Well the Feral Pig Ultra well and truly kicked my backside. http://feralpigultra.com.au/ That about sums it up really. I probably underestimated the distance and the terrain. More the terrain really as I’ve ran longer this year, albeit on looped courses. The terrain is both beautiful, inspiring and brutal. I got through nearly 3,000 metres of elevation in my 132k but missed out on the last 1,000m ‘s of elevation in the 36k loop was was beyond me.
Looking back at this DNF it seems to be consistent with my other two major running failures, the 12hour Lighthorse last year and the Delirious 200 miler earlier this year. On all three occasions I under estimated what was involved and also mentally was not ready for the challenge. Driving to my lift to the race I was contemplating pulling out and even after registration, boarding the bus to the start line, I was still thinking of pulling the pin. In the end I made the two hour bus trip to the start and, at midnight, stood with 37 other runners looking into the dark bush.
The first 20k or so were at a good pace running with Nick , who had given me a lift to the start line. Nick had prepared meticulously where as I had done the distance but had spent no where near enough time on the trails, this was going to come back to bite me. I let Nick go around the 24k mark and slowed conserving energy for later in the race. Night time running is not my favourite past time and one of the positives I took from this race was the ability to run through the night, albeit just 5 hours as we started at midnight of course.
I came across another runner , obviously struggling, around the 30k mark . Darren had started quickly but injured his knee and we decided to run together , remember it was dark ! I ended up running the next 70k or so with Darren and we had such a laugh, two road runners out of their league. It turns out Darren was/is a gun triathlete and I had heard the name around the traps, we had a lot to talk about and time passed quickly. It was so lucky I had met Darren as the next 10k or there was some serious hills , when I say hills more like granite walls ! , to traverse. Without him I would have got lost, a lot ! When I said time passed quickly, distance did not. The track was certainly not runnable and we were happy enough to plod along , moving forward. Darren was about as excited about our situation as I was and when he hit the first aid station at 40k we both looked at the bus longingly, knowing that this was our last chance to DNF until we’d reach the Discovery Centre nearly 100k away. It was close, trust me, very close ! We were both in a very dark place way too early into a 100 miler and we knew it. Luckily we both decided to push on and I think then I made my decision that my race was now to get back to the start, the extra loop for the 100 mile distance I knew was beyond me. So off we went , up another granite wall !
More Granite walls. !
I had worked out in my head that there were four more aid stations before the start line at the Discovery Centre. In between each aid station there was normally a hut , which would have water dropped off earlier. Thus there was between 8-10 ‘smaller’ races between either an aid station or a drink station. This was now my plan, leap frog each one of these to the start line, simple really. Although the distance sound do-able when you’re running if you walk 10k it can take hours and this soon became obvious. Darren’s knee was getting no better but now his ankle was also playing up, making running difficult. Add in fatigue and heat and you have the ultra runners favourite place to be, the pain box. Sometimes I think ultra runners do what they do to find out how much pain and distress they can take, not for the love of the sport. Maybe that’s the point, seems to work for David Goggins.
https://davidgoggins.com/ Think of Goggins as the Chuck Norris of the running world, google his quotes , he has some good ones !!!
At 65k I was certainly not thinking like David Goggins.. as the video link shows. https://vimeo.com/477961609
I did manage to get to the drinks stop , around 70k , before stumbling to the second aid station, Brookton Road, at 73k. I had packed some rice and chicken , for breakfast, but it turned into lunch. It was probably the best thing I ate all day, real food. A big lesson is I need more of this and will be looking at my diet for Delirious in February, probably getting my Dietitian Guru David Bryant on board. It was starting to heat up now but Darren and I found a second wind and we managed to run for 5-6k before once again settling down into a stroll. The next aid station, Mount Dale, was 13k away with a drinks stop in between, how difficult would that be ? As it turned out very difficult, the heat and terrain were starting to take their toll and the extra time between aid stations, because of the walking breaks, didn’t help. As I said earlier time may go quickly but distance drags. We got to Mount Dale worse for wear but in the back of my mind I could see the finish , at the start line. It was now less than a marathon away, even walking this was manageable and the terrain really was so awesome it made the suffering almost worth it.
Well maybe destroying is a bit optimistic but we’re moving in the right direction before Darren stops for a scenic break. Next footage is around the 100k mark https://vimeo.com/477117008 and I’m pretty well gone by then , before the final video is just before sunset. https://vimeo.com/477118081
That’s it for the videos , once it got dark I was too busy concentrating on staying upright to think about video footage. I’ll need to work on this for Delirious as most of the interesting footage happens when the sun goes down, somesay.
I made it back to the Discovery Centre, the start line, around 10pm Saturday evening, about 22 hours of running, walking etc. I had a second wind a few hours earlier and called my elected pacer , Adam, and asked him to join me at the start for the final 36k loop. Unfortunately since the phone call I had yet again fallen into a hole and by the time I reached him I was done. After some time contemplating life and looking at what was ahead I decided to pull the pin rather than walk for another 7 hours in the dark to finish. As I was walking away Shaun Kaesler, the owner of the USWA and inventor of all these races caught me and persuaded me to have a go. Well actually he told me to have a go at the loop. Anyhow we did move on past the start into the dark but straight away got lost and ended up taking over 15 minutes for the first kilometre. This did not bode well for the next 35 and I could see Adam wasn’t that impressed with the idea of walking around in the dark for 7 hours. He had come to pace me to the finish and assumed it would involve some running, silly boy. ! That was enough, we staggered back to the start line and embraced another glorious DNF.
Some rocks ..
So what were the lessons from this race ? Number one is to be better mentally and physically prepared. This race was not an end goal race but it still needed to be approached with the right mind set. Has it done me any good pre-Delirious ? I think so. I’ve learned I need to go into Delirious with a very positive mental attitude but also I need more trail running experience. If you want to race trails, you need to run trails, it’s a simple as that. As Rob remarked over lunch today I haven’t got the meatest legs but most road runners don’t , trails runners do. Their quads and calves are normally larger than road runners because of the constant ‘stepping’ motion while they run. Road runners, think Kenyans, the smaller and lighter the legs the better , to a point of course. There will be definition but not bulk. My quads have let me down and I know I need to spend some serious time squatting , which I will pre-Delirious.
I need to also run my own race. Throughout the Feral I was either running when I wanted to walk or walking when I wanted to run, due to company. I wasn’t confident enough to set out on my own for fear of getting lost but this ultimately was my undoing. On the flip side the company , in ultra’s, makes the racing so much more enjoyable so it’s a fine line getting this right. Finally I need to get the nutrition guru on board, David Brant, http://www.catalystdietitian.com.au/about.html , his insight got me through Birdies backyard Ultra so I’m confident he can help me for my 200 miler next February.
The Feral Pig has beaten me for 2020 but I’ll be back in 2021 and the end result will not be the same. The lessons I have learned will hopefully propel me to a sub 23 hour finish, that’s the goal. As with the Light Horse this year I’m always prepared to go back to my failures and try to put things right, otherwise what’s the point of failure ? Right I’m off to do a 1,000 squats……
The Feral Pig 100 Miler, Richard Avery in full flight, a thing of outstanding natural beauty.
Next weekend I attempt my first 100 miler ultra, The Feral Pig Ultra. The race kicks off at midnight on Friday 7th November and if all goes well I’ll finish before midnight on the following day. Unlike a marathon where I can predict my finishing time with a minute or two accuracy with a 100 miler you’d be lucky to get it down to within 1-2 hours. ! With the added distance comes the added variables that can certainly change everything very quickly. add in navigating in the Australian bush and the heat of the day and it becomes a lottery as to whether you’ll finish at all. All you can do is train and train hard and hope , on the day, you also have the mental toughness to push through because in a race of this distance you will be asked questions you need to answer !
After the 24 Light Horse I’ve been lucky enough to string together a 7 week block of pretty consistent training which has physically prepared me for the challenge. Knowing I’ve put in the hard work has also helped my mental preparation as I know I’ve done the best I can in training and am now prepared to put it all on the line, when the time comes. More importantly I’ve enjoyed this training block and have added double days the last few weeks mainly because I’m just enjoying putting on the trainers and ‘getting out there‘.
In lock down it’s amazing how many races I have actually entered and I now have full calendar of events for the foreseeable future. This month is the Feral Pig 100 miler, December is the traditional 6 Inch Trail Ultra 48k(for the 11th time), January the Australian Day Ultra 100k, February The Delirious West 200 Miler, March, Herdy’s Front Yard Last Man Standing Ultra, May it’s back to the 24hr Lighthorse and then June over to South Australia for the Irrational South another 200 miler and then August it’s Birdy’s Last Man Standing Ultra. Add in the West Australian Marathon Club events and it looks like I’ll be sleeping with a bib on my chest.
Consistency is the key to training for an Ultra, or any race really.
I’m a big believer in distance, consistency and competing, get these things right and you’ll always perform at your best, unfortunately it’s a fine balancing act because get either of them wrong and your performance will suffer. You could also add in nutrition and hydration, both of which are overlooked when runners are training and racing , again ignore these at your peril. Who would have thought running was so complicated?
With distance performance improvements in running is virtually exponentially linked to this variable. If you run 50 km a week now and you start to run 100km a week you will improve, it’s that simple. This improvement will continue if you run 160km a week or more. Of course there is a ceiling of improvement and it’s not a linear improvement but up to a point improving at running is just doing it more, with the caveat of course of not getting injured and also making sure your diet reflects the increased work load. Of course there are all types of workouts that will add to the improvement but generally just running more does the job.
