Awesomeness never comes cheap…!
Comments
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It’s too late at night to try to think in kms!!
Love this log but I had some cake earlier and I feel like scum now. You’re already awesome but looking… wow Armagh on the tv now!! Shhh
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Donadea is a small race. The ground won’t be noticeably softened by the runners. And definitely don’t rely on gps - clock at end of each lap is the best bet, I reckon.
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@squinn2912 haha... that's how I feel when you guys post in Miles. Hope you enjoyed the cake! I will enjoy all of that in about 11 days time again.
@Murph_D lets see. 200 runners, 5 laps in means 2000 feet crossed the path. Add some rain and you have a muddy ground :D. Wont be going by GPS on the day! Have 4 spots on the lap where I am going to measure my pace by. Did similar on a TT there in 2020 and worked out well enough. So hopefully it will be fine on the 12th as well.
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Don't forget you will be at the front of that group of runners and will probably lap about twenty or them at least once, and many of them two or three times. That's a lot of subtractions, and it's a firm gravel path for most of the route, unless it's deteriorated a lot since the last one. Anyway best of luck.
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Aye I’m an old school Luddite I must admit! I suppose it’s partly due to the speed limits being in MPH here in The Sudetenland as well. Aw I did! That will all have to go by March - Lent might come at a good time for a sinner like me. Hope your cake is to celebrate a new PB💪🏻
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Right, taper time...wooohoooo.... :D. My wife after todays run "what time are you heading out this evening?" - I am like "2nd run my butt. it's taper week 1. I ain't going for no 2nd run!". She didn't really believe it. Showed her the plan for the week. 60-70km instead of 140-160km. Her next question "what are you going to do with all that time???". Guess someone will soon get some house chores handed over.
Todays run: 12k on the plan, 11.xx done. Couldn't be bothered going for 12. its one of those things. Until taper, I always add more. The moment i hit taper, I don't want to even do the distance that's on the plan. Legs heavy, right knee a bit sore but nothing to be worried about at this stage. Think that's normal after yesterday. Opted for the clifton 6 to have plenty of cushion, smart choice!!!
Food log:
Breakfast: 300ml Almond Milk (no sugar), 1 scoop phd diet whey, 2 Bixies, 100gr white grapes, 2 Clementines
Lunch (includes any morning snack): 120gr Couscous, 200gr defrosted blueberries
Dinner (includes any afternoon and evening snack): 100gr defrosted prawns, 200gr iceberg salad, 100gr raw spinach, 20 corn cake, 100gr grapes, 60gr nuts
Total per day:
Calories: 1811 (will find additional 150 somewhere I’m sure)
Protein: 80gr
Carbs: 286gr
Weight:
31.01.2022 (8am): 72.3KG
Summary of the day: The higher you jump, the bigger your impact on the world!
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Rest day aka "what am I going to do to keep the step count up" day. All it takes is a dog and the willingness to walk (in this case the willingness of the dog not mine. she is a lazy b...). 2000 steps during the morning walk is all we managed. she is just too lazy especially when its rainy, windy, sunny, snowy, breezy, foggy, darky etc. so basically when you can add a "y" to it she doesnt like it and prefers sitting on the couch :D. A proper child i would say!
Lunch time = walk time. Dragged the dog out again. She was a bit happier but not too much. Was happy enough to be back home. Same loop so another 2000 steps added. Think at this stage its fair to say that I wont be reaching 18k steps today :D.
evening: 3rd time lucky, right?! My butt 😂. Got she refused to go on a walk. Had to “chase” her around the house to put the lead on. Man she wasn’t impressed at all. That misty rain isn’t to her liking at all. Still 2.5k walk done. I might even get to 9k steps today wooo hoho. Thankfully I can run tomorrow! 🤗
Food log:
Breakfast: 300ml Almond Milk (no sugar), 1 scoop phd diet whey, 2 Bixies, 250gr defrosted blueberries, 2 Clementines
Lunch (includes any morning snack): 120gr cooked pasta (or a bit more but not much), 50gr prawns, 100g iceberg salad, 40g spinach
Dinner (includes any afternoon and evening snack): 350gr carrots, 300gr kidney beans, 1 apple, 2 kiwi, 2 clementines, 1 bread roll, 60gr nuts
Total per day:
Calories: 1780
Protein: 80gr
Carbs: 280gr
Weight:
31.01.2022 (8:00am): 72.3Kg
01.02.2022 (8:30am): 72.2Kg
Summary of the day: when you don’t run you realise how banana the world has become!
