Week Ending 27th November

On the way back, very very slowly. One day at a time, one run at a time. First week back with regular running for 6 weeks or so which is good. All on trails as usual, some hills. Nice slow run with Drew on Sunday to cap it off. If I can get rid of the chest infection I might speed up a bit.

Monday: 5 miles 0:45
Tuesday: 8 miles 1:10
Wednesday: 5 miles 0:42
Thursday: 14 miles 2:10
Friday: zippo
Saturday: 8 miles 1:05
Sunday: 11 miles 1:50

Total: 51 miles 7:42

Great resource on the relative difficulty of US ultras, something close to my heart. 40 miles at Barkley ranks as hard as finishing Western States.....?

Hardrock lottery is Sunday 4th and Western States the weekend after. We hear on West Highland Way Race soon as well, I think, so 2012 might start to look a little busier in a fortnights time. Either that or it's back to the drawing board....

http://www.RealEndurance.com/FinishTimeList.php

The Unbridled Joy of Running

On Sunday I went out and jogged a few very slow miles and felt no pain at all in my shin or knee. On Monday I did the same, again nothing. I started to get excited that things were actually starting to look up after so many weeks and months of wishing away pain. Tuesday I hit the trails just as the light was fading and ran multiple mini loops on the trails immediately around the house, just in case I felt anything at all and needed to get back quickly. I covered about 8 miles and felt dreadfully out of breath but again no pain. Wednesday I ran a few miles in the evening later on and yesterday I went out on my regular 14 mile loop for the first time in ages. I've been carrying a chest infection so my lungs about fell apart and I am seriously out of shape but 2 hours and 10 minutes later I arrived back home in one piece, with no pain, not even a glimmer of tightness in my knee. There was a moment there about 12.5 miles in, running down the trail in the sunshine when I could almost physically feel the depression of not being able to run leaving my body. It will take a long time to get back to where I once was fitness wise and I might get injured again tomorrow, who knows, but for now - it's all good.

Patience

Back in January Mark Wooley wrote an epilogue to being injured, sharing with everybody a little nugget of advice which I should have heeded a long time ago. Quite simply he said if you dedicate 100% of your energy into injury recovery, listen to the healthcare experts and wait until you are completely healed you will get better much more quickly and completely. Halfway measures just prolong the injury.

As I've mentioned numerous times, I have forced myself through month after month of painful training through debilitating injuries this year. The main reason I did so was because I had committed so much time and money to certain big 2011 ultras in late 2010 - letting them all pass me by was not an option I wanted to take financially and I didn't want to find myself waiting another 5 years to get a spot at Western States. Did this end up causing longer term problems? Yes. Was it worth all the pain in the lead up to and during the race, just to finish? Yes. Most people would say it was a pretty stupid decision to race three 100 milers on chronic fractures. I would do the same over again in a heartbeat. The races were too important to me and I knew upfront I was in for a long lay off period if I could get through them. To me that was worth it. It has if anything only served to make me a stronger person psychologically. Certainly the next time I run a 100 miler fit and healthy I will be thinking, hang on you got through a harder race than this on zero running for 2 months so guess what, you'll be ok.

Subsequent to the summer I had time to let my bones heal a little and my body and mind to get some respite from the constant nagging stress of being undertrained for upcoming races. Then I crashed my bike, ran 50 miles on a bad knee the following day and set myself out for another 4 weeks. Was this a stupid decision? Absolutely, I should have waited to find out what the knee damage was. I tried coming back to training/ racing prematurely so many times this year and it's taken until now to learn properly from that.

This past 2 weeks I did absolutely nothing. I have tried to shake out the knee, shin, hamstring and any other minor niggles and wait with patience until I was 100% ready to try again. Almost a month of no running means lost fitness which eats away at you each day.

Three things I've learned this year. If you don't let your injury heal 100%, you will just exacerbate the problem - maybe not straight away but certainly in the short to medium term and you will be out for much much longer than if you wait that extra week to make sure you are 100% ready. Two, you will get your previous fitness back much quicker than you think. Knowing what it is like to be in good shape is 80% of the battle. Three, don't take for granted your being able to step out of the door and on to the road or trails for that precious few miles. There are people out there who cannot train and some who will never run again. If you are sick or have a minor niggle, don't complain about it just wait and make sure you are ok before you take it up again. Treat it as an enforced rest period. It will help re-ignite your hunger for running and cost you almost nothing in overall fitness.

Tonight's 5 mile pain free run was maybe the sweetest 5 miles I have ever logged. 5 miles!!! Last year I would have considered that borderline pointless. Baby steps right now....

