It has now been over five weeks since I did this race so I will be relying on my memory for most of the details. I will try to stick to the truth and restrain my natural flair for poetic licence.
I stood at the start line brimming with nervous anticipation in what would be my fifth and final ultramarathon of 2011. My training for this specific race had been good with five continuous 100km+ weeks since the Glasshouse 100 race and my taper had gone well with some quicker times on my shorter sharper sessions. I had also managed to get a PB on my regular 5km Mt Archer hill climb so I felt that I would be primed for a significant result. If I am being honest, I was hoping for a podium place. I had reviewed the 40+ entrants listed on the website and noted that current World Ultraman Champion and new course record holder at the Glasshouse 100mile race, Mike Le Roux, was racing so I knew that first was out of the question, still I was hopeful of top three. I was acutely aware of the impact that racing others has compared with racing myself and felt a little uncomfortable about worrying about what others were doing. I guess that my natural competitive nature was beginning to surface, just like it did when I was preparing to qualify for the Hawaiian Ironman. In the last year my philosophy has changed somewhat and I have been more focused on adventure and accomplishment instead of racing to beat other people, so a return to this competitive mindset felt a little alien.
The start was reasonably relaxed except for Mike Le Roux who began sprinting at 400m pace and was out of sight very quickly. I began jogging and was surprised to find myself in 2nd place. I didn't want to go out too fast so I focused on relaxing and getting into a rhythm. A local whom I had just met, Keith Fearon, came past me and I settled in behind him with two others following a few metres behind. The course begins climbing almost immediately and after a short amount of road and undulating trail we began the climb proper. Unfortunately our group of four runners took a wrong turn off the course on what turned out to be a mountain bike circuit, deviating by a couple of hundred metres. As the four of us stood around a clearing I had decided to retrace my steps and try to rejoin the course. I was annoyed at myself for getting lost but it was not the first time I had done so in a trail race and I had only gone an extra 500m to 1km which was not too bad. I was wary of running too hard to make up time and tried to settle into my climbing rhythm. One of the other guys who got lost passed me running quite hard and I decided to let him go instead of trying to staying with him.
The first climb is quite brutal and it took some time before I caught up to other runners meaning that I was in about 40th place after the little detour. I continued to pass other runners as the climb progressed albeit at a slower baby-steps type of pace. I had felt that my climbing had improved recently so I was surprised at how early I started walking. I tried to follow my run/walk strategy but was getting increasingly tired and fatigued as the very steep and difficult climb progressed. The last two kilometres of the climb were particularly brutal and my pace blew out to around 12min 40secs per kilometre. I felt like I was hiking up an alpine mountain in some places as my legs and lower back were tightening under the pressure of the climb and I even needed to use my hands to grip some of the tree roots to haul myself up the slope. Thankfully the dense bush began to thin out and I found myself at the top of the climb, skirting a chain-link fence to get to the first water stop at the weather station. I refilled my hand-held bottle and thanked the St Johns ambulance staff who told me that I was in about 18th place.
As the laws of physics dictate, what goes up must come down, so I used the decent to try and stretch out my legs. At the bottom of the decent we passed through the first checkpoint and I could see a long line of runners ahead. I ran through the checkpoint without stopping and began running on the undulating road section of the course. I continued to pick up places so that by the time I caught up to a group of runners on Black Mountain Road I was in about 7th position. This section of the course is run on a gentle undulating gravel road which is quite enjoyable to run on.
At the time my legs felt more heavy and tired than I expected them to be but I attributed this to be a consequence of the big climb up Saddle Mountain. I was telling myself at the time that I was relaxed and running a comfortable place but in hindsight and upon reflection I was running too fast. I look back now and blame my desire for a podium place as the cataylst for pushing too hard too early. I was sticking with my practiced nutrition strategy but I was working too hard. I had run myself back up to fourth position on the road and was playing cat and mouse with the top woman who was running really strong.
At about the 28km mark I dropped back from the first placed woman as she continued to surge ahead and I was beginning to feel the effects of my fast early pace. I continued to run on strongly but by the 33rd kilometre I knew that something was wrong. I was starting to feel very fatigued, more than I expected for this stage of the race and with 41km to go I began taking some walking breaks to try and recover and slow my breathing down. I had been passed by a group of three runners and as I walked the inclines more runners came past me. By this stage I didn't really care about places or podiums and from previous experiences I knew that the day would be more about survival than racing for time or place.
My pace had slowed drastically from running low to mid 5min/km's out to 8-9min/km's. I was pretty much by myself from the 36km checkpoint as I made my way along Black Mountain Road. I couldn't drink or eat anymore as a result of perpetual feeling of nausea but I pushed on regardless. This part of the course felt quite strange to me, I don't know if it was as a result of my state of dehydration but I felt quite vulnerable here. I felt that my safety was not assured. I was aware of a local plant commonly known as wait-a-while which has barbed tentacle like vines which hang from above and grab hold and imbed themselves in clothing and any exposed skin. In fact at one point I ran right into one which ripped the leg of my shorts, left a barb in one of my fingers and made my right ear-lobe begin to bleed. This coupled with the risk of spiders and snakes out on the course meant that I was constantly on edge. It felt quite eerie running along the trail with unusual vegetation and a myriad of dead leaves, plants and wood covering the ground providing lots of tripping obstacles and excellent hiding places for reptiles and arachnids.
The isolation also added to my growing apprehension and a fear that I had gone off course again. So each time I came across a marker or water container I felt a surge of relief. It was at this point on the course that I caught an injured French woman who was hobbling along but fiercely determined to finish. She could not run the downhills but was surprisingly agile along the flat and on the uphills, compared with me where the downhills and some of the flat sections were the only times that I could run. This meant that we played leap-frog for about 10km.
I finally made it to the 57km checkpoint and was really struggling. As I got closer to this point I was debating on whether I should continue on or drop from the race. I had no energy and was seriously questioning my ability to continue. For the last 20km I was rationalising internally why I do these long endurance runs. I had pretty much made up my mind that this would be my last ultra and needed to push through the pain and discomfort to finish this damn run. Waiting at the checkpoint was the guy who had gotten lost with me at the start and ran strongly past me on the hill to make up time. He looked in pretty bad shape and I could tell that his race had ended. Prior to taking up ultramarathons this season I had never had a DNF, even in my seven Iroman races and numerous other triathlons and running races, however I had failed to finish The North Face 100 in May only making it to 83km before quitting and then dropping at the 127.5km mark in the Glasshouse 100 mile race in September. I couldn't have a third DNF so I downed a couple of cups of Endura and ambled my way down the Bump Track. Only 17km more kilometres to go, how hard could it be?
I only made it another kilometre or so before I had to stop, move to the side of the track and proceed to empty my stomach of all its contents. I have been in this position before and knew that immediately after purging there is a small window where I feel better, so I began running again. After a few undulations there is a very steep four kilometre decent. I tried to take advantage of gravity and jogged on. I passed the French woman and started to feel a little more confident in my ability to finish this agonising run. Whereas the earlier part of the day was surprisingly temperate with good cloud cover and moderate humidity and temperature, it was now becoming extremely hot and I was really starting to heat up.
About a kilometre from the bottom of the decent I began to suffer acute stitch and stomach cramps which were impacting on my ability to breathe without pain. I began walking with my hands on my head and exaggerating my breathing to relax my diaphragm. I managed to make it to the bottom in one piece but I was starting to suffer from the effects of heat sickness due to my dehydrated condition. I sought solace under a shaded tree next to a van where some supporters were waiting for their runner to come by. I sat down for about five to ten minutes and tried to cool myself down and get my breathing under control. I gave up 10th and 11th place but I really didn't care anymore.
From this point I had about 12km or so to go which ordinarily is the distance of my recovery runs. Unfortunately this last leg was fully exposed to the elements and the suns' scorching rays felt like they could penetrate all the layers of my skin and liquefy my muscles and incinerate my bones. Well maybe it was not that dramatic but I was feeling very sorry for myself and acutely aware that I would have to walk the remainder of the race without additional food or water due to my persistent nausea.
More runners passed me as I made my way through the Port Douglas streets and onto the beach for the final 4km which is run almost exclusively on sand. Ordinarily this would be a picturesque run but I just wanted it to be over. I could see the end of the beach in the distance and like a mirage, every step I took seemed to take me no closer to my oasis. I kept an eye on my watch and was walking at about a 10:30min/km pace. After what seemed like an eternity I was almost at the end of the beach, I could hear the sunbathers and beach-goers applauding the runners who had recently overtaken me and I knew that I would have to try and salvage a little self-respect and jog my way to the finish. I exited the beach and hobbled along the esplanade towards the finish. I acknowledged the crowd on the beach, the people clapping from their balconies and the patrons in the cafes sipping cold beverages and licking delicious looking ice-creams. I crossed the finish line in 17th place overall in a time of 9hrs 37mins 32secs, totally spent. My friend Will had met me on the beach and together with his neighbour, Scotty, welcomed me at the finish line.
After the race it took me a while to get myself under control. I was overheated, very dehydrated and just lay on the grass for about 10 minutes trying to recover my composure. Will and Scotty looked after me and offered to get me food and drink but I knew that it would be some time before my stomach would settle enough to consume anything. The pain relented enough so that I could walk to the beach shower where I saturated myself (clothes and all) in glorious cold water. With my core temperature a little lower I felt a little better and I could sit up and talk with some of the other competitors. Keith Fearon ran well and ended up in 7th place overall. Mike Le Roux won the race by half an hour in 6hrs 45mins.
After the race I called Mel and gave her a quick update on my disastrous day. I updated my Facebook status and headed back to Will's place for a swim in his pool and to try absorbing calories. Once I had had a swim, something to eat and drink and felt a bit more normal I rang Mel again. Melanie is so supportive but I know that she worries about me hurting myself or doing some permanent damage from my participation in this extreme sport. Mel knew of my lofty goals and ambitions for 2012 and was relieved when I told her that I was done. The pain was still so fresh, so it was not difficult to lament to her how disappointed I was in always getting sick and that I felt like I was always hitting my head against a brick wall, that the sensible thing to do would be to stop and try something else.
When I got back home to Rockhampton I was careful to avoid saying that I was retired from ultras, even though in my mind I knew that I was through. I told my friends and training partners that I was done with long ultras and would at the most run the short 50km races if I ever did another one. I contemplated my future pursuits (as I am not one for sitting idly-by) and turned my mind to the possibility of doing some mountain biking or playing soccer. Mel took my semi-retirement with a grain of salt and even said to me she didn't think that I could stop. I was adamant however and after two weeks off running altogether I continued to tell anyone who would listen that I would stick to 'sprint distances' such as the marathon.
UPDATE:
Since completing the Cairns to Port Douglas Trail Ultra I had two weeks off running altogether. My first week back running was difficult and without an immediate goal I ran three times for a total of 33km. The next week involved only two runs for a total of 26km. I am currently in New Zealand having a family holiday over the Christmas period. As stated in my previous post I have had a change of heart AGAIN and have entered the 2012 edition of The North Face 100 to finish what I started. I will endeavour to relate my recent thoughts and experiences in my next post: "2011 - A year in review" which will be published upon my return to Australia. I would again like to thank my wife Mel, children Holly and Ethan, family, friends and training partners for all their support, without it I would never be able to achieve what I have or have the strength or courage to step outside of my comfort zone to challenge myself and push the boundaries of what is possible. I would also like to especially thank Will and Lynn for putting me up on short notice and looking after me in Port Douglas, I really enjoyed spending the weekend with you both.
I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and...................
Keep running.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Stop Press
Firstly I would like to acknowledge that it has been a long time since I posted on my blog. I did not intend to wait so long but I needed to sort out some issues in my head before writing a race report from the Cairns to Port Douglas 74km Ultra I did four weeks ago. That report is still to come and I hope to post it here in the next week.
In short, I was again going to retire from doing long ultras (100km, 100mile, longer etc) after another sickness plagued race. I felt that it was the right decision even though I also felt like I was letting my friends down who were planning on travelling down with me and sharing in the adventure that is The North Face 100 in the Blue Mountains (Sorry Sean). Prior to the Port Douglas Ultra, I had planned out 2012 in my head as being a huge year for ultramarathon running but after that race I discarded those plans almost immediately. So when entries to the 2012 TNF100 opened I watched as everyone else posted their race numbers on Facebook or Coolrunning. Even though everyone else expressed their nervous excitement about the impending race I was steadfast in my resolve to stick to the shorter sprint type races such as marathons.
I had fielded a few inquiries from my training partners about whether I was still going to avoid the Blue Mountains, including an email link from Raelene that stated that there were only 25 more spots available before the race was full. So I surprised myself when I entered. For some unexplained reason I began analysing my recent race experiences and accomplishments, my last year of training and racing and my potential futures one which included my previous plan for ultra saturation. My first Ultramarathon was in September 2010 and I have experienced so much in that short time, I have had some great achievements and some spectacular failures and it is those failures as well as the potential to experience more adventures along this ultra journey that drives me to continue. I guess what I needed was some time to forget about structured running for a while, to recharge and refocus. I still need to sort out my nutritional problems but I will not give up, I am returning to TNF100 to finish what I started this year.
After the Port Douglas race I took two weeks off running, my first week back I ran three times with a total of almost 33km and this week I ran twice for a total of 26km. I am currently in New Zealand for the next three weeks and while I am here I plan on running some of my favourite trail and road runs in the area. The Wellington region is great for running with some good hills and trails which will give me a great base as I begin my preparation for an exciting 2012 of running long.
I will endeavour to publish posts more regularly on this blog as I continue to challenge myself along the exciting and challenging ultra path. I hope to encourage and motivate others to step outside their comfort zones, strive to achieve their goals and to have fun.
Keep running.
In short, I was again going to retire from doing long ultras (100km, 100mile, longer etc) after another sickness plagued race. I felt that it was the right decision even though I also felt like I was letting my friends down who were planning on travelling down with me and sharing in the adventure that is The North Face 100 in the Blue Mountains (Sorry Sean). Prior to the Port Douglas Ultra, I had planned out 2012 in my head as being a huge year for ultramarathon running but after that race I discarded those plans almost immediately. So when entries to the 2012 TNF100 opened I watched as everyone else posted their race numbers on Facebook or Coolrunning. Even though everyone else expressed their nervous excitement about the impending race I was steadfast in my resolve to stick to the shorter sprint type races such as marathons.
I had fielded a few inquiries from my training partners about whether I was still going to avoid the Blue Mountains, including an email link from Raelene that stated that there were only 25 more spots available before the race was full. So I surprised myself when I entered. For some unexplained reason I began analysing my recent race experiences and accomplishments, my last year of training and racing and my potential futures one which included my previous plan for ultra saturation. My first Ultramarathon was in September 2010 and I have experienced so much in that short time, I have had some great achievements and some spectacular failures and it is those failures as well as the potential to experience more adventures along this ultra journey that drives me to continue. I guess what I needed was some time to forget about structured running for a while, to recharge and refocus. I still need to sort out my nutritional problems but I will not give up, I am returning to TNF100 to finish what I started this year.
After the Port Douglas race I took two weeks off running, my first week back I ran three times with a total of almost 33km and this week I ran twice for a total of 26km. I am currently in New Zealand for the next three weeks and while I am here I plan on running some of my favourite trail and road runs in the area. The Wellington region is great for running with some good hills and trails which will give me a great base as I begin my preparation for an exciting 2012 of running long.
I will endeavour to publish posts more regularly on this blog as I continue to challenge myself along the exciting and challenging ultra path. I hope to encourage and motivate others to step outside their comfort zones, strive to achieve their goals and to have fun.
Keep running.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Oops
This week has been a bit of a mixed bag really. I made a miscalculation with my training and ended up with 83km in the first four days of this week. This normally is not much of an issue as I quite often hit 90km by the end of a Thursday. I had also planned to run 10km on Friday and another 45km this Saturday with a projected weekly total around 150km, again volume that I can ordinarily cope with. The problem is that Saturday would mark the two weeks to go milestone, a time when I should be tapering off the training and trying to freshen up for the race. I knew the dates and thought that I had planned correctly but heading out to meet my friend Sean on Thursday, I realised my error as I ran on tired legs at 4:30am.
To ensure that I wouldn't be standing on the start line feeling over-cooked I did the sensible thing and took Friday and Saturday off as rest days. Work has been very busy recently and the break from training helped me to overcome the general tiredness I was feeling.
I had good solid runs this week continuing on with some undulations and my final stretch up Mt Archer. I was not as fast as last week but still a solid effort. I will now reduce the volume even further and take extra rest days in the next two weeks to help with recovery.
I was originally going to travel to Cairns via train but after multiple warnings from lots of people I booked flights instead. The prospect of a 20 hour approx train trip each way was not too appealing I must admit. I'm really looking forward to the race and catching up with friends in the Far North that I have not seen for almost two years. I also learned that Mike Le Roux has entered the race which is awesome. Mike won the Glasshouse 100 mile trail run in September, he is a phenomenal athlete and is aiming to compete in the Badwater Ultramarathon next year. Mike finished the Glasshouse 100 in a course record 15hrs 38mins (161.7km) where I took 17hrs 36mins to complete 127.5km, so it will be great to have someone of his calibre in the race (he is a local too), not that I will see much of him!!