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Interesting observation. Unable to fall asleep last few nights. Always went to bed tired but the moment I put my head on the pillow I’m wide awake and can’t sleep until very late (last few nights it took me roughly 2hrs to fall asleep then). However, last 2 nights I tried putting my head up. Not on a Standard pillow but those wedge pillows. Few minutes later and I’m asleep. Anyone any idea what the methodology is behind that? As a note I have slept on that cushion for about a year now. For some reason it had helped with restless legs. Stopped over Christmas as I was ok falling asleep and no issues with legs. But now it’s all back again since the running volume dropped. Weird?! 🤔 @E.coli any chance I can pick your brain on that? 😁
Think i am close to entering phase 2 of taper: The Doubt Zone!
Session today was 10k @ 3:40 (5:54 per mile). Sure I managed the pace and breathing was fine but head and legs were like "leave me da f alone". Not in the mood. Nothing in the legs. Felt like it is the hardest thing to do to run that pace. Same time its only 8 seconds faster than planned race pace and the doubts starting to appear: "How am I supposed to hold that pace over 5 times todays distance?????".
Let's see how long it will take to enter phase 3: "I don't give a damn zone!" 😁
for some reason, body feels in bits 3 hours later. The usual, the body is starting to heal and recover but it feels like injuries, niggles etc. the human body is just weird.
Food log:
Breakfast: 200ml Almond Milk (no sugar), 1 scoop phd diet whey, 2 Bixies, 1 Banana, 1 Pear, 2 Clementines
Lunch (includes any morning snack): 120gr craw oats, 500gr defrosted raspberries, 1 scoop diet whey
Dinner (includes any afternoon and evening snack): 300gr kidney beans, 100gr iceberg salad, 200gr carrots, 100gr dry couscous, 60gr nuts
Total per day:
Calories: 2248
Protein: 104
Carbs: 335
Weight:
31.01.2022 (8:00am): 72.3Kg
01.02.2022 (8:30am): 72.2Kg
02.02.2022 (08:30am): 72.4Kg
Summary of the day: Lazy people don't do much but get further in life! Go further being lazy!
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Probably a bit out of my league but don't suppose you have Scoliosis or any previous back issues? Normally I would say perfectly normal to be a bit restless if the taper has been dramatic enough but tied with the Restless leg syndrome sounds like it might be some nerve dysfunction that the pillow was correcting by aligning the spine.
That is just a ballpark into potential causes but the parasympathetic nervous system can play all types of tricks especially in early stages of a taper
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🤔 I did have some back issues back in 2019 I think, after doing yogalates or whatever that was called. Overstretched/bend the lower back. No injury as such though.
i also get extremely stiff lower backs when being on a bus for the first time in a while, now that you mention that. Usually takes a few days to clear up (especially painful first few k when on a run).
physio to look at some point I suppose?!
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A way to overcome doubts = look at past races that are similar enough to your upcoming race. Did that last night as (as usual) doubts are growing that the race will go well. Looked at the TT I did in September 2020. 5 laps around the course (so a bit less than half the proper race distance). Managed to complete that in 1:32hrs. On my own, 1 btl of water on me (500ml), heavier than right now, no rest day in the build up, no proper taper, in a shoe that wasn't my favourite (carbon x1). Still from what I remember I could have done 1 or even 2 more laps at roughly 19min per lap. Would have gotten me to a nice 2:10hrs for 34.6km or better said 59min for the remaining 3 laps and a bit. Doesn't sound too bad right? Should give me confidence for the race, right? For some reason it doesn't! In short: a runners mind is a weird thing :D. Think it's time for race week and just wanting to get it done and not caring about time, position etc. Just get it done, cross it of the list and get on with life!
