Ridgeway 85 (still not sure if its 87miles) report and perfecting YOUR moment

It was been a long time since a real post but I guess you can say it has been head down with work and training for the last few months.
This past weekend I raced?...the Ridgeway 85 which is an 85mile run organised by the TRA and doubles as their UK Trail Running Championships. I'll keep this brief as although a lot happens over 20hours its fair to say I had two defining moments. The second of these moments was when I was cruising along in about 15th feeling real good before the heavens (or my feet) opened up......gushing....bulging.....gnarly blisters. BOOM the last 20km was a complete death march to the line and in a hobbling kind of run i ended up 22nd in 20hrs 12mins. All things considered I would have taken it at the start.
The first, and most significant moment of my race was my ordeal between 30-50km. It was bad, I felt bad, I had nothing and I didn't know why. In these dark moments of a race you start to question everything- did I train enough, did I put in enough hill repeats, have i eaten, am i hydrated, am i injury free? Each answer was a yes yet I still wanted to throw the towel in, curl up in a heap and cry like froddo sans ring....I was a mess. I tried to force my mind towards the forward relentless motion mantra and eventually things would turn around. Eat, drink, talk, electrolytes and run when you can.....an hour later and I still had zero to give, it sucked. As I was honking up an hill during a hail battering shower I just decided to stop and sit on a log. It was over.
I took a minute looked around and let my mind wander to scenery and the image of runners behind and ahead. At this point a decided to just be. This moment is were I was suppose to be, I was meant to sit down and take in the environment (which was great let me add, Britain really does have some beautiful trails). I was not meant to be running hard at this point, I excepted my moment, got up and shuffled my way forward. I instantly knew I had to stay in this moment. Racing did not matter for know but its kind of funny how for the next 70km I made huge inroads into the runners ahead and my 50 too 120km split was 5th fastest overall. Their was something very disassociated yet connected about this moment. 20hours is a long time to be running yet it can be over in a flash if you just be.
This is something we can add and think about in all aspects of life. Western society makes us over analyse and question everything. In some ways it can push people to seek new information and stimulate the mind but other times it can and will break you down at some point. Accept your moment and work through it- positivity is great but sometimes you just need to be you.

Fat-Loading and the FITT Principles for Taper Training

I’m a week away from the challenge Hub 24hour endurance race and my taper is in full swing. Every Endurance athlete will have a slightly unique training regime in the 7-21 days prior to an event but the fundamentals are always the same- drop the training intensity and allow your body time to recover. It has also become pretty common knowledge that you should not completely stop training nor change too much. I (as well as many others) tend to follow the FITT training principles in order to slowly drop the demand of training without taking the body out of its naturally rhythm. FITT stands for Frequency, Intensity, Type and Time. For example you should be looking to change just 1 of these 4 principles per week of your taper. If you have a two week taper, I generally do 12 days*, you will adjust one in the first week then add another in the second. I would always keep the Frequency the same as it keeps that rhythm but what you change between the other 3 will be event and individual dependant. For my 24hour race I have dropped TIME in the first week, which translates to the amount of mileage I’m doing in each session. The second week I am dropping the INTENSITY along with the TIME- this now means I am running at a slower speed and at a lower heart rate for the same sessions. I have personally toyed with dropping different things and sometimes everything as a test to see how much benefit my body would get from more rest, I have generally found that I feel lethargic and sluggish at the start of a race after periods of complete rest.
* Lots of interesting taper research in ‘the medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise Journal 2003’
These thoughts and ideas on Taper training have generally been exhausted on internet forums, magazines and journals but the effects on Nutrition Taper tend to be a little more subjective. The Carbo-load conversation is now ridiculously boring yet nobody has decided exactly how long it should be, specific percentages on carb intake to total calories and whether or not you should still be Carbo-loading in the final 24hours before competition ('running light' theory). I have even seen an article suggesting that we ONLY need to carbo-load 24hours before competition and no more (http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/nutrition/ask-the-experts-carbo-loading-and-race-day-nutrition-with-nick-morgan/5078.html)
All the research leads to more questions than answers. But questions are good as ultimately they will drive human performance forward as we seek the solution. And that leads me to Fat-Loading, yup, Fat-Loading. There is some research out but there is way less questions and even less answers. This all comes down to the fact that fat-loading is a concept only ever adopted by ultra distance athletes and there is way less ultra distance athletes than in most other sports. And when I say ultra distance I don’t mean 50mile runners or Ironman triathletes, Im talking about 100mile+ runners and double+ Ironman athletes- proper underground sports performers.
For the 24hour challenge I am once again fat-loading (5days) followed by carbo-loading (3days). Before I continue I am not writing this to say I am right, I am just putting some ideas across about what works for me and to give the less discussed fat-load concept some air time.
So why I fat-load:
The most basic answer is that carbohydrates only provide 4-4.5kcal per gram as opposed to the 8-9kcal provided by fat. During sports performance it is widely reported that we can only consume approximately 300kcals per hour (weight, intensity, temperature and person dependant). When we will be burning in excess of 700kcal per hour it becomes very apparent that we will not have enough glycogen/carbohydrate storage capacity to fuel performance for much more than 3 hours. At this point we either need help from the calories we consume (which will not be enough), from fat oxidation or from protein synthesis. If it comes from protein synthesis within the muscles than this will lead to muscle atrophy. So the ideal solution is fat oxidation, problem number 1......nearly all successful ultra endurance athletes have a body fat percentage under 10. That is not a lot of fat, hence a small increase in the fat consumed before competition can become very useful after 4+hours of competition (especially 24hours!).
Several other methods of increasing fat oxidation have been used such as drugs like heparin and other dangerous methods like the intravenous infusion of fat. But it wasn’t until the arrival of positive studies on medium chain triglycerides that fat-loading became popular use by ultra endurance athletes. In scientific terms-
"The depletion or reduction of bodily carbohydrate reserves is associated with fatigue during endurance exercise. Various carbohydrate supplementation and exercise regimens have been used experimentally to increase carbohydrate reserves before exercise or to maintain the availability of carbohydrate for oxidation during exercise. On the other hand, the improved endurance capability observed after aerobic training has been attributed to an increased oxidation of fat relative to carbohydrate; this carbohydrate sparing presumably delays the point at which reduced carbohydrate reserves cause fatigue. This effect has led to the suggestion that a greater availability of fat during exercise can improve performance via the carbohydrate-sparing effect of "fat loading." Sherman WV and Leenders N. Fat-loading: the next magic Bullet? (International Journal of Sports Nutrition)

The key summerised advantages of fat-loading are all related to delayed onset of fatigue, slower muscle atrophy and better recovery. I could write about this for page after page but I would get ridiculously boring, actually saying ridiculous reminds me of something....what is it with my North American friends all saying ‘ridonkulous’ lately? It is definitely not a real word, it’s a stupid word and it should not replace ridiculous. Have I missed something here? Who started it?

Anyway, if you have any more interest in the fat-load concept then leave a comment with any questions and I can send you some links if I can’t answer them myself. I also encourage you to read chapter 13 in The complete book of SPORTS NUTRITION: A practical guide to eating for Sport by Shelly Meltzer and Cecily Fuller.

Below I have left an exert of what a typical fat-load day looks like for me. You will notice that the fat content is not outrageously high as I don’t want to put on weight. Simply put all it needs is a few grams removed from protein and carbs and added to the fats ratio. This type of diet also makes it very easy to quickly transition into a high carb diet again. Once more any questions please ask- I hope you find this useful

FAT LOADING
BREAKFAST Carbs(g) Protein(g) Fat(g)
Porridge,Milk 75 25 45
Banana 15 0 0
Mixed seeds and Nuts 0 5 15
BREAKFAST TOTALS 90 30 60

LUNCH
3x Pitta Bread w/peanut butter 65 15 15
½ avocado 0 0 10
Banana 15 0 0
LUNCH TOTALS 80 15 25

DINNER
250g Chicken 0 70 15
Cup of rice/pasta 30 5 0
Salad&veg 0 0 0
4 rashers bacon 0 0 20
Mixed nuts and seeds 15 5 5
DINNER TOTALS 45 80 40

SNACKS
100g chocolate 60 10 30
Peanuts and almonds 20 30 90
Raisins 15 0 0
SNACK TOTALS 95 40 120

DAILY TOTAL 310 165 245

9 Days to focus

Title says it all really and this will probably be my last post until after Caesars Camp 100m. Body feels good except for a problamatic back which i think may stem from my hips, so rest and stretching is in order for the next week. I was suppose to be running approx 60miles during my 3 week taper but that has been significantly reduced due to my back problems. I've also decided im not the usual 3 week taper man....it's too long, im bored of not running! I also think I get more niggles and pains when I stop running, I actually believe that running 100miles will cure my back (if it doesnt then it will cripple me but at least I'll know where Im at lol). looking ahead to race day, I am actually quite excited despite the predictable pain that awaits. Their is a couple of people that I wan to meet (Stars of the Uk ultra scene) and I always find the start of one of these things quite entertaining. You get 100+ people all highly intoxicated with caffeine, all raring to go- then once we get the go signal they all crawl off the line at tortouise pace......what happened to the caffeine? More energy was being used erecting tents and getting changed then actually running- brilliant. I'm very fortunate to have a support crew for the race too- parents will be present throughout and I should get a couple friends arrive early saturday evening and then a couple more early sunday morning. Both at times when I may need a little push, I believe one friend is even going to give me heaps of grief to get the damn thing finished just so we can all go home ;-) I think sometimes someone abusing you as a bigger effect than someone being nice but maybe thats just me.....Monthly stats updated below. as you can see way down on July and August but September only contained 1 'real' week of 123km

Drifters and Swingers

Ok first "real" post i guess. First of all thanks to all those who have logged on and hello to the randoms in germany and the states (bizarre!). My final weeks training has slipped....i managed a solid 30miler in just under 4:30. It was a fairly decent training run although the route across london was far too busy and full of drifters and swingers. Drifters, in case anyone cares, are people that walk along the street and seem to "drift" from one side of the path to the other just as you are about to overtake them- damn its annoying. Whats even worse is when they have one limp arm that seems to swing around from side to side like they are constantly fanning a fart away....this is not a natural way to walk is it? Anyway, the run has surprisinly left my legs feeling extrememly fatigued and ive decided an extra few days rest will benefit me more come race day than an additional 30mile run. I plan to fit in one more training expedition just to practice performance under sleep deprivation. I will be staying up for 24 hours before going on a 6-8hour hike around the south downs. I definately believe running sleep deprived and/or hungry is one of the three best training tools for ultra endurance training. Numbers 1 and 2 are back to back long runs and hills both for obvious reasons! Other than this its taper time! I have been looking forward to this for ages! I have an excuse to put my feet up as much as poosible, get a massage and plan some race tactics. I have started on a race day nutrition plan which will be left very loose as your stomch could and will do anything on the day. The only sure fire things are to take a carb/electrolyte gel and some hornet juice every lap. I told a few people im going for the Vespa (wasp juice) on race day but as I could not get hold of it I've had to switch to the hornet but its a very similar fat metabolising product. As for actual race day pace plan....their is no plan. 2 hour laps on this course will get you a win and their will only be a small hand full of people breaking 24 hours. For me, well, i read it takes a 'newbie' on average 3 attempts to finish a 100 so thats all im focusing on- although typical me, i will go out hard and try to hold on! I'll post again later in the week after my run and hopefully post some pics of the 100 mile course. Twp quick footnotes- Im now over 1600km (1000miles) for the yeah and approx 25,000 vertical feet. Its not as much as i hoped but im fairly happy considering Ive missed 12 weeks through injury. secondly huge props to former english boy Nick Clark who won he Watasch 100mile in just over 20hours! Thanks for reading

5.5 weeks and rapidly diminishing

For those thinking WTF to the post title...piss off....kidding but come on get with the programme. I have little over 5 weeks to me penned 100mile race, www.caesarscampenduranceruns.com boy its going to be a fucker. Training has ramped up significantly, check the monthly totals below, but in summary my best month ever and perhaps two of my best weeks ever. As most of you are aware I have a lot of shit going on right now but in some ways it suits me......life decisions stop me from obsessing over the race and the race stop me from freaking out over my future and career, nice. I'm going to sign off here as i just wanted to throw out a quick first post for a certain backyard mountain man so here you go Big D and thanks for the gear (nathan sports) and the kick up the arse :-)