What a performance from Hal Koerner this past weekend at Javelina. He executes everything he does with a level of class you rarely see nowadays. Forget the results, you get the impression he would be the same guy if he were a mid to back of the packer. Inspirational stuff. His report is here. Take a chance to look at 102 mile by mile split times....

Streaking

I always intended to have a race I went back to year after year. It is after all great to stick with an event and support it from the outset. The trouble with streaking is you never really know if that event might one year cease to exist, leaving you hanging...

Really long streaks of super hard events do exist. At the race briefing for Badwater, Chris Kostman the RD makes everybody who has finished the race stand up. He then asks who has finished twice and those with only one finish sit back down, and so on until there is only one man left standing - Marshall Ulrich with 17 official finishes since 1990, there are a couple of DNFs in there. Does that mean it doesn't count? Then there was the chap at Leadville this past year who stood up to be recognised in the pre race briefing, having started and finished the last 28 Leadville 100's missing just the first ever race. Feet in the Clouds, which if you haven't read, you should, is full of stories of people like Eddie Campbell with 40 - 50 year streaks in fell races like Ben Nevis.

I wonder what the greatest race streak of all time is. Meaningful race that is, not park runs etc.

Today I will head out of the door for a run for the first time in almost two weeks. My knee feels a lot stronger, I guess I'll find out how strong later tonight. It would be nice to be able to blog about running for a change rather than various other subjects.

Finally the trailer for this looks great, I can't wait to see the full thing. There are a lot more Brits in the WS100 lottery this year already. Hopefully we can have as good a showing as 2011 and an even better result at the front end of the field than Nick Clark's 3rd and Ian Sharman's 10th. I would expect we will see both of those super talented runners to go better at the very least.

Ultra Growth

This is a subject that deserves looking in to in a lot more detail but this week a few things really started to ring through just how much our sport is growing.

When I started running in 2005, we entered the Marathon Des Sables for 2006 about 9 months before race day. Jim and I had plenty of time to make a decision, about 180 of the 200 UK places had been taken by the time we applied but there was no pressure to place the deposit down to secure the place. At that time Western States still operated a two time loser policy in the lottery and the UTMB had no lottery at all being only a few years old.

Bear in mind I talk about the above like it was a different era, this was only 6 years ago! On Saturday at about 7am UK time, the Western States lottery opened and currently, 1411 people are registered. That's an average of 18 people per hour so far and there are 11 days left to apply for a place. This doesn't sound like huge numbers compared with some of the big city marathon fields, but Western States is restricted to a 5 year average of 369 starters. About 70 of the places are taken by Montrail Ultra Cup winners, top 10 finishers for both sexes and sponsors. With one ticket in the lottery last year, the chances of getting a place were about 10%. This year, it is going to be way way down on that. They have got to do something about their qualification criteria ie. make it compulsory for someone to have finished another 100 before being eligible to apply. That way you boost the start up races plus you allow runners to gain experience at running 100 miles before they launch themselves into 41000 feet of elevation change and some extremes in temperatures all inside 30 hours. Western States is not the hardest run out there but it isn't toward the easy end of the spectrum either.

Hardrock, traditionally the hardest 100 out there had 427 people applied for 100ish places by November 5th. The projection is that they will have 800 applicants for those slots - and many of those will have more than one ticket. My chances of getting a spot? Way less than the 10% last year. And this is a race for which you may only apply if you have finished one of the 'mountain 100s' on their list!

UTMB are going to be forced into changing their policy next year because if they continue to allow all those who fail to get a place in the preceding year, a guaranteed slot the following year, they like Western States will find that in a years time, their field is full before the previous race is even run due to the number of lottery applicants. Their points system is sensible and they are lucky that they can cope with a massive starting field but the numbers wanting to and eligible to compete are growing exponentially. Selfishly I hope they don't change that policy until 2013 so that I can at least be sure of a place in the next 2 years to avenge 2010's abandonment at St Gervais following the avalanche.....

Lakeland 100/ 50 sold 850 places in under a month. This is a race which started in 2008 and had 12 100 mile finishers and about 40 50 miler finishers. 

Dick Kearn who organises the Grand Union Canal Run which has become arguably the most prestigious UK ultra, had to turn as many people away as he let in through the lottery this year.

And finally our little old races. Brand new, no real heritage but I hope they appear reasonably well put together.... Astonishingly in the first 48 hours of the SDW100 being open, we had 31 applicants. Our Thames Path 100 which has never been staged before, sold out to 250 applicants 7 months before race day. I still can't get my head around that.