Consistency over time is another big hitter in the running world. By adding distance you’re normally also adding consistency , they go hand in hand , but it’s important to realise that running daily is far better than a long run Monday and then three days of no running before another long run Friday, you would be better splitting that total distance into 4-5 smaller runs but run daily, in my opinion. Personally I don’t like to have rest days but if you do I would recommend only one a week and make it before a harder run not a long run. The long run should normally be time on legs, so running on tired legs is normally ok.
Finally competing, nothing pushes you like having a bib on your chest and your heart threatening to explode through your rib cage ! Summed up by a classic Prefontaine quote below really. There’s nothing more to say.
A friend of mine , Rob Donkersloot, has just started a new business focusing on one of the most overlooked part of a runners artillery, the mind. As I have mentioned many times I am a big believer in the Tim Noakes ‘central governor’ theory, that is the body is capable of so much more but the mind protects us by limiting what resources we have at our disposal, mainly by using a runners worst enemy, fatigue.
Luckily for you he has spots available at the moment and I would highly recommend anyone who is serious about their running to get on board. His website is :- https://mindfocusedrunning.com/ and you will not be disappointed. Rob is a highly respected member of the Ultra community and was President the of the Australian Ultra Runners Association for many years. ( https://www.aura.asn.au/ ) He has completed many of the longest and most grueling ultra marathons all over the globe. He tends to select the ones where you are unsupported and run for days rather than hours, thus allowing him to use his strength, the mental side of running.
From an article in Runner World by Mackenzie Lobby in 2009.
We’ve all heard the old adage about running being 90% mental. Turns out it might be true, and scientifically proven to boot. Tim Noakes, M.D., author of Lore of Running, has long argued that it is the brain that allows or limits endurance performance rather than the body. His “central governor” theory postulates that “the brain is there to look after you and to make sure whatever you do, you do it safely,” as he puts it.
Noakes says that the brain holds us back from pushing past a certain point. “There’s a control mechanism to make sure that you reach the finish line not in a completely, utterly wilted state,” he claims. “You always have a little reserve.” Or as some would interpret this, you can always push a little harder.
While past running research was preoccupied with the physiological side of endurance performance, a small group of researchers recently set their sights on examining the role of the brain. Not only does this research emphasize the idea of mind over matter, it also demonstrates that the brain can be trained to allow the body to physically handle more. After considering the research, we went in search of examples of competitive runners who have figured out ways to overcome the limits our brains put on our bodies. They offer sound advice on methods to coach your mind, not just your muscles.
Confusing Mental Fatigue and Physical Fatigue
Consider the following scenario. You’ve had a long, hard day. Your kids are nagging you, your boss is riding you, and there’s a sink full of dirty dishes and a mile-high pile of bills waiting for you at home. Managing to get in a run, much less a track workout or tempo session, seems like a monumental task.
Researchers at Bangor University in the UK set out to examine why it is that mental fatigue can lead to the perception of physical fatigue during exercise. Dr. Samuele M. Marcora and colleagues compared two groups. While both groups were to complete a high-intensity cycling exercise, one group was given a challenging, but sedentary, 90-minute computer test beforehand. The other watched “emotionally neutral documentaries” for 90 minutes.
While physiological responses to the exercise did not differ between the two groups, the perception of physical effort was much higher in the mentally fatigued group (the ones who did the computer test). The perception of physical fatigue translated into those participants reaching their maximal level of perceived exertion, and thus giving up, much sooner.
Researchers confirmed that VO2 max, cycling economy, and anaerobic threshold were not influenced by the mental task. Most interesting, they note that “overall, it seems that exercise performance is ultimately limited by perception of effort rather than cardiorespiratory and musculoenergetic factors.” Therefore, the brain gave up and subsequently sent signals to the body to also cease, even though the body showed no physical signs of complete exhaustion.
Tricking the Mind to Allow More from the Body
This sort of research tells us that the brain is the boss. It orders the body what to do and what not to do. Another way to interpret this is, that if we can find a way to coax the brain out of cowering in the face of stress, our bodies will subsequently follow. A study out of the University of Birmingham, England, demonstrated that it is possible to, in a sense, fool the mind into allowing the body to work harder.
These researchers showed that cyclists who swished a carbohydrate drink containing either glucose or maltodextrin disguised with an artificial sweetener during a workout were able to ride harder and longer than those who swished water disguised with an artificial sweetener. This was despite the fact that none of the participants actually swallowed either of the liquids, nor did they know if they were swishing the carbohydrate solution or plain water. In addition, the two groups rated the level of difficulty to be the same, even though the carbohydrate drink group worked harder.
A functional MRI demonstrated that certain areas of the brain lit up when the carbohydrate drink was swished, those areas being connected to emotion, motivation, and reward. It was as if the carbohydrate-sensitive receptors in the mouth communicated with the brain, which then sent a signal to the body to tell it that it would be getting more calories and thus could work harder, regardless of the fact that no calories were actually consumed. This demonstrated that it is possible to trick the brain to allow the body to go further and faster.
Brain Training
We often assume that a decrease in performance is the result of physical fatigue—that less oxygen reaches the muscles, lactic acid builds up, and our legs tire. This doesn’t, however, explain instances when you feel you have nothing left, but then manage a surge on the backstretch or rally in the last mile of a marathon. If your muscles were truly shot, that last push would be impossible.
What it comes down to is training, or tricking, the brain to allow the body to go harder. The brain can be taught to give the body more leeway by incrementally pushing past that perceived maximal level of exertion in training. The same way you train your body, you must also train your mind. Noakes suggests, “If you want to be competitive, you have to learn how to deal with the discomfort. A lot of the heavy, good physical training is about training the brain to cope with discomfort.”
There are plenty of examples of people who have figured out ways to shelve distractions, life responsibilities, and the run-off mental fatigue in order to run and race well. In chatting with several accomplished runners who are or were billed with overcoming much greater roadblocks than the average elite, a number of tricks of the trade surface.
Running Priorities
Since we don’t all have the luxury to be able to devote our entire lives to our training the way many of the pros do, we must find ways around the stresses of everyday life. This means making running a priority. Noakes asks, “What are you going to give up? You can’t just keep adding. The brain doesn’t have infinite reserves.”
Bob Kempainen, who ran the 1992 and 1996 Olympic marathons, has a reputation for being one of the most mentally tough runners of our time. By decompressing his rigorous medical school program to six years instead of four, Kempainen was able to simultaneously train for both Olympics and complete medical school.
He explains, however, that other aspects of his life were put on the back burner: “You have to put up with going out to train when you’re tired or when you’ve got things pulling you in different directions, whether it’s social opportunities or passing on a promotion because it would be more work hours. There’s always something that you have to give up. You have to be pretty committed to the sport.”
Getting into the Routine
Once you’ve moved your training up to the top of the priority list, making it a part of your daily routine can help combat unmotivating messages the brain throws at you. Chris Raabe, winner of the 2009 Grandma’s Marathon and a religious 150-mile-a-week runner, knows this well. On top of that heavy mileage, he is also a full-time patent examiner for the Patent Office in Washington D.C.
He explains, “If training is a focus that you have, it’s important to eliminate the distractions as much as possible and make sure that your training is a part of your routine. If you ask me what I’m going to be doing at 5 a.m. on a Wednesday two months from now, I can tell you I’m going to be going out for a run. It’s something that I’ve decided I am doing at this time.”
It is this unquestioning devotion that runners such as Raabe display that seems to be the key to living the double life as a competitive runner and a mere mortal. He says, “if I’ve had a rough day, for me, it’s just what I do. I don’t really think about it. Mental fatigue doesn’t come in quite as much because I’m not thinking about it. It’s just, this is what I do at this time.”
Sheri Piers echoes these sentiments. Piers, 38. is a full-time superwoman, juggling a career as a nurse practitioner, coaching a high school boys cross country team, and tending to her five children, not to mention running upwards of 120 miles a week. The 11th place finisher (2:37.04) in April’s Boston Marathon shows that it is possible to talk the brain into letting the body go further and faster even when the brain waves the white flag.
Like Raabe, she says, “It becomes something you have to get done. The alarm goes off and you get up. I just do it. It’s part of a routine. It doesn’t matter if it’s 20 degrees below. I’m going out running. It’s just the way it is. It’s not even a question.”
Raabe agrees that if you are running once a day, putting it on the front end of your routine is usually best. “You avoid problems. Automatically that’s the first thing you do when you get up.”
Piers has a similar routine: “We get up at 4:00am and get the workout in before the kids wake up because we have to. If we want to do it, that’s what we have to do.”
Practice Makes Perfect
Indeed, no one effortlessly falls into this type of schedule without a little practice, but it does seem to get easier with time. Raabe suggests, “The more you are exposed to a stress, the lower your response is to that stress.”
Noakes adds that when you willfully subject yourself to stress, such as training and working every day, “you become better able to cope with all the stresses in your life.” He adds, “Training increases your self-belief and your confidence in what you can do.”
With practice, you become more convinced of your ability to handle mental stress. Piers explains matter-of-factly, “if you believe you can do it, you just do it.”
