UltraStu - Millsy's Memories and Mutterings about Trail Running

A Liitle Bit More on Pacing

2011-12-31T22:20:00.000Z

Hi, and Happy New Year.

Tonight’s post will be a short post, just tying up a few issues to do with pacing during endurance events. Within my last post I focused solely on a physiological rationale for not adopting a negative split strategy, but as I have tried to explain, performance during endurance events is not determined directly by physiology but is to do with managing Race Focus Energy (RFE), so tonight’s post will hopefully provide the complete answer to the ideal pacing strategy.

One thing that has been highlighted by many, including Brett who left a comment to my last post, is that most world records, especially for track distance races, come of an even split (or a slight negative split) pacing strategy. Simply in terms of physiology I think the reason for this is that for track distance races the races are too short for cardiac drift to occur, hence an even paced strategy does correspond to an even physiological demand. But for marathons, both the men’s and women’s world records were set with a negative split. So why is this so?

Looking at my RFE fatigue model above, where physiological demand, (which could be concluded as being represented by rating of perceived exertion, RPE), is a core component. There is not a direct link from RPE to RFE. Although running a negative split could be the wrong strategy in terms of there being a progressive increase in RPE as the race progresses, the positivity one receives by not slowing down, and as you overtake other runners is likely to result in a downward swing of the RPE-RFE arrow, and therefore could result in a constant rate of RFE usage. The key here is the thoroughness of the race preparation. If you have considered the demands of the race, and prepared for a negative split (even paced) race strategy, then hopefully you have the confidence to run slowler than what you are capable of during the first half, and to not allow negativity to develop as you are further down the field than you would expect to finish. Then with the expectation that during the second half of the race you will overtake the 95.7% of the field who slow down, the positivity will hopefully counteract the increased physiological demand.

Then why is it that I don’t recommend this approach to endurance racing. I guess the main reason is that to develop this confidence to remain positive during the slowly run first half of the race is very difficult. A human trait appears to be to easily react negatively to situations whilst racing. As mentioned in my previous post, there are so many factors that can swing the RPE-RFE arrow upwards. The elite runners who adopt a negative split strategy succeed not only because of their superior physical abilities, but also due to their superior TOTAL preparation abilities. They have the ‘mental skills’, the belief, to remain positive throughout the duration of the race. Based on my experiences during 30+ years of endurance racing, I have found it extremely hard to keep the negativity ‘at bay’, hence why I adopt the positive split pacing strategy, and to quite an extreme.

My 'extreme' positive split strategy is to start at a fast pace, quicker than I am capable of maintaining for the duration of the race, i.e. “Run as fast as you can, while you can”. I am then further up the field and ahead of runners who would expect to finish ahead of me. There are two advantages of this. Firstly, if the preparation by the other runners hasn’t been thorough, then there is the likelihood that they may start to develop negative thoughts due to being behind. But the biggest advantage is the positivity I receive as a result of running fast and being up the field. I am usually on an absolute high, receiving loads of positive energy from marshals, feed station volunteers, spectators and from within. And with this positivity, although I am working at a physiologically high level, the RPE-RFE arrow is rotated down and the RFE usage is therefore lower than what would be typical for such a fast running pace. My performance at the IAU World Trail Championships in Connemara, Ireland back in July is a clear illustration of this positivity reducing the RFE usage rate, and therefore enabling me to perform so much better than what physiologically I should have been able to perform at. Starting the race fast, and actually leading the World Champs for a short period, with a helicopter buzzing above, and a camera crew on a quad bike with a camera jammed close to my face (see the video of the race on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLUVVBUMALU) had such a massive swing of the RPE-RFE arrow, that I felt amazingly positive for the entire 7+ hours of the race, and everything felt so much easier than usual!

Again in terms of adopting a positive split strategy the key is the thoroughness of the preparation, the completeness of the visualisations. Although, it could be interpreted as being negative visualising slowing down during the second half of the race, in my situation it is a reality due to the quick pace I start at. Therefore knowing that a slowing down of pace has nothing to do with me performing poorly, this prevents the negativity from developing. Brett made a very valid point with his comment “How many times have you read that when people start positive splitting and slowing down they lost all motivation and shut 'er down?” And that is the real problem with trying to achieve a negative split, or an even paced strategy. Many runners may not be aware of cardiac drift, and that to maintain a constant pace throughout a marathon requires a massively disproportionate demand in terms of both physiological intensity and Race Focus Energy. Therefore when they are ‘required’ to slow down, yes the negativity often takes over, and then it is all ‘downhill’ from there!
So to conclude, as with most issues to do with endurance running there is not one ‘golden rule’, there is not one ‘solution to fit all’. The key to success is being aware of the different approaches and having an understanding of the underlying factors that influence performance. This is where the Race Focus Energy Fatigue Model is so beneficial, as it helps to clarify the many, many factors that contribute to race performance. It is with an increased understanding of endurance running that I look forward to another great year of running in 2012. I wish you well for the upcoming year of running, May you achieve success, by achieving the goals you set yourself. Time to sign off with a quote I have signed off before with, but I feel is quite appropriate for this post.

"In order to address what training (preparation) is appropriate, one must first consider what limits performance!" Stuart Mills, 2010.

Hope to see you at a race or two in 2012,

Stuart

Thoughts on Pacing Strategy for Endurance Running Races - The Negative Split

2011-12-18T21:31:00.000Z

Hi

Tonight’s post, as the title indicates, is about Pacing Strategy, and specifically, does a negative split improve performance? Part of my Dorset Trail Marathon race report last week included a bit of a ‘rant’ about how I felt that the negative split resulted in slower finishing times, not quicker as suggested by many, including Martin and Tom from MarathonTalk. Well following my post it was pleasing to know that both Martin and Tom read my race report with them both leaving a comment on the blog. I especially liked Tom’s quote "I'd rather know I was wrong than think I was right". So it got me questioning what is it that makes me think that I am right, that makes me believe that the negative split is the wrong strategy? So hopefully tonight I will provide some material to confirm my beliefs, but I guess the real purpose, as with most of my blog posts, is to encourage you the reader, to question your approach to running, to consider alternative approaches, even if they are not in agreement with the accepted norm, and at first impressions appear a ‘bit too far out of the box’!

The starting point is first to confirm what causes fatigue during endurance running performance. As mentioned in previous posts, fatigue in the past used to be considered to be due to peripheral fatigue, for marathons, typically due to glycogen/carbohydrate depletion. With the availability of carbohydrate gels, fatigue in marathons now seldom occurs due to low blood glucose levels, as evidenced by the frequent sight from the 1980s of jelly legged runners stumbling towards the finish line of the London Marathon, now a very rare occurrence. The latest research, initiated by Professor Tim Noakes, highlights the importance of the brain (The Central Governor) and more specifically the integral role of RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion). While doing physical activity, the runner rates their perception of exertion, i.e. their feeling of how heavy and strenuous the exercise feels, combining all sensations and feelings of physical stress, effort, and fatigue. This rating, typically known as the Borg Scale 6-20, (as there is also an alternative 1 – 10 scale) ranges from 6 (no exertion at all) up to 20 (maximal exertion), has been shown within the scientific research to be a stronger predictor of fatigue than any physiological measurements. The latest fatigue models within the scientific literature therefore propose that fatigue within endurance events occur once a maximal RPE is reached. Therefore during the marathon one should have a strategy that prevents one’s RPE from reaching maximum levels prior to the finish line.

Although I accept that RPE is the core component that contributes to fatigue during endurance events, the concept that maximal RPE must occur in order for fatigue to take place, in my experiences doesn’t seem to ‘fit’. During the latter stages of ultra races and marathons, I am not really working at a very high intensity, so I am therefore not experiencing maximal levels of physical stress, although there are high levels of effort, although this is what would typically be classified as mental effort. If one takes on board a ‘fuller/wider’ interpretation of RPE, more than the physical stress/fatigue, then I suppose the maximal RPE concept contributing to fatigue can apply. However, I prefer the introduction of a new theoretical measure known as RFE (Race Focus Energy). Where RFE is a measure of the mental effort, the concentration, the race focus required in order to keep running at a fast pace, i.e. a race pace. RFE is largely determined by RPE, however, the relationship between the two is not directly linked, with many aspects, specifically positivity and negativity, being able to alter the link between the two, i.e. swing the arrow up or down. The RFE Fatigue model also ‘fits in nicely’ with most marathon runner’s experiences, i.e. that towards the end of the race, they run out of energy. Remember, this is no longer carbohydrate / biochemical energy, but more likely Race Focus Energy, or simply mental energy.

Therefore to improve performance during an endurance event such as a marathon, one either has to ensure RPE doesn’t reach maximal levels, or alternatively adopting the RFE Fatigue Model, ensure one does not empty their RFE tank prior to the finish line. At first I will disregard the impact of positivity/negativity and simply look at RFE as being directly determined by RPE. Then if I aren’t too fatigued I will attempt to introduce where positivity and negativity fits in.

The key idea behind an equal paced marathon running strategy is for the “power output” as Tom describes it, to remain even throughout the entire race. With even power output on a flat course translating to even running pace, i.e. constant minute per mile rate, and subsequently equal half marathon split times. The only problem with this idea is that an even pace throughout a marathon does not mean you are running at an even physiological intensity. Due to a number of physiological aspects that occur as the duration of the race increases, such as dehydration, muscles gradually fatiguing, and possible changes in fuel utilisation towards an increase in fat burning (which requires more oxygen for the same ATP generation), there is an increase in the physiological load for the same power output / running pace, which is known as cardiac drift. Runners will be well aware of this if they race with a heart rate monitor, as they will observe a gradual increase in heart rate throughout the race, with the increase being greater during the latter stages of the race, even if they maintain a constant running pace.

Runners who don’t use a heart rate monitor will also be well aware of this phenomenon when reflecting on how ‘hard’ the race was, as their Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) increases as the duration of the race progresses when running at a constant pace. Typically, if adopting a constant pace strategy, their RPE would be low at the start of the race, maybe around 11(Light) – 13 (Somewhat Hard), and then progressively increases up towards 17(Very Hard) – 19 (Extremely Hard) during the latter stages of the race. An increase in RPE therefore results in an increased usage rate of RFE. The figure below is taken from Parry et al., 2011. An article on perceived exertion among Ironman triathletes, within November's edition of BJSM. The figure clearly shows how the RPE increases during the marathon (of an Ironman), even though the actual running pace decreases as the marathon progresses. (The decrease in running speed is not clearly illustrated by the poor scale on the axis, up to 30 km/hr!) It looks like the pace has dropped from around 10.1 km/hr (5:56 per km) down to around 8.8 km/hr (6:49 per km). Therefore to maintain an even running pace throughout the entire marathon would require an even larger rise in RPE than illustrated within the figure below.

I guess the ‘million dollar’ question is, “Is this progressive increase in intensity, from light at the start, up to hard at the end, really the best pacing strategy?” If we look at the strategy to reduce the likelihood of emptying one’s RFE tank, then one would conclude that starting at an easy pace, where the RFE usage is low at the start, would lessen the chance of running out of RFE before the end of the race. However, due to running at a lower intensity, this means you are actually running slower than what you could have run at. The theory behind the even power output is that because you have taken the first half easy, i.e. with minimal Race Focus Energy, then you are more likely to be able to maintain the same running pace during the second half of the race, as your RFE tank will be substantially fuller than if you had started with a higher intensity, at a higher usage of RFE.

The even power output strategy therefore looks good. However, what happens during the second half of the race? Remember an even power output strategy (even running pace on a flat course) means you have run at a slower pace than you could have achieved, so you have time to make up in order to cross the finish line in a quicker time. What it gets down to is how much extra RFE will you consume during the second half of the race in order to maintain the same running pace, over and above the amount you would have consumed, if you had started running initially at a higher intensity, therefore at a quicker running pace, and therefore having the ‘luxury’ of being able to reduce your pace during the second half, and hence use less RFE? As just highlighted, the benefit of starting at a quicker pace is that you are able to keep the RFE usage, (or the RPE value), the same during the second half of the race, as you have ‘time up your sleeve’ so therefore able to allow the pace to drop gradually to equally match the gradual increase in physiological load as a result of cardiac drift.

The confusion often arises because it is assumed that starting at a quicker pace, i.e. quicker than what you are capable of maintaining for the entire duration of the race, means that you are working at a higher physiological intensity, higher than what you could maintain for the entire duration of the race. This assumption is incorrect. By starting at a quicker pace, you are actually keeping the physiological loading, the intensity, the RPE, and most importantly the RFE at a more even value! It is attempting to run at an even pace, with an even power output, that results in large variations in physiological loading, RPE and RFE. It is typically assumed for most variables that an even constant value is more efficient than fluctuations or a wide range of values. So YES adopting an even strategy is the answer, but not an even running pace, or an even power output strategy, but a strategy that results in an even physiological intensity, and an even usage of Race Focus Energy!,

Looking at the example of a runner adopting an even power output strategy, means the runner has taken it easy at the start, running slower than one could quite easily have run at, as there is no fatigue, heart rate is therefore the lowest it will be throughout the entire race before cardiac drift, and their RPE will also be at the lowest, as this continuously rises during the race, as clearly illustrate in the figure above. However, will they actually be able to translate having a fuller tank of RFE leading into the second half of the race into actually maintaining the same even running pace? Before answering this question, there is one aspect that I haven’t mentioned yet: muscle fatigue / muscle damage. The muscular force required from your lower limbs to run is typically in the region of around 20% of one’s maximal force value that they can generate. Now during endurance running, as muscles gradually fatigue, the decline in the muscle force that is able to be generated actually plateaus, at a level of around 30 - 40% decrease. So even at the end of ultra races, the muscles are still able to generate 60 - 70% of their maximal force, which you can see is significantly more than the 20% that is needed to run. So the muscle fatiguing aren’t actually the limiting factor. They simply cause the running to be less efficient, hence the drift upwards in heart rate, RPE and therefore increased RFE usage, at the same running pace.

The problem during marathon / ultra running is actually the muscle damage, the increased pain the runner feels as the race progresses, on each and every foot strike. This pain is usually worse on the down hills where the muscles are contracting eccentrically (i.e. the muscle lengthens as it contracts) and also during road racing, where there isn’t the same ‘give’ in the road as there is on the trails. So during the latter periods of endurance races, such as a marathon, although the runner that started at an easy pace has more RFE in the tank, the usage rate is now magnified immensely simply due to the pain from the muscle damage. If you reflect back to your last marathon or ultra race, how much mental focus did it take to keep moving at a reasonable pace when your legs were ‘screaming’ for you to stop? There was most likely increased RFE usage simply due to the muscle damage pain! Yes, if your experiences were similar to my typical experience in an ultra race, then it probably took significantly higher levels of RFE to maintain the same pace. Not due to a lack of physiological fitness such as VO2 max, or lactate threshold, but simply due to the muscle damage that is unavoidable in endurance racing. One could suggest that the muscle damage would be more if the runner runs the first half of the race at a faster pace, however, the muscle damage is much more time/duration dependent rather than pace dependent, especially when running on the trails, where the running pace effect on muscle damage is even much smaller. It isn’t just muscle damage that can cause the RFE usage to significantly increase during the latter stages of the race. Other factors such as blisters, cramps, dehydration, overheating, stomach/digestion issues etc, can all increase significantly the amount of Race Focus Energy that is required in order to maintain the same running pace.

Hopefully it is becoming clearer in terms of ‘where I am coming from’! Slowing down during the second half of a marathon isn’t solely determined by the pace the runner runs the first half in. Yes, it does play a part, as a quicker pace will have used up more RFE, but during the second half of the race, there are so many other factors that can significantly increase the RFE usage rate, which far exceeds any ‘savings’ achieved by running at an easy pace during the first half. Those runners that are able to maintain an even paced marathon, or even a negative split, in some ways are achieving it, perhaps one could say by as much a little bit of luck, as opposed to their physical preparation (which plays an important role – but another post), or more specific to this post, as opposed to their conservative running pace in the first half. The easy running pace during the first half I believe plays only a little part in everything seeming to ‘fall into place’, i.e. that they didn’t cramp, didn’t get dehydrated, didn’t get blisters, didn’t get overly painful muscle damage etc., and with the easy running pace during the first half I would suggest most likely does not have such a large affect, that it was worth ‘wasting’ the opportunity to run faster while they could, before these multitude of potential problems possibly arise during the second half. Hence my philosophy; “Run as fast as you can, WHILE you can!” Before the muscle damage, dehydration, etc. massively increases the rate of RFE usage!

Although I haven’t even touched on the role of positivity and negativity above, (another post), now is a good time to look at some actual race data. Is this ability to run an even running pace in a marathon, or even better, to run a negative split, actually an indication of a good performance, of being a better runner? Is it a quality of better runners, such as one may associate a high VO2 max or lactate threshold as a quality of better runners? And secondly, how many runners actually achieve this so called ‘great running performance’ to achieve a negative split. If you achieved it, would you therefore be within the ‘quality’ runners that make up say 10% of all runners, or is this quality performance not that distinctive, and in fact you are just one of say 20% of all runners. Still an aspiration to aspire to, to be within the ‘best’ 20% of the field, as remember, the negative split is portrayed as THE achievement!

To help answer these questions I looked at the results from this year’s Virgin London Marathon. Perhaps as one would expect, based on the status the negative split has, both the male and female winners ran negative splits. So therefore why have I wasted all of this time typing up this blog post, attempting to get you to consider that the negative split isn’t what it is made out to be? But let’s look a little deeper at the results. How many of the other 99 runners in the top 100 in the massed start race also achieved a negative split? Remember these runners are the very best, at the very front of a field of over 35,000 finishers. Surely then one would expect around half of the top 100, or at least a third! No, only seven other runners in the top 100 finishers ran a negative split. This ‘strange’ result could however be because at the front of the race many of the runners went out with the pace makers at nearly world record pace, in the hope of hanging in there to the finish, they therefore were never going to achieve a negative split. So if I look at how many within the next 100 places from 101 – 200 achieved a negative split, this would give perhaps a more true representation of the frequency of the negative split occurring. These runners from 101 – 200 are still top quality runners, and in relation to the overall field, very, very fast runners, with an average finish time of 2 hours 39 minutes. The results show that there were only 6 negative split runners from the 100.

If you look at the following graph, that shows the number of runners that negative split from samples of 100 runners at different time gaps for the first 10,000 finishers, then you will see that there is ABSOLUTELY no relationship at all between the finish time of the runners and the percentage that achieve a negative split. If running a negative split was a quality of being a good runner, of a good performance, then surely one would expect that further towards the front of the field there would be a higher percentage? With a correlation of pretty well zero, one shouldn’t need any more evidence that the negative split is NOT something to aim for, NOT something that indicates that you performed well!

Another key statistic is the percentage of runners within the first 10,000 finishers that actually achieve it, being only 5.8%. With this evidence it therefore still amazes me that there seems to be the message ‘out there’ that the negative split is something all runners should aim for. If we look at a 10% sample, in batches of 100 runners, spread throughout the 23,600 runners that finished within 5 hours at London, then the percentage that achieve a negative split drops even lower to only 4.3% of finishers! The following graph also show how the positive split slowing down time increases as the finishing time increases.

A really issue that needs attention is in terms of the potential effect this low percentage of negative splits may have on the marathon finishers, when 95.7% of them do not achieve probably the number one goal that is drummed into them apart from finishing! Remember the message ‘out there’ that the negative split indicates that you ran well, probably even more important than your actual finishing time. So 95.7% of runners are potentially disappointed because they didn’t achieve one of their goals. So if they do another marathon, which hopefully they will still want to, even after the disappointment of not negative splitting, then what do you think their likely race strategy will be for their next marathon? Well I would suspect that they would likely run the first half of the next marathon at an even slower, easier pace, as they possibly would have concluded that the reason that they didn’t achieve the negative split is that they started off too fast, and therefore that is why they ran out of energy. Which they may associate as running out of carbohydrate energy, as it is reasonably well known within the running community that the higher the physiological intensity, the greater the usage of carbohydrate. But remember that is the old model of endurance fatigue, before gels were available. Carbohydrate depletion is no longer the cause of fatigue in marathon runners.

As I have mentioned above, fatigue is more likely a consequence of RPE, or specifically getting close to emptying the tank of Race Focus Energy. As many runners are not aware of the latest fatigue research which is based on the Central Governor, i.e. the brain, it is probable that most runners are likely to conclude that their running pace being too fast at the start was probably the cause of their fatigue! And as I have highlighted above, the rate of RFE usage during the second half of a marathon is determined by much, much more than one’s running pace during the first half of the race. So starting their subsequent marathon at an even slower running pace, doesn’t guarantee that they will achieve this much wanted negative split goal, as demonstrated by only 4.3% of runners finishing in less than 5 hours achieving it.

Well, time to take a breathe! Phew, I think I have definitely got this negative split ‘dislike’ off my chest!

I think now is an appropriate time to call it a night. Hopefully those of you that have reached this far, have found something worthwhile within this blog, once you manage to navigate past the occasional frustration that may be evident within my writing. Please feel free to leave me a comment, explaining where I have gone astray, where I have got it wrong. I’m not saying that my ideas must be right, probably on most occasions, the majority of you would conclude that my ideas are a bit ‘far-fetched’, however, with regards to pacing strategy, hopefully I have at least got you questioning that maybe it is the negative split concept that this time is too ‘far-fetched’!

I will sign off with a quote from Tom Williams from MarathonTalk, which was within the comment he left on last week’s race report post:

“A large amount of what we achieve is governed by our mental state and how we see ourselves. (It is) a lot about opening the mind to what might be possible when we throw away the self imposed limitations of our mind.” Tom Williams, 2011.

All the best with the formulation of your pacing strategy for your next race. Remember, whatever strategy you adopt, you must have total belief that it is the right strategy that works for you.

Stuart

Endurancelife Dorset Coastal Trail Marathon - Race Report - Self Expectations Influence Performance

2011-12-10T22:55:00.004Z

Hi,

If you have come to my blog for the first time to read my Endurancelife Dorset Coastal Trail Marathon race report, welcome, I hope you find your visit to my blog worthwhile. You will see from the length of my posts that they reflect the running that I do, i.e. marathon and ultra distance durations. So you will require reasonably high levels of endurance to manage to reach the end of each and every post!

One of the key benefits I get from writing my blog posts is that it provides quality time to reflect on my training and racing, in order to improve in subsequent races. I feel my performance in last weekend’s Dorset trail marathon, which I was pretty pleased with, was largely a consequence of the time I spent reflecting on my performance in my last race, the Beachy Head Marathon. It was in the process of analysing my performance in the Beachy Head Marathon, where I finished in 2nd place, but in a time 30 seconds slower than the year before, combined with the development of my Race Focus Energy Fatigue Model, where I identified what was required in order to produce a successful performance down in Dorset. With success being defined as a performance I am happy with, i.e. where I feel as if I have run as well as I can (yes, a rather vague criteria, which I will hopefully expand upon).

So as I prepared for the race, the key aim was to run hard and focused for the entire 26.6 miles (the distance advertised on the Endurancelife website and what my Garmin 305 watch indicated on the day). This desire to remain focused the entire way was in direct response to how I raced at the Beachy Head marathon, where I eased of the pace in order to unsuccessfully prepare for a tactical battle with the eventual winner. On reflection, easing off the pace between miles 19 – 23 resulted in me not able to feel totally satisfied with my performance. I guess if I had won the race I would have traded the easing off the pace, with the satisfaction of winning. Well that was the rationale I accepted, as I ‘gave in’ to the messages ‘bombarding’ me to slow down during the race.

Leading up to the Dorset race extensive time was spent firstly clearly establishing answers to the initial three questions one has to answer when preparing for a race; What do I want? Why do I want it? How much do I want it? In order to answer these questions I had to be totally aware of what the race would entail, so then I would be able to determine / visualise how I would respond to the demands of the race. I therefore purchased an Ordinance Survey map, and transferred the course from the map downloaded from the website, onto the larger scaled map. The time spent doing this is a critical component of my preparation. It allows me to get ingrained into my subconscious the overall plan of the course, as if looking from above. I am therefore aware in what direction I should be heading, whether there are any 90degree turns, any out and backs, parts where we retrace the same path, etc. It basically gives me an overall feel of the route, at a deep level. During the race, just having this plan view of the course firmly ingrained, totally eliminated any doubt there could have been, just after the turnaround point where there was some confusion over which way to go. I simply referred to the visual image I had of the route map within my head, and was able to progress along the correct route, without there being any doubt at all, so thereby avoiding any upward swing of the RPE – RFE arrow (see previous Race Focus Energy posts).

In addition to marking the route on the map, I also carefully observe the number of contour lines I cross and the closeness of the lines, hence the steepness of the climbs. I also note the height at the peak of the climbs, so therefore get a feel for the elevation demands of the course. Further time is also spent trying to find photos of the area, which is combined with viewing the map, and a fly over the course on Google Earth, using the GPS file provided by the Endurancelife organisers on the website. The hours I spend doing this research / preparation, I consider are as beneficial, if not more beneficial to my performance than spending the same time running. The graph below clearly shows the rather demanding elevation profile!

Based on all of the above research, I was then able to have a rough prediction that I would be running for around 3 hours 40 minutes. Having a reasonable calculated idea of the time duration of the race is important, as the time duration expectation controls the pace you are able to run at. If there is doubt over the expected race duration, then this uncertainty increases the level of the reserve portion of the RFE tank, as well as swinging the RPE – RFE arrow upwards. Both of these aspects reduce your performance.

Race day arrived and I felt confident that my preparation had gone well, so I was therefore expecting a strong performance. In terms of my physical training, well I hadn’t actually done that much since UTMB way back in August - checking the training diary, only 453 miles at an average of 32.4 miles per week. However, having close to 40,000 miles of running within my legs, I knew my recent physical training wasn’t really going to limit my performance, and with this belief, my confidence and race expectations were high come race day. One of the key messages I try to get across within my talks is that one of the main purposes of physical training is simply to create confidence that one’s preparation has gone well, the physiological benefits of additional/high levels of physical training are probably secondary in comparison to the confidence benefits.

Over the last year I have been listening to the MarathonTalk Podcasts http://www.marathontalk.com/ If you haven’t come across MarathonTalk, then you really should give their website a visit. The podcasts consist of two guys, Martin Yelling and Tom Williams chatting about running, combined with a great interview each week. This week was the 100th edition, so there is loads of really excellent material within the podcasts. Well anyway, over the last few weeks there had been a bit of talk about Martin Yelling racing the Endurancelife Dorset Coastal Trail Marathon. Now Martin is an elite athlete, I think a sub 30 minute 10km runner, as well as I think a double National Duathlon Champion. However, listening to him and Tom chat, it appears that they place far too much emphasis on one’s recent levels of physical training. Therefore leading up to the race, one could sense that Martin no longer considered himself as an elite athlete, even though he had just completed a 5km Park Run in close to 16 minutes, whereas I would be struggling to get close to 17 minutes based on my current physical preparation! So as the race got closer my village training partner Kev, who got me into listening to MarathonTalk , every Saturday morning would ask me “Are you going to take down Martin Yelling?” In most instances when people ask me am I going to win a race, I always reply that I cannot control how other runners perform, so unable to answer. But to Kev’s question, I was able to answer, yes, no problem, should do. This response was nothing to do with Martin’s physical capabilities, which on paper were superior than mine, but by listening to his self expectations. It appeared that he no longer considered himself as an elite athlete, he felt that he had under prepared, and therefore as one performs to their expectations, there was no way he was going to beat me, as his belief in his under preparations would most likely result in him under performing! I had felt my preparation had gone well, my confidence was high, and knowing that race performance in trail marathons and ultras is determined by more than the physical, I had a strong feeling that it wasn’t going to be a close contest!

Well, I did warn you at the start of this post that you would need marathon endurance to get through my blog posts! One reason my posts are so long is that I log all the time I spend typing up the posts as training. So the more I type, the more training I have completed, so therefore increased confidence leading into a race, due to extensive time conducting TOTAL preparation!

There are around 150 starters gathered at the start line near Osmington, not far from Weymouth. The course heads east, along the coast, with a strong tailwind for around 14 miles, before coming back on a less undulating route, slightly in from the coast. As the course within 100 metres from the start crosses a style and then shortly after goes onto single track, Endurancelife opt for a dibber start, where as you cross the start line you have to dib your dibber. This prevents the frustration of getting stuck in a ‘traffic jam’ as it takes around two minutes for all runners to start, thereby spacing the runners out. At the front of the field it makes the start of the race have a different feel, as immediately the lead bunch is down to less than ten runners. I cross the first stile after 100 metres of uphill leading the small bunch, and then decide to stretch the legs out a bit.

If you have looked at my two previous posts http://ultrastu.blogspot.com/2011/10/beachy-head-marathon-illustration-of.htmland http://ultrastu.blogspot.com/2011/11/delamere-spartans-weekend-bit-more-on.html on my Race Focus Energy (RFE) Fatigue Model then hopefully you have an understanding that I believe that performance in trail marathons and ultra trail races is determined by the rate of usage of RFE during the race, in relation to the size of the RFE tank. There are different strategies runners adopt when running marathons, and most of them are based on the outdated model of fatigue in endurance events, i.e. fatigue is due to depletion of carbohydrate/glycogen, or due to lactic acid! The latest research has clearly shown that this concept in most cases is incorrect (unless you don’t take on carbohydrate during racing). It is now widely accepted (initially proposed by Professor Tim Noakes) that fatigue in endurance events is a consequence of a decrease in muscle activation, controlled by the brain, which is strongly influenced by one’s rating of perceived exertion (RPE). My RFE model has this latest research, i.e. RPE, at its core, however, it also takes into account all of the other factors that influence performance such as confidence, self belief, positivity, negativity, excitement, enjoyment, encouragement etc.

I therefore run hard right from the very start of the race, working at a high level, not directly monitoring my physical intensity (RPE), but monitoring the current usage of RFE. The two are related, but it is the RFE that is most important. My aim is to try to maintain a constant level of RFE usage throughout the race, so this means that my mental effort/focus is identical in the first mile to what it is during the last mile. This is a totally different concept to the typical advice one reads within running magazines, and even the advice that Martin and Tom give out on Marathon Talk, i.e. to run at an easy pace to half way, so at half way you feel comfortable so able to ‘handle’ the second half of the race when things get ‘tough’. It is interesting, that in all of the MarathonTalk podcasts I have listened to, which are quite a few now, this one concept on marathon pacing, is pretty well the only bit of advice Martin and Tom have given that I don’t agree with. I just can’t understand how they can have such good ideas on all other aspects of running, training, nutrition, preparation etc. but yet get this concept, in my opinion, so, so wrong! The idea of a negative split that they frequently highlight and encourage, appears to me to be unattainable if running to your true capabilities by runners apart from the very, very elite. Yes, there are ‘middle of the pack’ runners that achieve a negative split in a marathon, but rather than celebrating this, I think one should question how have they achieved it. Most likely due to running so slowly in the first half of the race, resulting in their overall time being significantly slower than it would have been if they had attempted to focus for the entire duration of the race. In essence, I see the negative split argument, i.e. take it easy to halfway, As an acknowledging that one’s preparation has not been adequate, in that one doesn’t have the confidence to focus for the whole race, so they are turning the marathon into a half marathon. The unconfident runner runs at training pace for the first half, and then starts to race, starts to focus after half way, due to only having the confidence that one is able to race/focus for half the distance!

Sorry about the previous paragraph. I just had to get that ‘off my chest’, as it really bugs me that so many runners believe the equal running pace concept for marathon running, and therefore I feel perform at a level so much lower than what they could be capable of, if they had used a different pacing strategy! Anyway back to last weekend’s race. So I leave the stile running on my own. Whilst racing I have now mastered the need to look behind to see how close the following runners are. I simply now focus on what I am doing, not on what others are doing. Remember you can’t control what they do! I am running on my own, monitoring the level of race focus energy (mental effort) I am using, checking that I am not using it up too quickly for a 3 hour 40 minute duration race. I guess after around 10 minutes of running I am rapidly joined by another runner. I couldn’t feel that there was anyone close behind, so it was a bit of shock when he seemed to rapidly join me. We run along with him directly behind me for a few minutes, and then he starts chatting. Now, there are times when to chat, and times when not to chat. Typically one chats in a race, when the intensity is down a bit, so therefore race focus energy isn’t in high demand to maintain the solid running pace. We were moving along at quite a rapid pace for a start of a marathon, especially when most people like to run conservatively at the start. So this wasn’t really the chatting time. So I reply with one word answers. The following runner continues to chat as I slightly up the intensity. I weigh up the options. Is he finding the pace really easy, or hopefully more likely, it is that he is adopting the strategy that I sometimes use in a race when I sense that the other runner is possibly stronger than me. This strategy involves trying to create the illusion that I am finding the pace really easy, like a training pace, no focus needed, hence able to chat away freely. I decide on the latter and experience an immediate swing down of the RPE – RFE arrow as my confidence grows as I conclude that he is concerned about my capabilities and he likely perceives himself as the weaker of the two of us. He asks where I am from, I reply from Brighton, which he comments “Your accent doesn’t sound like it’s from Brighton”. I decide that here is the golden opportunity to ‘throw a killer punch’! I therefore respond with a comment like “I can’t call myself a Kiwi anymore now that I race for the Great Britain elite trail running team!” He asks for further explanation, so I eagerly tell him about my racing at the World Champs earlier in the year in Connemara, Ireland. I then ask for his credentials. His name is Vince Kamp and his reply is that he is just getting into trail marathon running, although successfully winning the previous months Endurancelife Coastal Trail Marathon in Gower. He then concludes that he is a novice, and even comments out loud “Maybe I am going a bit too hard. I shouldn’t be running up here at the front with you, a GB International runner”. And at that instant, even with more than 24 miles of running to go, the winner of the race was pretty well determined, barring injury/cramp, or getting lost.

