In January, 2023, Erchana Murray-Bartlett set the Guinness World record for running the most consecutive marathons. She ran 150 marathons in 150 days and raised money for Australian wildlife along the way. Erchana started at Cape York, which is in the northern tip of Australia and ran along the coast all the way down to Melbourne.  Currently she earned just over $133,000 for her chosen charity with little media coverage.  Seems a poor return when Nedd can raise over $2.6m for 12 days running around a 400m track ? Erchana’s main problem, again similar to Sean just too normal, the girl next door look is not good for raising money.  Clean cut does not cut it with the public and enjoying it is a massive no-no, donation suicide. !

Kiwi runner Shannon-Leigh Litt  is running an ultra a day and started on January 1st 2024, as of now , October 17th, she is still going and has smashed the current world record. As well as running over 50 kilomtres a day she also works full time as a defence lawyer, which is a demanding job on it’s own right. The Whangārei criminal defence lawyer set out on her epic mission on January 1 with the aim of beating previous world record holder Candice Burt, from Colorado, who ran 200 ultra-marathons in 200 days, finishing in May 2023.  She is nearly at 290 days and counting, that’s nearly 15,000 kilometes. Shannon-Leigh’s main problem is the run is just too long, and after a while becomes the norm. Why give money to someone who does the same thing day in, day out and makes it looks like a local park run. ? Again not enough  suffering and continuing to do a demanding day job is just not cool for the donating public.

I have friends who have followed Shannon-Leigh on Strava but eventually gave up as constantly seeing someone smash out an ultra a day demoralises  them.  I’m not sure if Shannon-Leigh is even raising money for charity ?  Imagine if Nedd did this, and every day we were shown images of him breaking down , day by day, the ultimate suffer fest, we’d be selling our kidneys to give more !

World-runner Tim Franklin is poised to become the 8th individual to run around the world and to be inducted into the WRA. Whilst his run records are still under ratification, we are happy to introduce Tim to the WRA family.576 days, 26,245km run: Congratulations to Tim Franklin who might today become the 8th person to conclude a run around the world! Welcome to the WRA whilst we review your full data!  Tim started his run on 3rd December 2022 in Brisbane Australia.  Tim concluded his journey in Brisbane Australia on 30th June 2024, accompanied by thousands of supporters and well wishers. Similar story to Shannon-Leigh, unless you have a marketing team on point with updates that show the mammoth task of running around the world it becomes boring and loses it’s appeal.

This is what the ultra community are up in arms about. The public sees Nedd as a messiah like figure achieving things that no one else can and this is what they need to believe to dig deep for charity. The running community sees the bigger picture.  Nedd can run for long periods of time and suffer but has he got any running pedigree to race against the best in the sport. Probably not truth be told. He will never win  marathons or ultra marathons of any note but again do we really care. What he can do is to connect to the public at large, pull their heart strings and do incredibly good things for his chosen charity.  Charities around the world must be looking at Nedd and asking themselves how they can persuade him to perform for them because that is what Nedd does, he performs and at the moment he is the best in the world at being Nedd Brockman.

What do I think ? I love Nedd, he’s making running , and ultra running in particular, part of mainstream conversations. I can’t imagine the number of people who have put on a pair of trainers after watching Nedd do his thing. This is another bonus of his personality , it just makes you want to do ‘hard shit’, and his 10 day uncomfortable challenge campaign kicks off on October 20th around the country, on the back of his 1000 mile run this will be massive as the next generation of little Nedd Brockman’s start their journey. To the moon baby.

Big shout out to fisiocrem , this product is just incredible for tired and aching legs. I use it daily and have noticed a vast improvement in recovery.

Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ )  The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products)  can be difficult to digest later in the event.  From the website :-

As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority. 

In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance. 

In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born. 

BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work! 

BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!

What can I say about HumanTecar,  ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !

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

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

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

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5:30am is the infamous Yelo 14k progressive, a training session steeped in historic battles over the years and one I have written many posts on. I thought after todays version I’d pull a few posts from the past , still full of useful information and some great photos of days gone by. The first Yelo run was December 2016 and we’re getting some running shirts made up celebrating this, I hope we’re all around for the 10th anniversary run in 2026; not a given with some of our ‘older’ runners, myself included. ! This morning was run seven of the week as I try and get as much fitness as possible for the Feral Pig 100 miler ( https://feralpigultra.com.au/ ) which kicks off two weeks tomorrow.  Have left my training late for this one, maintaining a fitness level rather than peaking, the downside of this approach is mediocre race day performances but you get to race more.  To get a feel for what lays ahead read my post on the Pig from 2022 https://www.runbkrun.com/2021/12/13/feral-pig-100-miler-in-case-you-missed-it/

Right back to this mornings progressive run, I’ve attached a few posts below highlighting the benefits of a progressive run , and there are many.  After nearly 10 years of turning up weekly for my Yelo progressive I still enjoy it albeit maybe the coffee and muffins post run are becoming just as important these days.

As I was let down by my training partner this morning (For the second time in 2 weeks !, for a fitness coach my friend, who shall rename nameless , Mark Lee doesn’t half get a lot of colds.?) I decided to still leave from my favourite cafe, Yelo, so when I returned in an hours time it would be just opening and I could reward myself with a muffin coffee combo before scurrying off to work. Setting off towards City Beach I was enjoying the views of an early morning Perth spring morning, see below. Ok I may have put on a filter to boost the colours (as is the way on social media these days.) but it was pretty inspiring, albeit alone.

While initially dawdling along towards City Beach I did start to feel a little guilty knowing what I was going to reward myself with at the end of the run . (photo attached at the end of this post) To this end I thought I’d better at least run for a full hour and also make 14k. I was also wary of running the marathon less than 2 weeks ago so had to make sure I didn’t get too excited as the second week of recovery is the dangerous time when runners think all is good and step up too early.  I put that last bit in italics for a reason, it needs to be digested and understood. Take it easy for 2 weeks, not just the first week post marathon.

So while I was dawdling along I concluded the best type of run for the occasion would be a progressive. As the names suggest you get progressively quicker each kilometre with the last few being the fastest. This has many benefits as I feel it allows you to warm up first and also you gradually increase the pace rather than shock the legs by hitting the turbo button with little warning. This to me is a lot easier on the legs compared to a threshold or tempo where you can find yourself running quickly on cold legs, a recipe for disaster.  Another good point is you can start as slow as you like, I’d even encourage you to start real slow as it makes the progressive pace increase easier. No point exploding out of the blocks on a progressive run as it makes the whole experience null and void when you start to progress the wrong way half way through your session.

This morning I was perfectly primed for a good progressive and managed to gradually increase the pace each kilometre ,  the pace of course quickened after the turn around as I was heading back to my favourite cafe in the whole world with the best muffin combo on this planet. (And probably the solar system , though this is my opinion and cannot be substantiated.)  I didn’t kill myself as I was wary of my two week rule (post marathon) so finished relatively fresh which allowed me to skip up the stairs to Yelo and claim my reward.

It seems I am not the only advocate of progressive running as Greg McMillan has written a great article also highlighting its benefits. He agrees with my points about being easier on the legs due to the slow start but also gives you 3 options and explains more about the stamina benefits. Personally I have only ran the increase pace each kilometre progressive but must admit to a few fast finishes as I’ve chased the young whip-snapper the T-train at the end of a long run, got to keep these young fella’s honest. The marathon pace finish to a long run is another favourite of mine but I’ll leave that to another post.

 

Greg McMillan wrote a great article on progressive running which is worth a read.

 

START SLOW – FINISH FAST: HOW THREE TYPES OF PROGRESSION RUNS BOOST YOUR FITNESS

Over the last few years, my athletes have benefited greatly from workouts called progression runs. In a progression run, you begin running at a slow, easy pace but finish at a fast pace. Not only will you find progression runs to be fun, but they are a great way to boost your fitness without any lasting fatigue. And, the benefits are the same no matter if you’re a 2:15 or a 4:15 marathoner.

Three Types of Progression Runs

While the idea of the progression run is simple – start slower, finish faster, I recommend that you begin with structured progression runs until you learn how to properly gauge your effort throughout the run. Below are the three structured progression runs that I have used successfully.

1) Thirds

The first type of progression run is called Thirds. As the name implies, you break your run into three equal parts or thirds. For the first third, you run at a relatively slow, comfortable pace. As you progress to the second third of the run, your pace will have gradually increased to your normal steady running pace. Over the last third of the run, you increase your speed so that you’re running a strong, comfortably hard pace. For many competitive runners this effort corresponds to somewhere around marathon race pace to as fast as half-marathon race pace and a heart rate between 80 and 90% of maximum. This strong running significantly improves your Stamina which raises the pace you can run before you begin to rapidly accumulate lactic acid.

For your first thirds progression run, choose a 45-minute easy run. Run the first 15 minutes slowly, the second 15 minutes at your normal pace and finish the last 15 minutes at a strong pace. While I break the run into thirds, your pace doesn’t radically change after each third. Instead, it is a gradual but steady increase across the run. After getting your feet wet with this first thirds run, you can adapt the concept to any duration/distance.

It’s important to note that the pace of the final third is NOT all-out running. An appropriate pace for the last third is approximately Steady State or Tempo pace.* Could you run faster at the end? Of course! But that’s not the goal of this particular progression run. In fact, if you run too hard in the last third, the workout becomes more like a race, which causes too much fatigue for the purposes of a progression run.

