A Pain In The Ass

Having to run/walk/crawl 38 miles longer than I have ever gone before, i'm just a tad nervous about not having followed a structured 100 mile training programme or in the absence of such a thing not having followed the general training advice of those that have gone before. My longest training run has been 26.2 miles and I'm putting everything on the fact that I have run a few of them over the last few months (6 since 1st June). No back to back 4/5 hour runs that I did for the Portumna 100k in 2011, no training with my planned nutrition for the day, indeed no clear nutrition plan other than  to load up with every conceivable food that I may need/want on the day.

 

 

The only thought I have given to my race plan is the fact that i'll need to incorporate some form of walking into the day, following the general advice of "walk well before you have to". While those at the pointy end of things might get away without having to walk during a 100 miler I don't want to test whether or not I am one of those as it will prove very painful and counter productive if I find out at mile 60,70 or 80 that I am not. With this in mind I have done some walk specific training over the last month, but not nearly enough to build up the walking base that I would like. Training the body to walk efficiently at a reasonable pace is very similar to training the body to run efficiently  and just because I can run at a certain level does not mean that I can walk at the same level, the aerobic base may be there, but the muscular base is lagging slightly. Don't get me wrong, most people can walk for a very long time, but to do so at anything resembling a reasonably consistent and steady pace requires specific training. I initially introduced walking into my warmup/cooldown for a few of my runs and then did a few walk only sessions, resisting the urge to break into a trot, which doubled as "patience" training (also required for Saturday). At the back of my mind was a walking pace of 12 minute miles (5 miles per hour), which I initially struggled to achieve for 1 mile, requiring constant vigilance as my mind tended to wander.

 

 

While my walking pace improved over the month, culminating in a 10 mile walk at 11:33 pace last Saturday, it is highly unlikely that I will achieve anything near this pace during the race as the effort in terms of heart rate was similar to running at about 9:00 pace ( the whole point of walking is to give the body a bit of a rest) and most of my walking will be on the uphill sections. A 14 mile run/walk the previous weekend, included 3 x 1.85 miles, walking the uphills @ 12:30 pace and running the downhills @ 6:03 pace giving the double training benefit of uphill walking and strengthening the quads on the downhill sections (the quads appear to be the first muscle group to suffer during long ultras - all things being equal at the start). In terms of adaptation, I found that my glutes/hamstrings in particular felt achy after the walking sessions so I am hopeful that I have managed to mobilise/awaken a few additional muscle fibres that I can rely on at the weekend. After all it is likely that my musclular/skeletal system will be the weakest link in my endurance chain - it certainly was the case during the Portumna 100k 2 years ago, where after about 65k (40 miles) my natural pace slowed, matched by a similar reduction in heart rate, suggesting that it was a reduction in the number of muscle fibres that I could recruit that led to my drop in pace. Lets hope that I have mobilised/drafted more recruits into my army of muscle fibres for this weekend's battle and that my battle plan is effective and followed through. Time will tell.



 

There Or Thereabouts

One of my other little holiday experiments involved carbohydrate deprivation for two weeks as part of a carbohydrate intolerance test recommended by Phil Maffetone in his Big Book (my holiday read). The idea behind the test is to severely restrict carbohydrate intake for 2 weeks (no high- or moderate-glycemic carbs, no fruit even) and assess the impact on physiology, energy levels etc. before gradually weaning myself back onto various carbohydrate sources and assessing their impact to see if they have an adverse effect (e.g. wheat). Dr Maffetone swears by this test citing it as

 

"the best way to jump-start your metabolism because it quickly shifts the body into a higher fat-burning state." and that "tens of thousands of athletes have used it as a necessary platform to get healthy, lose body fat and significantly improve aerobic function and overall endurance."

