Binge training

It's that time of the year. The winter is long gone, the last winter storms didn't happen and no sheep perished under a snowstorm in the South Island. As I write this at 8 o'clock there is still about 30 more minutes of daylight. University ended and work is crazy busy, but only for three more weeks.

Summer… ladies and gentlemen is finally here and we're up for half a year worth of good stuff. 

We had our first sea swim of the season, and then the second one and a couple of swim races too. I'm at a stage of my training life where my gains in swimming are marginal or almost none when it comes to speed. But I am getting better in my navigation and enjoying more the races.

I am still to do a brick session, I've been lazy to turn up and opted to go for long rides instead. All of a sudden, all that free time comes very handy to catch up on the ol' triathlon training.

On top of all that, my better half is going to be away for three weeks, which means that the house will be empty and silent. What's my antidote? 1. go for a ride 2. go for a run 3. go for a swim 4. go out with mates for a ride, a run or a swim. 

I've entered a half ironman, so it's about time to do some triathlon specific training. More of that in the next post

A view from the top - Auckland Marathon (half) race report

I had a great race last Sunday. The Adidas Auckland Marathon is established in my calendar as a race to do more for training reasons than for actual performance. This year I decided (last minute) to challenge myself and see where I could go. There were two objectives, the first one to go between 1:16:00 and 1:18:00, the second one was to be in the top 25 finishers. Considering that the race is two weeks after a tough 60km ultra race, the objectives were challenging enough.

I can’t say I did a lot of threshold training, and the speed work on the track has been less consistent than in previous year.  I did, though, have a huge base, and a good set of strategies that could help me be efficient come race day. Eat lightly the day before, do a long warm-up, start fast to avoid the congestion of 10,000 people on the road at the same time, pace with the front bunch, where the guys in running club singlets should be hanging, which I knew where about the 1:15 to 1:20 finish time area. Luckily enough there was photo finishes of the last 10 races in the registration area, which helped me to learn that the first women would be running pretty much the time I had in mind. Nat was also racing, which is good to deal with the anxiety and prep of the day before.

The race

It started fast, but not as fast as I was expecting, which help me stay calm and save energy. The pace continued for the first 10km and all along I was where I wanted to be, with a couple of other guys who were running quite steady too. I had a double serve of gels for the race, not my favourite food nor the brand I like the more, but I forgot to buy my favourite gels before the race and had to make do with whatever was in my foodbox.

The 10k mark went unnoticed, as I did not look at my watch too often. The idea was to err on the side of calm on the first half and then let go at the second half. When I looked at the watch it was 11.5km and just over 41min, life is good.

One of the guys took off and I suck to him, we passed two other racers and then it was time for the harbor bridge, I didn’t follow the guy ahead’s punishing uphill pace, and when I got to the top I could feel my quads giving up. I gelled up and carried on, but the pain was there to stay.

The last 5km was where I could go for a fast finish, and it would have gone if I had less pain in my leg. My gait shortened, and although I had a few heartbits left, there was no muscular response to accompany, which sucked. I may have lost almost a minute on those 5km, but I didn’t let that turn me down and soldiered through the finish.

The result

I achieved one, and failed on the other of my goals, a  1:19:02 got me to the finish in 23rd position and I am happy with such a great result. There are areas of improvement, but overall, it was the best run race I’ve done this season in terms of planning and execution. It feels good to go fast, it is great to go fast for a long period of time, and it's a huge satisfaction that the legs deliver on the day. I am a happy Valen today

Waihi - Kaimai Killer ultra race report

A year ago I dipped my feet into the river of ultra. Both in a metaphorical and literal sense, I got into the ultra world by taking on the Kaimai killer in the middle of a weather bomb. All I remember was cold rain and surface water on the track, to the point where running (at least for me) was not possible. Let’s say that it was a steep learning curve, all of a sudden I learned about my shortcomings in the training to the race, in my nutrition strategy and the overall toughness of a race where you have to be focussed for over 5 hours, which is the time a half ironman race takes. It was fun, character building fun. 

And a year makes a lot of difference. I was a year fitter and a year wiser. This means that I did not enter the race until 1 day before, once I was absolutely sure the weather was going to be OK. It also meant that the preparation and planning were a lot more sparse, my training must have been somewhat more ‘smart’. We stayed in a DOC campground a few metres from the race HQ, just perfect for the 5am race start. My nutrition strategy was less overprepared, it was fruits (fresh and dried), nuun water and a couple of bars. There was a big bottle of mountain dew waiting for me at the marathon point, to avoid last years’ bonk at 45km. And that was about it. 

