read more posts by
bigkevmatthews@gmail.com
2018 has nearly disappeared in the blink of an eye and I’m left with the 6 inch ultra trail marathon (December 16th http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com ) and 3 races I need to complete the WAMC 7 races to try and win my age group. Considering I haven’t probably ran a sub 4 min/k kilometre since April I see trouble ahead. The Joondalup half ( https://www.wamc.org.au/major-events/joondalup-half-marathon/ ) next weekend will be the litmus test to see if my Plantar Fasciitis has finally given up and moved on to the next unfortunate runner. I’ll dose myself up with Voltaren pre-event and hope this will get me through it. Assuming I survive the half it will be the City Beach 8k a week before the 6 inch in early December and then the New Years Eve 8k on New Years Eve, funny that ?
Kings Park trails and the Elliptigo have been my salvation this year and I’ve managed to string together a strong last 3 months, albeit with more Elliptigo action than running. From the last 7 weeks you can see I’ve managed to avoid a day off exercise and have tried to exercise there times a day in the week when I Elliptigo to work. This has certainly been challenging as I’m not a ‘cruise to work in lycra‘ kind of guy. When I get on my GO it’s on for young and old, I’m racing baby, be it the clock, average pace, the cyclist infront of me ; whatever. This means I get to work in the mornings and home in the evenings on the cusp of a heart attack normally and I wouldn’t have it any other way, I am in a ‘building phase’ and I’m building a cardio engine that will allow me to add a turbo to it (i.e pace) early 2019 and hopefully onwards to glory, that or an early grave and some rest in my box. ? I must admit ti feeling great, albeit tired a lot, and there’s even the chance the BK six pack is making one more appearance before it scurries off to hide behind some well placed toxic fat as I fade away into old age. With my Elliptigo I may be able to avoid that for a few more years and maybe even nudge a PB or two in the near future. The proof will be in the pudding so speak and if my PF finally leaves I have the chance to try this new cardio engine at the Australia Day Ultra in January, around Australia Day funnily enough ? ( http://australiadayultra.com ) It was at this event I set the AURA ( https://www.aura.asn.au ) age group record for the 100k and I ‘d love to knock a minute or two off that but with the interrupted year this is highly unlikely.
Right to the point of the post, cross training can and needs to be a weapon in the arsenal of the competitive runner. Running twice a day every day, even with the second run an easy one, eventually catches up with you. I’m testament to that with my calf tear last year (thank you Mark Lommers and your Cappacino laced with injury !) and a bad case of Plantar Fasciitis this year. On the plus side the previous 8-9 years I ran virtually injury free. Must be a fifties thing which I’m hoping to grow out off in my sixties ? With me I have found the Elliptigo gives me that runners heart rate and cardio workout without the pounding on the legs, supported by some big names in the running world albeit they’re sponsored so have to write good things about the GO. I actually love my time commuting to work now and I’ve found an extra 6-8 hours a week where I can give myself a good workout without affecting work or family time. The alternative is sit on a train with all the other commuters glued to my phone wasting my life away. I actually mislaid my train smart rider months ago and cancelled it before finding it again (Always the way?) Anyhow I’ve never actually been to Transperth and reactivated the card, no need I have my GO . As you can see from the Strava image above ( You have Strava right ? Everybody has Strava don’t they… if not , get it quick and feel free to follow me ; click on the icon at the bottom of this post)
Another point of this post is to remind everyone I’m still here. I’ve moved house in the last month and managed to fill seven garages full of ‘stuff’, it seems the Matthews family are hoarders ? ( I’m currently staying at a 4 villa complex I brought that i can’t seem to sell? The joys of being a property developer in your spare time, in between running… ) This coming from a man who never throws out his running shows and probably has 4 boxes full of old pairs. They are like old friends to me and if you were to pull a pair out of any box I could tell when I wore them, what races , if any, I ran in them and probably how many kilometres I put in them. My Wife just shakes her head, actually everybody shakes their heads but they’re all special to me. Is that wrong , who knows? If i can find all the boxes in the 7 garages I’ll get them all out for a photo, it’ll need to be a wide angled lens if course !
I seem to have digressed , as is my way, but I’ll make more of an effort to post to the blog now I’m nearly uninjured, I have so much more to talk about when I’m racing of course. This weekend there may be a story or two as I’m running a recon run for the 6 inch ultra on Saturday. Even though I’ve ran the course nine times I’ve got lost three times and that’s even wearing two watches with a GPX file loaded to keep me on track. Needless to say I’m not the best person in the world to run the 6 inch with and the running joke , excuse the run, is when I tell people I know where we are you need to panic because you are then officially lost, harsh but true unfortunately! (Thanks for that Zac!)
Due to my ongoing battle with Plantar Fasciitis I have embraced my beloved Elliptigo of late and added this ‘weapon of mass destruction’ to my running armory. The plan is to commute to and from work as well as run lunchtimes to aim for 15 hours a week exercise time. That should break down into around 7 hours on the GO and 8 hours running. The GO time is non impact so allows me to crank up the hours without the risk in injury. The 15 hours target is due to Tim Don ( https://www.timdon.com/ ) who managed to achieve this while training for Kona with a broken neck wearing a halo drilled into his head ! My logic is if Tim, a world record Ironman holder, can train 15 hours a week with a broken neck then I , an ageing runner with Plantar Fasciitis, should be able to replicate that. ( https://www.runbkrun.com/2018/10/13/when-cross-training-takes-more-time-than-running/ ) Tim successfully returned to Kona a year after breaking his neck and ran well under 9 hours for the Ironman. Inspiring !
So far I have managed to maintain my cross training and running targets but must admit to feeling fatigued daily and I’m hoping this is just the phase I need to go through to build the ‘engine’ that will power me to a successful 2019 and beyond. Not sure how much ‘beyond’ I have in me as I’ll be 52 next February and even with the best intentions I realise my time near the front of the pack is limited and eventually I will be dragged, kicking and screaming, back to the chasing pack. Of course there are a few more years , I hope, of running sub3 for the marathon and protecting my 27 in-a-row current sub3 streak. It would be nice to nudge that close to 50 before I eventually succumb to Father time, we’ll see.