It is quite clear that there is heartbreak occurring all over the ultra world at the moment with people missing out year after year from gaining places in their dream races. I think more and more race directors are going to have to wake up to the necessity for more stringent qualification standards and staggered starts WITHOUT inflating the costs. The latter will only serve to form the beginning of the end of what ultra running is all about. Increases are acceptable but there is a limit. When I look at the entry costs for Ironman these days, it blows my mind and it quite obviously alienates those unable to afford the financial commitment that traveling to and from a race entails, let alone paying £400 for a one day race.

There is a poll on the website at the moment which I hope will give us some idea of how long those who stumble upon our page have been running ultras. I am expecting to find that the numbers have ballooned since 2009. A quick glance at the first 40 votes shows that this is likely to form the outcome.

Last but not least it's important to recognise that this is ALL POSITIVE!!!! More and more people are getting out on their feet and experiencing what it feels like to go long on the road or the trail. It is wonderful to see the races that began as small not for profit enterprises are starting to see some reward for their hard work and commitment. Who could possible begrudge them that? Too many great races died before this boom began: The Thames Meander, The SDW80, London to Brighton Road Race to name but a few. They all ended prematurely because they couldn't make ends meet financially or couldn't get the volunteer support needed to ensure safe running of the event. It is all of our duty as runners to give something back and so many more are now doing so. As a race director I know for sure we couldn't stage any of our races without that generosity of spirit.

SDW80

After launching the SDW100 entries yesterday, we had the usual initial flurry of quick fire registrations. One of the pre-requisites on the entry forms is declaration of previous running experience. One of our earliest entrants yesterday listed SDW80 as one of his preceding ultra finishes. 

It is a big goal of mine to create races with a real pedigree for quality and a real depth of history. What I mean by that is, I haven't set up these three races as one time opportunities. I would dearly love to be sitting here in 30/40/50 years time with each one still going strong. If we continue to put as much love and effort into them as we have for the past year (Centurion was born 12 months ago this month) then I think we can sustain and even grow from where we are. 

The Thames Path and North Downs Way have had many races staged on them, past and present. The same is true of the South Downs Way with one major difference. The core of the race we have created is not our own. 

I am deeply interested in the South Downs Way 80, a race organised for many years up until the late 1990s. I was made aware of it a good few months ago in conversation with Dick Kearn. Dick and I both sit on the trail running association committee and I used last night's post meeting dinner to pick his brains a little more about it. The race was organised by Harry Townsend and existed for 16 years attracting up to 600 runners, eventually coming to a close in the late 1990s due to lack of funding. The course itself travelled 80 miles from Queen Elizabeth Country Park to finish at Eastbourne Rugby Club.

Dick is too modest to talk about it in much detail but in 1993 he won the race and has fond memories of it, as do most of the people I talk to about it. The over-riding sentiment is that you could count on Harry to deliver a proper race day experience. Things that were raised were the depth of medical support, the regularity and size of some of the aid stations, particularly at the barn on Truleigh Hill and the care and attention of the volunteers. A lot of this, in fact arguably the framework of it has been picked up by Oxfam Trailwalker and there was conversation of Harry having passed on a lot of information relevant to the formation of that event which attracts massive numbers each year to the 100km course.

The similarities between our race and Harry's cannot yet be made. Certainly in terms of a course, ours is 20 miles longer and will take a slightly different route into the finish. The athletics track where we will end the SDW100 literally backs on to the rugby club which was the finish point of the SDW80 which is, I think, rather poignant. 

I only hope we can build as successful, well executed and most importantly, much loved a race as Harry's. I have asked Dick to try to contact him and see if he would perhaps like to be a part of it in 2012. Whether that will happen or not I don't know but I sincerely hope we can continue the legacy of long distance trail running events on the South Downs Way. 

SDW100 2012

Entries are now live for the South Downs Way 100, 'the big dance'. 200 places for 200 lucky runners....

Here are the details. The course is the finest in the land (biased opinion). And you get to finish on the running track at Eastbourne....

Early Morning Lotto Application

I wasn't going to do it, then I was, then I wasn't. In the end I threw my name in there. With such a slim hope of getting a place the worst that can happen is that I get an extra ticket for next year. The best that can happen is that I go back and come home with a shiny silver one this time....

50 names already in the hat and it's still nightime on the West Coast. People are predicting 2500 entries by the close of the 2 week window. For 250ish places.

