Run Rails Run – Interview

It feels good to be back blogging!

As I said last week I promised when I kicked the blog off that it wouldn’t be a training diary and for me, and that’s all I have been doing. Who wants to hear about me doing 1km repeats or those 400m track sessions....if I am bored thinking about writing it, I can guarantee you would of been bored reading it.

A few weeks ago Australia’s hardest 100mile race “The Great North Walk” was run. Now I know half of my blog readers would be thinking “yes I know that race, it is insane and only for crazies” and the other half of you would be thinking “never heard of it”. So the abridged version of the course description is that it is a point to point 100 mile race run in NSW along the Great North Walk track. The 100 mile race is actually about 175km, insane – the elevation profile is ridiculous and normally the heat (over 40 degrees in the middle of the day) makes dropping out from dehydration is near certainty.

Great North Walk 2012

Taking all of that into consideration two runners braved the elements and embarked on the challenge last weekend. Marty “White Caviar” Hack and Raelene “Rails” Bendall both had signed up for the 100 mile race, but with different goals. Whilst Marty was focussed on the pointy end, Rails hadn’t been training too heavily and was really just focussed on finishing.

To paraphrase Rail’s “I didn’t do anything special anyone could do it” – this statement pretty much sums up her unassuming, self deprecating approach to her own achievements. Raelene has completed the 100k at The North Face and 100k at Glasshouse 100 in September and now Australia’s toughest 100 miler, by anyone’s standard this has been an absolutely stellar year, but as I try to load on the compliments Rail’s brushes them aside.

When it comes down to it, she is mentally stronger than any of the crew we train with. If I am a mixed up mental mess when it comes to racing, Rail’s is the opposite a strong willed and focussed racer, she knows her limits and races within them.

So you haven’t been training much due to work, uni etc – have you just been doing a long run a week to prepare?
I’ve been doing two hours of hill intervals every Wednesday on the Mount Archer and a long run including hills and trails on weekends. Leading into the GNW my largest weekend was a 4.5hr run on a Saturday in the middle of the day, followed by a 5hr run at Byfield on the Sunday. Gavin and I also used the hill at Kemp beach in our training and also ran a loop around the Razorback Road and Mount Morgan Range to mix it up one day.

You mentioned the cool conditions helped this year, how much did that factor into you finishing?
It got hot on the second day and I really started to struggle keeping enough fluid in. I felt like I was cooking from the inside out and having to drink so much makes it even harder to keep solid food down. The middle section of the course is known as ‘The Basin’ and I guess it’s really a big volcanic iron kettle with a rainforest in it. There is no airflow and two years ago they reckon it was over 46 degrees. I honestly believe that with my present fitness, as slow as I ran, I would not have made the finish line if the temperature had been like it was in previous years. I used this as motivation many a time to make it to the finish line. It was obviously my lucky year.

For myself, being caught by the sweepers would mentally snap me. How did you use being caught by the course sweepers to your advantage?  
Having the sweepers meant that I didn’t have to navigate for the entire back end of the course. It guaranteed me that I wouldn’t get lost and that is a huge relief. Having to navigate takes up heaps of time reading through maps and double checking directions, and until you saw a GNW marker, which were sometimes quite spread out, I was always fearful that I had taken a wrong turn. (Again) I also got to meet some really interesting people. Gary Pickering and Rob Scoines are both running the Coast to Kosi in a couple of weeks and Matt O’Shea broke his ankle less than 11 weeks ago. They also kept me on pace ensuring that I made it to the next Checkpoint in time. Most people run with their own crew and pacers to keep them moving at a descent pace, and as it turned out I had the best local running legends.

For a runner who loves the numbers – it blows my mind that you didn’t run with a GPS to track distance and pace. Another great example of how different we all are. Have you considered using a GPS for your races coming up? 
 I do own a GPS but lately it has been unreliable and gives me the shits. It’s a constant reminder that I’m too slow. I did take Gavin’s GPS with me to help track with the directions and Navigation, but the batteries were playing up, so I turned it off. (I probably put them in upside down) I tend not to use my GPS during races anyway as I find them distracting. I’ve often found them telling me I’m going too slowly, but there’s not much I can do about that. If I could be going faster I would be. I tend to try and listen to my body and put in a certain effort for an event. For a 36hr race I ran at about 75 per cent, but in a 5km race I’d run at 95 per cent. (

To answer a couple of the questions that have been posted, yes you do walk in Ultra Marathons. Walk/Running (that is transitioning from walking to running) is a learned skill. Once you power walk a hill, it can often be the case where it is difficult to start running again. Mentally you can use little tricks like “I am running once we get past that tree” etc to get you going again.

