A thorn between two roses, the Race Directors Ian and Michelle, presenting me with my boot.
Start slow, finish like a train. For the last three years I have always started Delirious at a steady pace rather than race pace. The goal is always to get to Mandelay Aid station (around 122km) and then sleep before attempting the difficult twenty kilometre or so stage to Mount Clare. As you can imagine any aid station with the word ‘mount’ in its title is going to have some serious elevation, and this stage does not disappoint. This year without my wingman Adam Loughnan, who was washing his hair!, I started quicker than I normally would and was running in the top five for the first day. Mark suggested I run through the night and try to make Warpole , or at least Mount Clare before taking a ninety minute break. Getting to Mandelay in the early hours of Thursday morning it looked like Warpole could be a possibility, being a small ten kilometre hop from Mount Clare and predominately downhill of course.
No sleep till Albany..
I told Mark to set up the swag at Mount Clare and we could decide once I arrived if we would rest there or continue to Warpole. As it was the run from Mandelay to Mount Clare was as bad as we expected (probably worse!) and there was no way I could have run on to Warpole, maybe crawled? It was only the company from Julie Gibson that made the journey bearable. Arriving around three thirty in the morning would mean we’d be leaving in daylight to Warpole, after a ninety minute rest. At this point in the race I was actually leading the male runners as the previous leader had got himself lost coming out of Mandelay and eventually retired.
Unfortunately the crew next to me got very excited when runners came in so my sleep was disturbed at best. I was in the swag for ninety minutes but probably an hour sleep at best. Before I knew it I was peeping outside and it was daylight, albeit very early. I think I got a bacon sandwich before setting off to Warpole where I’d grab a well earned shower and breakfast.
So is this the right tactic , starting quicker and getting deeper into the event before the first sleep? The jury is out on this one. Mandelay to Mount Clare in the early morning after a sleep is a nice section to run, in the dark, after a hard days running, it is brutal. Of course the benefit of running through the night is you are closer to the finish and further up the field on Thursday morning. You can attack the section to Warpole with added vigour. I’m still not convinced but I was certainly closer to the pointy end of the field on Thursday morning albeit not as fresh as I normally am but twenty or thirty kilometres ahead of my normal position. It really is a trade off but facing the Mount Clare section again without a rest does not fill me with joy.
Leaving Mount Clare Thursday morning, early. selfie time.
More sleep, better finishing time. This year I had less sleep then the two previous finishes, probably less than two hours in total. I also tried to spend less time in aid stations. In 2021 I had a lot of sleep, or attempted to, but this year was all about finishing with time a secondary issue. I tried to sleep at Mandelay and Tree Tops with little success but eventually got a decent sleep at Conspicuous Cliffs and the rest of the race was superb. Another couple of hours at Denmark and I finished like a rocket, catching quite a few runners towards the back end of the course. I was eventually a top ten finisher overall (6th male) after being nearly last after the first day. Last year was a similar story when my crew forgot to set the alarm and we had about four hours sleep at Mandelay. Again ran through the field from nearly last to finish fourth overall.
Both years sleep early made the last two days a lot easier and I was able to make up positions easily. In 2023 Mark and I decided to start quicker , get to the front of the pack and sleep less, hanging on to our position rather than chase runners down. Although this tactic worked and I finished second overall I was struggling on the last two days rather than exploding to the finish. I held second place for the final two days but when I put in an effort to catch the leader I was undone by tired legs, funny that.
So is this a tactic I will use again in 2024 ? Again the jury is out. With last year being an out and back this was the first time on the original point to point course since 2012. That year I ran over 83 hours , so a sub 72 hour finish this year is a massive course PB, but 2021 was all about finishing where as this year there was a racing part to the adventure. If I had slept at Mandelay and ran to Mount Clare would I eventually made up the time. I hemorrhaged time after Mandelay due to fatigue and running the testing terrain in the dark. If I had ran this section in the light and not stopped at Mount Clare would I have got to Walpole quicker ?
It is a fine balancing act getting the right amount of rest to allow yourself to perform at your best during the event. I know Shane Johnstone, the 2012 winner hardly slept at all albeit he finished in just over 54 hours. I would suggest that is about on the cusp of what is achievable before you start to see a massive downside with your running ability compromised, it isn’t called the Delirious West for no reason.
Stumbling into Denmark, where as previous years I’d have been exploding into Denmark.
The beach is so much better in the daylight. When I ran 83 hours in 2021 I hit the beaches perfectly, very little night time running instead faced with glorious days in perfect conditions, breathing in the beauty. This year I wasn’t so lucky and ended up running in the dark along some of the best scenary. I left Conspicious cliffs early afternoon and so coming into Peaceful Bay I was in the dark and with my second head torch, the less powerful one. This made navigation difficult as there was some rock hopping with little signage. On the bright side it would have been very hard to get lost as long as you kept the ocean to your right shoulder ! The coves which were so inspiring in the daylight became a challenge at night especially when in you add in some rock hopping close to the ocean. Luckily I picked up a pacer at Peaceful Bay , the lovely Sarah Dyer, and company makes up for the scenary you know you’re missing. Boat Harbour was also missed as in the dark it is just a head torch beam of light infront of you, pity as that section is so good in daylight.
Reaching Parry’s beach in the early morning meant I had the run to Monkey Rocks to look forward to in perfect daylight conditions and the coves and beaches in this section are so good. In 2021 I ran Monkey Rocks section in dark, wet conditions, not ideal. It was so much better in daylight albeit I had a full stomach thanks to Chris Gerdei and his wonderful Wife. Again the inverse was true around Cosy Corner where I was faced with a never ending section in the dark and then the run along the beach to Mutton Bird car park. From 2021 I know this section is glorious in daylight.
I suppose the only way to see the whole course in daylight is to do the event twice and make sure you run twelve hours slower or quicker the second time ? Simple really.
I was lucky to leave early morning at Parrys and had a glorious day.
Grabbing a poduim is worth it. In 2020 I DNF’d Delirious at Mandelay, 112km into the event. I was a broken man but the result was not unexpected. I had lost my running mojo months before and had ran very little the three months prior to the event. I was uncrewed and so unprepared. The fact I got to Mandelay is mainly down to Glen Smetherman taking pity on me early in the race and keeping me fed. I had no hydration or nutrition plan and eventually the quads seized up, giving me the perfect excuse to exit stage right. Although the ending was not the result I had hoped for I had fallen in love with the event and in 2021 returned to finish in just over 83 hours. As I said earlier this was all about finishing and having a great time with my crew, and we had a great time. So much laughing , in between the running, and again I couldn’t wait until 2022 to go again.
In 2022 I managed to sneak to a fourth place finish thanks to a fast finish, sorry Trevor, and although there were less laughing due to the racing I still loved the event. This year it was about trying to go faster again and this was achieved with a massive course (on the point to point course) PB. It was harder this year as I pushed myself to keep in the top three but the end result was worth all the pain and suffering. A second place on my fourth attempt more than makes up for my DNF in 2020. It’s a mission accomplished moment truth be told but I know I can go quicker next year so we still have work to do, and that’s why we do what we do. This event just keeps on giving.
Winners are grinners, the place getters for Delirious West 2023.
Finally as always I give a shout out to some of my favourite products…
fisiocrem ( https://www.fisiocrem.com.au/ ) is just bloody brilliant and does exactly what it says it does , it just gets the major muscle groups moving again. I use this extensively towards the end of the race when my quads are hammered. It really makes a difference and allows me to move back through the gears towards the end of an event when most runners are stumbling home.
Fisiocrem is a must have in your ultra box of tricks…
Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ ) The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products) can be difficult to digest later in the event. From the website :-
As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority.
In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance.
In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born.
BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work!
BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!
Great hydration.
What can I say about HumanTecar, ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !
Fractel ( https://fractel.com.au/ ) have your performance headgear covered. I love the colours and the functionality of these hats, I guarantee there is one model you’ll fall in love with.
Fractel headgear, just ace.
Shokz headphones, let you keep in touch with the world around while losing yourself in quality tunes or podcasts. ( https://shokz.com.au/ )
Best running headphones EVER !
T8 running apparel is the best you can get, second to none. Designed for the ultra humid Honk Kong conditions the owners live in. It is light and does away with any chaffing worries. T8 is the name given to the highest typhoon warning in Honk Kong, storms and typhoons with gusts exceeding 180kph, which explains the branding. ( https://t8.run/)
I was awoken by Rob Donkersloot early and forced to leave the comfort of my swag. I was not happy truth be told and stumbled off to the shower block to be told the water was heated by solar panels so hot water at this early time of the day was not going to happen. Great, made do with clean teeth, some deodorant and a visit to the toilet, the simple things in life. Bumped into Alexis Oostenhoff in the toilets who was not overly excited about his 60km of progress so far in his 100 miler event. Not to worry, he perked up and finished with Harmony pacing him home. Alexis is another convert of the Mind Focused Running Group led by Rob ( https://mindfocusedrunning.com/ ) , if you are part of this community you normally finish and finish with a smile on your face, albeit you’ll probably be tired !
Mark presented me with some pancakes and bacon but I wasn’t overly excited about the offering. I think I would have been happier with weetbix as my stomach was starting to get over all the sweet offerings. I can’t believe I actually just typed that but I was getting sick of pancakes, bacon and maple syrup. Wow, ultra events do weird things to you ? I have since recovered from this temporary moment of madness.
Parry’s beach is just ace., start of day three.
Parry’s to Monkey Rocks is a wonderful section of the course skirting some beautiful beaches and the day was perfect, albeit a tad warm but that is to be expected. I was rocking the legionnaires Fractel cap ( https://fractel.com.au/ ) which helped keep me cool although black may not have been the best colour for the day. Fractel help me out with headgear and you’ll see from the various images throughout this post they are my go-to headgear.
Last time I ran this section of the event it was dark so it was good to see the beaches in the daylight, it really is a chalk and cheese moment; similar to when I came into Boat Harbour in the dark the previous night. In 2021 this was daylight running and again its like two different events. Due to the length of the race you’ll eventually get some great beach running, pace dictates when that will be.
Friday just kept getting better and better.
I went past Simon Poli out of Parry’s but he was able to catch me soon after and then I bumped into Stephen Rowles relaxing in a hut at the top of a seriously nasty climb. Stephen and I share a love for all things Cornish and we were both happy for some great company. Plenty of laughs as we talked about our time in the motherland specifically our time in Penzance, my home town. Obviously Cornish pasties were a hot topic and also Jelbert’s ice cream, when you know, you know. Another topic of conversation was the menu for Monkey Rocks. Stephen’s crew had messaged him a copy of the menu and we both agreed it was the chicken, mash potato and gravy which would be the lunch of choice for both of us. As I said before Delirious is an eating and drinking competition , with running between aid stations a secondary consideration.
Another highlight of this section was a particularly large dugite snake I nearly trod on. Stephen and I were engaged in conversation, funnily enough, and we both missed the snake initially. Just before I was about to step on it I jumped to my right, thus avoiding contact. Certainly got the heart rate spiking and the two of scurried off with fresh vigor. This was my only contact with snakes for the whole event which is good, albeit others reported many sightings. This was another reason for a pacer, they can be easily sacrificed, I missed Sarah at this point.
The terrible trio.. heading towards Monkey Rocks. Never realised Simon was so tall ?
Finally we made Monkey Rocks after talking about the chicken, mashed potato and gravy for the best part of an hour. Trust me people , it didn’t disappoint. My good friend Chris and his Wife were manning the aid station and the food was gourmet, or better. Stephen, Simon and I wolfed down our lunch and it was as good as we had imagined over the morning. I’m sure I had other items but can’t remember past the chicken , I wish I’d had more but knew I had a serious climb ahead. As you can see from the images the sun was out and the climb would be in the heat of the midday sun, wouldn’t have it any other way. This was a stark contrast to the last time I ran this section in the drizzle of an October evening, the wet year, made the climb slippery and Adam and I both slipped on the granite rocks. There would be no slipping this year but it was just as challenging albeit for different reasons.
Leaving Monkey Rocks with a full stomach with Stephen, ready for a serious climb. Love the colours of the photo, so Delirious.
Not sure about Monkey Rocks, that is an Elephant all day long !
The view from the top of Monkey Rocks was worth the effort to get there ?
Monkey Rocks is a hard climb and probably not helped with a large lunch on board. I was happy to let Stephen forge ahead as I just cruised up the incline , enjoying the heat of the midday sun and also knowing that the run into Denmark would be flat and I would probably get some shut eye there. The view from the top was stunning and I started on the downside looking forward to a rest at Denmark. On the way down I caught up with Stephen and we were also joined by Astrid Volzke and her amazing cameras. She snapped the image below, she is very talented, even caught me smiling albeit I tend to perk up if there is a camera in the near vicinity.
Summiting Monkey Rocks after the best tukka ever !
After running up and then down off Monkey Rocks you’re faced with a flat run through the suburbs off sunny Denmark to the aid station. Stephen had had enough and was content to walk it in as he’d probably eaten too much at Monkey Rocks. I was chasing a seat on the 1pm shuttle bus (The bus leaves on the hour every hour) so needed to get to the aid station in a hurry. We said our goodbyes and I put on the afterburners aware that Oliver was just behind me and if I could get the next shuttle I’d put a few hours between us. I remember the last time Adam and I ran this section we both agreed it was probably the worse one of the entire race, that was in the dark, unfortunately it didn’t improve in the light. Not sure if its the frustration of the aid station always being around the next corner or the terrain, it’s mainly on suburban streets but this section just sucks.
Nice to get some flat terrain heading into Denmark after Monkey Rocks.
Eventually I made the aid station around 12:35 so had enough time for a quick snack and then got my head down for ten minutes. The image below shows the chaos that is an aid station for 200 milers, this is why you need a crew so all your processions can be moved along the route with you. How people do this race unsupported is beyond me?
I’m not sure if I got any sleep as time was against me and I was desperate to get the 1pm shuttle. I had resigned myself to the possibility of running through the night to finish early Saturday morning and , as such, there would be no more sleeping. This was a similar strategy to last years event. Sleep Wednesday and Thursday night and then run through Friday and finish early Saturday morning, hopefully before the hallucinations become too vivid.
Five minutes to the hour we started to prepare for the shuttle and luckily enough there was room for my pacer, Sarah Dyer. A sucker for punishment obviously as she was keen for some more pacing duties albeit I couldn’t promise her another kilo of cocaine as payment this time. Simon Poli, he was running the 100 miler, also made the shuttle and he was happy to join Sarah and I. I had run with Simon on and off for most of the day and he was loving his first miler, again another Rob Donkersloot Mind Focused Running convert, as is Sarah funnily enough. ( https://mindfocusedrunning.com/ ) We were joined in the shuttle by couple of 100 mile runners, as well as Simon, and then we were off on the twenty minute or so car journey to continue the adventure.