HRH Lottery

Lottery season is in full swing and the big ones are all filling up fast. It seems that the sport really is reaching peak levels now. AJW eulogises on the Hardrock lottery here. Hardrock is right at the top of my list but this will be my first time with a ticket in the hat so I have pretty much no shot. 

I have my name in for West Highland Way too and will be doing the same for UTMB and Western States. 

This is what I meant in my last post by having no idea how the year will pan out. The only dead cert so far is Comrades. I'd like to add Sparta to that but I'm not sure if the registration criteria will change. At the moment I think I can get in to that just by paying up (Badwater is my qualifier, the only race I've done over 220km's non-stop which is one of the three standards to achieve).

So many permutations from the set of races that all cloud my potentials calender at the moment. Perhaps the worst outcome will be if I get waitlisted for Hardrock and only find out I am in a few weeks before race day... I'd take it. 

A New Leaf

It is definitely time I turned over a new leaf. For a long time I've been wallowing in the depths of debilitating injuries, constantly assessing the level of severity of my shin, knee, achilles etc and worrying about trying to stay fit enough to simply make it through some of the big expensive events I signed myself up for towards the end of 2010.

The crash was just the latest in a long series of unfortunate events this past year, ultimately keeping me off of the trails for weeks and months at a time, in order to have a shot at hobbling around some of the great races I had yet to run.

Now that I'm through that period, it's time I took a step back to assess what it is I am trying to achieve.

There are still a number of unfulfilled goals on my bucket list but the real danger with having a list is that the items on it risk becoming boxes that need to be ticked rather than experiences to be enjoyed. The best example of this was the pressure I put on myself to start Western States this year, despite being chronically injured, unsure of whether I could even crest Emmigrant Pass successfully, let alone make it to Auburn. Of course I wouldn't take back my finish there for anything but my enjoyment of it was maybe 50% of what it should have been because of my state of physical disrepair. I guess we are all becoming victim a little to having to commit to races so far in advance and worse, to take the opportunities to race when we are presented them because that opportunity may not arise for a long time/ ever in the case of Western States.

I have always gotten the most out of my training by having one significant goal to aim for. There's nothing better than immersing yourself in a proper training routine and finding out what you're capable of as a runner. This past year I've forgotten a lot of what that is about.

So instead of rushing back on this latest knee injury I am going to sit it out a while and keep my head down. It's important now to relieve myself of the stress of fighting to get fit too fast and just let it happen. It's not about a few weeks good training or even a couple of months, I want to get back to a place where I can train for 18 months/ 2 years without significant issues arising. Racing is a part of that too for sure, I enjoy the races equally to great training sessions and I've missed out there too. There will always be another injury/ minor set back and maybe the next one isn't too far away but I intend to maximise my enjoyment of simply running in the meantime. One thing is for sure, I no longer take being able to step out of the door and on to the trails for granted.

So here's to an attempt at turning over a new leaf. Not being pressured into big mileage weeks and rushing back on injuries to make races that will always be there in the future.

Regards 2012 a lot of us are now sat around waiting for the big lotteries to open/ be drawn for 2012. I like many others have my name in a few, unlikely to get a place in some and almost certainly not in others. My year could take a very definite road slant, or mountain trail slant. I'm kind of intrigued to see how it pans out, highly likely a mixture of both I would guess....

'If you want to win, first you have to know how to lose' Frank Bozanich.

I've had a lot of help and support this week from different people regards the latest injury. I mentioned at the beginning of the last post, that following the bike crash and severe pain at Caesars Camp 50, that I had moved from a self-diagnosis of inflamed itb and bruised soft tissue - to physio diagnosis of torn lateral meniscus. I'm pleased to say that I am now back at the former which is huge news for me. I am yet to have the scan as I wait to hear from the NHS, but the knee problems have improved daily and fingers crossed they will continue to do so.

I exchanged a few e mails with another experienced ultra runner who happens also to be a GP, Mark Fresch. He read that last post and has helped clarify a few things for me. It's acts of generosity like this that make the ultrarunning community what it is. Together with Mondays physio work and the improved movement, I am now fairly sure that it was/ is my itb that's causing problems.

On Thursday I had no issues locking my leg in a straight position and was able to move up and down the stairs without pain. I set out of the door for 2 miles alternate running and walking on flat trails on instruction from the physio. It didn't end well and I was in pain almost from the word go. On Friday I ran/ walked a mile. It was incredibly slow but I got it done without any discomfort whatsoever. On Saturday I ran 3 miles and today 5. Little progressions each day coupled with a bucket load of icing and stretching but it feels like I am inching my way slowly back. The knee still feels a little sore at times and there is a tingling sensation much of the time I am running but by dropping in walking breaks it immediately goes away. More physio in the morning, taking it one step at a time. I will feel extremely lucky despite everything this year, if I am able to avoid anything more than a few weeks off of running with bruised soft tissue out of all of this.

