Running Spartathlon next year was reliant on me finishing yesterdays race in under 10 hours and 30 minutes. I set up the Ayot 100km in order to give those looking to qualify for Sparta, a chance to do so before the registrations open for the 2013 event early in the new year. Sparta rules dictate that you must have finished either: A 100km race within 10 hours and 30 minutes or any non-stop race over 220km in length. Badwater was my ticket in before, but the race must be within 3 years of the Spartathlon you are hoping to run. 2010 made that time too old to use.
In the end, 5 of us made the 10 hour 30 cut, but it was as expected, a hard task.
10 minute miles over 63 miles sounds relatively do-able, especially on a fairly flat and fast trail course (2100 feet of climb). Inevitably after 40/50 miles it starts to get a little harder to keep your form, you get tight and lazy and things can go down hill quickly. I held on ok though. My aims were to run every step and to fuel well throughout. It would be the perfect performance indicator for Rocky Raccoon 100 too, albeit Rocky's thick and abundant tree roots are an added consideration. My splits were 3:47 for the marathon, 7:21 for 50 and 9:40 for the 100km. I slowed down but not too drastically. All in all it's hard to look past the fact that I simply 'got the job done' with respect to Sparta, however there is still a lot of work to be done if I am to hit Goal 1 for 2013, a 100 mile PB on Feb 2nd.
My legs did feel ok today, calves tight but otherwise ok, nevertheless I did nothing more than some extended walking before I'll get back at it tomorrow with some cycling and a shorter run.