The chaos that is ultra running… surrounded by my stuff, being left alone for 5 minutes. nano nap
Denmark -> Lowlands 22.2km ( accumulated 288.2km)
The car trip to continue the race, it use to be a boat back in the day, Simon Poli riding shotgun.
The first two aid stations from Denmark are the challenge, get through these and then you are home and hosed as the final two aid stations are relatively close together and you can smell the finish. Denmark to Lowlands is the longest of the two and starts with a nasty four kilometes of trail that is difficult to run through, initially a wetlands area and then open trail where you are cooked, remember this was now early afternoon and the sun was showing us no mercy. Where as in previous years I finished strongly on the last day this year I was struggling. Simon left Sarah and I although we would meet him just before Lowlands. There were long walk breaks with the heat starting to wear me down. Eventually we made Lowlands and Mark was there with another steak which is just what I needed. Another change of clothes and the three of us were ready for the next section, to Shelley Beach, which was uncrewed so we wouldn’t see Mark until late into the evening at Cosy Corner.
The last test of Delirious is the section between Lowlands and Shelley beach. After a twenty two kilometre section post Denmark shuttle you are pretty goosed and the seventeen kilometre skip to Shelley is testing. Together they are nearly a marathon distance and you just tick over three hundred kilometres at Shelly, fatigue starts to become a factor. I was fully fueled after another steak expertly prepared by chef Mark and Simon, Sarah and I set off in good spirits. A call of nature broke up the team and Sarah waited for me while Simon stepped on knowing we’d probably catch up.
Out of lowlands and heading towards Shelley Beach and the sunset with Sarah pacing me and Simon running ahead sweeping.
Between Lowlands and Shelly we witnessed the last sunset of the event and it was a beauty, as is the norm. This is one of the main draw cards for running two hundred milers, you see a few sunrises and sunsets. As you can see from the image we had some cloud cover going into Friday evening which made a pleasant change from the sauna we have experienced most of the day.
Sunset number three for the event, Friday evening.
Sarah and I put in a burst post Lowlands in a last desperate bid to catch the leader. We’d heard John was slowing and taking his time in aid stations so with time running out we put in a five kilometre burst of pace. Unfortunately we had left our charge too late and it made little difference to the overall gap, it was the last throw of the dice and as night fell I knuckled down and started to think about beating my previous years PB of just under sixty nine hours. Even this was beyond me as the terrain made running difficult and I knew I was in for another all nighter with an early morning finish the best outcome.
The climb down into Shelly and then back up again, brutal ! Sarah forging ahead.
I was looking forward to Shelley Beach as Mel Maisey was aid station captain, she off the 60th birthday celebration a lifetime ago at Northcliffe, well the Monday of the race. Unfortunately Mel had left the event and was heading home, no worries a cup of tea was all I needed as the next aid station was close. There may have been a few minutes resting before Simon turned up , looking like he’d stolen something. He’d found a second wind but not enough to leave with Sarah and I. The descent into Shelly is steep and long but for some reason it is easier on the climb out, weird, not sure how this is possible but Sarah and I were thankful for this anomaly.
Even though it was only a short hop to Cosy Corner it did seem to take a long time. We were scooting along at a good pace and we knew the Mark would be waiting for us at the next aid station and then we had a nice beach section to Mutton Bird carpark.
There was a serious amount of wild life on this section including a Western Ring tailed possum (see image above) which I persuaded to jump from one tree to the another , over the track. We also bumped into a frog which I kissed to prove the old theory that frogs turn into princesses fake news, unfortunately it was fake news and the only thing I’d catch from kissing frogs is probably worms. (Happy to report that I seem to have dodged that bullet?)
Earlier in the day we had seen a large cat on the trail which would have been feral and this was one large feline, bordering on bob cat dimensions albeit we were both pretty tired at this stage. We saw some seriously big Kangaroos as well and one jumped out a few metres ahead of us and continued along the trail. I heard that at least one runner had a coming together with a Roo which is best avoided as these are big Roos. !
Cosy Corner was great, good food and Simon, Sarah and I had the aid station to ourselves albiet we were joined by the chaos that is one of the race directors, Michelle Hanlin. If you know Michelle you’ll know what I mean, she is a one woman race organising machine and a human whirlwind. Life is never dull when Michelle is around and it was great to see her. The RD’s of this event work long hours and travel great distance trying to herd the cats that are sixty plus 200 mile runners. As you know runners are good at running, not so good at navigating !
Heading towards Mutton Bird Carpark taking our lives in our hands.
Cosy Corner to Mutton Bird carpark is all on the beach and last time I ran this section in 2021 it was daylight and I rally enjoyed it as you could see the aid station from a long way off. It seemed to arrive very quickly. In the dark the atmosphere is completely different as you lose the main stimulus of sight, you are left with your own little bubble of headtorch light and your thoughts as the terrain is just sand. There was the small challenge of some rock hopping which, as the image above shows, was testing due to the tide being high, I assume? I wonder how many trail runners have drowned running trails ?
Sarah, being a Geologist, glided over the rocks while I stumbled at best. Simon led the way while I took time to try and get some photos for this post. The things I do for my reader(s) , I hope Mum appreciates it ?
The beach to Mutton Bird Carpark, long best describes it. Probably better in sunlight?
We moved along the beach together leap frogging each other many times before the car park light came into view. I was able to move along the wetter sand , which was harder, without getting my feet wet until the very last minute before heading to the carpark. The last wave got me so was forced to change back to the Olympus 5’s at the aid station. I had ran the entire event in the Altra Olympus 5’s, out of the box. ( https://www.altrarunning.com.au/collections/olympus-5 ) These are my trail shoes of choice, zero drop with a large footbox meaning you have a small chance of saving toenails, if you prepare with Dru’it foot balm beforehand. ( https://www.duit.com.au/product/foot-heel-balm-plus/ )
We arrived at Mutton Bird aid station and the three of us slumped into the chairs, knackered, tired , hungry and thirsty but now so close to the finish we could taste it.
Mutton Bird carpark -> Sandpatch car park 13.2km (accumulated 335.6km)
Sunrise on day four, Saturday, moving past the wind turbines just outside Albany, nearly at the last aid station, Sandpatch carpark.
As always we left the aid station together and yet again I stopped early to take off my jacket. Simon scooted off alone while yet again Sarah waited for me like good pacer should. Sarah had done an outstanding job pacing now for over a hundred kilometres over two days but I soon noticed something was wrong. The pace had slowed and after a few kilometres she admitted she wasn’t feeling that great, lack of sleep was beginning to catch up with her. As well as pacing me Sarah had also paced other runners before joining me so she was as sleep depraved as me. We discussed the options and I recommended running back to the last aid station which was only a few kilometres away as we knew Mark was hanging around sipping a VB with the volunteers, he’s good like that Mark. Sarah was determined to get to the next, penultimate, aid station and I was glad of the company, together we stumbled off in search of Simon, and when I type stumbled I mean stumbled.
This was the hardest section of the event, both Sarah and I were totally fatigued and we were running through the night for a third time, both off minimal sleep. Looking back I had maybe let my hydration and nutrition go a bit over the last few aid stations and this was coming back to bite me, excuse the pun.
The aid station seem to take an age to arrive and all thoughts of a PB went out the window as we both crawled to Sandpatch. The highlight was the sunrise, not that we noticed really, and we eventually found the aid station where Simon was waiting for us.
Sandpatch carpark -> 258 Freshmans bay Road. 11.2km (accumulated 346.8km)
The last image of the race, heading to Freshman’s Bay Road with Simon Poli.
Finally the last section to the finish. In 2021 I was racing ‘Paul Hopi ‘ and destroyed this section, not this year. I had let Sarah go as she was to meet me for the finish line jog with Mark and Rob. Simon set the pace and I struggled to hang on, he was fresh as a daisy and had the best time running the 100 miles, running with me for over half the distance; no wonder he had a good time ! He may have found his calling and I look forward to the first Poli vs Poli showdown in the near future. (His brother Felix has finished the 200 miler twice, he featured in a few videos earlier in the post) After running to the finish with my team it was time for the obligatory ‘shoey‘, its tradition.
So that was Delirious West 2023, a second place overall finish clocking in just under 72 hours, three days. John was a few hours ahead of me and Oliver a few hours behind me, happy with that. It was never about a poduim finish albeit I’ll take it of course. Delirious is about surrounding yourself with like minded people and living the dream for a week, being waited on hand and foot by aid station volunteers and your own crew, achieving more than you ever thought you could with the help of wonderful people. 2023 lived up to my all expectations and more beside, it really is the event that just keeps on giving, year on year.
I seem to remember Mark, Sarah and I heading off to the Albany park run but I fell asleep in the car as soon as we arrived while Mark (as Warwick) and Sarah ran the event. They woke me on their return and it was time for a shower, albeit using the community showers in Albany.
Oliver, John and I, the 200 miler poduim.
Post park run it was off to the local free community showers in Albany for a hot shower. I must admit I didn’t look the best I’ve ever looked, I’m calling it the Albany Hobo look, it my defence I had just run a 200 miler ! I did fit in to the community shower crew though and it was a good shower funnily enough.
The Albany hobo look, very 2023 ?
After the shower it was back to the finish line to chill out and enjoy the finish line atmosphere, cheering on fellow competitors. Of course I didn’t last long and was soon away in the land of nod dreaming of Delirious 2024. The finish line is a wonderful place , watching people achieve their dreams, it is uplifting assuming you stay awake.
Like a cobra ready to strike… relaxing at the finish.
To prove I did pay attention to the finishing runners the image below is one of my favourite runners finishing another great 200 miler. Sarah Niven already has the triple crown down under 2022 under her belt but ran Delirious this year as ‘fun’. As always she exceeded her expectations and destroyed her PB time, its becoming the norm with this young lady. Always smiling.
Another stella run from Sarah Niven, always smiling.
Spent most of Saturday at the finish line leaving only for dinner and a sleep before returning the following day to cheer on the late arrivals. Shaun and the team then went through the presentations as well as setting up a tribute to Jeff, a tree of shoes and a plaque. A beautiful tribute, very touching.
After the presentations everybody hot footed it off to the pub for an evening of stories, good food and great company. A few of us stayed till the end and got ourselves in the ‘end event’ photo, it had to be done.
Nothing more to say, off to the pub we go.
The food at the Earl of Spencer is so good and the Guinness even better, it had been a long time between drinks as my last one was after the Unreasonable East in the Blue Mountains in June last year. I’m not a big drinker. Shaun had hired out the pub so it was full of runners , family and support crew, so much laughter and stories which seem to get bigger , longer or quicker as the night went on. It was a perfect end to a perfect week, thank you Delirious 2023 you were simply ‘ace’.
A well earned Guinness, until next year.
Fisiocrem is a must have in your ultra box of tricks…
Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ ) The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products) can be difficult to digest later in the event. From the website :-
As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority.
In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance.
In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born.
BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work!
BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!
Great hydration.
What can I say about HumanTecar, ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !
Fractel ( https://fractel.com.au/ ) have your performance headgear covered. I love the colours and the functionality of these hats, I guarantee there is one model you’ll fall in love with.
Fractel headgear, just ace.
Shokz headphones, let you keep in touch with the world around while losing yourself in quality tunes or podcasts. ( https://shokz.com.au/ )
Broke Road to Mandalay is a long section after you’ve been running all day and are still getting use to long days, if that is even possible. You normally run this in the dark and it can take three hours or longer as the terrain can be testing , especially towards Mandalay beach. Add in some serious gradients, serious steps into the aid station, the late arrival and you are more than ready to get your head down for some rest. The last two years I have got to Mandalay I have stopped for a good three to four hour sleep. This allows me to attack the next section, another tough one, to Mount Clare in the light and on fresh legs.
The plan this year was to run through Mandalay and get some shut eye at Mount Clare before a morning shower at Walpole, just 10km later. I had ran most of the day with Julie Gibson and we continued into the night together after a slight detour running out of Mandalay. The race leader had activated his SOS beacon and we all assumed it was for a snake bite. Turns out he had wondered off the course as GAIA was showing a different route. Julie and I assumed the same thing and before we knew it we were hundred of metres into thick gorse, not ideal. At one point I fell down a hole and found myself completely covered by gorse, unable to move. Not ideal but I managed to scramble out, just. We managed to extract ourselves and find the track after first making sure the rescue team could get to the race leader.
Mandaly Beach -> Mount Clare 20.6km ( accumulated 131.9)
This next twenty kilometres was brutal and that’s being kind , running it on fresh legs on the morning of the second day is the way to go but I was after a quicker time this year so sacrifices had to be made, this was a big one ! There are some serious climbs , the sort of climbs when you run a sixteen minute kilometre and you’ve worked so hard, to a road runner this is so alien. I was hoping to get to Mount Clare by two in the morning and even harboured thoughts of running through to Walpole before a sleep. This was never going to happen and we made Mount Clare around four in the morning, just in time for a ninety minute break to start again just after first light. That swag never felt so good and I was relieved to get around an hour’s shut eye.
A bridge heading towards Mount Clare, day one just about done by around four in the morning.
Mount Clare -> Walpole 10.9km ( accumulated 142.8)
Decided to grab a cup of tea at Mount Clare , change of clothes and then a quick 1okm leg to Walpole where Id’ have brekkie and a shower. Coming from Mount Clare to Walpole is mainly downhill and as it was after a nap and early morning I felt great. Julie ran into Warpole with me and we certainly enjoyed this leg more than the previous slog from Mandalay. Note to self next year I think I’ll sleep at Mandalay so I’m better prepared for the brutal leg to Mount Clare, running this 20km after a full day of racing was a challenge. On this leg I rang the lads at Yelo , Thursday 7am, as is tradition. It was good to see them and I was buoyed by the facetime meeting. Walpole came along quickly and the shower was awesome, so refreshing. Next, five weetbix another cup of tea and I was ready for the next leg to Tingle Tree and then the halfway stage at Treetops. Julie had decided against a shower and left before me so I was alone to start the Tingle Tree leg.
Shower time at Walpole.
Walpole -> Tingle Tree 9.8km ( accumulated 152.6)
The traditional Tingle Tree photo… Thanks Mark.
