About Me

My photo
PB'S Six foot track - 4:09 March 08 3000m 9:50 - October 09 5000m 17:25 10k 36:03 - may 2009 1/2 marathon 79:56 marathon 2:54:56

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Coming back to planet Earth

Well how does the body pull up after running 210km? It's been 2 weeks now and other than a very sore butt muscle from driving to Canberra and back yesterday for 9hrs it's feeling pretty good.
The first week after the race however was a different story.
I remember after the race being sick for the rest of the day. I did manage to eat a chicken burger that night for dinner but that was it. I had some visualization of having this massive feed and downing the beers to celebrate but nooooooo it was a 3hrs nap then just in some sort of zombie land for the next couple of days.
The next morning we started to make our way back home stopping at Maccas for breakfast. I did feel hungry so orded all this food and did manage to get though it but was me done pretty much for the day.
Now I have no idea how much weight I lost running for 24hrs but I know I did look pretty awful and not being able to eat was kinda stressing me out.
I think it was Friday food tasted normal to me again. That's 5 days of not really eating.

So after 5 days of being in some other unknown world I start to return to the land of the living.
The next day which was a Sat I had my first run in a week with the trotters. The run was Kincumber mtn. Well I start off ok but by 2km my hip flexors reduced me to a shuffle but hey not that I was bothered as it was good to be able to run. The next day being a Sunday I head off to Bobbin Head to do the Sydney trail running race. 12km. To my surprise I'm only about 1min slower than last month but last month I suffered with my asthma so that was a pretty slow run anyhow.
Then all last week I just got back into a few 11km runs a 22km run a trotters 10km race which I managed to come 6th on the hilly time trial then today I head off at 5:30am and meet up with other like minded souls for a 47.5km turned into 50km bush run.
So I'm pretty happy with my recovery I did drive to Canberra and back yesterday after the 10k yesterday and like I said my glute is pretty damn sore right now.

So hear I sit drinking a beer and listening to Gun's n Roses relaxing :-)

Monday, April 15, 2013

Coburg 24hr


Finally got that magic 210km that I tried to get last year. This race has been my main focus for the last 4 months. I came with a goal of reaching 210km and nothing less. Anything over would be a bonus.
The race started at 10am Sat which meant we wouldn’t be finished until 10am Sun. Holy heck that’s a long time to be running around a 400m athletic track.
Now the first thing most people say when I tell them is “oh how boring” But when you actually do these events there is nothing boring about them. Yes you are running in circles but you are never never alone. With so many people cheering you on from people you know to total strangers. I can’t explain in words how good these events are. It’s also very challenging physically and mentally. I mean there is no finish line. You are running to see how far you can go in a given time

So at 10am we are off and running. My plan was to run very very comfortable from the start and noticed I was running about 2:00-2:05 each lap. I also decided to walk one lap every 30min but after about 3hrs I found it easier on the body to just jog slowly each 30min
The hour splits that I could find were

1hr – 27 laps, 10.8km 8th place
2hrs – 54 laps, 21.6km, 7th place
4hrs - 111 laps, 44.4km 5th place
5hrs – 139 laps, 55.6km, 4th place
6hrs – 166 laps, 66.8km, 4th place
7hrs – 192 laps, 76.8km, 4th place
8hrs – 217 laps, 86.8km, 3rd place
12hrs – no info but got told I did 124km
14hrs – 353 laps, 141.2km, 3rd place
15hrs – 373 laps, 149.2km, 3rd place
16hrs – 388 laps, 155.2km, 3rd place
17hrs – 408 laps, 163.2km, 3rd place
18hrs – 425 laps, 170km, 4th place
19hrs – 438 laps, 175.2km, 4th place
20hrs – 457 laps, 182.8km, 4th place
21hrs – 479 laps, 191.6km, 4th place
22hrs – 500 laps, 200km, 4h place
23hrs – 514 laps, 205.6km, 4th place
24hrs – 527 laps, 210.836km, 4th place
I started to feel  the effects of fatigue, pain etc etc about 15hrs in.

At 12hrs I had a change of shoes. 14hrs in and I had trouble eating and at about 17hrs I sat down and had a 5min sleep. It was also around 17hrs I had my first vomit and really struggled for the next 3hrs. At 20hrs I decided to run 9 laps then walk 1 lap and noticed I was feeling good again. I had another 5min to rest my eyes at 20hrs in and had 2hrs to reach my goal of 210km. That last 2hrs all I could manage was run 1lap walk 1lap. The last 30min was pretty much walking. 7laps to get 210km I had to pull off the track and spend about 5-6min just vomiting. No way was I going to fall short got back up got back on the track and walked the rest of the way. With 2 laps to my goal and 12min to do it in I knew I had it. Once I finally got my laps completed I had 3min left on the clock. Managed another 36m then just collapsed on the ground and waited for the hooter to sound.
Totally spent from all energy I lied on the ground and felt amazing in what I had just done

 Later I found out I done 2 more laps than my goal so that last 836m was my bonus :-)