Go Hard....Hurt and Hold

BEEEEP!!!!! My Garmin beeps. I struggle to hear it over the Foo Fighters pumping from my iPod. I feel the vibration up my arm I only have 1km to go....why did I think racing a 10k four days after an Ultra was a good idea....

Before I get to my race report from the Race for Ruan I'll explain what has transpired since the Ultra.
I have had a bit of a flat week. I was struck down with a cold, or "Man Flu" from Monday and was very tired and pretty sore. This was the first cold I have had since September so I have done pretty well considering all of the km's I have been running and my general reduction in overall sleep. In previous years I have normally been struck down with a cold either during taper weeks or the week following a marathon, plenty of science behind the reasons, but old school runners say it is a sign the body loves to run and not rest!

Also after reading Mats blog about going full on Vegan, I ate meat with every meal just to provide balance to the universe! I ate every meal like it was my last, lucky for me that my office is directly above the Kebab and Chinese takeaway shops at work. So I just ate what I felt like. It was pretty good to have a week off after being strict with the diet for the past few months.

I am pretty sure the full fat diet got me over my cold, well that's my justification, and by Thursday night I was starting to feel half normal again. I had a heap of extra sleep and skipped all of my recovery runs that I was planning on doing. Being sick forced me to rest, which was probably the best thing for me.

The last 2 years I have always missed out on running the Race for Ruan - not from being injured or anything, just from missing the race registration. The Gladstone Road Runners have the event capped at 350 runners so it fills up pretty quick and by the time I realise that it is on, the race is full! This year I got in early, and so had a nice low bib number - 19!

I roll out of bed early, its 3.50am I force myself to have something to eat and a coffee and drop through Gracemere to pick up Rodney and his neighbour Danielle who have also both registered for the 10k. The road to Gladstone is really busy with holiday makers (being Good Friday) and we pass a 3 car smash at Bajool - not good as someone is being loaded into the back of an ambulance.

We arrive at Gladstone and pick up our bibs and timing chips. There arent too many of the Rocky Road Runners here today, which is surprising as they have cleaned up the trophies in the past.

Michael is here - ready to rock and roll. It has been 12 months since we travelled to the Canberra Marathon together and our friendship has grown a lot since then. He is off to Canberra again next week he should finish top three here with a sub 40 min 10k.

The race precinct is nice and relaxed, the Gladstone Road Runners have a nice set up. I complete a couple of nervous trips to the toilet and have a gel about 30minutes before the race start. After a quick warm up, my legs feel really heavy, and it is obvious I havent fully recovered from the 50k on Sunday. I had hoped to run a faster 10k at this race, to get an idea of my progress and see where I am at. Today might not be that day though.

I spend a couple of minutes getting myself focussed. Be in the moment. Somehow I get Lightning McQueen in my head "Speed...I am SPEED"! Joel loves the Cars movie so that quote is really stuck in my head! Thinking of Sunday's dissapointment, I reasses my goal time from 45minutes to 47 minutes. I need to be realistic today. 47 minutes will still be a 10k PB time.

I plug the iPod in, turn the volume to a level that is a little above what is enjoyable and get ready to hurt for about 50 minutes. I haven't run a timed 10k race for 2 years, so I don't really have a race plan. As we gather on the start line, 30 Seconds from Mars "Closer to the Edge" is pumping through my ears - I can't hear the race instructions I just wait for Michael to start moving off the start line to know the race has started.....

Adrenaline is coming on, I run comfortably hard for the first km, BEEEEEP! 4.05 - WOW that was unexpected, my legs are feeling pretty good and I settle into a pace which I think I can hold for 10k. 2 runners come past, they are moving faster than I think I can hold so I just stick to doing my own thing.

Flo Rida "Good Feeling" comes on - the song tempo pushes me along and my pace is holding, my legs don't feel that bad - I am getting comfortable and we pass through the 2.5k aid station. As we start up a little sharp rise in the course, 2 runners come past. An older guy and the second placed female. I sit on her for about 500 meters but she is going to fast for me to hold.

As we head back through the 5km mark and the start/finish area to start our second lap, I realise I am on track to run very close to 45minutes if I can hold on. I do a quick check of my vitals...heart rate is good, legs feel good, breathing good, posture nice and tall, gait is strong, arms pumping. RIGHT this is it, 5km to go....time to see what this body can do.....

I am starting to hurt, I'm holding my pace and have bridged the gap with the second placed female in front of me. I see that she is looking behind to see where I am, on km seven I push on the 2 little hills, I push harder and really close the gap...we hit the aid station and start up the last hill. She really burns up the down hill - BEEEEP 2km to go......

I am really pumping now, I know I will be under 45minutes - I get a rush knowing that this will be a massive personal best for me...there is one last drink station with 1.5km to go, she passes around the corner in front of me, I know I have leg speed, if I can get close enough I can out sprint her.....

BEEEEEEP!!!!!!!! "The Pretender" is smashing my ears, Dave the lead singer from the Foo Fighters is screaming at me. I increase my pace I see her just ahead - I plan my attack, I decide to hold back and burn past with only 300m left, leaving her with no chance of a counter attack. BOOM! I just start sprinting, my Newton racers are a blur of fluro yellow as I quickly close the gap and fly past, she hadn't looked back for a couple of minutes and I catch her by surprise - I am really flying when I go past I use everything I have. My garmin is showing I am running at 3 minute pace, 200, 100, 50.....

I see the clock, I see it says 43.53, 43.54, 43.55 BOOM.

I am done.!

Officially I finish in 17th place, 13th in my age group with an offical time of 43.57. I am totally stunned and smashed. A massive personal best for me!

Michael finishes 3rd, 1st masters male 38.06, Rodney finishes 12th, 9th in our age group with 41.39 and Danielle also PBs with 51.44 11th in her age group.

On a weird note, the 2nd place female was in a negative mood at the end. I shook her hand and thanked her for pushing me to a new PB. Then she said something in a funny tone "oh I used to run 35 minutes before I had kids" I couldnt help myself and said to Rodney in a loud voice "not bad for us considering we ran a 50k Ultra on Sunday". I understand female runners hate males racing them, so feel a little bad becuse it wouldn't have matter who was in front, I just wanted to push and catch them. No disrespect intended on my behalf.

I didn't let her negativity take the gloss of my PB. I was zinging. Michael and Rodney we also pumped with new PBs. Feels good to be finally getting some results in a race!

So my running world has come full circle in one week! One moment I am near death wondering WTF am I doing the next I am tearing the legs off a PB and feeling like I am seeing results. One race was suffering the other satisfying.

Running, like life, has these moments; some which teach you to be humble and appreciate the air we breath, others which make us look to the stars and say "I am going there".

Run hard.

Pex

P.S Good luck to Trisha for her Marathon debut in Canberra this weekend. You will love it. Enjoy the journey!

I am also very excited to announce the CQPhysio Group have come on board as the naming rights sponsor for the Spring Classic - we are very excited to have them join in the fun again! Lock in September 16 for 4 races this year, 2km kids dash, 5km Walk/Run, 10km Run and 21.1km Half Marathon. Don't forget to go and "Like" HRE @ www.facebook.com/HREoz

The Hurt Locker

I find that writing the "race" report blogs to be the most enjoyable and the easiest. I've had 2 weeks off from the blog and many things have happened, including a heap of gun triathletes racing a couple of weekends ago at Mooloolaba and Ironman Melbourne. There are many outstanding results including Scott Lawton's 3.23 Marathon off the back of a near elite bike time. Congrats to "Lawto” he is off to the big island of Kona in October for the Ironman World Champs – I have money on him having a faster marathon split than Lance Armstrong. Hard work pays off – Lawto is the best example of that.  

Let’s get to the most important part of what has happened since I last blogged - happy anniversary to my beautiful wife Bel. It must suck sometimes to be married to me. I am painfully focussed on this running journey, whilst she has no idea about the races or why I would want to spend 18 hours in the bush running 100km she never says no, never complains about me being missing on a Saturday mornings and never puts barriers up for my training and racing. As I said in my wedding speech 7 years ago, you are my rock and I am so very lucky destiny brought us together.

The race report for the Nerang 50km Ultra really starts with the road trip to the Gold Coast with Ben and Rodney. We had a pretty enjoyable trip down, a heap of laughs, 300 toilet stops due to all of us hydrating for the race and about 60 minutes lost waiting at road works. But when you are with friends the time doesn’t matter.

The funniest part of the whole trip is when the GPS delivers us to our motel at the Gold Coast. When I book race accommodation, it is usually really cheap and dodgy – we arrive at this palace of a motel on the Gold Coast with valet parking, the works. All of the cars out the front are Mercedes, Lexus' and BMW's – Benny’s green Magna looked a little of place. Rodney and I both asked were we in the right spot! The look on Ben’s face was priceless! Sure enough we were at the right place, Wotif had provided us with a bargain! The room didn’t disappoint, and the bed was the softest I have ever slept in! A good omen for the next day.

Nerang is a 50km Ultra Marathon run over 2x25km loops with a total elevation gain and loss of 1600 meters. There is a checkpoint and aid station at the 12.5/37.5km point. It looked bloody tough on the elevation profile, lots of undulating ups and downs; there was a hill on the course called “Heart Break Hill” it didn’t disappoint.

Race morning, we are up early getting sorted having a bit of a laugh. As we arrive at race, it is quiet, we meet up with Gav and Raelene, my sister has arrived to crew us and Luke is there ready for his first Ultra.

We grab some shots of H.U.R.T in our awesome jerseys, we look like the real deal today. Luke looks focussed, ready to really rip up his first Ultra. Benny, Gav and Raelene were the most relaxed, experience at this level shows. We all wish Raelene a happy birthday, then in a rather relaxed fashion the race director yells out “GO” and we are off!

The trail is quite steep for the first couple of k’s. Rodney is GONE, like a rocket – I sure hope he can hold that pace, Luke runs with Benny and I for the first k then puts his foot down also. Then he is GONE. Ben and I settle into a comfortable easy pace. My goal is to run the first 25km in 2.50 then run the second in 3.10 finishing in 6hours. It is a hotter than what I expected but we drink and keep on top of nutrition. Having a good time.

At about 6km we join a small group of runners all training for the Kokoda challenge, there are 4 of them so we end up forming a small pack all running together. We pass through the creek crossings, and the really tough climbs out of them. Heartbreak Hill is just that, a tough slow slog out of a creek crossing. I am feeling pretty good, not getting too carried away. I am drinking heaps and everything is going to plan.

As we hit the 11km mark and descend into the checkpoint, Luke is leading Rodney on the way back. WOW – the boys were really ripping it up. Smashing the course. By our count it puts them in 7^th and 8^th (I think). Luke is “doing a Rodney” dominating his first Ultra, just tearing the legs off it.

Ben and I hit the turn around and fill our bladders. I am starting to feel really good, today might be my day I think. As we trudge back up the hill to rejoin the trail I am staying on top of my hydration, getting stuck into it – I am thinking “yep I’m on track here”.

We rejoin the trail and our pace picks up a bit, I feel awesome we start picking up a few runners. We pass them easily, I am running really strong on the down hills, using a combination of oversized strides and fast feet to pick up speed. The second part of the loop is more downhill than up, Ben and I just keep reeling people in.

At no stage did I feel like we are going too quickly. We kept walking parts of the uphills, but on the downs we were just floating. Next minute we see Gav on the trail up ahead. We catch him after about 10 minutes. It is weird for me to be running side by side with Gav and Ben, both of who I respect enormously. Gav is taking it easier on the downhills; I decide to put the hammer down a bit more. We really start to pick the pace up. We are well on track to crack 2.50 at the turn around. Wow. Today is going to be my day.

The last 2km coming into the 25km aid station are some of the best running I have ever experienced, I felt so super fit and strong, we see Rodney on his way back up the trail. He is the 6^th male – SHIT he is looking awesome. Luke is nowhere to be seen, we get to the aid station and Monica helps me fill my bladder quickly – I look over and Luke is still at the aid station he looks really sick. I try to block it out - I am feeling on top of the world and quickly get through the aid station and start walking back up the trail.

Today is going to be my day. I feel really in control. The day that everyone talks about, the moment when my efforts pay off in a race. My heart is racing a bit, from pushing for the past 12k and it is hotter than I expected, but I drink and sip half a cup of coke. I am walking when I could be running; I am on top of everything. Nutrition, hydration everything is going to plan.

I am talking to Ben, he is asking how I am going – I said really good. As we start to run a flat section I get a massive cramp in my left calf. No drama, I take some more electrolytes and drink some more water. We walk a bit more and Gav catches up to us again. Ben is doing a double check on me; Have I drunk enough? How am I feeling? Have some nutrition etc.

My cramps come on worse on the flats than on the down or up hills, it was weird. I start to get quiet, like I always do when things aren’t going well. Benny says “speak to me” – I say I am worried about the cramps and just feel out of energy. All of a sudden I’m feeling cooked.

It is hard to explain but over 30 minutes the wheels just fell off. I went from feeling like an elite to having the life sucked right out of me. I kept drinking and having fuel – but my lethargy kept getting worse. I keep drinking, which is good sign, better than where I was at Hares and Hounds. A heap of runners came past me, I knew then that I must of slowed really significantly.

We hit the 37.5km aid station. I was simply in survival mode. I don’t think I even thanked the volunteers, the door was opening to the Hurt Locker. The long slog back up the hill and by 38km I started to vomit.

Now I am not trying to glorify in anyway how sick I was. Ultra running for me was about finding my limits, here I was again – sick it was an all too familiar suffocatating feeling. This was going to be a long slow slog out of the bush. I am no hero. I don’t want to be sick. I want to be like all of the other normal people who go through these races with a smile on their face, not vomiting uncontrollably.

Then it gets worse. I vomit the most when we run small parts of the down hill. I have blanked most of it out, but I can still remember looking at my watch at 43km thinking “wow that’s another marathon done”.

Benny at this stage is being super up-beat, having him with me is like a security blanket. It’s like I can forget about looking after myself because he is there to make sure I don’t die. It’s stupid I know, but I really had a lot of comfort knowing he was there to look out for me. As a friend he is doing such an amazing job of babysitting me through the pain.

The suffering continues, its getting hotter. 12 noon passes by. It is a death march. I don’t know why but I want to quit so badly, yet want to finish even more than ever.

At the second last climb before I am off the mountain I quit Ultra Running. I hate Ultras. I am on my knees vomiting uncontrollably – maybe 10 times in a row. Ben comes over to check for blood in my vomit – there isnt any there so it’s all good. 2 mountain bike riders pass us on the trail – I wish I was riding my Big Red instead of running.

As we descend into the last km or so, Raelene passes us. She is looking fresh as shit, like she hasn’t raised her heart rate....could be a lesson there for me. Monica joins us on the trail and I am overcome with emotion. She is a legend, 8 hours on a Sunday waiting for me to finish a race no one could have a better sister.

I am in the Hurt Locker with the door shut. Suffering. How will I ever be able to run 100km at The North Face? Ben says quietly that we may need to talk on Monday about it. I think he thinks that I might need to bail. I am having second thoughts of my own. 7 hours 27minutes after we started we are finished.

The end of the race is a blur, I sit next to Rodney sobbing like a baby for 5 minutes. He has smashed it, 5th placed male and only just missed Ben's time from last year. Luke didn't finish. He was sick also and took the sensible decision to call it a day. Ralene and Gav look like they could do another lap. Experience shows.

Rather comically the showers are closed so we wash ourselves with a cold tap. I sort of go into shock, shivering uncontrollably. The next real thing I remember is starting to feel good about 6 hours and 500km later at Gin Gin. I must of slept/passed out whilst Ben and Rodney drove home.

Although it makes compelling reading I hate being in this situation where I am writing another race "failure" blog. For myself it probably is the hardest part of the journey. As you read this no doubt most of you will have the same questions:
What is wrong with your nutrition? What went wrong in your race? Will you be able to do The North Face? Are you scared of failing? Do you hate being the guy who trains awesome and races like shit?

Yes I have been thinking of this too. A lot. Like I said I quit Ultra running at km 48 the other day.

On Monday morning I wake up, I am at home with Bel and the boys. I am alive I look in the mirror and see a stripped down version of myself. The problem with trying to find your limits is sometimes you find them, I found mine Sunday.

In answering your questions in brief, I think I "raced" too hard and just cooked myself. Whilst being super fit and strong, I thought I could just put the hammer down. Well hammer down ended up with me being in a world of hurt. Lesson for The North Face - slow down! Take more walk breaks, grab some more photos, keep the heart rate down. Respect the distance. I am even more confident now of finishing The North Face. Suffering really has made me stronger.

I've been bouncing emails with Luke today, he too is doing his own soul searching. I hope we can stick with Ben at TNF, if we do - we will enjoy the adventure and finish with a buckle. If we don't, and we get carried away again we will end up in the Hurt Locker.

Pex

P.S Happy Birthday to Jason on Thursday - sorry the fun police wont let me buy you that Specialized Aero Helmet!

Here Comes the Sun

There are two camps of runners, loosely those that run in the morning and others that run at night.

Last Friday the 9^th of March I ran a marathon with Leah and Rodney, the full moon rose over Mt Archer and it was like I was on another planet. I couldn’t stop staring at it. It was breathtaking. It took me a week to work out why it was so intense – and it isn’t because I am half man half wolf like Teen Wolf!

You see I run in the morning for 99% of my runs, I get to see a sunrise at least 5 days per week. I am up and running in the dark and have the pleasure of watching the sun rise over Mt Archer, the very moment of day break. It is awesome, but you sometimes get numb to it. The moon rise the other week was so weird to me, because I hadn’t seen the moon for so long! Usually I am inside doing the daily dinner, baths, stories, bed for the boys – so I had forgotten what it was like to run at night under moon light.

Which gets me to last Saturday’s run.

Another 3.15am alarm and at the car park at 3.55am in preparation of the 50k double summit of Mt Archer. The butterfly’s about the distance I used to have are now long gone, replaced by a sense of purpose and concentration that comes with a lot of miles under the belt.

It is PITCH BLACK. I am using a head lamp to light the trail. Benny, Rodney, Gav and Raelene are joining me for the first 25km of the run – I am prepared for it to be slower due to the lack of light and if the trail is a little overgrown.

There is no moon this morning due to the cloud cover, its super dark and our 5 lights travel along the trail. Early on Raelene decides that the pace is too quick (or too much testosterone) and drops back to her pace. We take turns, fighting the massive spider webs and hit the first overgrown patch. I had run through it on Thursday but today it seems worse. Once we are through that the first 6k was pretty enjoyable, the trail is dry and the first creek crossing isn’t so bad.

The thing about running with a group of runners where you are the slowest is that you are always worrying about your pace, making sure you are running FAST enough and not slowing everyone down. I need not have worried, after 8km the “trail” became an impenetrable force, super overgrown. It was so bad we couldn’t sustain 8min pace. This was so surprising, the lantana was so overgrown I felt like I was in a jungle!
The next 40 minutes repeated: lantana, massive spider webs and falling hard on the dodgy trail.

Boom – Benny falls badly.

Boom – Benny falls badly again.

Boom – I fell heavily.

Boom – Gav falls and splits his knee.

Boom – Rodney falls on his bad arm.

Outwardly I am trying to remain upbeat and positive, the “adventure” is awesome I keep saying. Deep down I worry about Rodney’s arm and think about myself, writing a post on The North Face website selling my rego if I snap my ankle. This was a bad idea. Stupid. I hadn’t mitigated the risks well enough. F#$k this shit, I just want out and off the mountain.

The lantana clears and I find the 500 meters of climbing up Mt Archer to be much easier than the last time we ran, I cruised up in front of Gav and just behind Rodney, I pass Rodney – although he was walking. He has a lot on his mind after his fall and just wasn’t pushing at all now. I finish a couple of minutes behind Benny at the summit.

The sun had just come out, here comes the sun I thought. My friend. Just when you feel low the sun always recharges your spirits. The mist/fog prevented us from having a super sunrise, but it was sort of worth it. I switched off the head lamp and let the suns rays soak into my bones. My confidence up and my thoughts switched to the double summit, I felt it was still doable.

We filled our bladders at the summit, Gav had a Pepsi and said our good-byes to Rodney. Rodney had the right idea, he was running back down the road. Smart man. Ben, Gav and I had decided to head back down the trail. This was a mistake. A testosterone caused mistake. I wasn't prepared to tap out ,so the three of us proceeded to head down the mountain. 

It was worse underfoot on the descent. About a km down the trail where it becomes extra rocky,  I rolled my ankle badly. F*@K! What am I doing here?! Ben and I decided to take it easier from that point on. I was on the edge, I could go from hero to zero really quickly.

We found Raelene and all headed back to the car park. Moving as best as we could through the thick dense lantana.

By this stage Ben had enough. He convinced me that we didn’t need to do another lap. He was coaxing me, saying that I had enough in the tank for Nerang and The North Face. We talked a lot about it. Risk v Reward. Another 4 hours on my feet at risk of snapping an ankle, or pulling the pin. Will not finishing this run come back to haunt me?

We got back to the car. Pete was waiting, by that stage Gav had caught us, he had also rolled his ankle badly going through one of the creeks. I felt guilty telling Pete that we were bailing on the second lap. Gav and Ben said it was the safest thing to do, that the trail wasn’t runable and posed too high a risk for the upcoming races. Pete understood and went out for an hour by himself.

Raelene had joined us and we all had a great chat about The North Face, Gav and Raelene had been to the Blue Mountains the weekend before when 6 foot was cancelled so did about 80k training over 2 days to make up for it. I had this sinking feeling that I was missing a key session. But had to take the advice of the more experienced runners.

I got home early, Bel was really surprised wondering what had happened and why I was home at 8 o'clock. I was in a funk. A really bad mood about bailing on the session. It took a whole day to get over.

Half of me (the sensible "Safety Sean" half) knew it was the righ decision. I have run over 1000km in 10 weeks, heaps of hills, lots of quality. The other half (the nervous rookie Ultra runner) wonders if I would of benefitted from another 4hrs of mountain slog.

I used to always take the easy option, cut long runs short, miss sessions, sleep in. The old me had turned bad habbits into an art form. I was never worried about missing a session or not running enough. The new me hates it. It certainly is a weird feeling to have 24 hours of guilt by missing half a session. At the end of the day, I am fit, healthy and able to run. Who know's what would of happened had I slogged back up the mountain - maybe I would of enjoyed it, maybe I would of snapped an ankle or an arm. Maybe I would of been selling my rego like a heap of others on the North Face site. Safety first won out, which is good considering my day job! Ha!

I am starting the taper for my next Ultra, the Nerang 50km on the 1st of April. The next 2 weeks are lower km's so less running not more. I am going to refrain from writing a pointless taper blog, so the next blog will be a race report.

My most awesome sister and Crew Chief Mon will be looking after H.U.R.T (HRE Ultra Race Team) at Nerang. Gavin, Raelene, Benny, Rodney and I will all be running for H.U.R.T in our HRE jerseys. I've included a photo above of the Gav, Raelene and Ben in the gear from Saturday. We are going to rock!

Gav, Benny and Rodney will be up the pointy end, I am planning on running close to Raelene. Save some in the tank for the second lap. Oh and drink plenty of water!

PS - Luke is making his Ultra debut at Nerang. I expect him to smash it and run hard from start to finish. His training runs have been unreal, some blistering times over some crazy elevations, so I am really looking forward to watching him run. It will be great to see him realise some of his running potential.  

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There are a heap of Rocky athletes heading away this weekend to swim/bike/run. This is a quick shout out to them all to wish them the best of luck, I hope they race well and crack a PB. For those that are going to Melbourne for the Ironman - I wish you all the best for your Kona qualifying attempt. I hope I havn't missed anyone!

Melbourne IM

·         Scott Lawton

·         Kelly Spottiswood

·         Rohan Smith

·         Leigh D’Arcy

·         Josh Bell

Mooloolaba Olympic Tri

·         Chris Pollock

·         Raleigh Wallace

·         Ronan Foolkes

·         Aiden Trevan

·         Leah Cheal

·         Sasha King

·         Morgan Wass

·         Penny Bryant

·         Jim Griggs

·         Emma Townsend

Stay safe catch you in 2 weeks

Pex