Run: 8k easy. Very easy! So easy I partially stopped running (ok that was the wind). Funny how this week feels like never ending. An 8k run where I thought after 2k “what a further 6 to go?”. A week with a max of 63km when only 2 weeks ago I did 170km. Surprised me every time.
Food log:
Breakfast: 300ml Almond Milk (no sugar), 1 scoop phd diet whey, 2 Bixies, 1 Banana, 1 Pear, 1 Clementines
Lunch (includes any morning snack): 2 low fat split pot yogurt, 50gr branflakes
Dinner (includes any afternoon and evening snack): 60gr nuts, celery/tuna/ kidney beans salad
Total per day:
Calories: 1780
Protein: 83
Carbs: 203
Weight:
31.01.2022 (8:00am): 72.3Kg
01.02.2022 (8:30am): 72.2Kg
02.02.2022 (08:30am): 72.4Kg
03.02.2022 (7:30am): 71.8Kg
Summary of the day: To lift your spirit, lower your expectations!
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You're always a solid racer. I get why you're having doubts but you always race well. When the crunch comes you deliver.....keep the faith.
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Ah… I have faith. This is more like putting down what goes on the head before it drives you mad 😁 and to show those reading this “it is normal. You are not alone!”. Marathon racing is definitely a different mindset than half marathon and less. You get way more doubts as soon as taper starts since you can’t (well maybe shouldn’t is the better word) just wait a week or two and do another one if it went badly 😁
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I love your style of just coming out with what youre thinking and feeling. Like therapy done right! Once it’s written down then that’s part of getting rid of it! All part of the process of getting to the start line (and the finish line) in the right way to perform!
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Thanks I guess 😁 it’s not even everything that goes on in my head. Every time I open the thread to write the daily update it starts with the Star Trek theme song and then
“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of Mr Awesome. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new distances. To seek out new challenges. To boldly go where no runner has gone before!” 😁
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😂😂
love it!! Your very own epic!! For me it’s usually Rocky or else the line in Michael Collins… “what’ll give in first the body or the lash?”
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We are writing the year... nah only messing. One cannot write a year. "year" is just a word. I was always (well since I can remember... think it started when I was 10 or so) wondered why people celebrate new years eve. As if life was just a game and every "year" it resets. So in other words (if i get this correct: 365 days per year, 2021 years since that one important incident plus January 2022 and 4 days in Feb 2022) we are writing the day 737700:
Got up this morning and the little one went straight to the couch, turned on the TV (youtube) and watched the evolution of King Kong (amongst some other weird stuff that kids watch nowadays. Wonder where the good old days are when kids watch Pokemon or Spider-Man etc). Started of ok and reasonable. A big sized monkey. Sure why not. Can happen. Add a bit too much protein powder and some steriods and it could probably happen. But then it jumped to the final version from King Kong vs God-the almighty-zilla. An ape like 10 times the size of all the other versions and a weight of 80-90000 tonnes!!!! And guess what...my first reaction wasn't "man that's is unrealistic shite..." no, my first reaction was "man, imagine i would be that tall. Sure i could cover the 50k distance within seconds but then again where would I get my runners from? Which company would manage providing a shoe that can handle my then big feet and my slightly heavier weight????" 😁 ... i suppose that's called priorities!
Today's run: put on the Clifton 6 (btw did I ever mention that they are white? Like really white! And I use them for running on dirty, muddy, wetty roads 😂. They ain’t white for much longer, that’s for sure) and went out not looking at the watch. 500m in I was like “man that is exhausting and I don’t even run fast” (it really did feel slow) so I looked at the watch and pace was 4:25 per k (7:06 per mile). So legs felt fine and wanted to run by feel, everything else was fine and wanted to run by pace. Think I did well by doing the 10k in 48min overall 😁. And yes, you can still tell the shoes are white but turning grey soon.