We run together for I guess another 15 – 20 minutes. I test him out on a few occasions by slowly/subtly increasing the intensity for a minute or two, just to try to get him to reconfirm his belief that I am much stronger that him. We then have a long descent where for the first time he runs to the front. Shortly after this descent we start climbing a steepish hill. To my surprise, he starts walking, even though the hill wasn’t a ‘walking’ hill, well not at this early stage of the marathon. I continue to run, and slowly overtake him. As I hadn’t put in an attack to drop Vince, I decide to simply keep the intensity constant, rather than up it. The last thing you want to do is to give the other runner a confidence boost by them seeing you significantly increase the pace to attempt to drop them, and for them to counter this attack and to reattach to you. So I am waiting for him to rejoin me, he doesn’t, so after a few minutes more of ‘waiting’, I then decide that now is the appropriate time to significantly increase the intensity for the next 10 – 15 minutes or so, in order to establish a larger gap.

At around the nine mile mark - A bit close to the cliff edge!

An illustration of Race Focus

As I don’t look behind while racing, there are only brief instances, as the course sharply turns, when I actually get an approximation on just how far behind he is. It isn’t until shortly after the turnaround point when we cross paths that the size of the gap is more accurately confirmed. I usually note the exact time it takes me to meet the following runner when on an out and back section of the course. On this occasion, probably as a result of the conversation we had had earlier, I didn’t feel the need to check the time gap. However, I did make sure that as we got close to each other and passed each other, I made sure that I looked as if I was just out for a cruisey Sunday training run. Chatting to Vince after the race, this was one thing he highlighted. Upon seeing me cruise past just after the turnaround point, he comments that it simply confirmed that I was in a “different league” to him. Remember the latest research on endurance fatigue mentioned in previous blog posts, based on muscle activation from the brain. Well self expectations play a large role in determining the amount of motor output/muscle activation. His self expectations therefore allowed him to accept me running away from him, and for his running pace to decrease. When I further questioned Vince about why he thought I was clearly going to beat him. It appeared that his reasoning was based on his assessment of his physical preparation. He hadn’t been doing as many miles training as he would want to, being significantly less than the mileage that he used to do in the past, and with him not realising that probably the most important benefit from physical training is actually the confidence it develops, it appears that he allowed this decrease in his physical training to lower his confidence levels.

The remaining 12 miles are back into a head wind. With around 7 miles to go I join into the half marathon field. The last time I experienced this was back in March in the Endurancelife Sussex Coastal Trail marathon. I recall during that race, that joining the half-marathon field really interrupted my race focus, and I significantly slowed. Having reflected on how I ran back in March, I had extensively prepared for this moment within my visualisations. I therefore managed to maintain a good pace last weekend, and slowly worked my way through the half marathon field. On this occasion I therefore used the half marathon runners as a positive, to swing the RPE - RFE arrow downwards as I passed each additional runner. Take a look at my Sussex marathon race report back in March, where on that occasion, joining the half marathon race caused an upward swing of the RPE - RFE arrow. Yes the importance of race reflection. The benefits of writing this blog!

Before I know it I am making my way up the last tough muddy climb with less than a mile to go, and shortly afterwards dib my dibber at the finish line in a time of 3 hours 47 minutes and 54 seconds. I am rather pleased with my performance, in terms of maintaining a pretty constant level of RFE usage throughout the entire duration of the race. The following link shows the data on the GarminConnect website: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/132621869, The graph below illustrates only a slight dropping of my heart rate. Even though, one would expect an increase in heart rate during an endurance event as a result of cardiac drift, (a rise in heart rate occurs when maintaining a constant running pace). During an endurance event, the amount of race focus energy required to maintain the same running pace increases as the race progresses. Therefore in order to maintain constant RFE usage, one’s running pace has to decline, and hence the slight decline in heart rate as the drop in running pace is more than the rise in heart rate due to cardiac drift.

Just a slight detour back to my negative split pacing strategy ‘rant’ earlier. In order to achieve a negative time split, actually requires quite a massive disproportional balance in terms of race focus, i.e. mental effort. To run at a constant running pace throughout a marathon actually means at the start, and for the early few miles the pace just typically feels so easy. However, to maintain that same pace near the end of the race requires massively higher levels of RFE, mental effort whatever you want to call it. This uneven distribution of RFE is in my view a totally flawed concept! It is RFE that needs to be constant during a marathon, not running minute mile pace, or even heart rate! The only exception is if you are one of the best of the elite. Remember though they the very top elite are a totally different ‘breed’ of runner. It seems strange that in terms of what elite runners are able to achieve, in no other way do ‘middle of the pack’ runners try to replicate what they do. They don’t try to run at 4:45 minute mile pace. They don’t try to train 150 - 200 miles per week. They don’t try to do 20 mile tempo runs. They don’t live and train at altitude. So why is it that many people have the idea that a middle of the pack runner can run at a constant pace throughout a marathon, or even produce a negative split, just because the best elite runners can achieve it!

Vince Kamp finishes in second place twelve minutes behind me, and wins the ‘smack down’ (MarathonTalk terminology) with Martin Yelling, as Martin finishes in a time of 4 hours 27 minutes. Click this link to listen to a three minute snippet from this week’s MarathonTalk podcast where Martin retells his experiences at the Endurancelife Dorset Coastal Trail Marathon. or click here to listen to the entire podcast. Third finisher in the marathon was Nick Wright in 4 hours 15 minutes. The first three women marathon finishers were really close: Jay Hairsine 5:04, Candice Mcdonald 5:05 and Alice Constance 5:06. For the remainder of the afternoon, around 800 runners in total cross the finish line, at the end of either; a 10km, half marathon, marathon or 34 mile ultra trail race. All finishers appear to be on a real ‘high’ experiencing a huge sense of achievement, having completed such a demanding but extremely scenic course. Take a look at a short video of the race to get a feel of the day on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-UOP1zJDs4&list=UUqUCO1VyUz2wgNpHTZH0AmA&feature=plcp
There is a great atmosphere within the large hall at the finish line, as I start my second marathon effort of the day, i.e. non-stop talking for a few hours. Late in the afternoon I take a short break, and then at around 6:30pm, I kick off the first of the Live More Lecture Series for the season with a 40 minute talk titled “The Ultra Trail Mont Blanc: A Tale of Two Races – Preparation, Positivity, Performance”. The 40 minutes absolutely ‘flies by’ and I manage to get through most of my planned material, although unfortunately wasn’t able to fully explain my RFE Fatigue Model, which I introduce to the audience of around 70 runners during the 15 minutes of questions. The audience seem to take on board my ‘out of the box’ ideas, with the only heckling I receive being from my two sons, who were quite amazed that there were so many runners who actually paid money to hear me talk! There are then two really interesting talk by Tobias Mews and Phil Davis on The Marathon Des Sables, and by Andrew Barker, from Endurancelife, on the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon in Norway

So to summarise it was a really enjoyable day. From running strong during the marathon, to meeting loads of other runners, then to cap it off, for my presentation to be so well received. Thanks to Endurancelife for all their efforts in putting on such a great event. Thanks to all of the other runners for sharing such a challenging and enjoyable race.

To finish off this post, two signing off quotes which add a little bit more to some of the concepts I have raised above:

“The medals do not necessarily go to the fastest, strongest and fittest, but to the one with not only high emotional-mental intensity, but also the ability to focus it into performance.”

“The lead pack dwindled and swelled and dwindled again, as runners wrestled with their limitations and sorted themselves into the positions befitting of their mindsets.”

Lorraine Moller, New Zealand Marathon Runner, Bronze Medallist 1992 Barcelona Olympic Marathon, from her autobiography “On the Wings of Mercury – The Lorraine Moller Story”, Longacre Press, 2007.

Lorraine Moller’s book is probably the best running book I have read, even better than Ryan Hall’s “Running with Joy”, Harvest House Publishers, 2011, and Charlie Spedding’s “From Last to First”, CS Books, 2009. Both Ryan’s and Charlie’s books are excellent, so probably a good time to mention/hint to your partner/family when they are searching for ideas for Christmas presents. (I doubt you will find Lorraine Moller’s book available in the UK, but could be available to order on the web somewhere!)

Well if you managed to get to the finish line of this blog post then you truly do have endurance abilities. So you just need to work on that self-belief! All the best with your TOTAL preparations.

Stuart

PS Don’t forget to check out MarathonTalk. Both Ryan Hall and Charlie Spedding have been interviewed by Martin and Tom, and both are excellent interviews.

Endurancelife Dorset Coastal Trail Marathon - Quick Update

2011-12-04T22:04:00.000Z

Hi

A very quick update tonight. Had a great time down in Dorset for the Endurancelife Dorset Coastal Trail Marathon, and then the first of the Live More lecture series. The marathon was a great event over a spectacular course, with some great climbs and great views. I managed to finish first in a time of 3 hours 47 minutes for the 26.6 miles. My finish time giving an indication of the toughness of the course. I had company from the second place finisher Vincent Kemp for around 5 miles, and apart from that, sorry but I don't know any of the other results!

Last night I was the first presenter of the evening. The talk went really well, and a real shock I actually managed to keep to time! I was then followed by Tobias Mews & Phil Davis presenting on the Marathon de Sables, and to finish the evening Andrew Barker gave an account of his involvement in the Norseman Iron Distance Triathlon. Both talks really interesting and entertaining.

So a really enjoyable weekend. Race report to follow some time later this week.

Stuart

Delamere Spartans Weekend – A Bit More on the Race Focus Energy Fatigue Model

2011-11-24T01:36:00.001Z

Hi,

Tonight is a quick recap on my visit to Cheshire last weekend, which involved two runs and a talk on trail running, as a guest of the Delamere Spartans running club In addition to reporting on my very enjoyable trip, I will expand a little bit more on my Race Focus Energy Fatigue Model, which personally I feel has a lot of merit, and helps to understand what factors contribute to fatigue during endurance running, but more specifically the model provides some guidance on what training is needed to perform well in endurance trail races.

Last weekend my visit up north provided an opportunity to run over some new territory. Originally the plan was to run the 34 mile Sandstone Trail with Lakeland 100/50 runners Dave Douglas and Steve Mee. Unfortunately leading up to our planned long run, both of them picked up a minor injury, so a quick change of plan. Now a relay event, with me being the baton, being ‘passed’ between Delamere Spartan runners, as we completed the off-road journey from Whitchurch to Frodsham.

With Andy at the Start at Whitchurch

At 9:05am I departed Whitchurch with Andy Ashton, a new recruit to ultra running having completed the Sandstone Trail race back in May in a time of exactly 6 hours. As I wasn’t aware of his current fitness I let Andy set the pace. The first few miles were flat as we ran along a canal path, and then across fields. We were going along quite well (GPS data indicating around 7:30 miles, click the following link to view on GarminConnect http://connect.garmin.com/activity/130306727), a comfortable pace, therefore plenty of chat. We started discussing our approaches to training including training pace. I mentioned to Andy that my typical training pace was slower than what we were currently running at. Andy seemed shocked at the thought that I typically trained at a slower pace, so in order to not ‘work me too hard’ he therefore asked if I would like him to slow the pace down a wee bit. I thanked him for his concern, but reassured him that although I did typically run at a slower pace, it was because I chose to not because I had to, and that I was confident I would be able to handle whatever pace he chose to run. It doesn’t seem so ‘funny’ typing it up now, but at the time it was one of those moments on the run that you remember!

Before we knew it we had completed 10 enjoyable miles, where we were then joined by another Delamere Spartan runner, Paul. So for the next seven miles there were three of us running and discussing many aspects of trail running. The topic of performing to our expectations was raised, such as the fact that during racing, often the finishing time is quite close to the time predicted prior to the race. Was this due to being good at predicting/estimating our capabilities, OR was it due to our predictions/expectations determining the performance? It was reassuring to hear that Paul, like myself, strongly believed that the latter answer was the likely reason. I was therefore able to then expand a bit more on some of my more ‘radical’ ideas on trail running, being comfortable in knowing that he would be able to ‘take on’ my ideas as he was already thinking ‘outside of the box’.

From the left of the photo - Nick, Andy, Me and Paul at the 17 mile 'Baton Change'

At 17 miles, Andy stopped, but we were joined by Nick who was going to run with me for the remaining 17 miles. After a short break, and another photo shot, we continued along the trail. A few miles later, Paul left the trail to run home, so it provided an opportunity to discover more about Nick. He has been a runner for 20+ years, with a PB for a half-marathon of 1:18. However, he hadn’t broken 3 hours for a marathon! We discussed his training and racing, and based on a few miles of conversation I felt there were potentially two aspects that were holding him back. One, he tended to be a bit ‘hung up’ with his watch, GPS, heart rate monitor. I proposed to him that the fact he was running consistent half marathon times, quite a few minutes slower that he ‘wanted’, was that his watch was limiting him. It appeared that he performed loads better in off-trail races, when mile times are meaningless, compared to road races when he kept on checking on his split times. I suggested that he does a half marathon not wearing a watch, and away from home, so he would not be able to compare his race position to other runners, and so completely run the race by feel. He would then be able to simply enjoy the race, enjoy the actual journey, enjoy the feeling of running fast, without any worry about his split times along the way. He felt there was some possible merit to my suggestion, so he was willing to give it a go, and will keep me posted.

Nick’s second aspect I felt that possibly needed attention was that it seemed as if he was always wanting to train more or to train harder. The idea that harder is better! I passed on my ideas about training pace, the importance of running relaxed, smooth, within a rhythm, just flowing along. Focusing on no tension, no ‘fighting’, just ‘cruisey’ enjoyable running. One of my reasons for this is that running easy and relaxed develops one’s running economy, the most import physiological measurement for endurance running. Then to illustrate just how hard he was working, as we were both wearing heart rate monitors, I said let’s compare our current heart rates, with me expecting that his heart rate would be significantly higher, closer to his maximum, than mine. Well so much for my theory, when comparing heart rates, mine was mega high, around 20 beats higher than his! Really strange, I quickly concluded that my reading must be faulty, perhaps giving incorrect data due to also picking up his heart rate. (It wasn’t until Monday morning that I later discovered what the cause of my high heart rate reading was.) We continued running along at a good pace. Although I wear a GPS/Heart Rate monitor during races and ‘special’ training runs, I never look at the display during the race/run, so I didn’t check to see if the heart rate reading had returned back to normal, but I did find that the high reading was ‘pestering me’ a wee bit in the back of my mind!

At the 27 Mile Mark - Andy, Me and Nick

I did notice when we passed the marathon mark, I recall in around 4 hours 5 minutes, and then shortly after this we reached the next ‘baton change’. Well not actually a change this time, as Nick was running all the way to the end, but we were joined by another Andy for the final seven miles. Andy was a relatively new runner, recently getting into racing, having raced a 17 mile race along the Sandstone trail. He was however really keen to challenge himself and to run further. With the three of us running and chatting along, the pace slowed a wee bit. Then as we began climbing a small hill, the high heart rate reading finally got to me. How could it be so high when I was finding the running pace really easy, just basically cruising? Maybe I wasn’t really cruising, maybe I couldn’t pick up the pace? Amazing how easy it is for one to question one’s current state of fitness, to potentially lose confidence. So as we made our way up the short climb, I significantly upped the intensity to reassure myself that all was fine. Probably not the most friendly thing to do, considering Nick had been guiding me along the trail for the last 15 miles. I could see the top of the hill, and decided to work hard to the top, even though both Nick and Andy had dropped behind, hoping that they wouldn’t think too ‘poorly’ of me for leaving them behind! Anyway, I got to the top of the short climb, happy that I was able to easily increase the pace, and both Nick and Andy didn’t seem too upset with me, well at least they didn’t express it! A few moments later we were joined by Steve Mee, who had organised the whole weekend. Although he had a dodgy heel/achilles, he had decided to run out from Frodsham to meet us and then join us for the final 2 miles back to the finish. We dropped down into Frodsham, for a total of 34.11 miles in an overall time of 5 hours and 25 minutes.

Andy, Me and Nick at the Trail End at Frodsham

The next part of the weekend was my talk titled “Ultra Trail Running: Enjoying the Overall Experience - The Importance of TOTAL Preparation”, to take place in a local community centre which started with pre-race drinks at 7:00pm. The event had been well publicised so by the time my talk was set to start, the venue was pretty full with there being more than 60 runners present. The plan was to speak for 45 minutes about my 2009 and 2011 Ultra Trail Mont Blanc experiences, then a drinks break, before a further 45 minutes where I would explain some of my ‘out of the box’ ideas with the use of my Race Focus Energy Fatigue Model, which I introduced within my previous blog post.

In Action - Explaining the Race Focus Energy Fatigue Model

Following my previous post, Baz left a comment stating that my model sound similar to the "Anticipatory Regulation" mechanism or specifically the Anticipatory Feedback model proposed by Dr Ross Tucker in 2009. I hadn’t heard of this model, so I immediately searched for it within the literature. One advantage of working in academia is that we have direct access to nearly all of the scientific journal articles, so I was able to find and read the article. Due to copyright laws I am unable to paste the complete article, however, pasted below is his model.

Tucker 2009 Anticipatory Feedback Model

The overall article is quite interesting, and I find myself agreeing with most of his comments, i.e. it is sensations within the brain that cause fatigue, although I feel that his model has one fundamental flaw. His model is based on the idea that fatigue occurs, i.e. you slow down during endurance events, when your RPE (rating of perceived exertion) reaches maximal levels. It is surprising that his model is based on this concept, as there is research out there that shows that as the duration of the exercise to exhaustion increases, the RPE at exhaustion decreases, e.g. for an exercise duration of 94 minutes the RPE at exhaustion was only 87% of the maximum RPE value obtained for the same subjects during a maximal test, and for the duration of 45 minutes the RPE at exhaustion was only at 98% (Pires, et al, 2011). Whilst searching the literature I also came across another newly developed model by another well respected sport and exercise science Professor Guillaume Millet (2011).

Millet 2011 Flush Model

Like Tucker’s model, Millet’s model, titled the Flush Model, also has the point at which the maximum RPE is obtained as the point at which fatigue occurs. Again it is surprising that he uses this flawed concept! Maybe their lack of understanding of fatigue during endurance events is due to that maybe they haven’t raced a long ultra trail event. (Ross or Guillaume, if by some chance you are reading this blog, please leave a comment to let us know whether you have run a long ultra trail race). Also if any of you readers out there know these two guys, please forward them the link, as it would be great to get some feedback from the ‘world leaders’ on this topic, not from just an amateur blogger like myself!

I think every runner who has run an ultra trail race will confirm, that during the latter stages, even though they are running at nowhere near maximal levels of RPE, they are fatigued, they cannot run any quicker, barely any faster that a walk/very slow jog, even though there is a strong desire to run faster. So the idea that it is the attainment of a high RPE that causes fatigue is clearly flawed, hence why my model has a different concept that causes fatigue during endurance events, i.e. Race Focus Energy (RFE). It is once you have depleted your ‘tank’ of RFE, that you are then unable to maintain a running pace that is above your RFE threshold, hence why you have to resort to a walk/very slow jog.

So during the second half of my talk last weekend I attempted to explain my new RFE fatigue model. Although, now becoming a repeated occurrence, I again ran well over time, with my predicted finishing time being far too ambitious! However, even with the longer than expected duration, the audience appeared to retain focus on my content, so hopefully they were able to take it all on board. To aid those runners present last weekend, and to help explain my model in a little more detail, I have pasted below a number of the key slides from the presentation (slightly modified, i.e. with a bit more text). If there are aspects that are confusing or need explaining, please leave a comment / zap me an e-mail.

Group Run Sunday Morning Delamere Forest

The final event of the weekend was an easy group run within Delamere forest on the Sunday morning. At 9:00am a group of seven runners met and we cruised along at an easy pace for a little over an hour, providing another great opportunity to chat to keen runners, and to discuss different ideas about endurance running. One of the great things about endurance running, especially ultra trail running, is that so little is known, and it is always a process of continued learning from oneself and from others. As I boarded the train for the long journey south, back to East Sussex, I felt rather tired, but it wasn’t until early the next morning, when the mystery behind the high heart rate reading was resolved.

Yes, I awoke early Monday morning being violently ill. Strange as it may seem, but being quite ill, having to spend the entire day in bed, was quite reassuring. Having such a high heart rate during Saturday’s Sandstone Trail run, which I thought was a run at a pretty comfortable pace, was a little bit concerning. It was beginning to ‘nag’ at my self confidence. Not having done that much running since the UTMB back in August, I was aware that physiologically my fitness may be down a wee bit, but it still amazes me, just how easy it is too let ‘technology’ erode one’s self confidence. Saturday’s run felt easy, but I wasn’t aware that my body was already in the process of trying to deal with some form of illness, hence the elevated heart rate, which surprisingly resulted in me questioning my current level of fitness. The first sign of negativity, and if you know from my previous posts, negativity is the cause of poor performance. Good thing I was ill on Monday then!

So pasted below are a few slides that illustrate my Race Focus Energy Fatigue Model. I however recommend that you read the relevant section within my previous post titled Beachy Head Marathon Illustration of the Race Focus Energy Fatigue Model that contains a bit more commentary, if you haven't already previously. Following the slides are my responses to a number of questions that I have been asked either via comments, e-mail, or during last Saturday night's presentation.

The Overall Model with the RPE-RFE Arrow Pointing Up or Down

The RPE Portion of the Model

The RFE Level Portion of the Model

The Muscle Activation Portion of the Model

A Summary Slide Illustrating the Integration of the Body and Mind (Physical and Mental)

The first question I will respond to is a comment left by Paul to my last post: "How do you ensure your RFE is as high as possible when you may be going into a race with 1 or 2 individuals who have shown some fantastic race form and are on paper more likely to perform at a higher level?"

Remember the RFE Fatigue has three key aspects to it to improve performance: (i) ensuring your RFE tank is large/full prior to the race and topping it up during the race, and (ii) reducing the level of RPE for the required running pace, and (iii) reducing the demand of RPE on RFE.

For (i) the key aspect is to focus on yourself. Your goals should be worded/structured in that they are something you have control over. Having a goal of winning a race is not a good goal as it is largely out of your control. If Killian Jornet or Liz Hawker turns up at your race, you are not going to be able to achieve your goal. So the goal should be something like 'performing to your best'. Yes, very vague, but you then need to define what your best means, either in terms of remaining totally focused and positive throughout the race, or in terms of prior to the race, based on various bits of positive evidence you can access, your expected finish times for the overall race and for each leg. Please note that although it is useful to formulate these positive split times / race time prior to the race, if possible I would encourage you not to focus on them during the actual race. The split times / race time strategy is there in order to allow some information about the likely demands of the race to enter your sub-conscious level. I have become to realise that having these times ready at your conscious level and focusing on them during the race in the majority of times leads to negative thoughts. Either that you are going slower than expected, or that you are going faster than expected, so then slow yourself down, or maintain the same quick pace but are then waiting for / expecting to 'blow up'! It takes quite a bit of confidence to not focus on the split times as you have spent quite some time and effort formulating them. However worth giving it a try. Try not to look at the times during the last few days. You will find that you are not totally running blind as during the race you will recall the approximate time that you were scheduled to pass the checkpoint, however, without the knowledge of the exact time, the negativity seems to be 'kept at bay'.

Phew, a long response to part one of my reply, and I was hoping for an early night tonight!
Both before and during the race it is possible to top-up your energy tank, but also possible to top-up your opponent's energy tank, simply through expectations. If you have this expectation that your opponent / fellow competitors are better / more capable than you, then you simply thinking this will be 'picked up' by them. You don't have to say anything, they will just feel your thoughts, the way you look at them, the way you position yourself around them, the way you run next to them or behind them. Even though on paper, it may appear that they are more capable than you, as mentioned in the above paragraph focus on yourself, focus on what you are planning to achieve.

I will have two examples to illustrate this boosting / not boosting the RFE tank of fellow competitors. The first example is based on my experience at the IAU World Ultra Trail Champs earlier this year in Connemara Ireland. On paper I was the fifth ranked member of the five man Great Britain team. On the UK Athletics website, the team was even listed in ranking order, with me at the bottom, rather than I think the more acceptable alphabetical order! However, preparing for the race I focused on my capabilities, my strengths my race goals. Not focusing on the fact that I was fifth ranked GB. Then I clearly remember just prior to the start, leaving the rest of the GB team, wishing then well as I headed off to the front of the field, ready to do my usual rapid race start. The feeling I sensed from my other team mates boosted my RFE tank. It felt as if even though my planned fast start was most likely perceived as foolish, they seemed to respect my determination or foolishness to give it a try. Either way I interpreted their subconscious response as a confidence boost, and if you have seen the video of the race on You Tube (refer to one of my previous posts), you will see that my fast start paid off, with me finishing 15th overall and first GB runner across the line.

The second example is from chatting with Jono Wyatt (multiple world mountain running champion) and kiwi Kim Rodley who lives in Austria, who both happen to be running club mates from my running club back in New Zealand, Hutt Valley Harriers. I recall back in 2004 whilst staying with Kim for a week while at the same time as Jono, chatting about the pre-race atmosphere at the races that Jono raced at within Europe. At the time Jono, I think had been unbeaten in an uphill only mountain race for around 5 years, and Kim commented how it appeared that all of the other competitors simply looked up to and treated Jono like a 'running god'. Not only this, Kim really noticed how come race day Jono's confidence will dramatically rise, even if his confidence had been a bit down due to less than ideal training. Around 2003/2004 Jono was spending quite a bit of time training and racing whilst staying with Kim, as Kim's location was ideal. within the Leutasch Valley in Austria at around 1200 metres altitude. So Kim observed this boost to Jono's RFE tank immediately prior to the race on many occasions. One day I remember discussing this phenomenon with Jono. Although he didn't directly agree with the description of 'god like' status he was being given my fellow competitors, he did acknowledge that the manner in which the fellow competitors responded to his presence was definitely aiding his performance. I remember thinking way back then, that perhaps his massive unbeaten streak was perhaps partly due to the fact that the other competitors just expected to be beaten by him, and at the time back in 2004, I was your typical runner who thought race performance was all to do with physical genes and training. So unfortunately those 'out of box' thoughts disappeared for and didn't resurface for around another 3 - 4 years, when I started spending more time questioning the whole running performance aspect!

I could go on a bit more about how during the race your expectations can be sensed by other runners, but I think time for the next question, this time via e-mail from Neil in South Africa. His questions follow:
"While I think I understand your model, my question relates to your mileage. I note that compared to other ultra runners your mileage is relatively low. Do you have any particular reason for this? I.e. belief that it is better/best? Do you believe that if you ran more mileage that you’d be a better/stronger runner? Lastly (in this regard) how do you do your mileage? Do you train in different (HR) zones? Or always fast or slow?"

Not sure where to start, so I will just type! Firstly my mileage is low relative to other ultra runners as I believe my RFE Fatigue Model clearly demonstrates that ultra trail running performance is determined by so much more than physical training. I was recently asked approximately how much time do I spend of my training doing traditional physical training and how much time do I spend doing other training, what most people classify as mental. I try not to separate the two, as I see it all as TOTAL training, but if I had to, I was say it would be around a 40 : 60 split, with the 40 being physical. So on paper it appears that my weekly training mileage is low, typically around 40 miles per week. If you take into account that this represents only 40% of my training, then in reality I am equivalent to a 100 mile a week mileage trainer, which I think would make some other runners feel more comfortable, as I sometime sense that sometimes other runners feel uncomfortable in the way that I seem able to perform on such limited training. Hopefully now, taking on board all the other training I do, to contribute to my TOTAL training, there wont be a sense that somehow I am 'cheating the system'! What does this other training consist of? Well I haven't got time to explain tonight, otherwise I'll never get to bed, but mainly research on the race and on myself, including extensive visualisations of all possible race expectations.

Would running more mileage make me a better/stronger runner? I have given this quite a bit of thought over the last two years. As much as I believe my ideas are sound, it does take a lot of confidence to not just follow everyone else. No other ultra trail runners, performing at a level similar to me, appear to be doing such minimal physical training. So in some ways, during the last two years I have 'conceded' that maybe more is needed, with my weekly mileage leading up to each 100 mile key race in 2009, 2010 and 2011 increasing from 34.5 to 46.3 to 51.7 miles per week respectively. Has my performance improved? I would clearly say no. I would consider my 2009 UTMB result easily my best performance out of my key race for the year over the last three years. So the intention for next year, is to reduce the weekly physical training.

Why is physical training not so important then? Well if you look at my RFE Fatigue model, you will see that physical training only inputs into the model in one place, this being to the left of the model, as being one of the key factors that determines one's rating of perceived exertion (RPE). Yes, RPE is a key component of the model, and the lower the RPE due to improved physical fitness the better the overall performance. But when you look at all of the other factors / variables within the RFE Fatigue model you become to appreciate, that this physical fitness just isn't the 'end all' factor determining ultra trail run performance.

Then if one looks a little bit 'deeper' into what physical training actually achieves, hopefully you will begin to understand why I train the way I do. Simply put, there are three physical variables that contribute to physical fitness: VO2 max, lactate threshold, running economy. (Search around my blog to see detailed posts on this topic). A quick review of any literature will clearly show that VO2max initially improves during the initial years of endurance training, reaches a level, and then stays constant regardless of what further training one does, and more importantly regardless of how much better the running performances become. Paula Radcliffe is probably the best example to illustrate this. There have been some really interesting articles written by Professor Andy Jones, her physiologist for nearly 20 years, now at Exeter University, but formerly from Brighton University. He has demonstrated that over the years her VO2max has not changed at all, even though her performances massively improved, to record the absolutely amazing 2:15 marathon time back in 2003! So to summarise, it doesn't really matter what physical training you do, your VO2 max wont change much, as long as you keep on doing sufficient training.

The second component, wont take long to explain; i.e. lactate threshold, this has absolutely nothing to do with ultra trail race performance, as the race intensity is way below all athlete's lactate threshold for the vast majority of the race. So not even worth typing any more words on this aspect.

The third and final variable is running economy. Now what is the best training to improve this? Well within the literature, apart form the fact that running economy continues to improve year after year, therefore indicating that it has something to do with the total number of miles every run, very little else is actually known regarding what training is most beneficial. If anyone is able to highlight an article that does, I will welcome reading it. So the interesting point is that the more miles you have totally run the better your running economy. This would seem to suggest that you should then perform mega mega miles per week, the more the better. However, not that easy, as this is likely to overstress the body and mind, and deplete the RFE tank prior to the race. My approach is to let my increase in running years be an advantage. Having been a runner for 34 years, I am getting close to 40,000 miles in total. Whether I run 2000 miles a year (40 miles per week, or 5000 miles a year (100 miles a week), within that actual year it wont make much difference to my overall mileage, i.e. 42,000 versus 45,000 miles. I guess the difference is around a 6% difference, but I doubt the increase in running economy is still linear with mileage increases after this many miles run. As with most variables, the curve has probably pretty well plateaued out!

Just one last aspect to finish on, the pace/intensity of the miles I run? Well as highlighted above, very little is know within the literature on what intensity is most beneficial for improving running economy. My 'gut feeling' and that is all it is, simply a gut feeling from 34 years of running, is that running economy is best improved my running relaxed, rhythmically, easy, within a flow, with minimal tension, no forcing, no fighting. Hence why the majority of my runs are just this, usually around 8 - 8:30 minute mile rate. This isn't every run, I do do the occasional quicker run or sections of runs at 6:00 minute mile rate. But this is more a technique requirement, needed to remind myself how to actually run fast. And remember if we are talking about fast, for ultra trail running, a pace of 8 minute mile rate for 100 miles will win every ultra race, beating everyone including Killian Jornet or Liz Hawker! So in terms of race specific training maybe my easy relaxed rhythmical training pace has some actual merit. Definitely worth giving it some thought.

Well, yes another ultra effort! Just remember that you can log reading this blog post in your training diary. Hopefully heaps more effective than 'fighting' repeatedly up some hill, or 'red lining it' on some tempo run!

Time for a quick signing off quote. "Never accept the normal as correct, always question rather than follow!" Stuart Mills, 2011.

Hopefully my Race Focus Energy Fatigue Model is a little clearer.

On a final note, I would just like to thank Steve and Mitch Mee and the runners from Delamere Spartan Running Club for making me feel so welcome and organising such an enjoyable weekend last week. If any of you are ever down in East Sussex. please give me a shout and I will repay the hospitality.

Thanks,

Stuart

Beachy Head Marathon – Illustration of the Race Focus Energy Fatigue Model

2011-10-30T07:45:00.001Z

Hi, be prepared for a marathon post tonight!

Last weekend I raced the 10^th Beachy HeadMarathon (previously known as the Seven Sisters Marathon for 21 years). It was my tenth time, having raced it every year since moving to East Sussex in 2002. Starting and finishing in Eastbourne, this is my local marathon, so along with the great views as we run across the South Downs completing a 26 mile loop, there is a great atmosphere from the 1750 runners and walkers involved, in addition to the tremendous support along the course from the many spectators, many who give me personalised encouragement due to recognising me from previous years. Over the previous nine years my finish times have been reasonably consistent, ranging from my fastest of 2:57 in 2007, to my slowest finishing time of 3:11. In both of these years I finished second, whereas I won the race on all of the other seven occasions.

The graph above shows my finish time plotted alongside my average weekly mileage each year for my 16 week build-up. There are many aspects that account for the variation in finish time, which as the graph illustrates; the finish time is not directly determined by average weekly mileage. Therefore within this year’s Beachy Head Marathon race report, I will attempt to provide an explanation into the many factors that influence trail marathon race performance, through an illustration of my newly released Race Focus Energy Fatigue Model. Hopefully my fatigue model will find some agreement with your experiences of race fatigue, and hopefully lead to a greater understanding of things to consider in order to improve trail marathon and ultra running performances.

Before I describe my TOTAL preparation for this year’s Beachy Head Marathon, first a little background into what causes fatigue during endurance running. Well as I have highlighted within previous blog posts, very little is actually known in terms of what causes fatigue. Over recent years, the simple homeostatic failure model of fatigue, (homeostasis refers to remaining stable, or specific to the human body, functioning within a normal range) i.e. fatigue at the periphery within the muscles due to lactic acid, glycogen depletion or muscular damage/fatigue, has been clearly shown to be too simplistic! Many observations such as: the finishing spurt, different pacing strategies for different race durations, lack of glycogen depletion/lactic acid within muscles when fatigued, and how interventions that solely act on the brain affect performance, all confirm that the simple homeostatic failure model (either peripheral fatigue or catastrophic central/brain failure) , is flawed. Therefore the need for a new model!

