Distance is the key to running success… simples.
Over the Christmas break and into 2024 I have been putting in some serious trail time and double days and hitting some big weekly distances. Infact last week was my biggest weekly total (excluding races) since week 38 2016. I know this because I have been tracking my running totals using an excel spreadsheet since 2009.
I’m up to 65,662km’s now and 4,409 separate runs; of course with Strava I have a detailed record from about 2013 onwards but still manually log every run in my good old trusty spreadsheet.
Looking at the table you can see my big years were 2011, 2013 and 2016. These were when I raced often and regularly got PB’s (PR’s for the Americans among us) I feel 2013 was my time and I wish I had jumped onboard the TRC coaching program but instead waited until 2016 when I had a ‘second coming’ so to speak by amping up my training volume to 11.
Some context behind the figures above. In 2007 I started to get hooked on running and this culminated in my three Comrades runs in 2008, 2009 and 2010. After that is was on for young and old and I started to compete regularly moving from a middle of the pack runner towards the front. My marathon times dropped virtually every time I ran one, happy days. My Comrades training was what allowed me to ‘kick on’ in 2011 and have a stellar year, PB’s in all events over all distances.
2012 was looking to be similar but my Father passed in February and this together with a calf knot knocked me about and for a time I lost my running mojo. It wasn’t a complete disaster though as I managed to drop my marathon PB at Melbourne to 2 hours 43 minutes, also managed the biggest prize money of my career with a $6,000 cheque for first Australian at the Chevron City to Surf Marathon.
In 2014 I was running the best I have ever ran, adopting a new approach where I tried to keep the average pace of every run under 4min/k. I highlighted these runs in red in my spreadsheet and as you can see from the extract below I was doing a good job. Coming into Bunbury I had ran a course PB at the Darlington half and was ready to defend my crown after winning the previous year. Unfortunately the wheels fell off in the race as I pushed too hard and blew up when really I didn’t need to. I may not have won as a young Michael Ho ran an incredible time but I could have cruised to second and maybe even a PB. In the end I had to settle for fourth but this result affected the rest of the year.
In 2015 I hooked up with Raf Baugh from the Running Centre in Perth and then carried what he taught me through to 2016 where I went all out and started to hit some big weekly totals, with double days becoming the norm. This was my last hurrah, so to speak, at fifty years old I was still running good PB’s but I was putting in some serious kilometres. The highlight of the year was my 1 hour 15 minute half at Fremantle after a massive month of training, over 100 miles week in, week out. I remember sitting in the car before the event thinking I was about to embarrass myself as I felt so tired. In the end I decided to run with the front runners, ignoring pace, and see how long I could hang on. I managed to hang on and led for most of the race before being pipped at the post by two far superior runners.
Things were going well at the start of 2017 but a calf tear put an end to my year after the WAMC Bridges 10k in April albeit I did manage a win at the end of year 4k City Beach race, after three second places. In 2018 my running year was again cut short by injury, this time the dreaded Planar Fasciitis. This , together with my advancing years, was the end of my PB days in anything less than an ultra, my pace was gone. Thus in 2020, and beyond, I have been concentrating on ultra marathons as I am still able to race at the top end of the field.
So the point of this post is that when I look back at my training spreadsheet I can see a correlation between the distances I run in training and the PB’s . One small caveat , to supercharge the improvement race often, this together with the added distance makes a massive difference to your finishing times. Racing often makes you comfortable with being uncomfortable. This is incredibly important, the only person who can get you to the finish line quicker than you have ever got there before is you and there will be time in the ‘pain box’ , that’s just the way it is. You’ll never get use to it but familiarity, in this case, does not breed contempt, it breeds acceptance.
So to sum up this post, if you want to improve run more and if you really want to improve run more and race often, simples.
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’ !
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 Hong 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/)
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About The Author
bigkevmatthews@gmail.com
A running tragic.