Sparta

This year hasn't really ever got going for me. I felt like I had the potential to step back up to a higher level of running after a year of injury last year, perhaps even return to some of the form I had in 2010, but it just hasn't quite happened. We've moved house, changed jobs, got married, set up Centurion Running to its current level and held 4 first events all in the past 14 months and although I've had way more time to train and recover than ever before, I just haven't been able to tick over in to that higher gear. I know I've got it in there somewhere, because I've been there before, but re-discovering it has so far eluded in me in 2012. The stress and mental fatigue of all of that plus 4 x 100s, 5 x 50s and a few other marathons and ultras since last June hasn't allowed it.

I'm pausing for reflection over the year at this point as I just made the decision to race Spartathlon, having had it on the radar since January really. I think there is something truly special about the 100 mile distance. It strips every runner right down to their core at some stage during the race that a 50 mile or even a 100km race just doesn't do. I've gotten through 50 miles a good few times on stubbornness and a handful of Gu's and been able to race hard throughout where in a 100 miler, doing that would have ended in massive failure with the business end of the race still to go. 100 miles is a very raw experience and I have loved stepping up to the start line of each one that I've had the privilege of running.

I have run over 100 a couple of times, once that didn't count, by perhaps 4 or 5 miles with Neil on the SDW back in May and once at Badwater in 2010 (135 miles). I have wanted to take the plunge in to a much deeper longer effort for a long time and Sparta ticks that box in a huge way. It seems a lot of people these days are drifting toward the idea that trail or mountain ultras are the pinnacle of the sport, but as with Badwater and the 100km road champs, a 150 mile road race like Sparta brings something completely different to the table and a whole new experience made open to you. This is an iconic race, to those that have run it probably THE iconic race and there was no way I could let it slip by year after year and not try to experience a little piece of that.

In many ways this race should suit me better than most of the stuff I've entered this year. I've always been a reasonably strong road runner and have a lot of experience with running in the heat. I've gotten almost none of either in the past year however, so I'm going in to it with a very similar mindset to that I went in to the SDW with Neil in May, totally open.

The differences between this and UTMB a fortnight ago are huge. For me shedding the pack, the mandatory gear, the soaking freezing waterproofs and the trail shoes clogged up with mud has been welcomed. I loved training for UTMB, heading in to the mountains and getting used to the self-sufficiency you simply have to have, to do well and enjoy a race like that, but now we're back to basics. Sparta is about a pair of trainers and a long road - 75 checkpoints to tick down one by one until we get to that statue and kiss the feet of Leonidas. I may need some food and water on the way as well as a lot of S! Caps but really it's an incredibly simple thing we're doing. Running.

So with 10 days or so to go I am really excited to get going but it all still feels a little surreal. UTMB was this huge event that I focused intensely on for 2 months. Behind it there was always this race, but it just hasn't been a mental drain or cause of pressure on training, because I wasn't sure until they called off UTMB that I would toe the line. Now we're almost there and that pressure still isn't on. In the past when that's been the case I've had my very best races. Fingers crossed....

So what is there left to do? Despite the reduced distance of UTMB, it was still a hard race and I've definitely felt a little flat since returning 2 weeks ago today. The runs I've put in have been just over 2 hours at their longest, sporadic and lacking in energy. My mind is clear which is the main thing, but I need another good week of eating well and sleeping well to make that start line in shape to run 153 miles in under 36 hours without it being a total slog from the get go. I don't really want to have to gut it out from early on if I can avoid it, but this is Sparta and it's going to be an epic, however it plays out....