Probably the most significant change over recent years is the increased acceptance that the brain needs to play an extremely important role within any endurance fatigue model. The Central Governor Model proposed by Professor Tim Noakes, author of the Lore of Running, is probably the most commonly known alternative fatigue model. The key feature of this model, shown above, is that it is an anticipatory-regulatory model, where the brain anticipates a future failure and so modifies behaviour specifically to ensure homeostasis is protected. This modified behaviour is a decrease in the number of motor units recruited in the exercising muscles, or what I refer to as a change in the level of muscle activation. Noakes and others have demonstrated that there is a decrease in muscle activation initiated by the brain when fatigued, They have identified some of the factors that lead to this reduced muscle activation, but haven't really explained how. My Race Focus Energy Fatigue Model introduces a novel way to look at endurance fatigue and proposes a number of factors that influence the rate at which fatigue develops.

Race Focus Energy (RFE) could be thought of as concentration or mental effort. It relates to the concept that it requires mental effort/concentration in order to remain focused whilst racing, in order to keep on running hard, out beyond one’s comfort zone. (The term 'race' doesn't have to mean racing other competitors, it simply means that the run is a special occasion, where you are extending yourself, trying to run to achieve a certain goal.) Fatigue will occur when your supply of Race Focus Energy is depleted so it is no longer able to recruit exercising muscles above a ‘threshold’ level. Or when the brain anticipates that at your current rate of RFE usage, depletion of RFE is imminent so alters the level of muscle activation to preserve the limited supplies of RFE. The basis of the RFE fatigue model is that RFE is required in order to activate the exercise muscles above a threshold level. At low levels of intensity, e.g. at a slow jog when 'fresh', it does not take any RFE to maintain the easy pace. A slow jog when fresh is below the RFE threshold. However as the race progress, as the body physiologically becomes less efficient, e.g. muscles fatigues, glycogen levels decrease, heart rate increases due to cardiac drift, to maintain a slow jog now may require RFE as the intensity, albeit rather low is now above the RFE threshold.

At the start of an endurance race, each runner has a limited supply of RFE, although this limited supply can be added to/topped up slightly during the race, however, the greater the supply of RFE at the start, the better the performance. This therefore leads directly onto Training Principle No. 1 – Maximise the size of the RFE tank prior to race start.

The size of the RFE tank is determined by a number of factors including: Research on the Race, Research on Oneself, and the Surrounding Environment leading up to and immediately prior to the race. Or to put it simply, the size of the tank is determined by one’s attitude to and expectations of the race; expectations to what will be encountered during the race and an expectation of how one will respond to these challenges. My TOTAL preparation in order to maximise the size of my RFE tank on the start line is to spend many hours researching the race. What are the demands of the race?: Total Time, Distance, Profile, Terrain, Daylight/ Darkness, Navigation, Possible Weather, Temperature, Clothing, Feed Stations, Food, Dehydration, Backpack, Fellow Runners, Loneliness, Support, Family/Friends. I also spend many hours researching myself: WHAT do I WANT? WHY do I WANT IT? HOW MUCH do I WANT IT? Are these WANTS realistic, based on what evidence?

Leading up to the Beachy Head marathon this year, because I had previously raced it nine times, I didn’t need to do any research on the race, as I already knew everything there was to know about the race. I think the lack of time I spent researching the race also resulted in me spending less time than usual researching myself. What were my aims/goals for this year’s race? Having a DNF at Ultra Trail Mont Blanc, where I focused too much of the performance, and forgot about enjoying the journey, I feel I experienced an over-reaction to UTMB, by there being a minimal performance goal for this year’s Beachy Head Marathon. Yes, it would be nice to win the race for an eighth time, and yes it would be good to run it in under 3 hours again, but there wasn’t really any thought in my preparation into WHY do I want this, and HOW MUCH do I want this. There wasn’t the usual excitement of looking forward to the race, the real buzz associated with getting ready to really test myself as I strive to respond positively to the expected challenges that the race will create. So my RFE tank on the start line was not as full as possible.

I suggest above that the amount of RFE one has on the start line is influenced by one’s confidence in that they will respond positively to the expected challenges that the race will create. Yes, self confidence leading up to the race has a large effect on the level of RFE within the tank, and also the rate at which RFE is being consumed during the race. One factor that largely determines one’s self confidence is their recent physical training. If the physical training has been going well, then confidence is usually increased. How one determines whether physical training has been going well is an important issue, which I will return to, as are a number of other benefits from physical training.

The size of the RFE tank is also determined by the Surrounding Environment leading up to and immediately prior to the race. What I mean here are things like other stresses within you life, whether work related, family related, stress, tiredness, feeling drained, worn-out, stale etc. All of these factors will have a negative effect and reduce the amount of RFE at race start. For the last three years leading up to the Beachy Head Marathon I still felt drained from previous ultra trail races, 56mile London to Brighton (2008), UTMB (2009) and Pumlumon Challenge/High Peak 40 Ultra Trail races (2010). Therefore my RFE was lower than usual, and hence why even though physically I was extremely fit, with the increase in my weekly mileage during these years, the performance didn’t directly reflect to the physical fitness due to the decreased RFE as a result of being worn-out/tired.

Finally your surrounding environment prior to the race can, even at the last minute, reduce or increase the level of RFE within the tank. If you are surrounded my highly motivated people and there is a real buzz then this can add that little bit extra to your tank. Similarly if there is negativity, conflict, prior to the race, e.g. an argument with your partner, or having to listen to whinging and moaning from runners about injuries, or how tough it will be etc. Then this can have a decreasing effect on the level of RFE. Fortunately I didn’t have any of these negative experiences prior to last weekend race, in fact I had many positive experiences, especially from the successful Beachy Head Marathon Science Symposium that took place the night before.

Maybe you are beginning to think, nothing really novel above. Apart from the term Race Focus Energy, there isn’t really anything to get excited about. Possibly true, but I think the real revolutionary feature of my RFE fatigue model is what happens DURING the race. Hopefully I can explain with the use of the following three figures, which include three important concepts; Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE), Race Focus Energy (RFE), and Muscle Activation.

Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is a common measure used within Sports Science research. While doing physical activity, subjects are asked to rate their perception of exertion. This feeling should reflect how heavy and strenuous the exercise feels to them, combining all sensations and feelings of physical stress, effort, and fatigue. They are then asked to look at the rating scale while they are engaging in an activity, and to choose the number, between 6 - 20, that matches the description that best describes their level of exertion. Research on running to exhaustion has shown that RPE is a better predictor of the time to exhaustion than any physiology measures. RPE is influence by many factors, not just physical, and involves the integration and processing of multiple signals – feedback and feed-forward! There is an increase in RPE when there is a mismatch of expectations to what’s encountered.

One can therefore interpret that not only does extensive research of the race and oneself within the TOTAL preparation increases the level of RFE on the start line, but if their is poor preparation in terms of visualising what one is likely to encounter during the race, then this increased likelihood of there being a mismatch of expectations to what’s encountered will increase RPE.

Looking at the figure above, you see that the level of RPE determines the about of Race Focus Energy that is required in order to provide the muscle activation to run at the demanded race pace. A higher RPE will increase the amount of RFE required to activate the muscles. The greater the RFE usage, the sooner it will be before your RFE tank is emptied, which results in decreased muscle activation, and hence a decrease in running pace. The key to endurance running performance is therefore to reduce the rate at which RFE is being consumed!

The first obvious way to decrease the rate or RFE usage is to getting physically fitter. Everyone knows that as you get physically fitter, it feels easier to run at the same pace as before, and therefore there is a decrease in RPE. This concept matches most previous models, and is why there is such a massive emphasis on physical training. However the novel aspect of the RFE fatigue model is that there is not a DIRECT link between RPE and RFE, as shown in the above figure. The level of RFE being consumed for a set level of RPE can vary, and is dependent upon the amount of positivity or negativity that is being experienced at that moment of time. The two figures below illustrate this; if you are experiencing positivity, this will cause the arrow relating RPE to RFE to rotate downwards, resulting is a lower RFE consumption for the same RPE. So even though you know you are working really hard, i.e. at a high RPE, it doesn’t take much mental effort, it just feels easy, i.e. it is using less than normal RFE. Similarly in experiencing negativity, the RPE – RFE linking arrow will rotate upwards, causing an increase in the rate at which you use the RFE. In this situation, even though you know that the intensity isn’t very high, i.e. a low RPE, it just feels harder than usual, a real struggle!

The key to TOTAL preparation in order to maximise endurance performance is recognising that receiving positivity and ignoring/rejecting negativity whilst racing can have a large effect on overall performance. It is not just the final 1- 2 %, e.g. the icing on the cake. This positivity/negativity has a SUBSTANTIAL effect on endurance performance. Realising this, accepting that your race performance isn’t preset by your level of physical fitness is essential. The next step is then to identify what factors can contribute to positivity and negativity, and be prepared to accept/reject these. Listed below are a number of factors that affect me, but factors that affect you may be different. This is where race reflection is so important. Where you reflect back, to learn from what went well, what factors seemed to be related to running well, or related to achieving less than the ideal performance.

LIKELY sources of POSITIVITY - Racing / the competition, overtaking others; Internal feeling of satisfaction, i.e. running well, positive time splits, perception of speed, running non-stop to top of hill; Puffing and blowing hard; Feeling proud, support, family, friends, others; Being excited, unique experience; Feeling refreshed, sponge, water, food, break; Feeling easy yet running well, relaxed, ‘flying by’; Scenery, sunshine, warmth, dry feet, tail wind.

LIKELY sources of NEGATIVITY - Anxiety, doubt, lack of confidence/self belief; Getting tired, finding it hard/tough - counting down the miles; Muscle soreness, blisters - focus of attention!; Going slower than expected - a ‘bad day’!; Going faster than expected - will ‘pay’ for it!; Going off course - frustration, angry; Difficulty in taking on fluid/fuel; Being overtaken, slowing at a great rate; Conditions: rain, cold, heat, mud, wind, scenery.

So back to last weekend’s Beachy Head marathon. I start the race with a reduced level of RFE due to poor preparation in terms of research on myself, although my surrounding environment leading up to the race was beneficial this year with there not being the tiredness/staleness of the previous three years. The race starts and as usual it is an exciting feeling as I attack the significant climb at the very start resulting in extensive puffing and blowing. After around three miles I am joined by Tom Morris a local runner from Lewes Athletic Club. We run together up the short sharp climb before a lengthy descent down into Jevington. This point during the race always results in my highest heart rate during the race, as I am able to really attack the short climb knowing that I have 5 minutes recovery on the descent. Looking at my heart rate trace it shows I reached 179 bpm. Although quite close to my maximum of around 186 bpm, it is less than previous maximum heart rates of 182 and 184 bpm achieved during 2009 and 2008 at the same point. We reach Jevington, one of my time checks in 27:10. I had planned a race schedule for 2 hours 59 minutes, and my target time at Jevington was 27:30, so I was 20 seconds up on schedule.

During the last year or so, although I still plan race split times prior to the race as part of my TOTAL preparation, I now tend to not pay attention to them during ultra races, as it can often lead to negativity, if ahead or behind schedule, which results in the RPE - RFE link arrow rotating upwards. However, since I have extensive race split time data over nine years I decide that for the marathon I would look at the split times, as a measure of how I was going. I think this needing to look at split times was mainly a result of my poor research on myself. I hadn’t determined what I wanted from the race. When I saw that I was 20 seconds up, it just confirmed that I was going okay, and hence no rotation of the arrow in either direction, as the time up was most likely due to the strong tail wind this year. For the first time in 10 years, the wind was a tail wind on the way out!

Climbing out of Jevington, I could sense Tom giving me a ‘hurry-up’ as he ran immediately behind me on my shoulder. Usually this wouldn’t bother me, but as one of my main aims of the day was to simple enjoy the journey, following this not occurring during UTMB, I decide I would get more enjoyment my easing of the pace and to let Tom take the lead. So as we started the climb up to the top of the Long Man of Wilmington Tom gradually eases away to around 50 – 70 metres lead at the top, and I am happy that I can run at my own pace without distractions. There is then a lengthy descent to checkpoint 2 (previously checkpoint 1 but an additional checkpoint/feed station was added this year at Jevington). This is another of my time checks at around 8.8 miles reached in 57:30, so now 30 seconds up on my planned arrival time of 58:00. Again, no rotation of the RPE - RFE arrow, as although there was an increased positive feeling of enjoying the journey, there was also some negativity in that I was running ‘within myself’ and I should be really ‘pushing harder’ as after all it is a race! Being in second place wasn’t any cause of negativity as during the last three years, on all occasions I had been in second place till the later stages of the race.

There is a steep climb as we leave Alfriston towards the next checkpoint at BoPeep carpark. To my surprise I am overtaken by a chap (Steve Nimmo from Orpington Road Runners) wearing a bright multi-coloured, extremely large/baggy t-shirt, (see photo lower down the blog post). He looks like he is a fun runner on a gentle stroll. There is an immediate rotation up of the RPE - RFE arrow due to the immediate negativity of dropping down to third, but probably more due to his t-shirt! How can a fun runner, which I perceived him as, due to his nearly fancy dress costume runner simply stroll past me. The immediate increase in Race Focus Energy actually ‘snaps’ me back into action. I am back into race mode, and I am able to up the race intensity, there is an increase in RPE, but no further increase in RFE due to the satisfaction of ‘pushing hard’ again. I get increased positivity from working hard again!

For the next seven miles or so, the three of us maintain an equal distance of around 50 metres between Tom and Steve, and 50 metres between Steve and me. I passed my time check at BoPeep carpark in 1:22, exactly on my 2hour 59 race schedule, although again no rotation of the arrow, as although pleasing to be ‘bang on’ schedule, due to the tail wind I am well aware that it is unlikely that I will maintain the 2:59 pace. Here you can see a clear demonstration of how time splits can limit your performance. This calculation due to the perceived future slowing down, causes an upward rotation of the arrow, and hence results in an increased ‘drain ‘on the RFE.

As the three of us leave the feed station at Litlington (reached in 1:51, now one minute down on my schedule) and reach the top of the short but steep climb. Tom begins to significantly struggle, although his pace had been slowing for the last mile or so, but with Steve seeming hesitant to take the lead. At 17 miles into the race all three of us for a brief moment are running side by side. It isn’t for long as Tom soon drops off, and as I try not to look behind whilst racing, it is the last I see of him. He later comments to me that shortly after we overtook him he really began to struggle. He ends up finishing over 17 minutes behind Steve and I, in sixth place. He attributes his extensive fatigue due to lack of nutrition/energy, however, I would imagine that going from leading such a prestigious marathon as Beachy Head, down to third place within seconds, probably resulted in a massive swing in his RPE - RFE arrow in the upwards direction. I can only speculate, but perhaps this lack of energy he suffered from, was energy not in the form of glycogen/glucose, but Race Focus Energy; the key ingredient that enables us to run fast, as without the RFE there is not the required muscle activation.

With nine miles to go, it is down to a race between the two of us. Steve sits immediately on my shoulder as we make our way to Cuckmere and cross the A road, before climbing up the extra hill that was added in 2003, which probably adds an extra two minutes to the race time. (Hence why the weekly mileage/finish time graph above shows a race time of 3:01 for 2002, even though I actually ran the shorter course in 2:59). We take our time going up the climb and it becomes apparent that Steve is quite happy to simply follow my pace. On the descent back down to the Cuckmere valley before we start the first and longest climb of the seven sisters, I decide to put in an attack and see whether Steve is staying behind me by tactical choice, or hopefully as he is not capable of quicker.

I immediately gain around 20 – 30 metres, and with the downward rotation of the RPE - RFE arrow I attack the next climb extremely hard making the most of the positivity of running hard and leaving him behind. The climb I guess takes around 4 – 5 minutes and I am really ‘buzzing’. I am running hard, receiving satisfaction from the extensive ‘puffing and blowing’, and the added joy of leading and possibly heading towards win number eight. I am working hard into the strong headwind, the first time there has been a headwind on this last portion of the course in all ten times of my running the Beachy Head marathon, which causes a slight upward rotation of the RPE - RFE arrow as I reach the finger post at the top of the climb in 2:17, still only one minute down on my 2hour 59 min schedule, but with an immediately realisation and an increase in negativity ‘knowing’ that I will not run sub 3 hours! Yes, I am now a strong believer that paying too much attention to race split times more often than not leads to a upward rotation of the RPE - RFE arrow.

I then take a quick glimpse behind, expecting to see Steve a good 50 metres plus behind, but no. he is less than 20 metres behind. All of that massive increase in pace has resulted in an actual lose of a few metres! There is an immediate large swing of the RPE - RFE arrow upwards, as if instantly it feels like I am really struggling. I therefore ease of the pace substantially in an effort to recover from the massive drain on my Race Focus Energy. Within a few moments I go from high RPE but a low RFE, where it felt easy, to an immediate need to reduce the RPE in order to lower the level of RFE usage!

For the next 3 – 4 miles I set the pace at a reasonably comfortable level, with Steve happy to follow. I am getting ready for a big effort to respond to a likely attack from Steve, because I have a feeling that we both know that if we are still together at the top of Beachy Head, with there being a little over a mile of descending to the finish, then due to the evidence from the previous race descents I would most likely result in being the first to cross the finish line. It is at moments like these where extensive preparation in terms of research on oneself, i.e. race goals/aims, e.g. what do I want, why do I want it, and how much to a want it comes into play. If one has these goals/aims clearly ingrained within one’s subconscious and conscious, the fact that one is so close to achieving their clear goals results in the RPE - RFE arrow to rotate downwards, which allows for an increase in running pace, causing an increase in RPE, but yet for the same level of Race Focus Energy. Looking back now, if I had established a clear race goal of either sub 3 hours, and/or, winning the race, I feel that instead of ‘having’ to ease of the pace at the finger post when discovering that Steve was still close to me, I would have been able to maintain the increased high intensity of running without the actual high rate of RFE usage than actually occurred, that led to a substantial reduction in race pace.

With a little over two miles to go, as we start the final lengthy climb up to the top of Beachy Head, the expected attack from Steve occurs. The increase in pace is dramatic, I immediately increase by pace in response but the massive increase in Race Focus Energy in order to increase my running pace is huge, and although there is the desire to stay with him, the brain senses that my rate of RFE usage is excessive, and even with there being less than 15 minute of running till the finish, the level of muscle activation being output from my brain is insufficient, and Steve pulls away, gaining a lead of 30 – 40 seconds in a very short space of time.

One thing I have noticed is that the brain’s subconscious anticipation of exhaustion of ones’ Race Focus Energy appears to not only be influenced by the actual RFE usage rate at the present moment, but also the extent of the recent increase in RFE usage. I think the fact that I was running at a reasonably comfortable pace, with this being not at too a higher level of RFE, to then immediately to go to extremely high levels of RFE led to the insufficient muscle activation needed to stay in contact with Steve. I’m sure that if I had maintained a semi-uncomfortable pace, rather that a semi-comfortable pace during the proceeding 3 -4 miles, then I would have been able to run faster up the final climb. It wasn’t physiological reasons that prevented me from keeping up with Steve, as my heart rate trace shows that even with maximal effort; my heart rate did not go higher than 167 bpm!

At the top of the climb I am probably around 40 seconds behind Steve, I run hard all the way to the finish, running the last 0.76 miles at an average mile pace of 5:19, albeit losing 79 metres in elevation, reducing the lead slightly, and finish 27 seconds behind in an official time of 3 hours 2 minutes and 55 seconds. The photo below shows be running downhill to the finish with my two boys Robert and Chris trying o keep up with me! Yes, another immediate rotation down of the RPE - RFE arrow as I run past my family.

Interestingly as I finish there isn’t any disappointment at running 30 seconds slower than last year, or in not winning, as I did enjoy the journey, this being a big improvement upon UTMB. However, within a race, I always try to extend myself, to run to my limits, to totally exhaust my Race Focus Energy, and I feel that I didn’t really do that during last weekend’s race, probably largely a result of the lack of research on myself during my TOTAL preparation, not as total as usual. The physical preparation had gone well, as evidenced by the physiological ease at which I completed a 3:02 Beachy Head Marathon time, with my average heart rate of only 163 bpm, with this being significantly lower than the average heart rates of 167 - 171 bpm during previous year's Beachy Head marathons.

Well another marathon effort of a blog post. Hopefully you have managed to maintain focus throughout, and are not totally blog fatigued! It is difficult attempting to explain my Race Focus Energy Fatigue Model within a blog post. The best bet, if you want to find out more is to get to one of my upcoming talks. Yes, talks! Not only have I got my talk up in Cheshire on Saturday 19^th of November, which I have previously mentioned, but on Saturday 3^rd of December I am doing a talk down in Dorset as part of the Endurancelife Live More Lectures Series. My focus of my talk in Dorset is on UTMB, however, I will have a few slides to do with the Race Focus Energy Fatigue Model, as it plays such an important part during endurance trail running. In addition, if you buy me a beer, I will talk to you all night about it. And as evidenced by the length of my blog posts, all night could in fact mean all night!

Time to sign off with some words related to tonight’s post;

“Often it is too easy to accept a less than satisfying performance due to an acceptance that physically you are not capable of better, however, as soon as there is the realisation that simply the way you think and respond to the challenges that you encounter during the race can alter one’s performance, one is capable of achieving so much more!” Stuart Mills, 2011.

All the best with your interpretation of my model,

Stuart

Beachy Head Marathon - Quick Update

2011-10-22T18:09:00.001+01:00

Hi,

Just a quick update on today's Beachy Head marathon. Since moving down to East Sussex in 2002 I have run the Beachy Head Marathon every year, so today was my tenth time. My personal best for the course was set in 2007 with a time of 2:57, when I finished second to Tim Short, a fellow inov-8 athlete.. As the time of 2:57 indicates, the course isn't really flat. My times for the last three years, all being winning times, have been 3:02, 3:03, 3:02. So going into today's race, I was hoping to try to run quicker than last year, but a PB time wasn't really on the cards.

For the first time in ten years of running I had a real race on my hands. At CP2 at BoPeep car park, shortly before half way, I was in third place, I guess around 45 seconds behind the leader. It was then head wind pretty well from there all the way back to Eastbourne. At around 17 miles, the leader from local club Lewes started fading and the three of us were for a few seconds running side by side. The chap, Steve Nimmo from Orpington, but originally from South Africa didn't want to lead. I also wasn't to keen to lead so, it was a bit of 'cat and mouse' with the occasional attack for the next 7 miles, as the chap from Lewes, (sorry I didn't get his name!) faded to eventually finish in sixth place.

Then at the 24 mile mark, Steve from South Africa, took off up the start of the last climb up to the top of Beachy Head. He looked like he was doing a 5K. He quickly gained around 30 - 40 seconds, and then we ran this distance apart to the finish. I think his official time was 3:02:28, and mine being 3:02:58 was only 33 seconds slower than my 2010 time.

Overall a really enjoyable and exciting race. A true race, with the pace fluctuating substantially over the last nine miles. It would have been nice to clock up my eighth win, but it wasn't to be today. I felt I ran well, but just didn't have that 'extra gear' when Steve attacked. A great run by Steve Nimmo. Hopefully he will be back next year, when I will be ready for him. Maybe I might even go back to doing some rep work again in preparation!

So another great Beachy Head marathon. Trail marathons really don't come any better. A great atmosphere with around 1700 starters, a great course, a beautiful sunny day, and a superbly organised event.

Full race report to follow in a few days, although, quite a lot already highlighted above, as the quick update wasn't that quick! However, the race report will include 'snippets' of my new 'Race Focus Energy' fatigue model, that was launched at the Beachy Head Marathon Science Symposium last night, which was a very successful evening.

Time to sign off, with a relevant quote from last night; "Performance is determined by an enjoyable interaction of the Body and Mind".

May your runs this weekend be as enjoyable as mine was today.

Stuart

Meet the Man Behind the Blog - Review AND Preview!

2011-10-13T00:13:00.002+01:00

Hi

Yes, a few weeks since my last post, but I have been a wee bit busy! The day job, i.e. a University Lecturer at the University of Brighton has been keeping me plenty busy, with the students recently returning.

Tonight, should be a shorter post than usual. Simply a brief review of my talk up in Yorkshire last week, and a preview of TWO upcoming talks.

Last Friday night I had the pleasure of talking to around 25 runners in the cosy Studley Roger village hall, not far from Ripon. The talk was organised by Dave Jelley from http://www.jelleylegs.co.uk/ Dave has recently set up a Guided Running company that provides Guided Trail Running Breaks. It was recently featured in the Guardian two weeks ago. Click the following link to read the article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/sep/30/guided-running-holiday-north-yorkshire-dales?newsfeed=true And as the article mentions, the running in Yorkshire was very scenic, over a variety of terrain.

I met Dave at the Shires and Spires 35 mile Ultra back in June, where we actually discussed the possibility of the talk whilst racing! So on the Friday night immediately prior to my talk, on a pleasant evening as the sun was setting, we had a quick six mile run across the fields, including running through a deer park, .

My talk was titled "Ultra Trail Running: Enjoying the Overall Experience - The Importance of TOTAL Preparation". I provided some background to my philosophy on what determines fatigue during ultra trail running, and then illustrated my ideas with my contrasting experiences at the 2009 and 2011 Ultra Trail Mont Blanc. As expected, my ideas created some discussion, with many runners being able to associate with my observations. Although, there were some 'disbelievers', who felt that I placed too much emphasis on the importance of positivity. Reflecting back on my talk, I probably did 'play down' the importance of the physical training too much. As after all, at the end of the day, it is the physical body that has to propel you to the finish line. However, the problem I have, as readers of my blog are quite well aware of, is that at times I do tend to go on a bit! So one of my aims was to try to stick to my planned schedule, and hence why I rushed over a few aspects of my TOTAL training approach.

During the last year, I have been give quite a bit of thought into why I slow down so much during ultra trail running. My post back in August titled Training for Ultras - What's It All About? highlighted some of my thoughts. However, recently I have been trying to develop a model that will encompass all of my ideas. During my presentation I spoke about how ultra trail running performance is "determined by a balancing of the current physiological and psychological input with the underlying self expectations / self belief!" And I presented a very simplistic model to help clarify this, and reinforced the importance of the subconscious beliefs with a quote from 1983 by Gary Elliott, coach to NZ marathon runner Alison Roe, Boston marathon winner, New York marathon winner, World Record Holder, 1981.

“Success becomes automatic when your subconscious accepts your goals as reality.”

I appreciate that this balance scales image doesn't really provide much information, however, i am hopeful that my new model will be complete shortly, in time for my talk up in Cheshire in the middle of November. More about this talk, and my other upcoming talk in Eastbourne, later in this post.

So back to last weekend. Overall I felt the talk went well, especially as it did what I set out to achieve, that being, to get runners to think differently about their training, and to give more thought to what actually causes them to fatigue during ultra trail running.

The next morning, after watching England's disappointing performance at the Rugby World Cup (The advantages of having a dual identity, I still have the All Blacks to cheer on!), the sunshine was gone, and it was out into the Yorkshire mist for a longish run across a variety of terrain. Dave and I were joined for the run by Martin and Billy. As Dave is running the last race of the Runfurther series this weekend at Rotherham, we decided to keep the pace pretty easy, which suited me fine, as pretty well all of my runs are at an easy pace. (Keep an eye out for Dave at this week's series decider. Not only is he in 'with a shout' for the over 50s title, he is also well up there for the overall title!)

So there was plenty of talking as we ran along at a cruisey pace, on mainly running related topics, including a bit more discussion on some of the training aspects I raised the night before, and a 'bit of banter' on perhaps I just shouldn't be so lazy with my training, and if I did some proper physical training I then wouldn't slow down so much! Although later on in the run, having discovered a little bit about Billy's impressive race performances when he was a wee bit younger, the question was asked into why he now raced so slowly!

Running with Martin and Billy (middle) in the Yorkshire mist

So overall a very enjoyable weekend, and as I titled my talk, the overall enjoyable experience includes meeting loads of positive minded, extremely friendly, ultra trail runners.

This post is sub-titled: Review and Preview. Yes I have two talks coming up. The first, which takes place next Friday, 21st October, 6:00pm - 7:30pm, is at the University of Brighton, Eastbourne campus. It is part of the Beachy Head Marathon Science Symposium. Click this link to find out a bit more about the free symposium. There are three speakers in total, including Emma Ross from the University of Brighton and Charlie Pedlar from St Mary's University/English Institute of Sport. So it should be a pretty interesting and informative night. The Beachy Head Marathon Science Symposium is open to everyone. All you need to do is e-mail O.R.Gibson@brighton.ac.uk to book your free tickets.

Then on Saturday 19th November, at Cuddington, Cheshire, I have been invited by the Delamere Spartans running club to present to trail runners within the Cheshire region. My presentation has the same title as my Yorkshire talk, although hopefully I will be able to introduce my new model on ultra trail fatigue. Tickets are available by e-mailing: tickets@delamerespartans.org.uk

Hopefully a number of you will be able to make either the Eastbourne or the Cheshire evening. It would be great to meet you.

Well, not as brief a post as I planned, so no signing off quote!

To those of you racing this weekend's Round Rotherham, may you all enjoy the overall experience.

Stuart

PS If any of you are thinking about racing next year's Montane Lakeland 100 or 50, well you better be quick! Entries have been open for a little over a week, and there are already nearly 250 entrants in the 100 mile, and over 400 in the 50 mile! The 100 mile already looks like it will be a great race. The last two winners i.e. Terry Conway and myself will be back, as will a number of the 2011 top ten finishers including Paul Tierney, Barry Murray, and Simon Deakin, and a newcomer to the event Richie Cunningham, twice winner of the 95 mile West Highland Way Ultra Race. Best I start doing some proper training!!!

UltraStu Talk in Yorkshire - Meet the Man Behind the Blog!

2011-09-21T20:54:00.003+01:00

Hi

Just a quick announcement about a talk I am doing up in Yorkshire on Friday 7th October.

The title of my presentation is Ultra Trail Running - Enjoying the Overall Experience. I will talk about the highs and lows of ultra running - from my win in the 2010 Lakeland 100 mile race, to the problems which led to me not completing the Ultra Tour of Mont Blanc this year.
Within the talk I will emphasize the importance of TOTAL physical and mental preparation, which if you are a reader of my blog, you will know that I see TOTAL preparation as the key determinant of achieving a successful performance in endurance trail running events.

The presentation will include photos, video clips, and race route details specific to the Lakeland 100 and the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc. In addition there will be ample opportunity for the audience to ask any questions they may have on trail running.

Details of the talk are as follows:
When: Friday 7th October 2011

Venue: Studley Roger Village Hall, Studley Roger, Ripon HG4 3AY

Time: 7.30 pm for pre-talk snacks/drinks - 8.00 pm talk starts. A short break for more snacks/drinks at 8.45pm. Finish 9.45pm approx.

Cost: £5.00 (including free snacks/tea coffee)

The talk is being organised by Dave Jelley from Jelley Legs Guided Runs. We actually discussed the idea of the talk while 'racing' at the Northants Shires and Spires 35 mile ultra race back in June!

Tickets are available from Dave. Visit http://www.jelleylegs.co.uk/ and email /ring and reserve tickets.

So here is your opportunity to "Meet the Man Behind the Blog", that is if you haven't already met me before! Hopefully, those of you that live up north, local to the area, will be able to make it to Studley Roger Village Hall, which is not far from Ripon. It should be a really good night. A note for any of you who were present at my talk in Ambleside back in June at the Lakeland 100 recce weekend, I promise I will get my pace judgement right this time, and not go over my predicted finishing time!

Right, best I get myself organised and get my presentation sorted. I think the hardest thing will be deciding on what to leave out, in order to keep to time!!!

Stuart

PS To those of you that know people who are inspired by your endurance trail running exploits and want to do more running. Then maybe the following link to a worthy charity called The Fresh Air Fund may be of interest to you. http://www.freshair.org/events/nyc-half-marathon

Each year they have a team running the New York City Half Marathon that takes place in March. So now is a good time to encourage your work mates, partner, or any friends to go that little bit further with their running, and perhaps have this race as their goal.

UTMB DNF: Responding to Comments

2011-09-17T00:48:00.000+01:00

Hi,

Thanks to all of you that have left on the blog and e-mailed me comments following my UTMB race. It is pleasing to know that runners are finding my blog posts both interesting but also beneficial. Receiving feedback, it appears that there was equally disappointment amongst the readers regarding my UTMB DNF, however, before I move on to other topics I just thought I would respond to some of the comments left.

Firstly Bill. Yes, running frequently within the mountains could be an advantage, however, I don't see this as a main factor regarding DNFs for those with less mountain running within their preparation. With regards to my preparation, I do not do specific mountain training, in fact I don't even do specific hill training. I simply run up hills when I encounter then during my training, but I do not specifically go out and 'search' for them. This is mainly due to my believe that it is self confidence/self expectations that are the benefits from specific mountain training, not any actual physical benefits. So if you are able to develop the self confidence regarding mountain running in other ways then no essential need to run within the mountains.

The key issue with this year's UTMB for me was I feel the 5 hour delay, rather than the at times wet and cold weather conditions. When preparing for a race the key aspect of my preparation is to prepare the mind and body as one, actually the subconscious, for what it is likely to encounter during the race. So within this preparation it is all about looking at the course details, the elevation gains/losses, the checkpoints, the terrain, likely underfoot conditions, likely weather conditions etc. It is building up this information about the event so when you actually come to it on race day, what you encounter is reasonably similar to what you have given thought to, what you have considered, or what you have visualised during the preparation.

