General day to day ramblings

General day to day ramblings

Another race which means the dreaded taper.

07 June bigkevmatthews@gmail.com 0 Comment

 

With the Unreasonable East 200 miler race  (  https://unreasonableeast200miler.com.au/ ) less than two weeks away its time to talk about tapering, every runners nightmare. I have found with age comes wisdom and now I embrace the taper before a race and adjust according to the event. My good friend Dave Kennedy,  6 Inch Trail Ultra race director  ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) doesn’t believe in tapering for ultras and over time I have certainly ran more before a longer event albeit distance over pace, just ticking the legs over I suppose. I wouldn’t launch into tempo or threshold runs the week before an event but am quite happy to run every day at a relaxed pace and noting more than 10k.

Remember the number one rule of tapering, you can only do too much on the week before a race, never too little. So if you do nothing for the week you will not lose fitness. The only caveat is you probably need to adjust your diet and drop the calories at the start of the week before launching into a carboloading frenzy three days before the event.   Another caveat, for ultras,  the carboloading phase is probably not as necessary as there will most likely be a  smorgasbord of tukka during the event, also weight isn’t as big an issue as say for a marathon runner. Ultra running really is the sport that keeps on giving.

 

From an old post of mine :- 

For the 6 inch ultra marathon in December last year I experimented by not tapering nearly as much as I would for a marathon. On the week of the event I actually ran twice a day Monday through Thursday and only had 48 hours rest before the race. Admittedly all runs on race week were slow and easy but I still managed over 80km’s pre-race. On the day I felt great and ran a good race for a 7th place finish but more importantly I was 4th quickest over the second half of the race. I actually ran my first negative split for an ultra. The week before the ultra I had ran 140k so there really wasn’t a taper period to talk off. ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com )

Could this work for a marathon ? I don’t think so. The ultra is normally ran at a more subdued pace and although longer I feel not as testing as ‘racing’ a marathon. (Well ultras less than 100k, when you get above 100k I’m sure it becomes a tad more testing that a marathon. Once I run further than 100k I’ll confirm?) In an ultra the race pace normally decreases brings your overall cardio fitness in to play more than resting the legs a few weeks before. If you haven’t got the fitness a two week taper will not help, you’ll still be underdone. With a marathon, as the distance is less, you normally have the fitness required to finish the event, the tapering helps more by letting tired muscles recovery.

Also I feel running a good ultra is more dependent on the nutrition and hydration plan, get this right will benefit you so much more than a taper period. Again get this plan wrong and the taper will not save you. In an ultra any mistakes will be paid for, that is a certainty. In an ultra there is no where to hide.

 

Researching tapering and ultras on the web and there are stories advocating no tapering and setting PB’s while others advocate a 3 week steep taper and lean more towards relaxing rather than stressing about the event. All have their pro’s and con’s and as with all things running there’s no one shoe fits all. It really depends on the runner and also their experience and fitness. The more experienced runner with a good foundation of distance training under their belt will be more likely to be able to go into an event without tapering. They will not need the confidence boost that comes from a good taper as much as someone with less experience. Remember a good taper will also aid confidence and going into any race this is  important, anything that helps put you in a positive mindset is welcome and needs to be embraced,

Of course if you have any niggling injuries an enforced taper may be called for. When this happens there is nothing you can do about it, just sit back and smell the roses concentrating on things you can influence like carboloading. Now carboloading, that is a whole new post and one I shall tackle next. Until then enjoy this article below by Ian Torrence which highlights ‘peaking’ rather than tapering as a benefit,  pre-ultra. Ian is part of the Greg McMillan stable of writers so has a wealth of knowledge and experience to call upon.  (Please note I do not advocate the Joe Kulak method of peaking described below but as you can see in the photo below my friend Jon is convinced it works… ?)

 

Jon practicing the Joe Kulak method of peaking !

 

The final weeks before an event are the toughest to get right. The common notion that all hard work must cease and inactivity must ensue is incorrect. It’s also foolhardy to continue amassing mileage and tough workouts as race day nears in hopes of improving fitness. Depending on your approach to this all-important time period, you may be left feeling lethargic or simply exhausted. A runner with the proper peak will feel rejuvenated and ready to go on race day.

Greg McMillan, my mentor, has devised a set of rules to live by as race day approaches. Greg explains, “By studying peak performance research – both physiological as well as psychological – as opposed to just the tapering research, I’ve been able to dial in how to truly peak on race day. It works for all athletes no matter where you find yourself in the pack come race day.” By placing Greg’s simple and effective system into context, let’s get you prepared for your next ultra.

1. Do not drop running volume drastically

Though there are some that prefer three weeks to peak, two weeks seems to be the most popular choice. During the first week of a peak, drop the length of each run by 10 to 20 minutes. The week before your event, drop volume by 20 to 30 minutes per run. I recommend that ultrarunners limit their last long run(s), done a week before the key event, to 90 easy minutes (regardless of the distance of the event). This is enough to give you that long run feeling, but short enough that muscle recovery and glycogen-storage continue. Light, non-impact cross training can be done in lieu of runs, but only if you are used to those forms of exercise.

2. Keep the routine

Run, eat, sleep, work, and socialize when you do normally. Your body and mind have achieved stasis over the past few months of training. Keep them both happy and the keel even. Now is not the time to experiment with new workouts, forms of exercise, foods, and social events. Use the extra time not spent running for sleeping and sticking to “safe” hobbies.

3. Keep the intensity and build confidence

Before the 2007 JFK 50 Mile, I had an exchange with fellow competitor Andy Mason. Nine days before the race, he completed a round of very quick mile repeats on the track; his last quality workout before the race. I knew he was fit and feeling confident. That year, Andy finished in the top ten.

Though most ultrarunners do not need to perform a tough round of mile repeats before their next race, they might consider doing some sort of confidence-building workout 10 days to two weeks out from their event. This workout, however, should be in tune with recent training. Running a 30-mile training run or time trialing up and down Hope Pass (like the author) a few days before a race is neither smart nor beneficial. A moderate length workout that you’re familiar with, that is aerobically challenging, allows for adequate recovery before race day, and demonstrates your fitness should be the order of the day. If you don’t routinely perform hard hill, stamina-building, fartlek, or fast finish workouts then this is not the time to start. Maintain your current training and follow the guidelines for reduction in mileage as mentioned above.

Now is also the time to reflect on all of the training you’ve done thus far. Remember that you’ve done the work necessary to get you to the finish line.

4. Stick to the original race plan and have fun

No one starts a race without a goal. Whether it be to keep your Grand Slam hopes alive, finish your first ultra, or win the event outright, don’t lose sight of why you’re out there. Be deliberate in your actions and calculate each move you make on the race course. Run your own race and enjoy the time you’re having on the trail or road. Greg McMillan sums this up perfectly, “Let’s face it. Most of us aren’t going for an Olympic gold medal here. We are simply enjoying the challenge of doing our best. There is no real pressure, so quit putting so much on yourself. We run for fun, and you should remember that. Have fun!”

PEAKING FOR MULTIPLE RACES

What if you’re gearing up for several important races that are separated by a few weeks or less? The Grand Slam of Ultrarunning, as well as others of that genre, and several race series like the NorCal and SoCal Ultra Grand Prix are perfect examples. In essence, you are recovering and peaking in unison between events. There are two ways to approach situations like this:

1. Reverse taper

This is like returning from injury. Gradually and slowly increase the length of your post-race easy runs and avoid fast and difficult workouts. You won’t reach your normal training level, but you’ll satisfy the need for a few runs before your next event.

2. The Joe Kulak Method

When I asked Joe Kulak what he did between each of his four 2003 Grand Slam record- setting 100-mile races, he quipped, “I sat on the couch and drank beer.” If beer is not your drink of choice, water works just as well. The reality is that you can’t gain fitness in the two or three weeks between long ultras. Recovery will be your best “workout” while preparing for your next event.

 

Another post of mine from the dim and distant past on tapering, I seem to write a lot about tapering funnily enough?

My legs still feel fatigued but they felt the same pre-Fremantle half two weeks ago and still managed a good PB so it’ll be another ‘trust in your training’ sprint from the start line and hopefully I’ll be able to maintain whatever pace I settle into until the end. Rottnest though is a different animal compared to Fremantle. Three nasty hills on a two lap course means six nasty hills, add in heat and possibly wind and the pressure of a PB is non-existence. This weekend is about a top 5 place (depending on who turns up of course?) and pushing myself into the ‘pain box’ for the last time on a race of distance pre-Masters Marathon November 6th. ( http://www.perth2016.com )

It will be the first time I’ve ran a half at Rottnest, actually the first time anyone has as it’s the inaugural event. I’ve ran the marathon ten times so it will be weird running at half pace on a course I have only ever ran at marathon pace. Judging the hills for pace will be a challenge but truth be told it’ll just be the normal ‘suicide pace’ until either something blows or the finish line.

Predicted time will be hard because so much will depend on the conditions on the day. You are exposed on sections of the course so a head wind would be a challenge. Heat wise we are expecting  25-28 degrees which will be the first time I have raced in anything above 20 for the year probably. Coming from the UK originally I’m not a fan of racing in the heat and this will certainly affect my time.  (I do enjoy horizontal rain and extreme cold funnily enough, we call that summer in Cornwall!)

On the bright side I have a week to recover on the Island so will be treating it as a training camp with some speed work pre-Masters 5k the following Saturday. This will also be the first week of my marathon tapering so will do my best to only run once a day. This will be a challenge as I am now totally accustomed to double-up days, need to look at the bigger picture though. A good taper is so important as the legs and mind need to be fresh for the marathon. I have attached an article from Running Competitor which gives you some tips to taper like a pro. Hey, if we can’t run like a pro we can at least taper like one…

 

The Art Of Tapering Like A Pro  By Duncan Larki

Mastering the final few weeks of training is trickier than it seems.  Marathon training is hard—the long runs, hill repeats and the arduous track sessions take a tremendous toll on both the body and mind. When many marathoners review their training schedule they get giddy at the sight of the taper, which typically starts two to three weeks out from race day. The reduction in volume and intensity is a welcome one. But what many runners don’t realize, however, is that the taper can be just as (or even more) difficult as the rest of the training cycle.

Why is this? How does a taper help a marathoner in the first place and why do you need them?

First, the benefits: According to 2006 U.S. mountain running champion Nicole Hunt, who now coaches at Speedendurance.net, tapers “bolster muscle power, increase muscle glycogen, muscle repair, freshen the mind, fine-tune the neural network so that it’s working the most efficiently, and most importantly, eliminate the risk of overtraining where it could slow the athlete down the most.” Additionally, Hunt notes that a well-designed taper will increase a runner’s performance. “Studies have indicated that a taper can help runners improve [performance] by 6 to 20%,” she contends.

So what exactly is a “well-designed” taper?

The key is to find the optimal balance between three key training elements: duration, weekly mileage, and key workouts. A taper that doesn’t incorporate enough rest can leave a runner feeling burned out going into the race, while a taper overabundant with rest can be mentally taxing and result in a deterioration of fitness

How long you taper for usually depends on the distance of the race you’re targeting and what kind of mileage you’ve been logging from week to week in training. A typical taper for a marathon is two to three weeks, but some runners like American-record holder Deena Kastor only taper for 10 days beforehand.

Conversely, Hunt usually prescribes a three-week taper for her athletes. If you haven’t felt “fresh” at the starting line for recent races, look at the duration of your taper. Consider adding an extra week (or even a few days) of reduced volume and intensity to your schedule. On the other hand, if you’ve been prone to longer tapers and feel like you’re heading into your races too rested, shorten them up a bit.

Weekly Mileage

Regardless of their duration, a taper requires backing off your weekly mileage in order to rest the legs for race day. Mammoth Track Club coach Terrence Mahon, who guides elite marathoners Kastor, Josh Cox amongst others, has his top runners running 120-130 miles per week during their peak training periods. Surprisingly, however, he doesn’t cut down their overall volume too much during their taper, reducing it down for most to a relatively still high 90 miles in the final week before a key race. “We have found in the past that dropping mileage too much leads to a de-training effect,” Mahon says. “We don’t lower things universally in our tapers.” Mahon believes marathoners need to keep doing long runs throughout their tapering phase. “The farther you get away from big [mileage] numbers, the more confidence you lose,” he says. Mahon maintains that the best way to keep his runners close to the “big numbers” is to give them a longer single session, approximately 17 miles, during their taper period, and then follow up the next day with a short 6 easy miles. “It keeps their head close to the race distance,” he says.

Hunt is more systematic with how she handles weekly mileage during the taper phase. In general, Hunt assigns “about a 10% reduction in mileage the third week out, a 15% reduction the second week out and the week of the marathon about a 50%+ reduction.”

Key Workouts

Workouts, along with running mileage, are stressors on the body. As such, a sound tapering regimen reduces both the frequency of the workouts, along with their duration, in order to maximize rest and recovery leading up to the race day. During the taper phase Mahon has his runners completing the same type of workouts they’ve been doing all along in training–mile repeats for example–but gives them more time for recovery. He calls this element the “density” of training. “We try to put some extra space in our workouts during the taper,” he says. Specifically, Mahon may give runners more time to recover between repetitions in a workout, or he may give them fewer workouts to complete during the week.

As opposed to increasing recovery time both during and between workouts, Hunt has her athletes completing shorter, faster speed sessions during the taper. “For the final two weeks I gradually cut the mileage but maintain speed with strides and short intervals,” she says. “The focus is on recovery and goal pace for muscle memory and short bursts of speed.” Some examples of Hunt’s taper surges are 20 x 15 seconds or 10 x 30-45 seconds mostly at 3K to 5K effort.

Experiment, Learn & Trust

Taking these two differing philosophies into account, look at your next taper as an opportunity to vary it in some way. Aim for the right balance in your routine: adjust your mileage and fine-tune your workouts by either giving yourself more time to rest or maybe even picking up the pace. Find what works best for you.

At the end of the day, the most important thing is to trust in your training. As Tyler McCandless, U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier, says: “the best advice on tapering is to believe in the process.”

Extreme tapering ?

Right one more post on tapering should just about cover it I reckon…

A day off running pre-race tomorrow, unlikely.

As I’m racing tomorrow there was no early morning run this morning. I am now wondering around lost. I have persuaded my Wife to get up early so we can drive to Yelo for a coffee and muffin breakfast (carbo loading for a 10k?) and after that I will return to my ‘lost’ state.

I’m a runner who loves to run and hates not running. Even now i’m making excuses for reasons why running today would be a good idea, not twice as that would be silly wouldn’t it? So my reasoning behind a run would be to loosen the legs (they aren’t tight), it’s not really a target race tomorrow (that is actually true, tomorrow is really a good hit-out pre-half next weekend)  or get rid of some pre-race nerves (I ain’t nervous) . No luck there, let’s face it the reason I want to run is I love running, plain and simple.

Tapering for my next marathon will be a challenge. The last one I ran 100k the week before and called that tapering as I was averaging 130k a week. I’m normally ok on marathon week as even I understand the need to rest. I normally only run twice in the week before a marathon and actually enjoy the calm before the storm, but for a 10k tomorrow, hell I should be running now not typing.

So will probably sneak out for a ‘relaxing’ 10k sometime today, c’mon you’d be mad not too wouldn’t you…..

A quick article on tapering below by Pete Pfitzinger, M.S. suggests a 7-10 day taper for a 10k, I’m thinking 7-10 hours.

Most performance oriented runners will do pretty much what they’re told in training. Run 8 x 800 meters at the track? Sure. Do a 40-minute tempo run? No problem. It’s when we’re instructed to scale back, run less and conserve our energies, that we balk.

Training provides long-term fitness improvements but produces short-term fatigue. Leading up to an important race, the challenge is to find the optimal balance between maintaining the best possible racing fitness and resting to reduce the fatigue of training. This is referred to as a well-planned taper.

To achieve your best when it counts, you can only afford to do a full taper before a few key races each year. If you race often and were to taper thoroughly for each race, you would have little time left for hard training. So you learn to “train through” some races. But for the big ones, you will want to go all out to achieve your best.

A recent paper published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine reviewed more than 50 scientific studies on tapering to find out whether tapering betters performance, and how to go about it. The review showed that there is no question tapering works. Most studies found an improvement of about 3% when athletes reduced their training before competition. This translates to more than five minutes for a three-hour marathoner or more than a minute for those racing 10K in 40 minutes.

How Long Should You Taper?

Several of the studies concluded that the optimal length of taper is from seven days to three weeks, depending on the distance of the race and how hard you’ve trained. Too short a taper will leave you tired on race day, while tapering for too long will lead to a loss of fitness. How do you find the right balance? Consider than any one workout can give you far less than a 1% improvement in fitness, but a well-designed taper can provide a much larger improvement in race performance. Therefore, it is probably wiser to err on the side of tapering too much than not enough. The optimal number of days to taper for the most popular race distances are as follows: marathon, 19 to 22 days; 15K to 30K, 11 to 14 days; 5K to 10K, 7 to 10 days.

 

Of course the one benefit of tapering is you know carboloading is close…

 

One final word on tapering, it’s not all bad because towards the end of tapering comes my favourite part of running, carboloading. It’s time to pig out on bacon, excuse the pun , and pancakes swimming in maple syrup but I’ll save that for another post.

 

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General day to day ramblings,Running

The staple diet of improvement, the long run.

02 June bigkevmatthews@gmail.com 0 Comment

I was looking at my running spreadsheet yesterday and realised that in the last year, bar racing events, I had ran over 25km about four times. This year, so far,  I have ran over 25km only once in training and that was a Herdy’s practice in early March. As the extract from my running spreadsheet shows I have also added in the odd rest day which is new to my training as it use to be run every day.
Blue cells indicate races.

In my defence if you see a 22km it probably indicates a trail run which would be a 2-3 hour run which is a time on feet long run , just not the associated distance.  If you add those in I’m probably looking at around 13 long runs for the year, which is still less then the 21 I would expect (One a week) Add in the four weeks I raced , as they were all very long, and that figure becomes 17 and if you factor in some tapering all of a sudden I’m close to my one long run a week average.

What has set me up for success in the back end of 2021 and the beginning of this year was certainly a three month period at the beginning of 2021 preparing for Delirious West , which was unfortunately cancelled.

Hard training pre-Delirious.

As you can see big weekly totals and also a fair few double days. On the back of this training I ran a 47 lap Herdy’s backyard Ultra, which at the time was an Australian record (albeit as an assist)  I then managed to keep up this training intensity for the rest of the year and eventually finish nine ultras.  At the start of 2021 there was more longer runs , which were also on the trails so a double whammy. A long trail run takes longer and works more muscles as you are continually stepping depending on the terrain, add in some elevation and it becomes a real test of endurance. As with all things to improve you need to push yourself, recover and then go again but next time further or faster. This is why it is always good to have indicator training runs where each week you can see an improvement, either a quicker average pace or you go further.

A Mona Fartlek is perfect for this as the run itself is always 20 minutes but the distance should increase as you gain fitness and stamina. I wrote a great post on the Mona, if I say so myself….worth a read.

Mona Fartlek, one of my favourite sessions for some serious ‘pain box’ time.

Fartlek is  a Swedish term to describe ‘speed play’, training method that blends continuous training with interval training. Fartlek runs are a very simple form of a long distance run. Fartlek training “is simply defined as periods of fast running intermixed with periods of slower running.”

Today was my Mona Fartlek day, a 20 minute workout that I adore. Though lesson to self, eating banana bread 2 hours before is not such a good idea ! I can normally get to around 5.6k for the session. Steve Monaghetti stills hits over 6km I hear and in his prime was nearer 8km. !! He is a running legend though.. enjoy the article on a true sporting great below.

I was lucky enough to meet Steve at a photo shoot for the Perth City to Surf in 2014 and again this year as he was Ambassador for the Perth marathon. Both times I was taken aback by his down to earth attitude and his willingness to embrace all our questions and comments.

This session is good as it is fairly short but you know it’s doing you good. Golden rule no2 , add pace after the distance phase. This bad boy workout is all about pace.

Me and a legend.
I met Steve Moneghetti , a running god,  at a photo shoot before the City to Surf. 

 

Steve Moneghetti is set to leave a lasting legacy that goes beyond his set of marathon medals. As a young man from Ballarat he and coach Chris Wardlaw devised a session that fitted in with his usual stomping ground of Lake Wendouree helped him become a four-time Olympian.

 

The Session: Mona Fartlek: (2x90sec, 4x60sec, 4x30sec, 4x15sec with a slower tempo recovery of the same time between each repetition. The session takes 20mins in total.

Distance Mona covered: The session was most often used on Tuesday night at Ballarat’s Lake Wendouree. The first time Mona did it as a 20-year-old he did not complete the Lap of the Lake (6km) in the 20minutes but in his prime he completed the Lake in 17.19 and then continued on to finish his 20min session. He still does it most Tuesdays and even at 52, covers 6km.

History

Mona devised the session with his coach Chris Wardlaw over the phone back in 1983 when he was just 20. He wanted a solid fartlek session, one that would help improve his speed as well as endurance and stimulate an ability to change pace mid-run, something that helped later on his career when tackling the Africans, who had a habit of surging mid-race.

The session became a Tuesday-night ritual for Mona and while it was set up for Lake Wendouree, he’d use it whether training at altitude at Falls Creek or overseas preparing for a championship marathon.

It is still widely used today with Ben Moreau and a host of Sydney athletes doing the session. A recent feature in the UK has led to a number of British runners adopting the session along with a number of runners in the US, although some are calling it the “Mono” session.

A good idea is to set your watch to beep every 30 seconds, so that you don’t have to look down at it all the time.

 

Mona says

“I was always a stickler for routine and I feel that this session, coupled with my usual Thursday night session of 8x400m with 200m float set me up and gave me continuity with my training.

The 15-second reps came at the end and really forced me to concentrate on accelerating hard when I was fatigued. One night when I was in top shape I covered nearly 7km with Troopy (Lee Troop).”

Tip for other distance runners

For many runners, the session will be too demanding initially and you will need to build into it.

Mona recommends just walking or jogging the recovery as you adjust to it.

Middle distance runners may wish to reduce the length of the session, halving everything (ie: 1x90sec, 2x60sec, 2x30sec, 2x15sec) to make it a 10minute session.

The long run is integral to running improvement but it needs to be slow and steady Sarah Russel, from Runners Connect, wrote this great article explaining the long run and more importantly how so many runners just get it wrong,

Are You Sabotaging Your Long Run by Running the Wrong Pace?

The underlying principle of any training program, regardless of your goal or ability, should be the development of a solid aerobic base.
It’s the fundamental structure followed by almost every elite runner, in particular that of Kenyan athletes who spend around 85% of their time running at an ‘easy’ or ‘recovery’ pace.
Mo Farah reportedly runs around 120 miles per week, of which 80% at an easy pace. No doubt he and Galen Rupp are having a good old chat as they run up and down the hills in Boulder. Not the picture of hard elite training that you might imagine? Well, we can all learn from their approach.
Yet this is what most recreational runners get wrong. Running ‘easy’ doesn’t feel right (or hard enough), so they intuitively run at a ‘moderate’ pace, kidding themselves they’re running easy. Struggling to hold a conversation, a heavy sweat, and red face post run is a giveaway that you did not run ‘easy’!

Running at an easy pace – and by that I mean well into the aerobic zone around 70% of your maximum heart rate – is actually quite hard to do.

You have to slow down A LOT and it feels like you’re going nowhere. But it’s important to stick with it.
In time (usually just a few weeks), your body will adapt, your pace will quicken (for the same effort level) and you’ll have developed a super efficient fat burning engine. So, stick with me here…this is the bedrock of your future training.
The long run can be a daunting part of training for a longer race, but if you follow the elite approach to easy running, you will be race ready in no time.

Why running easy works

When I work with my beginner runners, we just focus on gradually increasing the length of time they can run for, and build up consistency of training – it’s simple and it works.
This is not the time to think about speed and pace, it is best to just get used to comfortable running where your body can adapt, stay healthy, and develop an efficient running rhythm.
Too many training plans out there have you doing speed intervals, tempo runs, and hills when you are just not ready. Of course it’s important to include a little of this ‘high end’ work, but a solid aerobic base is the fundamental foundation on which you’ll build everything else.
Regular aerobic training will train your body to utilize oxygen, preserve glycogen stores by using fat for fuel, and generally become more efficient.
However, I estimate that at least 75% of runners – of all abilities – run too fast too often, and end up in the ‘mid zone’; training neither the aerobic or anaerobic systems correctly.
Many coaches, myself included, recommend an overall balance of hard/easy training (whilst avoiding the moderate zone), a method now becoming known as ‘polarized training’. The avoidance of ‘moderate’ training is the key, and runners focus on ‘easy’ paced running for the majority of time, with a sprinkling of really hard work (where you really can’t chat!) mixed in for approx 20% of the weekly mileage.
Not only do you train a more efficient fat burning body, but the benefits mean you recover faster, and can therefore put in some harder efforts, rather than being chronically fatigued from ‘mid zone’ running’

Recent research from Dr Stephen Seiler et al from the University of Agdar, Norway, backs up this methodology; finding that high volume, low intensity training stimulates greater training effects for recreational runners, in particular when using the 80/20 split of easy/hard training.
A conclusion backed up by the 2014 Salzburg study published in the Frontiers of Physiology, found that the concept of ‘polarized’ training demonstrated the greatest improvements.
After a 9 week training period, runners using the 80/20 easy/hard split had improved their ‘time to exhaustion’ by a whopping 17.4% and change in peak speed by 5.1%.

This group had completed 68% of their training in the low intensity zone, and 24% at high intensity, with only 6% in the ‘moderate’ zone.
So what does that mean for you? How do you put this into practice?
In a world of high intensity training fads, advice to slow down might seem counterintuitive, but it works The key to running further, and ultimately faster is to slow down, especially for your long runs. Easy to say, but harder to do. If you take only one thing away from this article, it’s this – faster is NOT always better.
When you first start out running, you’re likely to have one pace. As you get more experienced and your fitness improves, you will need to develop a wider range of paces. Your long run or easy pace may be 90 seconds – three minutes slower than your ‘top end’ pace.
US Marathon Champion Esther Erb likes to make sure she takes her easy running seriously, “I see hard recovery runs as an indicator of insecurity. When it comes to recovery, it takes more confidence to run slowly than it does to run fast”. Erb runs the majority of her easy runs between 8:00 and 9:00 per mile! Although that pace may seem fast, keep in mind that her race pace is around 5:45 per mile!
This is the key to building up your long run. Simply slow down – to a walk if you need to – spend more time on your feet and just extend the time/distance bit by bit.

How slow?
Using heart rate as a guide
But how slow is slow? If you want to be scientific about it, you can work out your heart rate training zones and try to keep your pulse at around 70% of your max. If you want to go down this route then use the following calculations:
1. Calculate your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR):
Women: 209 – (0.9 x age) = MHR
Men: 214 – (0.8 x age) = MHR
2. Calculate your Working Heart Rate (WHR) by subtracting your resting pulse (RHR)- measure as soon as you wake up in the morning (while still in bed) from your MRH.
MHR – RHR = WHR
3. Calculate 70% of WHR (0.7 x WHR) and add to your RHR. That should give you your 70% zone HR. This is where the bulk of your running, including your long run, should be. For the vast majority of people it will be around 130-140bpm.
You can also use our training zones calculator to assist you with this.
To work out your ‘top end’ zone, do the same but calculate 85%.
Using pace as your guide
If you don’t like heart rate (we don’t 🙂, then you can use pace as your guide.
Your optimal long run pace is between 55 and 75 percent of your 5k pace, with the average pace being about 65 percent.
From research, we also know that running faster than 75% of your 5k pace on your long run doesn’t provide a lot of additional physiological benefit. Therefore, pushing the pace beyond 75% of 5k pace only serves to make you more tired and hamper recovery.
In fact, the research indicates that it would be just as advantageous to run slower as it would be to run faster. 50-55 percent of 5k pace is pretty easy, but the research clearly demonstrates that it still provides near optimal physiological benefits.

Additional Notes about Easy Long Runs
If you do not use a heart rate monitor, run at a comfortable pace where you can chat easily, without gasping for breath. If you can hear yourself breathing, you’re going too fast. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being super hard) you’ll be around a 5. It should feel really comfortable and the sort of pace you keep going at that pace for hours.
Forget about measuring your ‘pace’ and distance on your GPS watch at this stage. Focusing too much on your watch will only lead to you push on too fast, and undo all your good work.
Learn to run to ‘feel’ rather than keeping to a pace. Don’t forget, that ‘feel’ should be easy. Walk up hills, keep it steady and don’t put any pressure on yourself other than to go a little further.
Run with a friend (find one slower than you normally), have a nice chat, and check out the views. It might take a bit of time to get your head around it, but this is exactly the methodology that will take you to the next level.

Those long easy runs – through the countryside or on the trails, with your partner or running buddy – are to be treasured. Use the time to catch up with your spouse or kids, explore new routes and revel in the joy of going long. There’s nothing else like it.

 

Last week I managed to get to the hills twice and both times ran my favourite 22km trail , taking just over two hours and 30 minutes each time. These runs although not long in kilometres serve as my long run in the fact I’m on my feet for a good time and also they are testing for reasons mentioned earlier in this post, basically trail running is harder than the equivalent road version. To recover from the weekend I used fisciocrem and human Tecar after both runs. The products certainly helped as the next day I managed to avoid the onset DOMS (delayed onset of muscle soreness)

Fisiocrem is a must have in your 200 miler box of tricks.

One last shout out to the Human Tecar products ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) especially the recovery bandages. After the recent KepV2 105km race I used the bandages the next day and my recovery from the event was so much better, largely DOMS free and back into training the following week registering 75km for the week and only three days of no running.  I have been able to add to that weekly total the subsequent week and intend to go further this week, a perfect recovery pre-Unreasonable East in less than three weeks.  ( https://unreasonableeast200miler.com.au/ )

Human Tecar recovery bandages and they smell good too.

 

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General day to day ramblings,Trail Running

The Great Trail relay…

26 September bigkevmatthews@gmail.com 0 Comment

Vlad Ixel, him of You Tube fame :-  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCikqAT5S16931CQN_tC7EtQ came up with the concept of a trail relay while working in Hong Kong and it proved to be a big hit in Asia. Working with the Ultra Series WA ( https://ultraserieswa.com.au/ ) and the RD from hell Shaun Kaesler,  the two decided you put the concept to the test on Australian shores for the first time. It’s a simple concept, you find like minded runners and join a team of 2 or 4 and together run a 100k loop. ( https://thegreatrelays.com.au/ ) Chuck in a baton to be passed between team members and a gnarly 2.5k trail loop and you have the makings of a great day out.  A team of 4 would run 10 laps each equating to 25k each (40 2.5k laps = 100k, simple really.). A team of two would have to run 20 laps, equating to 50k each.  There’d be mixed and all male or female teams. This will probably be the last time there is only three categories in the crazy , and diverse, world we all now live in.

So me, Rob, Adam and Mark all got together and formed ‘Broken Birdy’s‘  as we had all ran Birdys Backyard Ultra two weeks prior and trust me people we were broken ! ( https://birdysbackyardultra.com.au/ )

 

The start and finish chute.

As the image below shows we were all smiles pre-start and this seems to be the case at all events lately. Lots of banter and laughst before the eventual onset of pain, that is ultra running really in between eating and drinking of course. We even managed to get a gold baton which we took as a sign of sure fire success, unfortunately not to be .

As this was a new event we set ourselves our normal lofty goal which we would fail to achieve, as is our way. This time it was a sub 7 hour 100k time. This seemed reasonable enough until we ran the 2.5k loop and realised it was a tad more testing than we first thought ! Actually it was a beast of a loop with a start designed to make you and the ground become firm friends, undulating and unforgiving surfaces , a hill or two and the constant threat of ‘stacking it’. Also you had to run the loop 10 times with a 30 minute or so break inbetween each loop for your legs to seize up. I’m not selling this am I ! In the end it was as hard as I just made it out to be… funny that.

 

Team Broken Birdy’s, all smiles at the start.

I chose to go first and lead out the team and my goal was a sub 10 minute loop, 4min/k pace average. I had not actually ran the loop and decided to try out my Nike Vaporflys to see if these would help, as I mentioned in the previous few paragraphs this was a flawed plan and I was soon to realise why.  Vaporfly’s are not built for trails or tight corners, this loop was both of those things. This was to be my only loop in fly’s ! Truth be told I was lucky to survive unscathed and on one corner had to virtually stop running before I could turn around, not a good look .  I still managed to finish in the top five teams and gave the guys a chance to cement this position , which we did throughout the day.

Probably the fastest I ran all day, the first 100 metres !

The best part of this trail relay is without doubt the relaxing , or recuperating, between loops. We had all purchased our reclining chairs from BCF (https://www.bcf.com.au/ ) and were the envy of the rest of the field. As you can see from the image below we had an ideal viewing point and took to this task with great gusto. There’s also a great atmosphere around the place as everybody cheers on their respective teams as well as mingling with other opposition runners, its a bit of a party atmosphere really.

 

The best bit about a relay is the ‘relaxing’…we actually became quite good at it.

Most of the day we were sitting just outside the top three team in the all male category. I say just outside, probably by about an hour in the end. The top three teams seem to be very young, very fit and very fast, we were neither of these of course. We managed to finally overtake the team ahead of us in fourth towards the end of the event, I think we just wore them down. Luckily they were sitting right opposite us allowing us to keep them under close surveillance during the day. Personally I knew who I was racing each loop and we became quite adept at finding each other , albeit he normally caught me each loop but as the race went on the lads got me to a position where I had enough of a head start to maintain my position.   We’ve laid down the gauntlet to this team in January for the road version of this event, note to self , do some speed work !

Keeping an eye on our competition…

Final image of the lads in the best reclining chairs waiting for Rob. He wasn’t actually that slow and probably was the most consistent runner of the day, albeit not consistently fast. Mark started quick and then injury slowed him down, Adam started quick and did very well , bar the last few laps while I started quick , slowed in the middle and finished well enough…  all be it nowhere near my pre-race predicted times. It was a wake up call but in our defence we had all ran Birdy’s two weeks prior and the legs were nowhere need ready for this. A top 5 finish was a very respectable outcome.

Waiting for Rob became draining..

So to the winners (or top 5 finishers) go the spoils, or in this case beer Jeff managed to sneak into the event. The boys certainly cheers up when the beer arrives but that’s the point of these events isn’t it, to allow yourself to drink beet at the end. ? I settled for deep fried chicken and chips treat with lashings of salt, listening to my body of course.  Trust me after the 8 hour event it tasted as good as it sounds !

Finished, finally… probably the longest time to ever run a 25k race !

Medals from Shaun Kaesler and a photo with the two best MC’s in Perth and that was that, job done, the Great Trail Relay ticked off and what an event.  The best part is there is a road version in January in my back yard at Perry Lakes in Perth, so excited.

Shaun and probably the best two MC’s I’ve ever heard at a running event, sorry Raf !

Couldn’t leave without a photo of the Broken Birdy’s relay team , resplendent with their medals and beers (I’d eaten my deep friend chicken by then!) sitting on their BCF recliners, a perfect shot to end a perfect day. Rob, Myself, Adam and Mark, top 5 finish and already talking of going sub 7 hours at the road version next year, wanna’ race ? See you at Perry Lakes in January.

Done and dusted, back to the recliners with medals.

 

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General day to day ramblings

Birdy’s backyard Ultra.. wow, just wow !

30 August bigkevmatthews@gmail.com 0 Comment

A few weeks ago I ran Birdy’s Backyard Ultra ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/1426023810880131 , )  the sister event to Herdy’s Frontyard Ultra ( https://herdysfrontyard.com.au/  ) where I ran 47 laps for an Australian record. I went into the event with no clear plan really , just wanted to have fun with my mates and boy did it deliver.! The event is just outside Darken in Western Australia, a 3-4 hour drive from Perth, around Lake Towerrining. The weeks before had been wet and windy but for the weekend we were blessed with perfect conditions, how does Shaun Kaesler , the Ultra Series WA owner, ( https://ultraserieswa.com.au/ ) do it ! (For background on the Backyard Ultra movement check out this website https://backyardultra.com/ )

The team arrived Thursday and being a boys weekend away we were straight onto the nearest pub which,  after consulting google, we found to be in Darken, a mere 25 kilometers away and they served pizza, perfect!  If you ever find yourself driving through Darken I recommend you keep driving, I’ll leave it at that. The boys taking on Birdy’s this year consisted of Rob, Adam, Bart’s , Mark and Dav, all in the photos below bar Bart’s who had to leave work later and went straight to the camp grounds.

Darken pub..there are no words !

We awoke Friday to perfect conditions, no wind, not too cold and with the promise of warmer conditions to come. It was going to be a great weekend.  Last year started perfect but got very windy on Saturday (Jon so nearly lost his tent!, so funny!) and was incredibly cold on Friday night. This weekend would be better, weather wise but unfortunately not under foot as we were about to find out.  Due to flooding the course had to be changed from last year and this would come back and bite us later in the day and over the event. Shaun had to take out a good one kilometre of quality running trail and replaced it with a swamp that got worse every lap, fun to run but the terrain took it out of your legs an also ate away at your rest time, lap on lap. More on this later.

Friday morning, a beautiful start to the day and the camp is ready.

So the lads awoke and started taking selfies, what else is there to do before a last man standing event ? That’s the thing with these events because it really is more social than mental at the start,  everybody is full of the joys of spring, no real pressure. This does change as the race wears on but for the moment enjoy the start and the first few laps, they are all about just enjoying running around laps with like minded runners having a blast. As you can see from the images below there ain’t no suffering going down or the nervous energy you feel before a marathon or normal ultra, just lots of happy smiling runners.  We even stopped for a selfie on the first lap, where else can you do that when racing , priceless. Ultimately of course we had to start to put in the hard yards given the harder course, making rest time limited.

It’s selfie time for the boys…

So what was the goal going into Birdy’s ? At Herdy’s I’d managed 47 laps but that was in March when I was fitter than a butchers dog due to a three month window of serious Delirious training. ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) Due to the cancellation of the 200 miler I used all my fitness racing Herdy’s. Since then I had ran a 24 hour race  ( 5 weeks after Herdy’s) and a 100km trail race (2 weeks the 24 hour race) after which had emptied the batteries. Too many races and not enough recovery or training had left me depleted, so to speak. I knew I wasn’t fit enough for another top 2 finish at Birdy’s but was hoping to beat my 24 hours I ran last year. (Truth be told I could have gone on last year but no1 Wife insisted I came home Saturday for baby sitting duties with my kids!)  All the boys had their own goals and for the most part they achieved them or there about.  (all bar Bart’s but we’ll leave that to another day.)

As with all backyard ultras the first few laps are ridiculously easy , you can find yourself finishing in 35 minutes and then sitting around for 25 minutes before returning to the start line. Birdy’s though was harder this year. Due to flooding a good part of the old course was about a foot underwater, this meant a course change which involved taking out a good one kilometre of good runable trail and replacing it with swamp trails. There was also a 500m section of wet meadow and mud and I mean wet meadow and mud ! This of course got worse with 200 runners trampling through it on the hour, every hour. Luckily I had packed four changes of trail shoes and 8-10 pair of socks, which I would need.

Another obstacle was the bridge which had grown from the previous year as the gap had become larger due to the flooding issues. We were told by Shaun only three people at a time , we all obviously ignored this or changed the scope to ‘three people at a time on any one part of the bridge’, which meant a free for all.!!!

 

Three people at a time.. sort of ? The winner Phil Gore sporting a great BK top , pure gold.

Images below show the bridge in all’s it glory as well as some of the running terrain which truth be told look better than it actually was. My mate Ben , the lead runner in the image top right  below, loved the mud and considers himself a ‘trail pig‘ , I’m a ‘concrete show pony’ and tip toed around like a girl. (I’m not sure I can say that these days but you get the picture, sorry girls !)

 

Various shots of the course and the infamous bridge.

Back to the race. The first 8 laps from 10am to dusk at 6pm were just plain fun albeit we all noticed the time resting was significantly less than the previous year due to the course change and the swamp ! Once the head torches went on the real race begins, surviving the night and the temperatures that come with it. I’ve always said the hardest part of any last man standing event is getting through the night and ultimately the 2am to dawn period, this is where your body is screaming for sleep and turns up fatigue to try and persuade you to stop.  This year it was even harder as it seemed you would sit down and then instantly hear the song for the 5 minute warning, no time to catch your thoughts or get enough food and drink inside you. Over the course of the evening this became a real mental challenge as well as a physical one with the freezing conditions.  All the boys left me before dawn but each of them had achieved their goal or close enough to justify the adventure. Well done lads.

Saturday morning and it’s still fecking cold !

Ultimately if you can get through the night as soon as dawn hits you’re good for another 4-6 hours minimum. As you can see from the images above it’s still cold but the temperature soon started to warm up after we ran 24 laps and hit the 100 miles.  Top right in the image above is the 100 mile runners, a few more than last year but given the extra starters not as many as we thought. I’m putting this down to the harder course and thus less time to prepare for the next lap, and it was cold !

So why are backyard ultra’s so much fun, easy really it’s about restarting the race on the hour every hour so you are continually meeting your friends and running with them , rather than just a quick meet and greet on the start line and then many hours later a high five at the end. An added bonus is you aren’t pushing yourself in the red zone continually so you also have some fuel in the tank which makes the whole process more enjoyable. How many runners smile, swap jokes, take selfies and banter while competing ? Very few, normally you are continually watching the clock and in the zone so to speak, no time for high jinks or selfies. A backyard ultra , to start with , is just the best time to spend with your mates. It really is that simple. Of course when you start to hit the big numbers later in the event and your friends start to drop off it becomes more of a personal journey but the only person you then compete with is yourself. Unless you win you will DNF but it is you who decides when that will be, no one else. The race itself is thus two fold, initially a long fun run with your mates before the real journey begins and you find your limits, if you so choose. I do go on about these events but with over twenty years competing in events of all distances nothing comes close to these, I just wish they were around my whole career !

Another concept Gary “Lazarus Lake” Cantrell  has is the Race For the Ages which also appeals. In this race you have as many hours to run as your age and you work backwards from the finish. So for me Id have 54 hours to run and thus would start 54 hours before the end, a 40 year old runner would start 14 hours after me again finishing 40 hours later. This handicap system makes the race interesting for all and is normally won by fit 60+ year old  runners because not how quicker a 40 year old may be the extra 20 hours is too much to overcome. (Here’s a good post about a 74 year old winner in the states https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a28926593/a-race-for-the-ages-bob-becker/ )

Right, back to the race. The night running was difficult and cold with the head torches not helping on the uneven ground and swamp areas where you had to work hard to keep your footing and avoid diving headfirst into the surrounding water. This compounded the problem with rest between laps as your lap times blew out because if you maintained your daylight pace you’d ‘come a ‘cropper’.  The 11 hours of darkness, combined with the various milestone during the evening,  made the drop our rate accelerate and by daylight we were down to less than 20 runners from the starting 200.  I encouraged as many runners a possible with promises of a different race when the sun pokes its head about the horizon but the darkness tests your resolve and after 3am your body is screaming for sleep and rest. Maybe sitting down in the early morning is counter productive because it is so easy to stay sitting when you hear the call to the start.  The cold didn’t help of course and made the initial kilometre a challenge albeit with my thermal , running jacket and full length skins I soon warmed up and the second half of the loop was never a problem.

Images supplied by Astrid Volzke

Hitting 24 hours is a big deal at a backyard ultra event, it’s 100 miles , a miler as we call them.  Last year I saved my best laps for the laps 20 to 24 as my goal was 24 hours before returning home to babysit my many daughters. My lap times were low thirty minutes and I felt fresh as a daisy as I finished lap 24 second behind Michael Hooker.  This year it was a different story and lap 24 was a slog as I stumbled in near the back of the field close to 50 minutes.  The image below shows me and Justin finishing together , in perfect simentary, last year and finishing alone this year at the back of the pack, albeit still smiling.  As I have mentioned previously I’m putting this down to the harder course sapping my legs and also a fitness base that has never fully recovered from some serious beatings taken earlier in the year. Whatever the reason it was a relief to hit 24 hours knowing I was on course for a course PB at a minimum, lap on lap.

 

The 100 milers (far left), with Justin and I finishing last year( top right) and me alone (bottom right).

I struggled on from lap 24 and managed to run four more laps before pulling the pin at the start of lap 29 with my mate Charles. We were both just scarping in by this time and although we didn’t time out this was inevitable and with Delirious West in 7 weeks I decided it was time to save the legs for the bigger picture. Truth be told my quads were destroyed, too much tip toeing around the swamp eventually this came back to bite me. Maybe a better nutrition or hydration strategy would have helped, actually any strategy would have helped. Towards the end of the race I certainly wasn’t  eating and drinking enough  between laps , in the end this will come back and kick you in the balls. (so to speak) .

Ring the DNF bell after 28 hours (laps) with Charles. Top right, refusing to move until I am given a cup of tea. Bottom right, waiting for my DNF spoon.

So what is the take away from Birdies Backyard Ultra ? Overall I’d say I’d give myself a B+. I managed to run further than last year but it was  much, much harder. I’m putting this down to the harder course and less recovery time, together with the quads destroying swamp and wet sections of the course. Throughout the event I struggled with fitness and towards the end really worked very hard to finish pre-50 minutes or worse. Could I have ran further ? That’s a tough question that every runner will always ask themselves after running a last man standing event. Most runners probably think they could have and unless you were carried over the line you probably could have, or collapsed over the line similar to Phil in 2019, he left it all and more besides on the course. It is always easy sitting at your computer, weeks later, writing a post to believe you could have gone so much further but really the decision is made on the day and you need to live with that decision. I’m happy enough with a top 10 finish and 28 laps, I came away with so many fond memories and had a good time on the boys weekend away, the actual race was secondary.  Looking forward I have learned more valuable lessons will I will take to Herdy’s Front yard Ultra  ( https://herdysfrontyard.com.au/ ) next year where I search for that elusive one lap I need, albeit I need to run 47 laps to get to that lap!

Finally a massive  congratulations to Phil Gore and Michael Hooker who ran 51/50 laps and set a new Australian Record in the process. These guys had 12 hours on the rest of the field and were only beaten when Plantar Fasciitis got the better of Michael and he had to pull the pin. Until then we were predicting a massive result. Both these boys will compete on the World Stage in the next couple of years , remember their names, legends in the waiting. (as well as Team Gore of course!)

The King surveys his kingdom..Phil loves his pot noodles.. maybe that’s his secret ?

..and one more thankyou to the race director(s), volunteers and everybody who did their bit to make this event so special. The Ultra Series WA is one special bunch of runners, every one of them a true champion. ( https://ultraserieswa.com.au/ ) and I couldn’t finish with out a huge thankyou to my main man Gazza, the most upbeat, attentive crew a runner could ever need, perfect in most ways bar making tea, he really, really sucks at making tea !! Love you big fella. ! ..and one final shout out to the boys and all my friends who made the weekend so very, very special. These weekends are all about remembering what’s it’s like to be 18 years old again, without the drinking but with as much laughing and high jinks, actually probably more laughing and high jinks !! We’re like 18 year old kids with money, dangerous ! I am counting the days until Birdy’s 2022….. we may even give the Darken tavern another chance. (I hope they don’t read this ?)

 

Legends , one and all.

 

 

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General day to day ramblings

The 20/20 of ultra running is here. Get onboard….

21 May bigkevmatthews@gmail.com 0 Comment

First we had the concept of running ultras in small loops, a prime examples is the Lighthorse Ultra ( https://lighthorseultra.com.au/ which is a timed event over 3/6/12 or 24 hours , over a 2.5k loop.  We then fell in love with the Backyard Ultra where the race is a 6.7k loop on the hour every hour, until there is only one runner left standing. ( https://ultraserieswa.com.au/event/birdys-backyard-2/ ) Now the Ultra Series WA,  together with Vlad Ixel and Bix Nutrition,  ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/  ) have started the Great Trail Relay, kicking off in Perth  August 28th ( http://thegreatrelays.com.au )

Vlad Ixel, a running demi-god (and can walk on water as this photo shows) and the main man Shaun Kaesler persuading Phil Gore to run another 30 or so laps at Herdy’s!

Vlad Ixel is a trail living legend , as his website will clearly show , https://www.vladixel.com/about-me , it was Vlad who first came up with the concept of a team ultra where teams of 2 or 4 run a 2.5k loop for a distance of 100k. Doing the math it would means 20 laps each for a duo or 10 laps each for a quad team.  These events went gangbusters in Asia and are sure to do the same thing in Australia. There is talk of a road version in January 2022.

What makes this event so special is the comradery of running in a team but also the other teams around you and the whole party atmosphere of the event village. Because you are forced to wait your turn, be that one 2.5k loop in a duo or three in a quad , it gives you time to really soak up the feel of the event, a running carnival.  You can use the time to prepare for your next loop, take on board nutrition or hydration or give other teams around you a ‘gee’ up , the possibilities are endless. The best part is you are not alone on a trail with your thoughts,  not that this is a bad thing but once in a while it’s actually nice to race an ultra with a bit of company, these type of events give you company and then some !

As the title suggests if a point to point Ultra is a 5 day test, a backyard ultra would be a one day test and this Trail Relay is the 20/20 of Ultra running.  Something going on all the time and if you blink you’ll miss something.  Let’s face it the last time you ran a relay was probably at school and how much fun was it !  For this event each team will have a baton with a timing chip in it allowing you to see where you are in the field and this encouraging some healthy competition throughout the event, not just at the front of the pack.  This is where you will be able to see exactly who you’re racing.

From the website :-

 

Like a cobra , ready to strike !

You’ll also find this image on the website for the event which shows you can also have a nap if you so prefer inbetween racing allbeit in the image above I was about to leap up and continue racing at Herdy’s , honest ?

I have already entered a team of four and as it’s two weeks after the Birdy’s Backyard Ultra I have named our team the Broken Birdy’s as we’re all running Birdy’s and will probably not be a fit state to race it. This could be your chance to give me and the boys a good toweling, what more incentive do you want to race?  All joking aside this event will take off and if you are going to enter make an effort and do it now. It’s the weekend of the Perth City to Surf which unfortunately has been cancelled. The loop is in the beautiful Jorgensen Park in Kalamunda which is the starting point for the bib track , so I’m sure the loop will be testing.

I’ve been racing for over 20 years and I can honestly say these looped events are without doubt the most fun I have ever had. I’ve ran 45 marathons and many, many  ultras but looped ultras/races are the best by a county mile. Personally for me the backyard ultra concept is my favourite but this event will be even more fun I reckon, being part of a team and also the whole atmosphere of  hundreds of like minded people doing what we love together, while being able to eat good tukka and sup on quality coffee, sounds like heaven to me !

I can’t leave without yet again thanking Shaun, Axel and the team at USWA  for putting this event on, these guys are the makers of dreams and have created unique events that allow us,  as runners, to really see what we can become if you have someone that totally believes in you.  We are truly blessed.  ( https://ultraserieswa.com.au/ )

 

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General day to day ramblings,Top Golden Rules

The secret to sub 3 marathon success, it’s all about the numbers.

23 April bigkevmatthews@gmail.com 0 Comment

I have said many times on my blog running is an honest sport, put in the time in training and you will see results. The longer you can spend running the bigger the results and if you start to run tailored sessions, i.e. tempos, thresholds, fartleks etc, the quicker the results , as long as you also keep the distance high.  Ralf Baugh, the owner of the Running Centre   ( https://therunningcentre.com.au/ ) and former professional duathlete, has been keeping data on his 90+ sub 3 marathon runners training habits. It makes for interesting but predictable reading.
Ashley Phelps, a finely tuned sub 3 machine. !

Marathon Training & Performance: Sub 3h Dataset

Since commencing personalised training programs in 2009, the Front Runner coaching team has been primarily focused on assisting both recreational and competitive runners competing in events ranging from 800m to the Marathon, as well as Full and Half Ironman Triathlon.

Over time, the tracking of data (through GPS and online training software) and personalised exercise prescription based on the runner’s individual goals and training history, has allowed for empirical data to be compiled from our ever-growing database of motivated and goal-driven runners. As our database grows, we continue to observe certain trends in the data that help guide our coaching team towards more accurate and effective exercise prescription.

As well as a strong scientific element to data tracking, working with a team of nine engaged coaches all with individual experiences and qualifications has enabled an excellent structure to develop hypotheses on further improving exercise prescription. With the popularity of the Marathon continuing to increase in recent years, we have updated our dataset from 2018, focusing on those runners who have broken the magical 3h barrier.

 

3 of our Sub 3h Marathoners: Toni (2.43), Miki (2.55) & Yi-Jin (2.59) during the 2017 Perth C2S HM

As of March 2020, 91 Front Runner athletes on an individual exercise prescription have bettered the 3hr marathon. The aggregation of this many athletes at a high recreational marathon standard, in combination with monitored training prescription, has allowed us to identify some strong data trends. We hope that awareness and knowledge of this data will continue to help our Front Runner community progress towards their individual goals, as well as educated fellow runners and coaches interested in enhancing performance in recreational Marathon populations.

Through Training Peaks software, we analysed the data based on what we believe are two key principles for successful distance running and how they related to Marathon performance (goal time):

  1. Anaerobic Threshold: Measured as their best 10k race time within 12 months of their goal Marathon
  2. Volume: Peak 4 week mean volume within the final 3 months of their goal Marathon

A 10km race is a practical estimate of the anaerobic threshold (the upper limit of how well the body can sustainably use oxygen for energy – read more HERE). The lower the 10km time, the higher the anaerobic threshold and the more effectively the runner can utilise oxygen for aerobic metabolism.

The peak mean volume the runners were able to sustain for four consecutive weeks in the lead up to their Marathon is a practical indication of their muscular endurance. As running is a weight-bearing activity, covering 42.2km’s requires significant muscular endurance. Four consecutive weeks were chosen to ensure the volume was a sustainable peak and not a once-off.

Of the 91 Front Runner athletes to have officially broken 3h for the Marathon, objective data was available and collated from 65* of these athlete’s performances. *multiple sub 3h Marathon’s from the same athlete have been included.

Figure 1: Each runners 10km pace & Marathon pace was plotted against their weekly volume (n = 65)

 

Figure 2: As training volume increased, the difference between 10km and Marathon race pace decreased.

 

Full Data Set 

n = 65
Volume (km/week) 10km time Marathon time
Min = 66 Slowest = 40.30 Slowest = 2.59
Max = 170 Fastest = 29.26 Fastest = 2.14
Mean = 120 Mean = 35.01 Mean = 2.43

 

Males Only

n = 58
Volume (km/week) 10km time Marathon time
Min = 66 Slowest = 40.30 Slowest = 2.59
Max = 170 Fastest = 29.26 Fastest = 2.14
Mean = 120 Mean = 34.51 Mean = 2.43

 

Females Only

n = 7
Volume (km/week) 10km time Marathon time
Min = 77 Slowest = 38.30 Slowest = 2.57
Max = 145 Fastest = 34.40 Fastest = 2.34
Mean = 119 Mean = 36.29 Mean = 2.47

 

Sub 2h 20min

n = 2
Volume (km/week) 10km time Marathon time
Min = 150 Slowest = 30.32 Slowest = 2.19
Max = 170 Fastest = 29.36 Fastest = 2.14
Mean = 160 Mean = 30.04 Mean = 2.16

2h 20min = 2h 29min 

n = 6
Volume (km/week) 10km time Marathon time
Min = 140 Slowest = 32.30 Slowest = 2.29
Max = 170 Fastest = 29.26 Fastest = 2.22
Mean = 159 Mean = 31.23 Mean = 2.26

 

2h 30min – 2h 39min

n = 13
Volume (km/week) 10km time Marathon time
Min = 90 Slowest = 35.54 Slowest = 2.39
Max = 160 Fastest = 31.12 Fastest = 2.32
Mean = 136 Mean = 33.52 Mean = 2.35

 

2h 40min – 2h 49min

n = 22
Volume (km/week) 10km time Marathon time
Min = 90 Slowest = 37.15 Slowest = 2.48
Max = 165 Fastest = 33.20 Fastest = 2.40
Mean = 121 Mean = 35.11 Mean = 2.44

 

2h 50min – 2h 59min

n = 22
Volume (km/week) 10km time Marathon time
Min = 66 Slowest = 40.30 Slowest = 2.59
Max = 140 Fastest = 34.50 Fastest = 2.50
Mean = 94 Mean = 36.59 Mean = 2.55

Breaking the Sub 3h Marathon (2h 55min – 2h 59min)

n = 15
Volume (km/week) 10km time Marathon time
Min = 72 Slowest = 40.30 Slowest = 2.59
Max = 140 Fastest = 35.36 Fastest = 2.55
Mean = 97 Mean = 37.14 Mean = 2.57

 

Primary Observation

The clearest trend from the graphs on figure’s 1 & 2 is the reduced vertical gap between the trend lines for 10km and Marathon pace as you move to the right – i.e. the MORE volume you run, the LESS difference between your 10km and Marathon pace. We therefore conclude the following: for recreational runners chasing a sub 3h Marathon, your anaerobic threshold will determine the ceiling of your Marathon (i.e. the faster you can get over 10km, the faster your potential Marathon time) and your peak volume will determine how close you can get to that ceiling.

This presents a trade-off as such where runners who spend a lot of time increasing their 10km time at the expense of their weekly volume may find their Marathon may not improve. Alternatively, runners who chase the highest volume possible at the expense of specific training that will improve their 10km time, may also limit their Marathon performance.

Each runner will be different, bringing their own strength & weaknesses to the table. Therefore, to achieve your Marathon goals, we recommend consulting a qualified and educated coach who can provide you with an individualised program that contains an optimal distribution of training load across the week, that is periodised towards your end goal.

 

Additional Thoughts

  • Specificity: Sustainable volume appears to correlate more closely with predicting Marathon performance than 10k time. This reflects the conditioning and the fatigue resistance of the musculoskeletal system, in addition to the fuelling changes in the cell that may relate to low intensity running specifically.
  • The Complete Runner: The 10km & Marathon have similar attributes but different limiting factors, meaning relative success in one event doesn’t directly translate to the other event. To best enhance your Marathon performance, it is our belief that focussing on both volume and threshold increases is crucial to successful Marathon performance.
  • VO2 Max: Training repetitions at VO2 max (i.e. above threshold – see HERE) appear to increase the relative risk of injury in recreational Marathon runners due to their fatigued training status. The perceived exception to this is if the athlete had track running experience from their youth.
  • Strength Training: Resistance training that is targeted to the individual is the best asset for Marathon runners to remain consistent with their training. This is achieved by reducing injury risk under the high training loads associated with the Marathon as well as increasing their running economy (reducing energy cost @ Marathon pace). Adherence to strength training programs is most common post injury, however should be maintained where possible when in Marathon training (2x per week to improve strength, 1 x per week to maintain current strength).
  • Biomechanics: Functional running drills and strides (see our YouTube channel HERE) that are performed 2-3x per week (as a W/U pre workout OR post easy runs) appear to be effective strategies for improving running economy in Marathon runners.
  • The Group Effect: Group runs for easy aerobic volume sessions correlated with significantly greater adherence to their training program than prescribed but self-directed easy volume sessions. This advocates the role of “jogging groups” as an integral part of a balanced training program for recreational and advanced Marathon runners and not just group training for interval sessions.

 

We trust you enjoyed our insight into Marathon training and performance. If you wish to know more about this topic, or anything to do with your running training, please get in touch with our expert coaching team who are ready to assist you towards your next running goal! Please email us HERE or see our website HERE

Looking at my training over the years I peaked naturally around 2013 , without a coach,  setting many PB’s , virtually every race, for a period of 12-18 months before a bad Bunbury Marathon result in 2014 propelled me into a  slump for over 6 months before I teamed up with Raf in early 2015. Over the next 12 weeks I started to run a lot more and added double days,  as well as more tailored sessions concentrating on hitting a quicker pace.  A possible stress fracture meant I didn’t achieve the result I was after,  albeit still ran a top 10 finish at the Perth Marathon , but the lessons Raf taught me allowed to me run a stellar 2016 achieving many PB’s , times I thought beyond me after 2015. I continued this form in 2017 until I picked up a nasty case of plantar fasciitis, this unfortunately was the death knell for my days of PB’s at the shorter distances, upto marathon pace.
The main take away from training with Raf was distance is king but also a tailored approach to training  building each week and with every run a building block towards the final goal. The best part of being coached is you don’t have to think about your next run, it is there in black and white infront of you (or these days in Training Peaks), there is also nowhere to hide, so you are accountable. Initially this can be confronting because, in my case, I always felt my training didn’t reflect my racing times, i.e. my times were quicker than my training would suggest I was capable of, this meant Raf would give me targets I would fail to reach.  Over time though I improved, weekly really, and my pace started to quicken, I even began to enjoy the quicker sessions, my improvement was measurable and there for all to see.  A favourite of Raf is the 3 * 5k with a 3 minute rest between laps. Initially I was running over 18 minutes for each repetition but after 6 months all my times were sub 18 minutes, a massive improvement, as I said earlier,  accountable and measurable.
Father time has put an end to my Marathon and quicker PB’s , probably, and I am ok with this, I have achieved so much more than I ever thought possible. These days I enjoy the challenge of the Ultra marathon , trail running and backyard ultra’s , races where mentally you can still be competitive with the field. This does not mean I have given away the shorter distances and I have plans to run sub 3 marathons for many more years but my wiggle room is certainly getting less and less each time I put on the bib and toe the start line, wouldn’t have it any other way….

 

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General day to day ramblings

Runaway Weekends, what a great idea.

20 April bigkevmatthews@gmail.com 0 Comment

Two good friends of mine, Bart’s and Rob,  have started a little adventure company where they will take you on tours of Rottnest Island and , eventually, Collie. The first tour kicks off two weeks before the Rottnest Marathon,  so is perfect for those runners who need to acquaint themselves with the Island before the big day in June.  For a small fee of $450pp you get accommodation, food and as much running as you can handle, as well as Pilates and other entertainment over the course of the weekend.  You’ll need to cover the cost of transportation to the Island which will probably be by the Rottnest Ferry.  There is only 18 places available as it’s all about taking a small group and just having fun together, too many people and you’ll lose that intimacy.
Runaway Weekends, only downside it’s only a weekend !

I’ve attached the itinerary from the website below. ( https://www.runawayweekends.com.au/ ) , lots of running, eating and drinking coffee by the sounds of it, a perfect weekend as far as I’m concerned. Bart’s and Rob will be excellent hosts and as you can see from the photo below I have personally spent a lot of time with these two reprobates and loved every minute of it.  You couldn’t find two better hosts for a weekend away. The boys were on Rottnest over the Easter break,  sourcing out trails,  and they come back very excited , so it bodes well for some scenic runs. There are some seriously beautiful trails on Rottnest and to really enjoy then it is best to get a guide as without one you’ll end up wondering about lost or just miss the good trails completely, hence the tour.

Boys on the trails…The Bib track in this photo. Ignore the cost , it is $450pp. 

 

They have been very busy and as well as creating the idea for the weekend they have also created a website and a Facebook page, I would presume they had some help !  Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/runawayweekends   You need to fill out the contact form on the website with your details and the boys will be in touch personally , I told you it was intimate.

 

A Facebook page is also available.. the boys have been busy !

 

Finally I’ve attached the flyer that is available on the Facebook page , gives you an idea of what to expect.  If you are serious about the Rottnest Marathon in June this year or just want a great weekend away with likeminded people this is the tour for you.

 

Please note I am not in any way a part of this venture and am writing this post in the hope of a free coffee from Bart’s but after knowing him for well over 10 years I think the possibility of this happening is slim to no chance ! The one caveat , finally, about the coffee is beware of Bart’s and his Dome loyalty card, he is well known in our running circles for loving his Dome coffee and even more loving his free Dome coffee. If he does persuade the group to stop for a coffee at Dome I guarantee he’ll be the first to the counter , loyalty card in hand and you’ll all be buying coffee while the staff stamp his card, priceless.

 

One more caveat before I finish, this weekend is not about pushing yourself to your limits or locking yourself in the pain box so you can return a better person. No, this tour is about like minded runners doing what they love,  in a relaxed atmosphere,  while immersing themselves in the beauty of the surrounding and finding new friends, creating memories and just generally having a runaway weekend.

Rottnest flyer.

 

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General day to day ramblings,Trail Running

Herdy’s backyard ultra, probably the run of my life… so far.

04 April bigkevmatthews@gmail.com 0 Comment

 

Herdy’s frontyard Ultra , https://www.herdysfrontyard.com.au/ , the sister event to Birdy’s Backyard Ultra , https://www.birdysbackyardultra.com/ , just about the run of my life I reckon, so far. Went into the event hoping to improve on my 24 hours at Birdy’s backyard ultra last August, with 36 hours being a stretch goal and 32 hours being enough to get bragging rights with the boys , taking out my mate Jon’s 31 hours at Birdy’s.

I figured 24 hours would be easier at Herdy’s due to the 4pm start, this meant you got to the night running early when you still had some company and energy, at Birdy’s due to the 10am start you got to the night running after nearly 10 hours on your feet. This took out a lot of runners, also Herdy’s would be warmer which was lucky as we weren’t allowed tents or caravans.  Getting through the night is a major hurdle for a lot of runners but if you can get to the sunrise you’re good for another 7-8 hours minimum, it is huge. Hirdy’s would give runners a good opportunity to do this and rack up some serious time on legs. The course itself was an unknown for this time of event, sure I’ve ran it many times but not for long distance and the worry was the hard limestone, combined with bike path and trails would be hard on the legs unlike Birdy’s which was mainly trails, albeit testing in places.

Some photos of the early starts and the DNF trophies and the winners trophy..

Anyhow at 4pm Friday afternoon myself and 146 runners set off on lap 1 and the event was started, when it would stop was up to the last two runners, who ever they would be ? The smart money was on the Birdy’s last two runners Phil Gore and Michael Hooker, both gifted young athletes in their prime. Michael Hooker was clocking 31 minute laps early and didn’t waiver bar lap 4 when there was $500 up for grabs for the fastest lap. He moved up through the gears and dropped a 22 minute lap , averaging just over 3min 20 seconds a kilometre, in the dark , on an undulating course, unbelievable. Needless to say no one tried to better that time during the event, well not on foot anyway?

Pre-Start with Rob, Scotty and Nancy and early photos pre-first night.

I had set up camp with Rob and Scotty and the reclining chairs came out together with a few bags of spare clothes for the event and an esky filled with all sorts of yummy treats and some serious food recommended by my favourite Dietitian David Bryant.  I highly recommend David who is currently training for the Triathlon event in the para-Olympics, he is a wealth of knowledge but above all recommends eating good food, and food which is actually ‘normal’. Check out his site for more details http://www.catalystdietitian.com.au/about.html I had used David’s guidance for the Birdy’s event and made 24 hours with no issues. My friend Nancy joined us who was just running a few hours as she had competed in a grueling long distance swim the previous weekend and had family engagements to take care off the next day.  As you can see in the images above she was a natural at this event and easily ran a distance PB before being called away to take care of her young family. Nancy will be back and I feel has a big future in this type of event if she chooses to concentrate on it. Scotty also ran a massive distance PB and also pulled in sponsorship from Osborne Mazda , which , with the event breaking the Australian Record was, in hindsight, a good move.  Finally Rob got his goal of running 15 hours and breaking 100km, again another distance PB and he’ll be smashing the 100 mile target at Birdy’s in August. He had to put up with some serious gamesmanship from Bart’s during the build up to the event as he had not been training as well as he could have,  due to various reasons,  and this result has put the onus back on Bart’s to back up at Birdy’s in August. It’s always good for some good old fashioned rivalry among good friends, makes the conversation at Yelo after our Thursday morning progressives so much more interesting !

 

First lap and , full of beans, Rob and I grab a top three finish.

 

As well as everybody bar one runner DNF’ing , Shaun also created a special prize for the first DNF, Dead f**king Last so to speak, Thomas Grobar was the excited recipient as he was the last to finish the first lap albeit in his defense he had a broken toe and never expected to complete a lap in the time frame allotted. Well done Thomas, kudos for even tuning up and getting round one lap.

Thomas with the DFL trophy and Wayne and Shaun, legends !

The first three laps are in daylight and as the sunsets you get some beautiful light in the trail section of the course. As you have just started the event these first three laps are more of a social run than a race and getting in under 40 minutes is a breeze, giving you plenty of time for eating and drinking and generally enjoying the whole vibe of the event village. On the first lap myself and Rob cruised home around the 5min/k mark for a top three finish, if only every lap could be so easy.  As you can see from the image above it’s all smiles early on….

First few laps in daylight, racing the sunset, all smiles.

Once the sun set it was on with the head torches and into the night we went, round and round the lake. With the 4pm start it meant a large proportion of the field was still running into the early evening which made for great company as a snake like line of head torches weaved their way around the loop. The atmosphere at the event village was electric with excited runners returning and going about their business,  aided by attentive support crew eager to do their bit, it really is a team event. With 5 minutes to go Nancy Sinatra is blasted from the event PA’s, these boots are made for walking, what else? and the  activity kicks up a notch as everybody fumbles for their last few items before scurrying to the start line.  A siren for two minutes and then again for one minute before the final 10 second count down and off we all go again, into the night. Friday night really was a special time, so much going on and so many excited runners and crew, magical.

Friday night was perfect running conditions, so much fun.

Throughout the night runners dropped out , happy with their result and all saying they’d be back for more, in fact I don’t think I heard one runner grumble about the format or conditions , it was such a positive place to be. There were a lot of runner new to this format, as there had only been one previous event last year , but to a runner all said they would return and beat their current distance. It is that type of event, unlike any that have come before, it really is like one big team all working to a greater good, all wanting the best for their fellow runners and encouraging them to continue and just do ‘one more lap‘.  There isn’t that competitive feel about the event, each runner is testing themselves against what they believe they can achieve, even when it’s down to the last two runners both need each other to continue.  That is the appeal I suppose, well it is for me.

Rob smashes a missive PB before DNF’ing and retreating to his onesie with a well earned coffee.. I cruised through Saturday morning…

Friday night was spent running with Margie Hadley , amongst others, and man we laughed. Everything from saving Margie from elephant eating Herdsman Lake mini frogs, spiders that were big enough to put a saddle on and ride at the Melbourne Cup and Margie having no idea where her Husband was born. The things you talk about when you have 48 hours to kill. Other highlights was watching Thomas nearly run into the same spider’s web  every lap and then seeing that same spider on Friday and then Saturday night, he felt like part of the family.!  Every lap was eventful and due to the banter each one disappeared quickly and before you knew it you had ticked off another hour with sunrise fast approaching.

Sunrise is a massive boost in these type of events, if you can get through the night you will easily run another 6-8 hours after sunrise just on the boost from the sun alone. Of course it is always darkest before the dawn and the witching hour for any ultra runner is between 2pm and 5pm. Get through these three hours and you can bank another 3-5 hours just on the adrenalin rush.

This was the case Saturday morning and once the sun rose so did every ones spirts. Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day, little or no wind to speak about and the temperature was perfect in the morning before warming up but never so much as to be a problem. I had spent a lot of time in the local hills, post Christmas,  so was heat acclimatised , so although I was ok with the temperature I hear some people did suffer.  That being said the crew did a great job keeping me cool with Ice Packs and each lap they got their routine better and better. Big tip here for runners hoping to attempt one of these races, get a reclining chair. Worth its weight in gold trust me, lets your crew go to work while you give the legs a well earned break. Of course I’m assuming you have a crew , if you don’t you need one. These sorts of races are like a gran prix , as well as the driver and the car you need a pit crew or nothing keeps moving. Towards the end of the race you cannot think straight, actually you can think full stop no matter straight, when this happens a crew takes over and gets you from the finish line to the start line.  In my case, later in the race, they carried me between the two points , with a quick sit down to shovel food and drink into me. ! Do not under estimate the crew in this type of race, they are indispensable.

Enjoying Saturday..

The goal Saturday was to make it to 4pm and the 24 hour, 160mile mark. I had hit this target at Birdy’s and regretted  leaving to get home and babysit the kids as my current Wife was going out with friends. Truth be told Karen did say I was ok to stay later in the race  but I had mentally set a 24 hour goal and when I reached it I was happy to leave. I was determined to go one better at Herdy’s and leave nothing in the tank, how ever long that took.  As I said earlier reaching 24 hours at Herdy’s , in my view, is easier because you start late afternoon and run through the night early, with company. At Birdy’s starting at 10am means you hit the first head torch lap 8-9 hours later and then have 10 hours to get though when you are tired.  It is also a lot colder,  which is massive when you stop every hour.  Once we hit sun rise at Herdy’s the rest of the day was plain sailing, there was still around 20-30 runners so company was there if you wanted it and it helped having rabbits to chase if you so desired or alternatively there was solitude if you so  desired.  I used this time to reacquaint myself with the best sounds of the seventies, no everyone’s tastes but some classics just put a smile on my face and allowed me to drift away, lap by lap.

 

First milestone reached, 24 hour club. 100 Miles….4pm Saturday.

Once I hit 24 hours at 4pm Saturday the goal was 32 hours to go one better than my good friend Jon Pendse , who had ran 31 hours for a third place at Berdy’s.  Jon had turned himself into an Ultra running God the last few years but recently had felt the pull of the concrete and quicker marathons, to such an extent he had a free entry but declined to start as his BMW was getting serviced on Friday. I’ve heard some excuses to miss races but a car service is a new one on me.  It would be a big ask as I would need to run to midnight which meant once again running in to the night but this time with a lot less activity on the course and around the event village.  The village had turned into a ghost town in the early hours of Sunday morning, funnily enough,  and before long we were down to four runners. It was lap 34 I think when the race changed completely.  Margie had not gone out , unbeknown to me, and Michael Hooker, the unbackable favourite, came back to the start and pulled out due to stomach issues. I was also suffering from ultra stomach, when you have eaten so much processed food in the form of carbohydrates and sugar you just can’t stomach anything.  You know you need to eat but nothing is edible and this can be your downfall, remember the Porsche with an empty fuel tank, you just stop  ! Anyhow, on lap 34 it was a two horse race and my plans to sneak away quietly went out the window.

The last 2k of the loop through the trails is pretty special..

Once it had sunk it I was in a two horse race I settled down and just started to grind out the laps. We tended to run alone , Phil and I, and I was thankful for my Aftershokz Aeropex headphones ( https://us.aftershokz.com/products/aeropex ) and Spotify. My crew at this point consisted of Mark and Gary with a cameo from Gareth, while his six pack of Ginger Beer was available,  Darren and Adam. All encouraged me to keep on going when I started to crumble in the early hours of Sunday morning. As with the previous night the plan was to get to sunrise, everything would be so much better when the sun came up. I’d stumble into the finish coral , stagger to my chair and then let the boys go to work on massaging the legs and getting as much nutrition and hydration as they could into me. Once I heard Nancy Sinatra I was up and into the start coral for one more lap. This was repeated until sun rise when I must admit things did get better before Shaun , the owner of the company putting on the event, started to talk about breaking Western Australian and then Australian records. The goal was 41 laps for the West Australian record and 46 for the Australian. After that 48 hours would be the next goal before 50 and so on, you get the general idea. These numbers seemed alien to me as I had never contemplated anything with a four in front of it, ever.  36 to me was a massive stretch goal and once I achieved it I found it difficult to refocus on where I was, I decided to just keep on moving forward, one lap at a time.

Saturday night, probably around the 32lap mark, It's starting to get real. Four left at this stage I think. Phil, Margie, Michael and I.
Early Sunday morning, probably around the 32 lap mark, It’s starting to get real. Four left at this stage I think. Phil, Margie, Michael and I.

The next major milestone past 24 hours is the 36 hours or 150 Mile club. Myself and Phil would be the first to enter this exclusive club at Herdy’s in its inaugural year. Phil would have one more club to enter before the race was finished while , for me, this was to be the last club I entered this time around. As you can see from the image below the crowd support had thinned at three in the morning, funny that.  This was all about to change when the sun came up, big time ! The second night when you ae basically alone with your thoughts on the course is where you need to really dig deep. Night running takes away all the external stimulus , it’s just the head torch beam ahead of you. This can also be a calming effect of course and with my spotify as my co-pilot I was able to drift away,  one song at a time. This made a big difference and I highly recommend headphones , podcasts and music for night running in this situation. I relied on music this time but next race I’m bring out the Goggins if I think of quitting… ! ( https://davidgoggins.com/  )

150mile club… 36 hours, just the two of us.

The image below is probably my favourite of the whole event. It shows the grim determination of running through a second night and facing the new dawn after running for nearly 40 hours. No crowd support yet, just our crew and the race officials. The sun was not fully awake and the mood was one of trepidation. No words were spoken , we just ambled up to the start line , looked forward into another lap and waited for the tape to come down before we once again raced the clock around the lake. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, this picture is worth so much more, no smiles, no dancing, just the realisation of what laid ahead.

 

Sunday morning, probably just after sunrise, the lull before the storm really. Around 38 hours.

Sunday was hot, there’s not getting around the fact. The loop was evenly split into three parts. The first 3k was open,  with little shade,  on bike path initially and then hard,  white crushed limestone . This was , for me, the hardest section of the course. It got hotter and hotter as the day wore on and the limestone path got whiter and whiter, luckily I had my goodr sunnies, ( https://goodr.com/  ) Dirk’s Inflation Station model apparently, very cool.  You then reach a bridge and this leads to a 2k section of pretty flat but open bike path before you meet the main road and enter the last 2k of offroad trails. The trail section is my favourite as at various times during the day you were just bathed in the most beautiful light and , for a moment, you could have been anywhere in the world.  There was a shower at the pony club where we had set up camp and this proved invaluable on Sunday as the temperature began to climb.  Keeping your core temperature as low as possible is paramount to continuing in this event. The lower the heart rate the longer you are going to be able to continue, keep adding the right fuel in the form of nutrition and hydration and then its only sleep depravation which will eventually scuttle you.

I knew this to be true as I had been hallucinating since Sunday night.  A herd of Elephants on the lake in the early morning which was just the reflection of the full moon through the foliage but oh so real for a few minutes. Various figures hiding behind signposts that would disappear as I neared them and leaves which would turn into crabs when studied closely.  Even though I was certainly hallucinating I didn’t feel tired, a few no doz tablets probably helped but I was wary of taking too many, but I knew the lack of sleep would eventually catch up with me. I’m not sure if hallucinating is a bad thing or a good thing really. I enjoyed the visions while always knowing they were just that but on the downside I knew these would come at a price. No matter, on I went, one more lap.

Sunday morning and into the early afternoon and things are really heating up now…

Through out the day Sunday word had got out that me and Phil were still running and every time we finished the event village seemed to get fuller and fuller. Even Channel 7 interviewed me as we neared the Australian record of 45 laps. It’s amazing how one can perk up when a reporter and camera are thrust into your face. I must have been semi coherent as I made the evening news, well some part of what I said made the news. As well as the crown growing my support crew also started to grow, hell my Wife even came down for the last few laps. I cannot thank my crew enough they were so good at getting me from the finish line back to the start,  albeit with me complaining the whole way and towards the end not really understanding what was going on.

Running gives you so much and one of the most important things is it surrounds you with like minded people,  who morph into good friends. I am blessed with the crew you see in the image below, I count all of them as true friends and am so , so lucky to have them in my life. Of course I never tell them that, remember I am a child of the seventies and we like to hold all our emotions close to our hearts but I love these guys… right enough of that.. on we go.

My crew that sort of assembled itself over the last day. Can’t thank them enough… so proud of these people.

Right, Sunday late morning into early afternoon. Laps 40 – 45, as you can see from the images below the sun came out, the crown came out and me and Phil just kept on doing our thing, one lap at a time. Each lap I promised Phil it was my last but each time either my crew or Shaun would persuade me just one more lap. Once I got on the lap I was still making the hour cut off with plenty of time to spare but each lap was taking something from me, physically and mentally.  I had promised Shaun I would get to the West Australian record at lap 42, so three laps to go.  The turning point for me was probably lap 38 when Shaun has offered Phil and I some serious financial incentives but all I wanted to do was go home. I remember I told Phil to go on and basically sat on a log , in the shade, about 1k into the loop. I was going to sit there until I knew I wouldn’t make the hour cut off and DNF.  Then along came my friend Trevor Van Aurich , on a Sunday afternoon run, he listened to my tales of woe and I think chatting to Trevor allowed me to vent my frustration at the situation enough that I got back on my feet and started to shuffle, then walk,  which turned into a slow jog before eventually picking up a waiting Phil a few kilometres along the loop. We made that loop and I was was now all in for the Australian Record at a minimum. Having a target allowed me to focus on finishing, three more laps, two more laps, one more lap, finally I could see an end. As I said earlier I never once imagined winning the event, Phil was too strong and I was just happy to be able help get a few more laps on the board in his push for 48 hours.

 

Sunday morning and things are heating up…

At lap 45 I had to change my clothes. Severe chaffing in areas where only a man knows the feeling had just about destroyed me on the previous lap. Thanks to Wayne and Amanda I had new shorts and virtually a whole tub of sudocream on board, and Michael gave me a white running top to help with the heat.  I was still running like John Wayne though at the start of each lap, funny to watch now.  I would stumble off the start line like an OAP while Phil would explode like a gazelle and disappear into the blue yonder, being chased by this balding, bearded old runner who looked like he had spent far too long riding horses ! I managed 46 laps to get the Australian record before being told one more lap and then my job was done, music to my ears.  I had no idea where I was truth be told at this stage, I just wanted to stop. So lap 47 was my last. I came in just under 50 minutes but it was a struggle, I had managed to run through the heat of the day and into the early afternoon but I was spent and had been for probably 5 or so laps.  Shaun had a word with me and told me I had done enough for the tribe and Phil and lap 48 was for me but I was gone, mentally I had used everything to get through lap 47 and there was nothing left for one more lap, nothing.

Last few laps… and Channel 7 interview.

So lap 48 I stepped over the line and asked for the DNF bell and rang that bell for all it was worth, I was finished. Phil was left to run lap 48 on his own and get into the 200 mile club and win the event, well deserved. He could have gone on and I am under no doubt will go on with the right assist, I had done as much as I could. All I had to do was collect the last DNF trophy from the  Emma, the lovely Race Director, a few choice words to raise a laugh and then retire to my chair, a beaten but ultimately happy man. The event had been so much more than I could have ever hoped for and as I type this post I’m so excited for the next one , Birdy’s backyard, in August. As my Wife commented after the event she had never heard me be so positive about a race so soon after it, no comments about ‘never again‘ and ‘I’m retiring‘, which is the norm these days after grueling events. No, a backyard ultra is different, even when you are destroyed you yearn for more and just one more lap.

The last DNF trophy…. standing next to the winners trophy… about as close as I got !

 

So for all the readers that have managed to wade through this monster of a post I have saved the best to last. My top tips to excel at a last man standing event.

  1. Break down the loop into smaller sections. For Herdy’s this translated to section one from the start to the bridge at around 3k, then the section from the bridge to the road, around 2k  before the final trail section to the finish. Thus rather than a start to finish, one goal,6.7k, you have three smaller sections to work towards and thus you’re never more than 3k from achieving a goal. At the start the laps seem to disappear in the blink of an eye but towards the end of the race a loop can take forever so breaking it down means you hit targets quicker and can use these smaller goals to keep moving forward as they are more achievable.
  2. Hydration and Nutrition is pivotal to success. As we all know an ultra is an eating and drinking competition with running between aid stations. With a last man standing event you get the opportunity to run further than you ever thought possible but to do this fuel is so important.  A Porsche without fuel will not move, similar to Michael Hooker’s challenge. The engine was firing on all cylinders but bad fuel put an end to his race.
  3. Crew is so important. You cannot possible win this event without a motivated crew. Phil has a cast of thousands helping him and my crew grew and grew but the usual suspects got me from the finish line to the start line in my semi-conscious state. Without them I would have crumpled many hours earlier.
  4. Whatever gets you through the next, it’s alright.  John Lennon hit the nail right on the head with this one. When the suns out the world is a beautiful place to be , at night it’s lonely, cold and dark. So many competitors charge the daylight hours but when night falls they are tested and buckle, watch out for the witching hours 2-5am , this is where you are at your weakest and the little voice inside your head at its loudest.
  5. Change of clothing , shoes and socks. I learnt a very painful lesson during Herdy’s, change your shorts often or wear cycling shorts and have a tub of sudocream or Squirrel’s nut butter. Even typing this my eyes start watering. !
  6. Get a comfortable reclining chair and a quality sleeping bag / onesie.  You crew need to be able to get to work while you relax and a reclining chair is a must , don’t scrimp on this as you’ll spend a lot of time in it ! Also in the evening it will probably get cold, a good sleeping bag or onesie is another must have, you can’t have your temperature yo-yo’ing between your running temperature and your ‘resting in your comfortable chair’ temperature.

 

True Herdy legends…and Frank.

Finally a big thankyou to Emma, the Race director, all her crew (and there was hundreds!) and Shaun , the pied piper to the Ultra Series running catalogue. These people are just so awesome and their hard work makes what myself, Phil and all the runners achieve possible. They are the true heroes of this event.  Also special thanks to my crew over the two days, you know who you are and what you did, I am eternally grateful.  Wayne and  Amanda get a special mention for just being themselves, so genuine and also for the ‘pit stop’ at 45 laps to change my shorts, you will never know how good that felt! Michael Hooker also gets a massive thankyou for being so supportive after he had dropped out earlier in the event when looking so strong. Michael would have been so disappointed at dropping out when he was hands down the favourite for the event and running so well. It takes a special kind of person to put that disappointment behind them and get on board to help a fellow competitor.  Next to  Phil , the deserved winner of the event, your calm during the chaos of Sunday morning and afternoon was liberating and once we got on the loop your encouragement was enough to get more to the finish. I look forward to when you have an assist who can take you to the next level of this sport which I’m sure you’ll be able to step up to.

Couldn’t leave without thanking No1 Wife, Karen, who came down for 15 minutes and stayed for many hours on Sunday worrying about me (and increasing the life insurance hourly!) . My  family allow me to follow my dreams and any sacrifice I make for them was more than paid in full for this event. They understand what I do and allow me to follow my passion and achieve goals like Herdy’s. I am a very lucky man.

 

Some random DNF images, notice one thing, they’re all smiling ! This event is infectious.

 

 

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General day to day ramblings,Ultra Marathons

Delirious West postponed.

26 February bigkevmatthews@gmail.com 0 Comment

It is with a heavy heart I have to  inform you that the Delirious West 200 Miler  ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) has been postponed until October due to a 2 week snap lockdown after 10 months of COVID free restrictions. On the bright side I now get to run the race twice in the space of five months, October and then February 2022 to get the infamous ‘double plugger’ trophy.  Always the optimist. Unfortunately I now find myself about as fit as I’ve been in many years with no races and a new addiction, trail running. Not a bad thing but the trails, the good ones, are at least an hour away so my runs now take two hours extra for the journey and also another hour for photos and just enjoying being on the trails, taking it all in so to speak. Thus a 3 hour trail run equates to about 6 hours of real (non-runners) time. As you can imagine No1 Wife and my many Daughters are none to impressed. It is lucky of course that No1 Wife has created her own social circle of friends after I started to hibernate and hide form a social life about 10 years ago. My many Daughters are now old enough to prefer time with their friends or electronic devices to spending it with Dad , so I’m onto a winner .

 

Delirious 2020

Right so Delirious is put back to October I now concentrate in my next race , the inaugural Herdy’s Frontyard, ( https://www.herdysfrontyard.com.au/   ) another last man standing event. I’ve been racing for over 20 years and without doubt the most fun I have ever had,  with a bib on my chest,  was Birdy’s backyard in August 2020, Herdy’s sister event.  The concept is simple, it’s a 6.7k loop and you need to complete the loop and get back to the start line on the hour , every hour. The event continues until there is only runner left who then has to complete on their own to win, everybody else is a DNF ! It’s a brainchild of the great Gary Cantrell AKA Lazarus Lake, he of the Barkley Marathons fame.  For a feel of the Barkley marathons watch this great Youtube video, inspiring stuff https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDZdsqbcGTU

Best fun you will ever have with a bib on…

Birdy’s was really in the middle of nowhere around a beautiful lake so the scenery was stunning, if you search on birdys in the search option on the blog you’ll find a few posts with photos. Herdy’s frontyard is around a lake but this time it’s in the middle of Perth so there should be some spectators who will add to the atmosphere. I’m sure the organiser, Shaun Kaesler, will also have a few more ideas up his sleeve to make the event more memorable, which I hope includes at least one coffee van on 24 hour standby ! So for all Perth runners on Friday March 26th you need to get yourself down to Herdsman lake to either compete or spectate. There will be well over a hundred runners and with Birdy’s last two runners, Phil Gore and Michael Hooker,  racing the event promises to go well into a second day and maybe even a third.  Around the world these races have gone over 60 hours so you never know what to expect, of course in this instance it really does take two to tango as the winner can only run one more loop than the person who comes second, unfortunately.

For this type of event I highly recommend a massage gun, the running answer to eternal youth.  If you haven’t got a massage gun you really are missing out.  I use a gun from an Australian firm (made in China of course?) but, as with all things, you get what you pay for.  In the 10-15 minutes you have at the end of each lap (assuming all goes well) you need to hydrate, get some nutrition, rest the legs and get on the ‘gun’. Worked for me last time when I was able to hit the magical 24 hours , which equates to just about 100 miles, give or take a few hundred metres apparently.  For Hirdy’s I am going for broke, however long that may be ?

Guns out for the ladies?

 

The running answer to eternal youth ?

 

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General day to day ramblings,Trail Running

It’s that time of the year.. 6 inches of fun, fun , fun !

13 December bigkevmatthews@gmail.com 0 Comment

Next Sunday is the 15th running of the 6 inch ultra trail marathon, 46-48k  ,  http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/  , (it varies depending on the trail condition and course changes?) of serious fun and so much better than Christmas shopping, actually anything is better than Christmas shopping truth be told, even Goldmine hill the  seriously nasty 3k climb at the start of the race.  Note to self when I’m halfway up that mother of a climb think to myself this hurts but nothing compared to the alternative ! (see previous sentence about Christmas shopping!) I think entries are still open so if you’re reading this and it’s pre December 19th get yourself an entry.

 

I

 

I’ve written a few posts on this race over the years and have attached a few links here for your viewing pleasure.

https://www.runbkrun.com/2018/12/17/at-christmas-you-need-a-good-6-inch/

https://www.runbkrun.com/2018/12/17/middle-of-december-6-inch-time/

https://www.runbkrun.com/2016/12/19/sometimes-6-inches-is-enough/

https://www.runbkrun.com/2018/07/20/the-6-inch-is-coming-look-busy/

https://www.runbkrun.com/2019/12/03/look-busy-i-spy-a-trail-ultra/

Looking back on all those posts it just hits home how much fun the 6 inch trail ultra is and also the memories we have made together which are priceless, most of them involve some sort of mishap to Jon with Bart’s normally enjoying it more than most. At the moment Bart’s still has a faster finishing time than Jon and with Jon attempting the 18 inch this year that is unlikely to change. Yes you did read that right, Jon is going to attempt to start his race on the Saturday afternoon, run from the start to the finish and then return to the start just before the official start of the race and then run back with the racing pack. Thus running a 18 inch ! I mentioned this to Jon as a thing over coffee and muffins at our weekly Yelo morning run , as a throw away comment. As soon as I said it I could see Jon’s mind go into overdrive and it was on. He’ll probably end up running nearly 150km over the course of the weekend, with no stops of note due to time constraints and having to be back in Perth for the Sunday afternoon for his kids. ! Truth be told this has YouTube documentary written all over it but no one else is made enough to paly along and it’ll be totally self supported. His logic is it will be good training for the Delirious West 200 miler in February where he will attempt to go back-to-back wins. ( https://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/  )

Been watching some seriously good videos on You Tube this weekend.. check out this on on Ricky Gates as he runs unsupported across America, that’s over 3700 miles. Outstanding job Ricky, inspiring. Made me go out for a 10k run, also unsupported

(   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ciEqPZsOCs )

After this I was inspired enough to watch another running video on the Western States Ultra from 2010, what a battle. !

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy1as6CTYXI   )

 

 

Right, I’ll report back next weekend on the goings on but needless to say there will be some… can’t wait. Ho, Ho , Ho….