The race

The early start means that 1.5 to 2 hours of the race are done in the dark. These are technical stretches where I lose ground to mountain runners because I am somewhat more risk-averse that these bastards. I hung on to my headtorch and said to myself that I needed to stay in touch with the front bunch for the first 8km, where last year I lost a lot of ground. It didn’t quite happen and I found myself isolated again, running through an empty field with two quite intimidating bulls for company. I was somewhere in the 8th or 9th place, though, and that was spot on where I wanted to be. Remember, I had a plan for the long run and many of the guys ahead may not. There are a number of river crossings, and I managed to fall or slip on all of them, the first one brought me a small cramp-like feeling that didn’t ease until the end of the race

The middle of this race is where I feel the best. The two big hills are behind and the terrain flattens to a rolling sort of track. It i also when my breakfast finally settled and the energy is flowing well. Besides the little cramp-like feeling I was on a high. To top that up I met a guy, Matt, who had to make a toilet stop in the bush and we sort of got on with each other after checking he was OK. He was a good runner (or so I thought) and we worked for each other. I learned who was first, second, third and fourth and we were somewhere in 8th and 9th place. Talking and running we struck a good pace and caught and passed 7th and 6th and we would eventually catch 3rd and 4th Alistair and Steve. We formed a good group and ran for a good couple of k’s until 3rd placer upped the pace on a hill. I followed and made sure I stuck behind and didn’t do any extra work. All of a sudden I was with a chance of placing :-) that motivation alone got me through the final 5km back to the race HQ and the point of the marathon. 

Alistair was having a big feed as I walked into the marathon point, my plan was to be a bit faster and have just the mountain dew and pack something for later. I had to take my shoes to remove some debris and I was good to go. Matt caught us at this point. Three of us left together, and I was on a plan not to set the pace, but to follow attacks and conserve energy. My nutrition plan is gentle on the stomack, but it is not so energy dense that I can overspend, therefore the next 19km were about conserving energy until 3k to go and spending all of it in the good downhill to the finish. Whatever happens happens. 

We lost Alistair, he needed his body to do the digestion stuff for him. I took careful note of that, as he would definitely feel much better towards the end of the race. Matt and I carried on for not much longer, as he set a crackling pace up a 5km, 400m vertical hill and I cracked. I was now running for fourth, not ideal but not too bad, and just about 1 hour better than last year if I kept the pace. The next hour and a half I run by myself and tried to limit my losses. The final dash to the finish was OK, but I made sure I kept a steady pace, because Alistair is a much better climber and he surely made some ground on me. As I was on the 59th kilometre, I began to relax and plan the rest of the day. I was saying to myself ‘I got this in the bag, I’m gonna be fourth overall and 3rd open mens’. 

And it was a case of  ‘it’s not over until the fat lady sings’. Alistair blazed past and pushed me aside in a nice steep downhill. I stuck behind and waited until the terrain gets flatter, I may had a chance at a long sprint in flat terrain. I put my head down and didn’t look back until I crossed the line. I gave it all I had on those 600m and it paid off. I crossed 1 minute and a bit ahead. 

The good, the bad and the ugly

The good: I stuck to a plan and it worked. 

The bad: I was somewhat short on the energy front. Could I have run better uphill with more sugar?

The ugly: the last 15km of this race are tough on the mind, real tough

Do you have it in you?

Tomorrow we’re going out on a very long bike ride with a mate. The idea is to complete it. I am nowhere near in need of such a long ride at this stage of my training, but it will be good as a fitness test, fat-burning exercise and start of a taper period before the 60k ultra a week after.

The reason for the ride is to carry on with a classic ride from Auckland to Coromandel that has been happening for the last 4 years. It is also a good way to help my friend who’s got a 200k ride in 3 weeks time and needs to do the distance to know he has it in him.

Which gave me a new take on another reason why we go out training that I hadn’t thought before. Some times we go training just to know we can finish an event we haven’t done before. I remember my first triathlon to be quite a long day in the office. I had never combined a 500m swim, 20k ride and 5k run in the past. And even thought I completed it, there was a few moments of doubt during that race. With time I learned to work around the doubts and voices that come upon.