The whole point of this cross training program is to allow me to build my engine now for 2019 and not waste this time. I understand that PF has limited my training, and that is an understatement, but like Tim Don I have found a way to keep moving forward and adapting to my injuries. Of course a mild case of PF is not a broken neck but myself and Tim have both felt the devastation of injury and the fear of slowing down. Tim was 39 when he broke his neck after setting a world record for the Ironman, hitting forty we all realise he is going to struggle to maintain that intensity long term and his , like mine, time in the sun, at the front of the pack, globally in his case, is limited. This is why he chose the halo compared to less painful option which would have probably killed off his triathlon career, certainly at his level. He considered the three months of pain a small price to pay for the future glory of still being at the top of his game. Personally if someone offered me the same choice I would take it , three months of intense PF pain but with the caveat that after three months the PF is fixed and you can continue on. Currently PF has been hanging around for 5 months and still I cannot run on my beloved asphalt, it’s better but not 100% yet.
This is why the Elliptigo has become so important to me, that and my Kings Park trail runs. Between the two of them these exercises allow me to ‘scratch‘ my daily exercise itch and , I hope, still maintain my running fitness. In-fact I hope that my three times a day exercise regime may even allow me to return even stronger and fitter than before I was so cruelly cut down at the Australian Masters in April. How I regretted that event that may have earned me 8 gold medals (4 State and 4 National) but destroyed my 2018. Not only did it decimate my racing calendar, worse than that it made me totally reliant on trail and grass running which, socially, just about made a running leper. I’ve never spent so much time running alone. No more Sunday long runs with the boys and , worse than that, no post-long run pancakes or waffles.. ! This is another curse of being injured, you miss your time with your friends because most dedicated runners over time lose any friends who don’t run. It’s hard to balance training with social events and I’ve mentioned many time No1 Wife has created a whole social life for herself without me. I’m the stay at home baby sitter while she goes out with her friends , who I’m assuming are similar middle aged Wife’s with Husbands who prefer the couch to the bar. Actually I should take more of an interest because she did mention the other night she was out with the pool cleaner and we haven’t got a pool ? Only joking , current Wife does have a good group of lonely Wife’s who together cobble together a good social life while leaving me to watch Netflix films on all sorts of sport and the kids of course.?
Right, after digressing yet again for most of this post the point is two fold. First, make cross training a part of your training program and second always keep looking forward. Ok 2018 is a write off for me but I’ve reset the goals and am determined to make 2019 a special year to make up for the disappointment of this year. The Elliptigo will help me clock the hours training without risking an injury because half the training hours will be on non-impact equipment, while still aiding my running as the GO is as close to running as you can get, IMO. (Now the Bionic has stopped selling due to the company folding.) I’m hoping these extra 6-8 hours a week on top of around 100k of running will build the aerobic engine enough that by early March next year I can start to add pace, the classic Lydiard training program. I’m about half way through the initial ‘Conditioning‘ phase. I’ll then start to move up the pyramid which should stand me in with a good chance of going sub 4 hours finish time at the 6 Inch Ultra in December, assuming I don’t get lost for a fourth time ! ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com Any trail runner reading this in Perth or Australia, you need to enter this event quickly, it’ll sell out soon.)
Lydiard Basics
The principles of sound training that Lydiard developed in 1960s––based on experimenting on himself and a small group of local New Zealand runners––have stood the test of time as the scientific studies have caught up to validate his approach. Many of the principles that are part of the Lydiard system are found in coaching and training systems in use today, and nearly every successful athletics coach or athlete consciously or unconsciously emulates Lydiard’s training system by laying an endurance base and making use of periodization for peak performance.
Initially, this culminated in sending Murray Halberg, Peter Snell and Barry Magee to the medalist’s podium at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Subsequently, too many runners to mention have used Arthur Lydiard’s approach to achieve an impressive array of Olympic medals and race wins throughout the world.
Lydiard based training is based on five critical principles:
- Conditioning – At the start of any Lydiard training cycle, there is a long phase of aerobic running to build endurance and lay the base for a strong performance on race day.
- Response Regulated Adaptation – Trying to run at training paces that are not aligned to your current fitness level is not a recipe for success. Lydiard plans adjust your effort levels based on how you are responding to training stimulus to optimize your fitness improvement.
- Feeling Based Training – Learning to accurately interpret the language of your physiology allows the runner to stretch the training envelope while avoiding the perils of overtraining.
- Sequential Development – Unlike many running plans that seek to develop multiple facets of running fitness at the same time, Lydiard training is based on a philosophy of developing the building blocks needed for a good race day performance individually over a longer training cycle to allow optimal fitness development.
- Peaking – The later phases of Lydiard training are designed to guide and sharpen the runner to a point where they are in peak condition on race day in an excellent position to run the best race possible.
The Lydiard Training Pyramid
A typical Lydiard plan includes five distinct training phases over (ideally) 24 weeks.
While it is a longer training cycle than what you may be used to, the length of the cycle allows the safe development of running fitness as each phase builds on the previous one. The individual runs are not significantly different from what you might find in another training approach; it is the overall structure and flow of the plan that sets Lydiard apart.
Aerobic Base Building – a period of aerobic runs (run by overall time, not mileage) at a variety of paces to develop stamina and a base of conditioning.
Hills – Develops the leg power and flexibility that will be needed to support faster running while continuing to develop the aerobic base.
Anaerobic Development – Adds faster running (tempos and intervals) to prepare the runner to be able to handle race pace.
Integration – Race distance specific tuning and sharpening including shorter distance time trials.
Taper – Final preparation for race day.
Time to pay the Piper? … no way baby, plenty of time left in the BK running machine…look out 2019.
After watching the Run Nation 2018 short film ( https://runnationfilmfestival.com/#home-section ) on the World Champion Triathlete Tim Don I have made a conscious effort to try and hit 15 hours exercise a week. The reason behind my target was Tim had been knocked off his bike on Hawaii a few days before the Kona Ironman. He woke in hospital with a broken neck but decided to go with a halo type contraption screwed into his head to aid recovery quicker, rather than lying in bed to heal for many months. ( https://www.on-running.com/en-au/athletes/tim-don ) What inspired me was even with a halo to aid his broken neck he still training for 15 hours a week while preparing to run the Boston Marathon only six months after the accident. He was hoping for a good sub-3 time which he achieved on only limited training, in his words, of 15 hours a week. In the end he ran a sub 2:50 marathon in atrocious conditions. I thought if a man with a broken back, albeit a World Champion, can train for 15 hours a week then there is no excuse I shouldn’t be able to match him.
Unfortunately with my old friend Plantar Fasciitis still hanging around I knew I’d need to find some cross training exercise to help me meet my 15 hours a week target. So with the aid of the Elliptigo ( http://www.elliptigo.com ) I set about achieving my goal with gusto. As you can see from my Strava details below ( http://www.strava.com ) I have managed to hit my magical 15 hours exercise only once in the last few months, and this is without a broken neck. Maybe the Halo makes exercising easier ? Note: the last sentence was humour at its worst and I do not recommend anyone going out and breaking their neck , putting on a halo on the possibility it may aid future exercise regimes ! The extra hours spent exercising has been challenging but i certainly feel stronger now that when I started this 6 weeks ago. The rides to work on the GO are still hard work and, combined with a lunch time run, I am certainly sleeping well at night. I can feel my body adapting to the extra hours and looking forward to 2019 I’m excited for what I might be able to achieve.
Of course this year has been written off from a competing stand point and this will be brought home again next weekend when I miss Rottnest , a marathon I have historically done quite well at. Five top five placings and two second places probably makes Rottnest my best marathon from a position only view point. Not my fastest due to the terrain and heat but definitely one of the hardest and this makes the playing field a little more level when you’re racing younger, fitter and faster marathon runners. As Rottnest is a four lap course on the last lap mental strength comes to the fore and you can sometimes find yourselves passing runners that normally you wouldn’t see for dust. If any Perth runners are reading this post and feel they are ready to tackle a marathon next Sunday I’d go book a ferry ticket and get over there, if not this year I’ll see you next year for sure, need to win that race one day and at 52 , in 2019, I’ll be the perfect age ?
I seemed to have digressed again, it’s a curse you know. So back to cross training and how it can help you as a runner. If I tried to run for 15 hours a week I think I would be a physical wreck. I would normally average around 12 hours a week when I’m hitting multiple double days and around the 130-150k a week. This was my training in 2016 and early 2017 and I did achieve some great times but eventually injury came calling. With hindsight, so easy to type this two words, I should have cut the mileage early in 2017 and spent more time on the GO when I felt the onset of Plantar Fasciitis, there were early warning signs I ignored. This has come back to bite me big time with the biggest injury of my career. Lesson learned I hope and I will be making the GO a continued part of my exercise artillery. Of course the GO is not for everyone but , I hate to say this, a bike may be an alternative or joining a gym and just spending time on general aerobic exercise or body pump type classes, high intensity low impact. The only caveat to high mileage weeks is there is always the ability to achieve these if you drop the pace and run on ‘forgiving surfaces‘ i.e. trails or sand. I have running friends on Strava who run over 20 hours a week without getting injured but always run most of these kilometres on trails or at a very relaxed pace. If you add pace and asphalt to mileage you end up injured, trust me on this.
The GO enables me to get the running feeling without the high impact of running and also helps me avoid wearing lycra, which at my age is a very good thing for all concerned ! With the commute to work I have been able to hit 160k a week on the GO and that’s 7-8 hours I’d normally spend on the train idling my life away on my iPhone with the rest of the carriage. By commuting to work I am out-there living the life in the real world not through a 6″ high resolution phone screen. It really is a win-win situation, I even get to save a few dollars a day on the train ride, I’m sort of a professional commuter albeit a very poorly paid one. It also helps me find exercise time I can justify to No1 Wife and many Daughters as it doesn’t impact our family time , although I will admit to scuttling off to bed before my 10 year old these days due to being so tired after my three times a day exercise regime, a small price to pay I think ?
I have a friend who lives life to the max, on a 1-10 scale he is the ‘Spinal Tap’ 11. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xgx4k83zzc ) A few months ago he got in touch and described his new health kick using arbonne products. ( https://www.arbonne.com/discoverau/) . Now I’m not endorsing these products just saying, as part of the post, how Gary was transforming his life, and lives of those around them if they liked it or not ! He suggested we went out for a run together so we arranged to meet outside my office and off to Kings Park we trotted. Now Gary is new to the running game and we jogged along at a reasonable pace for the first 5k or so but then the pace slowed as Gary’s cardio fitness started to write cheques for his earlier exuberance. Anyway along the way I mentioned I was hoping to run in my 10th in-a-row Perth City to Surf Marathon in 4 weeks time but was hampered by a bad case of Plantar Fasciitis, which is the end would put an end to my streak unfortunately. On hearing this Gary piped up that he would join me and we would start together at the front of the pack.
Now I have known Gary for many years and when he says he’ll do something he normally does, well actually he always does so I did make an effort to poo-poo his idea citing the old adage of , call me old fashioned, training or is his case , lack of training. He was not for the turning and insisted I help him in his goal. Begrudgingly I agreed as I was worried that he would injure himself or worse ! So of he trotted and started the journey from nothing to marathon ready in 4 weeks. In his corner was his new found devotion to everything arbonne and an unwavering believe in himself and his ability to run a marathon on limited training. Intermittently he would get in touch and ask for advice on his next block of training. He was a keen student albeit a tad out of control, in a nice way, and did everything asked of him and more.
Towards the end of his mammoth 4 week training block he rang me very excited with himself, which if you know Gary is the norm. ! This time though he was even more excited than usual and after he calmed down he explained that he had just ran 42k in training just to see if he could do it. It was a spur of the moment decision to keep running on his planned 20k Sunday morning long run. When he hit 42k he rang an Uber and then got them to take him to a garage and buy him some nutrition as he had no money on him, only Gary could get away with this trust me ! I then persuaded him to taper after his 3-4 week training adventure and he got to the start of the Perth City to Surf ready for his first marathon with a bib on his chest.
Unfortunately I didn’t make the start line so was unable to see Gary take off like a rocket and head off into the unknown with a big smile on his face which, by the look of the photos below, was the standard look for the rest of the day.
