November 2022
After the No Time to Die ultra I have been struggling with injuries and motivation. Running the Melbourne marathon in October was probably a mistake and I paid with tight hamstrings, which made any sort of running at pace impossible. The only thing that kept me going was dry needling and strong anti-inflammatories; both dangerous long term ! Coupled with a knee niggle I have only really ran long twice in the last few months and both times were ultra races. Apart from a couple of back to back milers I have run very little and am struggling with motivation.
I have put this down to an aggressive racing calendar and I need time to recoup before more of the same next year. My only race for the rest of the year is the 6 inch ultra in late December. ( https://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) I’m hoping after the 6 Inch I’ll get my mojo back and head to the hills for my pre-Delirious West training block around Xmas and into the New Year. ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) This block of 4-6 weeks is paramount to success for the 200 miler, hours of trail running in the heat of a Perth summer. Extreme heat is as good as altitude training apparently and I love trail running in summer so its a double bonus. Delirious is also my favourite race of the season so I don’t need much motivation to get up for it. The last few years it has been a very sociable affair due to COVID making it impossible for anyone but WA runners able to get to the start line in Northcliffe. Albeit last year a forest fire almost put paid to the event coming a few days before the start. In the end it was turned from a point to point race to an out and back , which was still awesome as we got to start and finish at the Northcliffe pub , which is a great country pub and does the best food.
So this post is a couple of really cool posts by David Roche of http://www.trailrunnermag.com website . One about does downtime lead to breakthroughs ? and a second post on Kilian Jornet’s 2022 Training Data. This is epic and worth digesting. Kilian’s 8 tips may be a bit polarising for some but his thinking on double days , in my point of view, is spot on. As I have always maintained double days unlock your running dreams. Although I’m never sure why you would lock them up in the first place, anyhow locked up or not running twice a day will help you achieve your running goals. Run slow but run often. Another take away from Kilian’s tips is he runs slow nearly 60% of the time , active recovery he calls it. Again I must concur, when I saw the biggest improvement in my running times I was running between 12 to 14 times a week mostly at aerobic pace. (easy) This is what Maffetone ( https://philmaffetone.com/ ) and Athur Lydiard preach ( https://www.lydiardfoundation.org/ )
Why Downtime May Lead To Breakthroughs Sometimes it feels like the best/fastest/happiest runners never take breaks. But critical fitness adaptations happen when you rest. From an article by David Roche, March 2021 ( http://www.trailrunnermag.com )
Breaks make breakthroughs.
You know that statement is true because you could imagine it on a motivational poster of a puppy in a paw cast. To double-check the puppy-poster proof, I went through a list of the athletes that I coach. Every single one had some sort of layoff preceding their biggest accomplishments.
Injuries? This is running, so … yeah, it can seem like a cereal commercial with the number of snaps and crackles and pops. Some athletes had to stop running for months or years. Some were told they might never run again, only to come back and exceed anything they achieved before.
Here’s an objective, scientific fact: downtime is not a failure. It’s about more than that, though. The theory of this article is that if you play your cards right, breaks can lead to exponential growth processes that reset what you could have ever thought possible before the layoff.
Mental-health breaks? This is sentience, so … yeah, there were plenty of those too. Breaks come in many forms, good and bad, planned and unplanned, pregnancies and pandemics. Whatever caused the breaks, the act of taking downtime was often hard on those athletes. We all have those questions sometimes.
Champions don’t take downtime, right?
Maybe I’m not cut out for this?
Am I losing everything?
Here’s an objective, scientific fact: downtime is not a failure. It’s about more than that, though. The theory of this article is that if you play your cards right, breaks can lead to exponential growth processes that reset what you could have ever thought possible before the layoff.
Let’s start with the principles of fitness maintenance.
We’ll start here as an excuse to discuss how it’s easy to have misconceptions about how fitness changes and grows over time. A 2021 article in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that endurance performance can be maintained for 15 weeks on as little as two sessions per week, or when volume is reduced by up to 66% (as short as 13 to 26 minutes per session). The review article findings were based on a few studies that had untrained individuals do 10 weeks of six times weekly training sessions, followed by a detraining period of 15 weeks where participants were randomly assigned to reduced frequency, reduced intensity, and mixed groups. As long as there was some maintenance of intensity, participants did not significantly detrain.
Similar findings applied to strength training, with as little as one session a week being effective for maintenance in younger populations, and two sessions for older populations. The general conclusion of the review is that both frequency and volume can be reduced while maintaining fitness, with volume in particular being acceptable to drop by substantial margins over 50%.
The general conclusion of the review is that both frequency and volume can be reduced while maintaining fitness, with volume in particular being acceptable to drop by substantial margins over 50%.
I could walk 500 miles, and I could walk 500 more while reciting disclaimers. The studies apply in a narrow context for the general population, not for runners trying to optimize performance. And over longer time horizons, it’s likely that maintenance becomes short-term fitness loss as past adaptations start to fade. But the general principles overlap with the experiences of coaches and athletes about why it’s OK to take downtime.
All tie back to a general principle: once training levels reach a certain point, there might be variance around that point based on training status, but it’s always relatively quick to get back to those levels. Even if you feel out of shape, the past work you have completed is right there at the surface, ready to shine after a quick polish. That’s due to how the body retains training adaptations with time.
Decreases in VO2 max take time and levels rebound quickly.
A 1989 article in Sports Medicine found that VO2 max decreases start to begin after two to four weeks fully off, tied to reduction in cardiac output and blood volume. Follow-up studies generally find around a 5% reduction after two weeks, and up to 20% at eight to 10 weeks.
RELATED: What You Need To Know About VO2 Max
While VO2 max may drop with time off, it doesn’t take much to maintain it. For example, a 1985 study in the Journal Of Applied Physiology had athletes reduce training from six to 10 hours per week to one 35-minute session, and those athletes had no reduction in VO2 max (but their performance decreased, likely due to changes in muscular output and efficiency). And even after total detraining, VO2 max bounces back with some focused intensity.
However, that initial VO2 max reduction may make running feel hard at first, especially when trying to go harder. After a few weeks off, even slight hills make my breathing sound like a broken harmonica. Don’t worry, you’ll be ready to rock within a few weeks.
However, that initial VO2 max reduction may make running feel hard at first, especially when trying to go harder. After a few weeks off, even slight hills make my breathing sound like a broken harmonica. Don’t worry, you’ll be ready to rock within a few weeks.
Blood volume changes happen fast in both directions.
Similarly, blood volume and cardiac output are highly sensitive to both time off and reintroduction of training. Another 1985 study in the Journal of Applied Physiology found a 9% reduction in blood volume and a 12% reduction in stroke volume after two to four weeks of inactivity in trained men. On the flip side, a 1991 review in the Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise journal found that blood volume increases quickly as training is reintroduced. And a 2015 study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology found a 17.8% increase in plasma volume in highly trained cyclists after just four exposures to post-exercise sauna.
Blood volume and stroke volume feed back into VO2 max, so the initial feeling of being underwater and gasping for air upon returning to exercise is likely going to be short-lived. Plus, as demonstrated by the 2021 study on detraining, it takes very little relative training to maintain baseline levels.
Detraining is gradual for the metabolic and aerobic systems.
A 2000 review in Sports Medicine found that after around a week, the body may start to rely more on carbohydrate metabolism, with reduced capillary density too. Those adaptations make the body work harder to get energy to working muscles and limit endurance—part of the reason why you might struggle immensely on runs over 60 to 90 minutes after a longer break. Again, the changes are reversed relatively quickly with reintroduction of training, and can be maintained at lower training levels.
