Before Strava and GPS watches, yes such a time did exist, us runners had Excel spreadsheets to record our running history. Mine goes back to 2008 and I still manually add every run I make, religiously.  Of course since around 2014 I have been using Strava so have a backup, thankyou Andrew Ziepe for putting me onto this mostly cycling app at the time,  but my Excel sheet is still my go to for historical data. My friend Jon Pendse has a spreadsheet that just borders on AI although he is an accountant. It has pivot tables on pivot tables, I’m sure with a bit of work he could get it to predict the lottery numbers.

Anyhow last weekend on the weekly long run with the boys we were discussing whether we still enjoy training as we age. Personally I enjoy racing more as I have transitioned to Ultra running from Marathon and shorter distances of my youth. I say youth in the broadest sense of the word, I was running PB’s into my early fifties.  Back when I was a road running show pony I would train all year for maybe two or three big events, with a few half marathons and 10k races thrown in to keep me focused. As you can see from the Strava and Excel extracts below I ran a lot, between 10 -14 times a week, averaging between 140-160km.

Back in the day I’d awake at 5am and run ‘old faithful’ as I called my early morning run, a scenic 10k around Star Swamp. Depending on the time of year I’d see the sunrise on that run. I’d then have my weetbix (normally four) with banana’s and then get on my Elliptigo and cycle the 15km or so to work.  A lunchtime run to get my double day and then a long run with the boys Sunday, with a shorter run afterwards of course.  Week in week out for a year before a 5cm calf tear after the bridges 10km put me on hold. After I recovered from the calf tear I had a run of about another year of hard training before plantar fasciitis finished my running career , well the personal bests anyway.  My last marathons of note were in 2019 , a couple of sub threes but in the high 2:55’s; not the early 2:40’s of yesteryear.

In the extract from my spreadsheet for the end of 2016 above I recorded my fastest 10k at the WAMC (West Australian Marathon Club) Peninsula run for a win, 34:18; then the following weekend a half PB of 1:15 dead. for third.  Add in a 2:41:44 marathon at the City to Surf for a 5th place finish and a 2:44:30 World Masters marathon,  age group second, as well as PB’s for the Rottnest half and the City Beach 4k. It was a wonderful time in my running career.  Unfortunately a few months into the following year a calf tear brought this golden streak to an end and I never ran those times again. In my defence I was 49 at the time so a slow down was inevitable but the injury just hurried the process along I suppose.

I did manage an AURA age group record for the 100km ( 7:47) early 2018 but then it was a barren three years before three victories in 2022 in ultra marathons.

I’ve attached a video of me discussing Ultra marathons in 2017, looking back some of the comments I made in this film are now amusing. This was years before I discovered my love of Ultra marathons. It was before the 2017 ADU 100km where I finished second I think running just over eight hours. I returned to the following year to win it and claim an AURA age record.

After a disappointing 2020 I  entered eight ultra marathons in 2021 and added two more for ten in 2022 with three wins in the Lighthorse 24 hour race (207km total), the Kep 100km and the No time to die backyard ultra (33 laps) Training wise I was racing as much as I was training because I enjoyed the racing so much more once the pressure of a finishing time was taken away.  I also finished my first 200 miler after DNF’d in 2020 and also ran the Feral Pig 100 miler and Hysterical Carnage backyard ultra , with an assist to the great Phil Gore.  My running mojo was back but my training mojo not so much.

Running so many events gave me the opportunity to race, recover, taper, race..repeat; very little need to actually train as this was taken case off while racing.  Gone were the double days and also double digit run weeks. Infact I my last double digit run week was early 2021.  Despite that I managed to win three events in 2022 and finish top 5 in many others. You gotta love ultra’s.

The last couple of years I have spent more time racing than ever before , in 2022 I raced over 2,000 kilometres, 40% of my total annual mileage. That is a lot where as in my show pony  marathon days it would be around 100-200km , about 4% .

In 2022 I just managed to scrape 5,000 kilometres for the year but managed three wins and a Stella year on the back of a busy 2021. That year set the foundation for the following years success. Over 18 ultra marathons in the two year period. Very little training just recovering, tapering and racing. As you can see from the spreadsheet 2011, 2013 and 2016 were standout years for PB’s. I consider 2013 my breakout year when I had the training in my legs from the previous years and started to hit personal bests whenever I ran, a great time in a runners career. I plateaued in 2014 and 2015 before training with Raf in 2016 and increasing weekly distance as well as adding pace. ( https://therunningcentre.com.au/ ) I was eventually derailed by injuries in 2018 and 2019, which resulted in losing my running mojo in 2020 (and COVID?) before finding my mojo with ultra running in 2021 onwards.

As well as distance unlocking personal bests you need to race more. In 2016 I raced 21 events, virtually a race every two weeks. Nothing pushes you more than a bib on your chest, healthy competition with yourself and your fellow competitors. You will never replicate the desperation of a race in training, it’s just about impossible. That is why it’s so rare to run a personal best alone on a training run, you can’t replicate the conditions of a race.  Even in my ultra career I race long and often, this makes up for the lack of ‘proper training‘ so to speak. Although the pressure isn’t as intense for the longer distance you still push yourself harder than on a training run, it’s in a runners DNA to want to run as fast as possible in a race, otherwise it’s just an expensive training run ?

So the point of this post, you want to improve add distance, you want to really improve add double days and distance, you want to excel and reach your potential, add distance, double days and race a lot.. and don’t ever get injured. That’s it, that’s running, simples ! 

If you need to find out more about how increasing distance helps improve running performance research Arthur Lydiard, Phil Maffetone and Matt Fitzgerald.

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’ !

Fractel ( https://fractel.com.au/ ) have your performance headgear covered. I love the colours and the functionality of these hats, I guarantee there is one model you’ll fall in love with.

Shokz headphones, let you keep in touch with the world around while losing yourself in quality tunes or podcasts. ( https://shokz.com.au/ )

T8 running apparel is the best you can get, second to none. Designed for the ultra humid Honk Kong conditions the owners live in.  It is light and does away with any chaffing worries. T8 is the name given to the highest typhoon warning in Honk Kong,  storms and typhoons with gusts exceeding 180kph, which explains the branding. ( https://t8.run/)

Follow me on

or follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/runbkrun/