I enjoy this section, the first part is flat and then you rise to the Giant tingle tree. It’s less than 10km so is over pretty quick. Some great scenery looking back to the ocean and the image below is a traditional shot I take ever year, normally with Adam. The photo never does the view justice but trust me it’s special. Overcast conditions continued the humid environment but a lot better than the day before. It was great to get to Tingle Tree and get some serious potatoes from Frank and Jill Kaesler, Shaun’s parents. The salt on these bad boys made such a difference and I set off for Tree Tops in great spirits.
On the way to Tingle Tree
Tingle Tree -> Tree Tops 22.4km ( accumulated 175)
This is another hard section, funnily enough I seem to have typed this a lot on this post ? Another long leg with some elevation to cope with. I had finished the last leg with Oliver Maass and bumped into Kate and Julie at Tingle Tree , all left before me. This section was hard as my legs deserted me and there was a lot of walk breaks, more than the previous two years from memory ? I was surprised though when I bumped into all three of them at Tree Tops, I envisaged dropping off the pace but it seems we were all suffering. At Tree Tops I was offered some great pancakes as well as a Brownes Mocha, I was in heaven. Mark allowed me ten minutes in the Wanderer chair , towel on head, I may have even nodded off for a few minutes. As part of the course you are allowed to walk the Tree Tops walk , which is pretty cool, I was even allowed to take my crew, in this case Warwick turned up. This certainly surprised other customers taking in the magnificent views from the skywalk.
Tree Tops and the sun has finally came out on day two.The illustrious Warwick Crapper.
Tree Tops -> Conspicuous Cliffs 15.8km ( accumulated 190.8)
I was feeling better after Tree Tops and passed Julie and Oliver sitting on the side of the track complaining it was too hot. I love the heat and had spent the last two months running in the midday sun through a Perth summer, I was not for slowing as this next video shows.
Thinking about it I was probably second at the time as I didn’t realise Kate had paused her challenge at Tree tops, and would eventually DNF at Peaceful Bay. I always look forward to the section to Conspicuous cliffs, as you’re coming down from Tree Tops , and after to Peaceful Bay as the beach sections are stunning. Unfortunately this year I knew I’d be faced with some beach running in the dark, and that isn’t as much fun. Add in some rock hopping and it becomes even more challenging. I’d also left my best head torch with Mark and only had my two ‘normal’ torches, I say normal as in not 2000 lumen like my Silva. Being Swedish you know that Silva is going to be good, c’mon any country that gave us Abba, Saab and Volvo knows what its doing.
Dropping into the Conspicuous Cliffs car park
Conspicuous Cliffs, off to the beach I go.
Conspicuous Cliffs -> Peaceful Bay 15.2km ( accumulated 206km)
Dropping onto the beach at Conspicuous cliffs I was confronted with a solo kangaroo happily munching away , how Aussi is that ? Got a selfie with said kangaroo before climbing off the beach and back onto the trail. This section is so, so good. Lots of little coves with no one about, solitude and serenity at their best. The sun was out, I had over 200km behind me and I was feeling great. Life was good. These are the moments you realise why you run Delirious, when everything clicks into place, stunning.
How quintessential Aussi is this ?
Unfortunately I knew I was racing the sunset to Peaceful Bay and it was a race I was set to lose. As I mentioned earlier I had two headtorches but they were ‘normal’ and after being used to Swedish equipment I was disappointed. This was also the time I would have liked a decent light as I had rocks and coves to transverse with limited signage. On a number of occasions I was winging it keeping the ocean to my right and moving forward, I knew I’d hit Peaceful Bay eventually. I was reminded of a story Jon Pendse told me of rock climbing with the ocean waves lapping at his heels, I could see a similar scenario in my near future.
In Australia even Rocks kill you !Sunset day two just before Peaceful Bay.
Regretting leaving my best headlight with Mark.
Alex Pattinson guiled me into Peaceful Bay and before I knew it was was salivating over a freshly cooked steak professionally prepared by Mark, seasoned with onions, made with love. Mark had made a special trip to the local butcher and the trip was so worth it. Please note they were not both for me, he treated himself to one as well albeit he also saved me one for lunch the next day. It’s tradition that evening meal day two is always steak. Last year it was at Tree Tops but we were making better time this year, thirty or so kilometres further into the race.
While Mark cooked the steaks I took the opportunity to grab another quick shower and change of clothes for the next stage. I knew this would be my last shower before the finish and again felt great afterwards. I only had John Yoon ahead of me but wasn’t worried about position, more about my next sleep which we planned for Parry’s , thirty kilometres away. The plan was to get to Parry’s around two in the morning, have two hours, brekkie and get our just before sunrise. In between Peaceful Bay and Parrys Beach is an uncrewed aid station, Boat Harbour. I wasn’t keen on running alone in the dark , alone with my thoughts, but couldn’t persuade Oliver or Julie to come out with me. Oliver needed sleep and Julie was wanted a shower.
Second day is traditionally steak.
Peaceful Bay -> Boat Harbour 18km ( accumulated 224km)
I had spied Sarah Dyer as I arrived but she seemed to have disappeared. I was discussing my next move with Mark and mentioned it would have been good to have Sarah pace me when we heard her voice coming from the SUV behind us. She had just finished pacing duties and was preparing to get some sleep when she heard her name. Great news for me, I had an enthusiast pacer, my first.
Picking up some company at Peaceful Bay, Sarah Dyer volunteers to pace me for the night sections and beyond.
Our first challenge of this section was a jet ski ride over the river inlet, how cool is that? Sarah went first, I am a gentleman and I followed closely behind. First time on a jet ski since Karen and I hired some in Barbados over 25 years ago ! They are seriously good fun albeit I was on the ski for approximately two minutes. It was surreal, how many trail races involved jet ski’s, very few I would presume ! After the jet ski Sarah and I moved along the beach with headtorches bearing down on us, the 100 milers were in hot pursuit and we knew Phil Gore would be cruising past sooner rather than later.
The race that keeps giving, a jet ski ride.
The next part of the story is a tad wild. Walking along the beach I spied a small rectangler package on the beach, by the high water mark. It had obviously been washed up and to me it was obviously drugs, a kilo I estimated. Unbeknown to us drugs smugglers had sunk their boat a few days ago with over 400 kilo of cocaine onboard. It seemed one of those kilo’s had found its way to our beach as we motored along. We had two options, leave it, (never going to happen) or carry it to the next aid station, open it and then decide what to do. It was always going to be the latter albeit I made Sarah carry it as I had poles to worry about. So ten kilometes later at Boat Harbour we opened the package to confirm my instinct (from years of watching CSI ?), it was a kilo of cocaine.
Street value around $350k AUD apparently, at that moment in time , to me, worth a chicken risotto, which is what I swapped it for. The aid station crew phoned the police while Sarah and I continued onto the next aid station, Parry Beach, giggling to ourselves about our find and the stories we would be telling for many years to come ! As I have said many times Delirious is the race that keeps on giving !
Street value $350k AUD, ultra value, a chicken rissota; albeit a good one !
Truth be told I can’t remember much about this section. I know it took longer than we would have wanted but all we were thinking about, or talking about, was our find on the previous section. I mean it’s not everyday you find a kilo of coke on the beach. There was lots of laughter that’s all I can remember and we got into Parry’s around four am, a lot later than planned. I was so tired at this point and poured myself into my swag and a deep sleep. I told Mark two hours minimum to prepare for the final push as I knew there would be no more sleeping after this. Unfortunately no one told Rob Donkersloot this and I heard the zip on my swag open just before six am. I was not happy but Rob cajoled me out of my swag and off I went, back on the beach alone. Sarah would be saved for later in the day and the following evening, the final push to the finish.
Out of Parrys’ morning of day Three, Simon Poli in the distance ahead.
Right that’s enough for Part 2.. I need a rest from all this typing.. maybe go for a run ?
Fisiocrem is a must have in your ultra box of tricks…
Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ ) The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products) can be difficult to digest later in the event. From the website :-
As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority.
In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance.
In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born.
BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work!
BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!
Great hydration.
What can I say about HumanTecar, ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !
Fractel ( https://fractel.com.au/ ) have your performance headgear covered. I love the colours and the functionality of these hats, I guarantee there is one model you’ll fall in love with.
Fractel headgear, just ace.
Shokz headphones, let you keep in touch with the world around while losing yourself in quality tunes or podcasts. ( https://shokz.com.au/ )
I returned in 2021 in October, the wet year as it is now known, and had the time of my with Gary and Alex crewing me. ( https://www.runbkrun.com/2021/11/09/redemption-delirious-west-day-2/ ) Those boys made the whole experience such an adventure and so many stories are still told to this day around that trip, normally with a serious amount of laughter.
Me and my crew, DW 2021.
I was addicted. 2022 was the out and back year and again I loved the whole event from the Monday morning drive down to the Sunday evening after party, this event rocks. Even managed a respectable time and a fourth place finish. ( https://www.runbkrun.com/2022/07/04/delirious-west-february-2022/ ) This year I had Mark and Jeffrey crewing and again it was an incredible experience with more stories added to the Delirious legend.
DW 2022, the wet year.
I had trimmed down my 2022 crew as Jeffrey was too busy doing retired stuff to come along and help Mark, whatever that is? Mark of course was locked in the moment he won the bogan race in 2022, the race that stops a small town, he was confident he could crew solo albeit with the aid of his little helpers, his cans of bush chook. So midday Monday morning off we went to sunny Northcliffe for Mel’s 60th birthday celebrations and the start of the 2023 Delirious adventure. I was excited but also unsure of how the event would pan out. 2022 was a massive year for me with ten ultra marathons but towards the end of the year I had struggled with a knee injury and tight hamstrings. This has seriously limited my training as running became more of a slog. I joined a gym to try and work on my strength but my running stats fell through the floor. I managed to put together a good block pre and post Christmas but I hadn’t the base I would have liked.
The dream team, BK and Warwick Crapper, bogan champion.
Monday night in the Northcliffe hotel was great as old friends met up for Mel’s 60th birthday celebrations. Melanee Maisey is the ‘godmother‘ of ultra running in WA, she works so hard for the greater good of the running community it was great to spend some time with her on her 60th. As with all events when the WA ultra tribe get together there was much laughter and story telling, a perfect evening.
The bogan champion that is Warwick Crapper, with a few beers onboard.
After that is was back to sunny Pemberton where I had organised what I thought was a two bedroom cottage , turned out it was for two people, one bedroom. Mark volunteered to sleep on his camper bed in the lounge, that is what crew do. After a good nights sleep, for me, it was Tuesday check in and then the rae that stops a small town, the infamous bogan run. This involves the crew of the runners dressing as bogans, running around kegs, drinking beer and generally having a great time. Last year Mark won and he had been training all year to go back to back, a feat as yet not achieved. Unfortunately it seems this will never happen as the dice was loaded and despite Mark’s best efforts he could only claim to be the first bogan who finished and drank beer, a good result none the less. You really need to experience a bogan run, it is special.
All checked in.. 666 , the number of the BK. (and Jeff Hansen)
The check in and the whole day really is so special as you get to meet friends you haven’t seen since the last Delirious as well as new runners who will become good friends over the event. Delirious brings people together, period. I love the couple of days before the event as there is just so much love, it really is that simple. Add in serious laughter , a few beers , great food and it just works. Northcliffe before Delirious is just ace.
Veronika, Rob Sarah and Mark ham it up for the cameras.
Rob Donkersloot, he of Mind Focused running ( https://mindfocusedrunning.com/ ) was ever present as he had seven athletes, myself included, running the two events. (There is a 100 miler option apparently?) Rob is a guru of all things running and has taken that knowledge, and added in meditation and wellness techniques, to create a map to running success. It just works, Rob is like a childs comfy blanket, always good to have around. Rob is all about making running fun rather than focusing on time, pace, distance etc., just enjoy the moment, wise words. In the image above you also have my good friend Veronika Kretzer, who ran second female at Delirious last year and is now part of the Thursday morning Yelo run, one of the boys you could say. Also in the picture is Sarah Dyer who would pace me for over 100 kilometres in the run, great company in the darkest hours.
The landlord of the Northcliffe Hotel, Duncan, and the famous Northcliffe Waffles.
As I have said many times over the years running is about traditions ( https://www.runbkrun.com/2022/12/21/6-inch-2022-it-never-fails-to-deliver/ ) and my favourite one is the Northcliffe hotels waffles before the start of the race. Imagine eating waffles before the start of a marathon, it wouldn’t end well. This is why I love ultra marathons , and 200 milers specifically, you can eat and eat a lot and still compete, hell it’s compulsory. After a great coffee and waffles I was ready for the 2023 Delirious West 200 miler and I felt great thanks to the sugar high of my breakfast. Big shout out to Duncan and Helen and all the staff of the Northcliffe hotel, you guys are just so good at what you do and a glowing testament to small county pubs. Great food, great atmosphere and great people.
Two of my favourite people, Frank who was turning 70 and my GPS from the Unreasonable East, Sarah.
On the way to the start line I bumped into Frank and Sarah. Frank was attempting the event for the first time and is coincided with his 70th birthday, how cool is that. Although he would not finish he got to nearly 300 kilometes before tapping out which is just incredible and I reckon run of the event. He wasn’t helped by being self supported and carrying a pack far too big for what he needed. He’ll learn from this and I hope I can toe the start line with him next year. Sarah was my partner in crime for the Unreasonable East last year. She guided me through the difficult terrain and geographical challenges, she always runs with a smile and destroyed the course setting a massive PB, never in doubt really. Remember what I said earlier , Delirious is all about friends, reconnecting with old ones and making new ones.
I love the start line photo, iconic, although I’m looking the wrong way ?
The start line photo is one of my all time favourites, lots of my friends all gathered together about to embark on an epic shared adventure, seriously it really does not get any better. The anticipation of what is about to unfold combined with the nervous energy makes the atmosphere special, really special. It is here you are truly alive, everything else is details and can be forgotten for three to four days. It really is you doing what you love surrounded by like minded people. Not sure why everybody is looking one way and I’m facing the opposite direction ? Anyhow the start is incredible and I’m already counting down the days to 2024’s version. This was the biggest field by a large margin this year but once we all got going you were left with you and your thoughts pretty quickly, if that’s hat you so desired. If you wanted company just hang around at an aid station long enough and it would stumble in, eventually.
We all grouped together at the allotted time, thanked the traditional owners of the land and we were off, albeit in the wrong direction. Remember traditions, on the very first Delirious the runners turned left at the first fork, about 50 meters into the race, instead of right and headed back to Perth. This mistake is now played out every year with a distance that is determined by Shaun Kaesler, so you’re never sure how far ? Gotta’ love tradition. This year it wasn’t too far and before long we were headed towards Albany.