So running a race for the second time, can therefore be an advantage as you have more information available regarding what you are likely to encounter, so the considerations, the visualisations can be stronger, can be more accurate, more likely to resemble what you will actually encounter. However, as was the case this year for me, and for others, having past experiences of the event can also be a big disadvantage!

Within my preparation, I was totally aware of the terrain, elevations, distances between checkpoint etc. based on my 2009 race, and from the available race information, google earth flyovers, video clips, photos etc. I have run in wet and cold conditions many times. I have run over trails, up hills etc. many times. The Hardmoors 55 from 2010 springs to mind in terms of extremely demanding conditions. Having seen video footage of the 2010 UTMB, and read race reports, I was well aware that weather conditions could be wet and cold at the UTMB. So although I do not actually train in the mountains in unpleasant conditions I am able to visualise these situations quite clearly, so I don't see this lack of training specificity as a problem.

As I highlighted above, having run the event in 2009, I feel this ended up being a disadvantage for me due to the 5 hour delay to the start. Within my blog post last week I commented on the cold and the rain, and how the conditions were so different to the warm night of 2009, however, this wasn't really the key issue as I had visualised running the UTMB in wet and cold conditions. What I hadn't visualised was starting in the dark, and especially running to Les Houches and running the first climb in the dark. As I am an 'emotional' runner, and really perform on emotion, perform due to the positivity of the event. I had spent many hours preparing, focusing on, visualising the first 2 hours of the race, from the start to St Gervais. For me, this was the key to the whole race. Start well, get into a good position, get the 'buzz' from running well, being right amongst it within the first 30 or so runners, so then able to progress through the field, as others drop out!!! Yes how ironic, that my race strategy involved moving up the field due to others dropping out. Well this was because there is such a large drop out rate of around 40% at the UTMB. Never, for one single milli-second, did I ever consider that I would be one of the 40%, actually ended up being over 52%! Back in 2009, at the top of the fourth climb. Arete Mont Favre I was in 55th place. I ended up finishing in 22nd place. From that point in the race (69km and 10 hours 01 minutes), nobody overtook me. I howevr only overtook 13 runners, as 20 runners who were at that time ahead of me dropped out. Quite an amazing statistic really! It would be interesting to see how many runners from the top 55 at the same point DNFed this year. Probably more than 20 I would expect!

Anyway, sorry about that distraction, where was I??? Yes, I was commenting about this visualisation of the first two hours running during daylight, 'feeling' the surrounding runners around me, being in total appreciation of the beauty and spectacle of the mountains, and just taking in the whole amazing atmosphere of the competitors, the mountains, the spectators. And then 'feeding' of this emotion, to propel me into the night, and then throughout the next day. So this vividness, as a result of my extensive preparation was what totally threw me 'astray'. It was just so totally different to what I had prepared for, so in essence I was totally unprepared. I was in a situation which my subconscious had not planned for. And looking at the photo of me on the start line, it was clearly evident then, that I was already struggling with the changed situation, even before the race had started.

I signed off my post last week with some words from Nick Clark, as he ended up having to DNF due to a similar reason. i.e the race was different to what he had prepared for. For him, it was not the difference of being daytime or night time, but it was the route change, not going up to Bovine, and having to descend to Martigny. Now he is one of the best there is in 100 mile trail ultras, as evidenced by his 3rd place at this years Western States 100. Physically, an extra hour onto the race duration, and a few extra 100s of metres of climbing, isn't going to be a problem to him. But as he highlighted "A huge part of being successful in completing these events is an understanding of what lies in front of you. (He seems to have the same approach regarding the importance of preparing the mind and body with an expectation of what it is likely to encounter during the event). Your mind prepares your body, and your body delivers an output that is sustainable for the mileage and elevation change that remains. If the mind is checked out, the body follows."

So for me, this mismatch between what I had prepared for, what I was expecting to encounter, and the actual reality of the race caused my mind and body as one, "to check out"! And at a very early stage of the race, to some extent before the actual start, but I think mainly during that first climb in the dark!

Interestingly, from what I have read, this 'checking out' from the race, for whatever reason seemed a familiar story. To my surprise, during the race, after I had 'checked out', climbing the fourth climb of Arete Mont Favre rather slowly, I was overtaken my Krissy Moehl, the twice winner of UTMB, including 2009, finishing in 11th place overall. So seeing her so far down the field, and barely going any quicker than me was a real shock. On her blog she makes the following comments:
"1). I visualize. When possible I like to visualize sections of the course, what it looks like, time of day and how I will feel. ... 2). I am a planner, and maybe to a fault. ... Because of 1 & 2 the nature of the race this year threw me. With the crazy rain storm that blew in Friday night, I woke up at 10am to a text message alerting us that the race start time had been pushed back 5 hours to 11:30pm. This changed all crew plans, clothing plans and time of day where I would be on the course. It also created a much longer wait on Friday and we would now have to run into the second night (where before if all was going well it is possible to finish just before dark on Saturday). We tried to see positives in the fact that our night time wouldn’t be as long the first night, that this push back helped avoid time in the harshest part of the storm, but I realize hindsight that for all my planning this really changed my head game. ...   Funny thing is I think I normally do a pretty good job with rolling with the punches, but this time I just felt defeated. When times got tough I didn’t have that edge that I am used to drawing on to push through."
Yes, I was really amazed as well when I read her blog post, after I had typed up mine, on just how similar our interpretations were of what went wrong. And like her, I tend to consider myself as being able to deal with situations when they get 'tough'. Usually the tougher the conditions, i.e. cold, or heat, or wet mud/bog, I tend to perform better, but just like her, not this time!

And also similarly like me, she knew early on, that things weren't going well: "When the going gets tough, there has to be that something more, that something deeper that you can find to get you to the finish. I knew it wasn’t my day when I arrived in St. Gervais (this is at 21km, after around 2 hours) - Zoe said she could see it in my eyes. I wanted to resolve to finish no matter what. But I didn’t have the fight."

So getting back to my race day performance, yes, one could conclude, that I was 'soft' pulling out from the UTMB this year, as after all on the 'surface' it appears that the only problem was that my race experience was different to what I had expected. I wasn't injured, or I wasn't ill, as I was reminded by one reader: "You couldnt dictate, you were not in the area of the race you thought you would be, athletes you expected to beat were doing much better than you, and your predicted position from an elite start was not going to happen, you pulled out WHY, were you injured, or could you not deal with a lowly finishing position,"  Hopefully above I have been able to clarify what the problem was for me. I guess it gets down to having too much faith/belief in the inseparable link between the mind and the body, in that they act as one. To me, this faith, this belief, is what 'makes me' the ultra trail runner I am. And yes, it can result in things not going right all of the time, but it also does appear that two of the very best ultra trail runners in the world, seemed to have a similar problem as mine.  Maybe it could be described as being a bit soft in the head, or too arrogant to accept a lowly finishing position, but I prefer Nick Clark's description: "I had lost the mental fortitude to keep my legs from seizing up." Yes, the mind can create amazingly fantastic experiences, but it can also create amazingly difficult experiences! As Nick highlights, it is the mind that actually controls whether your legs seize up or not. And usually when one is in the right state of mind, the legs just don't seize up, the mountains just don't seem steep. the running just feels totally easy, and everything just cruises along, within the flow, within the rhythm, within the joy of running. Unfortunately UTMB 2011, for me, and for others was just not one of those days!

Well! I thought tonight's post was going to be a quick short post, offering a quick simple response to reader's comments. Oh well, I do feel better, for hopefully clarifying my situation. Please excuse me!

Back to the comments. Hi Johny, I don't know what your performances are when it comes to running, race performance is definitely not a criteria to determine whether people's comments are worthy, or are from a 'fraud'. I welcome all reader's comments, as I know I learn so much from others, from runners of all abilities. That is one aspect of the ultra running community that I really appreciate. The willingness of others to share their experiences in the hope that others can gain from them.

But getting back to your comment regarding race expectations. I see race expectations as being crucial to performing well within ultra trail running. During the preparation stage, it is essential that you have developed clear, and confident (and realistic) expectations of what you will encounter during the event, but more importantly how you will positively respond to the different situations within the event, which will then result in a successful performance. But the key thing to remember, and what I forgot to adhere to at UTMB, is that the focus on the expectations ONLY occurs during the preparation phase. Come race day, the self expectation should be now well ingrained within your self-conscious, so you don't need to actually think about them. You don't need to consider them at all. For come race day, the key is to simply enjoy the journey, to be 'within the present moment', to simply enjoy the running, and the underlying self expectations, now at a subconscious level, they will simply 'do the business' if you just allow it to happen, without forcing it!. I wish I had reminded myself of the above paragraph, on the Friday night, 3 weeks ago. But, as I mentioned in last weeks post; "Everything happens for a reason", and maybe one of the key things I will learn from this year's UTMB is that the above paragraph is so important in dictating the likelihood of having a successful performance.

This moves on very nicely to the comment left my Tom (Living on the Trail). I totally agree, absolutely one hundred percent with the comment that Tom as left. In fact I like it so much, I think I will adopt his take home message in future blog posts:
"Maybe we can forget to trust and not separate training from the joy of racing.

Training = build the physical off the mental
Race Day = Trust and enjoy"
I already knew this message that he has left. It has been my philosophy for the last three years of trail racing, However, it does really help when someone recognises what the issue is and spells it out so clearly. Thanks Tom for your input. I will remind myself come future races, "Trust and enjoy", as simple as that!

Now Andy, firstly, what's this you stating that you "don't buy into all of my ideas"! Just joking! It's nice to know that you have bought into some of them. And again, I am in total agreement with what you have written. Yes, one does have to always remember why we run trail ultras; because they are enjoyable. Not just enjoyable afterwards, but during the actual journey! For many, many years I focused too much on the destination. I was focused on the finishing time, setting a new PB for the marathon, or half marathon, Finishing in a certain position. The enjoyment would come afterwards, from the reflecting upon the good result. Well having this approach to my running for so many years, without knowing at the time, really restricted my running. It prevented me from running successfully, as there just wasn't the actual joy from the running. The joy was all dependent upon the result. For me, for my running to be successful, I have to experience the joy of running, WHILE I AM RUNNING!

Now that doesn't mean that running can't get challenging, get tough. In many ways, dealing with the challenges, overcoming the toughness, the difficult 'blips' in races can be extremely satisfying, and extremely enjoyable at that moment in time. But then there are situations, like I experienced this year at UTMB where due to the state my mind was in, there was not any enjoyment. And, yes as Andy points out, one can endure this in races, if there are only a few hours to go, however, when faced with many, many hours of un-enjoyment, the question whether to continue does arise. Fortunately for me, I don't recall this question being asked of me very often during the last 30 years. With the last time, when the question was answered in a yes, time to pull out, being 26 years ago, after capsizing for a second time, and being extremely wet and cold, and hence definitely not enjoying the present moment, way back in the 1985 Rimutaka Triathlon. So yes, I am fortunate that I experience the joy of running whilst running, nearly all of the time!

Hi, Graeme. Congratulations on completing this year's UTMB. I am so pleased for you in that your "Dreams Came True". Can I strongly recommend to those of you that haven't been to Graeme's "Running Dad" blog, if you want to read a thoughtful and inspirational post, then click this link. http://whwrunningdad.blogspot.com/2011/08/heres-to-dreamers-god-bless-us-all.html It really sums up what ultra trail running is all about, and how the positivity that is so evident within ultra trail running can be transmitted into your own and other's lifes. Have a read, and thanks Graeme for you comment, and your great post.

Lastly, in this much longer post than I expected, thanks Alan for your comment, and congratulations on your tremendous effort moving up from 850th place after 2 hours 1 minute into the race, to finish in 44th place overall.  You specifically ask did I have a plan B? Well, no, I do not have a plan B, as usually for all of my races over the last three or four years, my one and only plan is to run as hard and as fast as I can, being within the moment, and enjoying the journey. So what other plan is needed? But you are right, I did get "caught up with the idea of feeling out of place with the elite runners". I simply forgot my plan A, even though my signing off message from my last post prior to race day was all about enjoying the journey. Amazing, subconsciously I was telling myself, to get my act sorted out!!! So yes, I did probably let how other runners were performing "interfere with the ability for me to run my own race". So thank you for your interpretations of my writings. Sometimes, all what is needed is for someone to simply raise your awareness to what is happening, because sometimes you can be 'too close to the situation' to actually see it. With regards to running "conservatively", either fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, that goes against my philosophy. It just doesn't work for me, as I 'live' on the excitement, the risk, of pushing myself to the limit, each and every moment! Well that's my aim!

Time to sign off with a quote from Graeme's great post:
"You need to make your own luck and have a hand in your own future and to grab the chances that present themselves to you. Enjoy these moments when they come, savour them and embrace them and recognise the fact that you made them happen." Graeme Reid, 2011, Running Dad: Here's to the Dreamers - God bless us all!
All the best with putting your dreams into reality,

Stuart

UTMB Race Report - Working Out What Went Wrong?!!!

2011-09-10T00:18:00.000+01:00

Hi Again

Not sure how far I will get with this race report tonight, as I'm not really sure what the key message will be.

(Well I didn't get that far, I guess I got around half way, (a bit like the race!), but it has now been a few days since I first started typing up this report. Maybe it will get finished tonight!)

I have given the UTMB race a wee bit of thought over the last week or so, but I find that it is not until I start typing up my blog report, uninterrupted, in the quiet of the night, that things really start to become clear. So hopefully as I type, I will manage to identify What Went Wrong!

UTMB was my number one focus race for 2011. Having ran it back in 2009, where it was such an amazing enjoyable experience, I had to go back, to get the same enjoyment, and to improve on my finishing time of 26 hours and 29 minutes. So I bypassed the Lakeland 100 this year, (another great race), in order to be totally prepared for UTMB. And come Friday morning of race day, I felt fully prepared. I had the same sort of feeling that I had prior to the 2010 Lakeland 100, so I was expecting another positive experience.

One of the key things I work on when preparing for ultra trail races, is to spend quite some time giving thought to what I will encounter during the event. I look in detail at information about the course, such as; how many checkpoints, the distance/likely time between them, the terrain of the course, the number of climbs, the elevation gain, likely underfoot conditions, running in daylight or at night, etc. Although it can be useful to have recced the race route prior to race day, this is not essential, and as the UTMB course is very clearly marked there are no navigation issues. So the reason for my expected improved finish time was more due to my improvement as an ultra trail runner over the last two years, what I had learnt over the last two years, so not really because it was the second time that I was running the event and therefore familiar with the course.

However, during my preparation in terms of considering what I would encounter during the event, I did find myself frequently remembering back to 2009, re-visualising the key things from two years ago. The warm, sunny night, the amazing atmosphere at the start line in Chamonix, the huge crowds and the huge noise they made, not just in Chamonix, but along the course, especially at St Gervais, and at Notre Dame Gorge, the amazing scenery, the awesome snowtopped mountains, etc.

Physically wise, training had also gone well. Having run the 2009 UTMB on a 20 week build-up of only 34.5 miles per week average, I considered that maybe this low mileage was not sufficient in order to achieve a sub 24 hour time, which was my aim back in 2009, and was still my aim for 2011. So over the latest two years I had gradually increased my mileage, resulting in the 20 week average prior to UTMB this year being 51.7 miles. I increased my weekly mileage, mainly due to an underlying 'nagging' that to run a sub 24 hour at UTMB, more than 35 miles per week was needed, as I was not totally confident that 35 miles per week was sufficient, and if the confidence isn't there, then, a change is needed. Although 51.7 miles per week was the biggest mileage average I had done for over 25 years, I felt comfortable with the amount, as the increase had been gradual over the last two years. As I mentioned in my lengthy post titled "Training for Ultras - What's It All About?" probably the key aspect of the physical training is that it develops your self expectation of what you belief you are capable of achieving. So, leading up to the race, it felt like all of the boxes were ticked!

So where did it all go wrong??? As with all of my blog posts, they are firstly for my benefit, a chance to clarify my thoughts, to learn from my racing and training, and secondly they are about sharing this reflecting process with others via the blog, to possibly enable other runners to learn and benefit from what I have learnt. So I hope that readers of my blog will not feel as though my analysis of what went wrong is all about me making excuses for a poor DNF performance, or to blame anyone for my DNF. Therefore before I progress with this race report, I just want to clarify my position on the UTMB organisation as I have seen that within some other runner's blogs there has been some criticism. Based on what the UTMB organisers had to deal with, the variable weather, the absolutely huge numbers of runners, I think they were just amazing, the way they were able to adapt start times, race routes etc. to take into account the extreme weather conditions. My aim of my race reflection within this post is about trying to understand why I just did not perform, and to ensure that it doesn't happen again! As I know one thing for sure, for me, pulling out of a race was definitely one very un-enjoyable, demotivating, confidence crushing thing to do, and something I hope to learn from, to ensure that it will be another 26 years before it happens again! Hopefully I will not get too negative during this post, as after all it is only a race, and looking back of the last few years I have had such an amazing journey!

Back to race day, Friday morning. I had arrived out in France on the Monday, and was staying at the 31 kilometre mark, at the village of Les Contamines. I was involved with the Alpine-Oasis running camp, which was being led by Andy Mouncey (2nd place finisher at 2010 and 2011 Lakeland 100). There was a really positive buzz within the camp, which further raised my expectations of a positive performance come race day. During the week, there are actually four races. The PTL had started on the Monday night, consisting of 302km. The TDS (112km) had started on the Thursday morning, and the CCC (98km) was starting on the Friday morning. We had watched the leaders of the TDS pass through Les Contamines on the Thursday night, and the first thing I did upon waking on Friday morning was to wander down to the checkpoint in the centre of the village and watch the last few TDS runners pass through. This was the first I heard of the delayed start to the UTMB. Although it was another beautiful blue sky, and sunshine, apparently snow and heavy rain were forecast, so the start was delayed 5 hours until 11:30pm.

I didn't really give this 5 hour delay much thought. There was nothing I could do about it, so not worth getting upset about it. I readjusted my likely arrival times at each of the 24 timing checkpoints, and I recall being a little disappointed that the delayed start would now mean that I would be finishing in the dark. Back in 2009 I ran the last 20 minutes in the dark, as it tends to get dark at around 8:40pm. As I was planning on a sub 24 hour finish this year, so my planned daytime 6:29pm finish, was now likely to be 10:29pm. The now expected 10:29pm finish, and not 11:29pm finish, was due to the last section of the course being changed to avoid the last, and probably the toughest, climb. So likely to result in the race course being an hour quicker. Looking back now, I should have really given more thought and focus to what this five hour delay would mean to my expectations of what I would encounter during the race, but at the time I didn't! One thing I did notice as a result of the delayed start was that I didn't know what to do with myself! There was just a rather negative feeling of just waiting, wanting it to be 9pm, when we would head into Chamonix, and finally get ready for my key race of the year.

Back in 2009, I had my family, i.e. my wife Frances, and our two boys Robert and Chris, out in France supporting me, in addition to a Kiwi mate, Kim, who had travelled from Austria, where he now lives, to cheer me on. This year the family stayed at home in the UK, but Kim was again going to cheer me on, especially during the night in Courmayeur, where I found it really beneficial seeing a familiar face, and having a brief chat with him at around 5am in the morning back in 2009. So come 9pm, I headed to Chamonix, where I first dropped off my bag with spare clothing, shoes, food etc. which is taken to Courmayeur, and then headed to a bar close to the start line to get out of the heavy rain. By this time it is a little after 10pm so still around 90 minutes to the start. Although I was sitting with Kim and the runners from the Alpine-Oasis running camp, I found that I wasn't really 'buzzing', and therefore not that talkative. In fact I found that I was comparing this year to two years ago, in terms of how two years ago it was a warm, sunny evening, with the streets absolutely packed with a real excitement in the air. Tonight, it was not the same 'buzz', just a feeling of waiting for the start!

As we waited, Kim, who I have known for nearly 30 years from when we both ran for Hutt Valley Harriers back in the eighties, and I chatted a bit about the UTMB race and my racing this year and in the past. We spoke about my good performance at the IAU Worlds in Ireland, being the first GB finisher, which naturally led us to speculate about what place I would finish and what GB finisher I would be tonight at UTMB. So I found myself starting to think of the destination, i.e. how good it would be to finish in 'so and so' position, instead of concentrating on the journey, i.e. the actual process of running through the night, amongst the amazing scenery, the different climbs and checkpoints etc. Although it is useful to have race goals, the goals can only really be time goals as you can not determine who turns up and how they run. I had spent some time working out likely times at each checkpoint, but during the actual ultra trail race I try not to focus on these, the checkpoint times are for the preparation stage only, rather than getting too 'hung up' over whether a few minutes fast or down on schedule. But here I was now just focusing on the finish, thinking about my finish place and time, rather than looking forward to the actual running of the race.

As I had been given an elite race number, I did not need to worry about going to the start line early in order to get a good starting position as the elite runners have a separate roped off area at the front of the crowds. I therefore waited until around 20 minutes before the start to head to this roped off area. Just prior to heading to the start line, I was in two minds on whether to put on an extra layer, or whether to put it in my back pack, just in case it got really cold up at 2500 metres. I didn't want to carry the extra weight all the way to Courmayeur if I didn't need it, but then I didn't want to get too cold. In the end I decided I didn't need it, but the indecision did 'play a bit' on my mind!

Finally I am off to the start line, however, I couldn't find where to show my elite number in order to gain access to the front of the runners. I therefore had to squeeze my way through the crowds from the side and then climb over the barriers to access the elite area. Although something like this may seem rather petty, reflecting back now it did have an impact. It was a bit like when I entered the Elite BBQ party on the Tuesday night, a feeling of not belonging here!!! So here I am, 15 minutes to start time and it is pouring down. I am standing next to Liz Hawker (yellow jacket), and see that she has her number on the outside of her jacket. Still having this feeling that I am an 'imposter' who has climbed over the barriers, I unzip my jacket to display my elite number, as if to prove that I belong here. Thinking back now, it just shows that my mind was not in a 'good space'. Take a look at the photo below, does this look like someone who is absolutely buzzing, really enjoying the current moment, excited by the prospect of running the most amazing ultra trail race in the whole World??? I think not!

While standing in the rain, waiting for the start, I knew I wasn't feeling right, so I tried to relax and simply enjoy the moment. I had a brief exchange of expressions with Liz Hawker, a brief chat with a chap from Hungary (Oliver in orange with head torch behind Liz) who I had met at the BBQ, and then just before the start, I noticed Jez standing nearby, so I wished him luck, and then we were off! My race plan was too start at a solid pace. Obviously not 'As fast as you can, while you can' as it is a 24 hour race, but the intention was to be near the front as long as the pace wasn't too quick.

Below are two links to videos of the start on YouTube where I am visible near the front, wearing a bright yellow Montane jacket.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNorthFace#p/u/9/eTb6-DYQXII I am visible at 2mins 36ses into the video.

Also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bu_Ynw8Bsg I am visible at 48 secs into the video, and around 100 metres after the start, shown below.

A few runners zoom off for the first few hundred metres, but on the whole it felt pretty 'cruisey', probably around 6min 40 sec mile pace, although hard to really gauge it due to being dark and extremely wet! Interestingly initially Killian Jornet, two times winner and strong favourite for the race was nowhere to be seen. He then comes pretty well sprinting past, gains a lead of around 60 metres, nobody followed him, and then started jogging until the lead group re-caught him. It was pretty clear immediately then that everyone was pretty well running for second. The lead group pretty well followed his move. When he slowed down, the group slowed down. Likewise when he sped up. After around a mile and a half on roads, we join a trail that runs alongside the river. The second video clip show the leaders at the start of this track. I can be clearly seen as the third runner, as I am the only runner carrying a hand torch as well as my head torch. At this point of the race I am feeling fine, happy to be near the front without that much effort. The track undulates a wee bit before we enter the first drink station at Les Houches at the 7.9km mark, so without realising it a small group of around eight runners, including myself has separated slightly from the rest of the field.

Shortly after the drink station we start the first of now only nine climbs, around 760 vertical metres. My plan was to slowly let runners overtake me going up this first climb, before finding my natural position in the field, at a slightly raised intensity, which I would then hold onto for the remainder of the climb, down into the first town of St Gervais, and then along the valley through Les Contamines, before climb number two, where I would then settle down to a 'proper' pace for a 24 hour race.

As I began the climb I noticed that runners were passing me at quite a rate. I therefore upped the intensity a bit to try to reduce the rate at which they passed me, so I was probably working a little bit harder than I had planned to. What was also different to what I had visualised was that it was dark and very wet! Whilst running steadily up the first climb that lasted about 50 - 55 minutes I seemed to keep on thinking back to two years ago, a beautiful balmy night, with amazing views of the surround mountains, rather than focus on the present moment. Tonight, it was pitch black, not only could I not see any of the surrounding mountains, I also found that I lost contact quite easily with the runners going past me. Whereas if it was daylight, they would slowly move away from me, but still be in visual contact. Tonight they were getting out of visual contact quite quickly due to the dark, which reflecting back now, made me feel as if I was going significantly slower than them, although in reality I probably wasn't. In addition, I couldn't get a feeling from the runners going past. I couldn't see their faces, sense their expressions, identify just how hard they were working. So all I had was a feeling that I was going backwards, and everyone else was simply cruising!

As I mentioned earlier, this post is not about trying to make excuses, but about understanding what went wrong. Yes, it could be concluded that I was foolish starting out too fast, and going backwards was what I deserved for this stupid start fast. However, I have used a quick start many times before in ultra races, with the IAU Worlds at Connemara, and the Lakeland 100 in 2010, being two extremes where I went ridiculously fast! However, on both of these occasions I was rewarded with a really positive buzz. I was leading at the Lakeland 100, and I was well up near the front, and the leading UK runner at the Worlds. But tonight, in the wet and dark of the UTMB, I couldn't even see how far behind from the front I was, what position I was in, and was unable to recognise who had overtaken me. Totally, totally different to the Worlds in Connemara, where I slowly drifted down through the field going up Diamond Hill before settling into a steady position, and probably more significant, totally different to my extensive UTMB race preparation/visualisation I had carried out!

The first climb varies in gradient, so it is a mixture of running and 'power hiking'. One key feature I remembered from UTMB 2009 was just how hard all of the runners attack the first climb. For all of the other nine climbs, for the same percentage gradient, I doubt any of the runners, apart form maybe the very front would be running. But for the first climb, for the position I am running at within the field, there is substantially loads more running than walking. I had prepared for quite a high intensity up the first climb, so physically all was going to plan, but in terms of my mental state, so far this wasn't quite going to plan, just like on the start line, I was not experiencing the usual level of excitement/joy.

As the climb progresses, although not able to recognise any faces, I'm not sure how far up the climb, but I do notice Liz Hawker go past me. Back in 2009 Liz finished not too far ahead of me in 18th place, compared to my 22nd. So with a planned improvement in my finishing time for 2011, I was expecting to finish ahead of her. As she ran past I attempted to stay with her, but there is a limit to just how much one should go 'out beyond the comfort zone' as after all it is a 24 hour race, so I simply had to let her run past, and due to the dark she was pretty well immediately out of sight, which further subtracted from my already less than usual level of positivity!

I guess we must have been around seven/eighths of the way up the climb, as I slowed slightly to consume my second gel of the night, when I hear a friendly hello from Jez Bragg. Knowing that Jez usually tends to start rather conservatively I was expecting to be ahead of him during the first stages, but I had expected that it would not be until after St Gervais (21km), or even after Les Contamines (31km) before we would be running together. So seeing him so early on was further disappointment!

Having just re-read the above few paragraph, again it could be concluded that all of my less than positive experiences I have outlined are simply due to me having unrealistic expectations of my ability, and simply starting too fast beyond what I am capable of! But as I highlighted above, I had felt that my preparation, both mentally and physically had gone really well, including my last two races, so there was some substance, some evidence for expecting a high performance. Possibly, maybe my expectations may have been too high, but I have learnt over 30+ years of endurance running that one's performances are largely set by their expectations. For 30 years I limited my performances due to my rather limited self expectations. Over the last three or so years, I have raised my expectations, and I believe not un-realistically. If you had asked me four years ago "Would I be running for Great Britain at World Championships at the age of 48, beating guys that can run 29 minutes for 10km and 50 minutes for 10 miles?" I would have 100 percent told you, don't be ridiculous, totally not possible based on my previous 30 years of running. But then, what happened?? Well it happened!!! How? Simply due to heightened self expectations, as simple as that!!! But the number one thing that has also accompanied the heightened self expectations over the last three years, has been the positivity, the excitement, the joy, simply the 'buzz' of running the best I had ever ran. But here tonight, up this first climb, I just wasn't experiencing that 'buzz', so I was finding it difficult to run to my self expectation!

The results later show that I am the 31st runner to reach the top of the climb at Le Delevret in a time of 1:25:30, although I had no idea at the time due to the darkness of what position I was in. Although, I was aiming for a 23:59 finish, I speculated that this finsih time would be around the 15th place for 2011. Being quite a bit lower down the field than the seventh the same time would have been in 2009, due to the improved quality of the field. (It later turns out that 23:59 would have been eighth place this year, but this is mainly a result of the huge numbers of runners of all abilities, including many of the top runners, not getting to the finish this year!) Anyway, back to the race. At the top of the climb, I am only 23 seconds behind Jez, and fortunately I can still visually see him. (As a side note, the results also show that Liz was the 15th runner to the top in 1:21:01, so during the climb I had lost four and a half minutes to her. Considering I wasn't really taking it easy up the climb, this level of performance by Liz, just shows what an absolutely amazing athlete she is. It would be great to chat to her about how high her intensity is up this first climb.)

As we begin a rather lengthy and at times slippery descent down to the French village of St Gervais, it only takes a few minutes to gain the 23 seconds back up to Jez. Now if I was my usual self I typically would have gone straight past Jez, as I have found that my descending is far superior to his. However, tonight as I was still feeling rather negative about how hard I had to work up the first climb, largely due to the darkness making it feel like runners were simply 'leaving me for dead', I decided that I would use this opportunity to simply cruise behind Jez, and take it easy, to 'recover' from my perceived over exertion so far during the race. So I simply do that, I switch out of 'race mode', and go into 'follow mode'. Although we aren't actually going at too slow a pace and manage to overtake a few runners, so enter the next feed station at 21km together in 2:04:43 in 24th and 25th place. Liz had passed through in 16th place in 2:00:59, so I had actually gained 45 seconds up on Liz during the descent. Maybe if I had known this on the night, it would have given me a real boost, as believe it or not, although I had entered the checkpoint alongside Britain's top ultra runner, I was not thinking that I was performing well. I didn't know what place I was in. I didn't know that I had just gained time on runners ahead. At that moment in time, it felt like I had 'lost' time by simply following Jez. The crowds at St Gervais, were also absolutely nothing like what they were compared to 2009. Which as you would expect, being 1:30am in the morning, and being rather wet and cold, there just wasn't the same street carnival atmosphere from 2009!

At the feed station at St Gervais

Re-reading what I have just written, it surprises me that there is such a strong focus on my race performance, my position relative to others, relative to Jez, etc. Usually during ultra trail races, I do not have this race position focus. The focus usually is on 'the present moment', on the surrounding environment, on the actual enjoyment at that moment in time. And the final race position just seems to 'look after itself'. So it is surprising that it was so different for this race. Reflecting back now, I think that it was maybe because at that present moment, it wasn't that enjoyable. It was dark, wet, cold, no scenery. I know this sounds a bit 'pitiful', as if I am only a warm sunny daytime runner. As my mate Kim pointed out to me following the race; Killian Jornet didn't find the darkness, rain and cold a problem! And that is totally true. However, in the past I have never found rain. cold, night time to be a problem. The Hardmoors 55 back in March 2010 is a prime example. For those runners that ran that day, you will recall that not very often would one find tougher, wetter, colder conditions. I didn't get negative then, so what was so different at UTMB 2011?

I think maybe the key problem is that I had run the UTMB in 2009, in fantastic conditions. So although in my preparation I was telling/convincing myself that the weather could be bad, especially after the conditions of 2010. The memories of 2009 seemed to override the messages I was trying to tell myself. The actual visual memory from 2009 was dominating my visualisation. Whereas for races that you haven't competed in before, such as Hardmoors 55, there isn't the same clear memories to override the preparations of what you could possible encounter during the event. And the delayed start by 5 hours, altering the first climb and the St Gervais experience, further resulted in the actual race experience being quite different to what I had prepared for. All of these different experiences, all within the first two hours of the race, just made the actual race experience that much more demanding, and seems to have contributed quite significantly to creating a negative response.

I leave St Gervais, running at a steady pace, ready to up it a bit after my perception of 'taking it easy' on the descent. Jez and another runner are following me, and I am beginning to think, okay, lets get this race 'back on track'. There is a small bit of road, before we rejoin a single track that mainly follows the river, but with the occasional steep excursion thrown in.  I guess I lead Jez and the other runner for around ten minutes, and then find that I am not feeling that comfortable, so decide to run in behind. I probably run behind the two of them for probably another ten - fifteen minutes before I find the pace just too quick, bearing in mind it is a 24 hour event. I had hoped to maintain a slightly higher intensity right through to the start of the second climb, at Notre Dame Gorge at the 35km mark, so having to ease off, and let Jez go, so early on, was disappointing. Again, really surprising this obsessive focus on race position, rather than the actual journey, the actual enjoyment of running at that moment in time.

So two and half hours into the race, I am running totally alone. It feels like I am running slower that I would expect at this stage of the race, so there is an overriding feeling of disappointment. Shortly before we reach the checkpoint at Les Contamines (31km) I am running over ground that I had run over earlier in the week. There is a short climb up from the river up to the road at the entrance to the village, and I get a double whammy of negativity! Not only am I walking up this short climb, which I jogged up earlier in the week absolutely cruising, I am also overtaken, by a group of around six runners. Straight past me as I walk up this pathetic, hardly steep at all, short climb.