These runners have truly put the research into practice. We know that the mind has great influence over the body. Lucky for us, academicians have also discovered that the mind can be manipulated and trained to send specific signals to the body. The ticket to success appears to come with structure and focus. No one said it would be easy. But that’s certainly not why we’re distance runners.
This is the second post detailing my attempt to redeem myself from my first DNF last April at the 12 hour Light Horse Ultra. (It’s worth reading this post first.. https://www.runbkrun.com/2020/09/09/time-to-go-long-on-a-very-short-course/ ) To add spice to the occasion I upgraded two weeks out from the 12 hour to the 24 hour on the back of a great run at the Birdy’s backyard Ultra ( https://www.runbkrun.com/2020/08/16/most-fun-you-will-ever-have-in-running-gear/ ) Sounds like a logical thing to do but you need to factor in a nasty achilles tear limiting my training, pre-event. As I always said logic does not come into a runners brain, ever ! Worse, an injured runner has more time on their hands and what’s the first thing they do, look for more events to enter, it’s a curse!
Lest we Forget, the Light Horse 24 Hour Ultra.
The event kicked off at 6pm and the plan was to run for 24 hours and finish at 6pm the following day. I had a few goals, as all ultra runners do which started with just being there at the finish (rather than scurrying off home in the dead of night like last year!) and then running a 100 mile total, with the ultimate goal being a 200 kilometre final distance (or better) I was as prepared as I could have been as the image below shows. I had my two bag of clothes including a sleeping bag, a small esky full of food, gu’s and drink and a cool bag with up and go milkshakes and various yoghurts. The largest bag was the reclining seat I used at Birdy’s , a life saver for the legs . With hindsight I had made the rookie error of selecting my youngest Daughter’s sleeping bag which was not built for the conditions I would face later than evening. I could have also maybe packed a small two man tent (or a large RV with a comfortable bed!) as when I needed to have a ‘power nap‘ I would be unable to due to the fear of falling into unconsciousness and never waking back up because of the freezing conditions. We will discuss this later in the post.
For a 24 hour race you need everything… including the Kitchen Sink !
The race director has started this event to honour the men and women who have given their lives serving for their Country and this year he out did himself with exhibitions and also volunteers on horseback performing during the race. An outstanding effort I must say. We were also privileged to be a part of a rendition of the Last Post as the sun set , the ‘hairs on the back of your neck’ stand up type event.
The Race Director did a great job of setting the scene.
So at 6pm we set off on what was to be my first of nearly 77 laps over the next 24 hours. I hadn’t really dialled in a race pace as such , it was to be a run at whatever pace I felt comfortable and adjust throughout the event. The most important thing was the hydration and nutrition as we all know an Ultra , of this duration, really is an eating and drinking competition with a bit of running thrown in ! It all comes down to it doesn’t matter how fast you are , if you run out of fuel you stop, ultra running is all about not running out of fuel , simple really.
Right to the race. The 2.5km loop itself is ran anti-clockwise for three hours and then we turn and run it clockwise, this is repeated 8 times. Funnily enough there was a difference and I preferred anti-clockwise. I moved along quite nicely for the first few hours concentrating on nutrition and stopping every two or three laps for a good feed. Given the distance I was hoping to achieve and the time I had up my sleeve these stops weren’t time critical but critical to me moving forward for the full 24 hours. I was probably stopping more times than I should have and maybe longer but I’d never ran 24 hours and it was better to still be running for the last few hours and make up time rather than hemorrhage it . In the back of my mind I had my Birdy’s experience where every 6.7k I was able to stop for 15-20 minutes. This made the final few laps at Birdy’s the fastest and I felt this format could work for the Light Horse.
I managed to stumble along until the witching hour, when you are at your weakest. For me it is the early morning when you have been running for 4-6 hours in the dark and you can’t see the morning light. This is when you are at your weakest and this is when the mental strength of running comes to the front. I was reminded of my previous post at this time, where I forecast a time when I would need my mental ‘Goggin’s’ strength, this was it. I decided the best way forward was some serious massage gun time and then a power nap. This is where I nearly came undone. As I mentioned earlier I had brought my Daughter’s sleeping bag which was not built for the elements and temperature I was facing. I had planned for a 1-2 hour power nap but just ended up shivering, alone in the dark, at my lowest. Luckily I had foreseen this and made my Wife give me a lift to the start and then take the car home, thus eliminating one exit point. This proved to be a good move as laying in that reclining chair , freezing, I would have found it so easy to take the easy option and bail, the same as last year. This year that option wasn’t there so I laid in my useless sleeping blanket wondering how long Uber would take if I could muster up the strength to stagger to the nearby road.
Whatever gets you through the night, in this case, a massage gun!
Trying to sleep and failing. The witching hours are lonely.
It got to about 3am , after 90 minutes of resting (and freezing) before I knew it was time to get running again and hopefully warm up or risk hyperthermia . So I left the comfort (?) of my reclining chair and off I went, into the dark. I couldn’t bring myself to shed my raincoat so ended up running in a thermal vest, running top, running jacket and a rain coat complete with a Georges beanie. I’d normally last about 10 seconds in this get-up but due to the freezing conditions I was able to run 3-4 laps before I needed to shed the rain coat. On the bright side I felt a lot better and actually managed to put in a few faster laps before the sun finally rose. Trust me when the sun comes up all is suddenly good with the world…
The look on my face says it all. Suns up but the pain continues… the joy of ultra running ?
The only downside with the sun coming up of course if you have to start shedding clothes and look to keep cooler, rather than warmer. It was going to be a particularly warm spring day and a change of attire was called for. Bye bye thermal vest and beanie , hello singlet, short shorts and running cap. Initially the fresh morning temperatures were invigorating but that soon turned to annoying as the temperature rose, that’s running in Western Australia, you avoid the late mornings onwards due to the high temperatures. Another bonus at this time was the 12, 6, and 3 hour races starting. From a field of just over 70 for the big dance we were faced with another 250 or so runners, this made things more interesting as we all stumbled along the 2.5k loop together, some moving into the second half of their races but most just starting, full of life. This extra encouragement helped and I got my head down and just kept running. I never actually walked on the loop but my stops were becoming more frequent and longer and with the added incentive of company. I had managed to get through 12 hours and rack up around 98k which was behind schedule but I had ‘rested‘ for at least 3 hours of the 12 so was confident I could still hit the 200k total target.
With so many friends also now running the day passed pretty quickly but I was slowing and taking more breaks as we moved into the afternoon. After half way nutrition and hydration really become important as the body starts to eat all its fuel and you need to make sure to replace calories quickly. You can do this in various ways including real food like rice, pasta, bananas etc or carbo shots and gu’s and the like. Get this wrong and your race is over very quickly, remember what I said earlier ‘an ultra is an eating and drinking competition with running as a distraction’ . I have a pretty cast iron stomach , which is a must for an ultra runner, but I was starting to avoid the food I had planned to eat as I just couldn’t stomach it anymore. I made sure I was hydrated though and used my supply of Maurten drinks to keep me going. I highly recommend Maurten products, they just work. I was also lucky enough to be camped next to Jon who always brings enough for the whole race including so many drinking bottles I assumed they were communal. Jon remarked that each lap he saw his rubbish bin get fuller and his supplies deplete.
The sun started to heat things up but the beanie still felt good.
Early afternoon was probably my favourite part of the race where I had worked out the best way to keep moving at a reasonable pace while taking time to rehydrate and rest at the many rest stops. If I felt good I’d run past my chair, if I needed a break I’d sit down, ultra running is quite simple really, you’re either running or eating and drinking. I went through my next goal, the 100 miles, in a reasonable state and then this run became my longest run ever. Next target was 178k as this was the distance the early race leader, the legendary Michael Hooker, had blown his kidneys and been forced to abandon after 14 hours. This would also put me top 5 male which was another one of my goals for the race, a top 5 finish.
Enjoying the sunshine, smiling on the outside, hurting like hell on the inside !
There was aso another race going on with Jon catching me after he had gone home for a few hours sleep earlier in the night. He had complained of a bad knee and hit the wall to such an extent he had contemplated pulling out. Instead he went home and had three hours good sleep in an electric blanket heated bed, a refreshing shower and some breakfast before returning and running like he had just started. I was two laps behind him when he left and probably 6-8 laps ahead when he came back. This became more and more important as runners ahead of me dropped out and I rose to the dizzy heights of second with three hours or so to go. Unfortunately I was unable to hold this position as, although I was still running, I was taking longer and longer breaks and my average pace was slowing, after 22 hours funny that ? In the end Jon got me with about 45 minutes to go and that was the last nail in the coffin. I managed one more lap to take out Shaun Kaeslers 190k, 24 hour record and I was done, with about half an hour left. Final total 92.55k and third male, 5th overall.
The look of a runner being chased down!!
After over 23 hours and 192k I was done.
So what are the learnings from this race. It’s another tick in the box for my Delirious redemption training and also it’s a massive confidence booster as last year I DNF’d the 12 hour version of this race after three hours. To get to the same point this year , albeit at 7-8 hours in to the race, and NOT go home was massive and add this to my Birdy’s finish I am more confident of doing well at Delirious in February next year. Distance wise I could have done better but this was my first 24 hour race but looking at Strava (You do have Strava don’t you… http://www.strava.com ) I only ran for just less than 18 hours, (I had my Suunto on auto-pause so if I stopped running the watch would stop. ) That’s six hours of potential extra running time left out there. Next year I shall aim to take advantage of that extra time and break that 200k target.