Footwear is also a personal choice. You ran most of the race in Salomon Speedcross 3 – the racing shoe from Salomon. It is light and doesn’t provide much cushioning, but has excellent grip which is important on the muddy trails.

How did your feet cope with the 36hrs? I expected them to be worse. Unfortunately I carried some pre-existing blisters over from my last 100km run and training that hadn’t quite heeled, so they flared quite quickly. The pads of my feet got pretty sore after about 30 hours and the last few hours of rock jumping were fairly uncomfortable. I didn’t lose any toenails though. I wore two pairs of socks on the first day because it was cold and my feet didn’t swell like they usually do, and changed my shoes at the 85km mark. I use lanacane on my feet and wear sockette stockings under my socks to prevent general rubbing.

You said you didn’t drink once from her hydration pack, instead preferring to drink from two handheld water bottles. You said one contained endura the other a really weak endura mix (personally I hate endura). How many gels/cliff shot bloks did you consume? I thought I was taking heaps but when I got to the end I found I had only used 5 packs. I also drank 7 poppers, 15 cokes, 4 cups of tea, pretzels, chippies, bananas, porridge and some vegie soup.

Yes to answer a question posted, you do go to the toilet during a long trail race usually off in the bushes out of everyone’s view. Going “number 1’s” is a good sign of hydration, not going number 1’s is a not a good sign, a point Raelene made that she went a number of hours without needing to go to the toilet.

Another question from a Facebook stalker – did you get tired? And what motivates you to keep going? No I didn’t get tired. I did have some low blood sugar problems just before sunrise which left me a little faint and slowed me down for about 45 minutes. I guess with all the panic of being last and barely making the cut offs with only minutes to spare I was also busy busting my guts to get somewhere so I just didn’t have time to be tired. I never had a problem with motivation. I wanted the finish soooooooo bad that to deny myself the finishers medal would have been certain heartache that I just didn’t want to contemplate. The GNW has a lot of credit with other race organisers and a finish here, even if it is in last place, is worth a lot on future race entries. I also had a stressed out husband at home who I knew was following me every step of the way, and I couldn’t come up with a single excuse for not finishing that was better than a finishers medal.

Besides running with the sweepers at various points later in the race, you spent time between CP 3 and CP 4 with a running buddy who she has run with from a number of other Ultras, how did you help each other get through the rough patch?
My friend Siev did not want to leave CP3, but she agreed to come with me. We got lost together and it ended up costing us an hour. Between the two of us we were able to work out exactly where we’d gone wrong, turned around and kept going. Seiv had decided to pull out at CP4 after running 110km, so she wasn’t too concerned about how long it took her to get there, but as I was continuing, I needed to get there before the 4am cutoff. Without a GPS I had no idea how far to CP4 or how fast we were going. Seiv had it sorted and took charge of the pacing. She was determined to get us there with at least 20 minutes of time to refuel. And she was spot on! Two headlamps at night are certainly better than one. Seiv got another 100km finish instead of a DNF and she gave me the chance at my 100mile finish.

When did you realise you were going to make it?
About 4km out the sweeper had left me and run back to a guy that was behind me on the last leg. He was positive that I’d make it if I ran all the way but I still wasn’t sure. It wasn’t until I came around the last lookout, turned the corner and finally saw the beach and the finish line a km away with about 15 minutes to spare. Even then there is a really steep descent down on to the beach and I was hoping that it was pretty much straight down, not too much zigg zagging or it would take too long. It was my quickest descent of the entire race.

So what’s next? You just finished Oz’s toughest 100 miler so what else is there to run?
There’s heaps of Australia I haven’t seen and even more to explore overseas. But I’m broke. So the big plan is definitely the Coast to Kosi next year. It’s a 240km run from a beach near Eden in NSW to the Summit of Kosi in the first week of December. Gavin and I would both like to run it.  You need to submit a resume to the race director to be accepted, so the rest of the year will be building that resume. We’ll certainly try to do the Glasshouse trail runs, starting with the 50km Hares and Hounds in early January. Because I like mental things we’ll do the 12hr track race in Caboolture in Feb. We are hoping to do 6 foot track and the North Face 100 again, as well as the 100miles at Glass later in the year. The rest of the year is needs to be flexible around injury and finances. Gavin wouldn’t miss the Goldcoast and there are also other 12 and 24hr track races in winter.