I ordered my second pair of Hoka One One shoes this week as I have logged quite a few kilometres in my current pair of Bondi B's. Hopefully they will arrive this week so that I can break them in for the race. I believe I was the first person in Rocky to wear these 'different' looking shoes but I love them and I know Jason is now hooked on them as well. Who knows, by the time TNF100 comes around next May there might be a few more converts in Rockhampton.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 15.10km - 1hr 18mins 22secs - undulating run
- 2.05km - 14mins 43secs - run with Holly & Ethan
Tue - 28.50km - 2hrs 31mins 08secs - hill run up Mt Archer
Wed - 15.10km - 1hr 18mins 27secs - undulating run in heat
Thu - 23.14km - 2hrs 22mins 22secs - trail run with Sean in am
Fri - Rest day
Sat - Rest day
Sun - 16.80km - 1hr 26mins 04secs - mainly flat group run
Totals - 100.68km - 9hrs 11mins 09secs
Once I hand in my next law assignment I hope to put a bit more work into my next project, a guide that I am putting together to help my friends (and anyone else that is interested) in preparing for The North Face 100 next year. I have got the outline and most of the content sorted out and will start to put my ideas into written form shortly. If all goes well I hope to have it finished in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned and......
Keep running.
To ensure that I wouldn't be standing on the start line feeling over-cooked I did the sensible thing and took Friday and Saturday off as rest days. Work has been very busy recently and the break from training helped me to overcome the general tiredness I was feeling.
I had good solid runs this week continuing on with some undulations and my final stretch up Mt Archer. I was not as fast as last week but still a solid effort. I will now reduce the volume even further and take extra rest days in the next two weeks to help with recovery.
I was originally going to travel to Cairns via train but after multiple warnings from lots of people I booked flights instead. The prospect of a 20 hour approx train trip each way was not too appealing I must admit. I'm really looking forward to the race and catching up with friends in the Far North that I have not seen for almost two years. I also learned that Mike Le Roux has entered the race which is awesome. Mike won the Glasshouse 100 mile trail run in September, he is a phenomenal athlete and is aiming to compete in the Badwater Ultramarathon next year. Mike finished the Glasshouse 100 in a course record 15hrs 38mins (161.7km) where I took 17hrs 36mins to complete 127.5km, so it will be great to have someone of his calibre in the race (he is a local too), not that I will see much of him!!
I ordered my second pair of Hoka One One shoes this week as I have logged quite a few kilometres in my current pair of Bondi B's. Hopefully they will arrive this week so that I can break them in for the race. I believe I was the first person in Rocky to wear these 'different' looking shoes but I love them and I know Jason is now hooked on them as well. Who knows, by the time TNF100 comes around next May there might be a few more converts in Rockhampton.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 15.10km - 1hr 18mins 22secs - undulating run
- 2.05km - 14mins 43secs - run with Holly & Ethan
Tue - 28.50km - 2hrs 31mins 08secs - hill run up Mt Archer
Wed - 15.10km - 1hr 18mins 27secs - undulating run in heat
Thu - 23.14km - 2hrs 22mins 22secs - trail run with Sean in am
Fri - Rest day
Sat - Rest day
Sun - 16.80km - 1hr 26mins 04secs - mainly flat group run
Totals - 100.68km - 9hrs 11mins 09secs
Once I hand in my next law assignment I hope to put a bit more work into my next project, a guide that I am putting together to help my friends (and anyone else that is interested) in preparing for The North Face 100 next year. I have got the outline and most of the content sorted out and will start to put my ideas into written form shortly. If all goes well I hope to have it finished in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned and......
Keep running.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Getting out the door
In June I published a post about motivation and inspiration. This week I had to take a leaf out of my own book and practice what I preach. Sometimes it can be very difficult to view your own training objectively. If someone asks for some advice, generally, I can have a look at what they have been doing and what their goals are and come up with a pretty good suggestion or solution. But when it comes to looking at my own training I can and do make lots of silly mistakes and do things that contradict what I would normally advise someone else not to do. Since my two week break I have been logging some good volume with weeks of; 102km, 133km and 161km. With only two weeks of high volume before my race taper I intended to run around 160km each week.
This week started off strong and I continued making significant deposits into the running bank. On Monday I ran with my kids before a good undulating workout. On Tuesday I struggled with motivation and during the first couple of kilometres, considered turning around and going home. With a high volume of accumulated distance in my legs and lots of early starts at work I was getting quite tired and was struggling to find the motivation to keep pushing. I was still focused on my goal but in the back of my mind I was trying to find excuses not to run.
I find that getting out the door is the hardest part and generally feel much better afterwards. So on Tuesday, as I struggled through the early part of the run, I thought about how lucky I was to have my health and fitness and focused on trying to enjoy my run and not think about the 30km or so ahead of me. As is often the case I had a great run and managed to get a PB on my Mt Archer climb. I hit the bottom of the main climb having completed 8.78 km and as I took a drink and time check, a cyclist came past. GAME ON. At first he thought he was alone but after a quick look behind my competitive intent was exposed. I developed a good rhythm and got into the zone, focusing on my breathing and keeping the cyclist in view. He started with about a 100 metre advantage and as we climbed the distance between us would yo-yo depending on the gradient and whether he was seated or standing. I was still about 100m behind him, as we approached the saddle, when tragedy happened. He turned around and went back down the hill. D'oh, I thought I could catch and pass him by the summit. I briefly considered taking a breather but was still 'in the zone' so continued onwards and upwards. My kilometre splits were all low to mid six minute kilometre range and I made it to my 5km end marker (top lookout near the antenna's) in 31mins 45secs a PB by 1 minute 3 seconds. After a quick breather and admiring the magnificent vistas I ran around a few of the lookouts before heading down the hill again. On my way home I passed by the Central Queensland University grass running track. Quite a few of the Rocky Road Runners meet for their speed work sessions on a Tuesday so I thought I would say hi. I love the energy of running with a group and I couldn't resist running a couple of fast (too fast) 200's with them. I hadn't done any speed work since the Gold Coast Marathon and as a consequence felt a bit tight for the rest of the run home.
On Wednesday I ran the same undulating course as Monday but felt a little tired, which is understandable I guess. After the run I enjoyed a little jog around with my kids which always lifts my spirits. Like me they were a little tired so we only did one lap around the block. By the time I got home from work on Thursday I had hit the wall and could not face going out for my planned 30km run. I briefly considered driving to run with the Thursday pack but couldn't even face that, the door remained shut. It can be a fine line between doing too much and not doing enough. I firmly believe that it is better to be slightly under-prepared than over-trained. There is always the possibility of pushing that little bit harder or longer in a race if you have slightly undertrained but there is little or no chance of coming back if you are over-cooked. I felt bad about abandoning my run and kept trying to justify my decision but I am glad that I stayed at home. With my big volume and consecutive early shifts I felt that I was always tired and not spending as much time with Mel or the kids as I wanted. As it turned out I had a great afternoon and evening at home with my family and got to spend some quality time with both of my wonderful children.
Friday was always going to be an easy 10km run but after I got home from taking the kids to school I took the opportunity to mow the lawn which usually takes 1.5 hours. I was very hungry and needed to eat before running but decided to abandon the run in favour of cleaning the car. I could've run in the afternoon but I wanted to save myself for Saturday's long run. I was so tired by the end of the day that I almost neglected to make up my drinks and prepare my gear for the run in the morning.
My alarm went off at 3:45am. I got up but then went back to bed. I lay there debating on the virtues of staying at home again. I was still tired and wanted to go back to sleep, the only trouble was that I was awake and knew that I would be angry with myself if I missed three days of what is supposed to be a big week of training. It turned out that all I needed was two days off to refresh both mentally and physically because I managed to run a quickish long run to make it back-to-back weeks of 50km Saturdays. I did my own undulating 11km loop before joining the group. The pace remained quick for most of the run, especially when running for a short time alongside Marty at sub 4:00min/km pace. As the run progressed the group whittled down to Michael, Marty and myself. Thanks to M & M I managed to keep a good consistent pace with great company so that I only had to run another 7km or so by myself at the end. At the conclusion of the run I was tired but not shattered and began turning my mind to the 10km race on Sunday.
At about 7:00am on Sunday morning I stood on the start line of the Balance Podiatry Pink Ribbon 10km fun run. I knew that running a fast 10km race after running a quick 50km the day before would always be a challenge. Even as the starter's gun fired I did not really have a time or place goal. I honestly thought something like 45mins or at best around 42mins would be achievable and considering the huge turnout (around 250 people for the 5k, 10k & kids run) I was not worried about a place. I settled into a good fast rhythm and was surprised at how good I felt. I passed a few runners in the first couple of kilometres as the leaders pulled ahead and looked down at my watch to find that I was running at just under 4min/km pace. My legs were a little tired but not heavy which enabled me to push out with a longer, stronger, faster stride. I continued to pass a few runners so that I started the second 5km lap in 6th place with Marty just ahead. I ran a consistent race with close to even lap splits to finish in 39mins 39secs for 5th overall. The course was slightly short with my Garmin reading 9.8km but I was incredibly pleased with my surprising performance and was unofficially about 20-30 seconds away from Michael who took home third place. A huge thank you to Kelly, Leah and their volunteers who put on a great race. Well done to all the people who placed and who completed the run and in the triathlons / duathlons held at Yeppoon.
I would also like to acknowledge the truly remarkable achievement of my cousin Cameron Brown (no, not the triathlete), who last night became World Champion in both the singles and pairs at the Aerobics World Championships on the Gold Coast. Cameron has dedicated himself to his sport for many many years at the elite level. I'm so proud and happy for him to reach the pinnacle of his sport and being crowned World Champion is a testament to his dedication and drive. Well done cuz.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 2.07km - 15mins 39secs - run with Holly and Ethan
- 15.05km - 1hr 18mins 35secs - undulating run
Tue - 31.10km - 2hrs 43mins 55secs - hills incl' Mt Archer
Wed - 15.05km - 1hr 20mins 43secs - undulating run
- 1.12km - 8mins 57secs - run with Holly and Ethan
Thu - Rest day
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 50.25km - 4hrs 17mins 16secs - long run with group
Sun - 2.52km - 12mins 50secs - warm up for 10km race
- 9.80km - 39mins 39secs - 10km Pink Ribbon race
- 4.10km - 20mins 26secs - warm down
Totals - 131.06km - 11hrs 18mins 05secs
With only one more week of high volume and three weeks to go until race day I am getting very excited about the race. I've never been to Cairns or Port Douglas before so I am looking forward to what will be another exciting adventure.
Keep running.
This week started off strong and I continued making significant deposits into the running bank. On Monday I ran with my kids before a good undulating workout. On Tuesday I struggled with motivation and during the first couple of kilometres, considered turning around and going home. With a high volume of accumulated distance in my legs and lots of early starts at work I was getting quite tired and was struggling to find the motivation to keep pushing. I was still focused on my goal but in the back of my mind I was trying to find excuses not to run.
I find that getting out the door is the hardest part and generally feel much better afterwards. So on Tuesday, as I struggled through the early part of the run, I thought about how lucky I was to have my health and fitness and focused on trying to enjoy my run and not think about the 30km or so ahead of me. As is often the case I had a great run and managed to get a PB on my Mt Archer climb. I hit the bottom of the main climb having completed 8.78 km and as I took a drink and time check, a cyclist came past. GAME ON. At first he thought he was alone but after a quick look behind my competitive intent was exposed. I developed a good rhythm and got into the zone, focusing on my breathing and keeping the cyclist in view. He started with about a 100 metre advantage and as we climbed the distance between us would yo-yo depending on the gradient and whether he was seated or standing. I was still about 100m behind him, as we approached the saddle, when tragedy happened. He turned around and went back down the hill. D'oh, I thought I could catch and pass him by the summit. I briefly considered taking a breather but was still 'in the zone' so continued onwards and upwards. My kilometre splits were all low to mid six minute kilometre range and I made it to my 5km end marker (top lookout near the antenna's) in 31mins 45secs a PB by 1 minute 3 seconds. After a quick breather and admiring the magnificent vistas I ran around a few of the lookouts before heading down the hill again. On my way home I passed by the Central Queensland University grass running track. Quite a few of the Rocky Road Runners meet for their speed work sessions on a Tuesday so I thought I would say hi. I love the energy of running with a group and I couldn't resist running a couple of fast (too fast) 200's with them. I hadn't done any speed work since the Gold Coast Marathon and as a consequence felt a bit tight for the rest of the run home.
On Wednesday I ran the same undulating course as Monday but felt a little tired, which is understandable I guess. After the run I enjoyed a little jog around with my kids which always lifts my spirits. Like me they were a little tired so we only did one lap around the block. By the time I got home from work on Thursday I had hit the wall and could not face going out for my planned 30km run. I briefly considered driving to run with the Thursday pack but couldn't even face that, the door remained shut. It can be a fine line between doing too much and not doing enough. I firmly believe that it is better to be slightly under-prepared than over-trained. There is always the possibility of pushing that little bit harder or longer in a race if you have slightly undertrained but there is little or no chance of coming back if you are over-cooked. I felt bad about abandoning my run and kept trying to justify my decision but I am glad that I stayed at home. With my big volume and consecutive early shifts I felt that I was always tired and not spending as much time with Mel or the kids as I wanted. As it turned out I had a great afternoon and evening at home with my family and got to spend some quality time with both of my wonderful children.
Friday was always going to be an easy 10km run but after I got home from taking the kids to school I took the opportunity to mow the lawn which usually takes 1.5 hours. I was very hungry and needed to eat before running but decided to abandon the run in favour of cleaning the car. I could've run in the afternoon but I wanted to save myself for Saturday's long run. I was so tired by the end of the day that I almost neglected to make up my drinks and prepare my gear for the run in the morning.
My alarm went off at 3:45am. I got up but then went back to bed. I lay there debating on the virtues of staying at home again. I was still tired and wanted to go back to sleep, the only trouble was that I was awake and knew that I would be angry with myself if I missed three days of what is supposed to be a big week of training. It turned out that all I needed was two days off to refresh both mentally and physically because I managed to run a quickish long run to make it back-to-back weeks of 50km Saturdays. I did my own undulating 11km loop before joining the group. The pace remained quick for most of the run, especially when running for a short time alongside Marty at sub 4:00min/km pace. As the run progressed the group whittled down to Michael, Marty and myself. Thanks to M & M I managed to keep a good consistent pace with great company so that I only had to run another 7km or so by myself at the end. At the conclusion of the run I was tired but not shattered and began turning my mind to the 10km race on Sunday.
At about 7:00am on Sunday morning I stood on the start line of the Balance Podiatry Pink Ribbon 10km fun run. I knew that running a fast 10km race after running a quick 50km the day before would always be a challenge. Even as the starter's gun fired I did not really have a time or place goal. I honestly thought something like 45mins or at best around 42mins would be achievable and considering the huge turnout (around 250 people for the 5k, 10k & kids run) I was not worried about a place. I settled into a good fast rhythm and was surprised at how good I felt. I passed a few runners in the first couple of kilometres as the leaders pulled ahead and looked down at my watch to find that I was running at just under 4min/km pace. My legs were a little tired but not heavy which enabled me to push out with a longer, stronger, faster stride. I continued to pass a few runners so that I started the second 5km lap in 6th place with Marty just ahead. I ran a consistent race with close to even lap splits to finish in 39mins 39secs for 5th overall. The course was slightly short with my Garmin reading 9.8km but I was incredibly pleased with my surprising performance and was unofficially about 20-30 seconds away from Michael who took home third place. A huge thank you to Kelly, Leah and their volunteers who put on a great race. Well done to all the people who placed and who completed the run and in the triathlons / duathlons held at Yeppoon.
I would also like to acknowledge the truly remarkable achievement of my cousin Cameron Brown (no, not the triathlete), who last night became World Champion in both the singles and pairs at the Aerobics World Championships on the Gold Coast. Cameron has dedicated himself to his sport for many many years at the elite level. I'm so proud and happy for him to reach the pinnacle of his sport and being crowned World Champion is a testament to his dedication and drive. Well done cuz.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 2.07km - 15mins 39secs - run with Holly and Ethan
- 15.05km - 1hr 18mins 35secs - undulating run
Tue - 31.10km - 2hrs 43mins 55secs - hills incl' Mt Archer
Wed - 15.05km - 1hr 20mins 43secs - undulating run
- 1.12km - 8mins 57secs - run with Holly and Ethan
Thu - Rest day
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 50.25km - 4hrs 17mins 16secs - long run with group
Sun - 2.52km - 12mins 50secs - warm up for 10km race
- 9.80km - 39mins 39secs - 10km Pink Ribbon race
- 4.10km - 20mins 26secs - warm down
Totals - 131.06km - 11hrs 18mins 05secs
With only one more week of high volume and three weeks to go until race day I am getting very excited about the race. I've never been to Cairns or Port Douglas before so I am looking forward to what will be another exciting adventure.
