leading up to it to make sure I’m as rested as I can be.
Pip: I sleep for about 20/30 minutes at one time, and have trained myself to sleep when it’s stressful. In a 24 hour period my baseline is 4 hours sleep, sometimes I’ll be awake for two hours between sleep and sometimes it could be ten minutes but all the time looking for ways to bank sleep. Once I’ve been at sea for a while I can go into REM sleep as soon as I close my eyes.
How do you overcome the mental battle?
Carla: With long distance I break it down. So for LEJOG I didn’t think of it as running the length of the country, I thought I’m going to see my crew in 10k. Breaking it down into 10k check points is a nice way to get through, I was always thinking in an hour I’ll get to see my crew and I just had to do that 12 times in a day. I never really thought about the bigger picture because I don’t think my brain would have known how to deal with that.
Pip: The satellite phones onboard mean I can stay in communication, and similarly I find breaking down the length of a race and into stages helps. When things get bad like the weather I just say over and over in my head this is not forever, it will change, just keep going. And it always changes.
Tips for planning long-term goals?
Carla: Everyone says goals have to be realistic but I think long-term ones can be unrealistic and the little ones on the way are realistic and can help you get there. Plan backwards on how to get there.
Pip: I agree – driving towards a big goal and breaking it down to get there.
How to quieten the mind when it’s telling you to give up?
Carla: Sometimes you have to think through it, sometimes it’s telling you to give up for a good reason. I did a race when I sprained my ankle and I should have listened to my head, whereas other times things are difficult and you’ve got to ignore your brain. You’ve chosen to be here, and you just have to think I know it’s difficult but I can accept that pain and carry on. Figure out the ones to ignore and which ones not to and accept it’s part of the journey.
Pip: I think having a plan helps – I am constantly asking myself where’s my escape route, can I still get out of this safely? My objective is always to be able to be in control of my own situation and even if that means not finishing a race it means getting out of a situation safely and not having to call on someone else. I really feel I should take responsibility for the things I choose to do.
Pip onboard during the Fastnet Race. Photo: James Tomlinson
Barriers to overcome to get into ultra racing?
Carla: As long as you’ve done training, build up mileage and your body is capable of what you want to do you can do it. It’s why I like running, it’s simple, you don’t need a lot of equipment to do ultras.
Pip: The big barrier to racing an IMOCA is funding, I had to race my way up the ranks to get the experience but you need sponsorship to put the campaign together. I started with a crowdfund and a bank loan and pulled it all together, it was almost the mindset of what happens if I don’t do this, what if I try and miss? At the very beginning I decided I was prepared to take on a negative end result than not try and get there, because I think that mentality of getting to the start line gets you to the finish line too.