South Downs Way 50

Yesterday I finished my first proper ultra run, the South Downs Way 50 mile run from Centurion Running. Here I sit, a day after the race and it still hasn't quite sunk in yet.  Overall the race went pretty well, but it is hard to put the 8 hours and 49 minutes of hills, clouds and English countryside into words.

At the start - check out the cheeky bugger in the background!

What went well:

1. Stayed hydrated
2. Nutrition was fine with no stomach issues
3. Feet had zero blisters!  I highly recommend pre-taping your feet and finding the right shoes
4. Found a special "uphill" gear to my running which let me run past a lot of people
5. Didn't fall over

6. Beat my target time, yay!

7. The weather was damn near perfect
8. Having a crew was awesome. It a great pick-me-up to see Julie and to have goodies delivered throughout the race. Made a big difference

9. The race was super well organised and had marvellous volunteers
10. There were plenty of food options for vegans at the aid stations. Never went hungy!

What went less-than-well:

1. My hydration pack rubbed against my back and caused a lot of chaffing.  Never run with it for so long with all the mandatory kit before. Lesson learnt.

Wooo, finished!

2. I had a few mental lows, especially around 2/3rds of the way. Mostly brought about by pure fatigue I think.  Coming out of the mile 42 aid station I felt great after some food and salt tabs.
3. Still not great with hills. I feel if I can get strong with them, I will save *a lot* off my overall time.

I will admit that straight afterwards I was questioning my ability to do a 100 mile run next month!

The Verdict:

The South Downs Way 50 is a brilliantly run and organised race. If you are considering your first 50 mile ultra, you would do well to consider this race. The runners are friendly, the volunteers amazing, the food at the aid stations was varied and yummy. 

Go on, sign up for 2015, you know you want to :)

Here is the Strava breakdown of the race http://app.strava.com/activities/127233674 if you are curious.

The Long Run

[Apologies for not posting for a while, I've been doing fairly boring training over the winter and only just now coming onto my big races]

Only partly true...

I have my first "proper" ultra coming up in less than two weeks, the South Downs Way (SDW) 50 mile run. I say "proper" because I technically did an ultra a few weeks ago at the 45km long Six Foot Track Marathon.  But that was barely longer than a marathon and doesn't count. To me anyway.

To prepare for the SDW50, my coach gave me a challenge for last weekend of running 5 hours on Saturday and 2 hours on Sunday.

Eek!

Well, as you have likely already worked out, I survived.

The past two days were a great learning experience for me.  I gained insight into the value of mental focus, nutrition, recovery and correct pacing.

Saturday - ran at roughly 5:30-5:50/km for 2.5 hours along the canals and then turned around to come back. In this time I covered a little over 26km and was feeling great at the turnaround.  I passed the marathon mark at 3:59:04 - which is not bad for a training run! At about 44km the wheels started to come off though. I was hurting (nothing specific, just normal body stuff) and I lost my focus.  At 48km I gave up running and walked for about 1.5 kms. However as I was starting to get cold I managed to put my head down and run in the remaining 3km.

I was also feeling a bit sick of the gels - I don't think they work for me past about 4 hours. 

Afterwards, my feet had a few small blisters, but nothing exciting. I guess my pre-taping was successful on the whole.  My legs were really tired and I was hobbling around the house somewhat on the Saturday evening. I made sure to get lots of high quality food into me and to avoid sitting (I'd seize up and standing up straight took me 5 minutes).  Following some sage advice, I went to bed at 9pm to heal up.

Sunday - woke up feeling pretty decent all said. Still quite creaky, especially in my left hip socket and lower back. Maybe 1.5 or 2/10 on the pain scale though, not too bad all said.  After a morning slothing around the house I made it out for a 18km run at 5:15/km pace.  Started off at 5:45/km, but by the time I warmed up again I was down to 5:00/km flat for the last few kms.  I forgot I was supposed to do the fast finish (how convenient!) for the run.  Not sure I would have had a 4:20/km 5k in me though.  Not without someone yelling at me anyway :)

So this weekend I learnt that:

1. If your mind gives up you are screwed.  But don't worry, just walk it off and things can come good.
2. I should try more real food on longer runs. I could pack sandwiches or bagels without too much hassle.
3. 5:30/km is my "ultra cruise" pace on flat.  Takes a long time to get anywhere at that speed though!
4. Lots of sleep and healthy food makes for a good recovery.  Especially the sleep.

All said and done, the weekend wasn't 100% successful as I didn't do the fast finish run.  But I certainly learnt quite a bit about myself!