Neuromuscular and biomechanical lag.
Running economy decreases short-term as the nervous and biomechanical systems get slightly less efficient. That could explain why those first few runs after a layoff feel so foreign, even if you have been cross training. In coaching, I often see athletes start to feel less awkward after a week, and downright natural after intensity is reintroduced (usually via hill strides to start). And muscles may lose some strength, particularly after very long breaks (like severe injuries). But as reviewed in 2019 in Frontiers of Physiology, nuclei may not be lost from muscles during that process, possibly contributing to quick bounce-back cycles.
RELATED: Run Less to Run More
So studies and training theory are generally in agreement: detraining starts after a week or two, progresses for a month or two, and begins to level off, with some ongoing muscular changes. It can feel like you’re so far away from where you were!
But here’s why I’m never worried about that downtime, whether it includes maintenance or not. Athletes usually have a rapid return to previous fitness levels with a small dose of consistency, with it being much easier to achieve again than it was the first time. Restarting training is awakening a sleeping giant.
But here’s why I’m never worried about that downtime, whether it includes maintenance or not. Athletes usually have a rapid return to previous fitness levels with a small dose of consistency, with it being much easier to achieve again than it was the first time. Restarting training is awakening a sleeping giant.
It’s not just that, though. The sleeping giant may wake up with superpowers.
While the science is unsettled, there are so many stories of massive breakthroughs coming off downtime ranging from a few weeks to a few years that there must be physiological resets that raise the ceiling on long-term potential for some athletes. Let’s look at a few possible explanations.
Long-term recovery.
Every training session introduces some acute stress—muscular fatigue/damage, increased cortisol, hormonal disturbance. That acute stress is the whole point of training, allowing an athlete to build back stronger after adaptation. But some of those acute stresses have long tails. Take muscle damage as an example. If we did a blood test after a hard training session, there might be elevated creatine kinase, indicating some muscle breakdown. An athlete may report some subjective fatigue mirroring those results, subsiding in a day or two. Then they’ll do another workout. Heck, yes, adaptation!
Downtime can wipe the stress slate clean. Sometimes, athletes find that they were carrying a chronic stress weight vest around without realizing it.
But wait. While subjective fatigue may be approaching baseline, if we did a follow-up blood test, there would be a good chance that the athlete wasn’t fully at baseline, especially in heavy training. That’s how acute stresses can add up to become chronic stress—the long tails get stacked up over time. While chronic stress can be optimized with plenty of recovery and fuel, it’s always a risk of hard training.
Downtime can wipe the stress slate clean. Sometimes, athletes find that they were carrying a chronic stress weight vest around without realizing it.
Nervous/endocrine system hypotheses.
The interplay of the brain and hormones in long-term growth is weakly understood due to how hard the neuromuscular and endocrine systems are to measure and isolate. For the nervous system, overtraining syndrome is a prime example. A 2020 study reviewed what we know about OTS—a series of dysfunctional adaptations to excessive training and inadequate fueling, with major nervous system impacts.
While approaches vary, the general rule is that a full shut-down of training is needed in severe OTS cases. Athletes often can’t jog their way through OTS, they need to eat and sleep and chill their way through it. Even if downtime is not in response to overtraining specifically, the same rules may be relevant: the nervous system works on longer time scales when responding to chronic stress.
For the endocrine system, sex hormones estrogen and testosterone can be reduced in hard training for endurance athletes, with evidence that the hormones may increase during downtime. As with the nervous system, there may be longer-term endocrine system processes at play when it comes to how hormonal changes affect health.
Gene expression and epigenetics.
Our genetics are not just a set of instructions that we can’t influence. External stimuli change how our genetic code expresses itself via epigenetics, and there is even some evidence that epigenetic changes can be heritable. With endurance sports, relatively small stimuli may start turning some of those epigenetic switches toward endurance. While it’s debated, that could be one explanation for how bodies can undergo such fundamental and positive changes over time even if exercise routines are a few minutes a day.
If I had to venture a guess about why breaks precede breakthroughs, it would be that major reductions in training may have a priming effect on adaptations to future stimuli.
So what happens with downtime? We’re not sure. But if I had to venture a guess about why breaks precede breakthroughs, it would be that major reductions in training may have a priming effect on adaptations to future stimuli. That could involve some mix of all of these physiological processes, plus other cellular-level processes like protein expression or mitochondria changes. Or maybe it has to do with the brain and neuromuscular system.
Whatever the exact cause, breaks are not something to fear and certainly not a reason to beat yourself up. Call it the Dell PC Theorem—sometimes turning it off and turning it back on can solve problems that slow everything down.
What does it all mean in practice?
I don’t know. I don’t think anyone knows. And that concludes my TED Talk.
Wait, not quite done. Here’s what I do know: the “breaks make breakthroughs” principle is seen over and over again, in every sport. It might just be availability bias, but I don’t think so. What I think is happening is that the principles of maintenance of training interact with detraining and longer-term recovery in a way that compounds interest on underlying athletic potential.
When an athlete first starts training, the body takes some time to build up. You know the feeling—immediate gains followed by slow progress. From that new normal, our bodies can detrain and rebuild relatively rapidly, getting back on the slow progress trend.
But maybe every athlete isn’t designed for slow progress indefinitely. Maybe they even face stagnation or regression no matter how hard they work. Whether it’s due to chronic stress or just our baseline genetics interacting with training over many years, some athletes may find themselves on a trajectory that undersells their ultimate potential.
Break. Injury. Burn-out. Pandemic.
What builds back from that break? There’s no certain answer, but I have my theories. And if you have had to take downtime, just know that all of those theories point to four words when it comes to your future.
DREAM REALLY, REALLY BIG.
David Roche partners with runners of all abilities through his coaching service, Some Work, All Play. With Megan Roche, M.D., he hosts the Some Work, All Play podcast on running (and other things), and they wrote a book called The Happy Runner.
Eight Takeaways From Kilian Jornet’s 2022 Training Data
Kilian Jornet, aka the Greatest Of All Time, just published a summary of his training data and practices for all of 2022. His post is destined to be a legendary guide to thinking about training theory and what it takes to have the best season ever. Let’s break it down. Another article from David Roche, this time Spetember 2022. This is gold.
Last week, I wrote a primer on Kilian Jornet’s training data between his course records at the Hardrock 100 and UTMB (data published by watch-maker Coros). After the article came out, Kilian messaged me a new link. In case you were wondering: finding out I was going to be a dad, my marriage, Kilian sliding into my DMs, in reverse order of importance.
I clicked the link and angels sang. Kilian wrote a post that is going to be a fundamental pillar of training theory, opening up the vault to his data, theory, and mindset. It’s almost unprecedented in the history of endurance sports–an athlete at the peak of their powers being fully transparent about the how and why behind their successes.
The most recent analogue I can think of is Nils van der Poel’s speed skating training. But I think Nils wrote his training manifesto with an understanding that it was unlikely that anyone was going to be able to repeat the wild block-periodization model with workout days that almost seemed impossible.
Kilian’s training, on the other hand, is far more mainstream, the type of approach that almost any athlete could use with modifications for their backgrounds. The GOAT just wants to add to the body of knowledge of endurance training, where he is both a student and a teacher.
The GOAT wants us all to be the GOAT version of ourselves.