There are a couple of gems of information in our conversation that  I needed reinforced, we joked that I am a messed up racer – in particular when I start to get negative thoughts I let those dominate my thinking, called negative self talk. Raelene said she just snaps herself out of those negative thoughts, she doesn’t let them fester or dominate her thinking for any extended period.

That is good advice for everyone, especially new runners where the going gets tough and you just want to stop – don’t. That feeling and moment will pass and you can push through it and come out the other side to feeling OK again.

Thank-you so much Raelene, I know you weren't too keen on the interview, but you have acheived so much and it is so great to share it with everyone. Congrats again on the finish!

As a note, Marty was up the front in the top 4 but took a wrong turn and ended up doing an extra 16km before finding the checkpoint. He then dropped from the race. White Caviar will be back to smash up a race near you soon!

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend - hope to see you at the Movember run.

Pex

 

The White Van

Honk, HOOONNKK - A large white van pulls into our driveway, what is this? I don't remember ordering more stuff from Wiggle?

Two men in white coats exit the van, they aren't carrying any shoe sized boxes, so no new runners for me. They come to the front door and are soon joined by a tall bald man with a greying moustache....he looks really familiar.....

The tall man says in an American accent "we are here for an intervention" (cue light bulb moment - the man is none other than Dr Phil from day time TV)!!

Dr Phil has flown from California...on his private jet, to stage an intervention to stop me from killing myself. Apparently he too has read my TNF100 interview!

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Seriously though I am OK. I am more than OK.

Last weeks interview/blog is a as raw and unedited as you would ever get from me. With the emotion of the race still pumping through my veins, it was a very unique situation where Jason just happened to catch my guard down and ask some tough questions, which I answered completely honestly.

This week I am obviously feeling heaps better. Yes the DNF hurts but it isn't the end of the world, plus I have a massive base under me now, which, as I turn my attention to a couple of half marathons and a marathon - I should help me put some massive PBs together. So all is not lost.

I really want to thank all of those people who have sent me a message on this blog or via email/text, thank you very much, I appreciate your kind words very much.

As a bit of a recap I did have an awesome weekend with Benny, Marty, Raelene, Leah, Gav, and Luke at The North Face. Yes I do love the event, yes I did love the hype and the race. Although I didnt have the race which I had planned, the experience will be one I will never forget. The Blue Mountains ARE stunning, everyone should go, stand at the look out at Echo Point and as Ron Burgundy would say "DRINK IT IN".

View from Echo Point

On road trips you often have a ton of laughs. Some of the highlights include watching Marty and Ben snuggle in the king bed like an old married couple reading their books before bed! Ha. Another laugh was when I went into meltdown because I couldn't find my second pair of Nike running gloves. Yes I ticked them off the list, so they must be here somewhere....I was convinced Marty took them (I even went through his suit case when he was in shower). When I got home, there they were, in my work bag! Marty recons the white horse took them (the one I saw on the trail)!

Travelling with different people shows you how they prepare for big races, Marty is in enigma. It was like he wasn't even running 100k the next day, a very very relaxed preparation. He drank more wine and beer in the 2 days we were in the Blue Mountains than what I drank in previous 40 weeks!!!

Some of the other highlights were seeing Team Eddie365 at the checkpoints, they were so excited and supportive. I am so happy that they got to see Luke finish and buckle.

CP3 - 54km

CP4 - 65km

As for Leah and Raelene's dad Graham, they were just as awesome looking after me at CP3, CP4 and CP5. Although they were there for Raelene and Gav, it was so special to have them fuss over you at the checkpoints. Both being runners, they knew the drill. I wish Leah could of taken my bib after CP4 and ran the last 35km! I recon she is hooked and will be back next year with Rodney, Benny, Raelene and Gav all shooting for a sub 14hr buckle. Leah also looked after me by taking me back to the motel after I DNF'ed, words cant express how lucky I was that she cared for me. I was in pretty bad shape when she dropped me back.

So here I am, a week later. It really feels like a month! I am back on the horse (pun intended) - and have signed up for the Rocky River Run Half Marathon this week. If you are a local blog reader, make sure you come and say hello at the race. In a month I also have the Gold Coast Marathon, not sure how much speed work my body can handle between now and then, but I will be trying to get my legs to turn over a little bit faster than normal!