So how did he do ? Pretty bloody good if you ask me. His splits are things of nightmares though, going through halfway in just over 2 hours and then finishing in 4:39:35, nearly 40 minutes positive split for the second half of the race. Although not ideal, in Gary’s defence, the second half does have more hills compared to the first half but not 40 minutes worth. Looking at the photos though it seems his pace challenges did not dampen his enthusiasm and he was smiling from the start to the finish.
Not deterred after Perth Gary entered the Melbourne marathon and takes it on in just over a week. So two marathons in less than 3 months after starting at zero training kilometres. You’d thought that would be more than enough right, wrong ! Remember what I said at the start of this post about Gary living life at 11, well he has already decided marathons are not challenging enough so has also entered the Bussleton Ironman in December. ( http://ap.ironman.com/triathlon/events/asiapac/ironman/western-australia.aspx#axzz5T8EyTvYC ) Yep, that’s right a full ironman on probably 3 months training, again starting from zero; he only brought a bike last week !! He probably can’t swim. You really have got to admire his tenacity and the reason I know he’ll complete the Ironman, and also smash Melbourne next week, is because mentally he is so strong and his attitude , in my view, is worth months of training for ‘normal‘ people, i.e. people who live life on a scale of 1 -10 .
The point of this post is never underestimate a good mental attitude when it comes to sport, personally I feel it is over looked by so many people. You have to believe you can achieve your goal and see yourself doing it in your mind pre-event. Of course there needs to be that feeling of trepidation as well as you can’t be over confident, that leads to a fall apparently ? It’s getting the right balance between nerves and confidence, both are needed for you to perform at your best. Of course I’m more of an old fashioned athlete preferring to trust in my training (one of my mantra’s) as well as concentrating on the mental toughness you need to succeed.
Finally as I have said many times the actual event itself is the fun part of all your training. Everything that has gone before is for that time you creep up to the start line, bib on your chest and look forward into the unknown that is the race before you. Tell yourself ‘this is why I get up early in the morning, push myself in training and sacrifice so much time and energy, this is why I do what I do and today it will be all worthwhile, today is my day’……
In WA at the moment we are blessed with a smorgasbord of ultra events put on by the Ultra Series WA ( http://ultraserieswa.com.au ) as well as the famous 6 inch ultra in December, ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com ) Dave Kennedy’s year ending event of choice. Looking at the Ultra Series WA website I found there’s also a four race Forest WA series as well as the races listed below. !! Thats 11 ultra events before you start to factor in the Perth Trails Series. ( http://www.perthtrailseries.com.au ) These guys have 17 events over the year, so now we’ve got nearly got 30 trail/ultra races in WA including a track ultra. How did this happen ? Five years ago WA was a desert of ultra running with the only oasis being the 6 inch ultra, which was in its infancy. Bernadette Benson then started the Trail Series but it was also in its infancy. There was the famous Hoka OneOne Kep Ultra which in my opinion had the possibility of becoming as big as the 6 inch is now but for the powers that be not granting the clearances needed. Rob Donkersloot ( http://whywalkwhen.com/ ) was another trailblazer of race directing in WA but his time was cut short by red tape !…
Now we are the shining light of ultra and trail racing in Australia and this was certainly the case when two of the biggest names in ultra racing, globally, have just entered the newest, and longest, WA ultra in its inaugural year.
The Delirious West is another brain child of Shaun Kaesler, the godfather of WA Ultra running. ( http://deliriouswest200miler.com.au ) A 200 mile (and then a few extra as Shaun is famous for adding on ‘free miles’, bless him!) trail run on the world famous Bibbulum track. To quote the webpage :
It is finally here!! After more than 18 months of planning, we are beaming with pride to welcome you all to Australia’s first annual point to point 200 Mile Trail event.
The Delirious W.E.S.T. is run almost entirely on the Bibbulmun Track in the South West and Great Southern regions of Western Australia from the old logging settlement of Northcliffe, to the Historic port city of Albany.
The event will take place from Wed 20 February with a 7am start time and with a 104hr cut off, runners will have until 3pm Sunday 24 February to make their way to the finish line at the Great Southern Distillery Company in Albany.
The Delirious will traverse you through some of the most remarkable forests, unforgiving coastal scrub, stunning beaches, water crossings and some of nature’s finest landscapes along the World Famous Bibbulmun track. Although not the vert of many of the other World’s great 200 Milers, don’t be fooled by its charming elevation profile as the Aussie landscape can be unrelenting in its punishment of unsuspecting victims!
So who is crossing the pond to come to this new event, well the one and only Catra Corbett for one and her bestie Candice Burt, ultra runner and race director of the ‘Triple Crown’ of ultra running. A prettier version of Shaun Kaesler in my opinion, sorry Shaun but it’s true. With these two already lined up for the event next February you are going to get some worldwide attention and I’m sure the 100 spots will start selling fast so I’d recommend start thinking about this bad-boy of an event sooner rather than later. I may even take the plunge myself, just got to persuade No1 Wife to let me spend four figures on a race entry!!
Right a quick post on the 2018 man versus train race where we leave North Dandalup train station and run the 35k to Serpentine train station and catch the only return train back to the start. Miss the train and you have a 18k run on a busy road or a 35k trail run back to North Dandalup. !!
The Serpentine train leaves North Dandalap at 10:20am so we decided this year to leave a tad earlier than previous years due to the various running injuries we were all embracing. Calf strains, Achilles issues, carrying too much weight (I’m not sure this is an injury Barts!) and good old Plantar Fasciitis to name a few. Thus at 6:40am we set off up the scarp, mainly due to Bart’s insisting we get a move on as he really wasn’t ready for a 35k sprint to the finish. He had got lost last year when he was dropped halfway up the scarp and had to run a lonely thirty or so kilometres to the finish. This year he was determined to stay the course and refused to leave a key hidden on the car so if he got lost he knew I’d have to find him and my lift home. Little did he know I had arranged alternative transport if we ‘lost’ him. In the end he made it and ran a large proportion of the run with us, complaining most of the way of course. I don’t think Bart’s like any hill in any direction, up or down, as both seem to set him off on a tirade of abuse. This from a man who loves trail running ?