Keep running.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
The Running Bank
All of our life experiences, whether positive or negative, affect us in a myriad of ways. The person we are today is a result of the accumulation of these experiences. The same can be said for training and racing. For me, my running is about the enjoyment of physical exercise and pushing at the boundaries of the preconceived limitations of what I thought was possible. Through challenging myself to go harder, go higher or go longer I can (to borrow a phrase) live a life less ordinary. Running is MY metaphor for living. So, considering all of the hours that we put into running / training for an event, what we achieve on race day is the accumulation of those experiences both physically and mentally.
To further this train of thought, think of your body (and by extension, your mind) as a bank. Every time you go out for a run you are making a deposit into the bank. Every time you run in the heat, humidity, rain, wind, up the hill, down the hill, on the sand, you are adding to your knowledge and experience balance. Every time you run with a partner or a group you debit your account with the wealth of the combined experience of others. Every time you read a book, read a magazine or even watch a sporting event on television or film you strengthen your fund. So why is this important?
Endurance running to me is about putting one foot in front of the other for as long as you can until you achieve your goal. This sounds simple enough but the longer we go, the more we need to draw upon our inner strength and resolve to meet the inevitable challenges along the way. Ultra marathons by their very nature and distance alone, are difficult enough, however, many events can be characterised by other significant variables such as extreme heat, terrain and altitude. The key to the successful completion of an ultra event is by managing all the difficulties and obstacles and this is where we may need to make sizeable withdrawals from our running banks. It is highly unlikely that any normal person (once again normal is purely subjective) undertaking an endurance event will not be faced with significant challenges in which they need to draw upon their experience to carry on. Having trained effectively and developed, our knowledge, skills and experience whilst physically preparing our bodies we are able use the experience we gain in training and apply them on race day.
As mentioned in a previous post on this blog, I am training for the Great Barrier Reef 74km trail run on the 12th November. Although run on trails with some good elevation gain, I believe the most challenging factors for this race will be the heat and humidity whilst running through the bush from Cairns to Port Douglas. To ensure that I achieve my goals I have begun specific run training to address these additional challenges. I have made some very good deposits into the running bank this week with some difficult runs in the hot part of the day.
On Monday I ran at 10:15am in 30+ degree heat on an undulating course for 15km, then on Tuesday I ran 25km in the early morning humidity through undulating to hilly trails before backing up again in the afternoon for a quick 7km in high humidity. Wednesday was a repeat of Monday's undulations with 15km starting at 10:30am and Thursday was some more hill work running for 28km in 30+ degrees including the 5km road climb to the summit of Mt Archer.
Saturday began with an earlier start of 4am and about 15km of road before hitting the undulating to hilly trails with Sean, Peter and Neville. What was interesting about Saturday's run was the high humidity. Running on muddy trails meant that my overall pace was slower which is a good thing when I was aiming to run 50km. I love running on the trails through the bush and was having a great time. The high humidity meant that I was drinking much more than I normally do and was sweating profusely. We ran through the trail known as 'first turkey' and took a left hand turn onto another trail. This branch lead us all the way through to the Rocky-Yeppoon Road where we re-filled our drink bottles at the go-cart track before heading back the same way we had come. We had a brief respite from the humidity when the rain came as part of a thunder and lightning storm.
Unfortunately the rain only lasted for a short time so that when the sun came out it supercharged the moisture in the air to produce a sauna like effect. It was at this time that I started thinking about the running bank and how running in these conditions would be very beneficial for my race in four weeks time. After we had re-traced our steps and returned to the beginning of the trail Peter and Neville peeled off and I ran with Sean to his place. Whilst running with Sean I was turning my mind towards the additional 12km I would need to run after he made it to his house. I refilled my water bottles again at Sean's (thanks mate, that cold water was magic) and continued towards the 40km mark of my run. It was at this point that I started to struggle, the charged energy I had felt as part of our positive group dynamic had left me and I was really feeling tired, sore and the heat and humidity had a physical blanket-like quality as if it was about to wrap me up. I sat down at the intersection of Yaamba Road and Farm Street and took stock of my situation. If I turned right and ran down Yaamba Road I could be home in about 20 minutes and run somewhere around 43km or if I continued down Farm Street I could run a route that would take me close to my pre-run target of 50km.
At this point I needed to make a small withdrawal from the running bank and draw upon my previous experiences of feeling sore, tired and overheated. I tested my commitment and again proved to myself that I am worthy, I got to my feet and began running down Farm Street. Like last week I was in survival mode, I was putting one foot in front of the other and focusing on moving forward. My pace had slowed considerably and I needed to re-fill my water bottles again. I had been having a few watch issues including forgetting to re-start it at a couple of water stops meaning that I had actually run a couple of kilometres extra than what my watch said. I eventually developed an efficient little shuffle-like run and managed to make it home in one piece. Despite running slowly in the increasingly hot and humid conditions I even ran past my place to do an extra loop so that my watch showed at least 50km.
After the run I felt a little sun and wind-burned but recovered reasonably well. I drank quite a bit, was a little stiff walking around and needed a nap but before long I was out and about with my family for the afternoon. As a result of Saturday's little adventure I was able to make a significant deposit into the running bank, and although I took a little loan from the bank to make it to the end, the overall experience I gained (both physically and mentally) meant that I was able to repay my small loan with interest and come the 12th November, I will be able to draw upon this run and others to help me achieve my goals.
Sunday's run was a good back up from Saturday. I still felt a bit sore in the morning but had a crusiy day at home so that by the afternoon I was ready to run. I set off at about 4:15pm and it was still about 32 degrees. I felt pretty good and ran some undulations before meeting the group after running for 8.5km. I wasn't sure how much I was going to run and was playing it by ear. I felt good so joined the group and had fun knocking out a 20km run to bring my weekly total to 100 miles.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 15.10km - 1hr 21mins 18secs - undulating run in heat
Tue - am - 25.10km - 2hrs 26mins 35secs - hills & undulations in humidity
- pm - 7.25km - 35mins 10secs - quick run in humidity
Wed - 15.25km - 1hr 20mins 13secs - undulating run in heat
Thu - 28.05km - 2hrs 31mins 39secs - hill run incl Mt Archer in heat
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 50.05km - 5hrs 03mins 53secs - trail & road, undulating in humidity
Sun - 20.39km - 1hr 45mins 05secs - undulations & group run
Totals: 161.19km - 15hrs 03mins 55secs
With only four weeks to go, I have two more big weeks of training and two weeks of taper. The two weeks off have not limited me too much and I have been able to continually build on my consistent base. Consistency has been the key for my running development and is a significant improvement on the months leading up to my run at The North Face 100 this year. Stay safe, have fun and.......
Keep running.
To further this train of thought, think of your body (and by extension, your mind) as a bank. Every time you go out for a run you are making a deposit into the bank. Every time you run in the heat, humidity, rain, wind, up the hill, down the hill, on the sand, you are adding to your knowledge and experience balance. Every time you run with a partner or a group you debit your account with the wealth of the combined experience of others. Every time you read a book, read a magazine or even watch a sporting event on television or film you strengthen your fund. So why is this important?
Endurance running to me is about putting one foot in front of the other for as long as you can until you achieve your goal. This sounds simple enough but the longer we go, the more we need to draw upon our inner strength and resolve to meet the inevitable challenges along the way. Ultra marathons by their very nature and distance alone, are difficult enough, however, many events can be characterised by other significant variables such as extreme heat, terrain and altitude. The key to the successful completion of an ultra event is by managing all the difficulties and obstacles and this is where we may need to make sizeable withdrawals from our running banks. It is highly unlikely that any normal person (once again normal is purely subjective) undertaking an endurance event will not be faced with significant challenges in which they need to draw upon their experience to carry on. Having trained effectively and developed, our knowledge, skills and experience whilst physically preparing our bodies we are able use the experience we gain in training and apply them on race day.
As mentioned in a previous post on this blog, I am training for the Great Barrier Reef 74km trail run on the 12th November. Although run on trails with some good elevation gain, I believe the most challenging factors for this race will be the heat and humidity whilst running through the bush from Cairns to Port Douglas. To ensure that I achieve my goals I have begun specific run training to address these additional challenges. I have made some very good deposits into the running bank this week with some difficult runs in the hot part of the day.
On Monday I ran at 10:15am in 30+ degree heat on an undulating course for 15km, then on Tuesday I ran 25km in the early morning humidity through undulating to hilly trails before backing up again in the afternoon for a quick 7km in high humidity. Wednesday was a repeat of Monday's undulations with 15km starting at 10:30am and Thursday was some more hill work running for 28km in 30+ degrees including the 5km road climb to the summit of Mt Archer.
Saturday began with an earlier start of 4am and about 15km of road before hitting the undulating to hilly trails with Sean, Peter and Neville. What was interesting about Saturday's run was the high humidity. Running on muddy trails meant that my overall pace was slower which is a good thing when I was aiming to run 50km. I love running on the trails through the bush and was having a great time. The high humidity meant that I was drinking much more than I normally do and was sweating profusely. We ran through the trail known as 'first turkey' and took a left hand turn onto another trail. This branch lead us all the way through to the Rocky-Yeppoon Road where we re-filled our drink bottles at the go-cart track before heading back the same way we had come. We had a brief respite from the humidity when the rain came as part of a thunder and lightning storm.
Unfortunately the rain only lasted for a short time so that when the sun came out it supercharged the moisture in the air to produce a sauna like effect. It was at this time that I started thinking about the running bank and how running in these conditions would be very beneficial for my race in four weeks time. After we had re-traced our steps and returned to the beginning of the trail Peter and Neville peeled off and I ran with Sean to his place. Whilst running with Sean I was turning my mind towards the additional 12km I would need to run after he made it to his house. I refilled my water bottles again at Sean's (thanks mate, that cold water was magic) and continued towards the 40km mark of my run. It was at this point that I started to struggle, the charged energy I had felt as part of our positive group dynamic had left me and I was really feeling tired, sore and the heat and humidity had a physical blanket-like quality as if it was about to wrap me up. I sat down at the intersection of Yaamba Road and Farm Street and took stock of my situation. If I turned right and ran down Yaamba Road I could be home in about 20 minutes and run somewhere around 43km or if I continued down Farm Street I could run a route that would take me close to my pre-run target of 50km.
At this point I needed to make a small withdrawal from the running bank and draw upon my previous experiences of feeling sore, tired and overheated. I tested my commitment and again proved to myself that I am worthy, I got to my feet and began running down Farm Street. Like last week I was in survival mode, I was putting one foot in front of the other and focusing on moving forward. My pace had slowed considerably and I needed to re-fill my water bottles again. I had been having a few watch issues including forgetting to re-start it at a couple of water stops meaning that I had actually run a couple of kilometres extra than what my watch said. I eventually developed an efficient little shuffle-like run and managed to make it home in one piece. Despite running slowly in the increasingly hot and humid conditions I even ran past my place to do an extra loop so that my watch showed at least 50km.
After the run I felt a little sun and wind-burned but recovered reasonably well. I drank quite a bit, was a little stiff walking around and needed a nap but before long I was out and about with my family for the afternoon. As a result of Saturday's little adventure I was able to make a significant deposit into the running bank, and although I took a little loan from the bank to make it to the end, the overall experience I gained (both physically and mentally) meant that I was able to repay my small loan with interest and come the 12th November, I will be able to draw upon this run and others to help me achieve my goals.
Sunday's run was a good back up from Saturday. I still felt a bit sore in the morning but had a crusiy day at home so that by the afternoon I was ready to run. I set off at about 4:15pm and it was still about 32 degrees. I felt pretty good and ran some undulations before meeting the group after running for 8.5km. I wasn't sure how much I was going to run and was playing it by ear. I felt good so joined the group and had fun knocking out a 20km run to bring my weekly total to 100 miles.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 15.10km - 1hr 21mins 18secs - undulating run in heat
Tue - am - 25.10km - 2hrs 26mins 35secs - hills & undulations in humidity
- pm - 7.25km - 35mins 10secs - quick run in humidity
Wed - 15.25km - 1hr 20mins 13secs - undulating run in heat
Thu - 28.05km - 2hrs 31mins 39secs - hill run incl Mt Archer in heat
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 50.05km - 5hrs 03mins 53secs - trail & road, undulating in humidity
Sun - 20.39km - 1hr 45mins 05secs - undulations & group run
Totals: 161.19km - 15hrs 03mins 55secs
With only four weeks to go, I have two more big weeks of training and two weeks of taper. The two weeks off have not limited me too much and I have been able to continually build on my consistent base. Consistency has been the key for my running development and is a significant improvement on the months leading up to my run at The North Face 100 this year. Stay safe, have fun and.......
Keep running.
2011 Glasshouse 100 - Photos
Running early on in the race with Josh Cooper
Running from Checkpoint 8 to Checkpoint 7
Monday, October 10, 2011
Next Ultramarathon
After a brief two week hiatus from running I have managed to log two triple figure training weeks in the build-up to my next Ultra.
I have entered the Great Barrier Reef Ultra which is a 74km trail run from Cairns to Port Douglas on the 12th November. This will be my 5th Ultra this year and although it is shorter than my last race, it will present me with the new challenge of running in the tropical far north of Queensland where I will have to battle high temperatures and high humidity, as if running 74km was not enough.
My first week back was a bit of a shock to start. As soon as I started my first run on the Monday, I was limping and had pains in my upper legs and groin. I wondered if I should stop in case I injured myself. I decided to carry on and limped on for a few hundred metres until I started to loosen up and could run freely. I guess it was my body's way of saying, that will teach you to rest!! I took this week pretty easy with nothing too strenuous or long to ease my way back into full training.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 10.10km - 51mins 17secs - flat to undulating
Tue - 18.25km - 1hr 30mins - mainly flat
Wed - 10.10km - 50mins 13secs - flat to undulating
Thu - 19.10km - 1hr 52mins 20secs - run up Turkey trail with Sean + road
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 35.10km - 3hrs 06mins 52secs - long run with group + extra
Sun - 10.10km - 52mins 50secs - run with friends dog, flat to undulating
Totals - 102.70km - 9hrs 03mins 33secs
I am very happy with logging over 100km for my first week back and it shows that I have not lost too much endurance. I feel that I did lose some conditioning but not enough to worry about and every run I felt stronger.
I have been busy with work recently and have been putting quite a bit of time into my assignments. In order to get a promotion at work I am required to do quite a bit of study and submit some essays. I should have done these last year and have missed out on many supervisor opportunities and more pay simply because I couldn't find the time. So after Glasshouse I decided to make time. It means that I have more commitments and need to juggle my time around but it will be worth it in the end.
My children Holly and Ethan have decided that they want to do some running as well. At 10 and 5 years old respectively, I have let them come to this decision on their own. I don't want to be one of those parents who continually push their children so they can live out their own dreams through the achievements of their children. After a couple of weeks of asking to go for a run I took them down to the uni grass running track. We did some 100m run, 100m walk intervals as an introduction. They loved it. We ended up running for about 2km all up plus walking. We now run loops around the block from home which is about 1.13km. I keep a little log of their runs so they can be like dad. So far they run a full lap without walking then I take Holly on a lap by herself and then take Ethan out for another 750m or so. I bought them some proper Asics running shoes as their school ones were a bit heavy. It is early days at the moment but I look forward to the day where the three of us can go out on a decent training run together.
Last week I increased my mileage a little bit more and aimed to bring back my hill runs on Tuesday and my 45km long runs on Saturday. I ran with a mates dog on Monday but rolled my left ankle as I tried to avoid being tripped up. The dog is quite a large German Sheppard and nearly succeeded in his quest to knock me over a couple of times. I didn't want to exhaust the dog too much so dropped him off at home after 6km or so and added some extra distance. My left ankle was a little sore but did not swell up too much and I could still run on it.
On Tuesday I headed out to hit my usual Mt Archer hill session. Sean and Jason (HRE directors) had gone out earlier that morning and set the times to beat. I ran an undulating 5km before passing the stone sign that marks the beginning of the 5km climb up the road to the summit. I had last run this course a couple of weeks before Glasshouse in a personal best time and I was interested in how I would go. It was getting quite hot by the time I started climbing and couldn't walk even if I wanted to (Sean and Jason didn't). I managed to keep all my kilometre splits below 7 minutes and got to the top lookout (where the antenna's are) in 32mins 51secs, just 3 seconds outside my PB.
During my run on Wednesday I noticed that I was feeling some DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) in my quads from the downhill the day before. I ran to and from the group run on Thursday and had Friday off to help with recovery. On Saturday I had to get up at 4:45am to start work. It was my 4th early start in a row and my 6th of 7 shifts in a row last week. That meant that I started my long run at 3pm feeling very tired with the mercury reading 33.8 degrees. Thankfully the humidity was relatively low (22% or so) as I strode off to begin my 45km. I probably ran too quickly to start with as the high temperature and high winds meant that I was using more energy to cool my body and propel myself forward than usual at the same pace. I kept to my tried and tested fuelling schedule but by the time I got to about 25km my legs and body were very tired and I needed to stop to stretch out and rest my legs for a bit. I was feeling very sore in the legs and feet in particular and it reminded me of how I felt in the later part of the Glasshouse 100. I had a little debate with myself again, ala Glasshouse, about whether I was doing too much too early and if I should head home instead. I thought about my DNF and decided that this would be a true test of my mental strength, to keep going when all I wanted to do was stop. I kept on running but had to make a few more stops to ease my sore legs and feet. I managed to knock out the 45km but it was a difficult challenge and one which I thought I would not face again until the upcoming 74km race. I recovered quite well and strangely enough ran really strong and fast with the group on Sunday knocking out 12km at an average pace of 4:52min/km.