It’s likely that on some of your runs, you already do a thirds progression run without even trying. When you are fully recovered from previous workouts, the body seems to just naturally progress to a faster pace as the run goes along. And please note that I suggest you do this on an ‘easy run’ day not a ‘recovery run’ day.** For all but a select few elite athletes, progression runs should not be used on days when you are recovering from a previous workout or race.

Lastly, I find a thirds progression run to be an especially beneficial workout for experienced marathon runners – runners who can handle an additional up-tempo day in addition to their other key workouts and long run. The most important caveat, however, is that you must not push too hard in the last third. Strive for a medium-hard pace (around your Steady State Pace).

2) DUSA

The second type of progression run I call DUSA – after the Discovery USA program where we did a lot of this type of running. To perform a DUSA progression run, run for 75-90% of your total run at a steady, easy pace. Then, as you approach the final 15-25% of the run, you really pick up the pace. For competitive runners this means half-marathon to 10K race pace with a fast finish the last quarter mile. It’s exhilarating! You can then jog or walk for five minutes to cool-down. DUSA’s are not a race but almost feel like one, and you’ll likely find that your heart rate goes to over 90% of maximum by the finish.

For many runners, I assign this DUSA progression run as part of a 50- to 60-minute run where they run easily for 40 to 50 minutes then “progress” to a strong pace for the last five to 15 minutes. With my elite marathoners, I assign DUSA progression runs of up to 90 minutes in length and with up to 15 to 25 minutes fast. But, by simply using the idea of running the last 15-25% of your run at a faster pace, you can adapt this progression run to whatever duration or distance you run.

Compared to the thirds progression run, a DUSA involves a slightly faster pace for a slightly shorter amount of time and provides a little different stimulus to the body.

You’ll be surprised at how fun a DUSA workout is and that it really doesn’t take much out of you. I insert it into an athlete’s program where I want to make sure the athlete gets some quality running but can’t afford a long recovery time after the workout. Again, the idea is that we get a few more minutes of Stamina training integrated into the training week but that none of these fast portions are intense enough or last long enough to cause any lasting fatigue. You should not feel any effects of the DUSA progression run on your next run. If you do, you are probably pushing too hard in the faster portion. You may also want to change where you insert them into your program. Consider including more recovery runs before or after your progression runs.

3) Super Fast Finish

The final type of progression run is one of my personal favorites and was utilized by Paul Tergat in his build-up to the Berlin Marathon where he set the world marathon record of 2:04:55. For this workout, the name says it all. You run a normal steady run but run super fast in the last three to six minutes of the run. When I say super fast, I mean super fast. Pretty much like a 5K race to the finish. Like the DUSA workout above, these runs are exhilarating yet don’t require a long recovery. They are fast enough to really stimulate your Speed and Sprinting ability (muscle recruitment, coordination, mental focus and lactic acid tolerance) but short enough (three to six minutes) that you will feel no lasting effect on your next run. That said, you must be accustomed to fast running before trying to run asuper fast finish progression run otherwise you will likely be sore from the speed.

We did a lot of these when I was in high school. We would run our normal easy run pace but as we approached the last half mile before getting back to campus, we would begin to push very hard. It’s probably even fair to say we raced each other to the finish line. Our thought was that this super fast finish established a habit out of finishing fast so that when it came to a race, no other team would be able to finish as fast as we could. It would just be automatic that we would run hard at the end. As warned in the previous progression runs, we did not do this on our key recovery days. We ran it on a day where we were completely recovered.

How Progression Runs Benefit You

While the above told you the “how’s” of progression runs, I want to also tell you the “why’s” so that you can be smart if you integrate this type of training into your program. I find that progression runs are effective for three primary reasons. First, we know that warming up the muscles by starting out slowly not only decreases your risk of injury but “primes” the physiological pathways that will be used in faster running. If you push too hard before the appropriate energy delivery systems are ready for the effort, then you will stress the anaerobic systems; not what we’re after in our normal, everyday runs. In fact, going anaerobic (or more correctly, building up too much lactic acid) can even inhibit the development of your aerobic system so make sure that if the purpose of your run is to develop your aerobic system, you don’t start the run too fast.

Second (and I think this is most important), progression runs allow you, across your training cycle, to increase the volume of faster, stamina-type training. For example, if you include a couple of 60-minute progression runs that include 10 minutes at a fast pace in your program each week, you will add an additional 20 minutes of stamina training to your program. Across your training cycle, this additional stamina training results in a much fitter athlete.

Third, this increase in the volume of stamina training comes at a very small price. Correctly using progression runs results in very little fatigue compared with normal running. In fact, my experience has been that the athletes who most often suffer from overtraining, injury, undue fatigue and poor racing are those who push too hard, too soon and for too long in their runs, particularly their easy and recovery runs. Progression runs allow you to insert fast running into your training runs (feeding your need for speed) but in a way from which you can easily recover.

How to Integrate Progression Runs into Your Training

As important as it is to understand the why’s and how’s of progression runs, it’s more important to know how to safely and effectively incorporate them into your training. I recommend that near the end of your Lydiard-style base phase you first add one progression run into your weekly schedule with ample recovery time leading up to and after the progression run day. In other words, don’t do a progression run on the day after your long run. Once more accustomed to progression running, then you can begin to include more in your weekly schedule based on your experience level, training frequency and training phase.

One note: just because progression runs are beneficial, this doesn’t mean that “all” of your runs should be progressions. Progression runs are just one component of a well-balanced training program and can be used to temper any tendencies to start runs too fast. They also add some (often much needed) variety to runs, which keeps things fun. The number of progression runs that you can tolerate each week is dependent on your experience level and ability to tolerate training. If you run three to four times per week, you may only run a progression run every other week – the other days being devoted to other types of training. A pro runner who runs ten to 13 times per week, however, may run two to six progression runs per week, mostly DUSA and super fast finish workouts. Like all training, you must start conservatively and see how your body reacts to progression run workouts. With this information, you can find the optimum training routine that works for you.

Final Thoughts

The next time you are in a relaxed training phase, try incorporating progression runs into your program. The workouts not only add variety and make training fun, but significantly boost your fitness without a lengthy recovery. Used as part of a smart, overall approach to training that includes building an endurance base, gaining strength through stamina training, adding speed and working on your finishing sprint, progression runs will give your fitness a boost.

 

This is the last photo of my Yelo muffin this week I promise, but I must warn you it is a beauty. The muffins at Yelo really are special. ( http://www.yelocornerstore.com.au )

Yelo muffin and coffee. Perfect (alone) Thanks. Mark Lee.

This morning I had a 90 minutes easy run planned with a 7am finish at our favourite go to cafe Yelo. ( http://yelocornerstore.com.au ; they still serve the best muffins in the Southern Hemisphere !) There were seven of us who started at 5:30am with Mark L. meeting us at 7am as he was running for an hour and progressively. We were again joined by Mark Lee who you may remember came along on our last 90 minutes easy and fidgeted the whole time. Mark is a ‘speedster’ who loves the sorter distances and finds the running slow and long run alien to his training regime. This is obvious to all as he struggles to maintain the easy pace we all quite happily settle into. This morning it was too much for Mark and after a 5k warm up with us he bounded off to run a Mona Fartlek alone. By the time we got back to Yelo he had ordered his coffee and muffins for the whole family and was on his way back to the family home.  As you can see from the photo below, no Mark Lee. !

 

At the other end of the scale Jon joined us at the start of the run, after already running 10k, and then carried on for a 55k total, again not stopping for the best part of running, the apre-run muffin and coffee. Actually while I type this Jon is probably still running. (..and eating as he was carrying a handful of treats which apparently you’re allowed to do if you run ultras.)

Two different training approaches for two people training for different distances. Jon is training for the ADU ( http://australiadayultra.com ) and has gone down the path of several long runs (50k+) compared to my double up days and no real longer distance runs. Mark is more focused on pace rather than distance as he aims for the 5k and 10k races he excels in.

Me and the posse just do enough to justify the coffee and muffin at Yelo and we actually discussed the calories in (via the coffee and muffin) compared to the calories out gained after the 19k easy run. We all agreed we’d be calorie negative after the 19k run and this certainly made the muffin taste that bit sweeter.

Should you train differently for different distances or can one training method be a good fit for all running distances. ? I believe building distance first , as a foundation, concentrating on time on legs, does benefit all distance running. The change occurs when you fine tune your training for your specific race distance. Myself, being a jack of all trades, I have built a big foundation through years of injury free running. (I hate even typing those words..) This has then allowed me to fine tune to a specific race distance given a few weeks notice. For example if I have a 10k or half marathon coming up I’ll concentrate on more speed work like a mona fartlek or some 5k park runs. These will get me use to the pace I need to maintain during the upcoming race. Also helps the fast twitch muscles fire ( http://running.competitor.com/2014/07/training/the-role-of-muscle-fibers-in-running_82416 A good article on the different muscle fibres) For marathons I concentrate on longer tempo runs at marathon pace getting use to running for longer at the pace I need to maintain for the marathon. I’ll also keep working on the shorter, faster runs as these will still add value, if nothing else if feels good to run fast.

Ultra running is all about time on legs and Jon’s approach is certainly the ‘normal’ way of training. Slow and steady and all about time rather than distance, the most important factor is finishing fresh as you move towards the required distance. Obviously you aren’t going to run a 100k training run for a 100k ultra but you should probably get up in the 50k area , probably ? This is from a runner who doesn’t intend to run past 30k but what can go wrong after 8 hours of running ? (Also there is a parachute clause that you can stop at 50k and claim a 50k ultra medal. Funnily enough my friend Rhys used this to his advantage when he entered the 50k and bailed after 25k. The RD insisted on giving Rhys a 25k race medal so really he’d won that race albeit he started 3 hours before anybody else as they were staggered starts. A technicality according to Rhys.)

So back to Mark Lee and his inability to run slow. Is this causing him a disservice in his training , probably not as he has been at the front of the pack for a number of years and continues to record great running times. Would he benefit from a 3-4 month period of slow, high mileage training; undoubtably. Will he ever be able to achieve this ? Not a chance, far too much time fidgeting , looking at his watch, adjusting his shorts and top, looking at his watch etc etc Some people just don’t get the beauty of slowing down to speed up. Saying that I’ve raced Mark many times of the years and am yet to beat him so maybe I need to fidget more or just run faster ?

After the weekend racing I certainly felt every year of my fifty on this planet. Monday and Tuesday were spent trying very hard to keep up with my training buddies and I was dropped on a few occasions even on our ‘easy to Matilda Bay and back‘ lunchtime 10k. The race itself was brutal and I needed the full 48 hours after a 10k to recover. Things improved Wednesday and come Thursday I was ready for another 14k progressive with the lads with the obligatory  post run muffin and coffee at Yelo. Surprisingly the 14k progressive went better than planned and I managed to pull a PB out of the hat which was a pleasant surprise, albeit I worked for it. Of course with Strava I was able to investigate my previous runs and even print out the history of the run.  In the image below you can see the gradual increase in average pace, bar one (9th February) where we decided to make a big effort to run a perfect progressive and this start slower to give us some leeway at the pointy end of the session. (I actually missed a perfect progressive by a few seconds on one of the last kilometres if I remember correctly? Still to hit a perfect 14k progressive.)

 

These sorts of graphics give you the little push you can sometimes need as you start another week of training. Marathon training is hard work and also hard work on a weekly basis, it doesn’t just end after a few weeks. Every Sunday you struggle to hit the weekly target and then Monday is all starts again and you’re back behind the eight ball.  Add in progressively hard sessions and towards the end of a marathon training session you can feel absolutely finished. Luckily you have a few weeks tapering and then 3 days carbo-loading before the big event. These two activities certainly help at the end of a marathon plan.

So back to indicator sessions and races. I can see from my progressive run finish times over the last few months I am making an improvement. This sort of information helps spur you on as you move towards your ultimate goal. A glimmer of light in the dark tunnel of marathon training. I mentioned in a earlier post marathon training ‘is a slog‘, natural talent plays a part but good old fashioned hard work can make as much of a difference, this allows runners like myself, who are prepared to put in an extra few kilometres, gain an advantage or at least level the playing field.

As I have mentioned many times, and it’s even one of my golden rules, you need to document everything and Strava (http://www.strava.com ) or even Training Peaks , ( https://www.trainingpeaks.com ) these need to be your weapons of choice. As you move along your marathon plan you see improvement in the pace and/or distance of sessions, this gives you the push you need to get to Sunday, add up your kilometres (or look at Strava as the days of adding up left us when Bill Gates invented Excel of course. Thanks Bill.) and then start thinking about Monday morning and starting at zero again. Constantly look for improvements as you work towards the marathon, these will also give you the mental strength you will need in the race, ‘trust in your training’ is one of my favourite running mantras and these small victories help to reinforce this.  Keep looking for these improvements , they do make a difference.

Right, Sunday almost finished, another 10k maybe and then it’s time to reset my weekly totals back to zero and back behind the eight ball I scuttle ready for another week of running, wouldn’t have it any other way really, I mean,  what else is there ?

Well after months of talking it up it actually happened, today I turned 50.

This morning I celebrated as only a runner can with a 14k progressive run with the boys and a Yelo muffin. I mean what more can any man want on his birthday? Good company and quality muffins with coffee and great banter. I really am very lucky to live in Perth surround by some great friends and family doing what I love, normally twice a day.

The question is of course how long can I keep on improving? 2016 was a breakout year with so many PB’s on the back of the extra training I put in. Is this sustainable? I don’t see why not, I’m enjoying the extra training, truth be told, and the results are well worth it. I suppose the real goal this year is the elusive sub 2hr 40mins marathon. I’ve ran 2hrs 41mins 3 times so I’m close, real close. I’ve targeted the Perth Marathon in June this year, which I have ran 12 times so I know the course well. Perfect conditions and it could be on.

There is also the Utah option in October. A marathon built for PB’s as it’s a point to point with a massive 2560 feet elevation difference. (http://www.stgeorgemarathon.com/information.php ) This has been mentioned to my Wife and I received a verbal confirmation that I could ‘maybe’ go. Sometimes it is better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission? Mike, Dan and Jon are all up for it and I’d love to go. Check out the elevation below, how good is that? Of course I would have to tailor my training to account for the beating my legs will take with all that downhill running but Dan ‘ the man with a plan’ Macey will come up with something and we’ll be ready come October.

 

Big shout out to fisiocrem , this product is just incredible for tired and aching legs. I use it daily and have noticed a vast improvement in recovery.

Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ )  The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products)  can be difficult to digest later in the event.  From the website :-

As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority. 

In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance. 

In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born. 

BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work! 

BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!

What can I say about HumanTecar,  ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !

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

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

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

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My first sub 3 marathon was 2009 , the Perth City to Surf marathon, it’s inaugural year.  These were the days of compression tights and Asics Gel-DS trainers , the light shoe of choice. Actually compared to the training shoe of choice, the latest Kayano, a pair of boots would have been considered light.  At the time I was convinced the Skins Compression tights were a big help (the Nike Alphafly’s of the day?) and I wore them for a few marathons and Comrades in South Africa funnily enough, got a few stares there as they weren’t as popular. In their defense I ran a Comrades PB in them and always did well in the marathon with them on. Over time people just stop wearing them but the science behind them was solid, helping the blood circulation by compressing the legs, thus helping to keep fatigue at bay for longer ? They became more popular with injury avoidance over time and useful for long flights to prevent DVT. I have a pair which I put on sometimes if I feel a niggle coming on, more a placebo probably.

My training was sporadic, as the extract from my training spreadsheet , above, shows. Remember these were the days before Strava, my spreadsheet starts post Comrades 2009 and I’ve recorded every run in it since. Runners and numbers , it’s a thing you know. Looking at the extract you can see that although I didn’t run that much I was still knocking out PB’s (PR’s for my American cousins) most races. This is a wonderful time in a runners career, where every time you put a bib on your chest you expect to run faster , over that distance, than you have ever ran before.  My training consisted of three to four midweek runs with my mates at lunchtime at work and then a long run on the weekend.  That about sums it up. All my tempo or threshold runs were races, so I tried to race often. I was forty two years old and had just started running, well competing, although I had ran Comrades in 2008 but didn’t record my runs until week 22,  2009.

Over the next four years I got my marathon time down to 2:41:14 at the City to Surf marathon and then 2:41:44 in 2016 while wearing the number one bib. (You got this by entering for preferred start first , not by merit.)  I ran the City to Surf marathon ten of the eleven times it was on and all bar one was sub 3. My only time slower than three hours was 2010 when my watch died on the start. I was dropped by my group at around 17k into the race and then ran alone until the finish. With no idea of how quick I was running I finished in three hours and three minutes. I know I could have found three minutes. For many marathons after this I ran with two watches.

As you can see from the extract below from my training spreadsheet in 2016 (seven years after my first sub3 marathon) I was running a lot more, by this time double days were the norm and 100 mile weeks were not uncommon.  I was still dropping my PB’s in most races and this was a wonderful period in my running career. I was even starting to win a few races and regularly podiumed at the local running club events.  The numbers in red numbers in brackets where kilometres of the total that were  sub 4minutes, I was running quicker and wanted to record the faster portions, these days I don’t bother.  Unfortunately in 2017 I had my first major injury , a 5cm calf tear that put me out of action for three months.  ( I came back too early and tore it again , rookie error)  2018 was a similar story but this time I was out for three months with plantar fasciitis.  I don’t think I ever ran as quick as I did in 2016, injuries and age conspired against me.  I only ran six more marathons after 2016 instead moving into ultra marathons, running thirty five over the last seven years and counting.

2019 was the last time I ran a sub3 marathon, a 2:55 finish at my 10th City to Surf marathon and 10 years from my first. It was sub three number 32.  In those ten years I have so many great memories and it’s one of the main reasons I bang out these posts on an irregular basis. I’m trying to help other runners get better and experience what I have from basically running , racing and just having fun with your mates, which in essence is what running is. Will I run sub 3 again ? I’m not sure. I ran a 3:04 at Bibra Lake marathon earlier this year and I’ve got the Perth Running Festival in a few weeks so I’ll see if I can go quicker. My training has been sporadic since Bibra and I also threw in a Backyard Ultra to break things up, probably not a good idea.

So to the point of this post. I have to go over my history to give myself some credibility and with that I’m hoping you, the reader, will take my advice onboard , in the end this is why I do what I do , to try and get you to the finish line quicker. Right my marathon tips , in no specific order.

First of all distance is king. Running is the most honest sport there is bar the super shoes of the last few years ? You rally do sow what you reap  , you get out what you put in, you get the general idea. The more you run the better you get. I’m a big Maffetone ( https://philmaffetone.com/method/ ) and Fitzgerald 80/20 fan. ( https://www.8020endurance.com/ ) (80% training slow and steady, 20% tempo/threshold/race)  If you can add double days all the better and before you say it you can always find time for two runs if  you really want to. Back in the day I’d be up at 5am and back before the family work, then cycle to work (on my Elliptigo ( https://www.elliptigo.com/ ) ) before a lunchtime run with the boys and cycle home. Two runs and two cycles and the family were none the wiser.  This allowed me to regularly hit 100 miles a week in training. I was never as fit or as fast as when I could run ten to fourteen times a week and over 100 miles.

My good friend Jon Pendse is a classic example of train easy to race hard. Jon will run at over 5min/k average pace on 90% of his training runs and usually over a hundred miles a week, his only speed work is a park run 5k every Saturday, here he’ll run sub 17 minutes. This approach has worked well for Jon who is running his 100th marathon in a few weeks with an average finishing time of close to three hours. He is still chasing a sub two hours forty minutes finish and has come close , and still comes close, on a number of occasions.  He also races often sometimes as many as right marathons a year as well as a smattering of shorter distances.  Jon is basically running what I use to in 2016 and achieving the same results.

Midweek medium long runs at close to Marathon Pace. I use to run home from work twice a week and this started as a leisurely 16k commute before morphing into a 22k MP tempo session. I’m convinced this was the run that allowed me to drop my PB significantly over a couple of years. I also started to run at MP pace or better more regularly after reading a article on a training plan where you would run at Marathon Pace all the time so when you actually ran the event you would just revert to your training pace. It worked for the runner in question and certainly helped me run faster for longer ?

Do not get injured. Because if you get injured consistency goes out the window and if you want to improve as a runner you need consistency. There’s no point running a 100 mile week in training and then doing nothing for weeks, of course you are allowed the odd ‘down week’ but that’s normally planned and every four to five weeks, this also helps your body recover, which in turn helps to avoid injury.

Race often at all distances. You never run as fast as you do with a bib on your chest and competition at your heels. As you can see from my training extract in 2016 I was racing every other weekend, normally on tired legs but when the gun went off it’s all forgotten and it’s on like ‘donkey kong’.  You need to embrace racing, it’s the icing on the cake , it’s why you do what you do, all those early mornings and time in the pain box is for racing success. Of course you could substitute racing with tempo or threshold sessions but the racing is also part social, and lets face it running is normally a solitary sport.  When you get down to a race you are surrounded by like minded individuals all doing what they love, what is there not to love about racing ?  Also don’t just race the marathon, you’ll get confidence from indicator races. I’m a big believer in your best half time , doubled and add ten minutes gives you a good marathon indicator time.   For a sub3 marathon I’d say you’d need to be running a 1:28 half minimum and more likely a 1:25. (Which would relate to my half time , double and add ten minutes)  Of course this also depends on the runner and some runners can hold 4:15min/k pace all day long but go no slower or quicker., compared to others who go out quick and hang on.  Racing often is good for confidence. I’m won 4k races and placed in 200 milers, I just love the racing part of running and truth be told without it I’m not sure I would continue running.

Cross training, Strength work and rest. This is a case of do what I say not what I do truth be told. I did use to ride my Elliptigo ( https://www.elliptigo.com ) to work back in the day and this definitely helped, if you can get yourself a stand up bike I’d highly recommend it. I’d call this type of exercise cross training. I was also a big fan of circuit classes. Lately though I have not been as active as I should have been with my strength and cross training but I understand I need to make more of an effort in these areas and will, promise ? Rest is also an underrated addition in the marathon runners arsenal, sleep is so important for injury avoidance and body (and mind) rejuvenation.  What other sport can you improve by taking a mid day nap, running is the sport that just keeps on giving ?

Mental strength is as important as physical in the last 10k. The human body can get to 32k in a marathon before it needs outside assistance, be that hydration and nutrition. You’ll see this on Strava in 90% of runners , the splits are metronome like up to 32k and then it all starts to go south very quickly.  Around the 32k mark in a marathon is where you need to tap into the 60% you have left (according to Goggins) At the heart of Goggins’ narrative lies a guiding principle derived from his extraordinary experiences — the 40% rule. This principle posits that when the mind signals fatigue, exhaustion, and the desire to quit, it’s merely scratching the surface, indicating that only 40% of one’s true potential has been tapped into. Personally I have only ‘bonked’ once in my 47 marathons and that was on the first one when I was totally unprepared and had little or no nutrition or hydration on the course. Virtually dead on 32k into the race my legs just stopped and I slowed considerably.  I remember at the time thinking to myself to run faster but the legs were gone. It made the last 10k a challenge to say the least. Ever since then I’ve always finished strong and look forward to the 32k mark as I switch to finish mode with the finish line within striking distance. I’ve changed my mentality to look forward to the last ten kilometres and feel my mind understands the end is in sight and gives me some more juice to get there quicker, thus putting an end to the suffering.

If you need any more tips or tricks on running marathons just type in the terms in the search bar and over the years I’m sure I would have written about it, remember the next best thing after running is writing about running.

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Big shout out to fisiocrem , this product is just incredible for tired and aching legs. I use it daily and have noticed a vast improvement in recovery.

Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ )  The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products)  can be difficult to digest later in the event.  From the website :-

As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority. 

In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance. 

In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born. 

BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work! 

BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!

What can I say about HumanTecar,  ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !

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

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

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

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It was a sad day in the Matthews household today as I passed on my Bionic Runner Gen 1 to the local legend that is Phil Gore. The Bionic is one of three stand-up bikes I own and I’m just not using it , so gifted it to Phil.  The Bionic was an Australian invention ultimately  let down by shoddy Chinese manufacturing which caused the frame to crack on the generation two and Predator models. If you’re interested there is a Facebook page dedicated to the bionic and if you can get hold of one I highly recommend them. ( facebook.com/groups/1507045689572412 )

Post handover Phil and I met another local legend, Simon Bennet, in Bold Park and knocked out a hilly 10k. We had to put a wiggle on as Phil needed to be at a physio appointment later that afternoon and we also needed to fit in a pie at Georges Cafe in City Beach.  Si was meeting us towards the end of a 50km training run for WTF 100 Miler in a few weeks time.

Now the title of this post is running is better with friends but I must add the caveat that it is better with friends of equal fitness, not so much when you’re running with two friends at the peak of their respective training programs while you’ve been pontificating for six weeks and hiding from the inclement weather.  Trust me the chickens well and truly come home to roost when you run a hilly 10km , there is nowhere to hide. Lucky for me Phil only had a short window of opportunity for a run pre-lunch and I was more than happy to pull the pin just short of ten kilometres.  Simon continued on to finish his 50km training run while Phil and I scuttled off to Georges to try on of his famous beef pies, freshly made after I told him I was coming in for lunch earlier in the day.

Although I found the run tough the time did disappear quickly, there was lots of running talk and planning for future events with goal discussions and generally putting the world to right, it’s what three males do when left alone. Of course these discussions are like the fight club, you can never talk about it but in the solitude of Bold Park the three of us kept the conversation flowing. Simon is aiming for a win at the WTF 100 miler in a few weeks and the way he was running I wouldn’t bet against him, albeit he is infamous for navigational challenges.  Si and I ran together for a large chunk of the Delirious West 200 miler earlier in the year and had a great time. ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) We have both entered for 2025 and if I do decide to ‘race it’ , compared to ‘finish it‘ will be spending more time together.  This is a good thing, plenty of conversation makes the time and distance disappear, especially in a 200 miler.  Between the two of us we have plenty of stories from the event this year and I’m sure we’ll add to these in 2025.

Post run Phil and I staggered, well I staggered Phil glided, into Georges for one of his famous beef pies, freshly out of the oven.  So fresh infact he was mixing the ingredients as we entered the cafe. Good news for me as I having a very ‘just cooked, fresh out of the oven’ pie, bad news for Phil as he would have to make do with a sausage roll as he couldn’t wait.  Georges is also running Delirious next year to finally get his double plugger trophy, five years from his first event, albeit he hasn’t really ran for the last four years and hasn’t actually started training yet.  In his spare time he has become quite the painter of note and the painting behind him in the image below is one of his. He does very well funnily enough, although he is French so it’s probably in his blood?  On a side note he paid for his race entry for Delirious by selling the Race Director one of his paintings.

I couldn’t finish the post without an image of the beef pie, it really was special, literally just out of the oven , swimming in tomato sauce. Don’t judge me you can never take out the English in me and we add ketchup to most foods.

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On a side note I found my post in Xterra recently, ( https://www.xterraplanet.com/  ) worth another look I reckon for those who missed it : https://www.xterraplanet.com/story/from-roads-to-rugged-paths-a-trail-runners-journey

I have added a post I wrote on the benefit of friends when I was recovering from a bad dose of Plantar Fasciitis, I hate even typing those words ! Reading the post I think my ‘lunch diet’ was either abstinence or my now infamous sardines in tomato sauce diet. My logic was fish is good for you so eating fish every lunchtime would help me lose weight and also be good for me. I didn’t account for the calories in fish swimming in tomato sauce/paste. I eventually gave up when I started to put on weight. I am not a nutritionist by any stretch of the imagination.

Big shout out to fisiocrem , this product is just incredible for tired and aching legs. I use it daily and have noticed a vast improvement in recovery.

Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ )  The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products)  can be difficult to digest later in the event.  From the website :-

As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority. 

In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance. 

In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born. 

BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work! 

BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!

What can I say about HumanTecar,  ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !

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

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

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

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

On Saturday I ran the 24 Park Runs in 24 hours in Perth for the On My Feet charity, helping homelessness. ( https://www.onmyfeet.org.au/ ) The concept is simple, run a park run, drive to the next one, run that park run and repeat 24 times over the course of the 24 hour period. This gives you around thirty minutes for each park run with a small break for lunch, dinner and an early breakfast. Sounds easy right ? Wrong as Perth decided to present us with the hottest day of the summer so far with temperatures hitting 42c ( over 107F) and staying around the 40c for most of the early afternoon into the evening, chuck in brutal humidity and it became a challenge.

The donation page for the 2023 24 park runs event has now closed so the best way to donate, if you so choose, is to log on to the charities website ( https://www.onmyfeet.org.au/ ) and donate there. They also sell cool socks which would be a nice gift for any runner, donating and giving , a win – win situation.

Right , off we go. I had decided to run this event while training in the Perth hills the day before. It had been on my radar since last year but I had made no effort to prepare for it and in the end just ignored it. It wasn’t until the chat started to build and FMO (Fear of Missing Out) started to kick in that I eventually caved in and put in my charity donation to the On My Feet fund. (link above , just in case you missed it) I was in but had no food and only a few hours to get ready the morning of the event.  I had managed to snag a seat on the best ride in town, that of the famous Gore family van with Gemma and Phil driving, ably supported by Bradley.  All I needed to do was turn up to each park run , cruise around in less than thirty minutes and eat and drink in the van while being chauffeured to the next run, simples. Well as with all best laid plans, and in this case there wasn’t even a plan , things started to go awry when the temperature began to heat up.

Even at Park Run number one, Garvey Park, you could feel the heat and by the end of the first park run you knew you were in for a long day. We started at 8am but as soon as you ventured out into the sunshine you were rewarded with a reminder of what was to come, heat and plenty of it. On the plus side I was about to run 22 park runs I had not ran before so it was an going to be a sight seeing tour of Perth , in a heatwave, with some running in between long stints of eating and drinking while a member of the Gore family, or Bradley, drove.  How bad could that be ?

One of the major surprises of this event was the laughter , in the back of the van there was a lot of it and the six of us just had the best time together. Although we all knew each other spending 24 hours driving around Perth in a heatwave brings you all closer together, literally. Conditions were cramped but I’d managed to snag myself the seat behind Phil with my own door, that doesn’t sound special but trust me it was like being upgraded from cattle class to first class, I was stoked.  We had the right combination of characters and the time in the van was just ace, well it was for the male occupants. Sarah did leave us just before midnight citing space concerns when Gemma joined us but truth be told I think we had worn her down with our ‘special conversations‘ and theories regarding Stephen Hawkins and many other subjects that shall remain between the van crew only.

The thing with this event is if you have a good bunch of runners sharing a ride it becomes even more epic and I had a great crew sharing a ride.. so much laughter albeit it’s best it stays within the members of the van..

As well as running every park run in under 24 minutes. (get it, 24 park runs in 24 hours,  all finished in under 24 minutes..) Phil also drove the first three or so allowing me to ride shotgun. Once he stopped and Bradley took over I was moved back to economy class in the back, albeit I had a window seat with my own personal sliding door, luxury.

Over the twenty four hour period there were only a couple of times I really struggled and doubted I’d finish. The first time was Carine Park run at 3pm. The heat was incredible and close to 42c. We had just finished Whitfords park run and assumed the temperature would drop , unfortunately we had not taken into account the sea breeze which had cooled us the park run before Carine, this breeze was well and truly now gone and all we had were Sahara like conditions.   I had arranged for my Wife and Mum to meet me at Carine and hand over a Brownes Mocha Chill ( basically a protein drink with a kick and full of sugar) . They both witnessed me stumbling about sucking up icy poles like my life depended on it, actually at that moment in time it may have. Karen has seen this many times before and knew to leave me to it and not get involved, probably the best thing to do. They both left and I was escorted back to the van, we had a schedule to keep.

After Carine we ran the Yokine Park Run which was better as there was some shade and I had recovered a tad by the time we were ejected from the air conditioning heaven that was team Gore’s family van. I just had to survive two more park runs before a good break for dinner but better than that if I could survive Maylands, the next one post Yokine, there was a twenty minute drive to Applecross, in that time I could neck the Brownes Mocha chill. This was a risky move as 600ml of milk can go either way on a upset stomach, it really is a kill or cure move. Luckily in this case it was a cure and I ran Applecross better than all previous park runs finishing ahead of Phil, albeit I had started earlier due to worrying about what was going to happen.

Post Applecross we were eleven down with thirteen to go and hopefully better conditions. We had a good break for dinner and managed to find a Pasta Cup outlet which is built for runners doing this kind of event, carbohydrates in a cup and lots of them. I never finished the portion but it gave me the energy I needed for another six or seven hours of running. As I said earlier I had no real nutrition plan , mainly brought on by having no nutrition. I was surviving on Bix products and any sweets available in the van, thanks Tom, Bradley and Aaron.

As you can see from the image below I was a new man after my pasta meal, a similar story after my Mocha Chill, with ultrarunning it’s all about hydration and nutrition, get these right and you’re halfway there.  Unfortunately getting the mix right is difficult and it takes experience to judge the conditions accordingly and tweak your plan. In this case the humidity was a killer and we were taking onboard at least a litre of electrolytes an hour. I would run the park run , head back to the van and just drink as much as I could stomach before the next one. Alternating between electrolyte tablets and powder, all supplied by Bix. ( https://bix-hydration.myshopify.com/products/bix-active ) I made it through the night but for the last few park runs I couldn’t stomachs even water, the end was in sight so I knew I was ok for this one but for longer ultras I use more ‘proper food’ rather than hunting just calories and sugar.

The evening park runs became harder and harder with my average pace slowing accordingly. The meatball hit lasted a few hours but eventually the body starts to crave more calories and I knew I wasn’t providing them. My only saving grace was my bix powder which was full of carbs.  I actually felt better when I was running and the journeys to the runs started to become the problem.  As soon as you stopped you started to sweat and then sitting in an air conditioned van made this even more profuse, luckily my towel protected the upholstery (well it was better than nothing?). While in the van you had to prepare yourself for the next run as time was always against us. You had enough time to update Strava, maybe a quick post on facebook and then drink and eat as much as you could stomach before charging your shozk headphones and iphone. Once you arrived at the next location you had a few minutes to prepare whatever hydration you’d need and then off you went. Changes of clothing or applying sudocrem was a luxury you’d rarely have time to think about, it was that tight on time.  I did make sure I used fisocrem ( https://www.fisiocrem.com/ ) every four hours or so and it helped big time, combined with a couple of nodoze and a few paracetamol, don’t judge me.

Homestead, Champion Lakes, Shipwreck and Calleya came and went and by the time we hit 2am I was ready for a macca’s visit , albeit I don’t eat junk food but was hoping for a bacon and egg sandwich or a hash brown. As it was they hadn’t started the breakfast menu so I was left with a Chicken burger , fries and fanta. This was a mistake and it made the next park run, Bibra Lake at 2:31am, a real test. I started well enough but fell apart in the last few kilometres, I was not in a happy place. It’s amazing how long a 5km can feel , even after running 18 of them previously.

After Bibra Lake there were five more runs to complete but the next two, South Fremantle and Cottesloe, were particularly testing with beach sections. As we lined up at South Fremantle I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to complete the run in time, it was 3:30am, and we were well into the witching hours. ( between 2am and dawn, the most dangerous time for ultra runners !)  As it was when we started to run I found my rhythm early and actually enjoyed the time on the beach. Andy Baldwin got me through this park run together with Sarah and we ran the last few kilometres together , dare I say enjoying the moment.  This was then duplicated for the Cottesloe run and then the sun rose and all was good. In any ultra make it to sunrise and you’re good for another few hours, guaranteed.

Once I spied the sunrise I was never not going to finish. The final three park runs saw other runners join in as we were into early Sunday morning. As the numbers rose so did our energy levels and we could all start to see the finish line a few hours away.  Claremont park run was number 22 so a few of the lads put on their tutu’s and skipped around full of the joys of spring ( or summer in this case)  The morning temperature was a relief from the heat we had endured the previous day albeit we could feel the temperature start to rise by the minute.

Next it was Burswood before the final park run at Claisebrook. To comply with tradition all the nine runners who had completed all 23 park runs had a shot of Fireball Whisky, to warm the stomachs before the final park run, number 24. I’m not a big drinker in fact for 2023 I had two pints of Guinness after running Delirious West 200 miler  in February and maybe a glass of red wine on the plane to Run Britannia in May, that’s it.  That was probably my first spirit since the Tequila shots after finishing the Unreasonable East in 2021 ? I digress, the fireball went down well but must admit to feeling a tad ropey that afternoon although the previous 24 hours may have had something to do with that but I’m blaming the fireball.

So the image below shows the nine of us that finished all 24 park runs and I had to work very hard to get into it. In the end it was an incredible journey with good friends and so much laughter mixed in with some serious ‘pain cave’ time, mentally testing situations and an opportunity to find out more about yourself; what more could you wish for.

If I can ask if you’ve got this far then you show your appreciation by scrolling back to the top of the post and donating to the cause, anything is better than nothing, it all helps. I would really appreciate it.

Finally a massive shout out to Team Gore for letting me hitch a ride in their van , which unfortunately should now be destroyed, six sweaty runners for 24 hours in one van does not end well for anybody. At the end of the event I promised never again but after a few days I can’t wait for 2025. Next year I will insist on an esky full of icy poles, avoid macca’s like the plague and bring my own food. Assuming the temperatures are lower maybe next year it’ll be easier, maybe ? I’ve already asked Phil for my seat on the 24 hour bus and I’m hoping the rest of the 2024 runners do the same, it’s tradition and runner love traditions.

fisiocrem ( https://www.fisiocrem.com.au/ ) is just bloody brilliant and does exactly what it says it does , it just gets the major muscle groups moving again. I use this extensively towards the end of the race when my quads are hammered.  It really makes a difference and allows me to move back through the gears towards the end of an event when most runners are stumbling home.

Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ )  The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products)  can be difficult to digest later in the event.  From the website :-

As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority. 

In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance. 

In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born. 

BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work! 

BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!

What can I say about HumanTecar,  ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !

 

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

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

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

Altra supply the best trail shoes on the planet, in my opinion, and none better than the Olympus five. Do yourself a favour and buy a pair. ( https://www.altrarunning.com.au/ )

https://www.osprey.com/au/en/category/hydration/trail-running/ Osprey Australia have come onboard and are supplying me with two running backpacks and travelling luggage for the Run Britannia adventure. I particularly like their running backpacks and am excited to test them over the event. I’ll be using the Duro 6 and the Duro 1.5 backpacks.

Excited to have Coros onboard who have supplied me with the new Apex 2 Pro GPS watch. I already owned the Apex 2 and was stoked when Coros reached out and offered me an upgrade. Even more battery life, can you believe 75 hours using GPS, wow! The watch itself is awesome, so light and well made. The watch is paired with a incredible application to keep track of all your stats, and runners love stats ! .  ( https://coros.net.au/ )

Feel free to follow me on Strava.

Follow me on

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

Over the Christmas break and into 2024 I have been putting in some serious trail time and double days and hitting some big weekly distances. Infact last week was my biggest weekly total (excluding races) since week 38 2016.  I know this because I have been tracking my running totals using an excel spreadsheet since 2009.

I’m up to 65,662km’s now and  4,409 separate runs; of course with Strava I have a detailed record from about 2013 onwards but still manually log every run in my good old trusty spreadsheet.

Looking at the table you can see my big years were 2011, 2013 and 2016. These were when I raced often and regularly got PB’s (PR’s for the Americans among us) I feel 2013 was my time and I wish I had jumped onboard the TRC coaching program but instead waited until 2016 when I had a ‘second coming’ so to speak by amping up my training volume to 11.

Some context behind the figures above. In 2007 I started to get hooked on running and this culminated in my three Comrades runs in 2008, 2009 and 2010. After that is was on for young and old and I started to compete regularly moving from a middle of the pack runner towards the front. My marathon times dropped virtually every time I ran one, happy days. My Comrades training was what allowed me to ‘kick on’ in 2011 and have a stellar year, PB’s in all events over all distances.

2012 was looking to be similar but my Father passed in February and this together with a calf knot knocked me about and for a time I lost my running mojo. It wasn’t a complete disaster though as I managed to drop my marathon PB at Melbourne to 2 hours 43 minutes, also managed the biggest prize money of my career with a $6,000 cheque for first Australian at the Chevron City to Surf Marathon.

In 2014 I was running the best I have ever ran, adopting a new approach where I tried to keep the average pace of every run under 4min/k. I highlighted these runs in red in my spreadsheet and as you can see from the extract below I was doing a good job. Coming into Bunbury I had ran a course PB at the Darlington half and was ready to defend my crown after winning the previous year. Unfortunately the wheels fell off in the race as I pushed too hard and blew up when really I didn’t need to. I may not have won as a young Michael Ho ran an incredible time but I could have cruised to second and maybe even a PB. In the end I had to settle for fourth but this result affected the rest of the year.

In 2015 I hooked up with Raf Baugh from the Running Centre in Perth and then carried what he taught me through to 2016 where I went all out and started to hit some big weekly totals, with double days becoming the norm. This was my last hurrah, so to speak, at fifty years old I was still running good PB’s but I was putting in some serious kilometres.  The highlight of the year was my 1 hour 15 minute half at Fremantle after a massive month of training, over 100 miles week in, week out. I remember sitting in the car before the event thinking I was about to embarrass myself as I felt so tired. In the end I decided to run with the front runners, ignoring pace,  and see how long I could hang on.  I managed to hang on and led for most of the race before being pipped at the post by two far superior runners.

Things were going well at the start of 2017 but a calf tear put an end to my year after the WAMC Bridges 10k in April albeit I did manage a win at the end of year 4k City Beach race, after three second places.  In 2018 my running year was again cut short by injury, this time the dreaded Planar Fasciitis. This , together with my advancing years, was the end of my PB days in anything less than an ultra, my pace was gone.  Thus in 2020,  and beyond,  I have been concentrating on ultra marathons as I am still able to race at the top end of the field.

So the point of this post is that when I look back at my training spreadsheet I can see a correlation between the distances I run in training and the PB’s . One small caveat , to supercharge the improvement race often, this together with the added distance makes a massive difference to your finishing times.  Racing often makes you comfortable with being uncomfortable.   This is incredibly important, the only person who can get you to the finish line quicker than you have ever got there before is you and there will be time in the ‘pain box’ , that’s just the way it is. You’ll never get use to it but familiarity, in this case, does not breed contempt, it breeds acceptance.

So to sum up this post, if you want to improve run more and if you really want to improve run more and race often, simples.

fisiocrem ( https://www.fisiocrem.com.au/ ) is just bloody brilliant and does exactly what it says it does , it just gets the major muscle groups moving again. I use this extensively towards the end of the race when my quads are hammered.  It really makes a difference and allows me to move back through the gears towards the end of an event when most runners are stumbling home.

Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ )  The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products)  can be difficult to digest later in the event.  From the website :-

As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority. 

In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance. 

In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born. 

BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work! 

BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!

What can I say about HumanTecar,  ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !

 

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

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

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

Altra supply the best trail shoes on the planet, in my opinion, and none better than the Olympus five. Do yourself a favour and buy a pair. ( https://www.altrarunning.com.au/ )

https://www.osprey.com/au/en/category/hydration/trail-running/ Osprey Australia have come onboard and are supplying me with two running backpacks and travelling luggage for the Run Britannia adventure. I particularly like their running backpacks and am excited to test them over the event. I’ll be using the Duro 6 and the Duro 1.5 backpacks.

Excited to have Coros onboard who have supplied me with the new Apex 2 Pro GPS watch. I already owned the Apex 2 and was stoked when Coros reached out and offered me an upgrade. Even more battery life, can you believe 75 hours using GPS, wow! The watch itself is awesome, so light and well made. The watch is paired with a incredible application to keep track of all your stats, and runners love stats ! .  ( https://coros.net.au/ )

Feel free to follow me on Strava.

Follow me on

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

</

Whenever Christmas comes around I’m reminded of the time I doubled up after a full roast dinner on Christmas Day, inspired by Sebastian Coe. This post below always brings a smile to my face and true to my word I have never doubled up on Christmas Day since.

One of my favourite runners growing up in the UK in the early eighties was Sebastian Coe who , together with Steve Ovett and Steve Cram, dominated middle distance running between 1980 and 1984. Coe and Ovett between them won four gold medals at a time when the UK middle distance scene was in disarray with Brendan Foster the only real athlete of note.  My favourite all time Seb Coe quote is below and I have mentioned this before on my blog.

In the winter of 1979, during the lead-up to the Olympic Games in Moscow, I remember training on Christmas Day.

It was a harsh winter (harsh enough to bring down a government) but I ran 12 miles on Christmas morning. It was a hard session and I got home, showered and felt pretty happy with what I had done.

Later that afternoon, sitting back after Christmas lunch, I began to feel uneasy but was not quite sure why. Suddenly it dawned on me. I thought: “I bet [Steve] Ovett’s out there doing his second training session of the day.” I put the kit back on, faced the snow and ice and did a second training session. I ran several miles, including some hill work.

Not long ago, over supper in Melbourne, I told him the story. He laughed. ‘Did you only go out twice that day?’ he asked.

Well Christmas Day was too good an opportunity not to try and repeat what Seb had ran on that cold day in 1979. Admittedly it was a tad warmer in Perth, mid thirties I think, but it was about getting out there after a ‘monster Christmas dinner with all the trimmings’ cooked so beautifully by my lovely Wife. I did give myself a break after wolfing down the meal by watching ‘the Trolls’ on TV with the family before announcing to my Wife I was off for a second run for the day. (I had sneaked in a 10k earlier after the kids had devoured their presents and it was quiet time as they scurried off to their rooms to do whatever young girls do in the privacy of their bedrooms?)

So I off went on another 10k thinking how much fun this was going to be as I had noted on Strava earlier in the day there was quite a bit of activity earlier in the morning but so far no double runners, to good an opportunity to miss. Initially my bravado was rewarded with a 4k pleasant enough run into Star Swamp and I must admit to feeling quite smug with myself. This feeling was not one that was to continue with me on the rest of the run unfortunately when, around 5k, the wheels fell off big time. Actually thinking about it now it wasn’t just the wheels that were ejected I suspect the head gasket, cylinder head and all accompanying items on the engine decided to seize at the same time. This was not good 5k into a 10k loop. I had nowhere to go but forward and to finish it was a 5k run in either direction.

The next 5k was a regressive run at it’s best (or worst?), each kilometre got progressively slower and more painful and luckily I managed to find some comfort in a toilet break at 8k. I say comfort in the broadest sense of the word by the way, more a place to sit down for 5 minutes and try and regain my faculties. I did eventually get home where I stumbled past the onlooking Wife mumbled something about being ‘ill’ , survived a shower and straight to bed. It wasn’t even 8 O’Clock on Christmas Day but my day was over, big time. ! Luckily I had arranged to meet the BK posse for a 90 minutes easy run at 5am the next morning. As you can imagine this gave me great comfort as I lay in bed replaying the whole sorry affair.

In my defence , as a family, we all suffered a small dose of food poising on Christmas Eve eating some fish and chips while watching the sunset. (Funnily enough we all remarked at the time how good the meal was.?) I’m not sure Lord Coe had this issue before his run, and if he did he never mentioned it? Anyhow the moral of this story is two fold. First never ever attempt to run a second run after a full Christmas dinner with all the trimmings (luckily I was too full for sweet and had planned to eat it after my run ! Yeah right ! It’s still in the fridge). Secondly I now realise why  Sebastian Coe has two gold medals and two silver medals at two Olympics and I haven’t and never will. It takes a Olympian , and a bloody good one at that, to run twice on Christmas day.

Next year I’m going stay with the family and go for the Trolls and Dr. Seuss’s ‘How the Gringe Stole Christmas ‘ double header…….

 

fisiocrem ( https://www.fisiocrem.com.au/ ) is just bloody brilliant and does exactly what it says it does , it just gets the major muscle groups moving again. I use this extensively towards the end of the race when my quads are hammered.  It really makes a difference and allows me to move back through the gears towards the end of an event when most runners are stumbling home.

Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ )  The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products)  can be difficult to digest later in the event.  From the website :-

As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority. 

In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance. 

In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born. 

BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work! 

BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!

What can I say about HumanTecar,  ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !

 

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

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

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

Altra supply the best trail shoes on the planet, in my opinion, and none better than the Olympus five. Do yourself a favour and buy a pair. ( https://www.altrarunning.com.au/ )

https://www.osprey.com/au/en/category/hydration/trail-running/ Osprey Australia have come onboard and are supplying me with two running backpacks and travelling luggage for the Run Britannia adventure. I particularly like their running backpacks and am excited to test them over the event. I’ll be using the Duro 6 and the Duro 1.5 backpacks.

Excited to have Coros onboard who have supplied me with the new Apex 2 Pro GPS watch. I already owned the Apex 2 and was stoked when Coros reached out and offered me an upgrade. Even more battery life, can you believe 75 hours using GPS, wow! The watch itself is awesome, so light and well made. The watch is paired with a incredible application to keep track of all your stats, and runners love stats ! .  ( https://coros.net.au/ )

Feel free to follow me on Strava.

Follow me on

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

or facebook  RUNBKRUNOZ

 

 

Post Run Britannia I took my recovery from COVID seriously and basically did nothing bar put on about eight kilo’s in weight.  As you can see from the Strava extract below ( you have Strava right ? http://www.strava.com )  I didn’t run again until early August, giving myself seven weeks off completely.  Could I have ran ? Yep, did I want to run, nope. I wasn’t injured just devastated and mentally broken. Run Britannia was to be the pièce de ré·sist·ance of my running career, a new high from which I would contemplate my  future running goals and even maybe start thinking abut retiring from these ultra races, I did say only think about it.

Anyhow now it had turned into a new low, an event that offered so much and , to me, was a runners dream , had turned into my worst nightmare. As well as not finishing , or even getting close, it had cost me so much financially and also I had sacrificed so much family time to make the run happen.  There were no family holidays of note for the last few years, the entry fee for the race would have paid for two or three foreign holidays for the whole family, with all the trimmings. This played on my mind heavily. The final nail in my running coffin was losing both my dogs weeks after returning. This hit me hard, real hard. The reason I had two dogs was the last time I lost my dog I was so destroyed my logic was by having two I would always have one to grieve with. I never imagined they would both leave me within days of each other. Thus my plan back fired , big time. Even now I suffer with their passing but each day it gets batter, albeit only slightly.  So it took me until early August before I could lace up and start training for the Feral Pig 100 miler in early November, one of my favourite races. (  https://feralpigultra.com.au/ )

So off I went again, slowly at first but week by week I started to see some improvements and my waist line started to recede.  After a month I started to add in double days and some pace ; things were really looking up. My mojo was back and I was excited about running with the Feral Pig well and truly in my sights.  I had also found a new favourite run, a one mile loop in Bold Park which had a nice combination of terrain plus a nasty little hill that always tested me. I would run it six timed for my 10k fix, normally twice a day. Towards the end of my training block I also add a 6k addition where I would add pace, a kick as I called it. Things were coming together nicely.

My third and final Strava image shows the last five weeks since my injury. The two small green spots are my latest two attempts at running. The first I managed about a kilometre on a Yelo run before it became to painful to continue (even taking into account some seriously good pain killers and anti-inflammatories that would fix an elephant) and the second was yesterday when I managed 500 metres on an oval, albeit I was careful and pulled the pin early, a technique I think I will have to embrace over the next few weeks.   The orange spots are cycling activities , cocooned in lycra on my Giant bike as I was finding the Elliptigo  aggravated my injury. The injury that keeps on giving…

My Daughter recounted this to me a few days ago in reference to my ongoing battle with injury. She reckoned I was moving into the depression stage and truth be told she’s probably right.

The 5 stages of grief can be virtually mirrored for injuries when you’re a runner. Well they work for me. The first stage is denial. I would go to the physio, grab a few exercises and still make Feral, hell, I had five weeks. Five weeks later I’m still not running and a MRI has shown nasty hamstring tendon damage, the kind that takes time to heal.

Next comes anger. Boy, I was angry missing Feral, this had been a goal race and my come back after Run Britannia. I was a fool for probably pushing myself too hard, too soon after such a long lay off. Funny enough I even felt a slight hamstring niggle on the morning of the injury but sat down to work from home and ignored it. I had decoded to run again lunch time so I could take my Mum to the Crown Casino for a show in the evening. Fatal mistake, I lasted three laps of my Bold Park route and pulled up lame, knowing instantly I had done some proper damage.

Next come bargaining. For me this was about convincing myself I’d be right in a few days after physiology. Again . no problem, I bargained my injury window down to a week or two max with the upside this would be good ‘rest’ time, something I never do normally, pre Feral.

Once bargaining fails it headlong into depression, which is where I am now. Depressed at what could have been and also depressed that I’m still injured and my 2 days blip has become a five week road block with little sign of abating. Worse still my last 500 metre run was as bad as the first run five weeks ago which started this sad tale.  Oh yeah, I’m depressed. It gets even worse, I’ve had to resort to spending two hours a day on the bike to try and save my cardio fitness. This is depressing but also painful. How these cyclist breed is beyond me.?  The family jewels have taken a right royal beating on the Perth bike paths and I either need to man up or get cycling shorts with more padding. (maybe a cushion! or even better a cushioned seat as the one I got seemed purpose built to inflict as much pain as possible. Maybe this is why cyclists spend so long in cafe’s drinking coffee and eating cake, to rest their ‘how’s your fathers’ ‘ ) 

Finally comes acceptance, with the 6 inch Ultra in December and the ADU 100k in January . I realise that the five weeks of no running (with more time to come.) is too much for me to give a good account of myself at either of these races. The bigger picture is what I am focues on now, Delirious West 200 miler in February, this is non-negotiable, I am running (or walking , or crawling!) this race !

Injury wise I’ve been lucky over the last 10 years. Planta Fasciitis a few times, four calf knots which accounted for maybe 4-6 weeks of no running, less than one week a year. I know that it about as good as you get but as I sit him typing away I’m not overly excited about my previous track record. If you’re a runner you get injured, this is as certain as the sun rising in the morning and setting in the evening. How long and when depends on so many variables but I could kick myself for missing the signs (for missing substitute ‘ignoring’!) and allow the two day injury to morph into this five week (and counting) career threatening hamstring tendon damage from hell. Off course I did sell my soul to the Devil for this good run but was hoping to get longer than 10 years. That’s the problem with dealing with Lucifer, just can’t trust him. Oh well, onwards and upwards, the bike is calling and how much more pain can the family jewels endure? Surely over time the jewels will ‘harden up’ or maybe they just fall off ?

I have also got my treadmill back, the one  that I brought when we entered COVID lockdown early 2020 and then loaned out to Adam for a few years. I don’t think I’ve ever used it in anger truth be told but it should help as it’ll be easier on the legs, I can also add a good gradient if necessary ; without leaving my a garage. Not a fan of treadmills but I’ll get a TV set up in the garage and catch up on all my Netflix movies while exercising, winning.

Finally as prevention is better than cure I’ll be hitting my massage gun, every runner needs one of these , they are ace. I use an Australian made product, the Stryke recovery gun. ( https://www.strykerecovery.com.au/ ) I have had mine for over two years and it still does the job, I just need to use it more. This weapon has saved my life many times on the longer ultras when you have time to really get into the aching muscles. This together with humantecar spray ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) and fisiocrem  ( https://www.fisiocrem.com.au/ ) are must haves for longer events and also injury prevention.

I’ve also purchased a Theragun, mini,  ( https://www.therabody.com/  ) and  Vibit. ( https://vibit.com.au/ ) both excellent 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.

Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ )  The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products)  can be difficult to digest later in the event.  From the website :-

As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority. 

In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance. 

In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born. 

BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work! 

BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!

What can I say about HumanTecar,  ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !

 

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

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

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

Altra supply the best trail shoes on the planet, in my opinion, and none better than the Olympus five. Do yourself a favour and buy a pair. ( https://www.altrarunning.com.au/ )

https://www.osprey.com/au/en/category/hydration/trail-running/ Osprey Australia have come onboard and are supplying me with two running backpacks and travelling luggage for the Run Britannia adventure. I particularly like their running backpacks and am excited to test them over the event. I’ll be using the Duro 6 and the Duro 1.5 backpacks.

Excited to have Coros onboard who have supplied me with the new Apex 2 Pro GPS watch. I already owned the Apex 2 and was stoked when Coros reached out and offered me an upgrade. Even more battery life, can you believe 75 hours using GPS, wow! The watch itself is awesome, so light and well made. The watch is paired with a incredible application to keep track of all your stats, and runners love stats ! .  ( https://coros.net.au/ )

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Last August I signed up for a 1,000 mile (1,634km) race running the length of the Uniked Kingdom. Starting at the most southerly point, Lands End, and finishing 36 days (yep that’s days not hours!)  later at the most Northerly point , John O’Groats. https://www.ratrace.com/run-britannia )

In August it was easy to press that enter button and then forget about it for a few months. In the meantime I had Birdys backyard Ultra, Not time to die backyard ultra, Melbourne marathon, Feral Pig 100 miler, Hysterical carnage backyard ultra, 6 inch trail ultra marathon, Delirious 200 miler, Herdy’s frontyard ultra and finally the 24Lighthorse ultra to attend to. These have all been dispatched and suddenly I’m sitting her with less than three weeks to go with a knot in my stomach and a mix of incredible excitement and numbing anxiety.

The race starts , funnily enough, just outside my old home town so it’ll be weird returning home after so many years. I left Penzance nearly thirty years ago and haven’t been back for many years. My childhood was idyllic growing up in , what I consider to be, the best part of the United Kingdom, but we all consider our childhood town to be special I suppose ?  My brother and his family never left so it’ll be good to see them again for the first time since my father passed away in 2012.  Time disappears so quickly and I am no longer the young man that left Penzance all those years ago but a part of me hasn’t changed and I am worried that that  part will find it very hard to return and then leave again. When I left it was not going to be permanent, a year max to earn some coin for a surf sabbatical, life got in the way and eights years later I’m emigrating to Australia with a new Wife and a young daughter ?

This is another reason the fist few days of this adventure will be more testing as I once again leave my hometown, a place I love and will always love, as well as my childhood friends who have been distant memories for so, so long. Seeing them again is going to be hard as in my mind they are all young men in their prime, I’ll be returning to very different versions and these memories will be with me from then onwards, replacing the younger versions. I will also be leaving the beautiful scenery that is the South West coastline and trust me it is really is incredible. Maybe that knot in my stomach is more about my impending visit back to my hometown rather than the race anxiety ? So many memories, some good , some bad will come flooding back like a tsunami, any I ready for them ? One of the main reasons I don’t return to Cornwall is because I’m worried I’ll never leave , at least this way I know I will of course. As the image below shows ,  St. Ives in all her glory , Cornwall is magical.

As Run Britannia is a stage race there is the benefit of a good nights sleep every evening which will help with recovery for the next days adventure. As part of the race entry you get accommodation, transport and all meals as part of the deal. In theory I can turn up at Land’s End on June 2nd with my running gear and a bag of clothes and not spend a cent for 36 days before being deposited at Inverness in early July. Sounds good in theory but I’m sure I’ll find ways to give my credit card a beating, it’s in my blood according to my Wife.

There will be 29 starters, as of a few weeks ago, for the event which is a surprise as it sold out in a few hours and all forty places were initially taken. I got in after a short time on a wait list, it seems pressing that enter button is easy, you then have to tell your partner, family, work or friends of your impending challenge and maybe they talk you out of it , or life just gets in the way ? Anyhow it will be more intimate  and maybe I won’t have to share my accommodation so much , although it would have been nice to have the full forty for company.  To me I’m going to have 29 more friends , as well as support crew, after the event who will be able to share some great memories together, as well as some not so great ones ? This is the point of the Run Britannia event , memories to last a lifetime, the organisers aren’t even calling it a race and won’t be keeping a track of times (of course I will, c’mon, really?) This is about the experience, making good friends along the way, finding who you really are and finishing , that is all. Albeit I will be posting on Strava every evening and FB , Instagram etc… so everybody can come along for the ride, at a discounted rate of ‘free‘.

We’ve had a few zoom meetings with the organisers who have passed on the lessons learned from a test pilots who ran the route last year. I think three of the eight finished but all the non-finishers were beaten by injuries rather than distance. The daily distances didn’t seem to be a problem but the build up of fatigue which would eventually lead to fractures, strains, pulls, breaks etc.,  which was the issue, funny that? Mental note to self to  spend an hour in the evening, at least,  post run on stretching , massaging and general maintenance before scuttling off to bed. I’ll be taking a massage gun and my vibit ( https://vibit.com.au/products/the-vibit ) , as well as my humantecar spray ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) and fisocrem. ( https://www.fisiocrem.com.au/ ). I’ll be using Bix hydration products over the course of the event , for hydration and recovery .  ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ ) These will make a big difference, especially the recovery tablets in the evening. Luckily I also have a load of Bix power sachets which contain carbohydrates, these are yet to be released to the general public., I’m a guinea pig?

As the images in this post show the scenery is going to be epic and this is what I’m most excited about. From the website :-

RUN MAJOR SECTIONS OF BRITAIN’S MOST FAMOUS LONG-DISTANCE PATHS INCLUDING THE SOUTH WEST COAST PATH, WYE VALLEY WALK, OFFA’S DYKE, CLYDE WALKWAY, THE ENTIRETY OF THE WEST HIGHLAND WAY AND THE GREAT GLEN WAY.

There are some pretty wicked trails right there as well as some awesome b-roads snaking through some of the most beautiful parts of the country. I will be stopping for a few pub lunches, coffee breaks and places of outstanding beauty for sure as time is not important , its all about finishing. There will be cut off times for each stage but they will be generous and the organisers encourage you to soak up the adventure you’re on rather than be a slave to the GPS watch on your left arm. Of course my Coros watch ( https://coros.net.au/ ) will be recording time but I may treat myself and put on the auto-pause option.

Thus event will really test the theory that the mind is stronger than the body as I really believe the mental toughness you need to succeed in an event this big is as important as the physical training you put in before the start. Can you train for a 1,000 mile event ? I don’t think you can really, you just hope you adapt during the event itself and your body learns what’s expected of it and just performs with the mind opening all the possible road blocks along the way, well that’s the theory anyway ?

Over the last few months in Australia we’ve seen some mega-runs by normal athletes. Nedd Brockman for example :

When Brockmann arrived at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Monday – his unmistakable, bleach-blonde mullet pinned down under a baseball cap – it signaled the end of a 2,456-mile (3,953km) running voyage that had started on the opposite side of Australia 47 days prior.

It’s difficult for the 23-year-old to know where to start when recounting the physical toll placed on his body since setting off from Cottesloe Beach in Perth last month – the countless injuries, the endlessly aching joints, the sleep deprivation, the blisters or even the maggots growing in his toes.

That all explains the joy and relief etched across Brockmann’s face when he finally arrived to hordes of people at Bondi – Australia’s iconic surfing beach – and marked the occasion by draining champagne from his sweat-soaked shoe.

“I’d been through hell and back 10 times to get there – through every injury, all the sun, the rain, the road trains, the roadkill, the weather, the headwinds,” Brockmann tells CNN Sport. “Just to get through that and then to finally see that amount of people in Bondi was out of this world. I couldn’t believe it.”

Brockmann, an electrician originally from Forbes, New South Wales, has endeared himself to the Australian public over the course of his transnational run, so much so that many are calling for him to be crowned Australian of the Year in 2023.

As of Friday, he has raised two million Australian dollars ($1.26 million) – almost double his initial target – for homeless charity We Are Mobilise through his run across Australia, covering an average of more than 50 miles a day for 47 days.

Another example  is Erchana Murray-Bartlett who ran nearly 4,000 miles :-

The 32-year-old on Monday finished her 6,300km (3,900 miles) journey – a marathon every day for 150 days.

Ms Murray-Bartlett’s effort sets a new world record for the most consecutive daily marathons by a woman.

Makes my Run Britannia seem like a fun run ?

fisiocrem ( https://www.fisiocrem.com.au/ ) is just bloody brilliant and does exactly what it says it does , it just gets the major muscle groups moving again. I use this extensively towards the end of the race when my quads are hammered.  It really makes a difference and allows me to move back through the gears towards the end of an event when most runners are stumbling home.

Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ )  The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products)  can be difficult to digest later in the event.  From the website :-

As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority. 

In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance. 

In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born. 

BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work! 

BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!

What can I say about HumanTecar,  ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !

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

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

T8 running apparel is the best you can get, second to none. Designed for the ultra humid 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/)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ )  The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products)  can be difficult to digest later in the event.  From the website :-

As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority. 

In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance. 

In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born. 

BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work! 

BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!

What can I say about HumanTecar,  ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !

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

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

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

Follow me on

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