 

Before I had finished the sentence I had started my very own two week test, ignoring the recommendation that "The two week test is best performed during your aerobic base period"

 

To assess "before conditions" I should have completed a 5 mile aerobic test at my 138 MAF (Maximum Aerobic Function) Hr. As I was nowhere near a track I skipped this. In any event, I had my doubts that I could improve my aerobic function, given my recent form. Still I was excited to see what the impact would be. The first few days to a week were not too bad, but as I entered the second week I was getting a bit weary of the diet (plenty of eggs, nuts/nut butters, cheese (unprocessed) meat and vegetables) which was quite repetitive, and I noticed an increasing craving for sugar. I came off the deprivation yesterday and can confirm that sugar coated crusty raisin loaf has little or no impact on my physiology or energy levels, apart from the fact that  I found it difficult to stop after 3 or 4 slices.

 

 In fact the biggest impact of the whole experiment was the complete lack of energy for the first few miles of most of my runs, some of which were well above 9 minute pace. However I was equally surprised at how well my energy and pace picked up after I got over these 2 or 3 opening miles - one on the main recommendations of Dr. Phil is the 10 to 15 minute warmup/cooldown starting and ending at walking pace, the point being to gradually ramp up from your standing Hr (say 70) to your exercising aerobic Hr (say 130), which is the most efficient way of mobilising your limitless fat stores as a fuel source and minimising the burning of your finite reserves of carbohydrate fuel. The longer the distance the more important this becomes (e.g. the 6 mile cut-in approach to marathon racing).

 

As my next race will be nearly 4 times marathon distance, mobilising the maximum ratio of fat/carbohydrate fuel mix from the off is probably the single most important thing that will ensure I have the best chance of finishing in a decent time as the aim is to stretch my carbohydrate resources (preloaded and what I can ingest during the race) for a long as possible as I can't burn fat on it's own (fat is like the log to the carbohydrate flame - if there's no flame the log is feck all good to you) - and I don't want to spend the last 20 miles crawling on all fours burning the very muscles I need to get me to the finish line.

 

Jamie's post last week gave the best analogy of how I think our fat burning engines work most efficiently (although his analogy was on consistent training) - that of a big heavy ocean freighter that takes an age to build up speed, crawling along even at full throttle until it reaches its cruising speed which it can maintain forever, even if you ease back a little on the throttle - solid, dependable, reliable, enduring - granted there's no sprint finish with this engine.

 

I don't expect to feel as lethargic at the start as I did during my "carb depleted" runs. I was lucky that one of these runs - pacing the 3:30 group in the Killarney Marathon - started with a net 5 mile downhill section, which helped me ease into the effort without too much trouble, although the warm day proved challenging, with Tony (my fellow pacer) and I coming in alone, having lost our last pacees before mile 20 - 18th out of 212 finishers in a time of 3:29:33

 

I finished off my 2 week experiment with a 5 mile MAF test at the track this evening, with the results showing little change over my previous 2 tests in March and May. The slight dis-improvement since May, is probably within the margin of error of my Garmin HR monitor.

 

 

 

 

Summer Camp

I spent that last three weeks conducting a few experiments to see how my body would react to a few different stimuli, the outcome of which would help me decide  my next race. As I was on holiday I did not have the distraction of work to get in my way.


The first week was all about getting long hilly miles into my legs to build leg strength and further boost my endurance base. As I was in Waterville for the week I took to the  hills of the Kerry Way, with more than 50% of my running (and walking) off road. Rather than tire myself out with a single long run each day (the aim was to cover 20 miles minimum daily) I split most days into morning and afternoon runs, which fitted pretty well into the family schedule as my first run (and shortest) was done and dusted before the kids rose in the morning and the second run while they were at a 3-hour summer camp at Derrynane Beach. The sun was splitting the stones each day, which meant I carried a backpack with a 750ml bottle of water and a sugar hit (apple/pear) for my afternoon forays.


As the week wore on the start of each run became more and more sluggish but surprisingly there was none of the expected muscle soreness of repeated runs on unfamiliar hilly terrain and after the legs warmed up each run felt the same as the one before - perhaps my pace suffered but it was difficult to tell given that most runs were different and average paces varied up to 13:30 per mile (the views were worth it though). As the kids had no camp on the Friday I decided to complete one long loop of the Kerry Way, starting and ending in Waterville, leaving shortly before 6 with the exact distance unknown but somewhere close to  a marathon. I arrived back in Waterville shortly before 11 with about 25 miles on the Garmin so I decided to do a loop of the town to get up to 26.25 and cooled off in the sea - which was the standard cooldown each day.