Weekly totals
Mon - 12.63km - 1hr 02mins 31secs - flattish run
Tue - 25.25km - 2hrs 10mins 07secs - hills with Mt Archer
Wed - 12.55km - 1hr 02mins 56secs - flat to undulating run
Thu - 25.55km - 2hrs 09mins 32secs - run with RRR group + to & from
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 45.10km - 3hrs 55mins 26secs - long run, mainly flat with undulations
Sun - 12.05km - 58mins 34secs - flat group run
Totals - 133.14km - 11hrs 19mins 09secs
The next couple of weeks will be about building up my strength by doing more hill work throughout the week and adding in extra distance to each run. I'm not sure if should run on Friday or have a rest day so I will play it by ear and see how I feel. I am also trying to run during the hotter times of the day to try and get used to running in the heat and humidity in preparation for the Port Douglas race. At this stage I plan on taking the train up to Cairns as it is over 1000km away and I can at least sleep and walk around on the train.
I would also like to say a huge congratulations to my friends that raced over the weekend in various races. Marty had an outstanding race at the Golden Hills trail marathon in San Francisco taking 2nd place overall and winning his age-group. Marty, you are in awesome form and I know you will do very well at The North Face 100 next May. At the Hawaiian Ironman, Deano knocked out an impressive 9:45 and Margo easily went under 12 hours for her first outing in Kona, well done on your awesome performances (looking at the coverage and hearing the stories bring back strong memories for me of the 2000 Hawaiian Ironman, which still rates as one of my greatest accomplishments). Graeme (Crowie), Leigh, David and Melissa all went down to Melbourne and ran in the full and half marathons in what was not the easiest of days by all accounts, well done to you all and I hope you are proud of another great achievement and enjoyed yourselves in the process.
I will try and be a bit more regular with my posts and put one up each week but with one more assignment to go I won't be promising anything. I have put up a few posts prior to this one, with links to the Garmin Connect pages for my long run on Saturday and the file for my run at the Glasshouse 100, enjoy.
Keep running.
P.S. Go the All Blacks!!
I have entered the Great Barrier Reef Ultra which is a 74km trail run from Cairns to Port Douglas on the 12th November. This will be my 5th Ultra this year and although it is shorter than my last race, it will present me with the new challenge of running in the tropical far north of Queensland where I will have to battle high temperatures and high humidity, as if running 74km was not enough.
My first week back was a bit of a shock to start. As soon as I started my first run on the Monday, I was limping and had pains in my upper legs and groin. I wondered if I should stop in case I injured myself. I decided to carry on and limped on for a few hundred metres until I started to loosen up and could run freely. I guess it was my body's way of saying, that will teach you to rest!! I took this week pretty easy with nothing too strenuous or long to ease my way back into full training.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 10.10km - 51mins 17secs - flat to undulating
Tue - 18.25km - 1hr 30mins - mainly flat
Wed - 10.10km - 50mins 13secs - flat to undulating
Thu - 19.10km - 1hr 52mins 20secs - run up Turkey trail with Sean + road
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 35.10km - 3hrs 06mins 52secs - long run with group + extra
Sun - 10.10km - 52mins 50secs - run with friends dog, flat to undulating
Totals - 102.70km - 9hrs 03mins 33secs
I am very happy with logging over 100km for my first week back and it shows that I have not lost too much endurance. I feel that I did lose some conditioning but not enough to worry about and every run I felt stronger.
I have been busy with work recently and have been putting quite a bit of time into my assignments. In order to get a promotion at work I am required to do quite a bit of study and submit some essays. I should have done these last year and have missed out on many supervisor opportunities and more pay simply because I couldn't find the time. So after Glasshouse I decided to make time. It means that I have more commitments and need to juggle my time around but it will be worth it in the end.
My children Holly and Ethan have decided that they want to do some running as well. At 10 and 5 years old respectively, I have let them come to this decision on their own. I don't want to be one of those parents who continually push their children so they can live out their own dreams through the achievements of their children. After a couple of weeks of asking to go for a run I took them down to the uni grass running track. We did some 100m run, 100m walk intervals as an introduction. They loved it. We ended up running for about 2km all up plus walking. We now run loops around the block from home which is about 1.13km. I keep a little log of their runs so they can be like dad. So far they run a full lap without walking then I take Holly on a lap by herself and then take Ethan out for another 750m or so. I bought them some proper Asics running shoes as their school ones were a bit heavy. It is early days at the moment but I look forward to the day where the three of us can go out on a decent training run together.
Last week I increased my mileage a little bit more and aimed to bring back my hill runs on Tuesday and my 45km long runs on Saturday. I ran with a mates dog on Monday but rolled my left ankle as I tried to avoid being tripped up. The dog is quite a large German Sheppard and nearly succeeded in his quest to knock me over a couple of times. I didn't want to exhaust the dog too much so dropped him off at home after 6km or so and added some extra distance. My left ankle was a little sore but did not swell up too much and I could still run on it.
On Tuesday I headed out to hit my usual Mt Archer hill session. Sean and Jason (HRE directors) had gone out earlier that morning and set the times to beat. I ran an undulating 5km before passing the stone sign that marks the beginning of the 5km climb up the road to the summit. I had last run this course a couple of weeks before Glasshouse in a personal best time and I was interested in how I would go. It was getting quite hot by the time I started climbing and couldn't walk even if I wanted to (Sean and Jason didn't). I managed to keep all my kilometre splits below 7 minutes and got to the top lookout (where the antenna's are) in 32mins 51secs, just 3 seconds outside my PB.
During my run on Wednesday I noticed that I was feeling some DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) in my quads from the downhill the day before. I ran to and from the group run on Thursday and had Friday off to help with recovery. On Saturday I had to get up at 4:45am to start work. It was my 4th early start in a row and my 6th of 7 shifts in a row last week. That meant that I started my long run at 3pm feeling very tired with the mercury reading 33.8 degrees. Thankfully the humidity was relatively low (22% or so) as I strode off to begin my 45km. I probably ran too quickly to start with as the high temperature and high winds meant that I was using more energy to cool my body and propel myself forward than usual at the same pace. I kept to my tried and tested fuelling schedule but by the time I got to about 25km my legs and body were very tired and I needed to stop to stretch out and rest my legs for a bit. I was feeling very sore in the legs and feet in particular and it reminded me of how I felt in the later part of the Glasshouse 100. I had a little debate with myself again, ala Glasshouse, about whether I was doing too much too early and if I should head home instead. I thought about my DNF and decided that this would be a true test of my mental strength, to keep going when all I wanted to do was stop. I kept on running but had to make a few more stops to ease my sore legs and feet. I managed to knock out the 45km but it was a difficult challenge and one which I thought I would not face again until the upcoming 74km race. I recovered quite well and strangely enough ran really strong and fast with the group on Sunday knocking out 12km at an average pace of 4:52min/km.
Weekly totals
Mon - 12.63km - 1hr 02mins 31secs - flattish run
Tue - 25.25km - 2hrs 10mins 07secs - hills with Mt Archer
Wed - 12.55km - 1hr 02mins 56secs - flat to undulating run
Thu - 25.55km - 2hrs 09mins 32secs - run with RRR group + to & from
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 45.10km - 3hrs 55mins 26secs - long run, mainly flat with undulations
Sun - 12.05km - 58mins 34secs - flat group run
Totals - 133.14km - 11hrs 19mins 09secs
The next couple of weeks will be about building up my strength by doing more hill work throughout the week and adding in extra distance to each run. I'm not sure if should run on Friday or have a rest day so I will play it by ear and see how I feel. I am also trying to run during the hotter times of the day to try and get used to running in the heat and humidity in preparation for the Port Douglas race. At this stage I plan on taking the train up to Cairns as it is over 1000km away and I can at least sleep and walk around on the train.
I would also like to say a huge congratulations to my friends that raced over the weekend in various races. Marty had an outstanding race at the Golden Hills trail marathon in San Francisco taking 2nd place overall and winning his age-group. Marty, you are in awesome form and I know you will do very well at The North Face 100 next May. At the Hawaiian Ironman, Deano knocked out an impressive 9:45 and Margo easily went under 12 hours for her first outing in Kona, well done on your awesome performances (looking at the coverage and hearing the stories bring back strong memories for me of the 2000 Hawaiian Ironman, which still rates as one of my greatest accomplishments). Graeme (Crowie), Leigh, David and Melissa all went down to Melbourne and ran in the full and half marathons in what was not the easiest of days by all accounts, well done to you all and I hope you are proud of another great achievement and enjoyed yourselves in the process.
I will try and be a bit more regular with my posts and put one up each week but with one more assignment to go I won't be promising anything. I have put up a few posts prior to this one, with links to the Garmin Connect pages for my long run on Saturday and the file for my run at the Glasshouse 100, enjoy.
Keep running.
P.S. Go the All Blacks!!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
2011 Glasshouse 100 mile by bencornelius at Garmin Connect - Details
Here is the Garmin GPS file for my run at the 2011 Glasshouse 100 mile race in September. Please note that I was having some battery issues so only part of the run was recorded. I officially ran 127.5km and the watch shows 124.27km. I guess that is the problem with having an 8hr battery for a race that took me over 17 hours.
Enjoy.
2011 Glasshouse 100 mile by bencornelius at Garmin Connect - Details
Enjoy.
2011 Glasshouse 100 mile by bencornelius at Garmin Connect - Details
Long run - Saturday 8th October 2011 by bencornelius at Garmin Connect - Details
I am currently playing around with how I record and store information on my Garmin GPS watch. I have downloaded my long run from yesterday, simply click on the link below to review my run.
Long run - Saturday 8th October 2011 by bencornelius at Garmin Connect - Details
Long run - Saturday 8th October 2011 by bencornelius at Garmin Connect - Details
Monday, September 19, 2011
2011 Glasshouse 100 Mile
At about 5:30am on Saturday 10th September 2011 I stood inside the gate at Beerburrum State School about to embark on my most challenging adventure to date, the Glasshouse 100mile trail run.
Standing in the cool crisp morning air I contemplated what was ahead of me, 100 miles (161.7kms) of running and anywhere up to 30 hours of remaining vertical on my feet. I felt ready and excited to begin what is widely regarded as the true 'Ultra' distance. I was not nervous really as my training had gone very well, I had not suffered any major injuries and I was not affected by any cold or flu. I was ready. Or so I thought........
I was standing at the very back of the 70 strong field talking with fellow miler runner Mat, his dad Stuart who was doing the 100km course and three Ultra friends, Tylana, Jaci and Dean. Tylana, Jaci and Dean had all run TNF100 with Mat, Stuart and I in May and were running in the 50km run which started an hour later. Unfortunately Dean had to withdraw due to an injury but was looking incredibly fit regardless. All of a sudden we were off, I was not paying attention and hurriedly started the Garmin GPS watch and took off at a casual trot.
We left the sanctuary of the school and turned left to begin the 109km Western loop of the course. I tried to run with Mat and Stuart for a little but there were quite a few runners around and it was clear that I was chomping at the bit to move ahead and run at my own pace. We wished each other well and I zig-zagged my way through the field slowly ticking off the first couple of kilometres.
Now anyone who knows me, or has done some racing with me, knows that I tend to get a bit excited and go out too fast at the start. Because 100 miles is a long way and I wanted to last until the end, I started off very slowly for me (relatively speaking of course) and ran 5mins 56secs for my first kilometre. The next 4km were on mainly flat wide trail and I continued to slowly pass runners who took off too quickly. The trail then turned left where we encountered our first small incline. It was on this hill that I caught up to Josh Cooper who was also running the miler after running a few 100km races including a very good 13hr The North Face 100 this year. Although Josh had been sick at the beginning of the week he was still running well and at a pace similar to mine. So without saying it out loud we fell into sync and made our way back to the school.
After a quick out and back detour into the school grounds we made our way up the familiar path to the top of Mt Beerburrum. Although incredibly steep I really enjoyed the climb. I have recounted my two previous excursions on this hill in older posts on this blog and in comparing the three, this time was the easiest. The pace from the outset was much easier and when I reached the summit I took a few seconds to really admire the view which I have failed to do in previous races. The view was spectacular with a wide panorama view of the whole area. I reached the top after running 11.6km in 1hr 11mins. All the key players gunning for podium places were five minutes ahead of me with the quickest time going to young 19 year old Zac Braxton-Smith in 1hr 05mins.
From the bottom of the climb Josh and I met up with and ran with Lisa Spink who is a very experienced 'ultra' distance runner having won this 100 mile race before and has finished the 240km Coast to Kosciuszko three times including two second place finishes. We continued to run at an easy conversational pace as we made our way around the course. Lisa went on to come fourth overall and first female in the 100km in an awesome 11hrs 25mins.
The first major checkpoint for me was Checkpoint 5 which is situated at about the 33km mark. This is where I picked up my first drop bag containing more of my Hammer Perpetuem drink. The course to this point had been relatively flat with some undulations and was not particularly difficult. We arrived at this checkpoint in 3hrs 26mins which was over half an hour quicker than my fastest estimated forecast to this point. Although ahead of schedule I was happy with the pace and how I felt. We had included lots of walking breaks on all the hills and even on the flat when we were feeling good. These walking breaks helped to stretch out and activate different muscles and allowed me to ensure that my nutrition and hydration was going to plan, which it was.
Running into the checkpoint I saw Dean and as I was filling up my bottles Tylana arrived as part of the 50km race. She was looking relaxed and happy. We wished each other luck and Josh and I proceeded towards checkpoint 6 on a part of the course known as the 'goat track' for obvious reasons. I started getting warm during this section and had to take off my long sleeve top and tie it around my waist. It was on the 'goat track' last year that I blew up so I took a little solace in the fact that I was running very comfortably, having lots of walking breaks and felt really good. I was enjoying myself immensely and was talking to other runners who we met up with along the way.
We reached checkpoint 6 after running for 4hrs 14mins and completing 38.7km of the journey. CP6 was extremely well stocked and I grabbed a couple of pieces of delectable watermelon which tasted so good. The day was starting to heat up a little bit more but thankfully a cool breeze was helping us from overheating. As we left CP6 I entered new territory having never run on this part of the course before. I was in very good spirits and was having a really good time. I remember thinking at the time that it felt more like a day out exploring than a timed race. Josh and I were getting on very well chatting away and we continued to talk with others who came past or we caught up to.
The next section, known as the 'power lines', from CP6 to CP8 is thought of as one of the harder parts of the course. The reasons for this are that it is usually encountered in the hot part of the day and, as I found out, is run through a wide open and undulating area with little or no shade. Although not particularly picturesque the view leading towards CP8 is amazing. As Josh and I crested a small hill we could see a long line of electrical pylons towering above the trail as it meandered its way down into the gully before ascending to the horizon in the distance. From our vantage point it looked like a formidable task and I for one was glad that we heeded the advice to take it easy and save ourselves for this section. I still felt very good and was running comfortably on the downhill and flat sections and walking the hills. We encountered more motorbike riders in this section and also a convoy of 4WD vehicles who were negotiating the various steep twists and turns in this area.
It only took me 1hr 17mins to run the 10.5km to CP8 and I was still over half an hour ahead of my fastest estimated time. As I approached the hive of activity which is CP8 I was ushered to the weigh-in area. Weighing in at an ultra of this length is very important as a significant loss (or increase) in bodyweight can negatively affect your performance and increase the risk of suffering serious health problems as the race progresses. My nutrition and hydration had been going to plan and I had lost only 2kg after 49.2km and 5hrs 31mins of running. My actual weight-loss was probably a little less because when I had my original weigh-in, before the start, I was wearing a light jumper and track-pants. As soon as I stepped off the scales I was met by one of the truly fantastic CP volunteers who handed me my drop-bag. I took my bag over to a fold-out chair and set about restocking my supplies and changing my watch. I grabbed my GPS charging unit and hooked it up to my watch. The Garmin GPS watch I use only has a very limited battery so I have a portable USB unit which charges the watch on the go. The beauty of this system is that I still receive kilometre splits and the data is still recorded without being lost or over-written.
I thought of check-point 8 as a kind of mini home-base because we pass through multiple times. From CP8 the course heads downhill for a short time before making a sharp right hand turn which is part of the 10.8km western loop before returning to CP8. From there we do an 8km loop to the east before arriving at CP8 for the last time. It was at CP8, as I restocked my food and fluids, that I saw some of the race leaders in both the miler and 100km races. They had already completed the 10.8km western loop and were over an hour ahead of me.