If we split the race in three, we have hope, doubt and belief. The start of the race is full of hope and good anxiety. The middle of the race gets a bit more serious, and at some point or another there’ll be a bit of doubt, which seems to be the way the body whines about the hard times we’re giving to it. Then there’s belief, the end of the race is all about getting all that self confidence back and pulling ourselves together to get to the finish knowing we’ve given our best. Post race there will be another three stages, but that’s the subject of another post.

So, back to the long ride of tomorrow, we’re doing it for the moment when the voices and the doubt come knocking at my mate’s helmet: 3 hours into the race and going up a hill, mildly dehydrated and hungry, and probably a bit uncomfortable already by being on a small bike seat. The voices will say, do you have it in you? If all goes to plan, he’ll say “hell yes!” I did it two weeks ago and finished it. And I can do it again today.

Whether you need to do it all before to know you have it in you depends on one’s self belief, number of years training and the length of the race. My take on it has been usually towards the other side, keeping a bit of doubt has worked as a motivator to show up at every training session, as each of them increases the probability (but not the certainty) of getting the successful outcome.  Let’s play an example.

You’re running neck to neck with another competitor for a long bike/run/swim, it’s close to halfway and you’re already above your sustainable effort mark, you’re tired, a bit thirsty and maybe hungry. You’re all focused on the task ahead and all of a sudden doubt starts to creep. DO YOU HAVE IT IN YOU? what would you prefer? To know you have it in you because you’ve done it before or because you’ve trained mind and body well enough?

Keep training wise

Breaking it into chunks

Another guy breaks the Marathon World Record. How crazy is that?. There have been already hundreds of analysis of the race, I liked this one I like the chart breaking the race into 5k splits and eigths or quarters.

The chart got me thinking on my own performance. The idea of breaking races into chunks is not new, and I have had a few races planned like that.

The problem is the implementation of the strategies come race day. If it is a triathlon, there's always the chance that the plans go out de window due to blowing up on the swim, or too early on the bike. On one occasion I went all as per plan, only to find myself getting hypothermic during the run and not been able to execute what I wanted. Another time it was the weather.

If it is a run race, there's the issue of having the competition dictate the pace and forgetting about listening to my own breathing. A few weeks ago I turned into a 18k trail run. I wasn't meant to be there, but someone offered me a spot and I would not refuse a chance to get out with the wife and friends. As it turns out, the early pace was set by guys that slowly disappeared and I found myself sitting somewhere in the front of the field following a very good climber up a hill. I soon realized that a wall was going to be hitting me at a very high speed. Then I slowed, gathered some strength and hit the last 4k's like a ton of bricks (sub 3:45 pace). It took me a while, but I passed the good climber, and I ran out of field to catch the guy ahead (15 seconds anyone?).

Back to the marathon, it takes a lot of self confidence to slow down in order to break the record. But being such a complete athlete, Kipsang knew that it would be all within reach. And the two sub 2:50min/km pace made up the 15 seconds of light between his glory and the former record. It is very small margins, and nailing it as he did is a commendable thing.

What's up in life? Uni finishing soon. Tri sieason starting soon. Sea swim season starting soon. Ultra run in 3 weeks!... with my hands full at the moment.

The Hillary Trail - Second time lucky

The Waitakere Ranges are a premier regional park at a handy distance to home. The Hillary trail winds through the park in and out of the bush and coastlines of the Manukau Harbour.

Designed as a 2/3/4 days trek, the track has been run by many in the short time since it was created. There is even a website that lists the finishers, records and so on. 

In my previous attempt I cut short at just over 25km. There were races coming up and in my assessment  I found that I would be doing more harm than good by finishing. There was no unsavoury quit, just a sense of unfinished business. 

Being over 70km in length, the logistics are vital to get a good run. I was lucky enough to be in company of a bunch of crazy people who organized Midnight Madness IV (MMIV) with the August full moon. The name says it all, it was a night run, and it was a crazy one. This time I finished, and the tale of that run from Muriwai to Arataki follows:

1. The cake

I had missed MMIII last year, and thought it was a cool idea. It is usually done on the winter solstice, which gives much more night to keep running fresh. This year the date was moved to August, and my birth day to be more specific. I made sure I took cake to with me and after checking my list of NASA proportions, I left to meet the rest of the crew. It was a shocker of a week weather-wise and a number of candidates had to postpone. Seven of us started. After sharing a bit of the cake we left in a drizzle that would die within minutes. It was 6 past midnight. 