Long Overdue Update

As Julie has mentioned to me several times, I haven't been updating my blog recently.  This hasn't been because of any falling-off-the-wagon or somesuch.  Nope, still proudly plant-powered, going as strong as ever.

Wales:  Hot, hilly, hard.

It also isn't because of a lack of athletic endeavours either.  I ran the Wales Marathon, finishing a respectable 21st place out of 287 finishers. I also ran did the 5 mile National Lottery Anniversary Run, getting a handy-dandy 413th out of 11,841 people.  Both were challenging events, Wales due to the heat and hills, the Anniversary Run due to the speed required and the fact it was a week after Wales.

So why haven't I rushed off to Blogger to write down a detailed blow by blow of my events?  I've thought about this a bit, and I think it is primarily because I didn't learn anything from my diet that I thought interesting enough to share with others.  No secrets to vegan fuelling (unless "enough Clif Shot Bloks over a 3 hour period to make you want to be ill" counts as advice) and no sage-like knowledge on how avocados can help you push through "the wall" and reach your goals.

Why this post at all then?  Well, in retrospect I did learn some non-foodie things that may be worth sharing, namely:

• 600 metres of elevation over 26.2 miles isn't much for some, but it was enough to destroy me completely. If the course description says "hilly" then do some proper damn training on hills beforehand you nonce.
• If you are entering a race with nearly 12,000 people, some of whom who have never run 5 miles before, get as far to the front as you can. Otherwise you will be stuck for over a mile trying to get past the agonisingly slow bastards who assume 10 minute miles is "pretty fast".
• Much of running a race, regardless of distance, that is run at your maximum effort is mental.  Not 10%, not even 50%, probably closer to 80% of it is in your head.  If you let the devil on your shoulder convince you for 1 second that you "don't have to do this you know" or that "maybe you could walk this bit" you are toast.  The little bugger won for a bit in Wales, but with the help of another runner I was able to block him out and salvage the performance I owed myself.
• High-5'ing Paula Radcliffe while running in the Olympic Stadium is awesome.  Highly recommended should the opportunity present itself to you.
• The quote "Living well is the best revenge" from George Herbert, English poet and orator, is quite applicable to vegans.  Most people find it difficult to be critical of my lifestyle when I'm clearly quite fit. Saves quite a lot of time and somewhat pointless discussion really.

What's next then?  I have a 10k race on Sunday, which I'm going to try and pace myself to a 41 to 42 minute finish (crowds permitting). I'd like to get under 40 minutes, but I'm not quite there yet I don't think. After that my next race is the Nike Run to the Beat half marathon, which I'll be angling for a PB at.

Let's see how it all goes.

Sucker for Punishment

I have 2 weeks to go until my Wales marathon.  I'm feeling pretty good about it, my training has been going well and I feel pretty strong. Only issues are a niggle with my right foot and some reoccurring blisters. I probably won't beat my Edinburgh time since the course is so hilly, but I'll see what I can do.  I really would like to to nail 3:15, but I'm not sure that my fitness is up to that level without a flat course.  I'll give it my best though ;)

Training continues, even through the ever rainy British summer

On the diet front I've really been neglecting myself.  I've always tried to explain to people that the central part of a vegan diet is to eat more vegetables.  Vegetables are awesome, varied and packed full of nutrients, yet I've forgotten my own advice and been neglecting them.  I had a low point earlier this week where I really felt crappy, a low energy vibe that I haven't felt since going plant powered.  The good news is I recognised the issue and a daily dose of quality veg has turned things around before it became a problem.

Listen to your mum folks - eat your vegetables!

Next up is some exciting news. I've been looking for the next challenge, something that is both scary and exciting, to get me motivated and pushing forward.  Today I signed up for two new events that I think fit that description (and then some) perfectly:

• April 2014 - South Downs Way 50 mile ultra marathon
• May 2014 - Thames Path 100 mile ultra marathon

I've signed up for both.  Madness! More news as it breaks...

Edinburgh Marathon

Two weeks ago I successfully ran the Edinburgh Marathon in a fairly respectable time of 3:22:22.  I have sat down a couple of times and tried documenting my thoughts and experiences from the day, but each time I drew a blank.  I think I needed some time to get some perspective on the experience and mentally digest the challenge as a whole.

Running past Arthur's Seat early in the race

Running Vegan
Since I set up this blog to talk about going vegan and how it has affected my build up to marathoning, it seems appropriate to start with diet.  I've written a couple of times before about the various good and bad aspects of eating a plant based diet, so I'll try to avoid covering old ground here.  In relation to the marathon I can say that I went in feeling strong (having just recovered from a cold), was able to stay strong throughout the race (mostly, the end part was a bit of a push) and my recovery was surprisingly quick. 

I put much of this down to my diet allowing me to stay healthy, fuelling me for the day and giving my body all the goodies it needs to put me back together again after the race.  While I obviously could achieve this with any moderately healthy diet, I think the no-meat approach significantly heightened the degree at which I was able to prepare, perform and recover. 

Has vegan eating been the principle driver behind feeling great and performing well? Or was it just the extra exercise making the difference?  Since I still feel really good even when I have taken a break from running (such as when I had my calf issue) I'm going to go with the diet being the root of all my mental and physical improvements. Of course nothing works in isolation, but I consider it a solid foundation for all my other endeavours.

Home stretch, sprint finish

About the Race
Finally, just a few words about the race itself.  If you are considering a marathon, I can highly recommend Edinburgh's event. It is well organised, has great scenery, is relatively flat and had good support for much of the route.  I'm really glad I picked a good first marathon race, since I'm now all psyched for my next one. Bring on Wales in July!

Ready... Set...

So, as I sit here writing up this post I'm dressed in my running kit, ready to go out for my final pre-marathon run.  Sunday is the big day, looming large in my thoughts. Did I train enough? Will I perform on the day? What if it rains? What sort of maniac goes vegan and trains for his first marathon at the same time?

It is at this important juncture I need to stop and just ask myself the most important question... What would a real Aussie think when presented with a proper challenge?

She'll be 'right mate.

Damn right it will.  Don't you think so too Paul?

Pretty sure Paul is with me on this one

So, time to just suck it up and see how I go.  People do these things in their 70s or in absurd costumes, I should be fine with my normal run gear and oh-so-masculine pink race vest from Breast Cancer Care. 

Rockin' the vest!

Did I mention I'm running for charity?  I did?  Well I better mention it again anyway! Head along to my Just Giving website - every pound given is matched by Barclays, so every little bit helps!

I did have a bit of a wrinkle in the preparation when I got a cold a couple of weeks back. But that seems to have passed and I'm back to fighting fit.  It may have proven that a vegan diet doesn't make you cold-proof, but at least my recovery has been swift!

Now, I better get out for that run...

Incremental Progress

In today's world we expect everything to happen fast. Fast food, fast transport, instant weight loss, same day delivery, we want more of everything and in less time.  While this is (probably) fine for things that are mechanical, it doesn't work so well for biological processes.

Let's use diets for example. You can indeed lose a lot of weight very quickly if you take radical action, such as cutting out all carbs (done it) or only eating apples for a month (no, I'm not that nuts).  But it won't last, it isn't a lifestyle, it is a transient fling with food and before you know it, you are back to where you started.  Nature doesn't like being rushed.

What brought on this line of thinking you may well ask? Well, today I looked back on my running times from way back in July 2010, when I had first started into running.  I did 3.8km in 29 minutes and 47 seconds, or 7:50 per km pace... and I remember that run, I honestly thought I might die.  Seriously, visions of lungs exploding or feet falling off were going through my head.  That wasn't even my first run, it was just the first I recorded with an app on my phone.  My first "run" involved a run/walk "strategy" whereby I would shift my fat ass for a few hundred metres before falling back into a gasping zombie-like lurch until the pattern could be repeated over and over. 

Post run

Flash forward a little less than 3 years later and I can comfortably bang out a half marathon in less than an hour and three quarters (~4:45 pace) on any given weekend for the sheer joy of it.  Now that's progress!

Upon reflection, this has taught me a number of important lessons:

• Keep a log of your progress.  Change doesn't happen quickly, but if you capture the metrics, you will be able to look back and take pride in what you have accomplished.
• Don't rush it.  Looking back, most of my injuries came from pushing too hard too early.  4 weeks of slow progress beats 1 week of awesome and 3 weeks of limping around cursing yourself.
• The best stuff in life is worth struggling, striving and fighting for.  Seriously, life is one hard slog after another, but totally worth it.  Consider the alternative.
• Running is awesome. Everyone hates it at first, but if you stick with it, what you get out of it far exceeds what you put in.  It becomes fun to do, fun to stop doing and makes everything else in your day better.  

So while my progress thus far has been aided immensely by my new plant powered life, it is all built on a solid platform of constant effort and steady payoff.  Sustainable change rocks :)