 

The113 miles for the week is just 1 mile short of my longest weekly mileage but with 15,000
 feet of elevation gain over the 5 days (Saturday and Sunday were rest days) it was the most challenging, slowest (average pace of 11:08) and most enjoyable weeks running, jogging and walking. If I add in the twice daily long runs of the previous Saturday and Sunday the total 7 day mileage amounts to 156 miles (avg 22.3 miles per day) - not quite 10 in 10 but good enough for me. After that I was pretty sure what my next race would be.



The Only Way Is Up

 

Marathon No. 40

The Waterford Viking Marathon last Saturday was my 40th Marathon/Ultra and 13th this year - I certainly have gone off the deep end over the last few months. Technically Waterford was an ultra as mile 1 was in fact 1.2 miles long, adding 0.2 miles to the overall course. This was not confirmed to us until Mile 21, which made pacing the 3:15 group all the more difficult. We were over a minute behind at all the early mile markers, not willing to push the pace to catch up in case the overall distance would come good. When we crossed the halfway timing mat in Tramore about 40 seconds behind our 13.1 mile target we decided to start banking a little more time as insurance against the possibility of having to run a longer course.

 

Mile 14ish - Tramore Promenade

 

The sun came out as we hit the sea front at Tramore making for more challenging running conditions, particularly on the short sharp hill up through the centre of the town. From here to the finish the rate of attrition began to increase and the temperature increased as we returned along the undulating road to Waterford.

 

 By mile 21, when I was told that the course was actually 0.2 miles longer, I was about 5 seconds behind on the mile marker and only had two runners on my shoulder. Over the next couple of miles these two fell off the pace, which was made all the more challenging by the fact that I had to increase the pace marginally to build some cushion on a 3:15 finish. While it may not have appeared much, increasing the pace by 5 seconds per mile over the last 5 miles of a marathon, can be the straw that breaks the camels back for those that are running at the limit of their ability. My fellow pacer was about 40 seconds ahead of me at mile 23, obviously more concerned than I about making the 3:15 deadline ;-).

 

The last few miles of the course was all about trying to encourage those that I came across to run with me to the finish, with all but one unable to take me up on my offer. So over the last mile I had one guy with me, who ran ahead to come in under 3:14,  followed by yours truly in 3:14:27 - delighted that I had the endurance base to complete the course the day after racing a 10k PB. One of the guys who had dropped off the pace at mile 22, suddenly came sprinting out of nowhere to collapse across the line a few seconds under 3:15, straight into a waiting wheelchair and the medical tent - reminiscent on my own wobble across the line in Dublin 2011.

 

 Apart from the serious error over the length of the opening mile, the marathon was well organised and supported on what turned out to be a beautiful if somewhat warm day on an interesting and challenging course. Apparently the City Council extended the barriers on the mile 1 out and back section along the City Quays to avoid roadworks, inadvertently adding 0.2 miles to the course without informing the organisers!!!

That's the end of marathons for a few weeks as I am steering clear of the Sixmilebridge 10 in 10 in order to save my marriage ;-) With 2 down and 8 to go, best of luck to all those competing.

Another One Bites The Dust

Given my recent good form my plan is to seek out some of the shorter races during the summer months and throw a few speedwork sessions together beforehand so that I could have a decent shot at breaking a few barriers and get a few PBs in the process. I have already got the sub 18 minute 5k, which has given me renewed confidence to have a go at a few more,


sub 38 10k (Pb of 38:15)

sub 24 four miler (Pb of 24:24)

sub 30 five miler (Pb of 30:24)

I'd have to put in more significant specific training to even think about breaking some of the time barriers I would have previously considered beyond my reach such as a sub-60 minute ten miler and an sub-80 half - still the stuff of dreams, but we dream for a reason!