This week I am hoping to go under 1.42 for the half (which is my PB from 2010). I don't run too many half marathons (about 1 per year), so hope that I can sneak under that this weekend.

The other really positive thing is that Ben is already talking about more Ultra's. If you haven't read his blog RunBennyBoyRun (its in the right hand tool bar) - go and check it out. From "babysitting" me through 3 Ultra's this year Ben has found his running mojo and is back! Will be a great year, with plenty of PB's on their way for the both of us.

Benny and THE BUCKLE

Good luck to everyone who are running races this weekend, a special shout out to Lisa who is running her first ever race - at the Rocky River Run this weekend.
Pex

P.S - Good luck to my sister Monica who is running the Doomben Half Marathon this week! Fingers crossed for another PB!

76/100 - The TNF100 Race Interview

It’s Saturday night, 9.30 PM.  I’m at a friends for dinner, talking about our cycling training.  I’ve spent the day training and then updating the HRE Facebook with TNF100 updates.  They’re all going so well.  Sean, at least from the limited information the live timing provides, seems to be on plan.  His texts throughout the day are all positive – it’s finally happening for him.   I’m relaxed, knowing that in a couple of hours, Sean will be enjoying his greatest athletic achievement to date and carrying his longed for bronze buckle.

My phone starts flashing – it’s on silent.  I’ve ignored a few other calls from friends that evening (it’s rude to answer your phone when invited for dinner!).  I glance at my phone – Sean Peckover.  I quickly say “I have to get this”.  Me – “Hey mate how you going?” Sean – “I’m done mate.  I’m pulling out”………

Welcome to Run Pex Run.  In this post, I’ve got the reins.  As you know, Sean attempted The North Face 100 on Saturday and rather than him telling you the story, we’ve decided that the best way to truly gain an appreciation of what happened and where Sean’s at now, is for me to interview him.

I’m Jason.  The other half of HRE.  You’ve seen Sean refer to me in a number of blog posts.  I’m that guy that gave up running marathons to become a cyclist.  All you need to know about me is that I’m the most qualified person to be interviewing Sean post his TNF100 adventure.  We’re very close friends.  We’re business partners.  We share each other’s successes and each other’s failures.  When he called, I did not even attempt to convince Sean to continue.  I know him too well.  I know that if he was pulling out of THIS race, he would have already exhausted every possible fibre that would have allowed him to continue.  Telling me he was done meant he was done.

What is truly inspirational about Sean Peckover is not the amazing athletic transformation.  Nor the incredible training adventures described here.  Nor the fact that he pushed his body to its physical limits last weekend.  Yes, these feats do inspire us all to reach for our dreams.  To commit to them.  To achieve them.  However, what is most inspirational about Sean is his ability to ask himself hard questions and answer them honestly.  He owns his actions; his results.  There are never excuses.  I believe there are far more ultra marathon finishers than there are people with this self reflective ability.  Therefore, I know that this interview will see the rawness and honesty often a feature of his posts.

Sean – in one word only, describe how you feel about what happened at TNF100?

Devastated.

So, briefly, what happened, why did you end up withdrawing?

Simply my issues from my previous ultras (being sick, stomach shut down) occurred again. In post run analysis mode, I believe the significant climbs up the Golden Stairs, Ironpot Ridge and Nellies Glenn raised my heart rate (effort) to the point in which all of my blood supply was going to my legs, and nothing around my stomach. I had stomach issues and come through them after the Golden Stairs and Ironpot – the climb up Nellies at 60km was the beginning of the end.

After Checkpoint 4 (65km) I was in bad shape, but tried to remain positive. Ben and I had enough time to buckle if we kept moving, however after going through Echo Point at 70km and going down 800 odd stairs of the Giant Staircase I was gone. I started vomiting uncontrollably. I said to Ben that I couldn’t suffer 28 more kilometres of it. He made me walk and think about it, he said if I wanted to quit I had to call you (Jason) to explain. I said I was prepared for that, and prepared to sign the race withdrawal paperwork when I pulled out.

After Ben called the race directors to come and pick me up, I kept vomiting. Two things happened during the next hour which scare me, one is I hallucinated and saw a massive white horse on the trail and the second was I was falling asleep whilst upright. If Ben wasn’t there – who knows what could of happened.

Once the truck picked me up and I got back to CP 5 – the Doctor checked my vitals, I was suffering from hypothermia and dehydration. Seeing a horse that doesn’t exist is not a good sign.

That horse was probably Marty Hack.  I hear he does that in the middle of races.   Many people have commented that what you did was ‘inspirational’, and ‘amazing’, how do you feel about this?  Do you agree / disagree?

I failed. In simple terms I signed up for a 100km race and finished 76% of it. When I arrived home to my family I have nothing to show for the 40 weeks of training, for the time away from my family, for the financial investment. I have zero. No buckle, no finish.

There are loosely two groups of people that send messages of support. Athletes and non athletes.

For the non-athletes, I can see how I can inspire them to get off the couch and get out the front door. To lose some weight or sign up for a race. For the non-athletes running 5km seems as farfetched as running 100km. I really appreciate the fact that I have inspired some non runners during my journey to get active and healthy. Greg Smith is one example. Yes I am an inspiration to him and people like him.

For the athletes, I am not amazing or inspiring. I am a disappointment. I had 40 weeks to get my preparation right and I failed to deliver. No excuses. I trained harder than other finishers. I put more work in. I missed a grand total of half a running session in 40 weeks. I was as fit, healthy and ready to run. I poorly executed a race which I had more than adequately prepared for. I should not be an inspiration to other runners, I should serve as a stark reminder that bad things happen to good people.

On the flight down, did you even consider DNFing?  You were extremely confident that lessons learnt in your preparation races (relax the pace) would see you avoid the gut issues in the Blue Mountains?

I had not one negative thought in my mind. I was visualising the finish area. I ran on Thursday afternoon to see what the final couple of kilometres were going to be like. I spent time really going over this in my head. I even started the celebration blog, it is in draft. That is how confident I was.

I really believed the pace strategy that Ben had laid out for us was spot on and that we were both going to have a great day and buckle.

You call me at 9:30 PM in the Blue Mountains, about to withdraw.  What runs through your head as the phone rings?

The two hardest phone calls were to you and to Bel (my wife). Obviously she was upset for me, but more concerned about my health and if I needed to go to the hospital and should I be alone in the motel room etc. She has never seen me fail at anything, so it is a unique situation where I have said I was going to do something but failed.

The call to you was tragic, I know you get all of the sneaky questions and comments about my lack of ability, nutritional queries – you deal with all of the doubters who will never say anything to my face. For you I wanted the moment where you could say “I told you so” – that moment didn’t occur. My failure is your failure.

Is the athlete who started this journey the same one in front of me now?  If not, how are you different?

I have gone to another level. The 6 time marathon finisher that started this journey is now long gone. I doubt I can go back to just doing events for fun. I have seen significant improvement in myself physically to feed the obsession. I understand what it takes now to see results. My old training habits are gone.

Have you found your limits?

I went past my physical limitations into a bad place, I obviously have a problem with nutrition and effort in longer races. I found my limit physically in the race, I don’t give in easily so was past the point of safety when I decided to quit.

Now I have improvements to be made in speed, flexibility and power. All things I have not worked on during this training journey. Being 31 and seeing what some 50 year olds are doing makes you realise that there is improvement in all of us.

Are you going back to TNF100 in 2013 to deal with unfinished business?

No. My improvements will now be in the form of being a faster runner. My path was set before I DNF’ed. I am hungry to run faster marathons. 2013 has many adventures for me, TNF100 isn’t one of them.

Do you think you will ever go back?

Doubt it. If I did, it would be the last thing on my running bucket list. If I went back it would be to run faster than the DNF time (14.30) so I would want to have the ability and conditioning to run 14hrs. I am a long way from that point.

Did you ‘over prepare’ (paralysis by analysis)?

Good question! A tough one. Possibly. By my nature I was very prepared, including lists, leaving no stone unturned type of personality. I didn’t over prepare physically as I was fresh and not injured on race day. Did I burn myself out mentally? Yes probably. I went through a period where I was “over it” but that lasted only for a couple of weeks.

I didn’t have a training history like Ben or Scott Lawton, so I needed to have 40 weeks to prepare myself physically. Some people have been able to complete the race on less training, I am not sure I would like that feeling to go in to a race underdone.

Did I get sick due to over preparation? Did I force myself to get sick because I feared success more than failure, I am not sure? I think that is a valid question to ask yourself. Is it possible to subconsciously sabotage yourself? Possibly. If it is, then I have a lot of issues to work out; fear of failure is one thing, fear of success is something totally different.

One of our Facebook ‘likers’ asked how do you feel after committing to this achievement during a difficult time in your life (your Father’s accident) and now coming home without the buckle?  Is it hollow?