The photo below shows the starting line up for 2018 taken at North Dandalup train station, funnily enough we were the only people about early on a Sunday morning in the country. I managed to persuade five ‘newbies’ to join us and supplied all of these with a GPX file of the course as I didn’t want them to suffer the same fate as Bart’s from last year, bless him.
So off we went up the scarp, which is a road section and probably one of the hardest sections of the run as you’re in danger of getting collected by mad country drivers cutting corners. Thankfully this year it was very quiet and I don’t remember seeing any cars, which is unusual, they were probably all still in bed after the West Coast Eagles, a local footy team, managed to sneak into the Grand Final the day before. As you can see from the elevation below the start is a challenge but the finish is ‘to die for’. It was a this point last year we lost Bart’s (the start not the finish.) and history repeated itself with Mark, a new runner from Brisbane, dropping off the pace early and, in Choo-Choo tradition, left to fend for himself. I felt a small amount of guilt but this was quickly forgotten when I realised the task ahead and I had supplied Mark with a GPX file of the course , so he had no excuse to get lost.
The conditions this year was perfect and we had given ourselves more than enough time to finish by leaving probably half an hour earlier than the year before. This certainly made the journey less stressful than previous years and we settled into a good rhythm with enough pace to complete the task at hand but not enough we couldn’t natter away discussing a plethora of topics and generally putting the world to rights. We as a group splintered early which seemed silly truth be told as it wasn’t a race and there seemed no point running a few hundred metres infront of each other. I ran with Jon, because he had the GPX route loaded into his Garmin 310, and Liam for conversation. (with Bart’s always a few hundred metres behind us complaining about something?) The three of us eventually caught up with the two Mark’s at the ‘drinks stop‘. I say drinks stop in italics because there was no drinks. Simon had hidden a carton of water and a box of Gu’s behind a tree but it seems these country people are resourceful with good eyesight because there was no supplies to be seen. Not a problem though but it did the make the last 5k or so a challenge as we were into the ‘dead zone’ (over 32k) with little water and no nutrition, a good test of your bodies capabilities to survive on it’s won internal fat resources I suppose. Luckily the last 10k is predominantly downhill so you can sort of ‘fall‘ to the finish line. ( It is to be noted this year Trish refused to bake for us which made the return trip to Dandalap a bit of an anti-climax as the reward of Trish’s baking (which is awesome by the way) would not be there to greet us, in the end we made do with McDonalds pancakes but thrust me they ain’t the same!, anyhow I digress.)
After regrouping with the two Mark’s the group of five set off to the finish and the conversation continued to improve with numbers. The highlight of the last part of the run was most of us falling prey to the only puddle on the whole course, how does that happen ? Mark C,. attached it with gusto (he’s Scottish you know and use to large expanses of water !) and nearly went in, this made me more cautious but it was to no avail and I ended up in the same situation, soggy socks and shoes for the last 10k or so.! Once we started to descend of course it was ever man for himself and Mark C. probably set the record for the fastest kilometre with a 3:10 down the steepest part of the hill. He was very excited and reported feeling a runners high as he snowballed down the hill at speed, more probably he was just totally knackered as we had all just ran just about 35k on a few sips of water.
It’s hard to put into words the run itself as it really was just about the perfect day. A good distance, beautiful trails and great company rounded off with Brownes Mocha and a danish at the Deli. Chuck in a train ride where the guard announced to the whole train of our adventures as we boarded and departed and the day really couldn’t of got any better. Talk at the Deli (see below) centred on next years departure time as we had plenty of time to relax at the deli before the train, well most of us that is. If you remember at the start I mentioned Mark from Brisbane getting dropped at the 3k mark, you’ll see he’s not in the photo below. We all thought he was gone and I had even arranged at the Deli to let him know we’d drive back and pick him up, save him the 18k walk back to the train station. Well he made it with 3 minutes to spare, albeit the train was late as usual so he could have probably stopped at the Deli for a danish.
As you can see from the photo below taken at Serpentine train station Mark is back into the fold and happy to be there, he currently holds the record for cutting it closest to missing the train, probably beating Trailblazers record set a few years ago. I’m sure Jon can get closer with a bit of effort ? Honourable mentions must go to Allister Caird who set a course record running the route in 2hrs 27 minutes, thats a 4:11k average, sub 3 pace for a hilly trail run, Boom! He could have left nearly as hour after us and still made it. Nigel also went well considering he twisted his ankle at 15k and ‘hobbled‘ to the finish in good time, a big call as if the ankle had given way completely it would have been a long night on the trails. Of course Mark gets a mention for running the whole route by himself under the stress of a potential long walk back to the car. He looked relaxed when he finish and puts his time down to this was his first trail run back in Perth, he’s from Brisbane you know. Bart’s also went well after we dropped him just after halfway, we actually dropped him earlier but always made sure he could see us, sort off. At least this year he ran the whole course after his miracle run last year.
Right that’s the Choo-Choo for another year. I’ll try and drum up some more enthusiasm next year as if you live in Perth you really need to do this run. We all agreed we’d leave later next year but the departure time is personal to your ability and general fitness and also if you want that added bonus of really ‘racing a train’ and trying to cut it closer tham Mark, fromBrisbane’s, valiant effort of three minutes to go. Up for the challenge ? All aboard…..
Last year I wrote a post on my old mate the T-Train and his cross training adventures as he trained for a half-iron man (would a half-iron man be a ‘rubber’ man, or maybe ‘wood-man’..?) He even had the cheek to turn up for a post Sunday long run pancake feeding frenzy wearing a triathlon top. You can read all about it here : https://www.runbkrun.com/2016/12/04/cross-training-as-useful-as-cross-dressing-to-runners/ The subject of cross training has again become central to my daily activities as I continue to battle Plantar Fasciitis and I eventually gave up on just running and released the Elliptigo for a second time.