2. The cliffs

The first part of the northward run goes alon one of the most beautiful parts of the trail, the track hugs a series of cliffs and bluffs and the Tasman sea lashes its energy on the bays below. The view during the day are spectacular. On a full moon night they're even better. I was kitted with a single layer of merino and a waterproof jacket which kept me in perfect temperature for the very cautions start. We formed a group of 3 that would go 50k together. every now and then we would look back and see the headtorches spread over in the distance, among the dark cliffs.

3. The cows

The first 15km took just over 2 hours,  a bit slower than expected, but making it from A to B without falls was worth the effort. Two nice guys (Jo and Mark) took the responsibility of caring for us, and they waited in a car at several points to help us refuel, clean some blood and give us good vibes. Quick bite and drink and we were off. The next section goes inland round a lake, up a massive hill and into farmland before descending to the beach again. Running through a field of spooked cows who looked at us was quite an experience. We got to stop #2 in just under 4 hours, which was nice. There was a bit of a problem halfway through, with one of the guys falling and cramping, but nothing too serious.

4. The dunes

The next section took us through a very charged waterfalls (streams responding to the rainy week just passed), another sight to remember. Then we went inland and back onto a beach. Below 6 hours and within my secret target of under 12 hours. Lack of sleep was not showing yet, but I knew the mind is pretty good at playing tricks. I downed a Mountain Dew and a scone to keep the happy mood.  We carried on to the best part of the run, it is flat, the sun was starting to light and we were running among a dune field with our torches off. The air was fresh and I was as happy as I've ever been while on a run.  I regretted not having brought the camera with me. 

5. The hills

Stop #4 was an eventful one, we lost one guy that took a wrong turn. I went back a couple of k's and shouted to check he was OK. As I heard no answer I mentally played different scenarios for 15 minutes untill I saw he coming from the wrong part of the track. I waited for him to have a quick snack and we carried on 10 minutes in arrears. The12 hour mission was out of the picture, but the mood was happy nonetheless. From the beach we go up a bluff and carry on on a hill crest upping and downing among the rocks and the gorse. Then we carry on climbing to the highest point of the trail. On a good day is a tough climb, on a day with no sleep and 50km on the legs is a character building run. 

Maybe that's the whole reason why one does this things. Head donw and carry on... until the next stop. 

If anything, I underestimated the nutrition for this part of the run, I took note for future runs. 

6. Noon

By the end of this part it was well into the morning, I stopped for a change of socks, a new tee shirt and I ditched the waterproof jacket that was probably not helping at this stage. I also tasted a great ANZAC slice by one of the fellow starters who was now crewing with Jo. 10:32 hours and 60 km done. It was all downhill from here... NOT

There's 2 200m hills to be negotiated, and the legs ain't running uphill anymore. As I was thinking how much I missed my wife and a good eggs on toasts breakfast, I found a stick discarded by a fellow tramper at the start of a track. I adopted it for good measure, and decided it was only a matter of getting there. 

And there I got. It was just before 12:30pm and I've done it.

Reflection (or not)

The juggle of all other non-running aspects leave me as quite an anti-social type of runner. There is only one window when I can train and organise a trail run. It’s great when I can bring along people for the longer ones, but if it doesn’t happen, then it’s me on my own.

The same for the city training, there’s groups I often train with, but when the opportunity arises to start half hour earlier, then I do it. It is half hour that will go onto something else later on. Or more recovery time.

So, here I am running (biking too) on my own most of the time. With no music device hanging, I am left to thing. Or the complete opposite, to get all thinking and organizing mechanisms out of my head for some time. I was trying to pencil down what I thought on a 2hr city run last week. Result: I could not remember a thing.

It is funny how one has dedicated time to reflect on things yet nothing much happens. The usual routine goes as follow: start run, feel good, check form, think of the run nutritional needs, think of the post-run schedule, chill and enjoy the views, check form, think of future running plans, think of the current programme, assess how they are going, get tired, start thinking how to overcome tiredeness (or how to increase it), check pace, check average pace. Chill.

Then there’s the deadspots, things that I don’t remember and never will. At points I would try to think of a post to keep this log alive, and a plan would materialize. Then I forget.

Running is cleansing the scheduling machine