Ultras test you and I mean test you. To quote Dean Karnazes ‘If you want to run a mile, run a mile. If you want to change your life, run a marathon. If you want to speak to God, run an ultra.’. In the image above I am making that call. ! On the plus side if you can keep running when every part of your body is telling you to stop it is an amazing achievement and one you can take forward into your everyday life. You can’t underestimate the power of mental toughness, look at Goggins ! ( https://davidgoggins.com/ I highly recommend some of his podcasts but be warned his language is colurful.) Ultra’s help you hone this skill , they teach you valuable lessons.
Getting race bling, it’s why we runners do what we do.
Race Director, Phil Gore, Jon Pendse and myself.
Next on the agenda, in November, is a good old fashioned point to point 100 miler, my first. The Feral Pig Ultra ( http://feralpigultra.com.au/ ) is meant to be a hard race with some serious elevation but it’ll be another box to tick before Delirious next year. Unlike my last two ultra’s this is a point to point trail run so I’ll expect lots of ‘Kev time‘ alone on the trails with some testing night time running. It’ll be as close to Delirious as I can muster pre-event so I need to finish it in a reasonable time and also feeling good at the end, remember Delirious is a 200 miler ! ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/race-information/ ) Right that’s me for this post, as with the subject this has been an ultra-post but I hope you’re enjoyed it as mush as I enjoyed the event. I’m with Dean when it comes to Ultra’s , where else in life do you get the opportunity to speak to the big fella and if you run far enough he just might answer !
This weekend is redemption part#1 as I take on my first ever DNF , the Light Horse Ultra. ( http://lighthorseultra.com.au/race-information/ ) Last year I pulled out after 3 hours, a quarter of the way through the 12 hour event. I can think of many reasons why I did what I did but none make the DNF any easier to swallow, especially as it was my first. So what went wrong, basically I talked myself out of the event and gave myself too many reasons to stop rather than concentrating on a reason to continue. Running is a large part mental and the mind will always try and persuade you to stop, thus limiting the exposure to the pain of competitive running, be it a 400m lap or a multi-day ultra. Tim Noakes called this the Central Governor. ( Note: Please make sure you have a copy of ‘ the Lore of Running’ by Tim Noakes, it is the running equivalent of the Bible and every runner MUST have a copy. )
The text below is from Wikipedia so it must be true ?
The central governor is a proposed process in the brain that regulates exercise in regard to a neurally calculated safe exertion by the body. In particular, physical activity is controlled so that its intensity cannot threaten the body’s homeostasis by causing anoxic damage to the heart muscle. The central governor limits exercise by reducing the neural recruitment of muscle fibers. This reduced recruitment causes the sensation of fatigue. The existence of a central governor was suggested to explain fatigue after prolonged strenuous exercise in long-distance running and other endurance sports, but its ideas could also apply to other causes of exertion-induced fatigue.
The existence of a central governor was proposed by Tim Noakes in 1997, but a similar idea was suggested in 1924 by Archibald Hill.
In contrast to this idea is the one that fatigue is due to peripheral ‘limitation’ or ‘catastrophe’. In this view, regulation by fatigue occurs as a consequence of a failure of homeostasis directly in muscles.
The heart is able to regulate its output, to some extent, in accordance with the degree of saturation of the arterial blood … we suggest that, in the body (either in the heart muscle itself or in the nervous system), there is some mechanism which causes a slowing of the circulation as soon as a serious degree of unsaturation occurs, and vice versa. This mechanism would tend, to some degree, to act as a ‘governor’, maintaining a reasonably high degree of saturation of the blood: the breathing of a gas mixture rich in oxygen would produce a greater degree of saturation of the blood and so allow the output to increase until the ‘governor’ stopped it again. We realise the danger of a hypothesis partly suggested by teleological reasoning: in this case, however, we can see no other explanation of our experimental results
This hypothesis was disregarded and further research upon exercise fatigue was modeled in terms of it being due to a mechanical failure of the exercising muscles (“peripheral muscle fatigue”). This failure was caused either by an inadequate oxygen supply to the exercising muscles, lactic acid buildup, or total energy depletion in the exhausted muscles.
Tim Noakes, a professor of exercise and sports science at the University of Cape Town, in 1997 has renewed Hill’s argument on the basis of modern research.
In his approach, the power output by muscles during exercise is continuously adjusted in regard to calculations made by the brain in regard to a safe level of exertion. These neural calculations factor in earlier experience with strenuous exercise, the planning duration of the exercise, and the present metabolic state of the body. These brain models ensure that body homeostasis is protected, and an emergency reserve margin is maintained. This neural control adjusts the number of activated skeletal muscle motor units, a control which is subjectively experienced as fatigue. This process, though occurring in the brain, is outside conscious control.
The rising perception of discomfort produced by exhausting exercise progressively reduces the conscious desire to over-ride this control mechanism, which, if it were to be reduced, would lead to the recruitment of more motor units. Thus the presence of conscious over-ride would be undesirable because it would increase or maintain the exercise intensity, thereby threatening homoeostasis … as exercise performance is centrally regulated by the CNS, then fatigue should no longer be considered a physical event but rather a sensation or emotion, separate from an overt physical manifestation—for example, the reduction in force output by the active muscles. Rather we now suggest that the physical manifestation of any increasing perception of fatigue may simply be an alteration in the subconsciously regulated pace at which the exercise is performed. Hence the novel suggestion is that the conventional understanding of fatigue is flawed because it makes no distinction between the sensation itself and the physical expression of that sensation which, we suggest, is the alteration in the subconsciously regulated pacing strategy consequent on changing motor unit recruitment/derecruitment by the CNS.
The Light Horse is free to current or former Armed Forces Personnel , to quote the organiser Shaun Kaesler
I’ve participated in some pretty special events. Some short, some over a week. One thing I can promise you, this September 12th & 13th, the Lighthorse Ultra will be the most touching, emotional, respectful and memorable weekend that will pass all those events before. So many people coming together to mark our respect. This is our way to honour. Our way to remember. Our way to never forget.
The event also raised funds for Run for Resilience , a charity created by my good friend Wayne McMurtrie ( https://www.run4resilience.org/donate ) What more of an excuse do you need to run this event ?
For me, last year at the Light Horse Ultra , at 3am in the morning my central governor offered me the chance to get into my car and drive home to a good night’s sleep. It was an offer too good to refuse ! I feel as you get older you get mentally stronger, which explains the take up of Ultra running for us older runners. There is a downside to this of course with the added time on your feet giving the Central Governor more time to get to work and try and persuade you to stop. In my defense this was the first time I had attempted a time rather than distance race and also such a long period of time. I wasn’t mentally prepared for the 12 hours and never got my head around the whole ‘time on feet, just keep moving forward’ approach.
After Birdy’s ultra this year I was able to finally run a 24 hour race and, more importantly , run through the night, where the race is won or lost. Running through the night is so harder than running on a beautiful day bathed in sunshine, funny that. I remember at Birdy’s as soon as the sun came up I was invigorated and all with the world was now right. All my fatigue virtually disappeared and my last laps were the quickest. What happened , I reckon, was I could see the end of the race (I have set myself a 24 hour finish) , thus the Central Governor started to turn off fatigue and let me enjoy my last few laps. If I hadn’t given myself a time limit and ran too exhaustion I feel my last few laps would have been a different story. I’ll hopefully find out next year at Birdys’, this time it will be run to DNF.
So 12 hours of fun this weekend, not really , I’m not one to shy away from a challenge and always enter the longest option so this weekend we’re going 24 hours. What could go wrong ? On the plus side it’s a 6pm start so I get the night over first and then can enjoy the second half. (Is that even a thing?) Last year it was midnight start so I was tired from the start , which made the 3pm DNF easy to embrace. A 6pm start is easier to digest, I hope ? If nothing else mentally I’m stronger with my Birdy’s experience and also the memory of last years DNF. I shall call on my experience from last year to get me through this one and also this post and the one next week talking up my glorious run ! I don’t want another DNF post, you, as my readers, would expect more !
If you bored this weekend you can probably get updates on the Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/1030338320430987/ ) , feel free to sit through the whole 24 hours with me ? Now that would be an Ultra !
As you can see from the image below (from Strava, you do use Strava right ? … http://www.strava.com ) I’ve been working hard on my Bionic Runner lately as I come to terms with more down time due to a troublesome Achilles. The Bionic Runner is, IMO , the closest you’ll get to the running motion without actually running. As the image below my Strava screen grab shows, the Bionic has been built for runners and, trust me, it’s a hard workout , which can get even harder with a head wind ! I have been building up the distance on the bionic and , over time, increased to fifty kilometres and two hours. Trust me my first outing on the bionic was an experience, I had just brought the Elliptigo and hadn’t even heard of the Bionic Runner. When I tried it I was hooked. It just felt so much like running compared to the Elliptigo, which is still a great alternative but more a forward and back Elliptical motion. (funny enough) The Bionic has the ‘airplane wing’ motion more akin to running and a lot harder, which is the point of course. Both the Elliptigo and the Bionic have they place in a runners arsenal and for recovery they are just about perfect. No impact but working most of the same running muscles you need to keep honest and best of all they are both just so much fun, albeit you will have to over look the puzzled looks of pedestrians.
Not much running but lots of Bionic time.
Unfortunately the Bionic was plagued by poor Chinese manufacturing problems and went out of business a few years ago. There are still examples on Facebook if you want to try one ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/1507045689572412 ) but bear in mind spare parts are nearly impossible to get hold off and the second and third generation do tend to break in half. ! Have a trawl through the facebook page and you’ll get the general idea.
The Elliptigo on the other hand has gone from strength to strength and still sponsors Meb Keflezighi and Dean Karnazes. It has added two or three new models to its armory lately and is another great alternative to running when you are either injured or for second recovery runs. They take away the risk of injury when you are tired. Have a look at their website ( http://www.elliptigo.com ) I sold mine to my good friend Mark C. last year when I moved closer to the city and couldn’t justify two stand up bikes. I must admit to regretting my decision and will probably treaty myself to another one in summer. The GO in my opinion is built for longer distances, where as the Bionic is about shorter, harder workouts. Both have their place in my garage it’s just about persuading No1 Wife of my runners logic, this could prove difficult.
Meb (Boston Winner and Olympic Marathon runner) on the ‘Go’.
The image below is from my recovery period after a nasty calf tear, my first real injury of note. My time on the GO allowed me to come back strong and run a 2:49 at the Perth City to Surf Marathon, after 12 weeks out. I had 7 weeks on the Elliptigo before returning to running and this certainly beat 7 weeks of no cross training at all. In that time I was unable to run but could use the Elliptigo and work the running muscle quite happily and , as I said earlier, it really is so much fun.
A Jon Pendse classic…
Another alternative to the Ellpitigo and the bionic is the Cyclete Trail Runner. ( https://cyclete.com/ ) This bad boy looks the business but it more expensive and by the text copied from their website below harder to get hold off. Probably only accessible for my American Cousins giving the exchange rate for the Australian Dollar at the moment (I think we’re just below the Zimbabwe dollar in worthless currency nobody wants table !) and the cost of shipping. Note: The Elliptigo produces a trail like GO now which is similar to the Cyclete but half the cost.
Mines the cheaper Australian version, but then we are ‘battlers’…
Demand for Cycletes has dramatically exceeded our expectations – we are now sold-out for 2020.
DUE TO UNPRECEDENTED DEMAND FOR BICYCLES, SOME COMPONENTS I USE ARE BEING RATIONED WHICH MAY CAUSE DELAYS – Some components may require substitution. Specifically Ergon GP5 grips are unavailable GP1 will be substituted.
Each Cyclete 2020 Limited Edition is designed and made to order in Marin County California led by Steven Ascher.
Your Cyclete purchase is made in 3 installments of $1665 as follows:
The process of building your Cyclete begins when we receive your refundable deposit of $1665. Steven Ascher will contact you personally to welcome you to the Cyclete community and answer any questions you may have, discuss tire and gearing selection as well as accessories like fenders.
Your second installment of $1665 is due prior to painting your frame in your selected color. At this time you are committed to the build of your Cyclete and your payments become non-refundable.
When your Cyclete is completed your third and final installment of $1665 is required plus additional charge for accessories, shipping and any applicable taxes / duties will be collected.
Current lead times are 4-6 weeks
Have fun selecting your color! The pictures shown are renderings. While we have worked hard to provide a good representation, your Cyclete Trail Runner will certainly look different. The color will have greater depth and variation.
We are looking forward to building a Cyclete just for you.
NOTE: The Cyclete is not intended for children and has a maximum rider weight of 250 lbs.
Right that’s it for the moment. With my achilles on the mend I’m hoping to make the Light Horse Ultra 12 hour race on September 13th ( http://lighthorseultra.com.au/ ) , for anybody in Perth this is a must do event, it really is something special. The laps are relatively short , under 3km, which means to run through the start and stop area relatively often and with the extra distances this year there will be lots of company. The 24 hour starts at 6pm Saturday 12th September, with the 12 hour event starting at 6am Sunday 13th. There’s also a 6 hour and 3 hour event. Shaun Kaesler always puts on a great event and this one is one not to be missed. Due to our hard borders anybody outside Perth has got no chance of making the start line unless they can get into a quarantine hotel this week, at your cost. The event is good but not that good, stay at home !
Unfortunately I seem to have injured my Achilles just as the racing season starts to hot up in sunny Western Australia. I knew I was in trouble about 14 hours into my last event, Birdy’s backyard Ultra. ( https://ultraserieswa.com.au/event/birdys-backyard-2/ ) The looped course has a section on an uneven meadow with the option of running on an angle near the fence, being the quicker option, where as running on a flatter service was the more ‘runner friendly‘. Over time I had started to move towards the fence and because of that started to put my already tired Achilles under more pressure. On one lap I was chasing Justin and as we came out of a gate I tried to accelerate off my left leg to catch him so we could run together for the next few kilometres. This proved to be my undoing as I felt that familiar tearing in my lower leg. I had felt a similar feeling when I blew my calf a few years ago, so instantly knew I had a tear.
Luckily I hobbled about for a few steps but was then able to run with only small discomfort. This allowed me to get back to the start and tape up my Achilles with Rock Tape and neck a few more Voltaren tablets. This was enough to get me through the event and I actually finished pain free.
Of course once the Voltaren wore off that evening my ankle swelled up and I knew I was in trouble. Of course Dr.Google has the answer and I have self diagnosed, as every runner does, with Achilles Tendonitis / Tendonosis. I have decided to spend as much time as possible on my Bionic Runner and dose myself up with Voltaren for 7-10 days. After this we’ll see if I ‘m able to run albeit slowly and only for a short distance.
Of course my marathon a week Sunday (August 30th) is probably out the window unless I have a Lazarus like recovery , confidence is low. I am prepared to sacrifice this event for one of my goal races this year the Light Horse 12 hour. ( http://lighthorseultra.com.au/ ) This was my first DNF last year, ever, and I’m determined to put in a good effort this year to banish those DNF demons. Before this injury I was confident of putting in a good total but now I’ll be happy just to run the full 12 hours.
Injuries are sent to test us and as we get older they seem to come knocking on a more regular basis. I had a really good run of no injures initially but the last few years have torn a calf muscle, overcome a nasty case of Plantar Fasciitis , a Baker’s Cyst and now it looks like Achilles Tendonitis. I get the injuries, it’s the loss of fitness and starting again that really hurts. Lock down for me has been the prefect time to really concentrate on my training program and I was just getting back to 2016 fitness levels and, with the help of my massage gun, was loving my running again. With a 12 hour event in September, a marathon in October, 100 miler in November, Ultra in December, 100k in January and finally the Delirious in February my race calendar is fully booked. This bad boy of an injury could put paid to a few of those or worse. That’s running I suppose. Every time you put on your running shoes you roll the dice and eventually you get snake eyes.
On the bright side my injury allows me to post on the subject and if anybody, reading this post, has the symptoms below I have the article helps.
Common Disorders of the Achilles Tendon
What Is the Achilles Tendon?
A tendon is a band of tissue that connects a muscle to a bone. The Achilles tendon runs down the back of the lower leg and connects the calf muscle to the heel bone. Also called the “heel cord,” the Achilles tendon facilitates walking by helping to raise the heel off the ground.
Achilles Tendonitis and Achilles Tendonosis
Two common disorders that occur in the heel cord are Achilles tendonitis and Achilles tendonosis.
Achilles tendonitis is an inflammation of the Achilles tendon. This inflammation is typically short-lived. Over time, if not resolved, the condition may progress to a degeneration of the tendon (Achilles tendonosis), in which the tendon loses its organized structure and is likely to develop microscopic tears. Sometimes the degeneration involves the site where the Achilles tendon attaches to the heel bone. In rare cases, chronic degeneration with or without pain may result in rupture of the tendon.
Causes
As “overuse” disorders, Achilles tendonitis and tendonosis are usually caused by a sudden increase of a repetitive activity involving the Achilles tendon. Such activity puts too much stress on the tendon too quickly, leading to micro-injury of the tendon fibers. Due to this ongoing stress on the tendon, the body is unable to repair the injured tissue. The structure of the tendon is then altered, resulting in continued pain.
Athletes are at high risk for developing disorders of the Achilles tendon. Achilles tendonitis and tendonosis are also common in individuals whose work puts stress on their ankles and feet, such as laborers, as well as in “weekend warriors”—those who are less conditioned and participate in athletics only on weekends or infrequently.
In addition, people with excessive pronation (flattening of the arch) have a tendency to develop Achilles tendonitis and tendonosis due to the greater demands placed on the tendon when walking. If these individuals wear shoes without adequate stability, their over-pronation could further aggravate the Achilles tendon.
Symptoms
The symptoms associated with Achilles tendonitis and tendonosis include:
Pain—aching, stiffness, soreness, or tenderness—within the tendon. This may occur anywhere along the tendon’s path, beginning with the tendon’s attachment directly above the heel upward to the region just below the calf muscle. Often pain appears upon arising in the morning or after periods of rest, then improves somewhat with motion but later worsens with increased activity.
Tenderness, or sometimes intense pain, when the sides of the tendon are squeezed. There is less tenderness, however, when pressing directly on the back of the tendon.
When the disorder progresses to degeneration, the tendon may become enlarged and may develop nodules in the area where the tissue is damaged.
Diagnosis
In diagnosing Achilles tendonitis or tendonosis, the surgeon will examine the patient’s foot and ankle and evaluate the range of motion and condition of the tendon. The extent of the condition can be further assessed with x-rays or other imaging modalities.
Treatment
Treatment approaches for Achilles tendonitis or tendonosis are selected on the basis of how long the injury has been present and the degree of damage to the tendon. In the early stage, when there is sudden (acute) inflammation, one or more of the following options may be recommended:
Immobilization. Immobilization may involve the use of a cast or removable walking boot to reduce forces through the Achilles tendon and promote healing.
Ice. To reduce swelling due to inflammation, apply a bag of ice over a thin towel to the affected area for 20 minutes of each waking hour. Do not put ice directly against the skin.
Oral medications. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, may be helpful in reducing the pain and inflammation in the early stage of the condition.
Orthotics. For those with over-pronation or gait abnormalities, custom orthotic devices may be prescribed.
Night splints. Night splints help to maintain a stretch in the Achilles tendon during sleep.
Physical therapy. Physical therapy may include strengthening exercises, soft-tissue massage/mobilization, gait and running re-education, stretching, and ultrasound therapy.
When is Surgery Needed?
If non-surgical approaches fail to restore the tendon to its normal condition, surgery may be necessary. The foot and ankle surgeon will select the best procedure to repair the tendon, based upon the extent of the injury, the patient’s age and activity level, and other factors.
Prevention
To prevent Achilles tendonitis or tendonosis from recurring after surgical or non-surgical treatment, the foot and ankle surgeon may recommend strengthening and stretching of the calf muscles through daily exercises. Wearing proper shoes for the foot type and activity is also important in preventing recurrence of the condition.
Last weekend I raced my first ‘last man (woman) standing event‘, a USWA event, dubbed Birdy’s Backyard. ( https://ultraserieswa.com.au/ ) The concept comes from the Big Dog Backyard Ultra described below by the Guardian. Our version is called Birdy’s Backyard named as the owner of the land on which Shaun staged the first event in 2019, the name will of course stick. It is the same distance as it’s big brother in the states thereby allowing for the possibility of a qualifying event for the Big Dog in the future ? As described below the concept is simple, you have an hour to run a 6.7k loop (4.16667 miles) on the hour , every hour, meaning the field all start together , on the hour, until there is only one person left, he , or she, is the winner while the rest of the field are all DNF’d (Did Not Finish)
A loop eternal: welcome to the Big Dog Backyard Ultra
It’s a simple conceit – a slightly more than four-mile loop that you run once an hour until all your competitors have dropped out. All very straightforward, until you hear how far the winner ran ….
Run a single loop measuring 4.16667 miles within a single hour. Now do it again. And again. Now keep doing it – starting a new loop on the hour, regardless of how fast you finish the previous one – until there’s only one runner willing or capable of doing so. Welcome to the simple – some might say sadistic – concept of the Big Dog Backyard Ultra in Bedford County, Tennessee.
“The apparently weird loop-distance has in fact been carefully chosen so each 24 hours equals running a perfect 100 miles,” says Guillaume Calmettes, the Frenchman who is the current Big Dog Backyard Ultra champion. “Another twist is that every 12 hours you change between a daytime trail loop to a night-time road loop, and because the road loop has less elevation gain – and is of course less technical – than the trail loop, then reaching the road loops gives you the opportunity to get a bit more rest time in between loops, and more time to take care of yourself before starting the next one.”
Calmettes winning distance was an incredible 246 miles. That’s 59 loops over 59 consecutive hours.
Obviously the Bad Dog Backyard Ultra isn’t for everyone. It’s leftfield events like this and the infamous Barkley Marathons – both devised by the savant of suffering, Lazarus Lake – that attract a certain breed of ultra runner. The 2017 edition had one of the deepest fields to date, or as Calmettes puts it, “everything you want for good entertainment: Barkley finisher; 24hr world championship medalist; Badwater champion; Vol-State 500k champion; six-day running specialists; 100-mile winners, and so on. It was pretty humbling being surrounded by greatness everywhere,” he says.
So how to approach a race with no discernible end – a race where your competitors dwindle as the physiological and psychological torment picks off victim after victim? Quite easily, it seems, if you’re Calmettes. “Because there is no predefined finish, you cannot think in terms of ‘how many miles do I have left before this thing is all over’, so in fact, I found it very easy mentally. I just had to think about the next loop. The next loop, always the next loop, it’s very easy thinking,” he says. “You’re never overwhelmed by what you have left to run, because you simply don’t know what you have left to run.” In this case ignorance is, without doubt, bliss.
Another unique aspect of the Big Dog that turns the traditional race experience on it’s head is position. It doesn’t matter if you finish a loop quickest or slowest. Once you finish it within the given hour, every runner begins the new loop tied for first place. In fact, it almost sounds easy. Until it sinks in once again that Calmettes ran for almost two and a half days straight – through storms and rain – to take the prize. It’s a measure of his character that the race’s highpoint for him wasn’t, in fact, winning but a moment when his last surviving rival, Harvey Lewis, finished loop number 56 with only two seconds to spare. The two took off into the next loop like a couple of sugared up school kids – ticking it off in just 41 minutes. “Pushing on a muddy and slippery trail loop with a friend after 57 hours is something special and pretty fun,” he says.
The end came soon after, Lewis quietly dropping out during the 59th loop – leaving Calmettes to unknowingly complete what was to be his final, winning lap.
“The problem when you win Big Dog Backyard Ultra is that it means that you did not really reach your limits; your race stopped because all the others runners called it quits, not because you decided that it was enough,” he says. “Now that I know that I can cover at least 246 miles and stay awake for 59 hours straight, I am even more curious of what I can really do. So yes, I am definitely coming back, and hopefully we’ll hit a third night next year.”
As a final, devious twist, the prize for winning is a starting place at the Barkley Marathons. Will Calmettes take up the offer? “Of course! You cannot say no to a Barkley entry,” he says.
Right, off we go. The race was due to start on Friday at 10am and being a 3-4 hour drive (from Perth) (depending if you let Amy navigate !) most runners left Perth Thursday and slept the night at the race location. This wasn’t a hardship for a number of reasons. One, I traveled with Adam who has a caravan so we cocooned ourselves in van luxury for the evening and the race, and two the race itself is around a beautiful lake which was resplendent for the whole event, albeit a tad on the cool side for my liking especially in the evening.
After an nervous evening meeting all the other runners and mentally preparing ourselves for the adventure ahead we all settled down for the last good nights sleep for at least a few days. In the morning we awoke to the lake in its full glory, a magnificent view presented itself to us and we knew we would run in perfect conditions. How does Shaun Kaesler do it? In my view a small price to pay for a soul Shaun and thanks buddy.
The Lake the morning of the race…stunning !
A few of the usual suspect had made the journey down with me, namely Adam, Rob, Rhys, Neil, Justin, Amy, Rob, Jon to name but a few. We all got ourselves ready and ambled up to the start with the rest of the 120 or so starters. The lap itself was pretty cool, luckily because we were about to do quite a few laps on it. The first kilometre was good running before you ran through what looked like a graveyard of old caravans. There must have been well over a hundred. Speaking to the owners of the caravan park it seems the water skiers tow their boat to the lake but leave the caravan and just ask the owners to tow them to their site when they turn up for their annual holiday. After the caravan graveyard there’s another kilometre or so of track before you run on the side of the lake, cross a small bridge and then a few kilometres of meadow running before finishing running though a , dry, swamp area. Throw in a couple of small water jumps and some challenging terrain under foot and you have the making of a great loop.
Images of the course. (which don’t do it justice !)
So what was everybodies goal ? We all had differing expectations. Jon wanted to win it, Adam wanted to get to use his head torch for at least one lap, (he was carrying a knee and back inury!) Rob was targeting an Ultra PB, beating his current 51k record, while Amy and I were looking at 24 laps and our first 100 miler distance. None of us knew what to expect of course never having ran a race where you are continually stopping and starting so we made sure we all packed our massage guns (you do have a massage gun right?) and these were to prove invaluable as the race progressed, as the image below shows..
Guns out for the ladies? Adam, Rob and I. (Chairs supplied by Adam , and they were awesome..)
In the image below you have a few shots of our camp setup. Myself and Adam were in the business class section in his caravan, while the rest of the crew suffered outside in the freezing conditions or scuttled off into their tents. Trust me that caravan was worth it’s weight in gold later in the evening when the temperatures plummeted. While I was embracing the vans heater the guys outside where cocooned outside wrapped in sleeping bags and thermal jackets but still freezing. It can be a cruel world running ultras but I feel they learnt a valuable lesson and one they will take with them next year, I’m expecting to see a lot more caravans and Winnebago’s next year. Jon , as always, was very well prepared but I feel this time he may have outdone himself. I reckon he had more food on his aid station that the event’s version and I’m sure a few runners found themselves at Jon’s table assuming it was the event one , only to be sent packing by Jon ! Truth be told he didn’t really make a dent in his tukka as he was also visiting the events aid station for fear he would run out. ! Bottom right of the image below you can see the coffee van which also did some really nice toasted sandwiches. I had one before the event but none on the day as I never got it together to either queue or ask someone to arrange a coffee for my return. No worries, next year I’ll get some support. (Jeff did promise to come along this year but he saw the temperatures predicted for the event and thought better of it ! Can’t blame him really, 30- 40 hours of watching runners run round and round in circles, in freezing conditions, is not that enticing funnily enough?)