Food log:
Breakfast: 100ml Almond Milk (no sugar), 1 scoop phd diet whey, 2 Bixies, 500gr defrosted strawberries, 25gr branflakes
Lunch (includes any morning snack):
nothing. Busy at work. Forgot to take a break. Then put on shoes to get out at 2:15pm. Finished run, shower, back at desk before picking up the little one from after school. No time at all for eating. Well, good thing: I can have more for dinner 😁
Dinner (includes any afternoon and evening snack): 60gr nuts, 500gr defrosted strawberries, 1 scoop diet whey, 100gr oats, 20 corn cakes, 2 clementines, 1 pear, 200gr carrots
Total per day:
Calories: 2075
Protein: 90
Carbs: 306
Weight:
31.01.2022 (8:00am): 72.3Kg
01.02.2022 (8:30am): 72.2Kg
02.02.2022 (08:30am): 72.4Kg
03.02.2022 (7:30am): 71.8Kg
04.02.2022 (8:30am): 71.8Kg
Summary of the day: The journey ends, when the journey starts!
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Right. Almost there. Rest day today which meant not having to get up in the morning and waiting for 2hrs until I can go for a run. 😁 dog wanted to go out at 6:30. Said “screw you” and opened the back door. She went for a wee and back inside falling asleep. As said before she hates those weather conditions so didn’t mind having to wait until 9am for a proper walk to make the big business. Had a nice 4K walk with her then during the morning just to keep the legs moving. Felt so light and bouncy with every step. Nice feeling to finally meet legs that don’t suffer from fatigue.
shopping after the walk, little nap and then rugby. Finally a real sport again. Not this football shite. Don’t get me wrong I like watching a good game of football but lately (a few years now) there is non. Last one I really enjoyed: Netherlands vs Portugal in 2004. What a boxing match. That was great to watch. 😁
further 3.5k walk after the match. Soaked after. Got death wishes from the dog every time some gusts had blown rain in her face 😂. So much fun but hey a runner during taper who isn’t allowed to run needs to walk. Keeps the legs entertained without putting any stress on the body.
last day of calorie counting. Woooo hooo. Next three days it’s just being mindful of the intake (know by now what I can and shouldn’t eat) and then it’s carb loading until Friday morning. Nice…. Just need to continue watching the weight. Ideally I will be at 72-73kg on the day (well an elite marathon runner would weight 68kg at my height. Not gonna happen! Not gonna starve myself to death!!!!).
In phase 3 now (not sure if there ever was a phase 4). Earlier than expected. Usually happens 2-3 days out for me. Never a full week. Don’t really care anymore how it will go. Or how the conditions will be like (why would I? Same for everyone. Not like some other sports where one could have an advantage over others by stacked starts). Right now I just want this to be over. Enjoy it to the extent one can enjoy suffering. Oh and looking forward to clear the Xmas leftovers. So much chocolate left. Turns out no one touches them at all but the moment I will eat it, it will be like “who ate the chocolate? Why? I wanted them!” 🤦♂️ Well tough. You had your chance. All mine after next Saturday!
Food log:
Breakfast: 200ml Almond Milk (no sugar), 1 scoop phd diet whey, 2 Bixies, 350gr defrosted berry mix
Lunch (includes any morning snack): 350gr defrosted berry mix, 1 banana, 1 apple, 1 pear, 1 phd protein bar (on sale in H&b - couldn’t resist buying it 😁)
Dinner (includes any afternoon and evening snack): 60gr nuts, 300gr kidney beans, 2 eggs, 100gr sweet potato
Total per day:
Calories: 1809
Protein: 86
Carbs: 219
Weight:
31.01.2022 (8:00am): 72.3Kg
01.02.2022 (8:30am): 72.2Kg
02.02.2022 (08:30am): 72.4Kg
03.02.2022 (7:30am): 71.8Kg
04.02.2022 (8:30am): 71.8Kg
05.02.2022 (8:30am): 73.0Kg
Summary of the day: Weight is relative. It’s just another way of justifying a run.