I enter the checkpoint at Les Contamines, and am greeted by some huge support form the Alpine-Oasis runners. This is a real boost, exactly what I need at this moment in time. I had mentioned to the group that I would be at the checkpoint at 2:40am, and the time is 2:39am, so I am bang on schedule, another pleasing boost. But for some reason, I choose to ignore these two sources of positivity, and tend to focus more on the negative feeling I had immediately prior to Les Contamines, absolutely 'creeping' up the small climb, and being overtaken by the group of six runners. The results show that my time at Les Contamines was 3:10:51 (the race started at 11:29), now in 33rd place. Jez had passed through 3 minutes 21 seconds earlier, although I didn't know that at the time, so I had lost a little over three minutes to Jez in the 40 minutes or so since he left me.

The next section of the race, is probably where the biggest source of negativity arose. It was a four kilometre, pretty well flat section up to the start of the second climb at Notre Dame Gorge.  I had run this section twice during the week, with once being really cruisey with the Alpine-Oasis running group. Tonight, I was finding it really difficult to keep a decent pace going, and it definitely felt as if I was going quite a bit slower that the cruisey pace I had run with the running camp group, and I was meant to be currently racing! As I approach Notre Dame Gorge, I find myself again remembering back to 2009, with a very clear recollection of the amazing atmosphere that was present two years ago. The Gorge is an ancient Roman road, so goes straight up at quite a gradient. Back in 2009, running up this half-mile section it was a bit like the Tour de France. You would look ahead, and the path was totally blocked with screaming spectators, and then they would simply part as you approached. Probably, the most amazing memory for me of the 2009 race. And yes as you have gathered, again tonight, another disappointment, nothing like 2009!

Again reading what I have typed, it makes me sound like a rather 'wimpish' runner, that 'packs a sad' just because his visualisations before the race don't match up with the reality of the actual race in that it was dark when it should have been light, or that it was wet and cold, or simply because there is not the same spectator support. Yes, I know it seems pretty feeble, but having reflected quite a bit over how I felt during this year's race over the last two weeks, what I have typed above, is exactly how I was feeling at the time. For the last three years of running ultra trail races, I have pretty well been on a non-stop high. Apart from the occasional going off course, everything has pretty well gone to plan, and I have performed exceptionally well, especially in relation to my previous 30 years of running. But I have always known that I am an 'occasion' runner. I run on excitement, I perform due to enjoyment. If I am happy and enjoying the running, I then perform, that then makes be happier, more positive, which then leads to better performances, more happiness etc. It has been a continuous upward spiral.

I think I have made it reasonably clear within my report so far, that during this year's UTMB, not exactly sure what started the downward direction, probably from te moment the race start was delayed, but I was definitely experiencing a downward spiral, that although I was aware of it happening, I was unable to break out of it! I therefore struggled up the first climb to La Balme, dropping now down to 40th place at 4:22:26, and then at the top of the second climb at Refuge Croix du Bonholme (45km) I had been overtaken by more runners so now in 52nd place in 5:41:03. At the top there is loads of snow about, however, it is a clear sky as the rain had stopped shortly before Les Contamines. Still pretty chilly though, as there is quite a strong breeze.

It is good to get out of the wind and to make a rapid descent down to the next feed station at Les Champieux (50km). I realise that the coldness has probably increased my carbohydrate consumption so I decide that a more lengthy stop is required in order to take on plenty of fuel, and to warm up fully. By this time, I have become disinterested in how many runners overtake me, and just hope that I can get my race 'back into the positive' after the checkpoint.

I head off, still in the dark at a pretty cautious pace. There is some initial gentle climbs along road, and then four wheel drive track before starting extensive zig -zags up to Col De La Seigne, around 1000 vertical metres higher than the feed station. I am holding my own amongst the runners around me, and for probably the first time in the race since the very first few miles, I am feeling positive again. I am thinking, great, back to my usual self. This coincides with it getting light, so it is a nice surprise to be able to recognise the terrain that I had run over in the dark two years earlier.

But what happens over the next section, is hard to describe. Whether it was failing to take on enough food during this long climb up to 2516 metres. or whether it was getting cold again with the wind and the drop in temperature at the high altitude, or whether it was that I was too ready to accept that the whole race would be a negative experience, as the first few hours had been, I just do not know. During around the last half hour of the climb I slow significantly, no longer holding my own with the surrounding runners/ I only lose a few places, but begin to feel really weak in the head. I get over the top, results show now in 59th place, and start heading down to the next feed station at Lac Combal. The further down I go, the worse I feel. There is a combination of weakness in the head, a strong sense of tiredness, whilst at the same time a weakness in the legs. It feels like my legs are getting a real battering from the descent. Then to top it all off, I start focusing on this pounding my legs are getting, and giving this attention magnifies immensely the negative experience. So I am beginning to 'suffer' from all directions.

Now, during my last few years of racing I have found that I have hardly ever 'suffered' during a race. I have had one or two short 'blips', which I have usually got through, but I would say the remainder of the time I have not 'suffered'.  I don not use the term suffering, I do not associate with that term, or that experience. At times the race gets challenging, but that is what I enjoy about racing, responding to the challenge. So here I was coming down this descent, after not even nine hours of running, and feeling as though I was suffering. A new experience, far, far away from the positivity and joy I usually experience. As I get nearer to the checkpoint, the situation somehow gets so 'bad' that I am reduced to walking, on a reasonably gentle downward gradient. I just can't believe it, I just can't understand what has happened, why I am feeling so negative! I eventually walk into the feed point, and I know at that moment in time, my race is over for the day. The disappointment is huge. Hard to exactly remember the feeling at that moment, but I do recall that I didn't really put up much of a battle to counteract the decision that I would voluntarily pull out of a race, for the first time in 26 years, since way back in 1985. And I have raced literally hundreds of races since then. So pulling out was just something I did not do. So it still surprises me now, just how easy I was to accept pulling out at that moment in time.

Just after I have come to this decision, Richie Cunningham , who I have raced on a number of occasions, enters the feed station. At that exact moment, knowing that I wasn't going to finish, I did not want to see anyone I knew. I pretty well just wanted to hide. I wanted to get out of the race. Richie senses that I am in a bit of a 'sad state' so does his best to encourage me. Thanks Richie, for your encouragement, just a pity you hadn't caught me up 30 minutes earlier, maybe with your encouragement then, I may have got through my amazing bout of negativity, before deciding to 'call it quits'! Richie, well done on your achievement, for 'battling' it out through to the finish. A fantastic accomplishment finishing in 47th place.

So having accepted that my race was over, after a pretty lengthy stop at the checkpoint I started walking towards Courmayeur. It was only 13 kilometres and one smallish climb (around 450 vertical metres) away, and where I can be picked up by my mate Kim. I get into a slow jog, but the moment I start the climb, it is back to quite a slow walk. Going up the climb of Arete Mont-Favre runners pass me, but surprisingly not that many. I pass the checkpoint at the top, the results show now in 96th place.

There is then a very long descent to Courmayeur, losing over 1200 vertical metres of elevation. The first section is only gently downhill so not too bad. The last 4 kilometres after Col Chercrouit, consists of very steep zig-zags. As before during the descent to Lac Combal, I seem to be obsessed by the discomfort within my legs. Every step down feels very uncomfortable, again I am reduced to walking down the hill. At least this hill was steep. Having earlier decided that I would pull out at Cournmayeur I am running within an expressionless state. I feel really 'down', and even though it is now warm, the sun is out, and there is fantastic mountains surrounding me, I do not actual notice any of this. All I am thinking is that I want this unpleasant experience to be over. If ever a run could be un-enjoyable, the 13km, only 8 miles, from Lac Combal to Courmayeur, that took me 2 hours and 37 minutes to complete, would have to be right up there amongst my most unenjoyable runs ever. Fortunately, during this time there was such a feeling of emptiness, that I don't have any strong memories of this section at all!

So that is it! I get to the large sports centre at Courmayeur, retrieve my drop bag, run through the centre and inform the marshals that I am not continuing. There is just a feeling of emptiness. No tears, no sadness, no anger, just emptiness, and I guess also a bit of bewilderment. How could it all go so wrong? It feels a bit like I haven't actually experienced the race at all, as if I was off somewhere else, somewhere distant, not actually present during the last eleven hours, especially the last three hours!

Well, having typed the above, I have a feeling of relief. For the last two weeks I have being thinking about the race. Should I have put on more clothing? Should I have started off slower? Should I have spent longer at the feed stations taking on more fuel, more positive energy? Should I have been less 'hung up' about my finishing time and position? Should I have stopped on the long climb to Col De Seigne and extensively fuelled up there rather than waiting until the next feed station, by which time, the end was near? Should I have not given in and accepted so easily pulling out? Should I have simply had an hour off at Courmayeur and then continued, as if a new race, a new day? Yes, many questions that have been needing answering. Have I answered them, no not entirely, but I am now more comfortable with what happened, and am comfortable in the philosophy that I always possess "Everything happens for a reason!" Yes, I now have this feeling of relief.  I can now move on, and return back to the pleasure I get from running, just simply running.

Just to conclude, the actual race was very disappointing, however, the rest of my time in France was great. The build up in Les Contamines prior to the race was excellent, and again, thanks to everyone involved in the Alpine-Oasis running camp. Thanks for the positive energy. Yes, the actual race, was quite an unenjoyable experience, but if ultra trail running wasn't a challenge, it wouldn't be worth doing!

As I finish this race report, it is nearly exactly two weeks since the start of the race in Chamonix. Although, the above race report probably comes across as a bit 'over the top', and also over dramatised, as after all it is only a running race. The fact that my reflections have come across as being as dramatic/even as sensationalised as they read, in terms of this lack of enjoyment, the suffering, the emptiness, the disappointment. This is because I do tend to spend quite a bit of my time giving thought to running.  Running gives me immense pleasure, satisfaction, excitement. So for the UTMB 2011 experience to then provide me with the opposite feelings, it has been quite a shock!

Looking at the results for this year's UTMB, out of the 2360 starters, 1227 of them, over 52% of the starters had the same result, a DNF! This percentage of non finishers was significantly higher that the 40% dropout rate from 2009 and 2008. Maybe the delayed start and the wet and cold conditions affected many other runners to the same extent as it affected me. The spread of DNFs was throughout the field, including many of the elite including Jez, Scott Jurek, Krissy Moehl (2009 womens winner), Geoff Roes (2010 Western States winner) and Nick Clark (a Brit that lives in USA). There were also many other British running friends who like me, DNFed, including Andy Mouncey, Nick Ham and Andy Cole. No doubt, each and every person that dropped out has their own unique experience of why the 2011 UTMB did not result in a successful completion. Hopefully we will all have learnt something from the experience, to take us forward as we continue to gain tremendous enjoyment and satisfaction from ultra trail running for many years to come. One thing I know for sure, I have not finished with UTMB, I will return!

To sign off from this rather lengthy, but important and necessary race report post, Nick Clark's summary of what went wrong for him feels quite familiar:

"As anyone who has raced an endurance event knows, especially one as demanding as a mountain 100-miler, there is a very strong connection between the performance of the mind and the performance of the body. A huge part of being successful in completing these events is an understanding of what lies in front of you. Your mind prepares your body, and your body delivers an output that is sustainable for the mileage and elevation change that remains. If the mind is checked out, the body follows. ... When I finally did make it up to the pass .... I had lost the mental fortitude to keep my legs from seizing up and the decision to drop was an easy one." Nick Clark, 2011.

To everyone that ran UTMB and the associated races, may you all have gained from your experience, no matter what the result.

If you have managed to persevere, and get to the finish of this blog post, well done. Hopefully, getting to the end of this post has been as worthwhile for you,as it has been for me!

Stuart

UTMB - Quick Update

2011-08-28T22:43:00.000+01:00

Hi,

Well I guess a few of you will already know how I got on at UTMB. Yes, a very, very disappointing DNF! My first ever DNF in an ultra race, and actually the first race I have pulled out of since the Rimutaka Triathlon way back in 1985!!! So I surpose I have had a pretty good run for the last 26 years!

What went wrong? Hard to explain in a quick update, but I will expand within my race report to follow sometime (whenever that will me!) Too put it simply, I just had 'nothing' on the day. There was no 'zip', a real lack of positivity, and overabundance of negativity within, which was making ever step a real struggle. By the time I had reached the Lac Combal checkpoint after nearly nine hours, even with encouragement from Richie Cunningham at the checkpoint, I knew my 'day was done'!

Thanks to all of the people that were out on the course cheering me on, shouting out my name, especially the Alpine-Oasis group. A pity I wasn't able to put into practice what we talked about.

Thanks to everyone that sent me 'best wishes' for the race. It is much appreciated, and really does help usually, but just not this time!

Stuart

UTMB - Only Two Days to the Start

2011-08-24T18:02:00.002+01:00

Hi

The surrounding environment for this post is slightly different to my usual blog posts. Instead of it being within the peaceful quietness of my dining room late at night, today I am looking out towards some awesome mountains, unfortunately beginning to be covered by grey clouds, after a fantastic hot sunny day! Yes, I am in France, counting down, I guess like a kid, waiting for Christmas, to receive their presents. Exactly, 2 days, 48 hours to the start!!! (Now only 47.5 hours!)

Ever since I did the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB) race back in 2009, I knew I would be back, and it is nearly here. If you get a sense from this blog that I am a tiny bit excited, well that is because I am! It is not everyday that you get the chance to race against the best ultra trail runners in the World. And looking at the start list, it is a definite 'who's who'!

I arrived here on Monday afternoon, to a bit of a shock. Only around 32 degrees! Then within an hour, I was caught in the most amazing thunder storm, including half inch sized hail stones. They were huge. When the weather changes so quickly, and so severe, you do see the logic behind the strictly enforced emergency clothing.

So I am staying in Les Contamines, which is at the 31 kilometre mark of the UTMB course. I am involved with the Alpine-Oasis Trail Running Camp which is just the most ideal pre-race preparation base. It is like a runner's paradise, spending time with six ultra keen, ultra enthusiastic endurance runners, living, breathing, talking endurance running. The camp leader is Andy Mouncey, recent 2nd place finisher at the Montane Lakeland 100 (for the second time), and it is great to see him in action, as a leader/motivator. There is definitely a really positive buzz within the chalet, and as you are probably aware (if not aware, then read some of my blog posts), ultra trail running performance is all about positivity. So I am really excited looking forward to Friday, especially with the massive positive top-up I am currently receiving! The group have gone for a run/hike up from Les Contamines, along the UTMB course, to stay the night at the Refuge de la Croix du Bonholme, at an altitude of 2433 metres. So it is peaceful and quiet within the chalet, hence an opportunity to type up this post.

Last night was the UTMB 'Elite' BBQ Get-together. Being allocated an elite race number this year, I was invited to the BBQ, and as you would expect, I wasn't going to turn down a free meal! But no, in terms of this weekend's race performance, I saw attending the Elite BBQ as being quite essential. For me, this was the first time that I had been invited to something like this at a race, and arriving at the pub, I definitely felt a bit like an outsider. There were a few TV cameras filming the 'celeb' runners, I could see Kilian Jornet, Scott Jurek, Kristin Moehl, just to name a few! I felt myself thinking "what am I doing here with the Elite?"! So it was really important that I reminded myself that it was the race organisers that gave me the Elite classification. It was the race organisers who invited me to the Elite BBQ, therefore they obviously felt that I was worthy of being amongst the elite.

Anyway, it was your typical friendly type drinks gathering, where those that know people, chat to people they know, and those that don't know anyone, like myself, (apart from recognising people from videos or on magazine covers), feel a bit 'uncomfortable', not sure who to talk to, or who to approach. So I thought 'stuff this', best to make the most of this opportunity to chat to some of these top runners, so I started introducing myself, and started talking to various other runners. Runners from all around the world, Hungary, Japan, France, USA, etc.

Not sure if I have mentioned on this blog, but as I finished the 2009 UTMB, Scott Jurek was still at the finish line. Having just finished reading Born to Run prior to the race, it was great to chat to him briefly about the book. I remember thinking how good of him it was to stay around the finish line, chatting to other runners, even though he had really struggled over the last 6 or so hours of the race and had performed well below his expectations. Anyway, as I was picking up a sausage he was getting some food, so I introduced myself, and reminded him of our brief chat two years earlier. Whether it was the fact that I had brought up and was discussing with him how he really struggled back in 2009 (to join his two previous DNFs for UTMB), I don't know. But when I wished him all the best for Friday, and then went to depart with a friendly 'hope to see you during the race', the response I got back was quite a shock. He immediately switched from friendly 'chit chat' mode, to determined 'race focus' mode. "Definitely not, not a chance, you had your opportunity, I'm ready, I'm prepared, I wont be anywhere near you!", or something along those lines! Then, the typical friendly ultra running guy he is, he realised what he had just said, and apologised for what he had just said "Sorry, I don't mean to 'belittle' you, but ... and spoke about how determined and focussed he is to finally get it right at UTMB " So a really interesting interaction.

So how did I take to being 'belittled', to be thought of as a poor performer! Initially I was a bit angry, how dare he have no respect for me at all. How did he know whether or not my 22nd place in 2009 was also a massively poor performance, well below my expectations? He didn't, but the key message I have taken on board is that being the top runner he is, he wasn't going to spend one single moment questioning my capabilities, as he obviously carries out, what I talk about: "Focus on yourself, do not be distracted by other competitors. Focus on what you can and will do, not on what others can or are doing". So it was a good learning experience, observing how the very best prepare for their races.

Jez Bragg was present, so I had a chance to have a brief chat with him. I thanked him for withdrawing from the GB team for the Worlds in Ireland, due to his Western States commitments, which allowed me into the team. He didn't miss the opportunity and gave more than a strong hint that a thank you post race beer was therefore expected! We also spoke about his UTMB race number, yes race number one. Although he joked about "the added pressure", you could sense that he had it all under control. He was using race number 1 as a positive and not as a negative, to enhance his performance. So my race tip for this Friday, keep an eye out for Jez. It could be another good result for GB at UTMB! And Jez's response to my same parting friendly "hope to see you during the race on Friday". An equally friendly sincere "looking forward to seeing you, all the best for the race". An equally interesting learning experience, on how the very best prepare, and how complete their preparation is. Who would I put my money on between Scott Jurek and Jez, well based on my two chats, it is totally clear. For that two way bet, put all your money on Jez, demonstrated by his far superior preparation. It seems like Scott Jurek is still trying to deal with his UTMB 'demons' from the past!

But, hey, I hear you shouting, why are you focusing about others, what about yourself. Who are you backing, Jez, Scott, or Stuart Mills??? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I'm trying to put into practice for race day, "Self focus, ignore the others, focus on what I can do". So I do not have any specific placing targets, instead, after very detailed analysis of the course and my 24 checkpoint race split times from 2009 over the last few weeks, I have specific time targets. The formulation of these time targets are a key component of my TOTAL preparation. It is during this analysis, planning time that the demands of the UTMB race, go into the deep sub-concious level. It is when the body and mind as one, are preparing, are getting ready for the forthcoming challenges, and within a sub-concious level, strategies to ensure positivity remains evident throughout the race are being formulated.

So come race day, I do not know these split times, they were only important for the preparation phase. I do not let them influence me on the day, by getting worried about whether ahead or behind schedule. On the day, I will be running to feel. Running to the excitement. Running to the enjoyment. Not running to the schedule!!!

However, for those of you who are planning to follow some of my progress available live, through the 24 timing checkpoints on the following link http://utmb.livetrail.net/ here are a few planned checkpoint arrival times:
Saint Gervais 2:05, so 8:35pm French Time
Les Contamines 3:10, 9:40pm
Courmayeur 10:05, 4:35am
Champex Lac 16:45, 11:15am

May you enjoy following the race online.

Time to sign off as I hear the start of a thunder storm! A quote from one of my very first few blog posts, from April last year: "It's journeys that bring us happiness, not the destination." Dan Millman, from the movie Peaceful Warrior.

May you all enjoy your journeys,

Stuart

Training for Ultras - What's It All About?

2011-08-21T01:28:00.001+01:00

Hi,

Not sure how this post will develop. I will just type and see how things go! My aim tonight is to hopefully 'tie up a few loose ends'! Hopefully I will clarify for me, some structure to a 'jumble' of thoughts from a number of my blog posts during the last year or so. And within my clarification, you the reader will hopefully gain some benefit from me trying to organise my thoughts.

WARNING BE PREPARED, AN ULTRA EFFORT MAY BE REQUIRED!!!

Way back in January I typed up a reply to a follower's question which came all the way from Istanbul, Turkey. But somehow I 'lost' my reply before it got published. Well tonight hopefully I will go some way towards answering Aykut 's question which was:
"When training for a road marathon, how much do you think doing some of the runs in the trails help? I'm asking it because for this last marathon, I did about 10 runs of 20K to 32K in the trails. (never trained in the trails for my first 3 marathons). And I think they contribute a lot to my performance as I believe they made me physically stronger and probably mentally tougher."

Aykut had recently raced a marathon and "finished in 3:27. Not a significant time for most experienced runners but a HUGE personal best for me. Whenever negative thoughts emerged during the race, I'd remind myself about your thinking positive approach and it worked well." (Maybe Aykut has answered his own question within the e-mail he sent me. Hopefully it will become clearer during tonight's post.)
In addition Thomas left the following comment at the end of my IAU World Trail Champs Quick Update: "You provide a lot of details regarding the mental aspect of race preparation in your blog but I would die for getting some more 'physical' insight in your training: In particular training distance, peaking, sharpening and tapering etc."

Also Johny left the following comment at the end of the Worlds race report: "I have a query though and have been mulling over this one for a while now; When one has an inferior VO2 max but is always highly positive and determined, how do they overcome that inherent weakness?"

So all three of these readers are interested in, and wanting to know more about my views on physical training for marathons and ultras. However, sorry, I hope to not disappoint them, but to start my response tonight I will firstly refer back to November last year, at the end of my Beachy Head Marathon race report , I wrote the following: "Too often, the improved performance is credited to the increased physical training people may have carried out prior to the event. Marathon running performance, and even more for Ultra running performance is largely determined by self expectation. I believe it is the heightened self expectation following a good bout of training that leads to the improved performance, not the actual training per se! So only indirectly has the increased physical training lead to the improved performance."

And then I signed off with the following quote; "There was a time, not so long ago, when we really did know everything about human physiology. After all, it was all so very simple. ...... But the more compelling challenge for the traditional model (of fatigue) is that it simply cannot explain the obvious." Tim Noakes (2007) From the foreword for the book: Brain Training for Runners, by Matt Fitzgerald. I'll come back to the author Matt Fitzgerald later on.
Finally, within the comments of the following post titled Developing Positive Self Expectations - Part 1 (Yes, I know! I never wrote Part 2!), also last November. I quote Tim Noakes again as he writes about fatigue in terms of a Central Governor in his book Lore Of Running. He writes on page 19 (fourth edition): "At the same time, information is sent from the controller to the emotional and other centers in the brain. These influence the level of discomfort that is felt, the emotional response, and the self-talk and self-doubt that are additional but poorly understood features of the fatigue that develops during exercise."

The key words within his quote are the "poorly understood features of the fatigue that develops during exercise." Yes, the understanding of fatigue is really limited Not much is actually known regarding the causes of fatigue during endurance events!. So therefore if this isn't really known, then how does one know how best to reduce the fatigue!!! So this is why it is so hard for me to really comment on what physical training is best in order to improve performance, i.e. reduce fatigue, during marathons and ultra runs.

Just before I do however attempt to try to do this, I will refer to one final previous post, to help set the scene.  In February, within the Plans for 2011 - How to Adjust My Self Expectations? post I was discussing why I slowed down so much during the 2010 Montane Lakeland 100: "So, why did I slow down? Those of you that have read my post from last May titled "What Determines Performance in Ultra Running? - Part Two" will know that I believe ultra trail running performance is all about "the ability to remain within a 'positive state of being, a positive state of mind', while all of the many negative states from various sources are being initiated." Looking at my list of potential negative sources, I seemed to have missed one. Well I'm not really sure if it is actually a negative source. It is as if the 'mind' gets fatigued. .... It was as if the mind was no longer able to maintain that 'Within the now focus', .... It is as if the mind has decided that after so many hours of race focus, it has had enough." .... So the secret is to develop 'race focus' endurance."

So FINALLY to summarise, where I am actually at, taking the key aspects I have raised in previous posts, it gets down to the following:.
(i) Nobody knows what causes fatigue during endurance running.
(ii) The mind plays an EXTREMELY LARGE role in resisting/delaying fatigue. (Remember the mind and body are not separate identities, they are all as ONE!)
(iii) Remaining within a positive state of mind, is the KEY ASPECT to endurance running performance, as highlighted in my signing off quote from my Highland Fling Preview post: "Ultra trail running performance is dependent upon the preparation that has taken place prior to the event. The preparation must be TOTAL and not just the physical, as the preparation must ensure one remains in a positive state throughout the entire event."
(iv)  Remaining within a positive state of mind is determined by one's 'Race focus endurance'. Race focus endurance, was introduced within the Montane Highland Fling race report, as being "largely related to how difficult it is whilst racing to maintain a positive race focus. The greater the sources of negativity, the greater the difficulty in remaining focused and keeping positive."
(v) So finally, yes physical training does have a role to play with endurance running performance, but not directly due to resisting physiological fatigue, but solely in terms of making it easier to maintain a race focus, i.e. to maintain positive, to stop the MIND from fatiguing!!!
(vi) Sorry, (v) was meant to be the final reference to a previous post, but this one (vi) definitely is! The signing off quote from the Montane Lakeland 100 Preview post was: "The way we perform is the result of the way we see ourselves. To alter our performance we need to alter or change ourselves and it is that changing that's difficult". Gary Elliott (1983), coach to the great New Zealand women marathon runner, Alison Roe. Hence the need for the TOTAL preparation that I keep on going on about!
Therefore: (vi) Fatigue during endurance running is largely determined by how one perceives oneself, in terms of their running capabilities.

So the six points above sort of summarise where I am at in understanding what factors influence performance/fatigue during endurance running.

I just need to clarify a bit of my background first before I continue. Although the above six points are my personal views, I do actually have an academic background in Sport and Exercise Science, and work as a Principal Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science. I started out as predominantly an exercise physiologist, but over the last ten years I have diversified into a technique/performance analysis. I therefore will admit that my reading of the latest physiological research is therefore a wee bit lacking! And as to reading psychological literature, well totally non-existent! I rely on my own personal research, with a sample size of one, yes (n = 1) ME!. So you may not actually find much scientific research to support my personal views, apart from Professor Tim Noakes from South Africa. Although he is at times criticised within the sports science community for 'thinking too much outside the box", without sufficiently strong research to support his ideas! I see this characteristic as his strength. Like I was probably around ten years back, when I moved away from physiology, Tim is well aware that the simplistic current theories to explain fatigue within endurance sport, are just that, too simplistic. I still haven't read much on his Central Govenor Theory, but the brief bits I have seen, I do tend to agree with.

Therefore when I was recommended last year Matt Fitzgerald's Brain Training for Runners book to read. After reading the Noakes' foreword, I thought great, finally some published material to support my beliefs on running. However, apart from some good material in chapters 1 and 2, the remainder of the book was very disappointing. It just didn't develop onwards from these two chapters. So when I saw that Matt Fitzgerald had recently released a newer book, I was a bit cautious. But I have just read the first 23 pages, and so far it is really, really good. He even acknowledges that his Brain Training book was " a sort of rough draft", as an example where he has since discovered errors in his previous beliefs! However, before reading any of this book further, I thought I would try to clarify/summarise what I have struggled with, discovered, tried to express, over the last year or two, in order for me to be in a better state to be able to take on board Matt Fitzgerald's latest ideas. Hence tonight's post! In addition, all of this thinking about fatigue, endurance performance, is a key component of my TOTAL preparation for UTMB next week. I see this form of preparation as far more important that any hill session, or long mileage run! And typing my thoughts up on this blog is just the final aspect of this part of my preparation. So excuse me, if this post is lengthy. I guess it relates a bit to specificity of training. UTMB is a pretty lengthy race!

Over the last three years since I have got into ultra trail running, I have developed many ideas, based on my own personal experiences, but these ideas have also been developed from material I have read, watched or listened to. I am a keen reader of auto-biographer books by sports people. I try to get a 'deep' understanding of what 'made them tick'. The great thing about using this blog to clarify my thoughts is that I often get positive feedback, (yes, also feedback to tell me my ideas are stupid), but often feedback from people in agreement. So reading the first 23 pages of Run: The Mind-Body Method of Running by Feel, Matt Fitzgerald seems to be in total agreement with me. Although, I guess I should really express this as, I seem to be in total agreement with him, that is unless he has been reading my blog, or was at my presentation at the Lakeland 100/50 recce weekend back in June!

During my recce weekend presentation, I asked the audience to give some thought, and then share with the group, what a typical weeks mileage would be in order for them to achieve their goal during the upcoming Lakeland 100/50. We had a massive variety of mileages, ranging from 30 - 110 miles per week. The take home message I presented to the audience in response to the question; What weekly mileage is required in order to achieve your goals, was simply being, the weekly mileage that YOU BELIEVE is necessary. If you believe 30 miles is sufficient, then it is. If you believe that 100 miles is needed, then you need to do 100 miles. It all comes down to what you believe is required. What does Matt Fitzgerald state? On page 23, "If it does nothing else, a runner's training must make him (or her) feel prepared, because if he (or she) feels prepared, he is prepared, and if he doesn't, he isn't." Just prior to this on page 22 he states: "The primary objective of training for every competitive runner should be to develop confidence in her (or his) ability to achieve her (or his) race goals. Well don't these statements sound a bit like some of the material highlighted above, a bit like Gary Elliot's ideas (Alison Roe's coach) from 30 years ago! Talk about someone being ahead of their time!

So this EVENTUALLY leads me on to FINALLY trying to answer some of the questions above! What physical training is best? Are hills useful? What did I do physically in order to be the first GB finisher, in 15th place, at the IAU World championships?

Well as much as you may read in running magazines, there is absolutely no scientific evidence that one form of training is better at developing VO2max, lactate threshold, or running economy, than other types of training! It is total speculation. So stating that threshold training will improve your lactate threshold has simply not been demonstrated by scientific research, similarly for the other physiological measures that supposedly determine running endurance performance! So, in relation to Johny's question, having a low VO2 max, this being an "inherent weakness". VO2 max has very little to do with endurance performance. If I am correct in my reading from the past, Derek Clayton, a 2:08 marathon runner, back in the sixties, only had a VO2max of around 69 ml/kg/min! Nothing special. Many of this blog's readers will have higher values, but unable to run a 2:08 marathon!

So, returning back to Fitzgerald's statement from page 23 of his latest book, to put it simply, it doesn't really matter what physical training you do, as long as you believe that it is sufficient for you to be able to achieve your goals. Back in 2009, my 20 week build-up average weekly mileage for the UTMB was 34.5 miles per week. This for the majority of the runs was easy running, on pretty flat footpaths and bridleways. With the biggest hill being pretty well 150 metres to the top of Beachy Head within the South Downs National Park. Would I do repetitions of the hill climb, DEFINITELY NOT!!! Why run to the top, to simply turn around to go down, and run back up to the top again! I run to enjoy myself, the scenery, the variety. If I wanted to run over the same ground again and again, I would be a track runner! The secret to my physical training, which now no longer appears to be a secret, is for running to be enjoyable, to feel comfortable, to run by feel at a pace, for a duration, over the terrain and gradients, that feel right for me, to maximise my enjoyment! As simple as that! It will be interesting whether Matt Fitzgerald within his latest book has similar views. From the title, you would think so. But then the title Brain Training was a bit of a fraud!

Was, 34.5 miles per week of easy, flattish running sufficient to achieve my goals for the 2009 UTMB? NO! Although I finished in 22nd place overall (from 2300 starters), in 26 hours and 29 minutes.  I did not achieve the goals I had set. So yes, this year I have needed to increase my weekly mileage slightly, in order for me to "feel prepared". Have I changed the gradient of my runs to try to replicate the huge elevation ascent demands of UTMB. No! Why? Because hill training doesn't specifically make you a better hill runner. Believing that you are a good hill runner, makes you a better hill runner. Yes, by doing lots of hill training will help you to develop this belief, but if you understand that belief is actually all you need in order to be a better hill runner, then you actually don't need to bother with the actual physical hill training. The benefits of hill training are not actually physical! Referring back to some of the above six points, one needs to be reminded that: endurance performance isn't physiologically determined, it is determined by the mind, by one's self expectations, one's enjoyment whilst running.

Have I any evidence for this statement immediately above? Well surprisingly , or perhaps not that surprising, there is actually some published research which seems to back up this believe/expectation/enjoyment theory on endurance performance. Fitzgerald refers to some published work by Marcora. Currently being on holiday, I am too busy! (building fences, fixing guttering, repairing bikes etc.) to read the literature, although I have had a quick scan of one of Marcora's articles from 2009 relating to "race focus endurance". They got cyclists to repeat a cycling task to exhaustion twice, with the only difference being that they exposed the cyclists to a mentally demanding task for 90 minutes prior to the cycling exercise. And yes, as one would expect, understanding that it is the mind that determines endurance performance, when the mind gets tired, physical performance is statistically and significantly decreased! Absolutely rubbish though if you are a believer of the dated idea that physiology determines performance! However, these results are published within the scientific literature!

So trying to get back to the reader's questions regarding physical training. One of the key attributes to the physical training that it is hoping to improve, is that for during the endurance race, your mind doesn't become tired. How though does physical training specifically improve your mind? Well although within this post above, including the reader's questions, and pretty well within everything you read on running, in magazines, books, published scientific literature, absolutely everywhere, it is pretty well always separated into physical and mental training. After believing this idea for 30 years, I guess around three years ago I realised that this view is just totally flawed. I guess a bit like, when people finally realised that the earth wasn't flat! Why did it take so long to accept this,when the answer was so obvious, i.e the moon. Also why does everyone seems to think the mind and body are different identities when they are totally the same??? Does, your body determine how you mentally feel? Yes, of course! But then ask the opposing question, does your mind determine how you physically perform? Again yes! So, obvious really, totally inseparable! So when you are physically training, you are also mentally training, and similarly, when mentally training, you will improve your physical performance. Hence, why I go on about TOTAL preparation.

So now in trying to respond to the above questions, one must refer to TOTAL preparation, not physical preparation. So that is the purpose of training? No, not to increase VO2max, or lactate threshold or running economy, but to increase the enjoyment and the positivity in order to prevent race focus fatigue, when your mind and body together as one begin to get tired, resulting in your pace slowing. The following are some of the principles related to the necessary training.

(i) Have a good understanding of what the endurance race will entail, in terms of duration, terrain, elevation, temperature, company, loneliness, darkness, etc. By having a good understanding of the demands/characteristics of the race, your mind and body are better prepared in terms of having positive self expectations that you are capable of achieving your goals.

(ii) Be aware that you do not have to have actually carried out the demands of the event, in order to be confident of 'handling'/achieving the race demands. Remember, success in terms of achieving realistic goals, is largely determined by self expectation, self belief that you can achieve, simply your confidence.

(iii) Understand, that as long as you have a positive attitude, and are enjoying the 'journey', i.e. enjoying the present, the 'here and now'. Then you will be able to achieve much, much, more that you have ever achieved before. You don't need to have run 100 miles in training in order to run 100 miles in a race, as long as you believe this. If you believe you 'have to', and you haven't completed the 'required' 100 miles training, then, according to your expectations, your performance will be poor, due to poor preparation.
(iv) Remind yourself, that performance is not simply about physical attributes. Therefore do not expect a low performance due to your well accepted assessment of your physical attributes in that you 'are no Kenyan athlete'! Reassure yourself, with the appropriate TOTAL preparation, that you can be fully prepared to achieve your realistic goal.

You will note that I have used the term "realistic goal". This is extremely important, because if your goal is not realistic, then there is no way that you can deeply, deeply down within yourself, truly believe that you can achieve your goal. And without this belief, success is not possible. So to put it simply, don't have a goal of being an Olympic champion if you haven't got any evidence to provide some 'substance' to help you develop this belief.

(v) Your TOTAL preparation is all about collating evidence, obtaining 'substance', that you are capable of being able to respond to the anticipated demands of the event. Obviously it firstly gets down to knowing what these demands of the event are. Secondly, it is totally acceptable to compare yourself to others, to help gauge how others have responded to the event demands, if you are a newcomer to the event. Although, whilst racing you should focus on yourself, and not be distracted by others. During your preparation, it is a good strategy to compare yourself to others who have completed the event you are preparing for, and you have some knowledge of their total person, not just their physical attributes.

(vi) Within your preparation, give the event plenty of thought. Consider, whilst running on your own, and at other times while on your own, how you will respond to the demands. One of the key benefits of running miles, is the time that becomes available while running, to consider, to think about, to visualise, how you will respond when it comes to the actual event. Ensure your response is positive. Be excited about the upcoming event. Reflect on why you are doing it. What is it that you enjoy about it so much. Look forward to it, knowing that you are carrying out the necessary TOTAL preparation. Simply, giving the event some positive thinking time, is improving your performance. The more miles you run, the more thinking time, hence the improved performance. It is therefore not actually as a result of the miles, improved physical/physiological attributes as most runners probably believe that are responsible for the improved performance. Although there is also the increased feeling of being fully prepared when people have put 'more miles in the bank'. Again, it is the confidence, not the physiology that improves performance.

(vii) Learn to remain positive, confident during training. Learn to counter the negative arguments that will develop within during the actual event. One way to do this is to think in advance what these negative arguments could be. Maybe think of it as preparing to talk to a 'stroppy' teenager! You prepare for this situation by being ready with an appropriate response to whatever irrational argument they may 'hit you with'. Be prepared with some evidence from your TOTAL training to counter the arguments. Maybe some examples here to illustrate may be useful.

You are half way through a 100 mile race, and feeling tired. Argument being presented within your head: you have to walk, your training hasn't been sufficient, your weekly mileage has been too low to handle a 100 mile event. You need to have ready someone you know who has performed during a similar event, doing similar mileage to you, e.g. that UltraStupid guy Stuart Mills, ran 26hours at UTMB on only 34.5 miles a week of easy running.

Another example. It is a hot day during the event. Argument being presented within your head: you must slow down as it is far too hot to perform at your usual pace. Well during your TOTAL preparation, you hopefully gave the likely weather conditions some thought, and you appreciated that there was some chance that it would be hot. You therefore did some running in the heat, not for your body to physiologically acclimatise. No, but for you to gather some evidence, to counter the argument, so you could reply; remember back to those hot runs I did it the heat, yes it was hot, but I was able to continue running along at a good pace then. A bit like hill training earlier. The actual running in the heat has nothing to do with physiology, it is all about raising your self expectations, your self belief that you will be able to respond to the likely demands of the event.

One final example, somehow, you are running way quicker than you ever thought possible. The argument being presented within your head: you have started far too fast, you will 'blow-up', you must slow down before it is too late.  Perhaps you are running quicker than you thought possible due to you being much further up the field than your fellow training partner. Remember, it is okay to compare to others during the preparation, but not good during the actual event. Argument response, remind yourself that performance is determined by TOTAL preparation, not just physical attributes. You have carried out the necessary TOTAL preparation, you have developed high self expectations, high self belief. Don't let your training partner's lesser performance cause you to doubt yours. Your have no idea what their TOTAL preparation has been like. Simply, belief in yourself. If you are enjoying the 'journey', i.e. enjoying the present moment, and all is going fine and you are positive, then don't let this doubt that wants you to slow down, to allow any negative thoughts to develop. You are what you believe. If you believe that you have gone to fast and you will suffer for it, then you will suffer. As simply as that!

I could go on and on providing examples. But maybe your endurance training in terms of reading blog posts doesn't quite match, my preparation in terms of typing them up. Remember my motives for typing such lengthy posts. It is all to do with my TOTAL preparation. The thoughts involved in typing this post, is as important at developing race focus endurance, as the same time involved as running across the South Downs. To put it simply, 3 hours of typing is as beneficial, NO, probably more beneficial with regards to ultra endurance performance than a 3 hour training run! Hence why I only needed 34.5 miles per week back in 2009. I probably did equivalent mileage, reading, thinking, visualising. The improvement in my ultra running performances over the last 18 months since starting the blog, I think is largely a result of the extra training time I have put in thinking about and typing up these posts. On paper I may only be a 40 mile a week runner, but in reality, taking into account my TOTAL preparation, I am probably more like a 150 mile a week runner. Remember the key message. ultra running performance is not physiologically determined!!!!

To finish this post of with, is just a quick two examples to help illustrate more. just how endurance running performance isn't physiologically determined. The first is to do with Mo Farah and his rapid improvement over the last year or so. If you haven't come across the Marathon talk podcasts, then they are worthy of a listen, especially the interviews with various runners. Mo Farah was recently interviewed on Marathontalk. If you have a few spare moments, take a listen. Also if you have even more spare time, remember, you can include this listening as part of your TOTAL training for the week, listen to the interviews with Tim Noakes, Liz Hawker, Jez Bragg. There are loads of great interviews. But don't miss the David Hemmery interview, an Olympic gold medalist for the 400m hurdles from 1968. Some really good words of wisdom here! Listen to what Mo Farah says about the influence of Alberto Salazar, his new coach. Nothing physically training wise has really changed, but agrees that "Salazar gives his athletes an incredible belief to achieve things that perhaps they thought they weren't able to do".

The second quick example is concerning Haile Gebrselassie and his final eleven days of run training prior to winning the 10,000 metre gold at the Athens 1996 Olympics. Within the book titled "The Greatest" by Jim Dennison, it is reported that apart from running the semi-final three days before his victory in the final, for eleven days before the final Gebrselassie was totally unable to run, due to his left foot becoming severly infected. Meanwhile, his great opponent Paul Tergat "had completed a perfect run-up" to the final. Interestingly within the first 23 pages of Fitzgerald's latest book. both Alberto Salavar and Haile Gebrselassie are repeatedly referred to as examples of best practice!

Well, I did warn you at the start, that I didn't really know what would happen once I started typing tonight's post. I have really started a huge topic, that will take me years to understand, if ever! Hopefully my "mutterings" above have been of some benefit to you reading it. I know for sure that for me, thinking about the whole area, and typing up my current thoughts on the topic has definitely been hugely beneficial to me. How beneficial, maybe next week at UTMB, we will see. Time now to start my TOTAL preparation tapering. So don't expect any more lengthy posts to after UTMB.

Sorry, but I am suffering a wee bit from 'race focus fatigue', so the sign off quote will be short.

"You are, what you believe!" Stuart Mills, 2011.

All the best with your TOTAL training. Don't forget to log one hour plus as TOTAL training within your training diary, if you have managed to get this far through the post. Hey, why not read it again, and double your training for the day!

Stuart

Montane Lakeland 100 - Observations from a Spectator

2011-08-06T01:54:00.003+01:00

Hi

Last weekend I had a thoroughly enjoyable time in the Lake District watching the Montane Lakeland 100 Ultra Trail race, as well as enjoying the fabulous weather and scenery with the family, including successfully climbing Scafell Pike. So tonight is a brief (?) race report on my experience as a spectator.

It was around 2:00pm on the Friday afternoon when we, i.e. me, my wife Frances, and our two boys, Robert and Chris, arrived at the school in Coniston. Immediately, I felt the tremendous supportive atmosphere I remembered from last year. There was a real buzz about the place as tents were being set up, and the 100 mile runners were checking in, and sorting out there gear and themselves, ready for the 5:30pm start. As I walked around I recognised many faces from previous races, and the recce weekend back in June. Although the Lakeland 100 was due to start at 5:30pm, I had already started my ultra event for the weekend, that being 24 hours+ of non-stop talking!!!

As 5:30pm neared it really became apparent just how much the event had grown, just from last year. The school field was nearly full with cars and tents, and there was literally hundreds of runners everywhere. As I spoke to many runners, I was abused and nearly punched on a number of occasions by people I had named as potential top performers in my pre-race blog post, for putting added pressure on them to perform. It was in all good fun (I hope!)

Running legend Joss Naylor starts the race, and the 224 starters make their way off on their journey of the 105 mile circuit of the Lake District. As I watch the last of the runners walk off, I can't believe my eyes, here at the very back off the field is Andy Mouncey, last year's 2nd place finisher, and one of my named runners to look out for as a definite top placed finisher! Was he injured, what was he up to???

Click the image above to view a poor quality video of the race start that I have just posted on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQeAd5N8D28

Once the runners have departed, we quickly jump into the car and drive the one mile up to the start of Walna Scar Road, to watch the runners go past, which for them is at around the 2.5 mile mark, after a short sharp climb up by the Coppermines Youth Hostel, before descending down to the gravel/dirt road.

As the runners approach there is a lead bunch of three, closely followed by another nine runners. The lead three are Terry Conway, Paul Tierney, and Ian Bishop. I have raced Ian on a number of occasions, and he is a very capable ultra runner, so although he wasn't named in my top seven runners expected to perform, (I failed to see his name within the entry list), it wasn't a surprise to see him at the front.

Terry on the left of the photo, Ian in the middle, Paul in blue on the right.

We watch all of the runners go past, as they start their first big climb of the race, up to around 650 metres of height, along Walna Scar Road. If you click on the following link http://www.flickr.com/photos/62532054@N02/sets/72157627349507066/detail/ it will take you to my Flickr album with photos of quite a few of the runners at the start of Walna Scar Road.

Having travelled all the way up from East Sussex, I had decided that I would follow the race, where possible, during the early stages of the night. I therefore drive across two very steep passes, along an amazing road to arrive at Checkpoint 2 at Boot, shortly before the arrival of the lead runners, after 2 hours 26 minutes of running. There is still a lead group of six runners with a small gap of one minute to a following group of three. The lead group now consists of Barry Murray, Paul Teirney, Terry Conway, John Tims, Ian Bishop, and Adam Perry. Being the competitive runner as I am, I just so happen to have a copy of my race splits from 2010 with me! I look at my splits from last year, they are 10 minutes slower than my arrival time at Boot, which doesn't surprise me considering that I took off at an extremely fast pace last year. If you have a spare 30 minutes or so click: http://ultrastu.blogspot.com/2010/08/lakeland-100-importance-of-preparation.html for my race report from last year, which describes my fast start.

Barry leading, closely followed by Paul, John (wearing tights), Terry, Ian, and Adam just out of picture, approaching Boot pub.

Exactly ten minutes later Andy Mouncey arrives in 17th place, aha, I think I know what his plan is! Last year his race plan was similar to mine, go hard at the start, get out in front, so therefore able to run his own race without being distracted by other runners. See for Andy's race report from last year. Only problem for him last year was that I had the same plan, hence why I had to go so fast last year to get ahead of him! So it seems apparent that again he wants to run his own race, without focusing on what the lead runners are doing, hence walking at the back of the field at the start. In essence giving the leaders a ten minute head start. Not sure about his approach, a brave approach, but clearly illustrating total confidence in his race plan, which is essential for a good performance.

Next stop is checkpoint 4 at Buttermere, this is at the 26 mile mark. As I wait outside the village hall checkpoint, the night is extremely dark, but amazingly warm, and not a breath of wind. Perfect running conditions. Race time of 4 hours and 54 minutes passes, (my arrival time last year), and I wonder how soon will the leaders arrive. I expect very shortly, as due to the quality of the field, and the dryness underfoot, I am expecting the winner this year to finish in under 22 hours. Only six minutes later, out of the darkness appears a lone runner, Terry. He is pretty busy as he fuels up, but still able to chat and tell me that he left the other runners behind leaving checkpoint three.

Terry at Checkpoint 4, Buttermere.

Just before Terry departs, Paul and Adam arrive, less than 3 minutes behind. They probably also spend around 3 - 4 minutes re-fuelling before heading back off into the dark. There is then a 12 minute wait before Barry and John arrive together, refuel and depart, before Andy Mouncey arrives now in 6th place, five minutes behind Barry and John, but 20 minutes behind Terry. Then the checkpoint becomes very busy, as a large group of around eight runners all arrive within a minute or two, all extremely positive and buzzing, except Ian Bishop. Ian explains to me that he thought he had got over an illness he had 2 weeks back, but unfortunately his body is telling him it has not completely recovered. So Ian makes the difficult, but wise, decision to withdraw. He is extremely disappointed. He had prepared extensively for the race, coming up to the Lake District on many occasions with Terry Conway, doing 50 mile runs over the course. Sometimes things just don't go to plan. The important thing is to accept that things happen for a reason, and learn from it. No doubt Ian will be back next year, fitter and wiser.

Paul and Adam arriving at Checkpoint 4.

John and Barry leaving Checkpoint 4.

The large group fuelling up at Checkpoint 4.

The group leaving Checkpoint 4, into the dark.

Next stop is checkpoint 5 at Braithwaite, the 33 mile mark. Terry arrives on his own, with there now being a 14 minute gap to Paul and Adam running together. All three of the runners look really good, full of positivity and appearing to be really enjoying the experience. Although it is pretty hectic at the checkpoints, they are still able to briefly chat. Adam jokes about his Dad also running the 100 mile race, stating something like "Yeah, he goes pretty well for an old man". I think to myself typical cheeky youngster, I bet his Dad is around my age (he is actually only one year older than me), and reflect on how great the activity of ultra trail running is, in that it is suitable for all ages, with age definitely not being a barrier, in fact being a bonus!

There is a bit of a surprise as next to arrive is Andy Mouncey, 14 minutes after Paul and Adam, but significant in that he had moved ahead of Barry and John, who arrive together 3 minutes later. There is then a 18 minute wait until the large group from the previous checkpoint arrive. I recognise most of the faces, but not all of their names. All are in high spirits, although Jeff McQueen, the "Comrades King" who I had met during the June recce weekend, was struggling a bit with consuming food. Already he was finding fuelling difficult.

Stuart Walker (in red), and Jeff McQueen trying to eat some creamed rice at Checkpoint 5.

As I make enquires regarding each runner's identity, I discover my 'Dark Horse' Simon Deakin is within this group. He comments that he was surprised, but complimented by my 'Dark Horse' label, but with this being his first 100 miler, he wasn't promising a high finishing position. Click the link http://ultrastu.blogspot.com/2011/07/montane-lakeland-100-preview-and-bit.html to read my Lakeland 100 race preview post, where seven lead men are identified. I chat to Oliver Jeffcote, 14th place finisher in 2010, really buzzing due to being over 45 minutes quicker at Braithwaite than last year. I mention that I had chatted to his Mum back at the pub in Boot. He apologises for his Mum, and is surprised that I was able to get away from her talking! Yes, at checkpoint 5, there is a real sense of camaraderie amongst the runners, and having run the race last year, so totally aware of what they are experiencing, I feel welcomed into their group. Looking at the results I see that unfortunately it appears that Oli DNFed at checkpoint 9. No doubt, he like Ian, will learn from the disappointment and return to take on the truly demanding challenge of the Montane Lakeland 100.

Oli all smiles as he leaves Checkpoint 5.

With the time now being 1:00am in the morning, I decide that it is time to go back to the tent at Coniston to get some sleep. Not that I am tired, I am buzzing as much as the runners, but I know that it is an early start tomorrow morning, as Frances and the boys are doing a three hour high ropes course in the morning, which just by coincidence is only two miles away from checkpoint 5 at Newlands Activity Centre. I have the company of Ian Bishop as I drive back to Coniston, and we chat non stop about ultra trail running, so the longish drive back doesn't seem to take long at all.

As I try to sleep, I am thinking about all of the runners out there running through the night. Amazingly there isn't one bit of me wishing that I was out there running the race. I made the decision at the end of last year that the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc was going to be my focus race for 2011, so I am totally comfortable in not racing. In fact, to my surprise I have found watching the race during the night probably equally enjoyable!!!

Saturday morning is time to spend with the family, without the distraction of the race, although I do get a quick update on the race positions from the computer screen in the school hall before we head off. The leaders have past through checkpoint 9 at Howtown, the 66 mile mark. Terry has extended his lead over Adam and Paul, still running together, to 1 hour 25 minutes. His time at Howtown is 12 hours 40 minutes, and as expected, he is now 43 minutes ahead of my time from 2010 at the same checkpoint. Knowing how much I slowed down over the last six legs, I roughly calculate that Terry should finish pretty close to 22 hours. The race for first is now pretty well over, it would have to take something pretty drastic for Terry to lose that much time. Andy Mouncey is still in 4th position, but now only 4 minutes behind. To find out what happens next in the battle between Adam, Paul and Andy, I recommend that you click on the link http://www.doingbigandscary.com/#/blog/4552672432/L100-Holding-Back-Holding-On/30227 to take you to Andy's excellent 2011 race report, where he describes the tactics of leg10 in some detail.

The computer screen also shows that at checkpoint 9 Howton, "Dark Horse" Simon Deakin is now in 5th place, "Old Man" Kevin Perry is in 6th place, and "New Comer" Barry Murray is in 7th place. I think wow, I am in the wrong profession, I should be a professional gambler, as for the seven runners I identified as potential top ten finishers, all of them that started the race (Duncan Harris didn't start, so I presume he is still recovering from his injury) are currently in the top seven positions.

The high ropes course at Newlands Activity Centre just out from Keswick is excellent. The instructor is fantastic, as she guides Frances and the boys around nine different high rope activities, such as tarzan swing, leap of faith, bell tower, etc. I am on camera duty.

Chris and Robert on the giant rope ladder.

As we drive back to Coniston we take a quick detour to checkpoint 13, Chapel Stile at 94 miles, to see how many runners have passed through. We are informed that Terry is long gone. As we have lunch outside the pub at Langdale a rather tired looking Andy Mouncey walk/jogs past. It reminds me of how I felt at the same stage last year, tired but still enjoying the journey. Andy gives a brief friendly acknowledgement, but he is quickly back into his own personal zone. He has still around 3 hours to go. He looks tired within his eyes, but you can also see his deep determination. Unfortunately I miss Paul and Andy run past as I was off course searching for an ice cream for Robert and Chris, so we, well actually I decide to head straight to Coniston to see if we can catch Terry crossing the finish line, and their ice cream will have to wait until later!

Andy shortly before Checkpoint 13, Chapel Stile.

We are too late, Terry has already finished in an impressive time of 21 hours 58 minutes and 19 seconds. He hasn't been finished for long, as he still doesn't quite look normal. As he stands up from his chair to walk across the hall, he immediately faints and collapses to the floor. Fortunately a medic is immediately at his side, arouses him, places him in the recovery position and assesses what the problem is. It appears that it was simply an issue of low blood pressure, so it isn't long before Terry is all smiles and begins to appreciate his amazing accomplishment, smashing the previous record of Andy Rankin's from 2009 by 48 minutes.

Terry not long after he fainted!

Outside, it is a beautiful sunny day, with not a cloud in the sky. Not having run earlier in the day, I have a great idea. Saturday night we are staying in a flash 4 star hotel at Ambleside, courtesy of Montane, one of my prizes for winning the 2010 race. So I decide to watch the race as I run the 16 miles back to Ambleside over the course. What a fantastic run, I get to see all of the lead runners running in the opposite direction as they are nearing completion of their 105 miles, and then later on in the run, I also meet the leading 50 mile runners.

Andy Mouncey is the first runner I meet, climbing up from checkpoint 14 at Tilberthwaite at 101 miles! This time he is totally within his own personal zone, although there is still a brief raising of his eyes, to acknowledge my presence.

Andy climbing up from Checkpoint 14, Tilberthwaite.

At checkpoint 14 I stop and chat to various people I know who are waiting for their runners to shortly arrive, and it isn't long before Paul and Adam arrive at the checkpoint. It feels like Andy is only around 10 minutes ahead, so there is optimism within their supporters that it is possible to catch Andy. They have a quick load up of water, as it is pretty hot, being around 5pm in the afternoon, and they on their way, hoping to chase down Andy. Although they do manage to pull back 8 minutes during the final 3.5 mile leg, the gap was actually 15 minutes, so they finish together in 3rd equal place in a time of 24:34:47.

Paul and Adam approaching Checkpoint 14.

I then continue on my run to Ambleside and next meet Kevin Perry, Adam's Dad the "Old Man" in 5th place, then "Comrades King" Jeff McQueen in 6th place, David White 7th, and Stuart Walker 8th. These runners were sufficiently far enough apart that they remained within these places to the finish. I next meet "Dark Horse" Simon Deakin, closely followed by "New Comer" Barry Murray. Barry is looking the slightly quicker, and does manage to overtake Simon to finish 9th, although at around the 99 mile mark, neither of them are really moving at great speed! Simon finishes in 10th place in a time of 25:56:04, six seconds faster than the 2010 3rd place finisher Duncan Harris. Yes, the standard of running has definitely improved this year!

Kevin not far from Checkpoint 14.

Jeff a little bit further away from Checkpoint 14, enjoying being in 6th place.

David in 7th place.

Stuart in 8th place.

Simon currently 9th, but finishes in 10th place.

Barry currently 10th, but finishes in 9th place.

After what seems quite a break between runners I meet John Tims around halfway duing leg 14. John was one of the "Mr Positivity Banter" guys from the June recce weekend. It comments that he has been struggling since leg 10, although he still appears to be enjoying the experience. What I love about John's attitude was his just 'give it heaps' and not be concerned that he was way up the front with the leaders, most likely beyond his own expectations. Yes, one of the secrets of success in ultra trail running is to have 'no fear'. Not to limit yourself with doubt! What caused John to struggle during the later stages of the race, I don't know. But I doubt it was due to him starting out too fast.

John, currently 11th, but finishes in 14th place.

I continue to enjoy my run, and manage to take photos of all of the runners running towards me. Click the following link to view the photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62532054@N02/sets/72157627225557929/detail/ Somehow though I manage to miss getting a photo of the winning women, Gaynor Prior. Gaynor finishes in 15th place overall in an very quick time of 28:24:12, absolutely smashing the record by nearly 4 hours!!! It isn't much later when I come across the first 50 mile runner. The difference in speed is hugh! Craig Stewart greets me with a very relaxed "Hello, Stuart". We were Great Britain team mates at the IAU World Champs earlier in the month at Connemara. Prior to the race I had a feeling that Craig would run a strong race here at the Lakeland 50, and he was definitely doing that today. He was too quick for me to get a photo before he had run past, so I had to sprint hard to get ahead of him again, in order to take the following snap!

Craig Stewart, winner of the Lakeland 50.

As I get nearer to Ambleside the runners from the 50 and the 100 miles races are now totally intermixed, although it is very easy to identify which race they are in, as the 100 mile runners are all showing signs of the previous 90 miles! I come across Sue Sleath, she was one of the runners who was going to punch me prior to the start for naming her on my preview post! I had no need to worry about being punched by her at this moment in time, as she was really struggling, as she commented that she was feeling rather sick and hence unable to take on any fuel. At this point in the race, climbing out of Ambleside, she was in 4th place. Chatting to her the next morning I discover that shortly after meeting me in the race, she was fortunate to be sick, which made her feel heaps better. She was then able to increase her pace, and managed to overtake two women ahead of her to finish second women in 30:07:17, only narrowly beating Kirsty Hewitson, who finished two minutes behind in 30:09:18.

Sue Sleath, 2nd women Lakeland 100.

The last runner I see, running through the park ar Ambleside, appears to be the women's leader of the Lakeland 50 race, Poppy Lenton. She is looking strong and goes on to win in a time of 11:04:33, in 22nd place overall.

Poppy, winner Lakeland 50, running through Ambleside.

Looking at the race results for the Lakeland 100, which are available on the Lakeland 100 website, it shows that out of the 224 starters, only 116 managed to complete the 105 mile circuit of the Lake District, this being only a 52% finish rate, which is lower than the typical 58% finish rate for the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB). It just goes to show that although the Lakeland 100 doesn't have the difficulty of altitude, and less overall climbing than the UTMB, the at times difficult underfoot condition, such as rocks, gravel, occasional boulders, occasional mud and bog and the need to self navigate does appear to make the course as equally challenging. I guess the added heat of this year may have also led to the high drop out rate. To all of you runners that completed the Lakeland 100, well done, a great achievement. To those of you who unfortunately had to drop out, hopefully you will learn from the experience, and be back next year to achieve success and the satisfaction of finishing this very demanding course.

I eventually finish my run at the flash hotel, and feel rather shattered. (It definitely feels a lot longer duration of time watching the race, than actually running it.) Not shattered enough though to prevent me from searching out Paul at the Ambleside YHA, to celebrate his great 3rd place run with a well deserved pint!

The next morning we briefly pass through Coniston, time for quick few chats with various runners, before embarking on the challenge for the day of summitting Scafell Pike. Not via the direct route, no but a more demanding route from Wasdale Head Inn, up around to the left following Lingmell Beck. After exactly 3 hours we reach the checkpoint, opps I mean the summit! Unfortunately during the climb the clouds had come in, so the view was non existent! A quick descent down along the Brown Tongue and we complete our circuit in 5 hours 5 minutes.

Robert, me and Chris at the summit of Scafell Pike.

To finish of this post, firstly I would like to thank Marc, Terry and their massive team of helpers. Without the time and effort all of these helpers put in, the Montane Lakeland 100 and 50 would not happen. The Montane Lakeland 100 has truly established itself as the number one premier ultra trail race in the UK. I for sure, will be back next year to enjoy the absolutely fantastic community atmosphere of this great event. Throughout the whole weekend everybody you meet is just so friendly and full of positive energy. Yes, the real enjoyment from ultra trail running is sharing the unique experiences of like minded people as they challenge themselves within the natural beauty of the countryside.

Secondly, I just want to make a quick observation regarding fuelling for the race. Now, I am not a nutritionist, so there isn't any science/research supporting my comments, go to 9th place finisher Barry's impressive website http://www.optimumnutrition4sport.com/ to get the science behind the ideal ultra race nutrition. But I have a simple belief that the body and mind are pretty clever, it knows what is best. So if the messages you are receiving as you try to force feed loads more sugarier, sickly fuel into your body, are telling you it isn't pleasant, it can't stomach it, then listen to your body. Basically your body will burn either fat or carbohydrate to get you through an ultra trail race. The lower the intensity the greater the proportion of fat that is used. Knowing from my own experiences, and watching the Lakeland 100 runners towards the end of last weekend's race, during the second half of an ultra race the intensity is so low that you just do not need much carbohydrate, so why force feed it! I spoke to a number of runners last weekend who had nutrition problems, feeling sick, which could possibly be contributed to trying to consume too much carbohydrate!

August last year I wrote a post regarding the nutrition I used during the 2010 Lakeland 100: http://ultrastu.blogspot.com/2010/08/race-nutrition-is-more-always-better.html I think the key message from the post is a comment left by Andy Cole which I feel is well worth considering. Remember, science is not always correct! Remember the 'old science' regarding hydration: "Drink as much as you can, because if you wait until you are thirsy it is too late, your performance will have already deteriorated". Wow, wasn't that message a wee bit wrong! I will sign off tonight with the quote from Andy Cole. (Click the following link: http://ajc-runninglate.blogspot.com/2011/08/lakeland-100.html for his excellent race report of the Montane Lakeland 100, experienced a wee bit further down the field).

"My general takeout from all this now is that one shouldn't worry too much about forcing down food as "fuel", natural hunger should give you enough. I think modern thinking on hydration is "drink when you're thirsty", so maybe you could add to this "eat when you're hungry." Andy Cole (2010).

Once again, a big thank you to everyone involved last weekend, for making our family trip to the Lake District so enjoyable. See you all at Coniston, July 2012!

Stuart

PS I received a special request from an ultra runner in the United States who asked me to promote a worthwhile charity she is involved in. So any runners out there in the United States, please click on the following link http://freshairfundhost.org to see if you are able to help the charity in any way. Thanks.

PPS Two days ago the total number of hits to my blog passed twentyfive thousand! Quite amazing really, in less than 18 months. It is nice to know that people come back to my blog to read more. They definitely must have too much time on their hands!

Montane Lakeland 100 / 50 - Race Photos

2011-08-03T21:36:00.002+01:00

Hi

If you have come to my UltraStu blog for photos from last weekend's Montane Lakeland 100, then welcome. Please take a look around my blog at my previous posts, mainly on ultra trail running, so maybe of interest to you.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of watching the Lakeland 100 race and also a few of the front runners of the Lakeland 50. Whilst watching I had my rather dated camera out snapping loads on photos. Although the camera is around six years old it still managed to take a few good shots of the race, so I thought I would try to put them on Flickr for people to download.

You are welcome to download as many photos as you want. If you feel that the photos are worthy of paying for, then please click the link to go to the Fix the Fells website, where it is possible to donate some money for your photo to this worthwhile cause. Can I suggest a donation of £4 for one photo downloaded, and £6 for two or more photos downloaded. Although you can donate more if you so wish. It appears that you can either donate via their JustGiving account in the name of Nuture Lakeland or directly via the Fix the Fells website. Look for the links on the right hand side of the Fix the Fells website home page.

http://www.fixthefells.co.uk/index.htm

I haven't used Flickr before but I think I have got it sorted. There are two lots of photos. Click the following links to access the two lots of photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62532054@N02/sets/72157627349507066/detail/

The first lot of photos is taken at the start of Walnar Scar Road at around the 2.5mile mark. There are then just a few taken as the leaders approach, and at Checkpoint 2 at Boot. The next few are of the leaders at checkpoint four, Buttermere, and checkpoint five Braithwaite.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62532054@N02/sets/72157627225557929/detail/

The second lot of photos is firstly two shots of Andy Mouncey in 2nd place near checkpoint 13, then of the winner, Terry Conway, shortly after finishing in the school hall at Coniston. The majority of the photos in this lot then consists of all of the runners that I came across as I ran from the finish at Coniston back to Ambleside. I pretty well managed to take a photo of all of the runners except there were I think two runners that I missed. (Apologies if I missed you!). This last lot of photos has both Lakeland 100 and Lakeland 50 runners, where the other lot consists of only Lakeland 100 runners.

I hope you enjoy the photos that I took. If there are any problems with downloading the photos send me an e-mail and I will try to sort it out or e-mail the photo to you directly.

Overall the whole weekend was great. I had such a good time watching the race for a change, so much that there should be a Montane Lakeland 100 Race Report, from the perspective of a spectator for a change, published here on UltraStu within the next few days.

Well done to all of the runners in both events. Hopefully you achieved what you set out to achieve.

Stuart

Montane Lakeland 100 Preview and a bit about Trailblaze

2011-07-27T20:28:00.000+01:00

Hi,

Just a quick mention regarding this weekend's Lakeland 100 Ultra Trail race, probably the premier ultra trail race in the UK. Although I am not running in it this year, (as my 100 mile ultra trail race for 2011 is the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc at the end of August), I am going up to the Lake District to watch. Having raced against a few of this year's entrants I am taking a keen interest in how they get on.

Looking at the start list for the Lakeland 100 it looks like it will be a pretty competitive and exciting race. Although it is likely that there will be a few runners near the front that I do not know, I suspect that the top finishing places are likely to filled by the following runners:

Terry Conway - 4th= last year. Terry has improved loads since last year. He demonstrated this with a pretty strong run in the Highland Fling, which would have been heaps higher up if he didn't have severe cramp problems, so we can expect a strong performance from him.

Simon Deakin - A bit of a dark horse especially for a 100 mile event, but he could shock a few up near the front, if he can handle the increase in miles up to 100! Not totally sure of his ultra trail achievements, but he ran a good 2nd place finish in last year's extremely demanding Hardmoors 55.

Duncan Harris - 3rd last year. Duncan finished last year's race with the fastest leg 15 time. Maybe he should read my blog and adopt the "Run as fast as you can, while you can" strategy, rather than keeping running fast until the very last leg, when it is a bit too late! In addition he finished last year with amazing form, winning a few races, and started this year with a win in the 32 mile Wuthering Hike race back in March before I believe getting injured. If he his back to full fitness, keep an eye out for him.

Andy Mouncey - 2nd last year. Andy last year was unfortunate in that he suffered a pretty severe injury around two weeks before last year's race, that although I believe it didn't affect him too much during the actual race, the lack of final preparation leading into the race wasn't ideal. So he is as determined as ever to 'nail a big one' this weekend. Whether he can improve from 2nd last year we will have to wait and see. I would consider this year's field to be substantially stronger than last year, however, a full-on performance with un-interrupted preparation could put him right up near the front, especially during the initial stages as he appears to have similar views to myself of adopting a strong, fast start!

Barry Murray - A bit of a new comer to the ultra trail scene, but having run 28 miles with him during last month's recce weekend, he has the potential to give the front guys a hurry up. He was a bit 'overcooked' due to being too keen with his training and racing preparation, at the IAU World Champs earlier in the month over in Ireland. So his performance there probably wasn't a reflection of what he can achieve. If he has adopted a 10 day recovery, followed by a 10 day taper during the last three weeks since Connemara, (as suggested to him by yours truly), he should be all set for a good run.

Adam Perry - DNF last year. Adam is the youngster in the group, although he has quite a bit of experience in ultra trail running. Winner of a number of ultra trail races last year, over shorter distances though, the question is, can he handle 100 miles. Last year he started strong and was in 2nd= place for the first 4 legs, but then the 'wheels fell off'' and he had to DNF. If he has sorted out his preparation to handle 100 miles then he should show the oldies a thing or two!

Paul Tierney - A name probably not familiar to many of you, that is because he has only raced in Ireland. He classifies himself as a "middle of the pack runner", but his performance representing Ireland at the IAU Worlds earlier this month was very impressive. A bit of a youngster like Adam, but learning loads from each race, and from reading my blog!, so you should be able to expect another equally impressive performance from him this weekend.

So the above seven runners, if all run to plan should full up seven of the top ten places, leaving three places for runners I haven't met. In which order will they finish though? I have my views on the finishing order but I think I will keep these to myself so I don't put added pressure on any of these seven. These seven runners are probably already less than impressed with me for 'blowing their cover' in terms of just potentially how good they can run, and are now no longer able to surprise the field with being an unknown! All adds to the excitement of the race!

With regards to the women's field, I apologise but I am not so familiar with the key leading women runners. However, since I have put pressure on some men runners, to be fair I will single out one women runner who I have met at a number of races and seen just how good she is. Yes, keep your eye out for Sue Sleath. She ran really well in last year's Lakeland 50 to finish in 2nd place. I don't know if she has raced 100 miles before, but based on her 50 mile performance last year, and strong performances in multiple ultra trail runs and marathons over the last few years, I think she could surprise a few of the women runners, well that was before I named her here!

Looking at the Lakeland 50 men's race, the two names that stand out are Craig Stewart and Andrew James. Andrew won last year's Lakeland 50 in a record time and was in awesome shape earlier this year. Unfortunately he picked up an injury which resulted in a DNF at the IAU Worlds. I haven't heard whether this is now fully recovered, but if he is on the start line then, expect another strong run from him. Craig ran a very impressive 100km on the roads back in March at the Celtic Plate up in Perth, recording a 7:01 winning time. Whether he can transfer this form onto the trails is however uncertain, although I have a feeling that he is due a good performance, so he won't be too far away for the front, especially if it is dry underfoot.

Overall I am really looking forward to this weekend. I wish I was running it as well, but with UTMB only four weeks later it wasn't really possible. However, I have already put the race down as my focus race for 2012, and will be the first to enter once the entries open later in the year!

Time to sign off with a relevant quote which I feel will be largely related to the finishing place order this weekend:

"The way we perform is the result of the way we see ourselves. To alter our performance we need to alter or change ourselves and it is that changing that's difficult". Gary Elliott (1983), coach to the great New Zealand women marathon runner, Alison Roe. Hence the need for the TOTAL preparation that I keep on going on about!

To all of you out there running either the Lakeland 100 or Lakeland 50 this weekend, I wish you all the best. Enjoy the experience!

Stuart

PS Those of you who listened to my radio interview regarding the Trailblaze scheme last month, (the Radio 4 broadcast of Open Country is available as a podcast here), may be interested to know that there was another feature on BBC South East Today programme yesterday regarding the Trailblaze scheme, and yes, again I was interviewed. You should be able to view the two minute clip by clicking the following link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-14297982 If you don't know much about the Trailblaze running scheme, go check it out on their website: http://www.trail-blaze.com/ There is also an opposing Trailblaze website that provides the arguments against the scheme click this link: http://www.trail-blaze.co.uk/#update to see the latest updates on the controversy.

IAU Trail World Championship Videos

2011-07-14T21:49:00.002+01:00

Hi

I have just come across three videos on You Tube of last Saturday's race.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoTmIor4boY&feature=related is of the start of the race, and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAM-wHSCcLM&feature=related is probably around two thirds up the 442 metre Diamond Hill for the first time. At this point of the race I am in 13th place, 34 seconds behind the leader.

I will keep you posted about the 30 minute feature that will be on Channel 4, as well as Eurosport in around 4 weeks time. Here is a trailer for the programme! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya_8xtxjGMg it looks like the programme will be pretty impressive!

Just to finish off, below is my 'disco move' pose, taken with exactly one kilometre to go!

Stuart

IAU World Trail Championships - Connemara, Ireland - The Importance of Enjoying the Journey

2011-07-13T21:47:00.002+01:00

Hi, welcome back,

Tonight I will hopefully describe last weekends great experience of running for Great Britain. It could be another ultra effort! I think I will start with a little bit of background first. Not back to when I joined Hutt Valley Harriers as a 14 year old, that can wait for another day, but back to around November last year.

(I have come back to the start of this blog post after finally reaching the finish. Yes, this post is an ultra effort! I wouldn't recommend it, but if you were a bit short of time and wanted to skip the first section on having a plan, developing goals, etc. then you could go straight down to the bit in red where I state (Possibly start here at the start of the GB International Experience in Connemara). Only a suggestion, but be aware that you would then only get half of the message!)

It was around November time that I was planning my race calendar for 2011. I had tried to get into the British team for the 2nd IAU World Trail Championships that took place in France in 2009. The selection race was the 2009 Highland Fling, but unfortunately I ran off course, and only finished in 10th place. So one of the aims for 2011 was to make another attempt to represent my new country of Britain, since moving here from New Zealand way back in 1990.

The 2011 Highland Fling race back in April also didn't quite go to plan, having a few 'tough' patches, which resulted in finishing in only 6th place, when trying to qualify for a likely GB men's team of only five runners! Apparently Jez Bragg (2nd in the Fling) was unavailable for the team, I guess due to Western State 100 commitments, where he produced a tremendous 4th place performance. So maybe there was some hope for selection. Detailed selection criteria was published on the UK Athletics website, stating that other relevant performances, especially at International level, would be taken into account. I thought that my wins at the Lakeland 100 and the Hardmoors 55 races in 2010, combined with my 22nd place at Ultra Trail Mont Blanc back in 2009 may assist me in my selection credentials. Fortunately, my past results were taken into consideration, as although Jez was not in the GB team, Craig Stewart, who didn't run the Fling but who had run a very impressive winning time of 7:01 at the Anglo-Celtic 100km Plate back in March, was added into the team. So, my inclusion into the five man GB team meant that the Fling fifth place getter Matt Williamson didn't make the team.

When I first found out I was selected for the GB Team, to my surprise there wasn't any elation. In fact, there was a lack of joy of finally being selected to represent my country. Instead there was the doubt, and even some guilt that I had been put in the team ahead of Matt, who after all had beaten me in the selection race. Did I deserve to be in the team ahead of him? I had never raced Matt before, and didn't know what his running credentials were, but yes, my initial response to being selected was, did I deserve my place!

So firstly I had to deal with these rather negative thoughts. I re-read the UK Athletics selection criteria, confirming that selection wasn't all based on the Highland Fling selection race, and began to accept that if the selectors felt that I was worthy of selection, then I should feel the same way as well! Next, then came the doubt regarding my ability as I had only just 'scrapped' into the team as the fifth member.  This was visibly reinforced when the team announced on the UK Athletics website wasn't listed in alphabetical order, but in clearly a ranking order, with Andrew James (winner of the Fling) at the top, and me right at the bottom! How far behind would I be as the fifth member of the GB team? How many out of the 84 men's field would I beat? Maybe one or two, maybe ten? The positivity just wasn't there. A really strange feeling! After achieving probably the greatest thing I have ever achieved in terms of my running over the last 34 years, UltraStu was definitely not feeling very Ultra!

Fortunately, upon hearing of my GB selection, there was still around seven weeks to get things sorted! Within my posts I often talk about the importance of TOTAL preparation. The situation I was currently in was definitely going to require immense levels of TOTAL preparation, i.e. both the mental and the physical! So over the next seven weeks I spent substantially more time mentally preparing for the 70km trail race, than physically preparing. Back in New Zealand I recall there being criticism often against NZ Olympic athletes for treating being selected for an Olympic team as their 'gold medal'. And when it actually came to them performing in the Olympics, because they had already achieved their goal of going to the Olympics, their performances tended to be below standard. I did not what to be in a position where I felt people could criticise me for this. What performance would therefore be needed then? I had no idea how strong the field would be, so it was difficult to think about achieving a specific race finishing position. The idea that perhaps I wasn't worthy of my place still lingered in my mind. Therefore the first goal was established. I was clearly, as listed on UK Athletics, as the fifth member of the GB men's team. If I could beat one of my other team members, then I would have proved to myself that my place in the team was justified. Great, I was on my way to a good race performance.

Next step within my preparation, was the actual team race competition format. The team finishing positions would be determined by the cumulative time of the first three finishers for each country. So being fourth GB finisher would maybe justify my position in the team, but it would not actually contribute to the GB team position. My fourth position in essence would be worthless! Isn't it amazing just how easy it is for negative thoughts to take over! TOTAL preparation is needed to deal with these thoughts! So great, my goal was upgraded. Fourth GB finisher was no good, it now had to be third!

As I was working through all of these issues, I was still doing some physical training, but in terms of factors that would influence my race performance at the Worlds, the physical training was insignificant. What was very significant though was my strong and comfortable performance in the 35 mile Northants Ultra Shires and Spires race. Winning quite easily, but most importantly taking 25 minutes of Andrew James's equal course record.   Remember Andrew was the chap that won the Highland Fling selection race. Now I know conditions can vary between years, and I know that he may have got lost, or just been doing a gentle training run, but, I managed to convince myself that no matter what, even taking into account all of these possible explanations for Andrew running so slowly in his 2009 win, that me beating his time by 25 minutes was clear evidence that there was a possible chance that I could beat him in the Worlds at Connemara. Now another possible goal was added. Could I actually finish as the first GB finisher? Yes, no longer, am I thinking about 'scrapping' into the team, and not being worthy of a place in the team. Within a few weeks I had turned that around to believing that I could actually be the top GB finisher!

Now, I was feeling a million times more comfortable about being in the GB team, however, the thought that all my goals were based on beating my team mates was rather disturbing. The focus should be on beating competitors from other countries, not on beating my team mates. I should be encouraging, supporting my team mates. This was not possible with my current goals, so I began to give serious thought to how many of the 84 male competitors from around the World I could beat! You can't just pick a number out of the air, there must be a rationale, some form of evidence to justify the number. What evidence, rationale did I have based on competing at the World level? And then Eureka! My Ultra Trail Mont Blanc performance from 2009, where I finished in 22nd position. UTMB is often talked about as the strongest ultra trail race in the World. So simple logic followed that if I could finish in 22nd place in UTMB, the 'strongest' field in the World, then there should be no problem in finishing in 22nd place at the IAU World Trail Championships in Connemara, Ireland. Great, as simple as that! A new goal which I felt alot more comfortable with, rather than trying to beat my GB team mates. Yes, the goal was now to finish in 22nd place or better. This goal further confirmed that I was more than worthy of my selection as I am now in the top 25% of the field, absolutely miles away from the tail end of the race, significantly far away from finishing near last!

The 'mental' preparation was nearing completion. Whilst doing this extensive preparation, I continued my relaxed and rhythmical 'physical' training, although it did include a 42 mile Trailblaze run, see my Trailblaze post, and also 28mile, followed with 16mile Lakeland recce runs. So my TOTAL preparation was TOTAL, I wasn't ignoring the 'physical', just giving it the reduced importance it demands.

The last part of the preparation was to determined my race strategy. How fast would I start? The answer should have been obvious, "Run as fast as I can , while I can!" But the thought of going out fast at the start of the Worlds, leading the actual race, just didn't seem realistic. These guys I would be racing against would be some of the best in the World! Yes I had managed to get myself to believe that I could finish in the top 25% of the field, but to be at the very front, that was not quite within my belief! So for around 2 - 3 weeks I had this dilemma. Then two weeks before race day I delivered my 95 minute presentation at the Lakeland recce weekend. I spoke about the importance of knowing what success in a race means to you, the importance of having a clear plan, the importance of positive self expectations, and most of all the importance of enjoying the journey, not just focusing on the destination, i.e. the result. So here I was, having spent the last 4 - 5 weeks thinking about the destination, i.e. my result I would achieve at the Worlds, without actually giving any though to the actual journey! It all suddenly came clear, the new goal would be to simply run to my full potential, run with honest commitment, and most importantly to fully enjoy every single moment of not just the actual race, but the whole GB experience! As simple as that!

So with the simple goal to commit fully to the race and to maximise enjoyment during the race, the race strategy also became totally clear. Stick to the UltraStu philosophy "Run as fast as you can, while you can!" If that means I head off out into the front leading the World Champs, then so be it, that is where I belong to be, leading the race!

WOW!!! It always amazes me just how by sitting at the computer totally on my own, late at night, just how my thought patterns become clear. I think that this blog, that I have now been writing for since March last year, has clearly been a significant factor in my improved race performances. It just provides an ideal opportunity for quality reflection, to really learn from past performances and about oneself. So please excuse me, if my posts are rather lengthy, but they need to be that length in order for me to get things clear for me!

Maybe I should stop this post here, as it is already pretty lengthy! But hey, lets really test your ultra endurance qualities!!!

(Possibly start here at the start of the GB International Experience in Connemara)

The Great Britain Team experience started as I arrived at the check in desk at Gatwick airport. As I arrive at the RyanAir check in I recognise Allen Smalls, who I had raced on a number of occasions. Allen introduces me to Craig Stewart, and immediately I have a great feeling. They are both so welcoming and friendly, and the lingering thoughts from seven weeks earlier regarding my worthiness of my position within the GB team never had a chance to surface. Shortly later Andrew James joins us, and then Anne Wilson the Team manager, and Norman Wilson an official from the IAU, also arrive, and the really positive inclusive feeling continues. Throughout the weekend, as I get to meet the other members of the GB Team, this really strong supportive inclusive bond is totally evident. I think this supportive, encouraging environment from within the GB Team was a major factor in influencing the level of my performance in the race, especially considering where I had started at, in terms of such negative thoughts about my involvement within the team, just a few weeks earlier.

After a rather lengthy journey, we finally arrive at the village of Letterfrack, which is the race centre. Within the village green, a large marquee is set up, where all the athletes are fed during the weekend, and there are many athletes walking around the village.  Immediately I am totally buzzing!

The level of excitement continues to rise on the Friday, the day before the race, as I get to meet a number of athletes from other countries who I have been in e-mail communication with leading up to the race. Walking around the village in official GB Team kit, and seeing all of the other athletes similarly walking around in their team kit, really adds to the occasion. We have a team photo taken (see below), although team member Julian Rendall, and Assistant Team Manager Andy Smith aren't present as they don't arrive to later on Friday evening. There is an excellent opening ceremony where all of the athletes from all twenty countries are introduced up on the stage. There is good quality food and excellent conversation within the marquee.  Our race feed bags for the three checkpoints are dropped off, and it is then back to our self catering cottage to try to get some sleep.

Team GB Back row from left: Anne Wilson (Team Manager), Craig Stewart, Stuart Mills, Allen Smalls, Andrew James. Front row from left: Karen Rushton, Adela Salt, Heather Foundling-Hawker, Lucy Colquhoun.

The race is scheduled to start at 7am in front of Kylemore Abbey, about 5km from Letterfrack where we are staying. We are bused out to the start at around 6:15am, and as the time gets closer to the race start, I am not one single bit nervous. My TOTAL preparation has gone well. I have a clear plan, a clear race strategy, with the goal to have total enjoyment every single moment during the journey. The actual destination will arrive in due course, whether I achieve any of my initial goals mentioned above are secondary to the number one goal of enjoyment. However, I have learnt from previous experiences, that if the commitment is there, the effort is evident, and most importantly the enjoyment is present, a desirable destination often results. So confidence is high. Focus on the enjoyment, and the performance will come!

The complete GB team get off the bus and wander to the start area. We have a bit of spare time, and there is a sort of 'hanging around' feeling. I decide that I need to focus on my own, not because I am nervous, or not enjoying my fellow team mates company, but my plan is to treat this race just like any other race, where I don't have team mates around me. So I head off on my own, doing a little bit of warming up, stand in a lengthy queue for the toilets, chatting to other runners, just like any usual race. With around ten minutes before start time, I return to the start area, fully prepared, totally excited about how the race will unfold. Throughout the entire time leading up to the race, within the GB team there has been a tremendously supportive environment and everyone is wishing each other a good performance. Within the team we haven't talked in any detail about specific strategies, but when the talk of my usual fast start approach is raised, I don't discard it, so there is an expectation, from some team members who are more aware, of a fast start from me. I find this expectation, their acceptance of my fast start reassuring. Maybe they did think I was a little crazy giving the fast start a go, but because they never expressed any negativity or doubt towards it, I accepted that as positive confirmation that all was fine, a good strategy to adopt.

The 130 runners, including around 20 within the open event, gather beneath the start banner. A helicopter with a camera crew hovers above. The men's GB team are gathered together, and what was a really significant moment of the whole weekend, I wished my teammates the best of luck, and I moved away from them towards the head of the gathering field. As a result of my extensive TOTAL preparations, I felt that my place on the start line was deserving of being up at the front, ahead of all of my GB teammates. Absolutely amazing, considering that on paper I had just scrapped into the team! In that one moment, there was confirmation that I was not there 'just to make up the numbers!'

There is a countdown and then we are off. I am stuck behind a few runners as I wasn't absolutely on the front line. After around 200 - 300 metres I manage to work my way out of the pack and I hit the very front. Just like any other race, except you don't usually have a quad bike with a TV camera focusing directly in on your face, only about a foot away! I ask myself is this really the best thing to do, I move across to the left of the track as I hesitate and then rejoin the lead runners as we move away from the large bunch.

During races I try to focus on myself so I very seldom look behind. So as three of us move away from the bunch, I don't know how far back they are, but it just begins to feel like a significant gap as it gets quieter. Absolutely amazing, here I am in a tiny bunch of three, out in front from the rest of the field, not at a local club race, but at the IAU World Trail Championships!!! It just doesn't get any better than this, absolutely unbelievable. But the best thing of all, I am feeling totally comfortable. The first 5 kilometres are flat. I don't know what pace it was, but whatever it was, it felt really relaxed. I let the other two runners move away from me, not really because I couldn't keep up, but more due to a lack of self belief regarding my current position within the field. As we reach the village of Letterfrack after 5km I am probably around 70 - 80 metres behind the leading two runners, and maybe around 30 - 50 metres ahead of the remaining field, but as I never looked behind, I just don't know. I will have to wait until the 30 minutes TV feature on the race comes out on Channel 4 on a Sunday morning in around four weeks time to see just what gap I had on the rest of the field. Maybe it was only 10 - 20 metres, it didn't really matter, I was just totally enjoying every single moment of the journey so far!

We reach the start of the 400 metre climb up Diamond Hill which we navigate twice within a 7km loop, before we commence the 26km journey out, before turning and returning 26km back to Letterfrack, but fortunately not re-climbing Diamond Hill. As I start the climb at a steady pace, it isn't long before runners start to overtake me. I am strongly aware of the importance at this exact moment of the race. I must keep the positivity strong. I must not allow being overtaken to be a negative, it is a reality, after all it is the Worlds. But I remind myself that I am finishing in the top 25% of the field, so I need to be observant of just how many runners go past me. I up the intensity to slow the rate of being overtaken, it only slightly slows the rate down. The key decision of the race is made at this moment, stuff any concern about overcooking it, stuff any cautiousness, this may be my only every chance of running in a World championships for Britain, remember the goal, enjoy yourself. So I significantly increase my intensity and decide that no one else is going to pass me. Unfortunately due to an IAU rule banning GPS watches I am not wearing my GPS/Heart Rate monitor, so I will never know what heart rate I reached. I don't know exactly how long the climb was, probably around 10 - 15 minutes, but all I know that for the last two thirds of the climb I was near maxing out! I got to the top with a tiny bit of worry that I would have to repeat this maximum effort again in less that 15 minutes time on the repeat climb of Diamond Hill, but this worry was totally overridden with the real joy of running to my maximum, still reasonably near to the front, amongst some of the best runners in the world.

We pass over the very top of the hill and run around the side, descending back down to the race village where we pass through checkpoint 1 at 12km. As I am running with an inov-8 waist pack which holds a 500ml drink bottle I don't need to worry about getting anything from the checkpoint, Within my waist pack I also have the compulsory whistle, borrowed from my son Chris, and the fantastically light and extremely compact Montane Slipstream GL Jacket, as a wind jacket was also compulsory. I also have seven High Five gels, two Cliff Bars, (no I'm not sponsored by either of them!), some flap jack from my University cafe, and my 'emergency blanket' being some chocolate covered coffee beans.

To my relief, the second climb up Diamond Hill is substantially slower than the first time. I am running at a reasonably hard pace, but nothing too stupid for a 44 mile (70km) ultra race, unlike 20 minutes earlier! I actually overtake 2 - 3 runners going up the hill and begin to feel that I have found my 'natural' position within the field, which I sort-of felt was around 20 - 25th which the results later confirm, being in 25th place at the 12km checkpoint. After we descend Diamond Hill for the second time, we have completed 19km and we start out on the out and back section of the course. Throughout the first 19km there is no sign at all of my GB team mates, or any of the Irish guys who I had met before the race. Yes indeed everything was going to plan. I was enjoying myself thoroughly, and as often occurs if the enjoyment occurs whilst being 'in the now', then somehow the destination goals just happen by themselves!

It doesn't seem long before I reach the next checkpoint at 28km. To get there, there has been a mixture of terrain, including some pretty boggy fields and some steady gentle gravel road inclines. As I exit the checkpoint, simply picking up a water bottle from my drop bag, leaving the other contents for the return journey, I am running within a group of around 4 runners who are then joined by Dan Doherty from Ireland. It is nice to see a familiar face, so I start chatting to him about the course we have covered, whether he expected to be the leading Irish runner etc. I could see that Dan was really focused and concentrating so wasn't really in a talkative mood, so rather than running quietly next to him, I decide to increase the pace slightly and slowly move away from him.

I am now totally comfortable with my position within the field, although some runners slowly overtake me, I am also slowly overtaking other runners. This continues like this for a while, first along a gravel track for around two miles passing through some woods, before the serious climb to pass over the 729 metre summit of Benbaun Mountain. The climb at first isn't that steep, but the boggyness of the ground makes running rather difficult. Then just as the bog stops, the gradient substantially increases. I am working really hard making my way to the top, both overtaking runners and being overtaken. As I start the drop down the other side, as I pull by foot out of some mud, by heel comes out of my shoe. I had tightened my laces of my inov-8 Roclite 295s that little bit tighter today to prevent this from happening, so it was impossible for me to get my heel back in. I have no option to sit down on the ground, untie and retie my shoe laces before getting back into the race. Although, I lost three places while sitting down, I vividly recall now that I didn't get one tiny bit angry. It was really strange there wasn't one single bit of negativity, I remained totally positive!

The drop down of the mountain was first rocky, before getting even steeper down over slippery grass slopes/tussocks. It was probably the steepest terrain I had every tried to run down. Again it didn't seem long before I reached checkpoint back on the flat at the 40 km mark. The photo below was taken shortly before checkpoint 3 at 40 kilometres. A quick top-up of Coca cola and water, and I was on my way.

The next section was a reasonably flat 4km over mainly gravel tracks but the occasional firmer footing grass. It was a good opportunity to get back into a good quick running rhythm. I was looking forward to meeting the lead runners so I could establish my position and also how far behind I was from runners in front, but also how far behind other runners, including my GB teammates were, who I still hadn't seen! The lead runner is a really fit looking guy from Canada. In fact pretty well all of the runners looked extremely fit. I check the time on my watch, which I recall showed 4:04, and then at the 44km turnaround, reached at 4:11, I calculate that I am around 14 minutes down. But the really surprising and exciting revelation was that I am in 13th place!

As I start the return journey, first the 4km back to checkpoint 3, I am wondering just how longer it will be until I meet Dan from Ireland again, and then my GB team mates. It is only three minutes as I meet Dan still heading out to the turn, so he is around 6 minutes behind. Then it is another additional five minutes before I encounter Julian Rendall, so around 16 minutes behind, and then shortly after I meet Allen Smalls closely followed by Craig Stewart. There is sincere encouragement exchanged between us as we pass each other. I am feeling pretty good, the results later show that this 8km flattish stretch between the checkpoints 3 and 4 was my best section, running the 6th fastest time overall for this section. It felt like I was running strong, and so I pretty well knew then that I wasn't going to lose 16 minutes to runners behind me. This was really great, as it meant I could forget totally about the destination, in terms of thinking where I would finish, whether in front of my GB teammates. I could go back to simply enjoying every moment, and a totally positive approach was definitely what was required in order to re-summit the even steeper face of Benbaun Mountain.

As I start the the climb back, rather gentle at first, my positivity is further increased, as I meet Lucy Colquhoun, a member of GB women's team. During the previous two days I had really enjoyed Lucy's company and she is an absolute ball of positive energy. She is quite small in size, but the amount of positive energy she radiates out is huge! Although she has just transversed over an extremely demanding mountain, you wouldn't know it, she is all smiles, and there is a great cheer as we see each other, and then we high five each other as we pass. She has really got the 'enjoy every moment' race strategy sorted!

As the climb initially gets steeper, I start getting really excited as there are 5 runners running reasonably close together, who all of a sudden are less than 200 metres ahead of me. (Although the closeness of the group was actually due to the steepness of the climb. They were probably still two minutes ahead.) I begin to subtract 5 away from 13, my current position. A position of eight is the answer. This seems totally unbelievable, and looking back now, I think that this calculation was the start of me slowing down. The focus returned back to the destination, rather than the journey, and then instead of getting a positive response for the eighth place, it was more like a negative response, in that a top ten finish was just not possible. I must have gone too hard, I'm bound to 'die', I better run cautiously to protect this good race position I am currently in! Yes, looking back now, it just shows that my preparation wasn't totally complete. I needed to ignore thinking about race finish placings and needed to get back to the present moment! I did in brief patches, but not like the totally continuous 'being in the now' that had occurred throughout the first nearly five hours of the race!

Just as I reach the top of the climb, where the gradient flattens out, I am overtaken by Dachhiri Sherpa, previous winner of UTMB, and 2nd place finisher in the previous IAU World Trail Champs back in 2009. I simply accept that he is better than me and that he should be ahead of me, rather than relishing at the opportunity to run alongside such a great runner! A second runner, this time from Argentina overtakes me, good he is perceived as a 'nobody' like me, so I decide to stay with him. We make our way reasonably close together down over some rocks first, then some firm grass, then some bog, before getting onto the flatter and slightly downhill gravel track though the woods to checkpoint 5 at 60 kilometres. I am met by a really positive, enthusiastic, but totally professional Andy Smith our Assistant Team Manager. He is all prepared and has my contents of my drop bag ready for me. He has a really good manner, saying the right things, giving off loads of positive energy. I rapidly drink some Coca cola, and then we run out of the checkpoint together as I drink most of the contents of a water bottle, with the remainder going over my head, before handing the bottle to Andy so as to not litter the countryside. Throughout the day the temperature had been ideal. Not too hot, even though the sun was frequently out, but with a cooling breeze up on the mountain tops, but not too cold that I needed to get out my 'flash' Montane jacket.

I depart the last checkpoint with the chap from Argentina directly on my tail. For the next 15 - 20 minutes he exactly follows me over the grass fields and then up an extremely demanding boggy uphill section. Whenever I briefly slow to a walk, he walks behind he, When I recommence running, he does the same. We climb over a stile onto a gravel road, for a slight gentle downhill and then some undulations for the next 3 - 4 kilometres. He immediately attacks and runs away from me. I am unable to stay with him, mainly because I begin to focus on the finish and my 15th place. I soon reach a 5km to go sign, and for the first time during the race I look behind. I have a clear view back along the gravel road for around 2 kilometres, there is absolutely no one in sight. This has a slowing affect on me, as there is simply no reason now to run hard, as by now with only 5km to go, my focus is solely about the destination, rather than the journey. I do what I 'preach' to others not to do. I start counting down the kilometres to the end! Again illustrating how my preparation was not complete. This should not happen. I should be better prepared than this!

The course leaves the gravel road to cross around two kilometres of fields, before the final one kilometre gentle descent along smooth paths down to the finish. As I make my way up the final small climb I ask one of the I think around 60 Army guys who have been fantastic at marshaling the course, whether there is anyone in sight. He confirms, absolutely no one is visible, so as I drop down into the village, passing many walkers I take in all of their acknowledgements, and simply enjoy the remainder of this most amazing journey wearing my first GB vest. I run around the village green and cross under the finish banner in a relaxed and very satisfied state, in a time of 7 hours 10 minutes and 42 seconds, in a finishing position of 15th place.

I am welcomed in by Team Manager Anne and she is really pleased for me. The TV cameras appear and I am interviewed. I have no idea what I said, all I can remember saying are words like, fantastic, great, awesome! As although there were times during the race that I lost the 'being present' enjoyment state, these moments were quite infrequent. So overall I was extremely pleased with my performance!

Six minutes after I have finished, Julian is the next runner to finish, in 16th place (7:16:50), shortly followed by Dan from Ireland in 17th place (7:19:18). Julian had pretty well run an exact opposite strategy to my fast start, and was really running strongly right to the finish, overtaking loads of runners coming back for the turnaround point. You can access an excel file where I have analysed the results a bit by clicking HERE. There were timing mats at kilometre distances of 12, 28, 40, 48, 60, and at the finish. My race position at the 6 points in the race was: 25, 17, 12, 13, 14, ending 15th. Quite a contrast to Julian: 48, 40, 34, 27, 19, ending 16th! This simple data just confirms that there is not one race strategy that fits all! You have to experiment and learn, discover what strategy works best for you! There is some good banter as I suggest that Julian should read my UltraStu blog, as if he had started faster, he would have finished heaps higher up. He doesn't agree, he is totally confident in his approach, and that is really all that matters. The take home message here is that whatever you do, you must have the belief that it is the best approach for you!

Allen Smalls is my next team mate to finish, in 29th place (7:39:47), then Craig Stewart in 35th place (7:47:00). I learn that Andrew unfortunately had to pull out of the race, due to aggravating a hamstring injury. An extreme disappointment for him, as well as being disappointing for the whole team, as I have mentioned earlier, there was a real genuine sense of camaraderie within the GB team. There is equally disappointment as I discover that Karen Rushton, a member of the GB women's team, also has had to withdraw from the race.

However, the whole GB team gets the great news that Lucy has moved into 3rd place and she isn't too far away from finishing. A few minutes later, she appears in the finishing straight, still a total bundle of positive energy, complete with a massive smile. She crosses the finish line in 3rd place (42nd overall) in a time of 7:57:20, and there are hugs all around. The entire GB team share the enjoyment of her success! The runners continue to finish over the next few hours, with the demands of the course being clearly evident on many, with most runners totally covered in mud. However, what I have found common at ultra trail races, although the course is usually mega demanding and really pushes each and every runner to the limit, within minutes of cross the line, the amount of positive energy that is evident amongst the runners, totally belies just challenging the race has been. The other two runners of the GB women's team, Adela Salt and Heather Foundling-Hawker finish in 18th (90th) place (9:36:40) and 24th (103rd) place (10:38:24) respectively.

Well, I have finally made it to the end of my IAU World Trail Championships race report. I think the excessive length of the this report is a true reflection of just what a great occasion the whole Great Britain representation experience has been. Whilst typing the above, I have learnt alot about myself in terms of how my mind 'works', about what motivates me, about what is required for me to be satisfied with myself and for me to experience immense enjoyment. Reflecting on my experience has further strengthened by beliefs that the body and mind are NOT separate identities, they are totally intermixed! Acceptance of this fact therefore reinforces the need for TOTAL preparation, in order for a satisfying performance to eventuate. Hopefully within my rather lengthy reflections on a truly amazing experience of running for Great Britain, that there aspects that you can take out and apply to YOURSELF, to assist you in getting as much enjoyment as possible from your trail running!

Time to sign off with some thanks! Firstly a hugh thank you to the entire GB team that I was part of at Connemara. In no particular order, a sincere thanks to my fellow runners Allen, Craig, Andrew, Julian, Karen, Adela, Heather, and last but definitely not least Lucy! Thank you so very much for making me feel such a welcome member of the Great Britain team, even with my Kiwi accent! An equally huge thanks to Andy for your extremely well organised and totally professional support during the weekend. Your ability to understand runners, to give them a gentle hurry up when needed, but to respect that runners like to do things often in their own specific way. Your understanding, your commitment, but most of all your outflowing of positivity was very much appreciated. To Anne and Norman Wilson, thank you very much for the much work you put in behind the scenes, to ensure that the whole trip runs smoothly. Without this background work, the positivity and unity within the team, which contributes massively to the success of the team would not be so evident. Although the race organisers and all of their loads and loads of helpers, are not likely to be reading my blog, but they really deserve the largest thanks of all, as without their huge commitments, the whole tremendous experience described above just would not have happened. So a hugh thanks to you all.

Well, after making my blog read like a Grammy or Oscars ceremony, it is definitely time to sign off, and to keep tonight's post short, I will sign off without a quote!