 

 

The timing of the Courtmacsherry 10k on Friday evening wasn't the best for me.  However it is the flattest/fastest and the most scenic 10k of all the summer 10k races and one that I had been meaning to do over the last number of years. Circumstances were conspiring against me again this year as I had signed up to pace the 3:15  group at the Waterford Viking Marathon on Saturday morning. However I decided to throw caution to the wind (being doing a lot of that lately) and head down to Courtmacsherry for the 8 p.m. start. I arrived in time to sign up and get a 2 mile warm up in.

It was still quite warm (19C) and humid but I felt under no pressure to get a specific time. My plan was to ease into a comfortably  hard pace over the first mile and see where that takes me. I was looking out for club mate Keith, who I had spotted during my warm up, but could not see him. Not to worry, I was certain i'd see him during the opening mile as he tends to open hard.......  and sure enough as the pace settled over the opening half mile I spotted him out in front as a long line of runners snaked along the flat shoreline towards Timoleague. By the time I was on his shoulder the average pace was 6:04, which was the split for the opening mile - a bit fast for a guy seeking his first sub-40 10k. Over the next mile and a half I continue on at a steady effort, gradually reeling in and passing a few more guys although the pace does slow. There was a noticeable headwind during this opening half, from which I tried to seek shelter behind a guy in front, until he moved to one side to let me pass.

I am on my own for the next mile into Timoleague, with the two front runners coming against me at the start of the short loop through the village. The  gap to the four or five runners I can see strung out in front of me is not closing - I have reached my cruising speed, although miles 2 and 3 have been much slower than my opening mile (post race splits of 6:14/6:24) I hope that the return leg, with the wind at my back will be faster. I pass the 5k mark with 19:22 showing on the Garmin - doesn't look like a sub-38 or even a Pb is on the cards this evening unless there is a serious injection of pace. Still the gap to those in front marginally reduces as we head back out the coast road to Courtmacsherry, with a constant stream of runners coming against us on the opposite side of the road.

If there's one thing that my endurance base has given me over the last few months it's the ability to churn out a reasonably hard pace for a reasonably long time, which stands to me now over the closing miles as we wind our way back to Courtmacsherry and the finish line. There are  about 7 runners strung out in front of me, including Carmel Crowley (2nd Lady) and a few with Bandon and St Finbarr singlets. My steady pace takes me past 2 guys as I slowly gain on Carmel and  2 guys from St Finbarrs (one of whom is running in Vibrams). I have no idea of pace or time, until I hit the 5 mile mark with 30:46 on the garmin - just about on PB pace (6:09) by my rough calculations.

I am on the shoulder of two guys at this stage and manage to pass one. The other guy, who had been running with him, put in a surge and is gone out in front. I keep a steady pace behind him but cannot close the gap, as I have absolutely no raw speed (This is where a few 400's at the track would come in handy). We continue on like this as the village gets closer and I start counting down the remaining time as the effort is beginning to show. I can see the finish line about 300m ahead when out of nowhere a young guy (19 or 20ish) in a Bandon top goes flying past me at twice my speed and proceeds to gain on and pass the guy in front. I have no response for that type of surge (and never will), but I do respond when I see the clock at the finish line ticking down 37:5x and put in my own little surge to cross under the finish gantry at 37:57 for a shiny new Pb and a sub-38 minute 10k. Very happy considering the shape my legs were in after last weekends endurance fest. Had I been a bit more focused in training for and targeting a 10k Pb I would have been aiming for somewhere between 37:10 and 37:30 - still it's nice to leave something out there to aim for.

I hadn't realised that there was a chip start and as I wasn't one of the Duracell bunnies on the front line it took me 5 seconds to cross the start line giving me a chip time of 37:52 and 16th place out of 331 (15th place on Chip time). I was also third M45, which netted me a cotton T-shirt to add to my vast collection, but it was never about the shirt.


 

Long Weekend - Part 2

This is a much shorter post. I was awake at 11 last Saturday morning, ready for the day ahead. While my legs were not too bad my whole body felt tired and washed out.............. no more than what you'd expect after a midnight marathon and a few hours sleep. Trouble is that I had put my name down for the Clonakilty Marathon Director's Invitational on Sunday morning and as it is my home marathon I could not leave it go. How difficult could it be. My philosophy was to test my endurance.......a bit like a mini version of the 10 in 10 coming up in Sixmilebridge next week. This should be a piece of cake compared to that, so my mantra was to "man-up".

I Drove down with clubmate John D and joined the small crowd (about 12) at the start line in Clon on a mild sunny morning. Two guys, Shane and Brian, were even more hard core than I, having squeezed in a trail marathon along the banks of the Royal canal which started at 1 on Saturday, 13 hours after they started the midnight marathon - 3 marathons in 2 days!!!

 My only plan was to run a sub 3:47 (my first and slowest marathon). The problem was that I left the Garmin at home...........no problem - race marshal, mobile water station volunteer and finish line timekeeper, Killian Walsh came to the rescue, giving me a loan of his Garmin 610 (much more sophisticated than my 305). 

Once the legs thawed out over the opening miles John and I kept a reasonably consistent effort over the 26.2 miles, taking in the coastal scenery that never fails to impress, eventually feeling the fatigue, which always creeps up on you, over the last 10k. We pushed the pace over the last few 100 yards to get under 3:38 - stopping the Garmin at 3:37:40. We refuelled on sugary coffee/tea and granola bars, while I also had a shake made up of apple juice and protein powder to get the muscle repair going as soon as possible. A very pleasant run - more like a very long club training run than a marathon. The "recovery" week after Portumna turned out to be my highest mileage week this year with 80 miles on the clock. I gotta make use of all this endurance base I have built up.

Long Weekend - Part 1

My cousin Liam ran the 100k in Portumna on June 15th. Despite the fact that he shouted out my name a few times out on the course (you can do that at 100k pace ;-), I ignored him most of the time, partially because I was bllind as a bat and also because I was so focussed on my own race plan that I did not see much around me, unless you happened to be the guy blocking my path with music blaring in your ears.

After I had finished I did have a brief chat with him in the ultra refuelling zone at the start/finish area, where, by way of helping him to get things from his bag, I helped myself to his treasure trove of goodies - ultra runners always overstock, so I knew he would not miss a thousand calories here or there. I had to head for home before he finished.

As I was working in the Kildare area last Friday I took the opportunity to stop off at Liam's place on the way home to catch up on old times and see how his 10:28 100k PB went. As chance would have it Liam's Club, Le Cheile AC, was hosting a midnight marathon that very night. "Why not come along and give it a go" he said, "it would be a bit of fun" - and you thought I was crazy.

As luck would have it my gear bag was in the car and I had told Abina that I was just popping out for a packet of cigarettes, so she wasn't expecting me home any time soon. So we both headed for the shop to stock up on rice cakes, jellies and coke and carb loaded on a quarter pounder with cheese at the local greasy grill (with equal measures of protein and fat, in case the carbs didn't work). Unfortunatly it is I that carrried the quarter pounder around the 26.2 miles rather than the other way round.

The course was 95 laps on the outside lane of the Grass Track at Le Cheile AC in Leixlip. It felt a bit odd heading out the door shortly after 11, saying goodnight to Paula and Zach (Liam's wife and son), dressed in running gear. I felt like I should be going to bed and my body concurred. There were about 40 other crazies lined up for the midnight start - I knew immediately that I had stepped into another realm, an alternative world where everything seemed strange, surreal......but only to me..........I was an imposter in an alien world..........this all seemed natural to those around me.........................

Look like you know what you're doing

Each runner was introduced to his "counter" before the start. These were the guys and gals who ticked off your 95 laps one by one as you passed them at the start/finish. Each counter had about 5 or 6 runners. Let me say from the outset that these guys/gals were excellent....imagine giving up 4 or 5 hours of your time to count people running around a field in the middle of the night, when you could be sleeping/clubing/watching re-runs of the Soprano's. Not only that but every time you passed they offered encouragement and checked to see that you were alright.....95 times!..........by five or 6 runners!!!. Respect....it made running around a field 95 time seem like a piece of cake (and it wasn't). My counter was Jarlaith. If he could be described in one word it would be "Solid". Everytime I passed I could hear him shout out "gottya Grellan".......like a safety net catching you,,,,,,,,,, as the last thing you wanted was an extra lap added to your run ......it's funny how the seemingly small things take on a huge significance at 3 in the morning.