A few shots of the camp and Jon’s provisions (and Jon sleeping !) and the view from my bed in the caravan.
Below, starting from top left, you have me and Rob enjoying the daylight on the first day. Then Adam and Rob relaxing after setting new PB’s and now keeping warm and encouraging us runners who were left, before scuttling off to bed. The rest of the shots are of the local crew at various times during Friday morning and afternoon and the bottom middle shot is the last 13 runners about to set off on lap 24, 100 miles.
Right back to the race. What’s it like running a ‘Last man standing event‘ that will probably last longer than you’ve ever run before with numerous stops before starting again on the hour, every hour ? It is ace. That about sums it up, it really is the best fun you will ever have in a running event. but there is a caveat of course. If you decide to see how far you really can push yourself than fun soon disappears and you enter the dark world of the ultra runner, pushing themselves to depths of despair that any normal person cannot imagine and, in this case , you do in on the hour, every hour. Yep, this event can become an evil mistress and the rewards are great but the price you need to pay will be a big one. This is the real point of the event, it allows each runner to go to places they will have never been before and may never go again, in the relative safety of only ever being a few kilometres from safety. No running alone , kilometres from help and facing many more kilometres to even get to an aid station to DNF. In a looped event you have the relative security and comfort of being a maximum of roughly 3km, in any direction, from the start or finish. There is also the added benefit of support every 40-50 minutes and a rest before starting again, this is what allows the runner to go further than a normal event. Did I put myself in that dark place only an ultra runners knows ? Unfortunately not , ok, there were a few Goggin’s moments between midnight and the sunrise but once the sun was up the last few hours were probably the easiest as I could smell the finish. Would that have been different if I had decided to run until I dropped ? Definitely, but this target was 24 hours of running and entry to the elusive 100 miler club and also a big tick of kudos before I faced the Delirious West again in February. ( http://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) Finishing strong after 24 hours was more important than pushing myself to exhaustion, this year anyway, next year it will be a different story.
Other positives was the camaraderie of the event. The start and finish area would be a hive of activity for 20 or so minutes when all the runners stumble in, refuel, re-hydrate , change their clothes etc (the list is endless) and then at a minute past the hour it’s back to being a very big campsite with the support crew left to their own devices and the coffee van, probably? In that hub of activity everybody is on a runners high because they have finished another loop, another mini event really. How good is this race ? Rather than one runners high, which is the norm, this event you get one every hour for as long as you can keep on going. Birdy’s really is the event that just keeps on giving, hourly. It is also great to see your fellow runners on the hour , every hour and , in my case, tell the same sheep jokes at the same location to the same runners, hourly. I’m not sure if Rhys and Neil dropped out through fatigue or they just couldn’t stand my jokes again? Probably a bit of both.
As I mentioned earlier all the crew performed outstandingly and all achieved their personal goals. The image below shows me and Justin entering the 100 miler club (give or take a few hundred metres apparently?) and we both decided this was enough for 2020. Personally I felt great and could have gone on but maybe that feeling was linked to my finish target, the mind allowing my body 24 laps before turning to his good friend fatigue if I decided to sneak in a few more laps. I’m hoping I haven’t sacrificed the opportunity to go further and break through the 200km distance but if I can continue training the way I am I’m confident I’ll be better prepared next year and I’m sure I’ll have some company with the current crop of finishers, all set to return in 2021.
Unfortunately during the race I did manage to probably pull my Achilles tendon , and maybe tear it ?, and my ongoing fractured big toe played up at various times. Voltaren and Rock Tape got me through the event but I’m paying the price now. No running for a week and a few rides on the Bionic Runner, stand up bike, is all I have to show since Birdy’s. It’s a price I’m willing to take but I have another one of Shaun’s events coming up mid September that I need to be ready for. ( http://lighthorseultra.com.au/ ) The Light Horse ultra is another looped course but this time dictated by time. I’m going for the 12 hour event which last year kicked my backside and handed me my first ever DNF. Determined to give it a good tilt this year and I’m helped by the starting time moving to 6am , so most of the race (if not all?) will be in daylight. Supper excited about this one but my good friend Voltaren will need to pull his finger out to get me to the start line.
Mission accomplished. 24 laps done and dusted. Synchronised watch pressing. !
Michael Hooker won the event finishing 40 laps and doing it with ease, truth be told. Phil Gore was magnificent in second place staggering to the finish of lap 39 before collapsing over the start line, leaving Michael to his own devices. Jon ran a perfect race for third spot, his walking, sprinting, snoozing, eating tactics obviously worked. For the ladies the deadly duo of Margie and Jen yet again were far too strong for the women field and 99% of the men’s field. They both ran to exhaustion and proved they are a real threat when Delirious comes along again in February.
In March this year I started to work from home as COVID19 started to make it’s presence known around the globe. This new way of working is perfect for the stay at home athlete to really add some serious fitness metrics. As you can see from the image below I entered lock-down in March just about as unfit as I had ever been in the last 2 years. This was down to a number of factors including losing my running mojo and coming off some bad racing results including a DNF at the Delirious West 200 Miler. ( http://deliriouswest200miler.com.au ) Truth be told I had fallen into this running hole at the end of 2019 after a second dose of man-flu. Now I know any Women reading this post, basically my Mum!, will have no sympathy for man-flu but let me tell the risk is real and it is a killer , albeit maybe more a few days feeling very sorry for ourselves. Anyhow I was left with little or no energy and lost the will to train, just before a 200 mile race over four days. I kidded myself it was all mental and I could walk the Delirious but in the end the inevitable happened and I DNF’d after 17 hours. In my defense there was a few other contributing factors, like not eating and drinking enough and my Quads completely seizing up, as I have also said an ultra is an eating and drinking competition with running between aid stations thrown in to justify the event.
Anyhow, I digress, in March when lock down hit I was working from home and came across the idea of massage guns. I had heard good things about these items so treated myself to one. Well, what a difference it made. Using the massage gun after every run allowed to me to start the next run with fresh legs, no longer did I hobble out of bed in the morning and stumble towards the door, I was like a Gazelle, leaping out of bed and bounding to the door. I found I could stride out again and my love of running returned which is pretty obvious from the chart below.
Lockdown fitness boost.
Another change I made was to spend more time, every Friday, hitting the trails for long runs and boy we have some great trails in Perth, all within a 30 minute drive from the city. These runs were all about time on feet and just enjoying being out there, running in its purest form. (Of course we all have our GPS watches on so we could show everybody where we’d been ! ) These runs rekindled my love of trails and over the ten or so Friday’s I spent on the trails I had some great times. (I took a GoPro on some of these runs so if you search in my last 10 or so posts you find a link to some of them or use this link to get to my Vimeo page :- https://vimeo.com/manage/422054940/general ) There are many benefits of trail running but , for me, the main one is the extra all over body workout you get as you are continually watching your step, due to the terrain, and unable to fall into a ‘road running‘ mode where it’s just step after step in the same stance. After a good trail run your quads and hammys are normally screaming as they recover from the extra work they have been put under, you may even wake up the next day with a six pack albeit probably temporarily.
The usual suspects. Adam, Rob and Jeff.
I have added my training before Delirious in February from Strava ( you do use Strava right… http://www.strava.com ) and the last 6 weeks and it’s pretty clear the change in intensity. First up is the 6 weeks before Delirious, in February, where I was in very dark place, training wise, mainly due to constantly tight hammys, making running unpleasant. I did virtually no running in January, although in my defence I was recovering from man-flu picked up in the first week. I made a token effort the week before the event but, by this time, it was probably, definitely, too late. Funnily enough my hammys survived the event but my quads gave up big time and after 17 hours and 112k I DNF’d . Speaking to the race winner , Jon Pendse, he said he was in a similar position later in the race and was saved by someone offering him a massage gun. Once he used the gun he was good to go again and wound up winning !
6 weeks pre-Delirious , not pretty.
Compare the pre-massage gun to the post massage gun training below. No days off and lots of double days, even a training half marathon (1:36) on a Saturday followed by a training full marathon (3:11) the next day. It really is chalk and cheese, the difference. As well as the extra workload you are able to get through you also start each run feeling fresh and this is where the massage gun is vital. The reason we run is we love running and if you take away the love then running becomes a chore and this is why , eventually, so many people give it away. Their mind is still willingly but their body lets them down. I see now that is what was happening to me earlier in the year, I was constantly fatigued and because of that unable to really enjoy my running. I remember lots of times sitting in my changing room at work wondering what I was doing, after another terrible run. Trust me it’s not fun when you question the reason you do what you use to love to do.
Post massage gun I am back to the running machine I was 3-4 years ago, albeit slower of course but the passion is there and that’s whats important at this stage in my career, that is the end. I realise my days of PB’s are well and truly behind me but age group wins are still there for the taking and also the joy of racing is still there to be enjoyed.
It’s been a busy few weeks.
So which massage gun to choose ? Well the choices are endless and vary vastly in price. Personally I went for an Australian product so I could return it if I had any problems, this is just my choose of course. The best thing to do is google ‘Best Massage guns for running’ and then give yourself the rest of the day to go though the options, or longer ! Of course , as always, price will probably dictate your choice but , as with all things, you probably get what you pay for so be careful.