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I love a good debate. It isn’t about being right or wrong but being able to challenge themselves and others. To see how far one can push boundaries. How much one is able to explore new ideas, views, opinions. How open one is to other views or stubborn in general as in “I’m right. He is wrong and I don’t even try to understand his point of view!”. How quickly one can find an alternative answer, being able to adapt his own thinking and so on.
translates into running to me it shows if i am able to handle training or not. If I’m able to push through the pain in a race or not. If I avoid a good, honest debate just because it is uncomfortable, I will most likely step away from certain sessions as they seem to “uncomfortable”. And if I’m not able to hear my opponent and at least try to understand his view of things (not saying to acknowledge he is right or wrong) I might not be able to push through the race as I’m too stubborn to stick to the original race plan even if I realise i might not be able to hold on to it. To me during a marathon (and sometimes even a half) I undergo those debates all the time. Not with others but with myself. My legs vs my brain. My brain vs my breathing. My brain vs my brain etc. all of those parties have good points and valuable facts and in the end neither is wrong. So surely if one isn’t wrong he must be right, correct? Unfortunately that isn’t always the case! The brain isn’t wrong in saying “I’m done!” When you are mentally fatigued. That doesn’t mean it isn’t right though. Yes, the brain might be done at that point but only because it can’t think beyond the pain. It just needs to open up and see what the legs say and why they want to keep moving. It is a tough battle and doesn’t matter if you run for 2:30hrs or 4hrs. You will still face that battle (if you don’t, you don’t push hard enough!! 😁).
todays run: 16-18k @ 4:30 effort. Settled for 14.95km at 4:36. No point doing much more at this stage as one will not gain anything by going longer but could jeopardise everything by going to long. Important part is to just having the legs clipping over and not going into a full shut down. Also the Mach 3 felt hard on the legs. Thought the ground in the park would be soft and muddy but has been hard with puddles. Wrong choice on shoes, right decision on shoes! 😁
any ways, job is done. Nothing else to be gained this week. Just a few runs and ensuring the legs will continue to move. Watching the diet and plenty of popcorn, bagels, pasta and couscous Wednesday-Friday. Nothing heavy and slow in breaking down.
schedule for the week:
Monday: 10k easy
Tuesday: 2k warm up 6k @ 3:50 2k warm down
Wednesday: 6-8k very easy
Thursday: rest
Friday: 3k very easy 800m @ 3:45 200m very easy
Saturday: race
so that’s all for today and the run up to Donadea. Thank you for reading and if I don’t read you again, good morning, good afternoon and a very good night! 😁
Weight:
31.01.2022 (8:00am): 72.3Kg
01.02.2022 (8:30am): 72.2Kg
02.02.2022 (08:30am): 72.4Kg
03.02.2022 (7:30am): 71.8Kg
04.02.2022 (8:30am): 71.8Kg
05.02.2022 (8:30am): 73.0Kg
06.02.2022 (8:30am): 72.1Kg
Summary of the day: If you don’t like headwind turn around and run backwards. Now you have tailwind!
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All the best for tomorrow lad. You're in great nick as always. Hope it all goes to plan. I'll be keeping an eye on Strava so please don't keep your fans waiting 😂
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Best of luck with the Donadea 50K, it's fantastic race and I hope you have a great race.
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Good luck tomorrow champ rip it up!! And get the report up pronto!!
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Thanks all! I’ll enjoy them 10 parkruns tomorrow regardless of how it will go. On the other hand it will go left mainly. It’s a lap anti clockwise. So it will go left accept them right turns. They will go right. 😎
@Swashbuckler there is live tracking you know 😁. You will feel my pain when the pace starts to drop from lap 2 onwards
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Right. Race day. Final entry for a while. Got up at 6am sharp. Jumped straight out of bed the moment the alarm went off just in case the body decides to stay in bed. Mind over body!! Not feeling it. Hopefully it will improve.
breakfast: 2 bixies, diet whey, small pear, banana, almond milk. No coffee. Just plenty of water.
checked with the dog if she wants to go outside. Crazy bitch said “are you mad? It’s windy outside!” So she decided to lay down again. Smart bitch. Bitch… how I love being able to say that. Did I ever mention the story about me walking her around the estate? When a bunch of kids approached us (5-7 years old) and she got all nervous and barked at them. They looked scared (it’s a terrier cross but her bark is like a German Shepard) and jumped to the side. I’m like “ah don’t worry. She is a crazy bitch!” And they like “ooooohhhh he just said the b word!!” And I’m like “aaaah **** need to pick the words carefully around kids!” And they like “now he used the f word!!!!” I just turned around and walked away laughing 😁. I’m Case I didn’t tell that story before, now I did.
anyways 6:40am back to bed for a little nap. Fair to say that I am still not feeling it. Missus got up already (more nervous than I am) and the dog decided “ok I can go outside with her”. Happy days!
7:30-8:00am - just sitting and waiting. Listening to the sound of the wind! Wondering why I have signed up for that. I could have done an easy 5k road race tomorrow. County novice is on. Oh how much I would have loved to do that. Ah well. Base builder for dcm. That’s all it is. It will be fine!
8:10-8:27am. Getting ready. Picking up the support crew. If it wasn’t for them (and the little one who joined) I would have called it off. Still not feeling it.
race:
lap 1: surprised me… a lot. Plan was to go out easy and finish the first lap in 20:15min (bit longer than other laps). Went out easy and controlled. Didn’t get caught up in a mad race (so I thought). Felt good and easy enough. Checked the watch at the end of the lap: 19:16. As said **** surprised and shocked me. Since it felt easy, I was thinking “this is going to be awesome!!!”. Ground still hard enough and no real issue.
lap 2: continued with the controlled effort. Easy first half and then picking it up second half to be on pace. Aim was to finish each lap just under 19min from here on. Thought this would be a smart choice considering I did training runs there faster. Man i was in for a surprise and not a good one. Ground seemed to soften up. Slipped a few times running up and down the drags. At the end of lap 2 I started to notice that my legs were fatigue. 2 laps in! What da ****? How? Within the matter of minutes? Time for lap 2: 18:58. So spot on but already realised a certain trend. Pace was slower than lap 1 but effort didn’t drop. It started to increase.
lap 3: well, that’s me done. Started of controlled again. Thought “just slow down a bit first 2k” so finished those in just under 8min. Perfect I thought. Just didn’t realise that the legs just didn’t have it in them to pick up the pace without having to increase the effort. Finish time lap 3: 19:14. Same effort as lap 2 and already dropping 16 seconds. At this stage I knew I was done and in for a massive fight.
lap 4: same as lap 3. Notice a drop in pace from the get go. Same effort and pace dropping. First 2k done in just over 8min but had to work for that. Lap time at the end: 19:39. Wanted to stop at this point as I knew this wasn’t my day. Only thing that kept me going was the coach mentioning “1:45 behind 3rd place” which meant I only dropped a few seconds on that lap. So I kept going and started lap 5.
lap 5: no different to lap 4 and 3 and 2. Pace first 2k dropped a lot. I decided to just opt for a steady pace and hoping the legs will find some mojo. Upper body at this stage was fine. Head was gone. Mind over body always a good thing if it means the mind pushes on but not if the mind is giving in and starts saying “just screw this. Stop. Rest. Eat chocolate and then go again on another day”. What kept me going was the support and realising that everyone suffered and people starting to drop out. Same time now being passed by other runners and in a matter of 2k dropping from 5th or 6th to 9th didn’t really help. Them guys did a smarter run! Started out a lot slower and settled for a slower time from the get go. Thought to myself “should have done the same. Don’t race it but go out at 3:20-3:25 pace” but that’s not me. I don’t sign up for fun runs and at the start it would have been just a fun run feeling considering how it went the first 1.5laps. Lap time: 20:11
lap 6: nothing to report except me thinking the whole lap “just stop. Don’t want to. It’s enough”. Pace at that point dropped to 4:15-4:30 and nothing, absolutely nothing in the legs to keep this up. Lap time: 21:39!!!
