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.