First video , early days, still smiling :
Running with Jeff’s shoes, we each took 5km to spend some quality time and reflect on our loss. Laura, Julie, Oliver and Felix , bring up the rear, in the shot.
Unfortunately one of the Delirious West Race Directors lost a short battle with Leukemia earlier in the year. Jeff Hansen was Delirious, involved from the start and was planning on running the event this year. As a tribute each runner would run five kilometres with his shoes he would have worn. I did my bit between ten and fifteen kilometres and reflected on everything Jeff in that short time. Gone but not forgotten my friend. When this happens you really do question your longevity on this planet and running events like Delirious become even more special, live for today people.
Next video about 20km into the race: –
Right this year I’m going to break down the post into the aid station hops, a bit like you approach the main event really. It’s not a 340km race it’s twenty two smaller races , between 9.3km and 25.9km, the distances between aid stations.
Start -> Chesapeake Road (West) 25.9km
The first hop between the start line and the first aid station is the furthest, just under twenty six kilometres. I suppose the logic is you are full of beans at the start and if you can’t run twenty six kilometres you are probably in trouble. The first day as a whole is good running so the extra distance is achievable as you are spending less time on your feet as you should be moving quicker. The only fly in the ointment on the first day was the humidity which was high and as such uncomfortable. This was partially offset by the mood of all the runners as they were finally released onto the course and moving towards Albany, albeit days away. Without my goose (to my Maverick, you’ve seen Top Gun right?) , Adam Loughnan, I was actually towards the front of the pack and this was a conscious effort on my part. Running with Julie Gibson as my pacer keeping Oliver and Kay in sight we were cocooned in the top five, not somewhere I’m use to being on day one. I enjoyed the run to Chesapeake West and noted the good conditions early. Once at the aid station it was a quick stop, refueled the water bottles, some fruit and a few lollies before taking on board some seriously good Anzac biscuits. Again a conscious effort to spend less time at aid stations this year. It was also great to run with JP and Tristan, two first time debutants who would both smash their first Delirious, nice one lads ! The first morning is a wonderful time in the event, everyone is nervous, excited but above all happy to be running after talking Delirious for months.
This aid station has no crew access so I would have to run another seventeen kilometers before meeting Mark for the first time.
By the time you reach aid station two you’ve already ran a marathon, on trails in severe humidity, no one said this was going to be easy ! The only bright side is Dog Road aid station is relatively close and also it’s the first time you get to see your crew, assuming you have one. Mark sat me down and before I knew it a cup of tea , with three sugars , was thrust into my hand. Again I was quick though this aid station as the next one was less than twelve kilometres away so would spend more time there. It was good to see all the crew, family and friends for the fist time but I was out and back on the bib in no time, heading towards Dog Road.
Chesapeake Road (East) -> Dog Road 11.7km ( accumulated 55.2km)
It started to get uncomfortable as we moved to Dog Road aid station, the humidity was turned up to eleven minimum and runners don’t like humidity. I ran with Julie Gibson who was setting the perfect pace and I just hung on and enjoyed watching the kilometres tick over. I think from memory I left Julie and Oliver and managed to arrive at Dog Road before them albeit Julie left before me so I followed her to Pingerup and Brooke Inlet. The terrain is pretty good upto Mandelay so we were moving along quite nicely and despite the humidity I probably felt the best I have at this stage of the race. I always find the first fifty kilometeres to Dog Road the hardest, you haven’t got into your ultra rhythm and it is still fifty kilometres, an ultra so to speak. I was still top three male so happy with position and progress thus far.
The early stages of the race was like running in a humidity washing machine.
Dog Road was rice pudding, a fruit bowl, obligatory cup of tea and some very tasty fresh strawberries from Harmony White, they were delicious. Again I was pretty quick through the aid station and left with a full stomach, my poles and fresh clothes ready for an eighteen kilometre hop to Pingerup aid station.
Coming into Dog Road…happy for a sit down and pick up my poles.
Dog Road -> Pingerup 18lm ( accumulated 73.2km)
This is a very runnable section of the course mainly on a limestone road, albeit no vehicles to speak off. Undulating probably best describes it. I kept Julie in my sight and she was always a few hundred metres ahead of me, from memory I was suffering on this section of the race. You question your ability to finish the race many times on the first day, it is only experience that reminds me I have finished this race and I always feel this way on the first day. An ultra is a rollercoaster of emotions and for every up there will inevitably be a down, it is knowing when you enter a ‘dark place‘ that it is not forever and there is always light at the end of the tunnel and sometimes its not a train. ( Please note if you run an ultra through a train tunnel the light at the end of the tunnel may be a train and in this case do not run to the light ! Luckily there are no tunnels on Delirious. )
Leaving Dog Road with new top, cap, socks and poles, fully hydrated and fed.
A few times I lost sight of Julie and assumed that would be it before catching her again, I would assume she was suffering as much as me. Apart from Julie I saw no one else until we hit the aid station where Michelle and Kate were just leaving, I think ? Didn’t feel like eating so wolfed down an icy pole and a coke and filled my water bottles, I’d see the aid station volunteers at Boat Harbour later in the race and make up for it. Pingerup to Brooke Inlet is a flat section of the race and you really start to feel isolated, there is no one anywhere near you. This section is normally where I see my first sunset but I was ahead of schedule and was aiming for Brooke Inlet in daylight, for the fist time ever!
About 5km from Dog Road aid station, heading towards Pingerup. You can see the running surface in this image.
I love this section of the course, beautiful scenery and you start to feel isolated, alone with your thoughts and knowing you are kilometres from anybody else, I enjoy the solitude as the sunsets, albeit I could still see Julie ahead of me. I eventually caught her and we ran into Brooke Inlet together. I was starting to feel fatigued , funnily enough, but knew I had spaghetti bolognaise waiting for me at the next aid station, it tradition on the first night. Mark does make a great ‘spag bog‘. With this in mind we up’d the pace and before we knew it we were sitting down eating dinner, sweet.
Heading into the fist night, just past Pingerup aid station.
Right , that it’s for part 1… always leaving your readers wanting more.. or not as the case may be.. I’ll continue next week when I get some more video footage.. until then..
Fisiocrem is a must have in your ultra box of tricks…
Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ ) The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products) can be difficult to digest later in the event. From the website :-
As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority.
In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance.
In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born.
BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work!
BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!
Great hydration.
What can I say about HumanTecar, ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !
Fractel ( https://fractel.com.au/ ) have your performance headgear covered. I love the colours and the functionality of these hats, I guarantee there is one model you’ll fall in love with.
Fractel headgear, just ace.
Shokz headphones, let you keep in touch with the world around while losing yourself in quality tunes or podcasts. ( https://shokz.com.au/ )
Back in the day when I was a marathon running show pony I had my ‘old faithful’ 10k before work loop I would run religiously on week days, and most weekends. Up and out at 5am and before I even commuted to work I had 10k under my belt. For ultra trail running I have adopted this to a 22km loop in the hills above Perth and before any 200 miler I make the hour each way journey to this route on a regular basis. Perth Discovery Centre to Helen Hut is where I spend most of my Christmas break and all of January training for the Delirious West 200 miler , early February. ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ )
I have a few similar images.
As you can see below from Strava ( https://www.strava.com/activities/8437952723 ) I have run this route ten times in January by the 21st, once every two days. It’s nearly three hours of running , due to the heat and trust me its been hot, so once every two days has been challenging. I equate heat training to poor mans altitude training, so the hotter the better. I’m a big fan of heat and adjust my pace and hydration accordingly but always run. I’m up to 52 times for this new trail old faithful but still love the run as much as the first time I stumbled upon it, when it comes to his type of route familiarity does not breed contempt but a sense of calm , knowing what is ahead, and also the comfort of running with an old friend. I often run it alone so I can put on the shokz headphones, you have a pair right? ( https://shokz.com.au/ ) and be serenaded by Taylor Swift or go naked and just listen to nature and watch out for the wildlife.
The new ‘old faithful’.
The point of this post is two fold, first every runner needs as old faithful run, one that you can just switch over to auto pilot and get it done without too much thought or even physical exertion. Secondly it needs to be tailored to your race conditions. Back in the day I was running marathons so my Carine old faithful was mainly on path, mimicking the conditions I would face in my goal races. Now I’ve moved to trail ultra running I run on the bibbulmun track ( https://www.bibbulmuntrack.org.au/ ) again mimicking race conditions, simple.
Bloody ‘ansom scenery.
There is the added benefit of the bibbulmun track being pretty special from the Perth Discovery Centre to Helen hut making the three hours, although testing due to the heat, a pleasure. I say pleasure in the broadest sense of the word truth be told, the final 10km is always testing and probably the bit I enjoy the most as I know it’s doing me some good. I push myself and this is the point of the run , to mimic the conditions I will face when running 200 miles as much as you can without running ridiculous distances. Rather than run 50km or longer training runs I tend to run this 22km, three hour or so run, back to back as many times as I’m allowed by my family. This way I can turn up to the start on tired, fatigued, legs mimicking the feeling of a multi-day ultra when you are always running tired. This has served me well on the two previous successful Delirious West campaigns and runners are creatures of habit.
The infamous Helena hut.
Two posts from my marathon days when it was all about double days. My 10k Carine old faithful was a run that I could run with my eyes closed and at 5am every weekday morning I’d stumble out of bed and notch up 10k before my commute to work, normally on my Ellptigo. ( https://www.elliptigo.com/ ) Another 10k lunchtime with the boys, a commute home on the GO and, voila, I was a marathon PB machine. I would regularly run 10-12 times a week and average 150km weekly totals. With running improvement I’m a big deliverer in distance is key and there is no such thing as junk miles. Arthur Lydiard has all the answers ( https://www.lydiardfoundation.org/ )
It was a big night in the Matthews running household tonight. I got to run my go-to 10k for the 200th time (Well 200th time on Strava ( http://www.strava.com ) and if it wasn’t on Strava it didn’t happen.) I’ve ran this route so many times it has a name , ‘Old Faithful’.
200th time running with old faithful.
As you can see from the image above my 10k loop takes in Star Swamp where I get to watch the sunrise in Summer and race the sunset in Winter. There a couple of nice rises which can test you if you’re fatigued, especially the last one after the Kings Straight. (The King of Carine has a 1k segment which he runs ridiculously quick. Nic, The King of Carine, Harman will one day represent Australia at either the Commonwealth or Olympic Games, mark my word. The only downside in having young Nic in the neighbourhood is you don’t get to keep any Strava segment records because as they appear on Nic’s radar they disappear from mine. ! )
The run itself starts with a nice downhill to ease you into it before a small rise as you register your first 1k. It’s downhill again to the corner of Marmion Avenue as you hit the 2k mark just before you cross the road into the Star Swamp. It’s here you get to watch the sunrise most mornings and it really is like the first time, every time. It certainly inspires me and puts a smile on my face every time as I think of the rest of the population of Perth in the land of Nod missing this spectacular show of nature at her best. As you pop out of Star Swamp, just after the 4k mark, onto Beach Road and into a kilometre rise on a bike path before a nice downhill section that encourages pace and sets you up for the Carine Park section of the run. You hit 7k as you enter the park and normally you have the park to yourself in the early morning light. If you time it right you get to watch the suns tentacles move through the trees and long lines of sunlight dance around you as you continue on you way.
You hit the top of the King Straight just over 8k and you have a decision to make either taking the Kings bike path and steeping up a gear or slowing it down and cruise on the grass. Must admit lately the cruise has been my route of choice. At the end of the Kings Straight is the third road crossing where you can prepare yourself for the last hill and the final small section back to the house.
So what makes this run so interesting that I’ve ran it 200 times. I believe it has everything you need in a running route, some nice hill sections, some off road trails, a section that encourages speed, the King’s Straight if you are really excited and a park section that reminds you how lucky you are to live in this wonderful country. I’m as excited about running it tomorrow (probably) as I was the first time I ran it and hope to run it another 200 times and more, assuming the status quo is maintained. If I was to move I would find another old faithful and I’m sure I’d start to rack up the mileage but this route will always have a special place in my running heart and sometimes familiarity does not breed contempt.
Did I make a big deal of the 200th running, not really, just me and the old girl doing what we do best, enjoying each others company. As runners we all need an Old Faithful…….
I awoke this morning with the normal pre-running fatigue that tends to happen when you run twice a day , every day and are about to move into your second half century. My running friend for the morning had cried off but will remain nameless, mark lee so I struggled to the door and crawled up the street to start my 10k ‘old faithful’ route for the 181st time (thanks Strava).
The sun was about to rise behind me as I started down the first hill which is always a great way to start a run in my opinion because the auto pilot light really is shining brightly for the 1k and also gravity as a co-pilot certainly helps, initially. I hit the 1k mark as I’m about 200m up the second challenge for the day as small hill to make up for the soft start. Again a good thing as this starts to engage the mind and the legs start to wake up. This small hill then gives ways to another decline before I cross the road into Star Swamp and the highlight of the morning run.
I time my start each day so I can see the sunrise from Star Swamp and every time I do it is like the first time. To describe it as inspiring does not do this justice but it will have to do. The temperature to is normally just about perfect at 5am making the whole experience so worth the early start. It is about here I am starting to warm to the task and must admit every time I see the sunrise, through the trees and bush, it brings a smile to my face.
I get about a kilometre of trail running before I am ejected back onto the bike path and start another incline for 500m before a kilometre of decline that encourages pace and caresses you to the start of the Carine park entrance. Here I normally get to enjoy the park alone and again bathed in sunshine peaking though the trees. I make an effort to look up while in the park as so many times I am focused on the ground 20 metres ahead of me. The park , like the trail in the swamp, can be inspiring if the light catches the surrounding trees and you have fingers of sunshine protruding all around you.
The park eventually gives way to the last hill of the run which can be used as a final test to raise the heart rate or as a time to reflect on the run as a whole and start planning run number two, one is never enough surely.
Although I’m normally chasing a sunrise I also use this as a double up run after work and race the sunset. Instead of the first light of a new dawn you’re racing against the last light of the day. Where as in the morning the sun can be on your back as you race the sunset it is ahead of you slowly disappearing to the horizon. This brings into play more wondrous images as you run into the last breath of the day. Same run but from a totally different light, which can make it feel like a new run completely. It’s get better, there is even a third option as you run in the middle of the day and , being Perth is really built in a desert, you dart from shade to shade avoiding the intense glare of the sun at the height of it’s prowess, an intimidating beast of pure heat and anger. Running really is the sport that just keeps on giving.