On a totally separate note I've got a new hero. Frank Bozanich. Quick Facts:

Out of 100 ultras, he's won 44
His 50 mile PB is 5:05
He's won races in his 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s
He says it like it is

There is an awesome podcast up now at www.ultrarunnerpodcast.com which is well worth a listen.

My favourite Frank Bozanich quotes:

'I don't use dropbags, I just put my shoes on and let's go!'
'I have to laugh at these people wanting to do forefoot running and stuff here today'
'I see these people with these backpacks all loaded up. Go back to being simple. Running is a very simple process, just put one foot in front of the other. Do your training and you'll be fine'
'I used to train 200 miles a week and most of that was sub 7, a lot of it 6 minute pace'
'I can remember running Old Dominion in 1980, 10 days after running the 100k in Biel, in 15:18. The whole race I ate nothing and drank de-fizzed coke and water'

He is right, there are an awful lot of people out there now offering advice and recommendations as to how you should run, what you should carry, how often you should race etc etc. If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it, unless you get yourself a coach. Somebody that can help you is this guy, he knows what he is doing.... link

New Injury?

When I came off my bike 10 days ago potentially caused a much graver issue than my assumed 'inflamed ITB' self-diagnosis. I will say one thing for being injured, you learn an awful lot about parts of your body.

Obviously running 50 miles on a badly bruised knee wasn't the smart mans move, but I was convinced I was dealing with moderate bruising rather than something more serious. After Caesars Camp I was in a significant amount of pain, to the extent that I had real trouble getting down the stairs on Sunday. My right quad was sore where I'd over-compensated for the left knee but the rest of my muscles felt fine. My knee was inflamed and I couldn't lock it straight. Every time I put pressure on it, it felt like it was going to give way. 

Anybody reading this who has had a lateral meniscus tear will know that these symptoms point straight to that problem. Basically the meniscus is a piece of cartilage within the knee, which comes in two parts, the medial on the inside of the knee and the lateral on the outside. The meniscus form a tissue that sits between the tibia and the femur and provides strength under torsion/ tension, dispersing friction and impact through the bones. 

Either one of the meniscus' can be torn during trauma to the knee and or over-rotation. Obviously when I came off of my bike, I landed with the full force of my body and bike on the outside of the left knee, turned on to my back and slid along the ground with the frame of the bike getting caught over the leg and wrenching my knee way beyond it's usual angle of rotation. Needless to say everything adds up to the meniscus being torn. 

I went to see my good friend Joe, the physio, on Wednesday in a lot of pain. The knee was still badly inflamed/ bruised but he did a number of tests on my leg to find out what was going on. After a few minutes he stated I was exhibting 3 of the 4 signs of a classic lateral meniscus tear. 

This is pretty bad news. The meniscus has exceedingly poor blood supply and therefore depending on where it is torn, heals either incredible slowly or doesn't heal at all. The answer is to get a scan to determine the type of tear and have that tear either sewn or the trimmed off completely if unrepairable. The meniscus doesn't grow back which means if you have it trimmed you are effectively on a count down to longer term problems with osteo arthritis if you keep running, given that the bones end up pushing against one another rather than the meniscus, eroding the ends. I know this part because good friend Mark Cockbain has recently announced retirement from ultra running after a glittering career, on account of two meniscus trims and associated osteoarthritis. 

Anyway I was pretty damn miserable when I found this out and I resigned to waiting to be referred for a scan. Each passing day the pain subsided just a bit, I found I could straighten my leg a little more each day until Monday when I discovered I could lock the leg straight although painfully. On Monday things had improved again as the swelling from the bruise caused by the crash subsided. I went for a sports massage and went through the leg rotations and movements again. This time I felt no pain. His diagnosis? No way is there a tear and if there is it certainly doesn't need operating on as it will appear to be minor only. 

So here I am, waiting for a scan. It is 12 days after the crash and 11 after the race. I have no pain in my knee and can lock my leg straight with very little pain at all. Walking is now fine and putting pressure on the outside of the knee generates almost no pain at all.

Either I could be back running by this weekend, or I could require an op that would put me out for 3-4 months and potentially affect my running for life. I am loathed to get too carried away until I see the scans....