Josh and I began the western loop and made the sharp right hand turn into what felt like another world. One moment we were running on wide rugged fire trail and the next we were running through fields of beautiful wild flowers. The colours were so vibrant with deep purple, pink, blue and white flowers swaying lazily in the gentle breeze. The serenity I felt in this area was occasionally interrupted by the sound of falling branches as the wild wind raged almost un-noticed in the tall trees above. I was starting to feel increasingly fatigued and the walking breaks were becoming more prolonged and frequent. As we continued, the wild flowers were gradually replaced by the usual familiar vegetation along the fire trails. It was at this point we were joined by a runner of the four legged variety. A friendly dog without collar or tags ran with us for the remainder of the loop seemingly content to accompany us along the trail. As we began walking the climb to CP8 I got to see Mat and Stuart for the first time since the start of the race. They were setting out on the western loop and both looked in really good spirits. We said a brief hello to each other and Josh and I continued to walk up towards CP8.
We only stopped for long enough to refill our water bottles and grab a handful of food before beginning the steep climb which marks the beginning of the eastern loop at CP8. It appeared that our canine companion had waited for us and as we trudged upwards I looked back and spotted the dog following behind. We found out that we were not that special and the dog had already done a loop before joining us. As if to highlight this message the dog dropped back to accompany another runner behind us. Thankfully the eastern loop was only 8km long as the heat was starting to take it's toll and we were needing to walk for longer periods. Josh had been struggling with cramp for most of the race and we took a few stops to stretch and recharge our batteries. Upon reflection, we were running through this section in the midday heat and neither of us were drinking enough water. We eventually made it to CP8 for the last time and I was required to weigh in again before leaving. I had lost another kilogram taking my total weight loss to 3kg. I took advantage of the stop to change my running top, hat and shorts.
As we made our way towards CP7 we eventually caught up to a woman by the name of Pam Muston. Pam is another of Australia's ultra running legends. She has so much experience and only a few months ago completed arguably the world's toughest footrace, the Badwater Ultramarathon. Badwater is a 135mile (217km) continuous run which begins at the lowest point in the western hemisphere (85m below sea level) and ends at the Mt Whitney portal (2530m). What makes this particular event so difficult is that it is run in the middle of summer where the temperatures are consistently in the mid 50 degrees celsius range. I learnt a lot from watching Pam run. She was not particularly fast, however she ran at a good consistent pace, took walking breaks and had a very energy efficient stride. Pam went on to finish the 100 miles in 22hrs 33mins for first woman and 19th overall.
The temperature had dropped a little, I had gotten on top of my hydration and I was feeling really good as we ran into CP7. We continued to run on and off with Pam for quite a while as we began the short 4.5km loop at CP7. We were running for longer periods of time now, ticking off the kilometres and picking up places as we caught other runners. The course from CP8 had been relatively flat with a couple of gentle inclines but as we ran from CP7 to CP6 the course changed to feature more undulations with more technical uneven terrain, compared with the graded surface we had been running on for the last couple of hours. When I passed the 84km mark on my watch, Josh and I had a little celebration to acknowledge that I was now in new and unfamiliar territory. My longest run up until that point was the 83km that I had completed as part of the 2011 The North Face 100. I was very pleased at this new milestone because I felt really good and with less than 80km to go I was very confident of finishing the race.
I arrived at CP6 in 10hrs 49mins having completed 87.9km. I was feeling great and almost had a little dance to the music pumping out at the check-point. I resisted the urge to boogie and got down to business. I was still 10 minutes ahead of my fastest estimated time so was pretty much exactly where I wanted to be. As per my race plan, I donned my running backpack which contained all the items I would need for the remainder of the race. My bag contained:
2L bladder
Dry sack
Headlamp
Spare torch
First aid kit
Extra plasters, vaseline, neurofen
Spare batteries (AA & AAA)
Mobile phone
Emergency space blanket
Course map & directions, pace charts
Collapsible cup
Spare socks
I filled my hand held bottle with Perpetuem, the hydration bladder with water and departed CP6 with a spring in my step. I was having lots of fun and really enjoying myself. I sent a quick update on Facebook to let my friends know how I was going and made a quick phone call to Mel. I had run on this part of the course before and felt very confident of achieving my pre-race goal of a Sub24 hour finish.
We continued to make forward progress as we made our way through the fading light over the undulating terrain. It was 10.6km to the next checkpoint and by the time we arrived at CP5 a lot had changed. We had slowed considerably since CP6 and both of our stomachs were starting to give us grief. I didn't feel like drinking water but made myself do it anyway. I'm not sure if it is drinking from the bladder that makes my stomach this way but I just felt off and didn't feel like drinking much, ever since I picked up the backpack and began drinking from the bladder. The undulations towards the check-point were not particularly difficult but because we were both going through a bit of a bad patch we were pretty much walking only. We caught up to a few other runners and with less than a kilometre to the check-point, Josh's leg seized up tight with painful cramping. He tried to walk it out but we had to stop and stretch for a while before his muscles would relax enough for him to walk again.
Night had fallen as we were received into CP5 by the sight of a welcoming fire and the happy faces of some of my friends from Rocky. Gavin, Raelene and their son Dylan were waiting at the check-point to surprise me. It was so great to see them, especially as I was starting to really feel the effects of my stomach upset. Raelene had run in the 50km race earlier on, in an impressive 6hrs 23mins and Dylan had run the 10km race finishing 2nd in the under 18 category. I sat down for a while in one of the camp chairs letting the fire warm me as it was getting quite cool. I put on a long-sleeved thermal top as my friends helped me to get my headlamp ready and top up my water and perpetuem. I couldn't stomach any solid food which is a shame as there was such an amazing array of delectable delights on offer, something they are very well known for. Just as I was about to head for the school, Stuart arrived at the check-point looking really good. He ordered a hot drink and perused the banquet on offer. I said a quick hello and thanked my friends before embarking on the new challenge that is night running.
I have run at night and early morning in training and at TNF100 so I am not worried about running in the dark. I have a very good headlamp and the feeling of running through the darkness, with a beam of light to lead the way, strangely enhances the experience rather than detracting from it. Running at night is actually rather peaceful and without the visual distractions can be quite an uplifting experience. CP5 is situated at the 98.5 kilometre point. We had arrived after running for 12hrs 31mins. Unfortunately my watch had cut out a few times and I missed passing the 100km milestone. I estimate that we would have run 100km in about 12hs 45mins but it wasn't until the 13 hour mark that I acknowledged that we had cracked a century and sent another Facebook update. I took advantage of our frequent walking breaks to call Mel and talk to the kids before they went to bed. It was great talking to my family but my energy levels were getting low and the predominant form of locomotion had changed from running with walking breaks to walking with running breaks. Despite slowing considerably we were still comfortably on target pace and decided to take it easier until the school where we could recharge before starting the eastern loop.
A short time later a light came bouncing along from behind. The light turned out to be Stuart who was having a fantastic race and finishing really strong. We wished him well as he disappeared around the corner and was enveloped by the darkness of the woods. Both Josh and I had been quiet for some time as the fatigue was really affecting us and my stomach issues were aggravating my energy levels. The 10.5km between CP5 and the school seemed to take an eternity and I was having an introspective debate with myself on whether or not I wanted to continue. In my tired and depleted state I was happy having covered over 100km on foot and was having difficulty contemplating the additional 50 odd kilometres yet to be run on the Eastern loop. In my mind I had convinced myself that I had achieved the goal that I had missed at TNF100 and didn't need to go any further. I remember thinking that there was no need for me to run 161.7km when I could get the same feeling of accomplishment with running 109km. Josh seemed to sense my despondency and I told him that I was thinking of pulling the pin. He did his best to try and motivate me as we entered the school grounds, also known as CP2. We ran to the side of the finishers shute and were applauded by the hardy supporters and some of the 100km finishers including Stuart and Lisa. I was ushered to another set of scales for a further weigh-in. I can't remember what I weighed but I think that I had gained or lost about 300g or so.
I fear that I was not on my best behaviour at this point as I was feeling sorry for myself and trying to find a way to justify the decision to withdraw, a conclusion I had come to about half an hour earlier. The checkpoint staff were fantastic, offering me food and drink as I sat there mumbling that I could not stomach anything. At least I had the presence of mind to say "no thank-you" but I still felt very rude. Gavin, Raelene and Dylan were at the school and upon learning of my intention to pull out, instantly took on the roles of counsellor, motivator and most importantly just being my friends. They knew how much I wanted to do this race and that I would be disappointed if I gave up so easily and so early on in the race. Josh came over from where his family were helping him and checked to see if I was going to stay or continue on with him. He said he was about to go and would come back in a couple of minutes before heading out again. Although content with my decision to drop-out I still had a nagging feeling, somewhere deep down in my soul, that I would be letting Josh down. We had spent the last 14 hours working so well together and here I was about to give up just because it started to get tough. I would be letting myself down but I would also be letting him down.
So I stood up, Gavin put my jacket into my backpack and Dylan grabbed me a cup of pumpkin soup, some buttered bread and a cup of Solo. It actually felt good eating and drinking again and I felt better about continuing on. I apologised to, and thanked my friends as Josh arrived and we headed off on the eastern loop. The eastern loop is generally considered to be easier and more runnable than the western loop and I was just focusing on getting from one check-point to the next. We walked for a little bit to allow our stomachs to settle and then set off at a trot. We got lost a little but checked the map and course description I had in my backpack. We managed to find the marked track without losing too much time and continued with our run / walk strategy.
We had crossed over the main road and were making our way towards CP9 when we saw a light in the distance. As we got closer we realised we were looking at the race leader, Mike Le Roux, who was running by himself at a good steady pace with nobody behind him. We congratulated him as he passed and were very impressed with his position. Mike went on to win the race by 21mins over 2nd place in 15hrs 38mins, taking over an hour off the race record in the process.
At about 115km I had the sudden feeling that I was going to vomit. I stood to the side of the road and emptied my stomach of pumpkin soup. The funny thing about vomiting is that you feel better almost immediately. I threw up for a second time and told Josh that I was all set. We ran off as I tried to re-set my hydration and nutrition strategy. I began drinking water again and took in some Perpetuem when my stomach had settled. We crossed paths with second place runner, David Waugh, as we turned right and began running through the forest again.
The section from CP2 to CP9 is the longest in the race and at 12.5km it seemed to take forever. In fact it took 2hrs 19mins before we made it to the checkpoint. We were both so relieved to see the caravan and camp-like set-up as we had both been struggling and were only running for about 100-300m of each kilometre. I had a cup of hot tea to drink at the checkpoint and was given a small card with my race number on it. From CP9 we took a detour up Wild Horse Mountain which is a 750m climb on a sealed road to the observatory. The climb was steep but not as difficult or as long as I had anticipated. Having said that, when we reached the top, I looked around the lower level hoping that the box for our race numbers would be there instead of up the stairs. After a fruitless search of the lower level we climbed the stairs, deposited our numbers into the plastic container and began the descent back down to the caravan. I only stopped long enough to re-fill my water bladder before heading towards CP10. Having run up the hill I felt like we were making real progress, we had been running for 16hrs 47mins and had covered 123km. The next section of the course was only 4.5km, we would have to do two loops at CP10 and could then head back towards the finish. How hard could it be?
Well, I sure found out how hard it could be. The 4.5km between checkpoints seemed to take forever. Added to that, my stomach was protesting and I could not tolerate Perpetuem or water easily. I don't think we ran more than 500m and I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I was so tired that I began drifting off to sleep, my head was spinning and I was on the verge of closing my eyes. That is until I saw a large snake on the side of the track. Along this area the ground is covered with sand and I was sliding along the track from side to side. As I played the beam to the side of the trail, my headlamp illuminated a large python coiled up less than a metre to my right. I almost jumped into Josh's lap in my effort to evade certain death. As a New Zealander I am not too familiar with snakes and have only had the opportunity to hold a snake twice when I have visited wildlife farms here in Australia and in the US. My encounter with the snake helped to keep me awake for another 10 minutes or so before the cool seductive tendrils of fatigue threatened to envelope me again. It was during this section that I began to hear voices and see things. I thought that I could hear peoples voices and was adamant that I could see the checkpoint but as we plodded along, dragging our feet, I realised I was mistaken.
Josh and I were so defeated and tired that when we finally arrived at CP10 we didn't care too much. Josh stood on the scales to be weighed in, only to be told that they weigh us after completing the two loops. Josh went off in search of his family and I sat down in one of the camp chairs. I was offered some food and drink but politely declined. As I sat there waiting for Josh I dozed on and off. I was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open. I was aware of people around me and opened my eyes periodically to prevent myself from falling into a deep sleep. It felt like half an hour, but in reality was more like 10 minutes, before Josh's step-father came over to me and said that Josh was in a bad way and would not be going on. Josh had been having stomach issues all day as well and when I got to him he was groaning in pain and was clearly finished. They asked me if I was going to carry on and I had to ask myself again if I was willing to carry on. I thought about what was ahead of me, the two unfamiliar loops at CP10 and the return journey from CP10 through to CP9, up Wild Horse Mountain, back to CP9 and the final 12.5km back to the school and the waiting finish line. I briefly contemplated the solo journey through the night, but considering my earlier melt-down and the daunting prospect of re-tracing the easier eastern loop that had destroyed me, I joined Josh and withdrew from the race at checkpoint 10. I had covered 127.5km in 17hrs 36mins.
I was lucky enough to catch a lift back to the school with Josh and his family. As we arrived Josh nosily filled a sick bag with at least a litre of fluid from his stomach. I thanked his family and made the embarrassing journey through the school grounds and officially withdrew to the race director and volunteers. The volunteers at this race are superb and I was met by Susannah Harvey-Jamieson who is an experienced ultra runner having completed the miler here multiple times and was fourth woman overall at Badwater last year. I sipped another cup of tea and met with Gavin and Raelene who came to pick me up. I did not intend to stay with them on the Saturday night as I had planned to still be running, however they were there for me and took me back to their unit so I could finally sleep. To make matters worse, as I sat there, defeated and feeling sorry for myself, four other runners arrived. They had only just finished the western loop and were getting ready to tackle the eastern loop that had just defeated me. To credit the strength of these four runners, as I was driving to the awards BBQ the next morning, I saw them still running on the course as the warm sun was shining down on them. They had the fortitude and strength of character to keep going. Of the 70 people who started the 100 mile race, only 42 people finished. The last finisher was the legendary Bill Thompson who finished the Glasshouse 100 miler for the 11th time in 29hrs 40mins.
After a shower, a sleep and a decent breakfast the next morning I had time to reflect upon my run. I also learnt that Mat had finished the miler in a great time of 25hrs 16mins, a time that I would have been really happy with. I am not disappointed with myself for pulling out when I did. I am very happy with my performance. My ultimate goal was to complete the event and although I didn't achieve that target I learnt a lot. I now know that I underestimated the mental aspect of the race. I knew that endurance races of this length are more about mental strength and less about physical ability, however I was un-prepared for how this would affect me on the day. I am still relatively inexperienced when it comes to ultra marathons having run my first one (50km) a year ago at this very event. I am so glad and thankful to my friends for pushing me at the school and I am proud of myself for getting back out there for another three and a half hours when all I wanted to do was stop.
I had planned for the race extremely well, working out a comprehensive nutrition and hydration plan together with a realistic pace chart to gauge my progress. I was physically ready and my run / walk strategy worked exceptionally well. For the entire run I did not exert myself beyond my limits. I ran at a comfortable conversational pace and took regular walking breaks even when I felt very good and could have easily run. I kept my heart-rate and breathing to an easy rhythm and never got to the point where I had to stop to catch my breath. My legs were stiff and sore the next day but I didn't receive any injuries only suffering a blister on the outside of each foot.
I have had to be really honest with myself and admit that I did not want this as much as I thought I did. If I truly wanted to finish I would have kept going, I would not have let anything prevent me from crossing the finish line. I was not prevented from finishing by any injury or physical obstacle, instead I failed to finish because I lacked the experience and desire to push past my preconceived limits. Thankfully this experience is something that I can learn from and work on. During the race I contemplated finding a new sport and taking up something like table-tennis. Luckily that brief moment of weakness passed quickly and I have realised what I have accomplished. Prior to standing at the start line, I had only run three 50km trail runs and run 83km as part of TNF100. On the day I managed to run a little over three consecutive back to back marathons, running over 44km further than I had ever run before and lasted for almost 18 hours, over 5 hours longer than I did at TNF100.
The results will show a DNF against my name, but as somewhat of a consolation prize I received a mug and medal for completing 100km.
In contrast to my state of mind after TNF100, I am NOT retiring from ultra running and instead am looking toward the future. As promised to myself and my loving and supporting family I am taking two weeks off all exercise. After one week I am already chomping at the bit to get back out there but a total rest will help both mentally and physically. Physically I feel as if I could go out and run the whole thing again this weekend but I know that I need to let the body recover. I am looking at a number of other races before heading down to the Blue Mountains next May to achieve a finish at The North Face 100. In 2012 I will continue on my journey of discovery along the ultramarathon path. I am looking forward to returning to the Glasshouse Mountains to again take on the challenge and adventure of running 100 miles.