So that is my old faithful, go-to, 10k. One I run at least three or four times a week and one I never get tired off. All runners need an ‘old faithful’ because training for a marathon, or any distance really, requires repetition and sometimes you just need to switch off and get the job done. Having a run that allows you to tick all the training requirement boxes without the added pressure of too much thinking is paramount to success. Let’s face it marathon training can be , at times, a ‘slog’ , and that’s putting it nicely. To me a marathon is really about two thousand kilometres of training with a final 42k run to the finish. It’s the two thousand training kilometres in all sort of conditions that people don’t see, not the final 42k that is for the public and record books.
Tomorrow morning set the alarm a bit earlier and go and chase a sunrise, you never know you may find a new friend that over time cam turn into an old faithful and for runners that ain’t a bad thing……..
Got to start somewhere…
As always I give a shout out to five of my favourite products, the list is getting longer , … fisiocrem ( https://www.fisiocrem.com.au/ ) is just bloody brilliant and does exactly what it says it does , it just gets the major muscle groups moving again. I use this extensively towards the end of the race when my quads are hammered. It really makes a difference and allows me to move back through the gears towards the end of an event when most runners are stumbling home.
Fisiocrem is a must have in your ultra box of tricks…
Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ ) The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products) can be difficult to digest later in the event. From the website :-
As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority.
In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance.
In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born.
BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work!
BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!
Great hydration.
What can I say about HumanTecar, ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !
Fractel ( https://fractel.com.au/ ) have your performance headgear covered. I love the colours and the functionality of these hats, I guarantee there sis one model you’ll fall in love with.
Fractel headgear, just ace.
Shokz headphones, let you keep in touch with the world around while losing yourself in quality tunes or podcasts. ( https://shokz.com.au/ )
I discovered Shokz headphones just over two years ago, bumping into a couple of trail runners at the Perth Discovery Centre, with Adam surprising enough , who were wearing them. I hadn’t really ever ran with music before as I find it quite intrusive and I like to use my time running to ‘think about stuff’, having something in my ear just didn’t work. The thing with Shokz headphones is they aren’t in your ear, because they are bone conduction sports headphones they sit on the bone infront of your ear. I know it sounds ridiculous right but the first time I tried them on I was blown away, they really work and work very well. I remember the first time I used them on the trails I was playing Pink Floyd the Wall and when the kids choir chirped in I actually stopped running and looked around, I was convinced they were on the trail !
So other major benefits are they are incredibly light and you really do not notice when you have them on, of course this can also be a curse as only yesterday I dropped a pair of OpenRun Pro’s on my local trail and didn’t notice. I was taking some time out from music and listening to the serenity of my surroundings, at one point I stopped for a rest and took of my cap, sunglasses and headphones. Unfortunately it seems I forgot to put the headphones back on, only realising a few kilotmetres down the trail. Now I know you’re going to ask why I didn’t backtrack, it was at the end of a three hour run in the scorching West Australian heat and there was no way I was spending another 30 -40 minutes on the trail getting even more cooked, I was done. Fingers crossed someone finds them and hands them in as I’ll be gutted to lose them.
Quality of sound in amazing, reference my last story when I actually stopped convinced there was a school choir on the trail with me, it is that good. Of course they work best without competing noise , as all headphones will. In a busy city setting it’s more important to take advantage of another benefit , the ability to listen to your environment while running. Having your ear clear allows you to be able to listen for possible issues ahead while still enjoying the sound from your shokz headphones. This cannot be under estimated, the safety side of this product. It could make a big difference, situation dependent of course. Personally for this feature alone it’s enough to invest in bone conductive headphones.
For more detailed information regarding the science go to the Shokz website.. https://shokz.com.au/ There’s lot of images and explanations but believe me they are ace. Currently in my family I have three pairs (well two at the moment as I have one of the bibbulum track somewhere currently!) , my Wife and eldest daughter are sporting OpenRun Pro’s , we’re a shokz family albeit my other two daughters are Apple worshippers so have air pods, no accounting for taste.
Checking my music selection for another backyard ultra lap with the Shokz OpenRun Pro’s.
If you want an honest test between the OpenRun Pro and the normal OpenRun watch the video below..
Love my Shokz OpenRun headphones and they are quicker in red of course.
Of course do your own research but I found this site backing up my claims, Shokz are good and probably the best on the market.
Battery life is pretty good as well, ten hours for the OpenRun Pro , with a five minute recharge for ninety minutes listening; or eight hours for the OpenRun and a ten minute recharge to ninety minutes. I personally recharge mine when I’m driving home from my run in the car, by the time I’m home they’re normally fully recharged ready for the next adventure.
It seems the OpenRun is more waterproof then the OpenRun Pro due to the added bass capabilities , and design changes, on the newer model, both are more than adequate for day to day running albeit if moisture builds up you need to dry then before charging, I’ve used a hairdryer in the past quite successfully. The support is outstanding and you get a two year warranty. I’ve successfully claimed myself and the process was seamless and Shokz were very helpful, which these days was a refreshing change.
So to sum up this post Shokz, for me, are an absolute must if you need to listen to music or pod casts while you run, and do so safely while enjoying top quality sound. They are so light as to be unnoticeable but so well made, of titanium, you’d be hard pressed to break them. As will all products I recommend they just do what they say they do on the box, simples.
As always I give a shout out to three of my favourite products, will probably make it four now adding Shokz, … fisiocrem ( https://www.fisiocrem.com.au/ ) is just bloody brilliant and does exactly what it says it does , it just gets the major muscle groups moving again. I use this extensively towards the end of the race when my quads are hammered. It really makes a difference and allows me to move back through the gears towards the end of an event when most runners are stumbling home.
Fisiocrem is a must have in your ultra box of tricks…
Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ ) The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products) can be difficult to digest later in the event. From the website :-
As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority.
In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance.
In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born.
BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work!
BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!
Great hydration.
What can I say about HumanTecar, ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !
The finishers left at the after party, Unreasonable East 2022; one of the highlights of 2022.
Right, numbers for 2022. Overall I’d give myself a B+ for distance, good enough to break 5,000km’s for the year, by one kilometre, but what could have been. Earlier in the year I was on target for my initial 6,000km total but after the No Time to Die Frontyard ultra I dropped off the pace and did very little training in between races. Average of 96 kilometres a week but take out the 2000km’s of racing and the training weekly total is a lot less, significantly less, more around the sixty km a week.
Another statistic that sums up my stop , start year is the number of actual runs , only 229 for the year. This is my lowest total since 2010, twelve years ago. Basically I’ve ran less but when I have ran it’s been longer distances, down to running ten ultras of course.
Last three years I’ve been an Ultra racing machine, 21 races in the last three years including 18 in the last two years, and one marathon thrown in. Lots of racing culminating in 10 ultra’s in 2022 alone. I was either tapering, racing or recovering; very little training. It was working until injuries started to affect my training from September onwards. Only downside for the year has been my lack of pace and some personal worst racing results including the Feral Pig 100 miler and the 6 Inch Ultra. I struggled in both of these events but was happy to finish and not embarrass myself.
From my running spreadsheet, you have got a running spreadsheet right ? As a backup for Strava, you never know when the next Russian mafia group will try to blackmail Strava and wipe all their data ! It happened at Garmin and those Russian hackers are always looking for their next pay day. Please note my Mum said I am not allowed to pay hackers any blackmail albeit I’m not sure www.runbkrun.com is high on their list of possible targets.
Another surprise for 2022 is no double digit weeks for runs. Back in the day I’d regularly run 13 or 14 times a week, I say back in the day I’m talking about five years ago. Double days unlock running dreams, one of my favourite quotes. These days I just can’t get that morning run in, I’ve lost that discipline to get up every morning before the sunrise and run an easy 10km before breakfast. I’d then cycle to work on my Elliptigo (or Bionic) , run lunchtime and then Elliptigo home. Four separate exercises a day, I was a cardio-machine. The results followed so if you really want to improve just run more than you are running now, and don’t get injured. Running is simple.
Bionic Gen1 , this thing is a monster !
Ten ultras, three wins, highlighted in yellow, and many top ten finishes. Plenty of running early on in the year but injuries after the No Time to Die Ultra killed off the second half of the year and I limped, literally, to the finish line in 2022. I’ve joined the Valetudo gym ( https://www.valetudohealth.com.au/ ) and go three times a week currently to try and finally get my flexibility back, maybe touch my toes for the first time this century ? It was a tad daunting at first but starting to feel the love for gyms again now and not being as weight conscious as I was in my marathon days I can put a but of muscle on, it’ll keep No1 Wife happier as she was never a fan of my Schlinder’s list extra look.
Its been a few months since I’ve posted my nine golden rules so with the end of 2022 upon us this seems as good a time as ever.. I wrote these six years ago but they are timeless, in my view.
Run Further. Add distance, not speed.As you can see from the table my weekly average has steadily increased year on year with this year being the first I will break the 100k a week average for the year. In 2012 I was injured with a nasty calf knot, that I didn’t treat, which explains the delta compared to the previous year. 2014 my training had plateaued which is why I turned to Raf ( http://www.therunningcentre.com.au ) to train me in 2105 where my distance increased by 10%. I have taken this training forward and will probably increase another 10% this year. Distance first, everything else comes once the ‘foundation of distance’ has been achieved.
Run Faster. This is about adding pace after you have got your foundation after rule 1. 2011 was a break out year for me after 3-4 years of building a good running base. I had ran 3 Comrades campaigns in 2008-2010 ( http://www.comrades.com ) so my distance foundation was well and truly complete. In 2011 every time I put on a bib I was confident of a pb. It was a wonderful year. Unfortunately in 2012 I had a nasty injury which set me back but towards the end of the year I was able to train consistently again and in 2013 I was again rewarded with a magical year of running.
Don’t get injured. This is the hardest rule to obey as you always want to do more of rule 1 and 2 which can result in an injury. (I even hate typing the word!) In 2012 I succumbed to a calf knot which took me out for over a month. I struggled to recover from this and as you can see from the table I only ran 3 pb’s for the year compared to 13 the previous year and 10 the following year when I recovered. If this doesn’t back up this rule nothing does.! Don’t get injured, so easy to type but in reality one of the hardest thing for a runner to do, period.
Nutrition, nutrition and nutrition… Did I mention nutrition. It’s all about the proper fuel. So underestimated by so many runners. The number of times I hear the old ‘I run xxx kilometres a week so I can eat what I want’ . Not true, imagine putting low grade fuel in a Porsche, eventually the head gasket blows and you are faced with a serious bill, not to mention a misfiring engine. The human body is a finely tuned machine and should be treated as such, we all know what is good food and what is bad (normally the nice tasting stuff!), avoid the bad and put in the good, easy really. (bar the odd Yelo muffin of course, we are after all only human.) I’ll be exploring nutrition more next year when I have one more go at a sub 2hr 40minutes marathon.
Weight. So important, use to believe because I ran 100k+ a week I could eat what I wanted. Not true. This is another golden rule so often ignored. Runners can run so much faster is they hit their racing weightrather than a running weight. My go to man , Matt Fitzgerald, when it comes to everything running even has a website dedicated to this. ( http://www.racingweight.com/ ) If Matt has a website dedicated to this subject it must be important.
Baseline, document and evaluate everything. If it isn’t on www.strava.com it didn’t happen. Once you set a goal you have to be able to know how far you have come to achieving this, small steps but constant feedback. So buy a Garmin and start recording , everything !!! Contentious subject here. I’m a Strava addict and I know it but the purest will be horrified. You need a baseline to see improvement, set new goals and realize your goals. Buy a Garmin and to quote a small clothing company ‘just do it’.
Sleep. So underestimated but the bodies way of refuelling and preparing for the next day of running. Common sense but so often ignored. Sometimes the most obvious, common sense tips are the ones ignored. Sleep is when your body repairs itself, the more sleep the more repairs can be completed. It really is that easy, go to bed and dream about running.
Consistency. No point running 100k one week and then nothing. Marathon fitness is built up over time and this works hand in hand with rule number 1. I feel the figures from my running log back this up. I’ve steadily increased the duration consistently year in, year out (bar injury) and have reaped the rewards with 2016 being my fastest year yet as I move towards my fifth sixth decade. (Thanks Dave Kennedy) Running is all about getting out there on a regular basis again and again and again. Time on feet initially and then add pace before targeting certain distance with different run types, most important thinkg to note though is always consistently putting on the trainers and just running. ‘If you build it they will come’ type approach, keep running, build the foundation and the personal records will come. (This also works for baseball pitches apparently.)
It’s all in the mind. After 32k a marathon is down to mental strength and the ability to persuade your body you can still perform at your desired pace without falling to fatigue, which is the minds way of protecting itself. Never underestimate the power of the mind in long distance racing. Finally another massive part of running, the Noakes ‘central governor’. I’ve talked about this at length in various posts on this site. With experience I believe I can mentally finish a marathon stronger now then when I first started. I know what to expect and to this end can persuade my old friend fatigue to stay away for longer allowing me to achieve better finishing times. The mind is such an important part of running and needs to be trained as much as the body. When you race a marathon you will spend time in the ‘pain box’, the runner who can spend the most time in this little box of joy, before opening the door and embracing the old enemy fatigue, will run the fastest. I spoke to Steve Moneghetti after the Perth Marathon this year after he ran the 3hr30min bus and asked him how the professional athletes are so much faster than us recreational runners. His answer surprised me as he replied that a professional runner can stand more pain and this gives them the advantage need to push through and achieve the faster times. Again turning off the ‘central governor’ and spending more time in the ‘pain box’ avoiding fatigue and thus not slowing down. Common sense really, thanks Steve.
Me and a legend, Steve Moneghetti.
So what does 2023 hold for me I wonder. I’ll start the year with the Delirious West 200 miler in early February ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/race-information-2022/ ) and then Hardy’s Frontyard Ultra in March ( https://herdysfrontyard.com.au/ ) , followed by the Lighthorse 24 hour race in April ( https://lighthorseultra.com.au/ ) before the big one in June, all of June actually… Run Brittania. ( https://ratracerunbritannia.com/ ) . After that I have nothing locked in as I’m not sure what sort of state I’ll be in after running 1,000 miles the length of the UK. ? Truth be told I could have done with a ‘down year’ after eighteen ultras in the last two years but when Run Brittania became available I had to take it, you’d be mad not to surely. ?