Long term readers of my blog (assuming I have any bar my Mum) will know I purchased the Elliptigo ( http://www.elliptigo.com.au/ ) last year to help me get over my calf tear. ( https://www.runbkrun.com/2017/06/24/elliptigo-is-proving-a-life-saver/ ) As with all things , non-running, though the Elliptigo was forgotten once my calf tear was repaired and it was sent back to the garage to sit next to my very expensive Giant carbon fibre racing bike. (Much to my Wife’s disgust.) I merrily returned to running twice a day and all memories of the fun I experienced on the GO was quickly erased and any thoughts of continuing cross training disappeared faster than an avocado smoothie at a models convention.
So what changed and why this post. ? Another long term injury eventually dictated I had no choice but to dust off the GO and start commuting to work as well as keep running lunch times. This served two purposes. First I was getting in three decent cardio exercise sessions a day compared to only one, secondly I needed to work more on my core as the last 3-4 months of inactivity (relatively) had not been good to the waist line and for the first time in many years my ribs disappeared and I started to see these ‘handle’ like growths above my waist. ! My Daughter and Wife even remarked that I was getting ‘a belly’ when I was changing into a t-shirt. Truth be told this was the last straw. I had suspected as much but when your 10 year old notices, much to her amusement, something had to be done. This made me scuttle off to the garage and dust down the GO as I decided I still didn’t really enjoy cycling enough to make another comeback. I feel with cycling you don’t get the same benefits for your running related muscle groups as you do on the GO and this was hammered home this morning when, due to a slow puncture becoming a fast puncture, I was forced to leave the GO at home and mount the Giant. Cycling in I just didn’t get the same workout I experience on the GO albeit I was taking it easy for the first half of the commute as I got use to sitting down compared to my normal ‘loud and proud’ standing position. I know there’s the old saying about ‘as easy as riding a bike’ but it’s been over a year since I got on the Giant and it can be a tad unforgiving, add in a decent cross wind and my deep rimmed wheels are purpose built to dismount a ride at speed. (As I nearly found out this morning !)
Are there alternatives to the Elliptigo. ? There use to be an Australian product which was even more designed for runners in mind but this product was let down by Chinese suppliers (you can’t trust some people!) and unfortunately they went under. They had designed a product to mimic running seamlessly and I had a test ride after I purchased the Elliptigo (always the way !) and was converted. Unfortunately No1. Wife wasn’t convinced and forbid me to buy another bike, for some reason she considered three enough and four was just a ‘bike too far’, I’ll never understand Women ? The Bionic and Predator was built by an Irun.com but is no longer available which is a crying shame. Luckily for me one of my colleagues at work has one of the last models and I’m just waiting until he gets bored and decides he’ll never use it, I’m biding my time; just got to convince No1 Wife.
So as usual I have digressed. The reason behind this post is to highlight the benefit of cross training and recommend every runner makes an attempt to add some cross training time into their busy running schedule. It may be the difference between an injury free period or an interrupted period, and trust me I am talking from experience here. I know Meb Keflexighi is a big believer in using the Elliptigo for a good daily second workout the pounding another run would entail, he explains why in this YouTube video. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlTBE93OIlk ) I’m also a big fan of this method of grabbing your exercise high without the risk of injury. (albeit some car drivers may think otherwise, bless ’em. ?) This weekend I have some GO maintenance planned and will be changing out the back inner tube and ordered two new tires on the interweb this morning. I can’t be doing with all this cycling for fear of ending up sitting in a café, drenched in sweat , cocooned in lycra ordering a soya, light frappacino……..
Of course you don’t need to buy an Elliptigo to get a good cross training hit. Circuit classes at the gym are a good alternative concentrating on your core muscle group and high repetition, low weights. Alternatively there is another train of thought which recommends heavy weight, low repetition. Personally I tend to steer clear of these as I’m not really a gym fan and just prefer to get my exercise high outside, standing up at all times if possible. Another avenue I feel is over looked by nearly all runners is the Pilates, Yoga type exercise. ( https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/good ) Being an ‘older’ runner I can’t even touch my toes with hamstrings so tight you could probably perform Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony on them. I will eventually pluck up the courage and attend a Yoga class, probably. I know Mike K. swears by them and he is a lot older than me ! (Sorry Mike) My Wife has a Pilates Reformer which has stood idle for nearly two years, (due to my Wife’s bad back which is why we brought it in the first place ? A classic chicken and Egg scenario? Which came first, the Pilates Reformer or the bad back?) maybe one day I’ll actually read the manual and strap myself in, so to speak. In the meantime it’s back to the GO for me because it really is just so much fun.
Footnote: Since writing this post and before posting I had a weekend on the GO after rotating the tyres and putting in a new back inner tube, the joys of riding ? Anyhow I rode to Kings Park for a 12k trail run and then rode home afterwards. I’d done the same a few weeks ago and let me tell you it doesn’t get any easier. The GO-run-GO brick session is a killer and I backed it up this morning with a 20k Kings Park trail run with Damo and Mark L. ; I convinced them too leave the beach run for a week. Needless to say I am ‘cross trained’ out and can only assume this has done me some good. The last three weeks I’ve averaged 12 hours a week exercise with virtually a 50-50 split between running and the GO. It’ll be interesting to see how I go when I eventually get rid of this pesky PF and hit the ‘road’ , literally.
Note : The reference to cross dressing in the title was purely to get your attention and for all the readers who have struggled through this post in the vain hope of some juicy cross dressing information I can only apologise. So sorry T-Train.
What started as an inconvenience has all of a sudden become a really big deal. Plantar Fasciitis (PF) sneaks up on you because it’s one of those injuries that doesn’t stop you running, as such, it just eats away at your daily, weekly and monthly schedules until you finally give up and take to the Elliptigo, you do have an Elliptigo don’t you? ( http://www.elliptigo.com )
Last week I rode 173km on the GO, mainly due to commuting to and from work. At 19kg the Elliptigo is not light and due to the standing position when you’re faced with a strong head wind you are in for a serious physical examination ! Luckily for me last week was a particularly bad week for weather in sunny Perth so I was beaten back on many occasions during the week, much to the disgust of my ‘man made’ traffic jam of irate drivers wondering initially what the hold up was and then as they passed me what the hell that was ? The Elliptigo is still a relatively new item for the Perth streets and I certainly made an impression. I’ve found children, professionals and women like the Elliptigo, ‘tradies’ (tradesmen) not so much !
I’ve now had four treatments of Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) so far but am still suffering with PF to a point I still cannot run on hard surfaces. Luckily for me I have Kings Park less than 500 metres from my office desk and am blessed with trails of sand or grass that allow me to exercise without doing damage to my PF injury. (I’m assuming?) This has been my salvation for the last four months but unfortunately I have not been able to shake PF to allow me to scuttle back to the asphalt and bike paths that I love so much. This has cost me two marathons this year and currently is looking like taking out Rottnest as well. This will be a huge disappointment as I ran second at Rotto last year and was targeting a good time this year. At the moment I’d say it would be a Lazarus like recovery to be ale to run Rotto in October as the last four months has eaten away at my fitness levels and I’m not prepared to start ‘running’ marathons just yet in my running career, for me it’s all about testing yourself and racing the bad boys.! I’ve got plenty of time to ‘run‘ marathons when I mature as a runner, remember I’m only 51 years young?
Rottnest Marathon has got to be one of the most scenic marathons in the world and I highly recommend a visit if you ever come to WA. ( http://www.rottnestisland.com/ ) I could spend hours posting pictures of what I consider to be paradise on earth but I’m biased as I always spend a week after the marathon recovering on the Island with my family and these memories we create I cherish.
There’s also a few more target runs and races I have to try and get fit for coming up this year. First off the ranks is the ‘Choo-Choo’ run on Sunday September 23rd. I’ve written a few posts on this run and all are welcome to join us in the Perth area. Of course you are always welcome to fly over for it but it’s not the biggest event in the WA running calendar so probably not worth it. For those Perth runners who are reading this I highly recommend this run and I’ll see you on the 23rd either at the start , North Dandelup train station, or the end, Serpentine train station. ( https://www.runbkrun.com/2017/09/15/choo-choo-run-2017-man-against-train/ or https://www.runbkrun.com/2016/11/15/the-choo-choo-run-an-exercise-in-living-on-the-edge/ ) You’ll need to buy your ticket and get the 10:20 from Serpentine to North Dandelup, if my memory serves me well; there’s only one train down to Bunbury and one back per day so choice is limited. (Australind timetable for those interested in joining me on the 23rd. https://www.transwa.wa.gov.au/plan-your-journey/the-australind )
Then there’s the 6 Inch Ultra Trail Marathon on December 16th, funnily enough my 10th in a row. After missing 10 in a row for the Perth and City to Surf marathons it’ll be nice to actually run this ? Again if you live in Perth, or even Australia, this race is a must-do. ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) So many good times running this race at the end of the season, more about the challenge of the course and running with good friends rather than time, although under four hours is a target. (You need to keep yourself honest people ?)
Final goal race of the year is the shortest and certainly one of the funniest. The infamous St. Georges Terrace Running Club Beer Mile. Never been a race where I ever expect to podium mainly due to the fact I probably drink more in this one mile than I do the rest of the year. I’m famous for pouring most of it on my head as I reckon natural evaporation drains beer quicker than I drink it ! Certainly no records are set but its a nice way to recover after running the 46k 6 Inch Trail Marathon the day before ! Of course all of these could be null and void if I can’t get rid of this pesky injury, why does running have to be so hard ?
Last Saturday night I was getting ready for the Perth City to Surf Marathon the next morning, going through the runners conundrum of deciding how late you can set the alarm while factoring in eating and at least three toilet stops? I was going to run my 10th City to Surf in a row, part of a small group of runners who had the run the previous nine since the inaugural one in 2009. This streak was important to me and even though I had been battling plantar fasciitis since April I was in a position where I thought I had a good chance of completing the race. Of course there was other issues I also had to deal with, as well as being a 10-in a row marathon I also had to consider my 27 in a row sub 3 streak dating back to 2010. I had (have) plans to try to at least get in 50 in a row before I eventually get dragged back to the pack, kicking and screaming.
So here I was at 9pm setting the alarm for the morning when Jon would pick me up and together with Mike, Adam, Chris, Mark and a few more we’d join together and try and break three hours. The foot felt good and I had ran twice the previous week, which compared to the weeks before was a ‘big week’. Gone were the 700km months and the 150km weekly average, since April my weekly average was 50km. This ultimately was what made the decision for me. One last check of Strava ( http://www.strava.com In Strava we trust.) and I made the call to Jon and became a DNS (Did Not Start) for the third time in my running career. (I couldn’t make the Disney Marathon , the four day event, in 2015 when Chevron decided they had too many planners and terminated my contract ; and last year I pulled a calf muscle a week before Bunbury thanks to Mark and his ‘cappuccino of injury’) Looking at the Strava extract below I think you’ll agree this was probably the right call.
How did it feel to pull the plug on a ‘Spartan’ run and also drop out of the ‘runners who have run all the Perth City to Surf Marathons’ group ? (For runners who run 10 of any marathon they become a ‘Spartan‘, don’t ask me why ?) It was absolutely devastating. I suppose because I had got so close, I even packed my bag for the big day, I had delayed the inevitable decision to the very last minute and had been kidding myself for weeks that there was a chance I could run. I should have been honest with myself from the outset and went about getting my foot better in April and May instead of ignoring the plantar fasciitis and just hoping it would go away. In my defense I’m probably not the first and I won’t be the last runner who has adopted this policy of denial, it is the ‘runners way’.
On the morning of the race I awoke to prefect conditions and took the boys out for a walk. (I have two Golden Retrievers, Sydney and Spencer) My Wife would have realised my mood was probably bordering on depression because she elected to come with me and I must admit while I waited in the car there was a tear or two as I thought about all that I was missing. Of course I composed myself before she joined me and the moment in the car was shared between me and my boys. I think they understood ?
What next ? Luckily for us marathon runners there is always a new goal and for me it’s Rottnest in late October. I have raced the Rottnest Marathon 11 times and finished top 5 on a number of occasions (last eight positions 4,12,5,4,2,6,3,2 ) with two second places, my last one being last year where I missed out by less than 30 seconds. At fifty-one years young I reckon I got one more podium in me and will start on a 10 week training block to make that happen. Will there be tears, hell yeah, will it be painful, of course, will I enjoy it, guaranteed. This is why I run, this is what inspires me, being the best I can be and beating my time from yesterday with a better time tomorrow. I’m racing me from last year and I’m sorry ‘2017 BK’; you’re going down !!!
Right, the point of this post after I have digressed for so long. As well as the lack of training there was also the mental aspect of marathon racing that I was struggling with. Over the last 2-3 months I had grappled with weight as I let the training disappear but still ate the same and, truth be told, maybe even turned to ‘comfort eating’ , (as a few of my training buddies have over the years, who shall remain nameless..) the old ‘I’ll start training in ‘x’ days, so might as well enjoy the downtime’. You need to be careful the ‘downtime’ doesn’t suddenly become the norm. I had certainly let myself go mentally and this was probably the deciding factor in the end. The extra three kilo’s, lack of running, possible injury and mentally not prepared, wow, when you type that out I’m surprised I got so close to actually starting. I really was in denial, big time ! Sitting on my bed at 9pm on Saturday evening all these points came and hit me like a ‘tsunami’ and the call was made. In the light of day it was the right call but at the time, and even now, it still hurts but that’s marathon racing, you need to have all your ducks in a row and be extremely lucky to even get to the start line fully prepared, when you do take a deep breath and soak it all in, the next forty two kilometres are what makes it all worthwhile.
The photo below shows the boys with their marathon finishers medals. Mike won his age group , 55-64, with a 2:59 finish (Is that an age group record for the run Mike?) while Jon was placed 11th overall and Mark L. made his Mum proud with another sub 3 finish. Mark C. is recovering from Boston, still!, and ran a good time for the 12k. Bart’s, far left of the picture, has a medal on but for the life of me I can’t understand how he got it or what he ran, if anybody knows let me know..!!!!
After writing this post I bumped into Mike on my lunch time run and he confirmed it was a City to Surf age group record, 55-64. His time of 2hours 59 minutes and 5 seconds beat the previous record by nearly a minute. Needless to say he is stoked as are we.
Monday of marathon week is a day to reflect on what has gone before and start preparing your mind and body for the good old fashioned ‘kicking‘ they are about to endure. There is no sugar coating the act of racing a marathon, it is a massive mental and physical test and any weakness will be found out and exploited, and we do this for fun ?
I’ve been booked in for a facebook video post tomorrow at The Running Centre ( http://therunningcentre.com.au/ ) where I will talk through my top 5 tips for the marathon week but might as well spill the beans here pre-podcast.
You cannot gain any fitness in marathon week. The ‘hay is in the barn’ and there really is no point trying to add more ! Me, personally, I’ll run an easy 10k Monday and then maybe one more Thursday and that’s it. There are other things to concentrate on this week, save the running for Sunday. Alternatively short, quick speed runs but watch your hammy and calf, you are so close, this week is more about prevention of injuries not encouraging them when you are tired after your training block. (You have been training right?) Maybe treat yourself to a relaxing massage but I’d avoid a hard sports massage this close to a marathon. A proper sports massage is painful and has been known, if done incorrectly, to do more damage than good. This week is all about gently gently does it, soothing tired muscles no beating the hell out of them.
Start thinking about your nutrition and hydraytion plan and while you’re doing that be drinking water or electrolytes. This week you need to spend a lot of time in a toilet moving liquids through your system. If you’re reading this and not holding a drink bottle then you need to go and get one. For race day you need to make sure you have a nutrition plan which will involve digesting a carboshotz ( https://shotznutrition.com.au/ ) or Gu ( http://www.guenergy.com.au/ ) or something similar every 45 minutes, more if you can stomach them.
I’m a big fan of carboloading and aim for 10g of carbohydrates for every kilogram of weight. So for a 70kg runner that’s 700g of carbohydrates a day for three days pre-marathon. Assuming the marathon is on a Sunday you’d start gorging of carbs from Thursday onwards. Please don’t go overboard by also gorging on sugar and fat; it is actually quite difficult to hit your carboloading target so some thought needs to go into your diet for those three days. Also carboloading only works if you are fully hydrated at all times, your urine should be clear and virtually drinkable (I’m assuming clear is virtually all water but have never actually tried drinking it, I leave that to Bear Grylls and my mate Ghosty) There is also a train of thought that you should deplete your glycogen stores pre-carboloading but this has shown not to be the case. With nutrition I am not expert (hard to believe I know?) so do your own research, what works for me may not work for other runners. Due to my Wife’s cooking I have an iron stomach and have never been adversely affected by any products while racing. If there’s a volunteer holding a packet of ‘X’ I’m taking it, c’mon it’s free why wouldn’t you ?
The marathon itself is the icing on the cake after all your months of training. The last 42km of your training, the race itself, is where you can enjoy yourself. This is why we do what we do. Don’t be scared by the challenge, more excited about the journey and the final destination. Of course there will be hard times along the way but always remember with every step you are nearer your end goal, the race is the real thing not a training run, with every step forward there is one less step to go.
Finally the most important tip of all, running a marathon is more mental than physical on race day. Some time during the race you will question why you are running and the easy option will be to slow , this is our good friend fatigue and he is here purely to protect your body, sent by the mind who is not convinced you can finish without blowing a head gasket. Every marathon I have ever raced I have wanted to stop , actually just about every race I have ever run I have wanted to stop, so far I never have. This is what Tim Noakes called the ‘Central Governor’ ( https://runnersconnect.net/central-governor-theory/ ) If you can master the mind, you can master the marathon’. I just made that up but I’m probably not the first to say it ? Anyhow, positive assurance/thinking is gold when you are running a marathon. See yourself finishing in the time you want and play that over and over again when you are in need of a pick-me up, think of all the things you have given up to be where you are and the sacrifices you and your family , and friends, have made to get you to this point in time. Use these thoughts to propel you to the finish. Every runner has their own mantra or reason that when the chips are down will help move them forward. All marathon runners need to find their mental toughness, it is pivotal to success but rarely mentioned in training programs. I’m mentioning it here and if you take nothing else from this post but this it has been a success. Research the central governor, it could be the difference between success and failure, if you can convince your mind you have everything under control you won’t be hearing from fatigue anytime soon.