I started off reasonably conservatively, with about 6 runners out in front of me, including Rory Mooney, winner of the Portumna 50k.........so i know straight off that 2nd place was the best I could get. While the garmin pace was showing 7:20 to 7:30 pace the actual pace was about 15 seconds per mile slower...........something to do with reduced satellite accuracy when running around in small circles (The Garmin clocked 27.17 miles by the time I had finished). The effort felt more than the pace suggested, partly due to the time of day and partly due to the fact that I had run a marathon PB 6.5 days earlier.

It wasn't long before I was lapped by Rory and two other guys. To break the monotony I decided to up my pace and hang on to them for a few laps or half an hour if I could. After all it didn't feel too stressful. In the back of my mind was to finish reasonably early as I planned on driving home after the race.........it doesn't take that long to buy a packet of cigarettes. If I could get to bed before Abina rose for work shortly after 7 i'd be able to get to sleep in until 12 before domestic duties called.

My plan worked for a few laps until another guy came from behind and forged ahead, dragging Rory and one other guy in his wake. The pace was too fast for the other guy and I, so we ran on together for a while before he too fell off the pace as I passed the only girl among the 6 that had started in front of me.  6th place, with 3 more than a lap in front of me

It wasn't long before Rory and the other guy (Paul) lapped me for a second time. The guy in 3rd place came back to me and it wasn't long before I had lapped him and the 4th placed guy a couple of times. 4th place, I think ( I hadn't seen one of the guys that started in front of me - in reality it was more confusing on the night and I was not counting position).  While I had a drop bag with coke and a few gels in it I did not touch it all night. There was also a water table on the straight, which did not use either as it involved straying from the racing line.

My plan was to get to at least 66 laps before seeing if I could increase the pace and finish strong. The halfway point came in about 1:40, indicating a even pace 3:20 finish. Although I felt that I would have to work harder to stay on that pace to the end. Lap after relentless lap was counted down, surprised that I had not been lapped again by Rory and Paul. Then Frank McDermot told be that Rory had pulled out. 3rd place, by my calculation.  Although if someone had stopped to to take on water I could have passed them without knowing - doubful perhaps.

I ploughed on slowly clocking up the laps until i reach 65 laps and I can see an end in sight. I start counting down the last 30 laps, gradually increasing the pace with 20 laps to go. At some stage I remember passing one, then 2 guys that I had not passed before. One was Paul, who had been 2 laps in front (he had removed his rain jacket and I had not noticed). I was still only concentrating on my race plan of finishing strong if I could. I increased the pace with 10 laps to go and noticed the encouragement from Jarlaith increasing everytime I passed.

At some stage I heard someone say "you put 40 yards on him during the last lap"........all I though of was "who?"..........."where is he?.........."how far ahead is he?"............"is he more that a lap ahead?".........."Is he in first place and am I in second?".

All I could do was stick to my plan/pace and what will be, will be. The comments from the counter corner escalate to "he's getting faster with each lap"......"phenominal".........."great running Grellan", which encourages me to keep pushing the pace. With 3.5 laps to go I pass Paul and assume that I am in first place, but am not sure..........he could be a lap ahead for all I know.............I am running scared now as there are always footfalls behind me..................the counters are now instructing the slower runners to keep right and let the faster runners through on the left.........adding to excitement of the closing laps. I continue to push the pace counting down the last 2 laps and cross the finish line for the last time in 3:17:01. Paul finishes behind me in 3:17:41, with the third placed guy, Aidan, coming home in 3:21:14. All very close for a midnight marathon. With an overall average 7:30 pace, my closing laps @ 6:55 pace were enough to ensure a strong finish once I had taken the lead.




Where have all the other Zombies gone?

 

Following a light massage, refuelling on coffee and cake and a coodown lap with Liam I hit the long road for home, thankful that I had left the bottle of coke for the journey, with my head finally hitting the pillow at 6:30, sharing half an hour with Abina before she rose for work - unfortunately her instructions for the day fell on deaf ears..........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz