Can I run 80 miles in one go?
Just two weeks to go until I attempt an 80-mile run across the Yorkshire Wolds Way in under 24 hrs - an arduous route which gradually ascends 2400 metres, in potentially very wet and muddy conditions.
This is my first Ultra run, but it’s by no means my first Rodeo. I’m excited (which is apparently a better word to reframe ‘nervous’) to take part and give this my best shot. From the training I’ve done, I already know I’m going to be pushed hard on this. My body will ache, I’ll be bored, I’ll consider quitting, but the sheer opportunity of escaping any news about Brexit and the festive general election, if even for just a short while, will be enough to spur me on.
I’m still a little short of my fundraising target, and I’ve been a little quiet on the info front recently, so I wanted to update you on how things are going and beg for more generosity towards the two amazing charities I’m running for.
Click here if you’d like to donate
First, a quick point on those charities, and why I’m doing this.
Royal Marine Association (R.M.A)
Every year on Remembrance Sunday I have more and more people to think about during the two-minute silence.
This isn’t just because of the friends I’ve lost to war, but because of the many friends who are being lost after the war through suicide. For all those left behind, still fighting their own war, the RMA is on hand to offer support.
Last year, the charity dispersed over two million pounds to help serving and veteran Marines, through:
Giving mental health support for those who are brave enough to reach out. Former Bootnecks can now get fast-tracked for private mental health treatment.
Providing additional funding towards the charity Rock 2 recovery, a charity which supports all veterans from the armed forces.
In 2018, they helped 1404 families, 445 veterans and 100 serving personal.
94% of funds raised go directly towards the beneficiaries.
They also provide further training and job support for those leaving the corps.
I’ve decided not to name the close friends I’ve lost; I decided their families didn’t need to see more reminders on the internet about their loss.
These were people with whom I shared a bond only a veteran can understand.
I’ll be thinking of these people whilst I run. No matter how much I suffer, my dead friends will remind me that even suffering is one of the great things about being alive. What they would give to be able to experience suffering again.
Humber Rescue
Every week, Humber Rescue is called out, at all times of day and night, to help people in trouble on the water.
Humber Rescue is staffed entirely by volunteers, meaning 100% of donations go to the charity, to pay for the upkeep of the boathouse, our robust dry suits which protect us on the water, our boats, the petrol they consume, and our life-saving equipment.
We have people from all walks of life giving up their time for free. Currently we have a mechanic, paramedic, school teacher, handsome personal trainer 😊, gas engineer, university researcher, retired policeman and more.
All these people respond to an alarm, dropping whatever they are doing and get to the boathouse within 15 minutes to get changed, launch a rescue boat and attend often very serious incidents in all manner of weather conditions.
Not all heroes wear capes, and it’s an honour to be involved with these guys. I should state that I am not able to attend as many incidents as my colleagues; they are regularly attaining heroic standards.
Training Update
I’ve been working away at this for the last seven months, but rather than bore you with my full training plan to date I’ll only cover the thirteen weeks leading up to the event.
Week 13
ran the following
15 miles at 8:20 pace
12 miles at 7:30 pace
8 miles at 7:30 pace
15 miles at 7:55 pace
Total Weekly distance 50 miles
Comments
Relatively decent week, happy with the pace, only ran for four days as struggling to fit training time in. Did a few early morning runs but still a hassle to find a couple of hours in the day to run.
Week 12
ran the following
11 miles at 7:42 pace
10 miles at 6:36 pace
9 miles at 7:35 pace
17 miles at 6:55 pace
5 miles at 8:03
Total Weekly distance 52 miles
Comments
Pace is picking up nicely. On race day, I’ll be happy with a 10:30 minute mile pace. In case any of you think this is slow, you should understand that in ultra-running, things are a little different. It isn’t just the distance that results in a slower pace, there are lot of hills to climb, lots of check points to pass, and various challenges with weather to contend with.
As an example, the guy who got the fastest time on this event last year ran at a 9:17 pace.
Week 11
ran the following
14 miles at 8:06 pace
10 miles at 8:13 pace
10 miles at 7:46 pace
22 miles at 7:58 pace
8 miles at 8:07
Total Weekly distance 64 miles
Comments
Happy to be picking up weekly mileage. I still need to ramp this up further to get my body prepared for 80 miles, pace still good, hips are aching most of the time now I’m increasing mileage volume. Have noticed that my hips start to click a little when I’m not running, this is perhaps due to the lack of resistance training, so my joints are becoming a little less stable.
Week 10
ran the following
10 miles at 7:58 pace
10 miles at 7:52 pace
10 miles at 7:59 pace
8 miles at 8:06 pace
4 miles using sprint drills
Total Weekly distance 42 miles
Comments
Feel rubbish this week, got a bit of a cough, struggling and decided to cut back on volume so I can still get some mileage in.
Week 9
ran the following
4 miles at 8:27 pace
10 miles at 8:26 pace
8 miles at 7:41 pace
Total Weekly distance 22 miles
comments
Eughhh!
Bit of a cough has now turned into a chest infection for which I need antibiotics. Feel like absolute rubbish, must take a break from running.
Week 8
Still feel like crap :( fuck my life.
Week 7
Still not better, is this some kind of foreign chemical warfare?
Week 6
Managed a 7-mile run at an 8:32 pace.
Also an 8 mile run at 7:38 pace, which I was quite pleased with.
Slowly getting better, have had a long time off from running which has happened during some of the most important weeks of training, I’m massively pissed off about this but just have to try and accept it and move on.
The good news is that all the rest from running has meant my hips have gone back to feeling normal, which should hopefully happen again two weeks prior to the event when I dial back the training volume.
Week 5
Interesting week, I had the opportunity to spend four days with Humberside Fire and Rescue, training for what they are calling a resilience force, extra people to help out whenever the fire service are short on personnel.
I decided to give this a go because I’ve always been curious about trying out for the Fire Service. The the work itself is exciting and challenging and reminiscent of the kind of stuff I did in the Marines, but this time instead of taking lives I’d be saving them!
Plus, I could still carry on being a Personal Trainer and helping people achieve great health.
So anyway, the whole week was spent in heavy Fire Service rig, running out long lines of hosepipes and rolling them back, learning how to work a fire engine pump, connecting external water sources from hydrants and open water and working at heights.
I absolutely loved it. It was really hard work, but enjoyable and I loved being part of a team again. Whilst everyone else was having lunch I went to the gym to get some mileage on the treadmill. Everyone thought I was mad. I never managed to get a long distance in but the whole daily activity would be sufficient to help with training towards my challenge.
So all in all a good week’s training and good to be back on track.
Week 4
Another challenging week for training, this time I was on holiday in Whitby for half-term. I still managed to work in some runs each day, averaging about 8 miles, still quite short of what was required at this stage in training but again I was spending most of the day on my feet and being active, total steps for the week was over 180,000 which was similar to when I managed a week with 60 miles of running.
Week 3
This was the last week I had to smash it as two weeks prior to the event I need to taper down volume and aim to be as fresh as possible for the big day. So, no excuses, back from holidays but had a few clients away which gave me some spare hours each day to go and crack some mileage.
ran the following
20 miles at 8:18 pace
20 miles at 8:34 pace
23 miles at 8:07 pace
8 miles at 8:06 pace
21 miles at 8:37
Total Weekly distance 91 miles
comments
So a good week for mileage and catching up, hopefully this should put my body in good stead for the big day. I was surprised by how well I was able to run on the last day, I could certainly feel the effect on my body, my feet really hurt, kind of feels like I have some stress fractures in the bones, similar to a time I broke one of my feet in the Marines, hips where also really hurting, bear in mind I did all of this whilst carrying a rucksack with spare water, food, and changes of clothing, a similar weight to that I’ll need to carry on the day.
Running in the rainy weather wasn’t much fun ☹
Week 2
So the standard formula here is to back off and try to get the body fresh as possible for the big day (so lots of rest) whilst still doing some training so that you can run well (so lots of runs, but shorter)
Usually it’s suggested people half their training volume, and then half it again, so in my case we would go from 90 miles per week, to 45, to 22.5 and then the big event.
The problem is 90 miles per week hasn’t been my usual mileage, and it’s taken a fair bit out on my body, I started this week with a sprint session, and I seem to have some new aches and pains I haven’t had before, along with joint clicks that’s shouldn’t be happening.
I’ve decided to back off and just do lots of walking, with the occasional jog, and some sorely missed resistance work, which should allow me to work around these injuries and help me prepare best.
This might change on a day to day bases, but I’m ok with being flexible on that.
Diet
I haven’t followed a specific diet plan to date, except for keeping a loose eye on calories some days (tracking most of my food to get me in the right ballpark for where I know I should be)
Leading into this event, I’ll now be keeping calories slightly lower as I back down from training, and then spiking them up again a few days before in order to load up on glycogen.
Each day I aim to get at least four servings of good quality protein, usually one serving from a shake, and then three servings from either meat, fish, eggs or dairy.
Have really been enjoying Greek yoghurts with bananas, raisons and a crushed biscuit each night, the bolus serving of casein helps with prevention of muscle breakdown whilst sleeping (casein is absorbed at a slower rate that most proteins).
On training days I’ve really had to increase my carb intake, most of this I get from oats, rice, pasta, potatoes however whilst running I’ll also use high 5 gels and powder which gives me an optimal ration of 2:1 glucose to fructose which in research has been shown to help the most with absorption, the most I can take onboard is about 90g per hr, so far I’ve been OK with this however I don’t know how I’ll react over a longer distance, at some point I may need to eat other food stuff and there could be some digestion issues.
As far as fats go, I’m having very little, mostly just eggs, a little butter or olive oil to cook meat in, otherwise with calories set at reasonable level most of my intake comes from carbs and protein.
As usual my diet includes lots of veggies, fruits and mostly healthy stuff. I need a higher than usual amount of vitamins and minerals so this has been important to maintain.
On the weekends I still enjoy a few beers, and I’ll still have a takeaway and some chocolate too.
Live your best life 😊
I’m not trying to break any records or do this for a living, so I don’t need to go overboard with my prep here.
One last thing I’ll mention is that in the next week I’ll experiment with carb and fat timing, using a recover low strategy after a training run to help my body get used to running on fat as a fuel and make sure it’s better at breaking down carbs when I introduce them back in.
I may explain more about this technique in a future article, it’s quite long winded, but has some good research behind it.
Current supplement regime
At the moment I take the following to assist my training and diet (note that these two things need to taken care of first)
Click on each supplement to see which brand I use.
Vitamin D- 2500 iu
so these grim days with lots of raining and overcast sky’s are one of the reasons we get so much seasonal affective disorder (SAD), of course it isn’t the only reason ( financial pressures of upcoming Christmas, loneliness, not the lack of vitamin D itself but the dullness of the sky and grimness of each overcast wet day)
Anyhow, supplementing with Vitamin D can not only improve mood and mental health, but with all of the training I’ve been doing lately Vitamin D is helping to support my immune system (which gets negatively affected by overtraining) and supporting my bone health and recovery.
Fish oil - 1800mg per day-
All this training is causing lots of inflammation in my joints, a high dose of fish oil is helping to manage that inflammation and improve recovery. It also helps with brain health, joint health and heart health.
Pro-biotics
having a bad stomach is quite common with ultra-running. This year the Ultra Trail de Mont Blanc (UTMB) Courtney Dauwalter found herself throwing up for a few minutes with miles to go till the finish line. She went on to win the event.
To help my body deal with this I’ll be avoiding any medications such as aspirin or ibuprofen, and I’ve regularly been taking pro biotics.
Cherry active
When I train heavy, or when I back off too quick, I find my legs going into uncomfortable spasm at night time, this can really affect my sleep.
Cherry active helps with my sleep and has also been shown to help reduce next day soreness.
Challenges
There are going to be numerous challenges I may have to face during the Hardwolds 80, such as..
Navigation
So it’s kind of embarrassing to admit this, but whilst out on some training runs across the Wolds Way, I got lost! The first time it happened was when a sign that was supposed to tell me to turn left onto a field had been broken off, so I ran straight past it and about three miles down the road realised I hadn’t see any Wolds Way signs. After an about turn, and a look on the map I eventually got back on course with just a six mile diversion I didn’t need to take!
The 2nd and 3rd time where at certain points on the Wolds way where the route splits into two, I hadn’t realised this and it’s only because of lazy map checking that on both those occasions I went down the wrong path, in each situation I had about eight miles of unnecessary diversions to get back on course.
I’m not looking to set any records with this, but at the same time I do want to try and run as much of the route as I can, so stopping for a few minutes to check position on a map every time I’m uncertain could add on a lot of time.
The thought of running 80 miles is challenging enough, if I make these same mistakes on the day I could find myself adding a lot more mileage onto this event. To help prevent me from doing so I’ve spent some time familiarising myself more with the maps and investing in a GPS watch with some navigation capabilities.
The weather
I never used to mind the weather when I was in the Marines. When it was wet, my enemy had lower morale - this motivated me. On exercise, we would spend hours getting soaked to the bone, crossing rivers, yomping across moors in the dark and heavy rain. We spent weeks like this, I can honestly say it never bothered me that much.
But then I left the Marines and became a civvie, and for all the times I fondly look back and yearn for those military days, I do enjoy waking up in the morning and having a nice coffee whilst looking at the rain outside and thinking “I’m so glad I don’t have to be out in that anymore”
Training in the summer was fine, I sweated buckets and had a bitching tan, but now the rain is here and my feet are getting soaked and covered in mud, I have to keep stopping and changing my clothing to remover a rain coat or soaked running hat. To be out in this running for hours on end is an extra level of challenge!
It isn’t just how much it drains morale either, running down wet muddy hills with tired legs and a backpack is a tripping hazard, and with each fall there is the risk of injury.
Soreness
These two weeks rest before the event should help get rid of any soreness, my wife is a trained massage therapist and after an amazing treatment at the weekend my body feels new again and I’m ready to go, but I know for sure that once I’ve been running for twenty miles or so my body starts to notice little aches and niggles.
The stress fractures in my feet play up, my hips ache, my knees go swollen and I can’t fully lock out my legs. With this I get sharp shooting pains up my back.
This is going to be fun for sure 😊 to some extent, most of this is just mental pain, the body is reacting to the minds uncertainty and over sensitivity to a new exposure.
I’ll just have to make do as best I can. The problem with taking any anti-inflammatories at this point is that they will almost certainly lead to stomach upset whilst running long distance.
Going forward
So last few days of prep, making sure I have all the kit I need. I’m looking forward to getting this done and out of the way, but most of all I think I should take the advice of the guy who sold me my amazing Altra running shoes from Simply Running in Hull (I have quite wide feet and these bad boys have felt really comfortable during my longer runs on mixed terrains)
“just enjoy it”
The Wolds Way has some amazing views. Taking part in challenges like this allows me to discover more about myself and come in close contact with my own mindset. These things present a good opportunity for personal growth and most of all. I’m doing all of this for two amazing charities which are both close to my heart, so please donate generously. I’ll be writing up how it goes after the event. I’m looking forward to not having to do so much running anymore and finally lifting some weights again!
To donate, please click here