lap 7: Came to the crew and ready to drop out. Only thing that kept me going was the little one who started to run with me for as long as she could (think it’s been around 600m). Pace at that point dropped to 4:45. Tried to pick it up and get it back to 4:30. But that was a lot of effort and I started to pay for that. Legs gone (nothing knew), mind gone (nothing knew), upper body started to give up as well (something knew). Decided 3k in that’s it when a crew member tried to run with me and I couldn’t hold his pace. Dropped to around 5min per k at that stage and I still wasn’t feeling comfortable. Means i knew it would continue to drop. Time: 22:58.
lap 8: got to the crew and stopped 50m further. Couldn’t go on. They tried to encourage me. Not sure if I saw disappointment or disbelief (it’s my first ever DNF!!!) that I made that call and they couldn’t get me going. I think I was in 9th place at that stage or 8th not sure. Did my math: if I had gone on I would have taken a further 1:10-1:20hr which meant total time of around 3:40. No point in that. Wouldn’t have “celebrated” it. Sure I could have said “see I pushed through!” But at what cost?
- Longer recovery
- risk of injury
- mentally brokenness (wow that’s a word?)
anyways. Couldn’t go on. Body just locked up. Started to feel sick and almost go to the point of throwing up. Good sign. Meant I didn’t take it easy and gave it my all! 😁
Back to the car. Getting changed. Man I was cold. So cold I had to ask the little one to untie the laces!!! took me about 10min to put on two trousers and 3 layers of shirt/jumper.
back to the finish line seeing Sean winning! Great result and delighted for him! He has proven to be the best ultra runner we have (when it comes to 50k “road” races). Gary 2nd and he definitely pushed to the limit. Ambulance support to get him back on his feet. Showed me again I made the right call as I might have ended up the same just at a slower pace. Not worth it.
back home and first thing I did - I ate chocolate! Fooking delicious chocolate from Xmas!!!! Was looking forward to this since New Year’s Day!
well, lessons learned:
- if you are not ready, don’t do it. I probably shouldn’t have started in the first place. Something happened over the last 7 days that got me from a high to not being ready. Maybe peaked too soon. Not sure and will analyse with coach to see what we need to change for DCM
- im not an ultra runner. I’m a racer and unless you are a 2:20 marathon runner you can’t run fast over 50k+ and survive.
- 1 more marathon and I’m done with long distance. So many races I missed out on because of this 50k race that I would have loved to do. Xc, county road race and even indoors!!
do I have any regrets by dropping out? Surprisingly not. Again, says a lot I think. Just wasn’t there today! Still enjoyed the training block and I’m definitely a step closer to the 2:25. Today might not show that but I know it and that’s all what matters.
thank you for listening and I see you when I see you.
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Enjoy the chocolate! Brilliant analysis. Looks like the right decision
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Best decision. Sometimes giving up is just the right thing to do! Right now I’m feeling sick. Too much chocolate 😂 not gonna touch that stuff for a few days again
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Tough day.
You're possibly a bit raw right after the experience, but maybe it would be good to wait a day or two to process what happened and decide whether it was right or wrong to step off. You say it's a first ever DNF, and I think such an event deserves a bit more consideration and reflection, beyond a quick decision that "giving up was the right thing to do". The 50k is a good bit different to, and in many ways a lot tougher than, the marathon. It certainly punishes early exuberance even more, as I think you discovered. I don't think what happened today was much more complicated than a traditional blow up, maybe complicated by a lack of confidence going in, and only you know the real source of that.
(I say this just from purely looking at the numbers, and Donadea is a great race for data.)
You'll bounce back, we all do.
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Yea I agree with a lot of that mate. I’m already calling everyone lads here 😂😂😂
but you say you’re not an ultra runner might be somewhat premature. You’re a hero to front up like this anyhow and lay out your thoughts. My most similar experience I was hard to talk to for a few weeks, which didn’t help
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Sorry this didn't go to plan but take the advice to sit on it for a few days and have a look at what could have went different in regards something you could have controlled. Given how you felt back in the car after the race it tells you that that you were pushing it and two more laps might not have been a runner. It was possibly too hard too early, I'd imagine it's not a course that many do a negative split on...despite the surface being quite forgiving than regular road it's sapping. Too soon to make decisions on ultras and marathons yet I would suggest, the training though is a pain for the sacrifices that need to made to be your best on the day. Don't beat yourself up anyways, this stuff is supposed to be fun/hobby.