Very much so. My eldest son Hayden asked me why Ben got a buckle and I didn’t, he said “weren’t you running together”.

When you are motivated to do something that is a symbol of your life situation, then you want to ensure you do everything you can to achieve it.

If my life was a movie and I needed to get to 100km to save my family’s life from the “baddies” they would be dead. I failed to make it. It is a sobering hollow feeling that I could do nothing but sit on the side of the road at 76km and weep into my hands.

In the cartoon movies, the good guy always wins mate (they found Nemo, Woody rescued Buzz, even Homer Simpson saved Springfield).  Eventually.  What’s next – what will your readers read about over the next 12 months?

Readers will get the chance to follow my journey as I aim to qualify for the Boston Marathon. The holy grail of marathons. Boston is THE marathon that every marathoner wants to run, not only do I want to be fast enough to qualify but I want to go to the USA to run it. The journey starts next week. I am no where need good enough to run a Boston Qualifier (BQ) at the moment, the journey for the readers will be a massive one, am confident of more ups than downs.

Despite all of the above, your attitude post TNF is one of a little disappointment, however you are refreshingly positive.  Explain that.

I am at a cross roads, I can’t change the past. So I either sit here and sook about it, “poor me I deserve more than this” or I accept it, own the failure, pick another event and move on. As a father to two young boys, the example I want to set is that life isn’t fair, it isn’t perfect, sometimes you get a setback – you have to keep your chin up and move forward.   

Why don’t you quit running, buy a sick Specialised carbon fibre weapon and some super quick carbon wheels and come cycling and drinking cappuccinos with me?

Ha Ha Ha. Don’t worry it has crossed my mind! Cycling is too hard, you do more work than I do!

You know me, I am a running purist and cycling to me is like car racing, running is pure. You can’t buy time when you are running. It is you v the distance v the clock, no tactics, no riding in a bunch to conserve energy.

I guess the other question people might ask, is why don’t you do something you were already good at? That is an interesting one, why keep trying to pursue something that is using so much energy and I get minimal results. Maybe I should go back and play Rugby League or try rowing or archery or mountain biking. I don’t have the answer – I simply just LOVE to run. It is a curse.

I wouldn’t say no to a new carbon Specialized from Tuckers though!!!

Ahem, ah, well, that ‘sitting in the bunch’ is only so you can later launch a solo attack for the win up a hill kilometres from the line whilst your legs scream and your heart rate – never mind. 

Answer this - Sean Peckover – hungry or broken?

Hungry.

Well – watch your weight then.  Oh, you probably mean metaphorically ‘hungry’.  Right.  Why are you eating that second cheeseburger then?  Don’t answer that.

Anything else to add?

The point of blogging for me is to try and be as honest and self reflective as possible. I am not someone who writes what people want to hear, nor do I want people to feel pity on me for my failure. The purpose of exposing myself via this blog is for readers to be part of my journey, the successes and failures, my emotions - how I am going and how I view the world.

Do I invest too much emotion into races? Aren’t they meant to be fun? I love running, the moment that I don’t and I dread registering for a race, putting the shoes on, pinning a bib to my chest is the day I quit. Until then .......... I’ll run on, chasing the next challenge.

* * * * *

Thanks to Sean for inviting me to interview him on Run Pex Run.  It would be easy to simply say ‘ah well, it didn’t work out, maybe next time’.  Sean never takes this option.  Describing the above was tough.  You may be wondering; how do I feel about his effort?  Am I proud?  Obviously, I’m disappointed for him.  I feel the result is unfair.  The sheer commitment and focus in preparation plus his attitude post the event is what he should be proud of; as I am.  I was just as proud to call him a friend before TNF as I am after it.  Don't for a second think that the result doesn't matter.  It does.  Imagine yourself in Sean's shoes.  Martina Navratilova - "Whoever said it's not whether you win or lose that counts, probably lost".  For this reason, I think Sean will return to TNF100 one day.  When he does, he is likely to have already had other great successes in his running career.  He may do it in a shirt he picked up at Boston.  I can't see him leaving it unfinished.  Sean does everything at 100%.  Nothing will remain at 76%.

Although the interview may sound like Sean is in a negative place, if you get the opportunity to speak to him you will see that he is actually quite positive about what the future holds.  Remember, this account has been recalled only days after the event.

“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeeded” – Michael Jordan.

Sean’s success will come.  Stay tuned.  When it does I’m sure my phone will again flash with Sean Peckover.

Jason Paull