From a very satisfied Great Britain International runner, see you at a race somewhere, sometime. Do say hello.

Thanks for reading,

Stuart

IAU World Trail Championships - Connemara, Ireland - Quick Update

2011-07-10T19:55:00.003+01:00

Hi

Just a very quick update on yesterday's IAU World Trail Championships that took place in Connemara, Ireland. The race website http://www.runconnemara.com/ is currently down, (now back up and working fine), however the race results can be found on the following link: Race Results

The race was absolutely awesome, a real experience running in a Great Britain vest, as displayed in the photo above, taken by the Irish Team Manager Tony Brennan, shortly after the start of the first climb up Diamond Hill, where, when this photo was taken, I was in sixth place!

Yes, I adopted my usual strategy, "Run as fast as you can , while you can" and was actually leading the race for a wee while, and reached the start of the first tough climb after 5 km in 3rd place. As you can probably imagine, quite an exciting experience! I then settled down into a more realistic pace, and just enjoyed the very demanding boggy and mountainous course. I ended up finishing in 15th place overall, out of a total field of 131 starters. I was the first Great Britain team member to finish in a time of 7:10:42. Other male team finishers were Julian Rendall 7:16:50 (16th), Allen Smalls 7:39:47 (29th), and Craig Stewart 7:47:00 (35th). Unfortunately Andrew James (Highland Fling winner) had to pull out due to a hamstring injury, aggravated as a result of an extremely boggy and slippery course.

The British Womens team was led home by a fantastic 3rd Place by Lucy Colquhoun in a time of 7:57:20, followed by Adele Salt 9:36:40 (18th), and Heather Foundling-Hawker 10:38:24 (24th), Also, unfortunately Karen Rushton had to pull out.

Overall an amazing experience. Race report to follow later this week.

Stuart

This Saturday - BBC4 Trailblaze and IAU World Trail Challenge

2011-07-05T22:17:00.001+01:00

Hi Again

Wow! This Saturday is a 'double header'!

At 6:07am on radio BBC4 there is a 23 minute programme titled "Trailblaze on the South Downs", part of the weekly Open Country series. Back in April I had a post about the new Trailblaze concept that involves running along some of the National Trails, including the South Downs, with an electronic 'dibber' to see "How far can you go?". During my Trailblaze run in April, starting at Eastbourne, I only managed to reach the 40km mark at Housedean Farm. Such is the appeal of the Trailblaze concept, there was the desire to run further. So around 2 weeks ago, starting early in the morning at 5:24am, I managed this time to reach the 56km mark at Devils Dyke. You can view my results on the Trailblaze website by clicking http://www.trail-blaze.com/race.asp?race=7You can also see the GPS trace on GarminConnect, where the elevation profile shows that it wasn't really a flat run!

Back to the headline news, yes this Saturday BBC4 are doing a feature on the apparent controversy surrounding the new scheme! Yes, believe it or not, but there is quite a vocal group campaigning against the Trailblaze scheme, who are fighting for the small white dibber boxers, located along the trails to be removed. They have even set up an opposition website using a nearly identical website address. Click http://www.trail-blaze.co.uk/ to see the opposition website!

So BBC4 decided to investigate the controversy, and in order to get a balance of opinion regarding the scheme, they needed a runner. Hence where I stepped in! Yes, I was the example runner, totally in favour of the scheme, with the strong belief that anything that encourages more people to get out into the countryside to appreciate the amazing outdoors which Britain is privileged to posses, must be a worthwhile project. So that is what I told the BBC4 reporter Helen a few weeks back, as she attempted to run the start of the South Downs Way, unfortunately for her up the steep climb to the top of Beachy Head. As you would expect trying to interview me whilst jogging beside me proved a wee bit difficult, so we soon stopped, turned around, and enjoyed the awesome view overlooking Eastbourne as she continued the interview. I can't remember exactly what we chatted about, but after standing and then walking a bit more along the South Downs Way, she took the easy option, climbed into her car, to leave me to run the short (but to her, the rather long) 4 miles along the trail, to Birling Gap, where we continued discussing the merits of the Trailblaze scheme.

So to get the full picture surrounding the Trailblaze scheme, and apparent controversy, make sure you tune in, this Saturday, radio BBC4, at 6:07am!

Will I be tuning in to listen? No, definitely not! As at around that exact time, I will be doing my final preparations for my first International race running for Great Britain. The 44 mile IAU World Trail Challenge, taking place in Connemara, Ireland, which starts at 7:00am. My preparation has gone well. The last two weeks has been all about the TOTAL preparation necessary to perform with success during Ultra Trail races, as I talked about during my recent presentation as part of the Lakeland 100/50 recce weekend. So I have been looking at my own presentation slides, and ensuring that my preparation is TOTAL, and that I haven't missed any key aspects.

So as I look forward to being on the start line, alongside 83 other male runners from 20 countries, I am really excited about running against some of the best ultra trail runners in the World. I don't think that you will be able to follow the race live, however, if I can get internet access in Ireland I will put a quick update on how the race went on my UltraStu blog on the Saturday. Otherwise, hopefully the official race website will publish the results soon after the race is complete.

Last month when I announced my selection in the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team, I mentioned that there would be a post regarding the long journey from joining Hutt Valley Harriers in 1977 as a 14 year old, to gaining international selection as an Ultra Trail runner as a 48 year old! Many apologies, but the story of my journey will have to be now even longer, to include the 44 mile journey around Connemara! Hopefully within the next week or so I will have time to share my experiences with you, especially including the next few days in Ireland, which should be Ultra special!

Time to sign off with some current thoughts: "Too often it is easy to accept that one's ability is lacking, and to be comfortable with what 'cards one has been dealt'. However, 'the hand you end up with' is totally within one's own control, and is largely determined by the ability to question, to reflect, but most of all to persevere and to look deeply within at oneself, to develop the confidence, to possess the self belief, that more can be achieved, to extend oneself beyond the norm!"

May you all develop the confidence, and possess the self belief, to excel!

Stuart

Lakeland 100/50 Recce Weekend - The Ultra-Friendly Ultra-Trail Community

2011-06-28T22:59:00.006+01:00

Hi

Tonight I would like to report on the Lakeland 100/50 Recce Weekend that I attended last weekend. The recce weekend was put on by the Lakeland 100/50 organisers Marc and Terry, along with their hard working band of helpers. It consisted of a 28 mile run on the Saturday, and a 16mile run on the Sunday. But what was probably the most demanding in terms of endurance was the 95 minute presentation by 'Yours Truely' - UltraStu's views on The Final Five Weeks of Preparation! Yes, I was meant to talk for one hour, but somehow got my pace judgement totally wrong, started far too slowly, and keep on going at a slow pace, so went well over my predicted finishing time!!! Well at least it is better to go over time during a talk than during a race!

So firstly, many apologies to the 50 - 60 runners present at the Ambleside Village Hall on Saturday evening. After a tough 28 mile run, it was great to see that everyone's preparation must be going well as no one fell asleep, much more than I can say for my University students that attend my biomechanics lectures!!!

The recce weekend started as we boarded the two coaches to take us from Ambleside to Pooley Bridge, which is 2 miles into leg 9 of the 100, or 6 miles into leg 1 of the 50. As we alight the bus, there is still the queues for the toilets, just like for a race, but there isn't the GO of a race start. So gradually over probably a ten minute period around 90 runners start their journey back to Ambleside, running off in their own time typically in small groups of 5 - 10 runners. As an indication of what was going to occur during the whole weekend I was busy talking to other runners, so was therefore one of the last runners to head off in a small group. As we climbed up the first rise, myself and another runner Barry, who I had got talking to, slowly moved ahead of the group. We found we were wanting to run at an identical pace, so as it ended up, we ran together, chatting non-stop for the whole 28 miles!

The recce run first covered the remaining 5.19 miles of leg 9, which took Barry and I 43 minutes and 5 seconds to complete, not that it was a race! I wore my Garmin GPS watch during the weekend, so apart from where I forgot to start the watch until around 5 minutes after leaving Kentmere on leg 12, the GPS files which can be found on Garmin Connect all show the correct race route, (apart from a slight detour along the road at Skelwith Bridge Hotel, a new change to the 2011 route). Click http://connect.garmin.com/activity/95173720 for the leg 9 file, and then click franstu near the top left of the page to access the other legs.

As we departed Howtown I remembered back to the race last year, and specifically that leg 10 was a real struggle for me. Not only did it seem to take forever to reach the highest point of the race route at around 665 metres, but once I had finally reached the top I couldn't find the track across the top and then down to the footbridge near Haweswater. Well it was totally different last weekend. Before we knew it we had reached the top, then with the aid of a GPS device of a fellow runner with the race route programmed in, we were able to follow the exact path down to the footbridge. It definitely is heaps quicker sticking to the path. Although I am not running the Lakeland 100 this year, however, with the intention to do it again in 2012 (I presume on the night of the Olympic Opening Ceremony), finally knowing the correct path to take on this leg, the only part of the course I didn't exactly know, made the long trip from Brighton up for the recce weekend more than worthwhile. Upon reaching the track alongside Haweswater, whether it was a result of the satisfaction of now knowing the way, or maybe in response to discovering that I would be racing against Barry in two weeks time at the IAU World Trail Challenge over in Connemara, Ireland. Whatever the reason, the pace significantly picked up for the 4.5km until the end of the leg at Mardale Head. During the 2010 race, the leg took me 2 hours 52 minutes, running chatting with Barry on Saturday only took us 1 hour 45 minutes, quite a difference in pace!

After a bit of flapjack and cake, the two of us continued on our way. During legs 9 and 10 we had caught and passed quite a few runners, so as we started leg 11 we could not see any runners in front of us, however, Terry at the checkpoint informed us that around five or so runners had already passed through. Not that we were racing or anything, but the idea that there were some runners 'to catch' I think briefly crossed both of our minds. So the two of us kept the pace reasonably steady, and as we were descending down to the Kentmere checkpoint we caught up to some runners and then came across a few more at the checkpoint,enjoying some more cake and drink provided by the organisers. Just as we arrived, the group of runners at the checkpoint must have been talking about 'beginning to struggle', so as we arrived, I was greeted with a "Here is the man to ask about keeping positive!". They had read a few of my posts, so there was some good banter about positivity, especially as the rain had just got a bit heavier after only being a light drizzle and even clear on occasions earlier.

We all left the checkpoint together and walked steadily up the next climb. Throughout the weekend I met so many different runners that I can't recall all of their names. But there was a South African chap, (sorry I've forgotten your name!), who had completed Comrades Marathon ten times, very impressive. Then there was David, who looked like he belonged in the scrum of a rugby pack, not your typical ultra runners build, but obviously extremely fit since it had taken Barry and I so long to catch them. Also a chap called John, like the South African chap, quick with the wit regarding positivity!

By the time we reached the top of the climb, Barry was itching to get moving more quickly, so he substantially ups the pace, and the two of us start the long gentle descent but over rather rough terrain down to Troutbeck. As I am not running the Lakeland 100 this July I was able to pass on to Barry all of my tips about running the race route. Having run with him for over five hours, and hearing a little bit about his achievements, if you want to put some money on who will win this years race, then Barry could be a good bet! Keeping in mind that I would be racing Barry in two weeks time, I thought this long descent would be a great opportunity to see what is descending was like over rough terrain. So with a bit more focus, I set a reasonably quick pace, which resulted in Barry taking a small tumble. Just to confirm his downhill ability, the pace increased even more, and I slowly moved away from him over the next five minutes. As the track flattened out Barry rejoins me with a bit of friendly banter about 'attacking him while he was down"! We continue chatting and running together and before we know it we are enjoying a coffee in the cafe above the final checkpoint for the day at the Lakes Runner Shop.

It isn't long before we are joined by more runners, and there is a real buzz of positivity within the cafe. Although we have all run a pretty demanding 28 miles, you wouldn't know it, as there is just so much energy and enthusiasm about. I learn that the 'rugby player' is actually an ex-long distance kayaker. Apparently he can kayak a marathon (albeit downriver) faster than he can run one! Seeing the pace he ran over the weekend all I can say is that he must of been a pretty awesome kayaker!

Day two of the recce was equally as enjoyable as day one. For the Sunday it was only legs 13, 14, 15 of the 100 or legs 5, 6, 7 of the 50. I again start off slowly as we depart Ambleside on the journey to Coniston. I find myself chatting to various runners and then after a wee while I find that I am just moving that little bit quicker than then, so I tended to leave them behind, before catching up with the next group ahead. This is repeated a few times until I find myself running with two chaps (Steve and Jason?) who are going pretty well the same pace as me. Halfway during leg 14, we are overtaken by a group of runners, (including the Rugby Lad and the Comrades King), who apparently had gone off course and had to wade across a river. Whether they were running fast to get themselves warm, or maybe they were putting into practice, some of the messages from the previous night's talk, such as "re-evaluate your self perceptions, raise your expectations", whatever the reason they weren't hanging around. After a slightly quicker than planned 28 miles with Barry on day one, I decided that the enjoyable chat I was currently in the middle of would take priority, so let them 'sprint' off into the distance!

For the remainder of the recce, the three of us run together, and although not as quick as the guys that overtook us, we weren't really taking our time. The last leg of 3.43 miles, up and over the final climb from Tilberthwaite Car Park to the finish at the school in Coniston, only takes us 39 minute 25 seconds, again significantly faster than the 63 minutes it took me on race day last July! In fact looking at the results from last year, this time for the final leg was only 49 seconds slower that the time set by the record breaking winner of the Lakeland 50 Andrew James!

To finish off the recce weekend there was again loads more chatting, and munching on even more cake provided by Marc, as the runners reach the finish at the school in Coniston. Finally the sun comes out to top off an excellent weekend. Although the weekend has consisted of two descent length runs over challenging terrain, combined with a lengthy 95 minute presentation on the Saturday night. Even though I should be tired, I am full of positive energy, that I have received from the absolutely friendly and supportive ultra trail running community of the Lakeland 100/50, and before I know it, I am back home in East Sussex.

To finish of this post I would just like to thank all of the runners and the organisers who shared in the enjoyable weekend. As I mentioned at the start of my talk, doing a presentation on my own material, was a bit daunting, as demonstrated by my heart rate being around 130 bpm at the start, higher than my Lakeland 100 race intensity for the last 7 legs! However, after the 'high intensity' but 'poorly paced' start, it felt like I got into the 'rhythm of the event' and delivered a worthy performance!

At the conclusion of my presentation I put up the above 'Take Home' Points slide. 1. Define what success means to you was about encouraging all runners to have a clear goal of what they want to achieve, with it possibly being a bit more specific and a bit more ambitious that simply finishing in 39hours and 59minutes. 2. Re-evaluate / adjust your self expectations was about taking on board that over the years of running, each and every one of us will have improved without probably noticing the change, and maybe now was a good time to re-evaluate one's self perceptions of oneself. 3. Final five weeks - carry out total preparation was about stressing the need to give serious thought to what possibly could happen during the race, and more importantly, to develop a positive strategy to deal with the, at times, challenging situations that may arise. 4. Surround / immerse yourself with positivity was about the importance of positivity on performance, and how one can gain great benefits in receiving it from family, friends, fellow runners, and most importantly from within.

To sign off, the final few words from the Take Home Points slide seems appropriate: "During the Lakeland 100/50 weekend in July, enjoy the total experience, enjoy the journey, and live fully every moment.", Stuart Mills 2011.

To all of the Lakeland 100/50 runners out there, and to all other ultra trail runners, may your TOTAL preparations leading up to your next race go well and result in a successful performance.

Stuart

Northants Ultra 35 Miles Race Report - Factors That Affect Performance

2011-06-11T02:10:00.002+01:00

Hi

Yes a few days late, but finally time to write last weekend's Northants Ultra 35 Mile race report. As with most of my race reports, it may well take an ultra effort to get to the end!

The Northants Ultra was the seventh race of the 2011 Runfurther UK Ultra-running Championship. It was the third running of the event, but the first time I had run it. With the event taking place in Northamptonshire, it was not so far to travel as usual, so my wife Frances and two boys Robert and Chris decided that they would come and cheer me on. They don't often watch me race, having only watched me race seven times over the last three years. What is significant though, is that for the seven previous races they have watched me, I have won them all except a 22nd place at Ultra Trail Mont Blanc. So them coming to cheer me on was a significant factor towards my 'increased positivity' leading up to the race.

Following my wee bit disappointing run at the Highland Fling five weeks earlier, the physical training had gone well and I was really looking forward to having a strong run at the Northants Ultra. Although I am well aware that physical fitness does not change within a few weeks, what can change very quickly is 'mental fitness', or I prefer to use the terms like self belief, or self expectations, or simply self confidence! The difference in five weeks in my self expectations was quite amazing. Although I tried to convince myself that all was fine for the Highland Fling, that I was back on track after my skiing crash, deep down the self belief just wasn't there, and that was clearly evident in how I ran at the Highland Fling.

It is quite easy to state that ultra trail race performance is largely determined by one's self expectations, and one's self belief in that they will respond positively to what they will encounter during an ultra trail race. HOWEVER, it is a different matter in ensuring one has these high self expectations. I guess it gets down to having some evidence to confirm that your high self expectations are realistic and not just a 'want' or a dream! So anyway, part of this evidence for me was due to the good patch of physical training over the previous 4 -5 weeks, but also, and probably more importantly, was the news that I had been selected to represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the upcoming IAU World Trail Challenge in Connemara, Ireland. Now if that significant bit of news wasn't going to raise my self expectations, I guess nothing was!!!

So come race day, I am relaxed chatting to a few runners I had met at previous races. I had prepared well, spending quite some time looking at the race route map provided in advance by the race organisers and checking out previous year's race results and race reports. I find carrying out this 'research' on a race that I haven't competed in before is extremely important as it gives me a greater understanding of what I may be able to expect to happen during the race, and therefore ensure that I respond positively to these as they occur. The race record was 4 hours 45 minutes, based on my 'research', I felt a time of 4 hours 17 minutes was possible. I had decided that it would be back to 'Run as fast as you can, while you can!' There would be none of this running beside other runners, and allowing myself to be dictated by their running pace. Looking back now, it just does show how I just didn't have my usual self belief at the Highland Fling!

There are around 120 runners on the start line, which is directly in front of the quite impressive looking Lamport Hall. we are sent on our way, and as to plan I blast off out into the front, which has been described within David Jelley's race report on the Runfurther website as "Stuart Mills had left Lamport like a man who has been told he has 15 minutes to run to the newsagent 5 miles away, to claim his million pound lottery win".

During the race I wear a Garmin GPS watch that records and stores my heart rate and mile spilt times. It does beep each mile, but nowadays I try not to pay attention to it while racing. The benefit I get is when I analyse and reflect upon my race performance in the days after the race. The Garmin trace can be viewed on the Garmin Connect website http://connect.garmin.com/activity/90451001 So after around 4 miles of a mixture of undulating fields and a slightly downhill gravel/rock hard dirt track, I happen to hear a beep from my watch and glance down. It felt as if I was running quite fast, I could sense no other runners near me (I try to make a conscious point not to turn around to see where they are, better to focus on my own pace not others!). I then get a shock when the split time for the mile just run shows 6:55. It definitely felt quicker than that! You can now see why I nowadays don't look at the mile split times during the race. I immediately start to think negative, as a 6:55 mile should definitely not feel that hard! I quickly re-check the split time that stays displayed for around 5 seconds, I see that the split is 5:55 not 6:55, which is really pleasing as the pace didn't feel that quick. Shortly after I reach the first checkpoint and I get another positive boost. I have only been running for 25 minutes and I am already 4 minutes up on my schedule. Yes, today was all going to plan, and even better!

Although feeling quite comfortable with the pace I am running at, I decide that I can ease off a bit and as my heart rate data later shows, for the next four miles the heart rate drops from around 172-173 bpm, down to 168-169 bpm. Checkpoint two soon appears, I take on my second gel of the day, (being extra cautious due to the carbohydrate 'blip' I had at the Highland Fling), and I am still 4 minutes up on schedule.

For the next nine miles the course is really quite spectacular, there is great countryside, there are great views as it's seem to be up quite high up as I run out of Naseby, so combined with the gentle down, blue sky, and bright sunshine, I am really enjoying the moment. Looking at the heart rate data shows that during these nine miles I substantially eased off the pace. It wasn't a conscious effort, but probably just due to being distracted by the scenery and pleasantness of the surroundings.

Checkpoint three at 16 miles is reached after 1 hour 52 minutes and I am now one minute down on schedule. I have a brief chat to the friendly marshals, take on my third gel and get on my way. Thinking I should really up the intensity a bit, so the heart rate goes up from around 155 - 157bpm up to 159-160bpm, I begin to get a feeling that I have perhaps gone off course as I am having to take a rather jagged course around fields rather than a smooth line as shown on the map. Stopping to check the map to see which way to go I am unable to locate my position on the map. So I continue in a direction that I think is correct hoping to find a significant landmark so I can re-position myself back on the map. I get to a country lane. I have a real problem now, do I turn left or right? There should be a footpath or bridleway to run up, but none in sight! I look more closely at the map, I look at my surroundings, nothing to help me. So after what seems forever, but probably less than a minute I decide to head left, I shortly come across a bridleway and re-inspect my map. I then hear a shout from a runner coming up the road who shouts out, "Yes that is the way, follow the bridleway". To say I got a bit of a shock would be an understatement! Where the hell did he come from?

As I head off along the bridle path with this other runner only 50 metres behind, I decide it is a good time to take on some Cliff Bar, and jog until he catches me up. I had to establish which one of the following was the correct case: (i) Has this runner maintained his same pace, that is slower than mine, but without me knowing it I have lost loads of time by going off course and trying to read the map, or (ii) Has this runner started off at a conservative pace and has then picked up his pace and is now running quicker than me, so he caught me due to this rather than me going significantly off course. I was hoping that option (i) would be the answer, if it was option (ii), then my relaxing enjoyable run in the sunshine was going to immediately stop and I was going to have a real battle on my hands! Not that I don't enjoy competitive battles during races, it was just that I had got used to cruising and enjoying the countryside.

So David Jelley catches me up. I haven't actually spoken to him before, but I do recognise him from previous races. Phew, it is option (i), all is under control, no problems, I confirm with myself that I must have lost loads of time going off course. Rather than picking up my pace and trying to drop him, due to the confidence in knowing that I have raced him and beaten him before, I decide why not run with him for a while, have a chat, before getting back to race intensity. So that's what I do, I simply start chatting to him. On occasions during races I have had the occasional sentence or two with other runners, but I usually keep the talking rather brief. Some runners don't mind the conversation, others get rather upset. Fortunately David was very receptive to having a chat. So we start chatting. I comment that he isn't even carrying a map, he explains that this is because he grew up in the area. He is wearing a shirt and shorts with the words Jelleylegs on, so I ask him about this. Jelleylegs is his running business up in Yorkshire, http://www.jelleylegs.co.uk/ where he guides runners around the scenic trails of Yorkshire, sharing his running and phsyio experiences to aid their enjoyment of running.

Well although it is meant to be a race, it seems that we are chatting for quite a while, probably though only around 10 - 15 minutes. We run through Long Bucky together, which is really useful, as it saves me from having to read the notes on the map that guide you through the village. As we head out along the road towards Great Brington, I start to get the feeling that David has had enough of chatting as he is finding the pace that little bit harder than me. He then encourages me to go ahead and sort'of apologises for slowing me down. Although I am more than happy to continue chatting, I decide that perhaps I should get back into race mode. So I say 'seeya later' and speed of up the road.

Checkpoint four at 23 miles shortly arrives after 2 hours 45 minutes, and surprisingly I am still only one minute down on my schedule. As I tend to start reasonably quick in ultra trail races, my planned race schedule progressively slows as the race progresses. So even though it felt like I had slowed quite a bit whilst running alongside David, in fact I don't actually think the pace was much slower, it just felt heaps easier due to the positivity being shared between us.

I get near to the village of Harlestone and as I head back across the fields I have a wee bit of difficulty finding the footpath. I eventually re-find it as I run across a golf course, but then I manage to veer off to the right down the side of a church. Another stop for a close inspection of the map and I identify where I am, no problem, so I continue up a lane then briefly along a busy A road. Then at the exact moment as I rejoin onto the race route, from behind the hedge and over the stile comes David. Well if that isn't a clear message to continue our conversation, I don't know what could be clearer! So I spring back into full chatter, deciding that it is alot easier to let David to the navigating.

We therefore run together across the fields until we reach a short climb before checkpoint five at Teeton and I move ahead. It isn't really a surprise this time at the checkpoint as I am now six minutes down on my schedule. I take on my fifth and final gel for the day, chat to some more friendly marshals and have a brief rest while I wait for David. We head off together, but shortly after there is another climb up to Creaton and I move ahead again. I decide to increase the intensity back to race pace for the remaining six miles. The heart rate goes up from the rather casual 152-156 bpm back up to around 162 bpm. The route then crosses some more fields before rejoining onto the track we ran earlier that morning not far from the 4 mile mark. Although I am back to running a reasonably solid pace, I begin to feel a little guilty with my rather half-hearted approach to the day's race. I reflect and consider that chatting and taking it easy isn't what British International runners should be doing! I decide that the only way to redeem myself is therefore to push it hard to the finish. So time to challenge myself with some hard running for the last 3 miles. The heart rate goes back up to 167-169 bpm and I happen to hear a beep from my watch and see a 6:53 mile split for mile number 35. The pace slows quite a bit up the tough climb back to Lamport Hall, but the effort remains high as I cross the finish line, after covering 36.11 miles in a time of 4:20:37, only three minutes slower than my planned finish time of 4:17.

Around seven minutes later David Jelley finishes, and we re-continue our conversation. The atmosphere at the finish line is superb. There are hot drinks and cake freely available, but what really makes it is the abundance of positive energy. Even though it was a reasonably hot day, over an, at times, undulating course, the majority of runners after the initial few moments upon finishing, all seemed to be really buzzing. The true spirit of ultra trail running was clearly evident!

So to summarise, the Northants Ultra 35 Mile was overall a really positive experience, over a great course, shared with friendly chatty runners, and with extremely good race organisation. Thanks loads to organisers Steve, Guy and their team of helpers for putting on such an excellent event. I sub-titled this post "Factors That Affect Performance" as I feel that the Northants Ultra illustrates that there are many, many factors that can influence one's ultra trail race performance; ranging from misreading a mile split time, getting lost and going off course, being hot and sunny, not remaining within the race focus, having the support from your family, the companionship of running together with other runners, and the self belief that one's preparation has been good. All of these factors can affect race performance, but to put it simply, it is all about remaining positive, both leading up to the race and throughout the entire race.

I think now is a good time to sign off; "Race preparation involves considering those factors that can affect your ultra trail running performance. Recognise them, and prepare yourself to ensure that for you, they all result in a positive effect on your performance." Stuart Mills 2011.

May you all have positive effects within your running.

Stuart

Northants Ultra 35 MIle - Shires and Spires - Quick Update

2011-06-05T22:51:00.001+01:00

Hi

Just a quick update on today's race. Well all went really well. It was a great course, extremely well organised, perfect weather conditions, and loads of positive people to chat with at the finish.

I managed to come first in a new record time of 4 hours 20 minutes. Twenty five minutes quicker that the previous course record that was held jointly by Andrew James in 2009 (recent Highland Fling winner), and Mark Shepherd in 2010. So a very pleasing time. Second was David Jelley in 4:27, with Jim Rogers third in 4:39. The women's placings were 1st Phillipa Taylor 4:58, 2nd Jacqueline Palmer 5:12, and 3rd Kate Churchill 6:14.

Nice to earn myself 1000 points in the 2011 Runfurther Ultra Series. Next race is in five weeks time, over in Ireland, the IAU World Trail Challenge!

To all of you that raced today, hopefully your event was as positive, rewarding and enjoyable as mine.

Hopefully full race report within the next few days.

Stuart

IAU World Trail Challenge - British Selection

2011-06-03T22:45:00.001+01:00

Hi,

Yet another short post tonight, simply to share my pleasure and satisfaction in being selected to represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the IAU World Trail Challenge to be held in Connemara, Ireland, next month.

After 34 years since I started running in 1977, and after 20 years since I moved to the United Kingdom, I have finally achieved something, i.e. representing my country, that started out as a distant dream as a child, then developed into an ambition during my twenties and thirties, before being discounted as I approached and then reached my forties. So for it to finally occur, after such a long journey of endurance sport, is quite a feeling!

I haven't got time tonight to expand on the selection and the excitement of the upcoming race in Ireland, but I think that maybe a wee post about a few of the aims and challenges over the years that I have experienced is due. Hopefully next week sometime!

The full team was announced today on the UK Athletics Website The team consists of:

AVIVA GB & NI TEAM
MEN
Andy James
Craig Stewart (Forfar)
Allen Smalls (Colchester)
Julian Rendall (Tonbridge)
Stuart Mills (Brighton & Hove)

WOMEN
Kate Jenkins (Hunter Bog Trotters)
Lucy Colquhoun (Carnethy)
Karen Rushton (South West Vets)
Adela Salt (Trentham)
Heather Foundling-Hawker (Honiton RC)

Details about the race are at the following link:http://www.runconnemara.com/live/

All the best with your aims and ambitions.

Stuart

Competition and Collaboration - The Spirit of the Ultra Trail Running Community

2011-05-27T22:29:00.001+01:00

Hi Again

Following on from last week's short post, tonight is another short post announcing another event that I am speaking at.

This year my number one target race is the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB) that starts on Friday 26th August. As part of my pre-race preparations I am contributing to the Alpine-Oasis Ultra Trail Running Camp. Alpine-Oasis have been running Ultra Trail Running Camps for a number of years, both within the United Kingdom and in France. I haven't taken part in any of their camps yet, but what I have heard and read about them, is that they are really informative and enjoyable. Click this link to read an article about last year's Alpine Oasis French Ultra Trail Running Camp from last November's Running Free magazine ( http://www.runningfreemag.co.uk/ )

The camp course leader is Andy Mouncey, who finished second to me in last year's Montane Lakeland 100. Andy has quite an impressive website http://www.bigandscaryrunning.com/, where he shares a few of his ideas.

So this August if you are thinking of coming out to watch the UTMB, then maybe the one week running camp that takes place from the 20th to the 27th August is just what you need to get you to the UTMB start line for 2012. If you are racing this year's UTMB then Alpine Oasis also have a Pre UTMB Race Package, click this link for more information.

Apologies if this post reads a bit like an advertisement, I guess it is, as obviously there is a charge for the camp and the pre-race package. However, for me, my incentive for being involved is nothing to do with money, (actually I'm doing it for no money), but as a opportunity to share my thoughts and experiences with other runners, as my contribution to the amazing ultra trail running community that I am part of. I think it is great how so many ultra trail runners, of all standards, are willing to share their experiences to help others. I find their 'words of wisdom' beneficial, as I hope those that read, or for the two forthcoming events, those that listen to my words, will find my words both thoughtful and useful. But what I also love about the ultra trail running community is that during the race it can be at times all serious and deep focus and concentration, but after the race there is the great atmosphere as all of the runners share and discuss their experiences of their ultra trail journey.

So come this August, Andy and I will transform from competitors from last year's Montane Lakeland 100 and maybe next week's Shires and Spires Northants 35 mile ultra, and then collaborate together on the French running camp. Then at 6:30pm on Friday 26th August we will return back to our competitive state as we both battle it out against each other again, along with 2300 other runners, on THE most amazing journey in ultra trail running, the UTMB.

To those of you who will be out in France in August, I hope I have a chance to meet you, either before, during, or after the UTMB.

May you all experience the real spirit of ultra trail running, the competition and collaboration of a friendly and sharing community.

See you at Shires and Spires, Lakeland 100 recce, or out in France.

Stuart

Montane Lakeland 100 - June Recce Day Workshop

2011-05-20T22:36:00.000+01:00

Hi

Just a quick post tonight to make you aware of a workshop I am delivering as part of the June Recce for the Montane Lakeland 100.

The Montane Lakeland 100 is the premier UK 100 mile ultra, which combined with the Montane Lakeland 50 has a maximum field of 1000 runners this year, and with many on a waiting list! As part of the great organisation for the race, there have been a number of recce runs throughout the year, with the last recce run prior to the race taking place on the weekend of the 25th - 26th June. In addition to the runs that take place on each day, on the Saturday night there are a number of workshops.

Those of you that are observant may have noticed a Montane logo to the right of my posts. Yes, I am fortunate to be sponsored my Montane, which is fantastic since their kit is such good quality! Hence the reason for my new flash orange kit that I wore during the recent Montane Highland Fling.

Montane have just added a brief interview about me to their website, but as you know from the length of my posts, the interview isn't actually that brief. Click the link to access the interview: http://www.montane.co.uk/expeditions/stuart-mills

Anyway, back to the June recce weekend workshop. Yes, in conjunction with Montane I am delivering a 50 - 60 minute talk titled:

“Lakeland 100/50 Preparation – The Final Four Weeks – The Importance of Expectations!”. What preparations can be carried out over the final four weeks, which will maximise the likelihood of achieving a successful performance? The presentation will discuss a variety of topics related to expectations of the event and expectations of oneself. Aspects covered will include: positivity, pacing, fuelling, and self-belief.

With regards to the workshop, although I won the Montane Lakeland 100 last year, my talk will not focus solely on the top end of the field, the plan is that it will be relevant to all entrants. Success during the event is totally relative to each person. No matter what finishing time people are expecting, I am hopeful that my ‘words of wisdom’ will be relevant to everyone and will aid their Lakeland 100/50 performance.

So if you are running the Montane Lakeland 100/50 I hope to see you at the recce weekend. Details of how to register for the workshop will be included in the next Lakeland 100/50 e-mail newsletter that should be coming out soon, or on the race website: http://www.lakeland100.com/

I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to share my ideas with fellow ultra runners in person, especially with the opportunity to discuss various aspects with them, and to respond to their questions.

Best I get my thoughts in order to ensure that I stick to the time I have been allocated!

All the best with your preparations,

Stuart