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Hi,
im not beating myself up. It’s been the right call to DNF as I think long term and not short term. I have been through more horrendous conditions and pushed through. So I know when to push and when to just call it a day. Target has always been DCM and Donadea was always meant to be a fitness indicator and to get a good base done so that the jump from 2:39 to 2:25 isn’t too big. Looking at the current fitness I’m currently around 2:31-2:33 for a marathon and that’s a good base.
”never again” it’s a definite. 2nd year now that I more or less sacrificed Xmas and family time for donadea (got cxl last year). Not going to do that again!
not an ultra runner: sure I can do Ultras and I still have on my mind to run 100k in 7hrs 😁. But right now I couldnt do that to the family. The training involved is too much and would demand too much of them. Hence After DCM I’m done with anything longer than half marathons (for now anyways).
with regards to reflection on what went wrong and to learn from it:
1. Diet - it seems I made a big mistake here. Lack of energy last 2 weeks probably a lot down to the body not being fuelled properly. A winter race needs different energy levels than a autumn or summer race. A better call would probably have been to go in there a bit heavier but more energy. Just couldn’t get the food in and due to work skipped a meal or two during the day during this week. Also (and that’s what I need to figure out why) been cold almost every day despite the house being warm and me having 2-3 layers on. Even yesterday morning the body probably already used up energy just to try warming me up (even before heading out to donadea).
2. Mileage - overall I think mileage was spot on. Could have done with a bit more but total was good. Drop in the end to rapid and the high volume perhaps 2-3 weeks too late.
3. Sessions - don’t think there was much wrong with the sessions. I just think the marathon broke me mentally. Not that it was tough but for some reason I was done and looked forward to a break. Most of that probably comes from doing that a day after the 3*5k or because it’s been two tough weekends in a row. Checked with @E.coli and agree here, It might have been better to either do the 3*5k midweek and just an easy 20-25k run the day prior to the marathon or split those two big weeks with an easy week inbetween to increase recovery. I do believe that those last few weeks will give me a big boost long term but for donadea it might have drained me mentally and even physically too much.
Additionally, but that’s probably just me and what I like and don’t like, there weren’t enough sessions with changing paces. Tempo runs are great but I think done too often and hence the body wasn’t able to adapt to donadea where the body would have needed to be ok with going slow and picking up the pace etc. but again, that’s just me. I take a 3(4-3-2-1min) session over any tempo run 😁.
feedback will be given to the coach on that! 🙂
4. Elevation - I got too comfortable running flat routes for workouts (elevation usually around 70m over 18k). Not enough hills in there. No backpack, and avoiding wind by that as I could pick where I’m running. Noticed that since covid started and I wasn’t “forced” to run home. Definitely something I need to change again.
5. Races - think those were missing last few weeks. Normally I would be hoping to have a race every 4-5 weeks even if on extremely tired legs. Just to get a feel for it. Looking at the last few weeks since the 10k Xc before Xmas there was no race effort in there. So expect me requesting a few races going forward 😁
6. Shoe choice - definitely the wrong shoe for me yesterday. Should have gone for one with more grip even if normally slower. Might have saved the legs a bit more and hence time after 7 laps might have looked a bit better so that mentally I would have gone on if a 3:20-3:25 finishing time would still be in reach. Lesson learned! X2 is a great shoe for the road. You can run fast in them but too stiff and hard for slower runs. Think that added to the legs getting fatigue that quickly.
think it’s time for checking out other brands for race days. Hoka all the way for training and trail races but road races I’m open to a change now.
All in all, I have no regrets. Seeing how the body feels today it has been the right call. No point in going on just to finish and still being disappointed. At least this way I have no long term damage. Don’t need a long recovery. Got a good workout in.
anyone who has finished yesterday has my utmost respect! And if my aim would have been “I want to finish a 50k race” I would have done so and gone out a lot slower. But I decided to race a 50k. And the moment it changed from a race to a battle of survival I made the call. To be honest perhaps even 2 laps too late 😉.
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