I would like to thank all of my friends and training partners who have helped me to develop as an athlete and a person. They have been with me when I have struggled through tough training runs and helped to motivate and inspire me through their own experiences and achievements. There are far too many to name but you all know who you are. I would also like to thank the readers of my blog. It started off as more of a journal to remind me of my training and racing experiences but has become so much more. I'm glad you like reading my posts and I apologise for the length of this one, but how could I eloquently capture such a long race in a few short paragraphs. Most importantly I would like to thank my wonderful and supporting wife Melanie and my incredible children Holly and Ethan who have put up with all my long training runs (including my 3am starts) and helped support me through this running obsession of mine.
I will continue to publish more posts soon including race photos from the event when they become available.
Keep running.
Standing in the cool crisp morning air I contemplated what was ahead of me, 100 miles (161.7kms) of running and anywhere up to 30 hours of remaining vertical on my feet. I felt ready and excited to begin what is widely regarded as the true 'Ultra' distance. I was not nervous really as my training had gone very well, I had not suffered any major injuries and I was not affected by any cold or flu. I was ready. Or so I thought........
I was standing at the very back of the 70 strong field talking with fellow miler runner Mat, his dad Stuart who was doing the 100km course and three Ultra friends, Tylana, Jaci and Dean. Tylana, Jaci and Dean had all run TNF100 with Mat, Stuart and I in May and were running in the 50km run which started an hour later. Unfortunately Dean had to withdraw due to an injury but was looking incredibly fit regardless. All of a sudden we were off, I was not paying attention and hurriedly started the Garmin GPS watch and took off at a casual trot.
We left the sanctuary of the school and turned left to begin the 109km Western loop of the course. I tried to run with Mat and Stuart for a little but there were quite a few runners around and it was clear that I was chomping at the bit to move ahead and run at my own pace. We wished each other well and I zig-zagged my way through the field slowly ticking off the first couple of kilometres.
Now anyone who knows me, or has done some racing with me, knows that I tend to get a bit excited and go out too fast at the start. Because 100 miles is a long way and I wanted to last until the end, I started off very slowly for me (relatively speaking of course) and ran 5mins 56secs for my first kilometre. The next 4km were on mainly flat wide trail and I continued to slowly pass runners who took off too quickly. The trail then turned left where we encountered our first small incline. It was on this hill that I caught up to Josh Cooper who was also running the miler after running a few 100km races including a very good 13hr The North Face 100 this year. Although Josh had been sick at the beginning of the week he was still running well and at a pace similar to mine. So without saying it out loud we fell into sync and made our way back to the school.
After a quick out and back detour into the school grounds we made our way up the familiar path to the top of Mt Beerburrum. Although incredibly steep I really enjoyed the climb. I have recounted my two previous excursions on this hill in older posts on this blog and in comparing the three, this time was the easiest. The pace from the outset was much easier and when I reached the summit I took a few seconds to really admire the view which I have failed to do in previous races. The view was spectacular with a wide panorama view of the whole area. I reached the top after running 11.6km in 1hr 11mins. All the key players gunning for podium places were five minutes ahead of me with the quickest time going to young 19 year old Zac Braxton-Smith in 1hr 05mins.
From the bottom of the climb Josh and I met up with and ran with Lisa Spink who is a very experienced 'ultra' distance runner having won this 100 mile race before and has finished the 240km Coast to Kosciuszko three times including two second place finishes. We continued to run at an easy conversational pace as we made our way around the course. Lisa went on to come fourth overall and first female in the 100km in an awesome 11hrs 25mins.
The first major checkpoint for me was Checkpoint 5 which is situated at about the 33km mark. This is where I picked up my first drop bag containing more of my Hammer Perpetuem drink. The course to this point had been relatively flat with some undulations and was not particularly difficult. We arrived at this checkpoint in 3hrs 26mins which was over half an hour quicker than my fastest estimated forecast to this point. Although ahead of schedule I was happy with the pace and how I felt. We had included lots of walking breaks on all the hills and even on the flat when we were feeling good. These walking breaks helped to stretch out and activate different muscles and allowed me to ensure that my nutrition and hydration was going to plan, which it was.
Running into the checkpoint I saw Dean and as I was filling up my bottles Tylana arrived as part of the 50km race. She was looking relaxed and happy. We wished each other luck and Josh and I proceeded towards checkpoint 6 on a part of the course known as the 'goat track' for obvious reasons. I started getting warm during this section and had to take off my long sleeve top and tie it around my waist. It was on the 'goat track' last year that I blew up so I took a little solace in the fact that I was running very comfortably, having lots of walking breaks and felt really good. I was enjoying myself immensely and was talking to other runners who we met up with along the way.
We reached checkpoint 6 after running for 4hrs 14mins and completing 38.7km of the journey. CP6 was extremely well stocked and I grabbed a couple of pieces of delectable watermelon which tasted so good. The day was starting to heat up a little bit more but thankfully a cool breeze was helping us from overheating. As we left CP6 I entered new territory having never run on this part of the course before. I was in very good spirits and was having a really good time. I remember thinking at the time that it felt more like a day out exploring than a timed race. Josh and I were getting on very well chatting away and we continued to talk with others who came past or we caught up to.
The next section, known as the 'power lines', from CP6 to CP8 is thought of as one of the harder parts of the course. The reasons for this are that it is usually encountered in the hot part of the day and, as I found out, is run through a wide open and undulating area with little or no shade. Although not particularly picturesque the view leading towards CP8 is amazing. As Josh and I crested a small hill we could see a long line of electrical pylons towering above the trail as it meandered its way down into the gully before ascending to the horizon in the distance. From our vantage point it looked like a formidable task and I for one was glad that we heeded the advice to take it easy and save ourselves for this section. I still felt very good and was running comfortably on the downhill and flat sections and walking the hills. We encountered more motorbike riders in this section and also a convoy of 4WD vehicles who were negotiating the various steep twists and turns in this area.
It only took me 1hr 17mins to run the 10.5km to CP8 and I was still over half an hour ahead of my fastest estimated time. As I approached the hive of activity which is CP8 I was ushered to the weigh-in area. Weighing in at an ultra of this length is very important as a significant loss (or increase) in bodyweight can negatively affect your performance and increase the risk of suffering serious health problems as the race progresses. My nutrition and hydration had been going to plan and I had lost only 2kg after 49.2km and 5hrs 31mins of running. My actual weight-loss was probably a little less because when I had my original weigh-in, before the start, I was wearing a light jumper and track-pants. As soon as I stepped off the scales I was met by one of the truly fantastic CP volunteers who handed me my drop-bag. I took my bag over to a fold-out chair and set about restocking my supplies and changing my watch. I grabbed my GPS charging unit and hooked it up to my watch. The Garmin GPS watch I use only has a very limited battery so I have a portable USB unit which charges the watch on the go. The beauty of this system is that I still receive kilometre splits and the data is still recorded without being lost or over-written.
I thought of check-point 8 as a kind of mini home-base because we pass through multiple times. From CP8 the course heads downhill for a short time before making a sharp right hand turn which is part of the 10.8km western loop before returning to CP8. From there we do an 8km loop to the east before arriving at CP8 for the last time. It was at CP8, as I restocked my food and fluids, that I saw some of the race leaders in both the miler and 100km races. They had already completed the 10.8km western loop and were over an hour ahead of me.
Josh and I began the western loop and made the sharp right hand turn into what felt like another world. One moment we were running on wide rugged fire trail and the next we were running through fields of beautiful wild flowers. The colours were so vibrant with deep purple, pink, blue and white flowers swaying lazily in the gentle breeze. The serenity I felt in this area was occasionally interrupted by the sound of falling branches as the wild wind raged almost un-noticed in the tall trees above. I was starting to feel increasingly fatigued and the walking breaks were becoming more prolonged and frequent. As we continued, the wild flowers were gradually replaced by the usual familiar vegetation along the fire trails. It was at this point we were joined by a runner of the four legged variety. A friendly dog without collar or tags ran with us for the remainder of the loop seemingly content to accompany us along the trail. As we began walking the climb to CP8 I got to see Mat and Stuart for the first time since the start of the race. They were setting out on the western loop and both looked in really good spirits. We said a brief hello to each other and Josh and I continued to walk up towards CP8.
We only stopped for long enough to refill our water bottles and grab a handful of food before beginning the steep climb which marks the beginning of the eastern loop at CP8. It appeared that our canine companion had waited for us and as we trudged upwards I looked back and spotted the dog following behind. We found out that we were not that special and the dog had already done a loop before joining us. As if to highlight this message the dog dropped back to accompany another runner behind us. Thankfully the eastern loop was only 8km long as the heat was starting to take it's toll and we were needing to walk for longer periods. Josh had been struggling with cramp for most of the race and we took a few stops to stretch and recharge our batteries. Upon reflection, we were running through this section in the midday heat and neither of us were drinking enough water. We eventually made it to CP8 for the last time and I was required to weigh in again before leaving. I had lost another kilogram taking my total weight loss to 3kg. I took advantage of the stop to change my running top, hat and shorts.
As we made our way towards CP7 we eventually caught up to a woman by the name of Pam Muston. Pam is another of Australia's ultra running legends. She has so much experience and only a few months ago completed arguably the world's toughest footrace, the Badwater Ultramarathon. Badwater is a 135mile (217km) continuous run which begins at the lowest point in the western hemisphere (85m below sea level) and ends at the Mt Whitney portal (2530m). What makes this particular event so difficult is that it is run in the middle of summer where the temperatures are consistently in the mid 50 degrees celsius range. I learnt a lot from watching Pam run. She was not particularly fast, however she ran at a good consistent pace, took walking breaks and had a very energy efficient stride. Pam went on to finish the 100 miles in 22hrs 33mins for first woman and 19th overall.
The temperature had dropped a little, I had gotten on top of my hydration and I was feeling really good as we ran into CP7. We continued to run on and off with Pam for quite a while as we began the short 4.5km loop at CP7. We were running for longer periods of time now, ticking off the kilometres and picking up places as we caught other runners. The course from CP8 had been relatively flat with a couple of gentle inclines but as we ran from CP7 to CP6 the course changed to feature more undulations with more technical uneven terrain, compared with the graded surface we had been running on for the last couple of hours. When I passed the 84km mark on my watch, Josh and I had a little celebration to acknowledge that I was now in new and unfamiliar territory. My longest run up until that point was the 83km that I had completed as part of the 2011 The North Face 100. I was very pleased at this new milestone because I felt really good and with less than 80km to go I was very confident of finishing the race.
I arrived at CP6 in 10hrs 49mins having completed 87.9km. I was feeling great and almost had a little dance to the music pumping out at the check-point. I resisted the urge to boogie and got down to business. I was still 10 minutes ahead of my fastest estimated time so was pretty much exactly where I wanted to be. As per my race plan, I donned my running backpack which contained all the items I would need for the remainder of the race. My bag contained:
2L bladder
Dry sack
Headlamp
Spare torch
First aid kit
Extra plasters, vaseline, neurofen
Spare batteries (AA & AAA)
Mobile phone
Emergency space blanket
Course map & directions, pace charts
Collapsible cup
Spare socks
I filled my hand held bottle with Perpetuem, the hydration bladder with water and departed CP6 with a spring in my step. I was having lots of fun and really enjoying myself. I sent a quick update on Facebook to let my friends know how I was going and made a quick phone call to Mel. I had run on this part of the course before and felt very confident of achieving my pre-race goal of a Sub24 hour finish.
We continued to make forward progress as we made our way through the fading light over the undulating terrain. It was 10.6km to the next checkpoint and by the time we arrived at CP5 a lot had changed. We had slowed considerably since CP6 and both of our stomachs were starting to give us grief. I didn't feel like drinking water but made myself do it anyway. I'm not sure if it is drinking from the bladder that makes my stomach this way but I just felt off and didn't feel like drinking much, ever since I picked up the backpack and began drinking from the bladder. The undulations towards the check-point were not particularly difficult but because we were both going through a bit of a bad patch we were pretty much walking only. We caught up to a few other runners and with less than a kilometre to the check-point, Josh's leg seized up tight with painful cramping. He tried to walk it out but we had to stop and stretch for a while before his muscles would relax enough for him to walk again.
Night had fallen as we were received into CP5 by the sight of a welcoming fire and the happy faces of some of my friends from Rocky. Gavin, Raelene and their son Dylan were waiting at the check-point to surprise me. It was so great to see them, especially as I was starting to really feel the effects of my stomach upset. Raelene had run in the 50km race earlier on, in an impressive 6hrs 23mins and Dylan had run the 10km race finishing 2nd in the under 18 category. I sat down for a while in one of the camp chairs letting the fire warm me as it was getting quite cool. I put on a long-sleeved thermal top as my friends helped me to get my headlamp ready and top up my water and perpetuem. I couldn't stomach any solid food which is a shame as there was such an amazing array of delectable delights on offer, something they are very well known for. Just as I was about to head for the school, Stuart arrived at the check-point looking really good. He ordered a hot drink and perused the banquet on offer. I said a quick hello and thanked my friends before embarking on the new challenge that is night running.
I have run at night and early morning in training and at TNF100 so I am not worried about running in the dark. I have a very good headlamp and the feeling of running through the darkness, with a beam of light to lead the way, strangely enhances the experience rather than detracting from it. Running at night is actually rather peaceful and without the visual distractions can be quite an uplifting experience. CP5 is situated at the 98.5 kilometre point. We had arrived after running for 12hrs 31mins. Unfortunately my watch had cut out a few times and I missed passing the 100km milestone. I estimate that we would have run 100km in about 12hs 45mins but it wasn't until the 13 hour mark that I acknowledged that we had cracked a century and sent another Facebook update. I took advantage of our frequent walking breaks to call Mel and talk to the kids before they went to bed. It was great talking to my family but my energy levels were getting low and the predominant form of locomotion had changed from running with walking breaks to walking with running breaks. Despite slowing considerably we were still comfortably on target pace and decided to take it easier until the school where we could recharge before starting the eastern loop.
A short time later a light came bouncing along from behind. The light turned out to be Stuart who was having a fantastic race and finishing really strong. We wished him well as he disappeared around the corner and was enveloped by the darkness of the woods. Both Josh and I had been quiet for some time as the fatigue was really affecting us and my stomach issues were aggravating my energy levels. The 10.5km between CP5 and the school seemed to take an eternity and I was having an introspective debate with myself on whether or not I wanted to continue. In my tired and depleted state I was happy having covered over 100km on foot and was having difficulty contemplating the additional 50 odd kilometres yet to be run on the Eastern loop. In my mind I had convinced myself that I had achieved the goal that I had missed at TNF100 and didn't need to go any further. I remember thinking that there was no need for me to run 161.7km when I could get the same feeling of accomplishment with running 109km. Josh seemed to sense my despondency and I told him that I was thinking of pulling the pin. He did his best to try and motivate me as we entered the school grounds, also known as CP2. We ran to the side of the finishers shute and were applauded by the hardy supporters and some of the 100km finishers including Stuart and Lisa. I was ushered to another set of scales for a further weigh-in. I can't remember what I weighed but I think that I had gained or lost about 300g or so.
I fear that I was not on my best behaviour at this point as I was feeling sorry for myself and trying to find a way to justify the decision to withdraw, a conclusion I had come to about half an hour earlier. The checkpoint staff were fantastic, offering me food and drink as I sat there mumbling that I could not stomach anything. At least I had the presence of mind to say "no thank-you" but I still felt very rude. Gavin, Raelene and Dylan were at the school and upon learning of my intention to pull out, instantly took on the roles of counsellor, motivator and most importantly just being my friends. They knew how much I wanted to do this race and that I would be disappointed if I gave up so easily and so early on in the race. Josh came over from where his family were helping him and checked to see if I was going to stay or continue on with him. He said he was about to go and would come back in a couple of minutes before heading out again. Although content with my decision to drop-out I still had a nagging feeling, somewhere deep down in my soul, that I would be letting Josh down. We had spent the last 14 hours working so well together and here I was about to give up just because it started to get tough. I would be letting myself down but I would also be letting him down.
So I stood up, Gavin put my jacket into my backpack and Dylan grabbed me a cup of pumpkin soup, some buttered bread and a cup of Solo. It actually felt good eating and drinking again and I felt better about continuing on. I apologised to, and thanked my friends as Josh arrived and we headed off on the eastern loop. The eastern loop is generally considered to be easier and more runnable than the western loop and I was just focusing on getting from one check-point to the next. We walked for a little bit to allow our stomachs to settle and then set off at a trot. We got lost a little but checked the map and course description I had in my backpack. We managed to find the marked track without losing too much time and continued with our run / walk strategy.
We had crossed over the main road and were making our way towards CP9 when we saw a light in the distance. As we got closer we realised we were looking at the race leader, Mike Le Roux, who was running by himself at a good steady pace with nobody behind him. We congratulated him as he passed and were very impressed with his position. Mike went on to win the race by 21mins over 2nd place in 15hrs 38mins, taking over an hour off the race record in the process.
At about 115km I had the sudden feeling that I was going to vomit. I stood to the side of the road and emptied my stomach of pumpkin soup. The funny thing about vomiting is that you feel better almost immediately. I threw up for a second time and told Josh that I was all set. We ran off as I tried to re-set my hydration and nutrition strategy. I began drinking water again and took in some Perpetuem when my stomach had settled. We crossed paths with second place runner, David Waugh, as we turned right and began running through the forest again.