As always I give a shout out to three of my favourite products… fisiocrem ( https://www.fisiocrem.com.au/ ) is just bloody brilliant and does exactly what it says it does , it just gets the major muscle groups moving again. I use this extensively towards the end of the race when my quads are hammered. It really makes a difference and allows me to move back through the gears towards the end of an event when most runners are stumbling home.
Fisiocrem is a must have in your ultra box of tricks…
Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ ) The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products) can be difficult to digest later in the event. From the website :-
As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority.
In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance.
In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born.
BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work!
BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!
Great hydration.
What can I say about HumanTecar, ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !
Running is all about traditions , runners love doing the same thing over and over. That may be training routines, entering the same races or just spending time with friends going to the same location for runs. After a while all these routines turn into traditions, and then they have to be adhered to, it’s tradition. The 6 inch ultra trail marathon ( https://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) is one of many traditions that the lads and I love to adhere to, albeit it use to be a family tradition (yes, you can involve the family) but the kids all grew up and no longer wanted to spend time with old runners. We took that on the chin and just stopped inviting them, it had now morphed into a lads weekend away. (I say ‘lads’ in the broadest sense of the word, our average age is well over fifty these days. It’s lucky Michael Kowal is still scarred by the escalator on his one and only 6 inch attempt a few years back or the average age would be in the sixties!)
To get a feel for the event I recommend trawling through my blog to get some old posts , I’ve attached a few links here. This will help with the post I’m about to recount.
Right now you’ve caught up with the history of this event it time to way lyrical about the 2022 edition. Due to various reasons we have a small starting line up this year. We lost Marky ‘Mark’ Lommers to a twisted ankle, Adam to gastro, Bart’s to a family holiday he had to take in Noosa and Scotty to long term injury. This left Jeffrey , Jon and I to toe the line at the start with Rob (poorly achilleas) again driving us to the start Sunday morning at some ungodly hour. (Remember it’s a point to point and we stay at the finish) After I persuaded Jeffrey to drive (remember we lost Adam to gastro and apparently if he can’t go to the event his 7 seater Prado can’t go either, a tad selfish me thinks!) we were off , high noon on Saturday, the day before the event. Jon would be joining us down there as he loves to hoon in his BMW and would prefer to do it alone apparently, less eye witnesses is probably safer for all concerned.
6 INCH ..Road trip ! Boys all smiles while I practice my influencer pout.
Right back to tradition, for this lads trip there are a few. First we always stay at the Jarrah Forest lodge , Jon always books the family room , and pays, thereby ensuring he gets the double bed (being the smallest) while the other room is shared with the lads (there’s two bunk beds). This room has the benefit of air conditioning in both rooms. I always stay in room 16 , a single room with a bunk, the farthest from the toilet block. This has no air conditioning, actually just a bunk bed, you get that prisoner cell block H feeling about the place. It’s clean and that’s all we need for one night. We use to go the pub the night but the meal portions are so large that it affected the running performances the following day. Bart’s was still eating his chicken parmi post race Sunday afternoon. I was above this of course and always take my own meal for the Saturday night, it’s tradition.
My favourite tradition is watching run fatboy run after bib collection on Saturday evening, we must have seen this movie at least five times but it still gets the same laughs in the same places, so good. Due to the set up at the lodge it can take anywhere from 15 minutes to nearly an hour to get the video working. There is an amp, a switcher box, a projector , at least two DVD players and cables everywhere. Things were looking good this year when Jon got the DVD talking to the TV, with the right input, in a matter of minutes but , as is tradition, things didn’t go that smoothly and the DVD had been played to death, literally. It was finished so after a brief interlude we selected another DVD, Will Ferrel in Semi Pro which , although not a run fayboy run, was a pretty good alternative. Never fear thought we have ordered Run FatBoy Run on DVD so will be watching it next year and we will bring all our own equipment !
Post DVD the boys scuttle off to their luxurious, for Dwellingup remember the town has a population of population 524, family room complete with air conditioning while I hit my jail cell, alarms set for 3am. This year I was lucky enough to have a very keen runner next door to me (?) who had set their alarm for 2am as they were catching the bus. Great, I get to get up an hour or so earlier than planned. It gets better, I was also next door to a snorer and the walls are paper thing, it felt like we were in the same bed ! When you hear someone snoring you cannot unhear it. Let’s just say I was sleep depraved while I ate my weetbix and drank my cup of sweet tea in the communal kitchen at 2:15am. Not ideal but I’m a big believer in it’s the night before the night before which is the important time to sleep, anything on the evening before the event is a bonus. Once the boys rose, an hour or so after me, we all got into the car as planned at 3:45am for the twenty minutes or so drive to the start and check in. The drive to the start is always a tad worrying as Kangaroo’s aren’t car friendly and if we were to hit a roo it wouldn’t end well for any of us. Luckily we didn’t see any albiet last year we’re sure Bart’s killed a bandicoot on the way to the start, something he still denies.
The drive to the start at 3:45am, looking out for Kangaroos !
As the image below shows we were last to arrive at the pre-race check in but we have a car so the drive to the start was only a few minutes away and we arrived with minutes so spare, more than enough. Unfortunately we were carrying a goody-pack for my mate Tristan who was running the 12 inch. This is another tradition of runners running from the finish to the start the night before (47km) and then leaving with the race at 4:30am and returning for the medal, another 47km; hence the name 12 inch. We managed to get Tristan his drop bag albeit a few minutes from the start, sorry buddy, it obviously wasn’t a problem as he ran the 12 inch in around 13 hours.
Last to leave for the start after the obligatory check in, me , Jamie and the volunteers left.
The plan for this race was to finish under five hours, not walk, bar the monster hills, enjoy the event and keep Jeffrey behind me to keep my 20 year or so winning streak. Jeffrey is now over 60 and running very well, he came close to pipping me to the post in Melbourne in October and had been training well since with Bart’s preparing him for battle. My running had been down the toilet since September due to over training (or over racing?) and niggles including tight hamstrings and a probable tear under my right knee. Weekly I was getting dropped at the Yelo Thursday morning gathering and my training runs in the hills had all been thirty minutes or so longer than last year. The smart money was on Jeffrey for this one. Jon was expecting another sub four hour finish but a nasty cough had me questioning his optimism.
The traditional start photo.
The 6 inch starts with Goldmine hill, a beast of a hill that has destroyed many a runners dreams. If you’re not prepared it can derail you very early in the piece, trust me if you are goosed after two kilometres the next 46 or so are challenging. This year me and Jeffrey decided to walk most of the hill with the masses, saving our running legs for the beating that was ahead. It was quite nice to enjoy the hill for a change, although I say ‘enjoy’ in the broadest sense of the word.? We summited full of beans and changed up through the gears cruising along in a group of about ten of us, mainly women surprisingly ? The event itself is held on the mundi biddi trail, a thousand kilometre offroad bike trail from Perth to Albany, so pretty good running. David Kennedy, the Race Director, reckons you can add about an hour to your marathon time to get an estimated finish time, he’s probably right.
The 6 inch has an aid station at 23 kilometres and then again at the top of the escalator hill, around 35 kilometres. There is also one with four kilometres to go but when you’re that close why would you stop? I ran with Jeffrey until the first aid station where he complained of a sore knee and walked into the aid station. This was my chance and , as all good friends do , when I sensed weakness I pounced or in this case left him. That was the last I would see of Jeffrey , or so I thought. My confidence was knocked by Mick Francis, the aid station captain, who mentioned I was limping and he’d pull me out if he was RD. A tad harsh I thought as I thought I was going ok ?
After aid station one there is another large climb to the highest part of the course, the 3 inch version of the Goldmine Hill I suppose. I half walked and ran this and took a few more positions as I started to warm up, after twenty years in Western Australia I’m now half lizard and love the heat. Once I get to the highest part I tend to flick over into finish mode and chase down the back end of the half runners and fellow full runners. As I mentioned at the start of this report this race was about finishing and having fun, as much as that is possible. I was feeling good enough to up the pace and started to move through the field albeit nothing to previous years but nice to be moving up the field none the less.
I climbed the escalator hill to the second aid station, filled my bottles and then started the last ten kilometres to the finish. It was here Jeffrey reappeared and all of a sudden my relaxed cruise to the finish changed to a very stressful run being chased by a motivated Jeffrey Wang. I managed to maintain the pace for the final ten kilometres and with the experience of twelve previous finishes I knew when you push and when to hang on. It wasn’t easy or pretty but I managed to finish in four hours and forty eight minutes and change. My new personal worse by thirty minutes but mission accomplished, sometimes it’s the journey that’s important not the time taken to complete it. As you can see from the smile below I was stoked.
Finish number #13, still smiling !
All that was left to do was the traditional esky photo, if you know, you know, don’t judge me. Thanks Nathan Fawkes for supplying the ice shower, may add this to the tradition for the esky photo, always keen to add more traditions ?
Traditional esky shot.
One final tradition is all the boys (and driver) who completed the course to put on their finishers shirts and get a photo. I have so many of these and enjoy looking back at all the lads aging gracefully and back in the day we’d even have a few kinds with us, they are all far too cool to have their photos taken with us these days of course. A small gathering this year but I’m confident there will be a bigger group in 2023.
Mission accomplished, what a great year 2022.
So that’s it for 2022, what a great year, ten ultra marathons and one marathon , I’ve been busy with over two thousand kilometres racing with a bib on my chest and another three thousand kilometres training. 6 inch number thirteen completed and I can’t wait until I;m back at the bottom of Goldmine Hill facing another 47 kilometres of the munda biddi trail , sleep depraved but excited about what lays ahead, why wouldn’t you, after all , it’s tradition.
As always I give a shout out to three of my favourite products… fisiocrem ( https://www.fisiocrem.com.au/ ) is just bloody brilliant and does exactly what it says it does , it just gets the major muscle groups moving again. I use this extensively towards the end of the race when my quads are hammered. It really makes a difference and allows me to move back through the gears towards the end of an event when most runners are stumbling home.
Fisiocrem is a must have in your ultra box of tricks…
Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ ) The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products) can be difficult to digest later in the event. From the website :-
As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority.
In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance.
In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born.
BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work!
BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!
Great hydration.
What can I say about HumanTecar, ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !
Right, 2022 was a massive year, following on from 2021 which was a massive year. In 2021 I ran eight ultras, Hardy’s Front yard ultra, Light horse 24 hour, KepV2 Ultra 100km, Birdy’s backyard, Delirious West 200 miler, Feral Pig 100 miler, Hysterical Carnage backyard ultra and the 6 inch trail ultra marathon.
2022 was all about doing more and I added the No time to die front yard ultra, the Unreasonable East 200 miler and the Melbourne marathon. I have added the posts for each of these events in 2022 as a review and also just in case you missed the posts.
First off in 2022 was the Delirious West 200 miler for the third time. It was 1-1 with a good finish in 2020 after a DNF in 2019. This year I had the run of my life and finished in just over 68 hours, good enough for a fourth place finish. Can’t wait to take this beast on for the fourth time in February 2023, already have the 2022 crew back on board.
100 miler club, 24 hours done and dusted . My 5th backyard ultra and always managed to get to 24 hours minimum.
In March I ran Herdy’s Front yard ultra for the second time after an assist in the inaugural year in 2021. Not quite the 48 laps (hours) I was after albeit I was very happy with the 34 laps I completed before not making lap 35. Found after two days post Herdy’s I had COVID so explained why it was more testing that I thought it would be ?
Third time lucky, finally joining the 200 kilometre club.
Post COVID and Herdy’s came the Light Horse 24 hour ultra. Another great Ultra Series event. With Rob Donkersloot ( https://mindfocusedrunning.com/ ) crewing me I managed 207km for the win in the 24 hour event, very unexpected and mainly down to Rob not letting me sit down.
Three weeks post Light Horse came the Kep V2 100km. Love this event, steeped in WA ultra running history. I was going to use this race as a long run with a medal at the end, leaving my poles at half way so I could cruise back to the start. Due to a small field I was lucky enough to pick up another win, well first male, so stoked.
Halfway through the year and I faced my biggest challenge yet, a 200 miler in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney. The first 200 miler ever attempted in that region. The Unreasonable East was a beast of an event with stunning scenary, brutal climbs and more stairs than I have ever encountered in an event ever. Add in some seriously cold nights and long distances between aid stations , on the shortest days of the year, and you had a monster to slay.
The 24 hour , 100 mile club. 10am Saturday morning.
Next was time for my third Birdy’s backyard ultra. Plan was to enjoy myself and get to a course PB, anything over 28 laps. In the end managed 36 laps (150 miles) before the impending storm hit and I scuttled off to my car for a well earned sleep. Love this event and can’t wait for number four in 2023.
The starting lineup of the inaugural ‘No Time to Die’ Frontyard Ultra.
After Birdy’s it was another backyard ultra, this time No time to die in Adelaide. Managed to pick up my first , and probably last, backyard ultra win. Managed 33 laps which was good enough to take line honours. After two assists it was so good to get the win and a surreal feeling, running sometime gives back in spades.
My only non ultra of 2022 was the Melbourne marathon , two weeks post No Time to Die. Running a 33 hour long run two weeks out from a marathon didn’t seem like a good idea and as it turned out it wasn’t. Ran with the sub 3 hour bus for 10km and was then unceremoniously kicked off the back, made the last 32km challenging to say the least. In the end finished in three hours and seventeen minutes, funnily enough bringing my average for the 46 marathons I have run to two hours, 59 mins and 59 seconds… a Don Bradman total albeit under my goal not over it. !
Post Melbourne I suffered, my hamstrings seized big time and no amount of anti-inflammatories or dry needling really helped. This was a problem with back to back milers coming up, why wouldn’t you ? The first one was the Feral Pig 100 miler , a beast of an event with over 4,000 metres of elevation. I had not been able to train pre-event and only ran it as I had nothing else to do that weekend and I wouldn’t get my entry fee back leaving it so late to defer. It was going to be brutal and it didn’t disaapoint, finished just over 35 hours, ouch.
Finally, so far this year, I ran the Hysterical Carnage backyard ultra, again in Adelaide, 5 days post Feral Pig. Back to back milers was the plan so I had to run at least 24 hours at Hysterical, in the end managed 27 before timing out on lap 28. Mission accomplished but not something I’d recommend. Lucky I have youth on my side ?