Read his full post–it’s brilliant and important. In this article, I am going to provide context for his training, distilling eight takeaways that are relevant for everyone. My wife/co-coach Megan and I interviewed him on our podcast this week (listen here) for more details, one of the ultimate honors of our lives. Is it creepy if we name our kid Kilian? Before you answer, keep in mind that we already printed the sign to hang above the crib.
RELATED: Kilian Jornet Isn’t The G.O.A.T. of Trail Running Just Because He Wins Big Races
Kilian’s 2022 was absolutely astounding.
Even as the ultimate fanboy, it’s mind-blowing to me that one athlete is the best short-distance mountain racer (course record at Zegama) and the best long-distance mountain racer (course record at UTMB) in the same year. The easy response to his dominance is to say he is a genetic outlier. But at the elite level of sports, it’s always a competition among outliers, and the genetic differences alone are not enough to explain dominance like Kilian’s 2022. Reading his post, it’s clear that he earned 2022 with a methodical, process-focused vision of long-term growth across decades of hard training.
On the podcast, he talked about how his training philosophy fundamentally shifted in 2018 and 2019, coinciding with the birth of his first child. Instead of long days in the mountains at zone 2, he shifted toward a different intensity distribution, emphasizing lots of easy volume and focused workouts. He made the changes without a coach (though he does work with exercise physiologist Jesús Álvarez-Herms). Instead, he made himself into an exercise physiology and training theory expert, applying what he learned and making changes based on what worked for him.
The GOAT wants us all to be the GOAT version of ourselves.
So his article is not a genetic outlier talking about the nuances of being an outlier. It’s a brilliant scientist talking about the process of maximizing potential based on universal principles of human physiology, adapted for specific variation in genetics and goals.
Time to get to it! Let’s dive into 8 takeaways from a training summary that will shape the sport for years to come.
One: Training is a long-term process of consistency and aerobic development.
A stunning figure shows Kilian’s weekly training volume since April 2009. While there is variance, most weeks average around 20 hours, split between running, skiing, biking, and other sports. There are big up-swings of skimo in the winter and running starting in spring, with his training following a seasonal cycle.
At the far right of the chart is a microscopic red circle encompassing 2022. It’s a striking visualization of how our brains can think short-term, but our bodies are playing on much longer time scales.
“There’s no such a thing as the magical session that will make you better or a training program that will work for everyone,” he says. “But the adaptations come from the repetition of training stimulus (consistency) and the individualization of those stimuli.”
Kilian has consistently averaged 1000+ hours of training per year, mostly easy, across multiple sports. His aerobic roots run deep. For all of us, the first principle of endurance training is to stack up easy volume over time. The foundation for all performance from the 800 meters up to 200+ milers is how the aerobic system processes energy and associated fatigue. That ability comes from the daily grind of easy training.
So, first? Put your own roots down. It’s a year-long thing, across decades.
Two: Most of his training is very easy, with a Pyramidal intensity distribution.
Now is the moment for every athlete to pay attention to specific guidance from the GOAT. You hear that most training should be easy, but what does that actually mean? Here’s Kilian’s breakdown of training intensity using the 5-zone model:
- 58% zone 1 (active recovery, nose breathing)
- 19% zone 2 (aerobic endurance, can keep for hours)
- 16% zone 3 (tempo, sustained fast and can say several sentences)
- 4% zone 4 (race pace, can say a sentence)
- 3% zone 5 (max)
58% in zone 1! That is an astonishing number, echoing the evolution of training theory more generally across endurance sports. Easy volume does not just allow recovery for harder sessions, but it provides the fuel that makes the hard sessions possible.
His intensity distribution is strongly Pyramidal with hints of Threshold, with 77% of his training in Zone 1 and Zone 2. The 16% in Zone 3 and 4% in Zone 4 is a high amount of threshold work, similar to some approaches used by Norwegian runners and triathletes. The smaller amount of Zone 5 work shows that he still develops his top-end speed, but with a much lesser focus.
It’s tempting to get on the trails and assume that faster is better. But stacking up faster work causes everything to decline after an initial period of growth, as the musculoskeletal system wears down, the endocrine system gets overstressed, and the aerobic system erodes via less efficient lipid metabolism and mitochondrial function.
Admittedly, 58% of training in Zone 1 may be Kilian-specific, requiring wonderful aerobic efficiency and very high volume. On our podcast, he talked about moving quickly through the mountains at 110 to 120 beats per minute heart rate, which is my heart rate when getting food from the top shelf of the pantry. But every athlete should probably have a more even split between Zone 1 and Zone 2 than might be our natural baselines, with those percentages adding up to around 80%. All easy is not created equal, and it’s valuable to slow down some of those days for workout quality, longevity, and growth along the entire aerobic spectrum.
Pyramidal training intensity is the predominant approach used by elite athletes whose training has been the subject of studies, meaning the next biggest proportion of training is tempo/threshold, with a much smaller portion faster than Critical Velocity and VO2 max. Lots easy, some moderate, just a bit hard (and make sure that hard work has a focused rationale for improving mechanical output).
Kilian leaves room for disagreement. “I know, for example, that I can absorb a great amount of volume and Z2 and Z3 training, but if I do more speed work for several continuous weeks (Z4 and Z5) I will get injured or metabolically not as efficient,” he says. “For other athletes, it is the opposite.”
What’s fascinating in the research is that an approach with a higher proportion of top-end Zone 4 and Zone 5 work (known as Polarized training) is very rarely used long-term due to its tendency to cause quick adaptations, followed by stagnation (or injury).
Three: Kilian periodizes his training across the year, with a base period preceding specific training blocks.
Kilian’s winter is spent on skis, where he’s a world-class skimo athlete. From December to March, he would do 2-4 hours on skis (mostly in Zone 2) in the AM, followed by a 40-60 minute easy treadmill run in the PM. His training graphs show no hard workouts that entire time. Interestingly, he did a 100-mile race in February to test fueling. As much as I think Kilian’s approach has lessons for all of us, doing a 100-mile race off a ski-focus may just be a Kilian thing. It’s like wearing white spandex at Western States–don’t try this at home.
That base period reinforced an already-monstrous aerobic system. The fact that he didn’t only ski shows a lesson that might be important for athletes that get lots of cross training time. It can be helpful to reinforce mechanical adaptations for running year-round, even if it’s not the primary focus.
Starting in March, he trained for Zegama at the end of May, emphasizing big volume (150-190km / 93-118 miles per week) with 2 quality workouts. In June and July leading up to the Hardrock 100, he increased training volume up to 200km (124 miles) per week, but did no longer sessions, and kept doing 2 speed workouts a week. From Hardrock to UTMB, he primarily focused on recovery and maintenance (read about that period here).
Reinforcing an aerobic base year-round is key for all endurance athletes, and it may help to have a more focused block of aerobic development in the off-season. This winter in coaching, motivated by Kilian and Nils, I am going to focus more on dedicated base periods, particularly for elite athletes. For athletes that don’t have Kilian’s background and VO2 max, it may include a small amount of intensity like in a classic Lydiard model, emphasizing the mechanical adaptations to handle faster work (like hill strides).
Kilian kept that aerobic focus going even when training for short races like Zegama. The benefits accumulate over time, so keep stacking those bricks.
Four: Most of his training sessions were relatively short, but with tons of doubles.
A big change in Kilian’s life was when he became a dad a few years ago. His wife Emelie Forsberg is one of the GOATs herself, and they balance the demands of family life, business, and training as a team. In practice, that means that one gets the early block, one gets the afternoon block, and then their nights are free after the kids go to sleep.
And that seismic shift in life’s demands may have also unlocked a training secret: Kilian rarely does “long” training sessions. Almost all of his runs didn’t exceed 4 hours in 2022 (with most far shorter), a major change from what I had heard in whispers about his training in the early 2010s. However, he still accumulated massive volume week after week. How does that math add up?
The answer is by using doubles–two sessions in one day. On our podcast, he said that he completed doubles almost every day. For all athletes, doubles may improve hormonal response to training, and avoiding excessively long sessions could reduce some of the chronic stress of high-volume training. These sessions can likely be as short as 10-15 minutes, running or cross training, and may have outsized influence on fitness growth. There’s a reason that almost every elite athlete training log includes doubles, even if we aren’t 100% sure on the mechanism of action that makes them nearly universal.
The outstanding question is whether other ultra athletes could excel from so few extra-long efforts in training. Kilian has completed so many ultras and long sessions that he has no doubts about his aerobic abilities, or how his body will respond late in events. Most of us step into the unknown, but nothing is unknown to Kilian. Interestingly, this approach focused on training frequency to accumulate volume rather than supersized single days overlaps with some of the training of ultra champion Camille Herron (and others), so it’s possible that very long efforts are an overrated part of ultra training.
Five: Kilian does workouts that focus on the specific demands of his events.
Now it’s time for some workout porn. I know that Kilian doesn’t want us to read too deeply into any specific session, but these are too good to pass up. He groups his sessions into 3 groups: speed, threshold, and tempo.
For pure flat speed training, he only did 4 workouts all year long. WOW! That includes track staples like 10 x 400 meters, which he says he limited due to risk of injury, a problem he faced in the past when focusing on road training. This may be a place where his genetic ability matters–he is very fast naturally, so it might not be an element that he needs to reinforce much, at least on flat ground. Most trail runners can probably limit their flat ground work, with just enough reinforcement to help hill strength translate into flat speed.
His staple session was an uphill/flat combination workout (like what I wrote about here). He starts with 1 or 2 intervals up a steep climb, with the downhill for recovery. After, he does a flat workout, such as a 10km tempo, 2 x 5km tempo, or 10 x 1k. On the podcast, he said that it improves his ability to run uphill fast and then on flats fast, like in a race. All athletes can likely use combination workouts, but scaled down to current levels.
His third big type of session was a longer steady run. He starts at high Zone 2 before increasing the effort, usually over 20 km to 30 km (12 – 18 miles). These long, steady runs are likely underutilized by many athletes in training, and they are a great opportunity to build specific endurance and musculoskeletal resilience. Just be careful not to turn them into races, since the intensity control is key to avoid an excessive amount of time in the upper intensity zones, undercutting aerobic growth.
The magic simplicity of Kilian’s training is that it’s usually 2 of those workouts a week plus easy running across daily doubles. Rinse and repeat, with specificity before races indicating higher volume preceding long ultras and a greater workout focus preceding shorter events. Finish up with a taper that is very easy and includes rest days for ultras, and a bit less easy with fewer rest days for shorter races.
Six: Most of his aerobic training is on steep and technical trails.
While Kilian consistently does moderate/hard workouts on flat ground or non-technical trails, many of his easy runs are on the trails where he lives in Norway. Just looking at a photo of those trails gives me a stress ulcer–they are steep and technical in ways that are rarely seen in the US outside of climbing routes.
He likes workouts to be on smoother and/or flatter surfaces to “privilege the metabolic and muscular capacities”–optimizing raw output. He likes slower days “on terrain that challenges other aspects (cognitive, mental, technique, visualization…and they’re much more fun!).”
Make sure that you aren’t sacrificing output in your harder sessions. On a steep and technical climb, an athlete’s grade-adjusted pace may be 1-2 minutes per mile slower than on a less technical climb. While the efforts feel equally hard, that translates to lower output, and likely to fewer adaptations. However, on purely easy days, you can have fun with it! Plus, working on technical abilities requires constant reinforcement, like all cognitively and neuromuscularly demanding physical movements.
Seven: Strength work is not a part of his training.
Readers, I know that you know that I am not a big fan of a heavy emphasis on strength training. But my views are far outdone by Kilian’s views. “I don’t do any strength sessions,” he says. “Having limited time for training, I believe that the stress to the body from strength training would be too much to be able to give the best at the running or skiing sessions, where I want to put the focus because they are more specific.”
However, it’s important to note that skiing is a bit like one long strength session, and the way Kilian runs up hills is similar to plyometrics. So he may be playing by a different set of rules than most athletes. I like a minimal-dose program, focused on the least amount possible to get the necessary adaptations, often as little as a few minutes 2-3 times per week.
Eight: It’s all about the process.
Near the end of our podcast, we asked Kilian about the one piece of advice he’d give an aspiring young pro. We had been diving deep into training theory, so I was trying to ask a leading question for him to give away his ultimate methodological secret. Instead, he swerved the conversation.
“Focus on the process, not on the results.”
He described the importance of developing a deep love of daily training, through ups and downs, wins and losses. It’s going to take many years to see where the limits are, and it’s way better when it’s fun.
RELATED: Five Elite Coaches On The Biggest Change They’ve Made to Improve Their Training
Kilian talking about training is Kilian talking about anything. He’s a founder of the shoe company NNormal, which is set to be a major player in the future of the sport. Yet even as he’s probably being roped into conversations on growth models and projections, he’s still focused on the process of making a fulfilling workplace for himself and his employees. The same goes for parenting, with his eyes lighting up at the mention of fatherhood and all the new stressors that come with it.
Over the last few weeks, I have learned that Kilian is not the GOAT because of genetics. He is the GOAT because he loves it. We asked him how he reconciled a love of the mountains with all of the data he collects on his training. He had a genius reply: to him, science is a manifestation of his love, of his respect for the sport and the mountains and what they require.
I have never been so motivated to get out there tomorrow and run. I’ll be doing it for the love of the process, and all the messy narratives that entails. I hope you are as inspired by Kilian as I am, helping you get out tomorrow and embrace a love of that messy process.
And I hope that we all can do that year-round for a few decades in a row to find our true limits…with a substantial portion of those days in Zone 1.
Finally as always I give a shout out to three of my favourite products… fisiocrem ( https://www.fisiocrem.com.au/ ) is just bloody brilliant and does exactly what it says it does , it just gets the major muscle groups moving again. I use this extensively towards the end of the race when my quads are hammered. It really makes a difference and allows me to move back through the gears towards the end of an event when most runners are stumbling home.
Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ ) The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products) can be difficult to digest later in the event. From the website :-
As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority.
In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance.
In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born.
BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work!
BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!
What can I say about HumanTecar, ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !
or follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/runbkrun/
and facebook
Hysterical Carnage 2022 was to be the last piece of the jigsaw in the Ultra Series backyard ultra Grand Slam, running all four of the backyard Ultras in a calendar year. Myself , Jen and Renton were the only three runners who would complete this magnificent task. The image below is the Grand Slam runners and the Race Director, well one of them, Michelle in fancy dress. (Well I am assuming it’s fancy dress ?) The three of us have had many adventures together over the four events and travelled to Adelaide twice ( No time to Die ( https://nttdfrontyard.com.au/ ) and Hysterical Carnage ( https://hystericalcarnage.com.au/ ) as well as Lake Towerinning in regional WA (for Birdy’s Backyard ultra https://birdysbackyardultra.com.au/ ) and inner city Perth for Herdys frontyard ultra ( https://herdysfrontyard.com.au/ ) A special mention to Margie Hadley who had run three of the four as well as the World team backyard Ultra in November (and set a new Women’s Australian record ) and also Nico Watkins who had also ran three of the four but fell at the last hurdle.
I also had another objective for this event after running the Feral Pig 100 miler the previous weekend, I was after back to back milers, a feat I had never achieved or even attempted. To do this I needed to complete 24 laps.
The conditions in sunny Loxton were as the name suggests, sunny. It was going to be a hot one but after Feral the previous week I wasn’t that worried, living and training in the heat of Western Australian summers had acclimatised me to the heat and it was no longer a worry. I have said many times I consider the climate of Western Australia to be just about perfect all year around for running. We haven’t a Winter to speak off , Spring and Autumn are great temperatures and you can avoid the heat in Summer by running early if you so desire or just slower in the heat of the day if that’s your thing.
Shaun Kaesler and his pregnant Wife Sarah were also running and the five of us posed for the cameras before the start of the event, all smiles before the first lap. Sarah had targeted three or maybe four laps while Shaun was keen to smash his 10 lap PB and see how deep he could go. Shaun’s father, Frank, was also running and is as big a character as his son, surprisingly.
The course had changed since last year which was a pity as it was one of my favourite courses. A large hill you had to walk and then a few kilometres of level running before a road section into a nice trail and then a swamp section before some more level road running to finish. It made for fast laps which meant more time to recover, on the hour every hour. We also had great conditions last year and I managed an assist to Phil Gore, for the second time that year. More than happy with my 37 laps coming two weeks after the Feral miler.
This year, as the image below of last years race village shows, we had water issues. The Murray River had burst its banks and Shaun had to come up with a new course. He did this by adding a big hill and a loop section around the Pioneer Village. On the plus side we actually got to run through the Pioneer Village this year , rather than around it last year. This was pretty cool , especially late at night when you had the place to yourself bar one disgruntled security guard. I’m not sure it made up for the extra elevation but I can’t complain, I still enjoyed the course as the last hill was a good reason to walk for a few hundred metres.
Another bonus was the Loxton Council had been busy and put in stairs to help the runners climb the first hill. Last year the path got more and more challenging as the event went on with new ruts forming each lap. This year no such problem although I’m sure, as last year, the hill grew during the event, it certainly got harder. We started the event in the caravan park and ran to a improvised trail before the stairs and this trail was undulating and technical, made for some near misses as we tired.
The 10am start was upon us and we were off into the heat of a spring day in Loxton. As the images below show it was a beautiful day initially but we all knew the heat was coming and it didn’t let us down. I ran a few laps with Shaun Kaesler who was enjoying his last event of the year for the Ultra Series, I think it was number 18 ? ( https://ultraseries.com.au/ ) This has been a great year for Shaun but I feel he has found his limits and I hope he had put things in place to make 2023 easier on him and his loyal staff. It has certainly been a case of famine and feast after the COVID years and I see a bright future for the Ultra Series moving forward. I highly recommend you get on board and participate in one of the many events offered, there are some seriously good ones. Check out the website for more details.
As I mentioned before Loxton in South Australia, where the event is run, is Shaun’s home town and his family even have their own street. It was only a hundred metres off the course so we couldn’t resist sneaking a photo though please note we exited and reentered the course at the same point. I love the photo, me trying to see my iphone over the top of my sunnies and Shaun just being Shaun, sometimes an image can capture the moment perfectly.
Right back to racing. I always divide any backyard ultra course into three separate sections, this is a big tip so make sure you digest it. For Hysterical the first part is from the start (obviously) to the top of the hill after the first road section. This encompasses the first hill , the next kilometre or so through the paddock and then the trail section before the road. This was the hardest section as the paddock was sapping on the legs and there was some gradient gain. From the top of the road to the end off the Pioneer Village was section two. Mostly all down hill or level this was easy running although the gradient was steep enough to test the legs later in the event. The final section was from the exit of the Pioneer Village back to the start which included some level running before the road hill you ran down on the way out and a steep final descent back to the event village.
By breaking down the course into three sections you hit targets quicker and can also gauge where you are , time wise, if you are struggling to make the loop within the hour cut off. You also know when to put in more effort and when you can cruise. For me the first section was the hardest and when I got to the top of the road hill I could cruise to the end of the Pioneer Village before putting in some more effort to finish. By doing this the lap passes quicker.
This event was always going to hurt coming so soon after Feral and it didn’t disappoint. I always struggle for the fist 15 or so laps at any backyard ultra but if I can get past 100km then the 24 hour lap becomes a target and I can normally find a second wind to get there. This proved to be the case at Hysterical. I enjoyed the heat of the day but was also relieved when it was time to don head torches and the temperature dropped. Night running is where you can lose yourself on the course and everybody retreats to their small circle of light ahead of them. This is where a good audible book comes in very handy, I was lucky enough to find Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir at Birdys and this makes such a difference. You actually can’t wait for the next chapter and time, and laps, disappears. I also used audible at Unreasonable earlier in the year and the Matthew McConaughey biography Green Light kept me entertained for hours. For Hysterical I had Kevin Hart talking me though his life in ‘I can’t make this up’, another great book and it makes such a difference.
The sunset came quickly on Friday which was a good sign. I was finishing each lap around 45 minutes which is where I wanted to be, towards the front of the field. It gave me time to get everything charged, nutrition and hydration and also a few minutes with the shoes off relaxing in my chair. I was sharing a marquee with Renton and Jen who were both relaxed early on, both experienced enough to pace themselves, remember in this event its’ the runner who finishes last that eventually wins. Time between laps is as important as the running time. Get it right and you’ll be fresh for the lap , fueled and watered, get it wrong and fatigue will start to creep in and as Lazerus says ‘running a backyard ultra is easy until it isn’t‘.
Highlights of the evening was definitely running through the Pioneer Village alone or with a disgruntled security guard. It was very cool having the place to yourself and the bonus of public toilets was the cherry on the cake. The evening laps seem to disappear quickly and the temperature was never an issue, warm enough that you didn’t freeze when you stopped but cool enough you didn’t over heat running. I wore a singlet for the first day and night which was perfect, maybe adding a towel as a blanket when I sat in my reclining chair while I drank my tea, with three sugars of course.
Once the sun came up every runner was reinvigorated, the sunrise has that effect on people and you can just about guarantee another 4-5 laps just on the adrenalin rush of making it through the night. The morning was cooler than the previous day as we had some cloud cover and the impending storm was brewing on the horizon. It was predicted to rain on Saturday and boy did it rain later in the day. The storm that was predicted also arrived , with avengence but that’s later in the story.
Love this view, below, from the top of the stairs looking back to the start line. The Murray River looking resplendent , it really did put on a show for us over the few days we were there. The locals were saying this was a once in a decade like conditions so next year it’ll probably be dry and dusty , which is the norm apparently. On the Saturday we had a months rain in a few hours and for a lucky few we were able to appreciate it on the course. Luckily my Kathmandu Gore-Tex jacket did its job and even though I was nearly drowning while standing up I was never uncomfortable.
As you can see from the image below the sky started to turn early morning , around 9am I think I noticed something afoot. You could see trouble ahead. They had predicted a good storm and you could feel it coming. I have other things on my mind though. Once I hit sunrise I knew I was a shoe in for the 24 hour mark I coveted. I began to enjoy the loops and with the aid of fisiocrem and some Panadol my legs were behaving. I know I say this constantly but fisiocrem really does make a huge difference on multi-day events, just puts the spring back into tired muscles. No idea what they put in the product but it works.
Seven runners left for the 100 mile lap, not sure where Kevin Muller was ?, anyhow mission accomplished and even better all the three Grand Slam runners made 24 hours, how good is that? Backyard Ultra number four for the year and Renton, Jen and I can still finish high up the field, it looks like experience really does make a difference for this format but I always knew that. A massive congratulations to Renton on a PB and he looked so good , until he wasn’t which happened quickly, lap 25 and he DNF’d. Not a problem he was stoked to finally make the 100 mile club on a backyard ultra. I’m sure if Nico Watkins had made it to the start he’d have also made the 100 mile distance but alas no, he is still on the outer and has to wait outside , probably in the rain, while we bask in the glory of the 100 mile club.
As is now tradition I finished lap 24 and adopted the ‘dead runner’ pose , as I call it. Again as usual everybody takes a photo rather than check I’m ok, they could at least pause my Coros.? The photo below is a classic from Michelle and it sums up the day, bleak and lonely with worse to come, the weather gods were about to play their hand and it was a good one.
The final laps and thing began to hurt. It seemed my strong anti-inflammatories were starting to give in to the pain from the now visibly swelling ankle. This was an injury I had picked up from the Feral Pig ultra caused by tightening the ankle timing bracelet too tight, rookie error. I had not ran , or even attempted to run, in-between the two events but knew that eventually the ankle would probably say enough is enough. Around lap 26 I mentioned this to the Race Director at the time, Michelle, expecting sympathy, and she responded by pulling up my sock over the offending swelling and sending me back out onto lap 27, priceless.
I nearly forgot to mention lap 26 when the heavens opened up and I mean opened up. It had be brewing all morning and when it came it was a serious down pour. I’ve been on this planet for over 55 years but I can’t honestly remember a downpour as bad, or good if you’re a farmer which at the time I wasn’t ! The course changed completely and I went from running in a dust bowl to running in a river with a strength to nearly take your feet from under you. It was crazy but also pretty cool as as I said earlier I was prepared for the deluge and enjoyed the experience of running in extreme conditions, albeit for half a lap. I managed to get back to the start , dry off and then Michelle kicked me out again, one more lap.
Lap 27 and all was dry again, so quickly, where did all that rain go ? Must be really porous ground in Loxton ? I struggled from the start and was left alone with my thoughts by the other 5 runners. Wayne Chapman was on course clapping us as we passed and he could see I was suffering. Wayne was brilliant the whole time. He managed 5 laps himself then spent the rest of the day and night supporting us, popping up at every corner it seemed at the time. His support did make a difference. I managed to get in around 55 minutes and the five minute warning song was already playing as I slumped into my chair. By this time the foot had gone very troublesome, to annoying and was moving towards very painful with possible long term injury. I had achieved all my goals and was obviously the weakest of the remaining five runners as I was being dropped early each lap.
Undeterred I thought I’d go for one more lap and call it if I made it to the finish. Again I was dropped by the top of the hill but this time I was walking early with little chance of even a stumble. I eventually made the left turn before the road with Wayne patiently waiting for me. This time though there was no words of encouragement good enough to send me on my way. I took up his offer of a lift back to the start after making a quick detour to say my goodbye’s to the remining runners on the course.
Wayne drove me right up to the start line, through the event village, and I popped out of his front seat and ran that bell for all I was worth. DNF lap 28, bloody awesome result. This left five runners on the course but the weather had yet to play its trump card, a thunder and lightning storm for the ages. This was enough to stop the event at lap 30, the right call, and that was it. The last five runners’ DNF’d with Mother Nature the winner, such is life.
So that’s it, four backyard ultras for the Grand Slam, 130 laps, (Herdys 34 /6th /Birdys 36 /5th NTTD 33 /LOS / Hysterical 27/6th ) just over 870km of fun, fun, fun, at least I think it was. ? That’s eight backyard ultras and I hope to compete in many more, it’s an event like no other and when you know, you know. If you haven’t tried one , do you won’t regret it, you’ll go further than you ever thought you could and at some point you’ll enjoy it, remember as Lazarus Lake says ‘ it’s easy until it’s not’…..
I have so many people to thank for this event. My Grand Slam buddies Renton and Jen, we had so many laughs over the events, so many. Shaun Kaesler and his army of volunteers including the three race directors , Michelle, Georges and Kirk. These guys put in a monster shift and coped with all Mother Nature could throw at them. All my fellow competitors who always encouraged me and everybody around them, it really is a brotherhood (or sisterhood?) of suffering but this bonds us. Wayne Chapman for just being there , on every corner, encouraging us all. Tamas for being Tamas.Everybody who made me a cup of tea and there were a few of you. Georges or Michelle’s Mum ?, for the best omelette ever and also the best Anzac biscuits. My Wife for crewing and doing a damn good job, Charlotte and Jasmin, two of my three daughters, for tuning up occasionally and not complaining too much and finally Michelle for the medical advice, I never knew you can fix most running injuries’ just by hiding them.
Finally as always I give a shout out to three of my favourite products… fisiocrem ( https://www.fisiocrem.com.au/ ) is just bloody brilliant and does exactly what it says it does , it just gets the major muscle groups moving again. I use this extensively towards the end of the race when my quads are hammered. It really makes a difference and allows me to move back through the gears towards the end of an event when most runners are stumbling home.
Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ ) The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products) can be difficult to digest later in the event. From the website :-
As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority.
In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance.
In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born.
BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work!
BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!
What can I say about HumanTecar, ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !
or follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/runbkrun/
and facebook https://www.facebook.com/runbkrunoz
The Feral Pig 100 miler is a beast of an event. Over 4,300 metres of elevation on brutal trail in the searing heat of a Western Australian spring day. The best is saved for last after returning to the start line and then having to face the hardest terrain of the day in the 38k ‘death loop’ , normally attempted in the late evening or early morning when you are at your weakest.
I have ran the Feral twice before , in 2020 I got my ass well and truly kicked 🙁 https://www.runbkrun.com/2020/11/13/another-lesson-learned-ultras-teach-you-stuff/ ) but I returned last year and returned the favour, take that piggy ! ( https://www.runbkrun.com/2021/12/13/feral-pig-100-miler-in-case-you-missed-it/ )
So it was best of three time and to give the pig a chance I picked up an injury post Melbourne Marathon, in early October, so had ran less than 100km’s in the five weeks coming into the event, not ideal. I had managed to get to the start line thanks to some dry needling from Myree (the most painful experience of my short life!) and some seriously strong anti-inflammatories, prescription strength. Unfortunately the little running I had done in the last few weeks was pitiful at best and the only reason I rocked up to the start was the entry money was non-refundable, as I had left it so late, and I had no other plans so a three day hike on the bib sounded like fun. ?
As you can see from the Stava extract (you are on Strava right ? http://www.strava.com ) I had ran 6 times since the Melbourne marathon and I use the word ‘ran‘ in the loosest sense of the word. With my tight hamstrings , a result of running ‘fast’ at Melbourne, I could only run while high on strong anti-inflammatories and even Myree and her needles of pain couldn’t release the hamstrings fully. The orange activities are time on my Elliptigo ( http://www.elliptigo.com ) which was the best cross training I could muster without inuring myself. I enjoy my GO time but it’s nowhere near enough exercise in preparation for a Feral assault. The last three runs pre-Feral were pitiful at best and I was lucky to average around 6min/k , while the heart pumped at beats per minute reserved for sprinting, things were not good. The ultimate low for me was my last run pre-Feral, an 11km run in the ghetto that is City Beach where I slowed kilometre on kilometre until towards the end I was barely running. I passed two young men collecting from the verge when one of them starts to run backwards with me and asks his friend to video it. He was most excited that he could run backwards faster than this old fella, struggling, could run forwards. The worst part was my hammys were so tight I couldn’t go any faster and just had to take the embarrassment head on. I remember thinking to myself I had sunk to a new low in my running career. As I mentioned in the last paragraph I had no right rocking up to the start of the Feral but with nothing better to do on the weekend a long hike , with like minded runners, sounded ok?
Undeterred by my lack of training and negative attitude from the Yelo running crew, in their defence it was ludacris to attempt the Pig really, I fronted up to the Perth Discovery Centre early evening on Friday to catch the 9:35pm bus to the start line.
It’s tradition before we leave to recite the Feral Pig pledge and once Shaun Kaesler talked us through it were away on the two hour bus journey to the start line over 130km’s south on the Brookton Highway. The bus is a somber affair as all runners are desperately trying to get as much shut-eye as possible knowing it will probably be their last for a minimum of 24 hours and, for most, even longer. I nodded off a few times and was awoken when we left the highway and start to bounce along an off-road section just big enough for the bus. The clock was showing 11:30pm so we have 30 minutes to kill before the start.
This is the time Shaun Kaesler gets all the runners into a big circle, everybody turns off the headtorches and we just bask in the silence and tranquility of our surroundings, trust me people it’s special. Worth running a hundred miles for, probably not but a nice touch and it certainly fills you with positive vibes and prepares you for the task ahead. Mr. Kaesler really is the pied piper of ultra runners and in Shaun we trust.
The Feral start at midnight is unique and is a double edged sword, on one hand you have less than five hours until daylight but on the other you are starting a 100 mile race already sleep deprived and you know Sunday morning, early, you are going to have pay the piper. Due to the remoteness of the route the first aid station, Sullivan Rocks, isn’t until 41km, and it’s really for drop bag pick up only, not hot food as such , and the second aid station , Brookton Highway, is at 74km. That is a long way between aid stations. After Brookton they start to come every 13km or so until the end and this is much more manageable.
The first twenty or so kilometres is very runnable with no real elevation to speak off, I settled into a group of four runners with the Feral pain train of 2021, Cam D’Silva and Andy Thompson joined by our new recruit Neily Rae. Throughout the night runners came and went but the four of us were pretty constant until just after Mount Cook when Andy took off. Mount Cook was as challenging as always , elevation and also it just gets cold and windy near the summit, funny that. Coming off Mount Cook you eventually hit some good running terrain again , the sunrises , and before you know it you’re at Sullivan Rocks, aid station one.
At Sullivans I was prepared with a drop bog, one of only two for me, filled with goodies including 5 weetbix and milk. I have learnt from the two previous races that this aid station is really just a place to pick up your drop bag. Nothing compared to the smorgasbord we would be presented with at Brookton Highway thanks to Shannon Dale, the aid station King. I wolfed down my weetbix but in the rush to leave (why? It’s a 100 mile race!) I must have repacked or misplaced most of my gu’s. I left Sullivan Rock with very little in the way of nutrition, which was a mistake as the next aid station was another thirty two kilometres away. The image below is me and Cam at the top of Sullivan Rocks about to get trampled on by the 100 km runners and 50 mile runners. They do it every year although this year I think we arrived ten minutes earlier than the previous year so we had a bit of a headstart, ultimately it just delayed the inevitable.
After Sullivans Cam started to drop off citing an issue with his knee and Neily also faded leaving me with my thoughts and Taylor Swift on the Aftershokz, normal service had been resumed. Cam actually made it back to the Perth Discovery Centre, over 130km, in pain for over 100km of that distance. Bloody amazing effort and together we’ll go better next year. (Did I just type that?) He is a young man with a big future in trail running and ultra distance running. We’ll run together in February when we both take on the Delirious West 200 miler , with his mentor Carl Douglas. ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ )
Luckily before I reached Brookton I bumped into Tristan Cameron running with another miler and he had some extra nutrition he was able to give me as well as a water bottle. this certainly made the journey easier. To my credit I gave his some fisiocrem which helped his aching limbs. Fisiocrem is an absolute must for these events and I carry a tub with me in my backpack as well as tubes in my drop bags, it’s that good ! At every aid station and regularly throughout the event I would lather my legs in fisiocrem, it is ace !
Between Sullivan Rocks and Brookton Highway aid stations someone turned on the heat. This isn’t a problem for me as I love the heat , well I love running in the heat, daily life going about my business in the heat I whine like a stuffed pig. Actually I think that should be ‘bleed like a stuffed pig’? but whine is better in this scenario. I very rarely bleed like a stuffed pig when it’s hot, unless I trip ? I digress. I was probably undernourished and dehydrated by the time I got into Brookton but all this changed as Shannon Dale and his aid station oasis recharged my batteries. As you can see from the image below he knows the way to my heart. Bacon, egg and pancakes swimming in maple syrup, there are no words !
I left Brookton Highway feeling like a million dollars, bacon has that effect on me. The next aid station was Dale Car Park , a mere 13km away. After the first two aid stations spanning nearly 74km, a 13km hop was childs play. The trail was also special with the spring flowers in full bloom and also the colours from a recent burn-off, stunning. I stopped several times to try and capture the images on my iphone 11 but to no avail. (Note to self, time for a new iphone 14 for Xmas. ) It’s amazing how the world changes after a good feed and this is a valuable lesson , if you’re feeling like you’re done just eat and drink , a lot ! You can then walk it off initially before running again, fully fueled. As I have said many times a diesel van with fuel will destroy a Bugatti with no fuel all day long. Ultra running is all about getting the hydration and nutrition right. Sounds easy right , not so trust me.
Between Brookton and Dale Car Park I ran alone and just enjoyed the serenity of the occasion and the magnificence of my surroundings. The 13km slipped away quickly and before I knew it I was sitting down at Dale Car Park with a great cup of tea, white with three sugars, thankyou Harmony. I had my second , and final drop bag, here and opened it to find a tin of rice pudding, winning. ! Rice pudding is my go to as it is easy to digest, is full of all the good things an ultra runner needs and tastes great. Please note I only ever eat Rice Pudding when racing, as a day to day treat its probably not ideal, probably ? Before I left it was suntan cream time, thanks Heath Watkins, and off I went to take on more trails. Eleven more kilometres before Beraking aid station, another small hop albeit a few nasty elevations in the way. The fisiocrem certainly got a hammering at each aid station, making a massive difference.
Things were really heating up now and I had been running for well over 14 hours. The hill ( mountain?) before Beraking doesn’t have a name as such but boy it is long and grinds you down. Shaun mentioned at the start of the event that Beraking seems to be the DNF high point for the miler and I can see why. You’ve ran most of the night, and all day , and are now tired, hot and have just faced a monster of a hill. You hit the aid station at 99km into the 163km race knowing you have a death loop (38km ) ahead of you as well as over 60 kilometers, very easy to pull the pin. I felt good at Beraking as the next aid station , Allen Road, is where I start to enter my ‘happy place’. Allen Road to the Discovery Centre is a segment I have ran many times and know it like the back of my hand. I knew once I hit Allen Road I could easily get back to the start before the final death loop, the hardest part of the whole event.