The section from CP2 to CP9 is the longest in the race and at 12.5km it seemed to take forever. In fact it took 2hrs 19mins before we made it to the checkpoint. We were both so relieved to see the caravan and camp-like set-up as we had both been struggling and were only running for about 100-300m of each kilometre. I had a cup of hot tea to drink at the checkpoint and was given a small card with my race number on it. From CP9 we took a detour up Wild Horse Mountain which is a 750m climb on a sealed road to the observatory. The climb was steep but not as difficult or as long as I had anticipated. Having said that, when we reached the top, I looked around the lower level hoping that the box for our race numbers would be there instead of up the stairs. After a fruitless search of the lower level we climbed the stairs, deposited our numbers into the plastic container and began the descent back down to the caravan. I only stopped long enough to re-fill my water bladder before heading towards CP10. Having run up the hill I felt like we were making real progress, we had been running for 16hrs 47mins and had covered 123km. The next section of the course was only 4.5km, we would have to do two loops at CP10 and could then head back towards the finish. How hard could it be?
Well, I sure found out how hard it could be. The 4.5km between checkpoints seemed to take forever. Added to that, my stomach was protesting and I could not tolerate Perpetuem or water easily. I don't think we ran more than 500m and I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I was so tired that I began drifting off to sleep, my head was spinning and I was on the verge of closing my eyes. That is until I saw a large snake on the side of the track. Along this area the ground is covered with sand and I was sliding along the track from side to side. As I played the beam to the side of the trail, my headlamp illuminated a large python coiled up less than a metre to my right. I almost jumped into Josh's lap in my effort to evade certain death. As a New Zealander I am not too familiar with snakes and have only had the opportunity to hold a snake twice when I have visited wildlife farms here in Australia and in the US. My encounter with the snake helped to keep me awake for another 10 minutes or so before the cool seductive tendrils of fatigue threatened to envelope me again. It was during this section that I began to hear voices and see things. I thought that I could hear peoples voices and was adamant that I could see the checkpoint but as we plodded along, dragging our feet, I realised I was mistaken.
Josh and I were so defeated and tired that when we finally arrived at CP10 we didn't care too much. Josh stood on the scales to be weighed in, only to be told that they weigh us after completing the two loops. Josh went off in search of his family and I sat down in one of the camp chairs. I was offered some food and drink but politely declined. As I sat there waiting for Josh I dozed on and off. I was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open. I was aware of people around me and opened my eyes periodically to prevent myself from falling into a deep sleep. It felt like half an hour, but in reality was more like 10 minutes, before Josh's step-father came over to me and said that Josh was in a bad way and would not be going on. Josh had been having stomach issues all day as well and when I got to him he was groaning in pain and was clearly finished. They asked me if I was going to carry on and I had to ask myself again if I was willing to carry on. I thought about what was ahead of me, the two unfamiliar loops at CP10 and the return journey from CP10 through to CP9, up Wild Horse Mountain, back to CP9 and the final 12.5km back to the school and the waiting finish line. I briefly contemplated the solo journey through the night, but considering my earlier melt-down and the daunting prospect of re-tracing the easier eastern loop that had destroyed me, I joined Josh and withdrew from the race at checkpoint 10. I had covered 127.5km in 17hrs 36mins.
I was lucky enough to catch a lift back to the school with Josh and his family. As we arrived Josh nosily filled a sick bag with at least a litre of fluid from his stomach. I thanked his family and made the embarrassing journey through the school grounds and officially withdrew to the race director and volunteers. The volunteers at this race are superb and I was met by Susannah Harvey-Jamieson who is an experienced ultra runner having completed the miler here multiple times and was fourth woman overall at Badwater last year. I sipped another cup of tea and met with Gavin and Raelene who came to pick me up. I did not intend to stay with them on the Saturday night as I had planned to still be running, however they were there for me and took me back to their unit so I could finally sleep. To make matters worse, as I sat there, defeated and feeling sorry for myself, four other runners arrived. They had only just finished the western loop and were getting ready to tackle the eastern loop that had just defeated me. To credit the strength of these four runners, as I was driving to the awards BBQ the next morning, I saw them still running on the course as the warm sun was shining down on them. They had the fortitude and strength of character to keep going. Of the 70 people who started the 100 mile race, only 42 people finished. The last finisher was the legendary Bill Thompson who finished the Glasshouse 100 miler for the 11th time in 29hrs 40mins.
After a shower, a sleep and a decent breakfast the next morning I had time to reflect upon my run. I also learnt that Mat had finished the miler in a great time of 25hrs 16mins, a time that I would have been really happy with. I am not disappointed with myself for pulling out when I did. I am very happy with my performance. My ultimate goal was to complete the event and although I didn't achieve that target I learnt a lot. I now know that I underestimated the mental aspect of the race. I knew that endurance races of this length are more about mental strength and less about physical ability, however I was un-prepared for how this would affect me on the day. I am still relatively inexperienced when it comes to ultra marathons having run my first one (50km) a year ago at this very event. I am so glad and thankful to my friends for pushing me at the school and I am proud of myself for getting back out there for another three and a half hours when all I wanted to do was stop.
I had planned for the race extremely well, working out a comprehensive nutrition and hydration plan together with a realistic pace chart to gauge my progress. I was physically ready and my run / walk strategy worked exceptionally well. For the entire run I did not exert myself beyond my limits. I ran at a comfortable conversational pace and took regular walking breaks even when I felt very good and could have easily run. I kept my heart-rate and breathing to an easy rhythm and never got to the point where I had to stop to catch my breath. My legs were stiff and sore the next day but I didn't receive any injuries only suffering a blister on the outside of each foot.
I have had to be really honest with myself and admit that I did not want this as much as I thought I did. If I truly wanted to finish I would have kept going, I would not have let anything prevent me from crossing the finish line. I was not prevented from finishing by any injury or physical obstacle, instead I failed to finish because I lacked the experience and desire to push past my preconceived limits. Thankfully this experience is something that I can learn from and work on. During the race I contemplated finding a new sport and taking up something like table-tennis. Luckily that brief moment of weakness passed quickly and I have realised what I have accomplished. Prior to standing at the start line, I had only run three 50km trail runs and run 83km as part of TNF100. On the day I managed to run a little over three consecutive back to back marathons, running over 44km further than I had ever run before and lasted for almost 18 hours, over 5 hours longer than I did at TNF100.
The results will show a DNF against my name, but as somewhat of a consolation prize I received a mug and medal for completing 100km.
In contrast to my state of mind after TNF100, I am NOT retiring from ultra running and instead am looking toward the future. As promised to myself and my loving and supporting family I am taking two weeks off all exercise. After one week I am already chomping at the bit to get back out there but a total rest will help both mentally and physically. Physically I feel as if I could go out and run the whole thing again this weekend but I know that I need to let the body recover. I am looking at a number of other races before heading down to the Blue Mountains next May to achieve a finish at The North Face 100. In 2012 I will continue on my journey of discovery along the ultramarathon path. I am looking forward to returning to the Glasshouse Mountains to again take on the challenge and adventure of running 100 miles.
I would like to thank all of my friends and training partners who have helped me to develop as an athlete and a person. They have been with me when I have struggled through tough training runs and helped to motivate and inspire me through their own experiences and achievements. There are far too many to name but you all know who you are. I would also like to thank the readers of my blog. It started off as more of a journal to remind me of my training and racing experiences but has become so much more. I'm glad you like reading my posts and I apologise for the length of this one, but how could I eloquently capture such a long race in a few short paragraphs. Most importantly I would like to thank my wonderful and supporting wife Melanie and my incredible children Holly and Ethan who have put up with all my long training runs (including my 3am starts) and helped support me through this running obsession of mine.
I will continue to publish more posts soon including race photos from the event when they become available.
Keep running.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Freak out
This week I had my first real freak out about the upcoming Glasshouse 100. In the past I have had nightmares about upcoming races that were particularly important to me. For some of my Ironman races I would have recurring nightmares like arriving in transition to find my bike or shoes missing or sleeping in and missing the start of the race. I guess this was my subconscious's way of expressing the nerves that I had kept dormant and tried not to think about.
I was still struggling to get back into a normal sleeping routine following my nightshifts and on Wednesday I lay in bed at midnight unable to sleep. I had been stressing over the miler all day. There was not a specific reason for my concern, more a general uneasiness and combination of issues.
During the taper phase of training it is commonly accepted that as our bodies begin to recover we are more susceptible to little niggles and pick up colds more easily. I'm no exercise scientist and don't know why this happens but I have read from various sources that this is a relatively common phenomenon. I have been having some lower leg issues recently and they were beginning to worry me. Over the last week or so I had been having very tight and swollen calfs for the first couple of kilometres of my runs. Also the right side of my knee had been feeling tight recently which I could feel when getting up in the morning, walking around the house as well as when running. I tried to analyse the cause of these problems and tried a variety of solutions. As mentioned in previous posts I had bought a pair of skins and some calf-guards which I was going to wear on race day. However, I found that whenever I wore them my legs felt heavy, tired and tight. I don't know if it is a psychological reaction or just that I am not used to running with compression clothing. I tried stretching for longer, using the massage stick and changing my shoes. I just couldn't account for why this was happening on some days and not others and this was adding further to my anxiety.
So with the change in my sleeping patterns, recovery from a head cold, extra rest, less running and little niggles/injury concerns I was feeling particularly vulnerable. I had also been reading a lot of posts on the Coolrunning forums about various races including Ultra Trail du Mt Blanc and Glasshouse100, as well as posts on footwear choices and inparticular for wet and muddy conditions. Due to the high rainfall over the last week I turned my attention towards the state of the course. The Glasshouse race director, Ian Javes, has mentioned on the site that this years course has been changed from previous years due to weather damage etc. Although the course will dry out somewhat over the next week I was concerned that any additional rain will increase the difficulty of the race exponentially. These concerns led me to visualise the race over various course conditions. This in turn led to a moment of clarity and the enormity of what I was about to undertake hit home. It hit home with a bang. I am Jack's surprised conscious mind. I started thinking about how tired I will be feeling, how sore my feet and legs will be and far 161.7 kilometres really is.
The next morning, after a restless dream-clogged sleep, I made the assertive decision to develop a race plan for the variables that I could control and to prepare strategies to cope with and minimise the variables that I could not. Firstly I visited the race website and downloaded the maps and course description together with other important race information including the distance between check-points. This is very important because it allows me to plan what I put in my drop-bags such as food, clothing, head-lamp, spare batteries etc. For a race of this length over variable terrain I need to determine at what point I pick up my head-lamp, when to use and what I put in my back-pack, when to change clothes, socks or even shoes. Having a plan has allowed me to totally change my mind-set and instead of expending nervous negative energy worrying about everything that might go wrong, I now have the confidence to start the race and trust that I have done sufficient training and have the ability to cope with any obstacle or challenge that may present itself and I can now visualise myself crossing the finish line and achieving my goal of finishing a 100 mile ultramarathon.
This week my training has been quite relaxed with a lower volume of running and extra rest days. Thankfully Wednesday was the only run this week where I suffered from heavy and tight leg muscles, and I really enjoyed my other runs.
Monday - Rest day
Tuesday - Rest day
Wednesday - 15.05km - 1hr 15mins 36secs - undulating run
Thursday - 12.05km - 58mins 42secs - flattish run with the group
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - 25.25km - 2hrs 04mins 22secs - mainly flat run with group
Sunday - 13.41km - 1hr 05mins 11secs - flat group run
Weekly totals - 65.76km - 5hrs 23mins 52secs
I have some last minute supplies to get tomorrow, finish my packing list and throw in a couple of short runs this week before driving down on Thursday or Friday. If I get a chance I will publish a pre-race post but I'm not promising anything. I also plan to drop a few updates on Facebook during the race but I only pick up my phone at a checkpoint around 87km so don't expect anything before then.
All the hard work has been done, it's now time to pack and fine-tune the mental training. I'm really excited now and am really looking forward to starting this challenging adventure. Stay tuned.
Keep running.
I was still struggling to get back into a normal sleeping routine following my nightshifts and on Wednesday I lay in bed at midnight unable to sleep. I had been stressing over the miler all day. There was not a specific reason for my concern, more a general uneasiness and combination of issues.
During the taper phase of training it is commonly accepted that as our bodies begin to recover we are more susceptible to little niggles and pick up colds more easily. I'm no exercise scientist and don't know why this happens but I have read from various sources that this is a relatively common phenomenon. I have been having some lower leg issues recently and they were beginning to worry me. Over the last week or so I had been having very tight and swollen calfs for the first couple of kilometres of my runs. Also the right side of my knee had been feeling tight recently which I could feel when getting up in the morning, walking around the house as well as when running. I tried to analyse the cause of these problems and tried a variety of solutions. As mentioned in previous posts I had bought a pair of skins and some calf-guards which I was going to wear on race day. However, I found that whenever I wore them my legs felt heavy, tired and tight. I don't know if it is a psychological reaction or just that I am not used to running with compression clothing. I tried stretching for longer, using the massage stick and changing my shoes. I just couldn't account for why this was happening on some days and not others and this was adding further to my anxiety.
So with the change in my sleeping patterns, recovery from a head cold, extra rest, less running and little niggles/injury concerns I was feeling particularly vulnerable. I had also been reading a lot of posts on the Coolrunning forums about various races including Ultra Trail du Mt Blanc and Glasshouse100, as well as posts on footwear choices and inparticular for wet and muddy conditions. Due to the high rainfall over the last week I turned my attention towards the state of the course. The Glasshouse race director, Ian Javes, has mentioned on the site that this years course has been changed from previous years due to weather damage etc. Although the course will dry out somewhat over the next week I was concerned that any additional rain will increase the difficulty of the race exponentially. These concerns led me to visualise the race over various course conditions. This in turn led to a moment of clarity and the enormity of what I was about to undertake hit home. It hit home with a bang. I am Jack's surprised conscious mind. I started thinking about how tired I will be feeling, how sore my feet and legs will be and far 161.7 kilometres really is.
The next morning, after a restless dream-clogged sleep, I made the assertive decision to develop a race plan for the variables that I could control and to prepare strategies to cope with and minimise the variables that I could not. Firstly I visited the race website and downloaded the maps and course description together with other important race information including the distance between check-points. This is very important because it allows me to plan what I put in my drop-bags such as food, clothing, head-lamp, spare batteries etc. For a race of this length over variable terrain I need to determine at what point I pick up my head-lamp, when to use and what I put in my back-pack, when to change clothes, socks or even shoes. Having a plan has allowed me to totally change my mind-set and instead of expending nervous negative energy worrying about everything that might go wrong, I now have the confidence to start the race and trust that I have done sufficient training and have the ability to cope with any obstacle or challenge that may present itself and I can now visualise myself crossing the finish line and achieving my goal of finishing a 100 mile ultramarathon.
This week my training has been quite relaxed with a lower volume of running and extra rest days. Thankfully Wednesday was the only run this week where I suffered from heavy and tight leg muscles, and I really enjoyed my other runs.
Monday - Rest day
Tuesday - Rest day
Wednesday - 15.05km - 1hr 15mins 36secs - undulating run
Thursday - 12.05km - 58mins 42secs - flattish run with the group
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - 25.25km - 2hrs 04mins 22secs - mainly flat run with group
Sunday - 13.41km - 1hr 05mins 11secs - flat group run
Weekly totals - 65.76km - 5hrs 23mins 52secs
I have some last minute supplies to get tomorrow, finish my packing list and throw in a couple of short runs this week before driving down on Thursday or Friday. If I get a chance I will publish a pre-race post but I'm not promising anything. I also plan to drop a few updates on Facebook during the race but I only pick up my phone at a checkpoint around 87km so don't expect anything before then.
All the hard work has been done, it's now time to pack and fine-tune the mental training. I'm really excited now and am really looking forward to starting this challenging adventure. Stay tuned.
Keep running.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
New shoes
The last week has been relatively uneventful really. I guess that I am marking time until the big show which is less than two weeks away. Yesterday morning I finished my latest set of nightshifts which present a challenge of their own. Nightshifts are generally between 10pm and 6pm and consist of seven consecutive shifts. The work itself is not any less or more difficult, it is more the change in sleeping patterns and can be likened to being continually jet-lagged. Before this round of nightshifts I worked seven days with a mixture of morning and afternoon shifts, had one day off and started my seven nightshifts at 10pm the next night (which is considered to be a day off). As of yesterday that means that I had worked 14 of the last 15 days. Luckily I am in the taper phase of my training and now I have 5 days off.
Last week I had three rest days to help with recovery. Monday was my first rest day and on Tuesday I ran a flattish 18km. I had another rest day on Wednesday which was unplanned. My in-laws arrived on Wednesday so I decided to hang out with them instead. I had only planned on an easy 10km run and was happy to have the extra rest. Thursday was a repeat of Tuesday's run but I was over 2 minutes quicker despite the course being 200m longer. I had Friday as my third rest day and decided to do one of my night shift fatigue runs on Saturday.
