Why? Why? Why? That is the common
question I get when I tell people I’m running 100 miles. To be fair, at times
during the Winter 100 over the weekend I was asking myself that same question.
Inevitably during a race that long you’ll suffer quite a bit but the joy and
feeling of accomplishment of crossing that finish line make all the pains and
aches more than worthwhile. A feeling I plan to experience many times over the
next few years.
The Winter 100 wasn’t on my plans
for 2014, I usually race very little but when I saw spaces available I couldn’t
resist and signed up. Training for this race was unusual, I completed Ironman
Sweden, one of mine A races for 2014 just weeks prior, I raced hard and did well
there but it took a lot out of me, for a while afterwards I felt tired and
suffered from niggling pains and aches, so my strategy for the Winter 100 was
to train less, recover hard and be at the start in the freshest way possible and of course grow a beard to look more like an ultrarunner! I
knew with the fitness I accumulated training for the Thames Path 100 and
Ironman Sweden would help me get through my last challenge for 2014. This time
also coincided with my wife and kids being away in New Zealand, free of any
family responsibilities one would think that I would have all the time in world
to train but my common sense dictated that this wouldn’t be the smartest
choice. The upside of not having the family around for a while was that I was
able to get plenty of good quality sleep. During the time my diet (as far as
metabolic efficiency is concerned) was pretty close to perfect with the
exception of a few treats, I decided that since I couldn’t train as much it
would be a sensible idea to try losing a bit of excess body fat, metabolic efficient
eating worked a treat. In comparison to my Ironman Sweden race week weight I
was more or less 5 pounds lighter, it doesn’t sound a lot but when have to run
100 miles and it will help a long way.
My main tactics to lose a bit of excess
body fat were to reduce my portions a bit and try to exercise just before my
main meals so that it worked as my recovery food. I never counted calories or
went hungry. If you want to know more about metabolic efficiency you can read
this post, but essentially it’s a way of eating that emphasises the reduction
of insulin spikes and control of blood sugar levels with the aim of enhancing
your body’s ability to use its own fat stores as fuel.
When race day arrived I felt
ready, niggle free and lighter, let’s go and finish 2014 in style. The Winter
100 race is a series of 4 different 25-mile spurts along the Thames Path and the
Ridgeway, with spurts 1 and 4 being flat and spurts 2 and 4 hilly, the course
resembles the shape of a cross, what I loved about this race was being able to
return to the starting point where my drop bag would be with all my favourite foods
and spare clothes/shoes. My race strategy was to start at a sensible pace, run
the most I could during spurts 1 and 2 whilst in daylight and hang on during later
sections. The first 50miles went without a problem, the rain that was
forecasted never arrived and it felt very warm outside, I had started the race
wearing a base layer but soon felt it was too warm for that. I got through some
of the hills at the start of leg 3 and around mile 55 I suffered my first ‘bad
patch’, you just have to try to stay positive and accept that these patches
will come and go, I walked for a while and all of sudden I felt re-energised
and able to run again. It felt great arriving at mile 75 back at headquarters and
see some familiar faces before the last spurt. Two miles into spurt 4 I was crossing
some fields and up to now I am still not sure what exactly happened but being
tired and with my concentrating levels dipping I managed to turn around on myself
and started running towards the finish, I ran about a mile in the wrong
direction and realised of my cock-up when I saw the bridge near the finish
line. Very annoying but all I could do now was to pay better attention. At
around mile 85 I suffered another bad patch and had to walk for a while, that
must have lasted a good 20-25min, it still felt warm and muggy outdoors, even
for my Brazilian body, I was still just wearing a t-shirt despite being autumn
here in the UK. The rain came down at this point and it felt refreshing and I
started running again. During the last 15 miles or so I really didn’t feel like
eating at all, at the time the thought of chewing food didn’t appeal to me at
all, with a few miles to go I started sipping cold and flat coke mixed with a
bit of water and salt sticks. I know some of you that follow my blog will be
curious to how much and what I ate. I ate roughly every hour and consumed in
the region of 90 calories each time for the first 60miles or so, during the
later stages it all becomes a bit of a blur really. My foods of choices are
cheese/ham sandwiches, peanut butter/banana sandwiches, Generation UCAN sports
drink, Nakd bars, crisps and flat coke. As I left the last aid station with 4
miles to go something just clicked, the pains and aches disappeared. I was on
the home straight, even taking a tumble in the mud with a mile to go.
I crossed the finish line in
21h09 and 18th overall and with a big smile on my face. I’m very
chuffed to own my second ONE-DAY buckle.
Super thanks to all the volunteers,
no volunteers means no race, thanks to my co-runners and Centurion Running for putting
a great event.
The 2014 season
That’s it; it is the end of my
season, I’m here writing my blog and sipping a cold beer. What goals did I have
in mind when I planned for 2014. My race goals were to complete a 100-mile
ultramarathon at Thames Path 100 and to go sub-11 hours at Ironman Sweden in
August. My other goals were to become a better cyclist and remain injury free.
Every goal has been ticked and I couldn’t
be any happier. My debut at 100-miles at Thames Path 100 exceeded my
expectations earlier this year; you can read my post here. My attention shifted
to Ironman Sweden from May with lots of cycling. I had a really good race and
pb-ed with 10:57, during training for this my FTP power improved as well as my
power/weight ratio, you can read about my Swedish adventure in here. Another
year and I remain injury free, in actual fact I haven’t suffered from injuries
since 2008, I’m not superman, far from that and I do suffer from niggles from time to time,
more of them in 2014 though. I don’t have a secret but a combination of ideas
some may find useful. I listen to my body, if something isn’t right I don’t ignore
it, I see my physiotherapist regularly and I back off hard training, especially
running when I feel the need to. I am bit anal with my sleep, I like 8 hours a
night, fuck the TV, sleep is the best recovery there is and it's free. I swim, bike, run and
also perform conditioning and strengthening work, this combination keeps training
entertaining and gives me a complete body workout. I also don’t race very much
and have breaks every year. And of course I eat the metabolic efficient way.
More than race times and power
meter data, 2014 has been about building my confidence and knowing I’m heading
in the right direction. I don’t have any special athletic talent or favourable
genetics but I’m learning that my hard work, my faith in my training methods
and being patient are allowing me to achieve more than I once thought possible.
It’s been a great learning curve and experience and I look forward to the future.
I now embark on a two-week end of
season break, no exercise at all, time to give my body and mind a break. Plan
is go to the cinema and a few trips to the pub of course.
I have one goal for 2015, well,
one goal with four parts though. That is to complete the Centurion Running Grand Slam and
finish four 100-mile ultramarathons from May to Oct, the Thames Path 100, the
South Downs Way 100, the North Downs Way 100 and finish off with the Winter
100. I really look forward to this challenge. I’m love with ultrarunning at the
moment! I’m going to start my season in style though, I’ll be racing the
Tarawera 100k ultra in Feb and the Motatapu off-road marathon in March , both in
New Zealand and great preparation for Thames Path 100.
If you want to keep in touch you
can follow me on twitter @braziliangunner
Thanks for reading my blog.
Thanks for reading my blog.