With one event left to run in December, the 6 Inch Trail ultra marathon, 2023 has been amazing, challenging, ace, ridiculous, stupid, inspiring, memorable and more besides. Can I top it in 2023 ? You bet I can.. watch this space…
As always I give a shout out to three of my favourite products… fisiocrem ( https://www.fisiocrem.com.au/ ) is just bloody brilliant and does exactly what it says it does , it just gets the major muscle groups moving again. I use this extensively towards the end of the race when my quads are hammered. It really makes a difference and allows me to move back through the gears towards the end of an event when most runners are stumbling home.
Fisiocrem is a must have in your ultra box of tricks…
Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ ) The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products) can be difficult to digest later in the event. From the website :-
As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority.
In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance.
In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born.
BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work!
BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!
Great hydration.
What can I say about HumanTecar, ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !
After the No Time to Die ultra I have been struggling with injuries and motivation. Running the Melbourne marathon in October was probably a mistake and I paid with tight hamstrings, which made any sort of running at pace impossible. The only thing that kept me going was dry needling and strong anti-inflammatories; both dangerous long term ! Coupled with a knee niggle I have only really ran long twice in the last few months and both times were ultra races. Apart from a couple of back to back milers I have run very little and am struggling with motivation.
I have put this down to an aggressive racing calendar and I need time to recoup before more of the same next year. My only race for the rest of the year is the 6 inch ultra in late December. ( https://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) I’m hoping after the 6 Inch I’ll get my mojo back and head to the hills for my pre-Delirious West training block around Xmas and into the New Year. ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) This block of 4-6 weeks is paramount to success for the 200 miler, hours of trail running in the heat of a Perth summer. Extreme heat is as good as altitude training apparently and I love trail running in summer so its a double bonus. Delirious is also my favourite race of the season so I don’t need much motivation to get up for it. The last few years it has been a very sociable affair due to COVID making it impossible for anyone but WA runners able to get to the start line in Northcliffe. Albeit last year a forest fire almost put paid to the event coming a few days before the start. In the end it was turned from a point to point race to an out and back , which was still awesome as we got to start and finish at the Northcliffe pub , which is a great country pub and does the best food.
So this post is a couple of really cool posts by David Roche of http://www.trailrunnermag.com website . One about does downtime lead to breakthroughs ? and a second post on Kilian Jornet’s 2022 Training Data. This is epic and worth digesting. Kilian’s 8 tips may be a bit polarising for some but his thinking on double days , in my point of view, is spot on. As I have always maintained double days unlock your running dreams. Although I’m never sure why you would lock them up in the first place, anyhow locked up or not running twice a day will help you achieve your running goals. Run slow but run often. Another take away from Kilian’s tips is he runs slow nearly 60% of the time , active recovery he calls it. Again I must concur, when I saw the biggest improvement in my running times I was running between 12 to 14 times a week mostly at aerobic pace. (easy) This is what Maffetone ( https://philmaffetone.com/ ) and Athur Lydiard preach ( https://www.lydiardfoundation.org/ )
Why Downtime May Lead To Breakthroughs Sometimes it feels like the best/fastest/happiest runners never take breaks. But critical fitness adaptations happen when you rest. From an article by David Roche, March 2021 ( http://www.trailrunnermag.com )
Breaks make breakthroughs.
You know that statement is true because you could imagine it on a motivational poster of a puppy in a paw cast. To double-check the puppy-poster proof, I went through a list of the athletes that I coach. Every single one had some sort of layoff preceding their biggest accomplishments.
Injuries? This is running, so … yeah, it can seem like a cereal commercial with the number of snaps and crackles and pops. Some athletes had to stop running for months or years. Some were told they might never run again, only to come back and exceed anything they achieved before.
Here’s an objective, scientific fact: downtime is not a failure. It’s about more than that, though. The theory of this article is that if you play your cards right, breaks can lead to exponential growth processes that reset what you could have ever thought possible before the layoff.
Mental-health breaks? This is sentience, so … yeah, there were plenty of those too. Breaks come in many forms, good and bad, planned and unplanned, pregnancies and pandemics. Whatever caused the breaks, the act of taking downtime was often hard on those athletes. We all have those questions sometimes.
Champions don’t take downtime, right?
Maybe I’m not cut out for this?
Am I losing everything?
Here’s an objective, scientific fact: downtime is not a failure. It’s about more than that, though. The theory of this article is that if you play your cards right, breaks can lead to exponential growth processes that reset what you could have ever thought possible before the layoff.
Let’s start with the principles of fitness maintenance.
We’ll start here as an excuse to discuss how it’s easy to have misconceptions about how fitness changes and grows over time. A 2021 article in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that endurance performance can be maintained for 15 weeks on as little as two sessions per week, or when volume is reduced by up to 66% (as short as 13 to 26 minutes per session). The review article findings were based on a few studies that had untrained individuals do 10 weeks of six times weekly training sessions, followed by a detraining period of 15 weeks where participants were randomly assigned to reduced frequency, reduced intensity, and mixed groups. As long as there was some maintenance of intensity, participants did not significantly detrain.
Similar findings applied to strength training, with as little as one session a week being effective for maintenance in younger populations, and two sessions for older populations. The general conclusion of the review is that both frequency and volume can be reduced while maintaining fitness, with volume in particular being acceptable to drop by substantial margins over 50%.
The general conclusion of the review is that both frequency and volume can be reduced while maintaining fitness, with volume in particular being acceptable to drop by substantial margins over 50%.
I could walk 500 miles, and I could walk 500 more while reciting disclaimers. The studies apply in a narrow context for the general population, not for runners trying to optimize performance. And over longer time horizons, it’s likely that maintenance becomes short-term fitness loss as past adaptations start to fade. But the general principles overlap with the experiences of coaches and athletes about why it’s OK to take downtime.
All tie back to a general principle: once training levels reach a certain point, there might be variance around that point based on training status, but it’s always relatively quick to get back to those levels. Even if you feel out of shape, the past work you have completed is right there at the surface, ready to shine after a quick polish. That’s due to how the body retains training adaptations with time.
Decreases in VO2 max take time and levels rebound quickly.
A 1989 article in Sports Medicine found that VO2 max decreases start to begin after two to four weeks fully off, tied to reduction in cardiac output and blood volume. Follow-up studies generally find around a 5% reduction after two weeks, and up to 20% at eight to 10 weeks.
While VO2 max may drop with time off, it doesn’t take much to maintain it. For example, a 1985 study in the Journal Of Applied Physiology had athletes reduce training from six to 10 hours per week to one 35-minute session, and those athletes had no reduction in VO2 max (but their performance decreased, likely due to changes in muscular output and efficiency). And even after total detraining, VO2 max bounces back with some focused intensity.
However, that initial VO2 max reduction may make running feel hard at first, especially when trying to go harder. After a few weeks off, even slight hills make my breathing sound like a broken harmonica. Don’t worry, you’ll be ready to rock within a few weeks.
However, that initial VO2 max reduction may make running feel hard at first, especially when trying to go harder. After a few weeks off, even slight hills make my breathing sound like a broken harmonica. Don’t worry, you’ll be ready to rock within a few weeks.
Blood volume changes happen fast in both directions.
Similarly, blood volume and cardiac output are highly sensitive to both time off and reintroduction of training. Another 1985 study in the Journal of Applied Physiology found a 9% reduction in blood volume and a 12% reduction in stroke volume after two to four weeks of inactivity in trained men. On the flip side, a 1991 review in the Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise journal found that blood volume increases quickly as training is reintroduced. And a 2015 study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology found a 17.8% increase in plasma volume in highly trained cyclists after just four exposures to post-exercise sauna.
Blood volume and stroke volume feed back into VO2 max, so the initial feeling of being underwater and gasping for air upon returning to exercise is likely going to be short-lived. Plus, as demonstrated by the 2021 study on detraining, it takes very little relative training to maintain baseline levels.
Detraining is gradual for the metabolic and aerobic systems.
A 2000 review in Sports Medicine found that after around a week, the body may start to rely more on carbohydrate metabolism, with reduced capillary density too. Those adaptations make the body work harder to get energy to working muscles and limit endurance—part of the reason why you might struggle immensely on runs over 60 to 90 minutes after a longer break. Again, the changes are reversed relatively quickly with reintroduction of training, and can be maintained at lower training levels.
Neuromuscular and biomechanical lag.
Running economy decreases short-term as the nervous and biomechanical systems get slightly less efficient. That could explain why those first few runs after a layoff feel so foreign, even if you have been cross training. In coaching, I often see athletes start to feel less awkward after a week, and downright natural after intensity is reintroduced (usually via hill strides to start). And muscles may lose some strength, particularly after very long breaks (like severe injuries). But as reviewed in 2019 in Frontiers of Physiology, nuclei may not be lost from muscles during that process, possibly contributing to quick bounce-back cycles.
So studies and training theory are generally in agreement: detraining starts after a week or two, progresses for a month or two, and begins to level off, with some ongoing muscular changes. It can feel like you’re so far away from where you were!
But here’s why I’m never worried about that downtime, whether it includes maintenance or not. Athletes usually have a rapid return to previous fitness levels with a small dose of consistency, with it being much easier to achieve again than it was the first time. Restarting training is awakening a sleeping giant.
But here’s why I’m never worried about that downtime, whether it includes maintenance or not. Athletes usually have a rapid return to previous fitness levels with a small dose of consistency, with it being much easier to achieve again than it was the first time. Restarting training is awakening a sleeping giant.
It’s not just that, though. The sleeping giant may wake up with superpowers.
While the science is unsettled, there are so many stories of massive breakthroughs coming off downtime ranging from a few weeks to a few years that there must be physiological resets that raise the ceiling on long-term potential for some athletes. Let’s look at a few possible explanations.
Long-term recovery.
Every training session introduces some acute stress—muscular fatigue/damage, increased cortisol, hormonal disturbance. That acute stress is the whole point of training, allowing an athlete to build back stronger after adaptation. But some of those acute stresses have long tails. Take muscle damage as an example. If we did a blood test after a hard training session, there might be elevated creatine kinase, indicating some muscle breakdown. An athlete may report some subjective fatigue mirroring those results, subsiding in a day or two. Then they’ll do another workout. Heck, yes, adaptation!
Downtime can wipe the stress slate clean. Sometimes, athletes find that they were carrying a chronic stress weight vest around without realizing it.
But wait. While subjective fatigue may be approaching baseline, if we did a follow-up blood test, there would be a good chance that the athlete wasn’t fully at baseline, especially in heavy training. That’s how acute stresses can add up to become chronic stress—the long tails get stacked up over time. While chronic stress can be optimized with plenty of recovery and fuel, it’s always a risk of hard training.
Downtime can wipe the stress slate clean. Sometimes, athletes find that they were carrying a chronic stress weight vest around without realizing it.
Nervous/endocrine system hypotheses.
The interplay of the brain and hormones in long-term growth is weakly understood due to how hard the neuromuscular and endocrine systems are to measure and isolate. For the nervous system, overtraining syndrome is a prime example. A 2020 study reviewed what we know about OTS—a series of dysfunctional adaptations to excessive training and inadequate fueling, with major nervous system impacts.
While approaches vary, the general rule is that a full shut-down of training is needed in severe OTS cases. Athletes often can’t jog their way through OTS, they need to eat and sleep and chill their way through it. Even if downtime is not in response to overtraining specifically, the same rules may be relevant: the nervous system works on longer time scales when responding to chronic stress.
For the endocrine system, sex hormones estrogen and testosterone can be reduced in hard training for endurance athletes, with evidence that the hormones may increase during downtime. As with the nervous system, there may be longer-term endocrine system processes at play when it comes to how hormonal changes affect health.
Gene expression and epigenetics.
Our genetics are not just a set of instructions that we can’t influence. External stimuli change how our genetic code expresses itself via epigenetics, and there is even some evidence that epigenetic changes can be heritable. With endurance sports, relatively small stimuli may start turning some of those epigenetic switches toward endurance. While it’s debated, that could be one explanation for how bodies can undergo such fundamental and positive changes over time even if exercise routines are a few minutes a day.
If I had to venture a guess about why breaks precede breakthroughs, it would be that major reductions in training may have a priming effect on adaptations to future stimuli.
So what happens with downtime? We’re not sure. But if I had to venture a guess about why breaks precede breakthroughs, it would be that major reductions in training may have a priming effect on adaptations to future stimuli. That could involve some mix of all of these physiological processes, plus other cellular-level processes like protein expression or mitochondria changes. Or maybe it has to do with the brain and neuromuscular system.
Whatever the exact cause, breaks are not something to fear and certainly not a reason to beat yourself up. Call it the Dell PC Theorem—sometimes turning it off and turning it back on can solve problems that slow everything down.
Is alcohol the answer? Probably not unfortunately, albeit I don’t drink bar a celebratory pint of Guinness after an event.
What does it all mean in practice?
I don’t know. I don’t think anyone knows. And that concludes my TED Talk.
Wait, not quite done. Here’s what I do know: the “breaks make breakthroughs” principle is seen over and over again, in every sport. It might just be availability bias, but I don’t think so. What I think is happening is that the principles of maintenance of training interact with detraining and longer-term recovery in a way that compounds interest on underlying athletic potential.
When an athlete first starts training, the body takes some time to build up. You know the feeling—immediate gains followed by slow progress. From that new normal, our bodies can detrain and rebuild relatively rapidly, getting back on the slow progress trend.
But maybe every athlete isn’t designed for slow progress indefinitely. Maybe they even face stagnation or regression no matter how hard they work. Whether it’s due to chronic stress or just our baseline genetics interacting with training over many years, some athletes may find themselves on a trajectory that undersells their ultimate potential.
Break. Injury. Burn-out. Pandemic.
What builds back from that break? There’s no certain answer, but I have my theories. And if you have had to take downtime, just know that all of those theories point to four words when it comes to your future.
A Jon Pendse classic…cross training is one of Kilian’s top tips, albeit he has snow to play about on, rare in Western Australia.
Eight Takeaways From Kilian Jornet’s 2022 Training Data
Kilian Jornet, aka the Greatest Of All Time, just published a summary of his training data and practices for all of 2022. His post is destined to be a legendary guide to thinking about training theory and what it takes to have the best season ever. Let’s break it down. Another article from David Roche, this time Spetember 2022. This is gold.
Last week, I wrote a primer on Kilian Jornet’s training data between his course records at the Hardrock 100 and UTMB (data published by watch-maker Coros). After the article came out, Kilian messaged me a new link. In case you were wondering: finding out I was going to be a dad, my marriage, Kilian sliding into my DMs, in reverse order of importance.
I clicked the link and angels sang. Kilian wrote a post that is going to be a fundamental pillar of training theory, opening up the vault to his data, theory, and mindset. It’s almost unprecedented in the history of endurance sports–an athlete at the peak of their powers being fully transparent about the how and why behind their successes.
The most recent analogue I can think of is Nils van der Poel’s speed skating training. But I think Nils wrote his training manifesto with an understanding that it was unlikely that anyone was going to be able to repeat the wild block-periodization model with workout days that almost seemed impossible.
Kilian’s training, on the other hand, is far more mainstream, the type of approach that almost any athlete could use with modifications for their backgrounds. The GOAT just wants to add to the body of knowledge of endurance training, where he is both a student and a teacher.
The GOAT wants us all to be the GOAT version of ourselves.
Read his full post–it’s brilliant and important. In this article, I am going to provide context for his training, distilling eight takeaways that are relevant for everyone. My wife/co-coach Megan and I interviewed him on our podcast this week (listen here) for more details, one of the ultimate honors of our lives. Is it creepy if we name our kid Kilian? Before you answer, keep in mind that we already printed the sign to hang above the crib.
Even as the ultimate fanboy, it’s mind-blowing to me that one athlete is the best short-distance mountain racer (course record at Zegama) and the best long-distance mountain racer (course record at UTMB) in the same year. The easy response to his dominance is to say he is a genetic outlier. But at the elite level of sports, it’s always a competition among outliers, and the genetic differences alone are not enough to explain dominance like Kilian’s 2022. Reading his post, it’s clear that he earned 2022 with a methodical, process-focused vision of long-term growth across decades of hard training.
On the podcast, he talked about how his training philosophy fundamentally shifted in 2018 and 2019, coinciding with the birth of his first child. Instead of long days in the mountains at zone 2, he shifted toward a different intensity distribution, emphasizing lots of easy volume and focused workouts. He made the changes without a coach (though he does work with exercise physiologist Jesús Álvarez-Herms). Instead, he made himself into an exercise physiology and training theory expert, applying what he learned and making changes based on what worked for him.
The GOAT wants us all to be the GOAT version of ourselves.
So his article is not a genetic outlier talking about the nuances of being an outlier. It’s a brilliant scientist talking about the process of maximizing potential based on universal principles of human physiology, adapted for specific variation in genetics and goals.
Time to get to it! Let’s dive into 8 takeaways from a training summary that will shape the sport for years to come.
One: Training is a long-term process of consistency and aerobic development.
A stunning figure shows Kilian’s weekly training volume since April 2009. While there is variance, most weeks average around 20 hours, split between running, skiing, biking, and other sports. There are big up-swings of skimo in the winter and running starting in spring, with his training following a seasonal cycle.
At the far right of the chart is a microscopic red circle encompassing 2022. It’s a striking visualization of how our brains can think short-term, but our bodies are playing on much longer time scales.
“There’s no such a thing as the magical session that will make you better or a training program that will work for everyone,” he says. “But the adaptations come from the repetition of training stimulus (consistency) and the individualization of those stimuli.”
Kilian has consistently averaged 1000+ hours of training per year, mostly easy, across multiple sports. His aerobic roots run deep. For all of us, the first principle of endurance training is to stack up easy volume over time. The foundation for all performance from the 800 meters up to 200+ milers is how the aerobic system processes energy and associated fatigue. That ability comes from the daily grind of easy training.
So, first? Put your own roots down. It’s a year-long thing, across decades.
Two: Most of his training is very easy, with a Pyramidal intensity distribution.
Now is the moment for every athlete to pay attention to specific guidance from the GOAT. You hear that most training should be easy, but what does that actually mean? Here’s Kilian’s breakdown of training intensity using the 5-zone model:
58% zone 1 (active recovery, nose breathing)
19% zone 2 (aerobic endurance, can keep for hours)
16% zone 3 (tempo, sustained fast and can say several sentences)
4% zone 4 (race pace, can say a sentence)
3% zone 5 (max)
58% in zone 1! That is an astonishing number, echoing the evolution of training theory more generally across endurance sports. Easy volume does not just allow recovery for harder sessions, but it provides the fuel that makes the hard sessions possible.
His intensity distribution is strongly Pyramidal with hints of Threshold, with 77% of his training in Zone 1 and Zone 2. The 16% in Zone 3 and 4% in Zone 4 is a high amount of threshold work, similar to some approaches used by Norwegian runners and triathletes. The smaller amount of Zone 5 work shows that he still develops his top-end speed, but with a much lesser focus.
It’s tempting to get on the trails and assume that faster is better. But stacking up faster work causes everything to decline after an initial period of growth, as the musculoskeletal system wears down, the endocrine system gets overstressed, and the aerobic system erodes via less efficient lipid metabolism and mitochondrial function.
Admittedly, 58% of training in Zone 1 may be Kilian-specific, requiring wonderful aerobic efficiency and very high volume. On our podcast, he talked about moving quickly through the mountains at 110 to 120 beats per minute heart rate, which is my heart rate when getting food from the top shelf of the pantry. But every athlete should probably have a more even split between Zone 1 and Zone 2 than might be our natural baselines, with those percentages adding up to around 80%. All easy is not created equal, and it’s valuable to slow down some of those days for workout quality, longevity, and growth along the entire aerobic spectrum.
Pyramidal training intensity is the predominant approach used by elite athletes whose training has been the subject of studies, meaning the next biggest proportion of training is tempo/threshold, with a much smaller portion faster than Critical Velocity and VO2 max. Lots easy, some moderate, just a bit hard (and make sure that hard work has a focused rationale for improving mechanical output).
Kilian leaves room for disagreement. “I know, for example, that I can absorb a great amount of volume and Z2 and Z3 training, but if I do more speed work for several continuous weeks (Z4 and Z5) I will get injured or metabolically not as efficient,” he says. “For other athletes, it is the opposite.”
What’s fascinating in the research is that an approach with a higher proportion of top-end Zone 4 and Zone 5 work (known as Polarized training) is very rarely used long-term due to its tendency to cause quick adaptations, followed by stagnation (or injury).
Three: Kilian periodizes his training across the year, with a base period preceding specific training blocks.
Kilian’s winter is spent on skis, where he’s a world-class skimo athlete. From December to March, he would do 2-4 hours on skis (mostly in Zone 2) in the AM, followed by a 40-60 minute easy treadmill run in the PM. His training graphs show no hard workouts that entire time. Interestingly, he did a 100-mile race in February to test fueling. As much as I think Kilian’s approach has lessons for all of us, doing a 100-mile race off a ski-focus may just be a Kilian thing. It’s like wearing white spandex at Western States–don’t try this at home.
That base period reinforced an already-monstrous aerobic system. The fact that he didn’t only ski shows a lesson that might be important for athletes that get lots of cross training time. It can be helpful to reinforce mechanical adaptations for running year-round, even if it’s not the primary focus.
Starting in March, he trained for Zegama at the end of May, emphasizing big volume (150-190km / 93-118 miles per week) with 2 quality workouts. In June and July leading up to the Hardrock 100, he increased training volume up to 200km (124 miles) per week, but did no longer sessions, and kept doing 2 speed workouts a week. From Hardrock to UTMB, he primarily focused on recovery and maintenance (read about that period here).
Reinforcing an aerobic base year-round is key for all endurance athletes, and it may help to have a more focused block of aerobic development in the off-season. This winter in coaching, motivated by Kilian and Nils, I am going to focus more on dedicated base periods, particularly for elite athletes. For athletes that don’t have Kilian’s background and VO2 max, it may include a small amount of intensity like in a classic Lydiard model, emphasizing the mechanical adaptations to handle faster work (like hill strides).
Kilian kept that aerobic focus going even when training for short races like Zegama. The benefits accumulate over time, so keep stacking those bricks.
Four: Most of his training sessions were relatively short, but with tons of doubles.
A big change in Kilian’s life was when he became a dad a few years ago. His wife Emelie Forsberg is one of the GOATs herself, and they balance the demands of family life, business, and training as a team. In practice, that means that one gets the early block, one gets the afternoon block, and then their nights are free after the kids go to sleep.
And that seismic shift in life’s demands may have also unlocked a training secret: Kilian rarely does “long” training sessions. Almost all of his runs didn’t exceed 4 hours in 2022 (with most far shorter), a major change from what I had heard in whispers about his training in the early 2010s. However, he still accumulated massive volume week after week. How does that math add up?
The answer is by using doubles–two sessions in one day. On our podcast, he said that he completed doubles almost every day. For all athletes, doubles may improve hormonal response to training, and avoiding excessively long sessions could reduce some of the chronic stress of high-volume training. These sessions can likely be as short as 10-15 minutes, running or cross training, and may have outsized influence on fitness growth. There’s a reason that almost every elite athlete training log includes doubles, even if we aren’t 100% sure on the mechanism of action that makes them nearly universal.
The outstanding question is whether other ultra athletes could excel from so few extra-long efforts in training. Kilian has completed so many ultras and long sessions that he has no doubts about his aerobic abilities, or how his body will respond late in events. Most of us step into the unknown, but nothing is unknown to Kilian. Interestingly, this approach focused on training frequency to accumulate volume rather than supersized single days overlaps with some of the training of ultra champion Camille Herron (and others), so it’s possible that very long efforts are an overrated part of ultra training.
Five: Kilian does workouts that focus on the specific demands of his events.
Now it’s time for some workout porn. I know that Kilian doesn’t want us to read too deeply into any specific session, but these are too good to pass up. He groups his sessions into 3 groups: speed, threshold, and tempo.
For pure flat speed training, he only did 4 workouts all year long. WOW! That includes track staples like 10 x 400 meters, which he says he limited due to risk of injury, a problem he faced in the past when focusing on road training. This may be a place where his genetic ability matters–he is very fast naturally, so it might not be an element that he needs to reinforce much, at least on flat ground. Most trail runners can probably limit their flat ground work, with just enough reinforcement to help hill strength translate into flat speed.
His staple session was an uphill/flat combination workout (like what I wrote about here). He starts with 1 or 2 intervals up a steep climb, with the downhill for recovery. After, he does a flat workout, such as a 10km tempo, 2 x 5km tempo, or 10 x 1k. On the podcast, he said that it improves his ability to run uphill fast and then on flats fast, like in a race. All athletes can likely use combination workouts, but scaled down to current levels.
His third big type of session was a longer steady run. He starts at high Zone 2 before increasing the effort, usually over 20 km to 30 km (12 – 18 miles). These long, steady runs are likely underutilized by many athletes in training, and they are a great opportunity to build specific endurance and musculoskeletal resilience. Just be careful not to turn them into races, since the intensity control is key to avoid an excessive amount of time in the upper intensity zones, undercutting aerobic growth.
The magic simplicity of Kilian’s training is that it’s usually 2 of those workouts a week plus easy running across daily doubles. Rinse and repeat, with specificity before races indicating higher volume preceding long ultras and a greater workout focus preceding shorter events. Finish up with a taper that is very easy and includes rest days for ultras, and a bit less easy with fewer rest days for shorter races.
Six: Most of his aerobic training is on steep and technical trails.
While Kilian consistently does moderate/hard workouts on flat ground or non-technical trails, many of his easy runs are on the trails where he lives in Norway. Just looking at a photo of those trails gives me a stress ulcer–they are steep and technical in ways that are rarely seen in the US outside of climbing routes.
He likes workouts to be on smoother and/or flatter surfaces to “privilege the metabolic and muscular capacities”–optimizing raw output. He likes slower days “on terrain that challenges other aspects (cognitive, mental, technique, visualization…and they’re much more fun!).”
Make sure that you aren’t sacrificing output in your harder sessions. On a steep and technical climb, an athlete’s grade-adjusted pace may be 1-2 minutes per mile slower than on a less technical climb. While the efforts feel equally hard, that translates to lower output, and likely to fewer adaptations. However, on purely easy days, you can have fun with it! Plus, working on technical abilities requires constant reinforcement, like all cognitively and neuromuscularly demanding physical movements.
Seven: Strength work is not a part of his training.
Readers, I know that you know that I am not a big fan of a heavy emphasis on strength training. But my views are far outdone by Kilian’s views. “I don’t do any strength sessions,” he says. “Having limited time for training, I believe that the stress to the body from strength training would be too much to be able to give the best at the running or skiing sessions, where I want to put the focus because they are more specific.”
However, it’s important to note that skiing is a bit like one long strength session, and the way Kilian runs up hills is similar to plyometrics. So he may be playing by a different set of rules than most athletes. I like a minimal-dose program, focused on the least amount possible to get the necessary adaptations, often as little as a few minutes 2-3 times per week.
Eight: It’s all about the process.
Near the end of our podcast, we asked Kilian about the one piece of advice he’d give an aspiring young pro. We had been diving deep into training theory, so I was trying to ask a leading question for him to give away his ultimate methodological secret. Instead, he swerved the conversation.
“Focus on the process, not on the results.”
He described the importance of developing a deep love of daily training, through ups and downs, wins and losses. It’s going to take many years to see where the limits are, and it’s way better when it’s fun.
Kilian talking about training is Kilian talking about anything. He’s a founder of the shoe company NNormal, which is set to be a major player in the future of the sport. Yet even as he’s probably being roped into conversations on growth models and projections, he’s still focused on the process of making a fulfilling workplace for himself and his employees. The same goes for parenting, with his eyes lighting up at the mention of fatherhood and all the new stressors that come with it.
Over the last few weeks, I have learned that Kilian is not the GOAT because of genetics. He is the GOAT because he loves it. We asked him how he reconciled a love of the mountains with all of the data he collects on his training. He had a genius reply: to him, science is a manifestation of his love, of his respect for the sport and the mountains and what they require.
I have never been so motivated to get out there tomorrow and run. I’ll be doing it for the love of the process, and all the messy narratives that entails. I hope you are as inspired by Kilian as I am, helping you get out tomorrow and embrace a love of that messy process.
And I hope that we all can do that year-round for a few decades in a row to find our true limits…with a substantial portion of those days in Zone 1.
Thankyou Kilian Jornet…
Finally as always I give a shout out to three of my favourite products… fisiocrem ( https://www.fisiocrem.com.au/ ) is just bloody brilliant and does exactly what it says it does , it just gets the major muscle groups moving again. I use this extensively towards the end of the race when my quads are hammered. It really makes a difference and allows me to move back through the gears towards the end of an event when most runners are stumbling home.
Fisiocrem is a must have in your ultra box of tricks…
Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ ) The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products) can be difficult to digest later in the event. From the website :-
As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority.
In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance.
In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born.
BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work!
BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!
Great hydration.
What can I say about HumanTecar, ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !
