Running with the usual suspects today we started to discuss all the runners who had come and gone over the last decade. I was running with my good friend Jon ‘BMW’ Pendse who I first met in 2008 when we shared the same changing room in our building at work. I actually met a few of my now long term friends in those changing rooms. That doesn’t sound good but you know what I mean. Anyway in 2008 I was training for my first Comrades marathon in South Africa ( http://www.comrades.com ), the ‘human race’ as it is called. 87-89k (depending on the year) of serious hills ran from Durban to Pietermaritzburg. (or vice versa) Anyway part of our training was the Bunbury 50k which was to be our last long run. We all decided to run the 42k in 3hrs30mins (5min/k pace) and then enjoy the extra 8k for the ultra. This was to be my first ultra and I was very excited about the prospect.

The first part of the plan was executed to the minute and we crossed the marathon distance right on time. I then felt good enough to put in a bit of a burst and increase my pace to sub3 pace. In the distance I could see my mate ‘Old Phil who is a notoriously bad finisher. I caught him and passed him with ease before spying Nathan Fawkes (who at the time I did not know). Nate is a young, strapping lad and I was very pleased with myself when I caught him with about 4k to go.  Because of the out and back nature of the additional 8k I was getting comments on my position in the race and my mate Chris Kowaski (another Comrade runner, though not a back-to-back runner, there’s another story there by the way.)  ran past me and assured me I was in second place. This was all the incentive I needed, I sprang into life and was in hot pursuit of what I thought was the now leader. Anyhow with about 1k to go I caught the lead runner, who it turns out was a young lady. Anyhow she was dispatched to second as I exploded into the last kilometre.

To this day I can still feel the thrill of victory as I climbed the last hill and sped to the finish. The sun was shining and I felt great. I could see the finish line and the downhill stretch of road leading me to my victorious lap of the park , pre-finish. As I rounded the last corner my family was there videoing my finish. I remember saying to my Wife ‘I’ve won, I’ve only bloody won’. My Wife looked surprised but continued videoing me as I ran round the playing field for one lap pre-finish. Needless so say there was lots of fist pumping and arm waving but I must admit to being under whelmed at the lack of tape to break at the finish or even any sort of comment about my wonderful victory.  When I eventually caught up with Karen, my Wife, I mentioned my disappointment at the lack of acknowledgement for my maiden race victory. “Oh no”, Kare said, “you came second. A guy finished about 25 minutes infront of you.” In all the excitement of the final push, and with the nature of the Bunbury marathon, I had completely forgot about the lead runner in the Ultra, who was so far ahead I never even saw him in the out and back 8k.  He was mentioned in my speech when I received my prize for second place ! Funnily enough in 2013 I returned to Bunbury and won the marathon but that’s another story.

Anyhow the reason for the amusing story was Jon was second in the marathon that day and I recognised him from the changing rooms. Because of that I chatted to him the next week and we’ve been good friends ever since. In those 8 years I’ve seen Jon grow from from a young man into a family man with 2 great kids, lovely Wife, good career and now a very fast BMW 330d.  We’ve probably run 30+ marathons together and many ultras , as well as thousands of training kilometres and we’ve shared so many good times and laughed so much, so many times.

Running lets you meet great people who will share your life for as long as you run, it is true, only a runner knows the feeling….

It’s ironic that my post labelled Stamina is closely followed by posts relating to fatigue. How do you increase your stamina without increasing your fatigue levels? I feel the 10k race last weekend was probably a ‘race too far’ and has tipped me over the edge. Although I’m still enjoying getting out there my legs today were heavy to say the least and I can feel a tight groin that has the potential to become a real problem as I sit here typing this post. There has been niggles over the last 2-3 weeks and you’d expect that as you step up from a 100k-130k average week to 160k-190k. Ignoring the 10% rule for increasing distance but that rule I feel is aimed more at the beginner runner not the experienced version. The real problem is like a gambler on a lucky streak when a runner hits a bit of form the last thing they want to do is stop or rest. The old saying ‘is it better to burn out than fade away’. Fading away may be the right thing to do because it does mean you can return quicker, a ‘burn out’ in running terms is normally a long stint on the sidelines.

Fremantle half is so close that I feel the best course of action is 48 hours complete rest. Easy to type but, with my track record over the last few weeks, harder to achieve. A half marathon, when raced, will bite you if you are fatigued and try to run at a non-fatigued pace. You can probably get to 16k but the last 5k will be a lesson in pain management and mental torture. The mind will be willing but the legs will not play game. I have had this pleasure the last two times I have ran the Fremantle half. Both times I was racing for a top 5 finish (and a medal) but both times I faded and finished 6^th and 7^th. I may have mentioned this in a previous post, remember I am nearly 50, I tend to repeat myself. I wonder if this has anything to do with my current fatigues state, old age ! I was hoping 50 was the new 20, but really I feel this is a myth put about by 50 year olds. I’ll tell you in February next year.

So can I take 48 hours off running? I am going to make a big effort as I know it’s the right thing to do. It’ll give me more time to write a few killer posts over the weekend and maybe look at improving my blog. There’ll be the ‘good luck’ run to Yelo on Saturday morning for the best coffee and muffin in Perth. Not sure how much good luck is actually involved with this exercise but it’s something I look forward to and as a runner, as I have mentioned many times, we give up so much. I don’t consider a Yelo Muffin too much of an indulgence.

Funnily enough I did sneak out for a 10k recovery run in the evening and felt a lot better. I wear my 6 year old skins tights for recovery runs and these bad boys do make a difference. They do give you the support you need and this can certainly help and stave off injury , I hope. We’ll see on the weekend when I race Fremantle half. On the evening run I was actually trying to work out that if I run tomorrow morning early could I get back in time to give me 48 hours before Sunday morning, give or take a few minutes… Have I mentioned I could be addicted….