On Saturday morning I managed to get away from work at 5:30am after an early start the night before. Thanks to course maestro Michael, I knew the course the Rocky Road Runners were taking and because they started on the other side of town at 5:30am I was able to run and meet them after about 4km. I have run a few times after nightshift and am well aware of the mental challenge of running after working all night. That still doesn't make it any easier to prepare for. I had gotten up from my day's sleep at about 3pm on Friday and was still a bit tired from my restless sleep. So by the time I laced up my shoes and headed out the door I had been awake for close to 15 hours. I was very tired, my legs were sore from a busyish shift and all I could think about was going to sleep. If I had not made the commitment to run I might have gone straight home to sleep. I ran on figuring that this would be good mental training for when I am struggling in the early hours during the Glasshouse 100.
Maybe it was something I had eaten or a combination of other factors but I had an upset stomach and just felt like rubbish for the entire run. Thankfully there was a large group present for the run and I was able to chat away to help keep my mind off how tired I felt. My legs were also very heavy and I was wondering if that was because of the new Skins tights and calf-guards that I was wearing or because I was tired. I persisted on with the run and began to consider how far I should go. Initially I had planned on running 25-30km. As we ran on the group became smaller as time wore on and as we moved closer to Mt Archer. The plan for the latter part of the run was to head up to the saddle as we had done on previous Saturday long runs. I decided against going up to the saddle this time. I ran home and logged 24km in just over 2hrs 04mins. If I had gone up to the saddle I would have ended up with around 35km. This would not have helped me in my taper and would have done more damage than good, not only because I was tired but due to the higher than normal humidity which was in the 80 - 90% range.
Sunday's run was quite exciting as I got to run in my new shoes. My new Hoka One One Bondi B shoes had arrived and after walking around the house for a couple of days I was ready to take them out on their maiden voyage. I wanted to run in them on the Saturday long run but thought it more prudent to save it for the shorter Sunday run. Hoka One One are a brand of shoe invented by a couple of European Ultra runners and are a stark contrast to the current trend towards minimalst shoes on the market.
On first appearance they look clumsy and chunky which put many people off. The shoes feature an EVA rubber that is 2.5 times bigger and 30% softer than traditional running shoes and works to absorb up to 80% of the impact that occurs whilst running, thereby reducing muscle fatigue and damage, which is very important when running long. As I have only run in them once I am not going to put up a full review until I have had a chance to really break them in. I ran with the group on Sunday and put the shoes through their paces. Immediately I noticed how spongy and bouncy the shoes felt. Throughout the run I varied the terrain and my pace (including a sub 4min kilometre and running downhill on the road at sub 3min/km pace). The shoes were faultless, I ran on wet grass, wet roads, some dirt track, uphill and downhill without any issues. Afterwards my legs felt great with no tightness or tiredness. I was so impressed with them that I will run in them for all of my runs prior to Glasshouse and will consider using them for some if not all of the race.
Weekly totals:
Monday - Rest day
Tuesday - 18.05km - 1hr 30mins 55secs - flat to undulating
Wednesday - Rest day
Thursday - 18.25km - 1hr 28mins 41secs - flat to undulating
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - 24.05km - 2hrs 04mins 18secs - long run with group
Sunday - 12.15km - 57mins 15secs - run with group
Totals - 72.50km - 6hrs 01mins 11secs
With only 10 sleeps to go I am starting to get excited and nervous about the race. I followed the Ultra Trail Du Mt Blanc race on-line over the weekend which added fuel to my fire but as I get closer to race-day the enormity and reality of this challenge hits home. Bring it on. Stay tuned for my next blog post on Sunday and...
Keep running.
Last week I had three rest days to help with recovery. Monday was my first rest day and on Tuesday I ran a flattish 18km. I had another rest day on Wednesday which was unplanned. My in-laws arrived on Wednesday so I decided to hang out with them instead. I had only planned on an easy 10km run and was happy to have the extra rest. Thursday was a repeat of Tuesday's run but I was over 2 minutes quicker despite the course being 200m longer. I had Friday as my third rest day and decided to do one of my night shift fatigue runs on Saturday.
On Saturday morning I managed to get away from work at 5:30am after an early start the night before. Thanks to course maestro Michael, I knew the course the Rocky Road Runners were taking and because they started on the other side of town at 5:30am I was able to run and meet them after about 4km. I have run a few times after nightshift and am well aware of the mental challenge of running after working all night. That still doesn't make it any easier to prepare for. I had gotten up from my day's sleep at about 3pm on Friday and was still a bit tired from my restless sleep. So by the time I laced up my shoes and headed out the door I had been awake for close to 15 hours. I was very tired, my legs were sore from a busyish shift and all I could think about was going to sleep. If I had not made the commitment to run I might have gone straight home to sleep. I ran on figuring that this would be good mental training for when I am struggling in the early hours during the Glasshouse 100.
Maybe it was something I had eaten or a combination of other factors but I had an upset stomach and just felt like rubbish for the entire run. Thankfully there was a large group present for the run and I was able to chat away to help keep my mind off how tired I felt. My legs were also very heavy and I was wondering if that was because of the new Skins tights and calf-guards that I was wearing or because I was tired. I persisted on with the run and began to consider how far I should go. Initially I had planned on running 25-30km. As we ran on the group became smaller as time wore on and as we moved closer to Mt Archer. The plan for the latter part of the run was to head up to the saddle as we had done on previous Saturday long runs. I decided against going up to the saddle this time. I ran home and logged 24km in just over 2hrs 04mins. If I had gone up to the saddle I would have ended up with around 35km. This would not have helped me in my taper and would have done more damage than good, not only because I was tired but due to the higher than normal humidity which was in the 80 - 90% range.
Sunday's run was quite exciting as I got to run in my new shoes. My new Hoka One One Bondi B shoes had arrived and after walking around the house for a couple of days I was ready to take them out on their maiden voyage. I wanted to run in them on the Saturday long run but thought it more prudent to save it for the shorter Sunday run. Hoka One One are a brand of shoe invented by a couple of European Ultra runners and are a stark contrast to the current trend towards minimalst shoes on the market.
Weekly totals:
Monday - Rest day
Tuesday - 18.05km - 1hr 30mins 55secs - flat to undulating
Wednesday - Rest day
Thursday - 18.25km - 1hr 28mins 41secs - flat to undulating
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - 24.05km - 2hrs 04mins 18secs - long run with group
Sunday - 12.15km - 57mins 15secs - run with group
Totals - 72.50km - 6hrs 01mins 11secs
With only 10 sleeps to go I am starting to get excited and nervous about the race. I followed the Ultra Trail Du Mt Blanc race on-line over the weekend which added fuel to my fire but as I get closer to race-day the enormity and reality of this challenge hits home. Bring it on. Stay tuned for my next blog post on Sunday and...
Keep running.
Monday, August 22, 2011
3 weeks to go
This time in three weeks I should be suitably tired. On Saturday I ran my last long run and now progress to the taper part of my training. I will use these three weeks to freshen up and finish the mental and physical preparations for my first 100 mile trail race. To do this I will reduce the overall volume of my training runs and add in extra rest days to allow my body (and mind) to recover from the rigours of training that I have subjected myself to for the last couple of months.
After last week's battle with fatigue I knew that I was walking along a razors edge. On one hand I wanted to get one final decent week of training completed before the taper, otherwise my last week of hard training would end up being 6 weeks prior to race day and would be less beneficial than if it was at 3 weeks to go. But, on the other hand I knew that with 6 big weeks of continuous accumulated training, if I pushed too hard I risked burn-out or injury.
I started the week with an easy 10km recovery type run on the Monday with some undulations. My body had recovered quite well and I was not too sore or tired. I was a little unsure if I should continue my Tuesday hill session routine and run up Mt Archer, especially as the head cold I had picked up on Saturday was starting to get quite bad. Funnily enough running is one of the activities that makes me feel better. So I did what any Ultra runner would do, I ran up Mt Archer again. I started at about 10:00am and it was a very pleasant 24 degrees or so with a slight breeze. It took me about 7.5km to reach the Pilbeam Drive turn off which marks the start of the main 5km climb. I made a time check and ran up concentrating on staying relaxed and not breathing too deeply to prevent a coughing fit. Well, I managed to keep all of my kilometre splits below 6min 45 and made it to the end time check in 32mins 48secs which is a new record for me. Wednesday was another easy 10km followed by a 26km flattish run on Thursday. Friday was another day off with my last long run scheduled for Saturday.
It was very difficult to motivate myself for Saturday's run. I had gotten up at 4:45am for work, finished my early shift at 2pm and when I got home I made the mistake of lying down on the bed while I talked to Mel about her day. I thought about having the day off training as the prospect of running by myself for four hours after work was not very attractive. BUT, I needed to prove to myself that I was committed to the miler and thought that running on tired legs and when mentally exhausted would be good preparation. I'm glad I laced up the Kayano's and got my butt out the door because I ended up having a pretty good run. I made up my Hammer perpetuem drink and a hand-held of water and strode out the front door. I was also wearing my new pair of Skins A400 running half-tights and calf guards.
The first 8km were not easy and I seriously considered calling it quits a few times. My legs were very heavy and tired, my mind was tired and I was dealing with a few niggles. But running long is not about giving in when it gets tough, it is about persevering and challenging yourself to keep going even when your mind and body are trying to trick you into stopping. By about 8km though I had settled into a comfortable rhythm and began to really enjoy myself. I was really proud of myself for firstly getting out the door and secondly for not giving up. The course was mainly flat with a few smallish hills and undulations to break it up a little. The perpetuem worked a charm yet again and not a hint of stomach upset. I ended up running 45.05km in 3hrs 49mins 19secs. That works out to be an average pace of 5:05mins/km and had me go through the marathon point in 3hs 34mins which is quicker than I anticipated and much much quicker than my goal GH100 pace.
After another early shift at work and a 30min power nap I ran with Geoff on Sunday for a 12.8km recovery run that ended up being pretty quick. I ran with the Skins tights and calf-guards again (yes they were washed in-between runs) to determine if I like them. The idea of running with compression clothing is to reduce muscle fatigue and damage which over the course of 160km is pretty important. I will write up a proper review after I have logged more hours in them but at this point I have had no real issues with the Skins and am looking at wearing them on the 10th September.
After last week's amended easy week I am pleased that I was able to log just under 130km for my last medium to big week before the taper. It means that my last six weeks have consisted of:
142.60km (45km long run)
151.84km (51.3km Flinders Tour race)
102.08km (45km long run)
175.80km (68.25km long run)
101.20km (30km long run)
129.06km (45km long run)
This is the largest and most consistent six week period of running I have ever done and has given me a total of 803.30km.
Weekly totals
Monday - 10.06km - 51mins 45secs - flat easy run with undulations
Tuesday - 25.05km - 2hrs 09mins 37secs - hill run including Mt Archer
Wednesday - 10.05km - 51mins 38secs - same as Monday
Thursday - 26.05km - 2hrs 13mins 57secs - flattish including RRR group run
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - 45.05km - 3hrs 49mins 19secs - long run solo around Rocky
Sunday - 12.80km - 1hr 03mins 46secs - Sunday group with Geoff
Totals - 129.06km - 11hrs 00mins 03secs
Now that all the hard work is behind me, I can rest more and start working on my mental preparation. I start night shift on Tuesday night which will throw my body clock out a bit, but thankfully it will not be as significant as if I was attempting big mileage this week. Also my in-laws are arriving on Wednesday so I am very excited about that and with reduced mileage it means that I get to hang out more with them, Mel and the kids.
I am getting really excited about the race and with 75 people currently listed as entrants in the 100 mile race alone there will be lots of people to run with and learn from. I'm looking forward to catching up with some of the Ultra runners I have met at previous races (and on-line) and am looking forward to meeting a few more.
I'm also very excited to mention that tomorrow marks the start of Andy Bowen's 33 Marathons adventure which will see him run 1,400km's in 16 days as he plays a round of golf on the Nullarbor Links golf course to raise money for charity. So please visit his web page (www.33marathons.com) or visit the 33 Marathons Facebook page and send him a message of support and donate to one of his very worthy charities. All the best Andy, run strong and I look forward to reading the updates of your very inspiring adventure.
Keep running.
After last week's battle with fatigue I knew that I was walking along a razors edge. On one hand I wanted to get one final decent week of training completed before the taper, otherwise my last week of hard training would end up being 6 weeks prior to race day and would be less beneficial than if it was at 3 weeks to go. But, on the other hand I knew that with 6 big weeks of continuous accumulated training, if I pushed too hard I risked burn-out or injury.
I started the week with an easy 10km recovery type run on the Monday with some undulations. My body had recovered quite well and I was not too sore or tired. I was a little unsure if I should continue my Tuesday hill session routine and run up Mt Archer, especially as the head cold I had picked up on Saturday was starting to get quite bad. Funnily enough running is one of the activities that makes me feel better. So I did what any Ultra runner would do, I ran up Mt Archer again. I started at about 10:00am and it was a very pleasant 24 degrees or so with a slight breeze. It took me about 7.5km to reach the Pilbeam Drive turn off which marks the start of the main 5km climb. I made a time check and ran up concentrating on staying relaxed and not breathing too deeply to prevent a coughing fit. Well, I managed to keep all of my kilometre splits below 6min 45 and made it to the end time check in 32mins 48secs which is a new record for me. Wednesday was another easy 10km followed by a 26km flattish run on Thursday. Friday was another day off with my last long run scheduled for Saturday.
It was very difficult to motivate myself for Saturday's run. I had gotten up at 4:45am for work, finished my early shift at 2pm and when I got home I made the mistake of lying down on the bed while I talked to Mel about her day. I thought about having the day off training as the prospect of running by myself for four hours after work was not very attractive. BUT, I needed to prove to myself that I was committed to the miler and thought that running on tired legs and when mentally exhausted would be good preparation. I'm glad I laced up the Kayano's and got my butt out the door because I ended up having a pretty good run. I made up my Hammer perpetuem drink and a hand-held of water and strode out the front door. I was also wearing my new pair of Skins A400 running half-tights and calf guards.
The first 8km were not easy and I seriously considered calling it quits a few times. My legs were very heavy and tired, my mind was tired and I was dealing with a few niggles. But running long is not about giving in when it gets tough, it is about persevering and challenging yourself to keep going even when your mind and body are trying to trick you into stopping. By about 8km though I had settled into a comfortable rhythm and began to really enjoy myself. I was really proud of myself for firstly getting out the door and secondly for not giving up. The course was mainly flat with a few smallish hills and undulations to break it up a little. The perpetuem worked a charm yet again and not a hint of stomach upset. I ended up running 45.05km in 3hrs 49mins 19secs. That works out to be an average pace of 5:05mins/km and had me go through the marathon point in 3hs 34mins which is quicker than I anticipated and much much quicker than my goal GH100 pace.
After another early shift at work and a 30min power nap I ran with Geoff on Sunday for a 12.8km recovery run that ended up being pretty quick. I ran with the Skins tights and calf-guards again (yes they were washed in-between runs) to determine if I like them. The idea of running with compression clothing is to reduce muscle fatigue and damage which over the course of 160km is pretty important. I will write up a proper review after I have logged more hours in them but at this point I have had no real issues with the Skins and am looking at wearing them on the 10th September.
After last week's amended easy week I am pleased that I was able to log just under 130km for my last medium to big week before the taper. It means that my last six weeks have consisted of:
142.60km (45km long run)
151.84km (51.3km Flinders Tour race)
102.08km (45km long run)
175.80km (68.25km long run)
101.20km (30km long run)
129.06km (45km long run)
This is the largest and most consistent six week period of running I have ever done and has given me a total of 803.30km.
Weekly totals
Monday - 10.06km - 51mins 45secs - flat easy run with undulations
Tuesday - 25.05km - 2hrs 09mins 37secs - hill run including Mt Archer
Wednesday - 10.05km - 51mins 38secs - same as Monday
Thursday - 26.05km - 2hrs 13mins 57secs - flattish including RRR group run
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - 45.05km - 3hrs 49mins 19secs - long run solo around Rocky
Sunday - 12.80km - 1hr 03mins 46secs - Sunday group with Geoff
Totals - 129.06km - 11hrs 00mins 03secs
Now that all the hard work is behind me, I can rest more and start working on my mental preparation. I start night shift on Tuesday night which will throw my body clock out a bit, but thankfully it will not be as significant as if I was attempting big mileage this week. Also my in-laws are arriving on Wednesday so I am very excited about that and with reduced mileage it means that I get to hang out more with them, Mel and the kids.
I am getting really excited about the race and with 75 people currently listed as entrants in the 100 mile race alone there will be lots of people to run with and learn from. I'm looking forward to catching up with some of the Ultra runners I have met at previous races (and on-line) and am looking forward to meeting a few more.
I'm also very excited to mention that tomorrow marks the start of Andy Bowen's 33 Marathons adventure which will see him run 1,400km's in 16 days as he plays a round of golf on the Nullarbor Links golf course to raise money for charity. So please visit his web page (www.33marathons.com) or visit the 33 Marathons Facebook page and send him a message of support and donate to one of his very worthy charities. All the best Andy, run strong and I look forward to reading the updates of your very inspiring adventure.
Keep running.
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