The next aid station hop to Allen Road was around 16km, moving from 99km to 113km into the event. Again some serious elevations between these aid stations but the scenery made up for the brutality of the terrain. The temperature started to drop as we neared sunset and I managed to get to the Allen Road aid station just before the sun disappeared. I gorged on chocolate at Allen Road, trying something different to try and boost performance and who doesn’t love chocolate. Fueled on dark chocolate I climbed out of Allen Road and headed back to the start where I had left 18 hours earlier. As I said earlier this is my go to loop and I know it so well, it would be a lot easier running this route with my history on this trail.
Between Allen Road and the Discovery Centre I ran though the sunset which is my favourite time on the trails. The light is just so special at this time of the day and around each corner you are faced with another breath taking image. Colors change by the minute and it takes all my will power not to stop every few yards and take another photo. I have added an image below but I have so many more, I could have probably have finished a lot quicker if I hadn’t kept stopping and taking photos but when the scenery is this good you just need to stop and take it all in. This is why we do what we do after all.
Upto Allen Road aid station I had been mostly running alone but had been yo-yo’ing with Doug Bartlett for most of the day, we both came into Allen Road at around the same time and I suggested we run the last part of the race together. In the dark company can be a good thing. He agreed but he was too quick and I let him go early although I did catch him as we got to within 4km of the discovery centre and we talked about setting off into the death loop together, after a 90 minute rest. At this point we also nearly caught Andy Thompson, who had dropped Cam and I about 80 kilometres earlier. We heard him and Harmony, his pacer, a few hundred metres ahead of us but never managed to catch him. He also had a power nap at the Discovery centre and left with Doug.
We got into the Perth Discovery Centre around 9:30pm, 132km into the event and nearly twenty hours . There was no way I could face the death loop, the hardest 38km of the whole event, without some rest. Doug and Andy also tried to get some sleep and I scurried off to my car , got changed into some pajama’s and dived into a sleeping bag. I set the alarm for 11pm and tried to sleep. Normally I drop off to sleep very quickly but for some reason I couldn’t get comfortable and lay there thinking about what lay ahead of me. This is the hardest part of the Feral pig, lying in your car with the opportunity to drive away and end the suffering or starting on the death loop knowing you’ll be out there for probably around nine hours. Two years ago I left at this point , driven home by Adam around midnight, albeit I was pretty broken. Last year I breezed through the aid station and left after a quick pot noodle, chasing a buckle finishing time. It was one for the pig and one for me, this was the decider, it all came down to my next decision.
After working with Rob Donkersloot from Mind Focused Running ( https://mindfocusedrunning.com/ ) there really was only one option. Change of clothes, change of mental attitude and into the night I would go, unfortunately at this point alone as Doug and Andy has already left. It would have been better to run with them but I felt they were both running quicker and I didn’t want to hold them back. It was me, my shokz headphones and Taylor Swift again, the deadly duo reunited. I walked to the aid station letting them know I was off into the death loop alone when I saw Neily Ray get some work done on his feet. The last time I saw Neily was exiting Sullivan Rocks, a lifetime ago. I was going to wait for him when Shaun Kaesler informed me Tristan Cameron had just left minutes earlier. Company was too good to turn up, I left the aid station and chased Tristan down which didn’t take long as he was playing with his light about 100 metres down the trail. This was good news, we agreed to run (hike?) together but in all the commotion I had forgot to grab any water or food. I had a 8km hop to the next aid station with no nutrition or hydration, great ? Again Tristan had more than enough for both of us so it wasn’t a problem.
The death loop (or DNF loop) is a real nasty piece of work. You have to run normally at night and after running a 132km warm up with a midnight start the previous evening. You’re tired, very tired and probably worse and you know you have a really long night ahead of you, and early morning. Last year I ran most of it and still took nearly 8 hours, this year there would be little running. Tristan and I just broke the loop down into four separate sections, what I recommend you do with any ultra distance event. Don’t concentrate on the finish , which could be days away, instead aim for the next aid station. Get there and then reset with your next goal being the next aid station, leap frog your way to the finish, one aid station at a time.
For this loop we had just over 9km to the Camel Farm aid station, then a similar distance to Jorgensen park, Kalamunda, before retuning the same way , via the Camel Farm, to the finish. The first 18km was the hardest as we climbed from the Discovery Centre to Jorgensen Park. Once we go to Jorgensen Park we could turn and roll home, well that’s how we sold it to ourselves. We staggered and I mean staggered to Camel Farm where we stopped for a cup of tea albeit with no sugar, sacrilege, and some cold sausage rolls. As we sat there mulling over the next section Neily Ray came into sight and the duo became a trio. The three of us would finish together and the company made the journey so much more enjoyable.
We left the Camel Farm to take on the hardest section of the death loop, the 9km to Jorgensen Park. There are two massive climbs within this section on just about un-runable single track. Add to this we go lost on a descent following an old trial on the Gaia app, and when I say old I mean old, I reckon the last people on this trail would have been early settlers. ! We eventually made the summit at Jorgensen Park to an oasis of an aid station. Hot food, hot tea and great company. The only problem was we were all so tired myself and Neily actually nodded off in our chairs. It was time to get moving or we’d never leave. The mental boost from knowing you are on a descent to the finish and with a full stomach, cannot be under estimated. Now every step was a step towards the finish line and mostly downhill. It got even better when the sun rose albeit it brought rain with it for good measure. Undeterred we kept moving forward and breezed through the Camel Farm on the way back, not even stopping, we could smell the finish.
I have no photos of this stage bar the two images below. The first the three of us at Mundaring dam at the top of the stairs, all smiles, and the last one at the finishing line. I was just fatigued to take out my phone and take photos, and if you know me that is a big deal. This race destroys you, it’s as simple as that.
Mission accomplished. We staggered home from the Camel Farm and even broke into a trot on a few occasions. Overall just over nine hours for the last 38km and I’m happy with that. Tristan and Neily made it bearable and I’m sure we’ll all sign up again. In the end we finished in 32 hours 19 minutes and change. Given the build up to this event it goes down as one of my greatest achievements’. A week before the event I was struggling to finish a 10km , to complete the Feral was a miracle and a testament to Rob Donkersloot and his work on my mental strength. No more talk of DNF’ing just enjoying the moment and reminding myself that this is what I signed up for and enjoy it. He’s got a point you know.
So what’s next ? Well you’re probably not going to believe this but Hysterical Carnage backyard ultra ( https://hystericalcarnage.com.au/ ) is five days after the Feral Pig. I love Hysterical and this year am taking the family along so it’s recovery and then racing again. No time for training due to the quick turn around. Only fly in the ointment is a very badly bruised ankle due to the timing chip ankle bracelet being too tight, rookie error. It’s back onto the anti-inflammatories for one more adventure, promise.
As well as the strong drugs I also use my Human Tecar compression bandages and spray to aid recovery. ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) I have used the compression bandages after both of my 200 milers this year and they really work. We’ll see how they go this time, pre-Hysterical.
Finally as always I give a shout out to three of my favourite products… fisiocrem ( https://www.fisiocrem.com.au/ ) is just bloody brilliant and does exactly what it says it does , it just gets the major muscle groups moving again. I use this extensively towards the end of the race when my quads are hammered. It really makes a difference and allows me to move back through the gears towards the end of an event when most runners are stumbling home.
or follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/runbkrun/
and facebook https://www.facebook.com/runbkrunoz