Let’s pretend that you’re a sore runner training for one of the world’s first marathons in ancient Greece. You visit a practitioner to heal your weak-feeling muscles. He places a plank of wood on your sore spot and, using your body as a stabilizer, begins sawing away. The hope: that the resulting vibrations reach your muscles and help alleviate pain.
That was the beginning of vibration therapy, and while it sounds a little horrifying, the intention was scientifically sound. We now know that the technique helps build strength and speed, improve flexibility, and loosen stiff muscles, says Matthew N. Berenc, director of the Equinox Fitness Training Institute. And, until recently, this was largely done through bulky platforms found in gyms (rather than tools with dangerously sharp edges—phew). If athletes wanted to get strong, they stood on top of the vibrating Power Plate machine and performed dynamic exercises like squats and lunges. When recovery was the goal, they draped a leg over the platform as it buzzed. Either way, the vibrations stimulated muscle fibers and the nervous system, priming the muscles for quicker reaction and greater strength and power output.
But let’s be real: Unless you’re a hardcore athlete, these machines often collect more dust than users. They also require a trip to the gym. That leaves a clear void in the market, which companies like Hyperice, TimTam, and TriggerPoint have recently filled. Their devices—mini jackhammers and vibrating foam rollers—can be used whenever, wherever.
The Buzz on a Little Buzz
When our bodies are exposed to vibration, muscles automatically twitch against it, says Michele Olson, Ph.D., an adjunct professor of sports science at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama. It’s a defense strategy: Too much vibration can damage our organs, so muscles contract to dampen the blow. But low levels of pulsation can help muscles maintain their function and prime bones to lay down new cells while casting off old ones. So there’s a balance to be found and, for at least the last decade, that was achieved primarily through whole-body therapy (e.g., using a Power Plate).
The problem is that the research on whole-body vibration therapy has been mixed. A small study found that running economy—the energy needed to put in miles—increased after eight weeks of whole-body vibration training. But other research compared whole-body vibration to resistance training in endurance runners, and the results were equal. So it begs the question: Since you’re already doing strength-training, is it necessary to add more to your routine?
Some experts answer with a tentative “yes,” if vibration is delivered in a localized fashion. An exploratory study found that in recreational athletes, using a vibrating foam roller increased pain tolerance more than a traditional one did. Plus, when vibrations are applied directly to a muscle, certain proprioceptors (sensors in the muscle) cause tissues to relax and loosen, Berenc says. For runners, that could lead to an increased range of motion. Preliminary research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that when 19 people used the Hyperice Vyper, a vibrating foam roller, from their ankle to their knee, they experienced a greater increase in ankle range of motion than those who statically rolled.
When to Pump Up the Pulse
Manufacturers will tell you that at-home vibration therapy is great before, during, and after a workout. And while science still has to establish this for sure, there is a case to be made for each.
Before your workout, Berenc says, you can benefit from post-activation potentiation—a fancy way of saying your muscles are primed to work harder. “When the muscles work to control the vibrations, they recruit a high number of muscle fibers,” he explains. This way, when you start running, your muscles are already prepared and your stride could be more efficient, he says.
In the middle of a sweat session—say, in between sprints around the track—Jason S. Wersland, chiropractor and founder of TheraGun, says that quick, targeted vibration could signal glycogen to flood to a muscle. “It brings new blood and stored energy to the muscles, while also keeping you loose and limber so you can finish a workout feeling strong,” he says.
Berenc thinks it’s smart to vibe after you run, especially if you’re hitting the pavement five to six days a week. Running more often means more repetitive movement, which Berenc says should be counterbalanced in a way that allows the tissue to relax so that you can maintain range of motion. Ten minutes of vibration therapy each day is plenty to accomplish this; you can target three or four areas of the body each session to keep boredom at bay.
No matter when or how you use the device, though, most experts agree that it can’t hurt to give it a try. At the very least, you’ll get a mini massage—and we know those are awesome.
Pro tip: Newbie vibers should start on the lowest setting and gradually build intensity, limiting use to one or two times a week—and only vibing for 30 minutes max at a time—to avoid overuse injuries, says Berenc. “As your muscles become used to the stimulus, you can increase how often you use a device,” he adds. Pay attention to how you feel, and adjust accordingly.
I came across this article on the poduim runner website ( https://www.podiumrunner.com/training/marathon-training/how-to-run-a-227-marathon-at-age-59/ ) describing Tommy Hughes and his achievements and training tips, which are listed below. The article is worth a read and I totally agree with all his tips, they mirror a lot of my Golden Rules funnily enough. What resonated with me was his weekly training which consisted of a 16k run in the morning and a similar distance in the afternoon , 6 times a week. He is the ultimate advocate of the consistent running , high distance mantra taught by Lydiard, Maffetone and, too some point, Matt Fitzgerald.
I have said this many times but it’s worth repeating again ‘ Double days unlock your running dreams‘. Double days allow you to add distance without the threat of injury as you are breaking down your mileage by half, ultimately. Also by following the Maffetone method (using your heart rate as the dictator of your pace) you are normally running well within yourself and , as such, less likely to get injured. I keep telling Bart’s this as he is continually pulling his hammy running with his younger students on their track days. He needs to slow down, smell the roses and only test his dodgy hammy with a number on his chest after a good warm-up. Something about old dog and new tricks springs to mind with Bart’s !!
Anyway here are the tips of a sub 2:30 marathon runner, in his sixties, so they are worth reading and adjusting your training to accommodate, assuming you are a vintage runner , like my good self.
Run only as many miles as you can handle. In his 20s, Hughes pushed his training as high as 140 miles a week. That didn’t work. “I found that I was getting these little injuries all the time,” he remembers. Eventually, he settled on about 100 miles a week. In the last year, he’s been able to go higher—up around 120 miles a week. “I’m actually doing more miles now than when I was young,” he notes.
Do most of those runs at a modest pace. From Monday through Friday, Hughes runs twice a day, roughly 10 miles (or a little less) at a time. On these runs, he generally holds a steady “three-quarters effort,” and says he can’t stand running slower than that. He pegs his typical running pace at 6:30- to 7:00 minutes per mile. That’s about a minute-per-mile slower than his marathon race pace, so not a hard effort.
Go past 20 on long runs. Hughes generally follows a 12-week buildup for his marathons. During that period, he’ll run as long as 26 miles two to three times. He’ll also do several runs of 22 to 24 miles. He doesn’t push particularly hard on the long runs, but might run progressively faster the last three to five miles. (Note, at his training pace, none of these runs last longer than 3 hours).
Refine your focus. If there were a mantra to describe Hughes’s approach, it would be: Everything’s aimed at marathon performance. Even in his 20s, he never ran faster than 14:26 for 5000 meters. “I learned early that the marathon was my best event,” he says. “And once I did, I decided to put everything into building myself to a marathon peak.”
Skip the speedwork. But race often. Hughes does very little speedwork, fearful that the extra intensity might lead to injury. However, he races almost every weekend, either in a local Parkrun or a nearby road race. And when he goes to a start line, he goes all-out: “I love competing, and I always give one-hundred percent,” he says.
Use your races as marathon simulations. That said, he doesn’t run his weekend races on fresh legs. “I run 10 miles early on the morning of my races,” he says. “I want to be doing my races on fatigued legs, because that’s the best way to accustom them to the late miles of the marathon.”
Keep trying to improve your training regimen. Hughes has stuck with certain approaches most of his life—for example, the lack of track work. Otherwise, he’s always fiddling with what he calls his “training recipe,” hoping to find a new ingredient. He’s doing more foam-rolling of late, especially on his upper back and neck, which tend to get tight in marathons. He’s added a modest strength-building unit to his garage-gym, where he also practices rope-skipping and punching-bag sessions. A few years back, he started drinking a small glass of beet juice every day, and has become a big fan.
Carbo-load the hard way. Before his big Frankfurt Marathon effort last fall, Hughes followed the old-fashioned, extreme depletion-and-repletion system of carbo-loading. He ran a hard long run seven days before the marathon (“Bleeding out,” he called it), followed by three days of a high-protein, low-carb diet. Only after this glycogen-depletion stage did he switch to a high-carb diet. “It seemed to push my glycogen up higher than normal,” he observes.
Use a short stride. Hughes never had to work at this one. Short has always been natural for him. He ran Frankfurt with an average stride rate of 199 strides per minute. (It’s not genetic; his son used 174 strides/minute.) Hughes believes his short stride is an efficiency asset in the marathon, and also helps keep him injury-free.
Run even-pace marathons, or a slight negative-split. It’s the almost-universal strategy these days, and Hughes is definitely on board. He practices even-pace marathon racing. At Frankfurt, he ran 1:14:22 and 1:13:40. His son made the typical rookie mistake: He ran 1:12:54 and 1:18:36. Tommy caught him at 23 miles, patted him on the back, asked “You okay?”—then motored away.
Ride the 4% wave. Hughes, who is unsponsored, ran the Frankfurt Marathon in Nike Vaporfly NEXT% shoes. Why not? If you’re aiming for fast marathons these days, it’s what many do. “They seem to leave my legs less beaten up late in the race,” he notes, echoing what others have said.
Believe. The longer the distance you’re racing, the more important your confidence in mastering that distance. Hughes has always focused exclusively on the marathon. Over the years, he’s learned how to train for and race the distance. “I don’t want to sound too much like Eliud Kipchoge, but I believe in myself,” he says. “I believe I can run faster. I believe I can go under 2:27 at age 60.”
