2022 to 2024 have not been good years for my running and weight. I cover less and less distance at a reduced speed and my weight stayed resolutly above 85kg about 15-20kg heavier than I should be.
I did only six races in that period.
- 2022 Frankfurt Marathon
- 2023 50km in Rodgau
- 2023 Sparta 24hour
- 2023 Lepzig 100km
- 2023 Frankfurt Marathon
The 2023 Sparti 24hour really symbolised the how everything has gone. The race was on a weekend starting at 17:00. I booked a direct flight Frankfurt to Athens leaving on the Friday. The plan was to meet two of my Spartathlon friends(Ian & James) in Athens and drive to Sparti on the Friday night giving us plenty of time to get prepared in.
Lufthansa had other ideas. By failing to pay their staff enough, they triggered a strike of ground crew. This resulted in a cancellation of flights. After much toing and froing I managed to get an early Saturday morning flight. This was delayed and I arrived in Sparti nearly three hours after the start of the race.
The people at Ultras are always nice. I think there is something intrinsic about Ultra running that means you have to be good with yourself and others in order to be able to compete.I received messages on my journey that someone called Bill would help me to checking. Bill was lovely and got me going. The first three hours was fine, but then my pace started dropping, despite running with a good friend Martin Illott.
I was crewing myself and that always makes things harder. A crew makes you more displined and prepares all your nurtition and gives you a good slap. You need to be Mark Cockbain to keep going on your own. I got several messages from my sister Anne and a few others to keep going but it was a struggle.
Several other British runners quit early on, but I kept slugging away for 14hours until my knee locked up. I think they do that when you are trying to keep going with 20kgs more weight than you should have. My doctor was less than impressed when I told her why my knee was so swollen.
I tried the Leipzig 100km but quit after 50km. I really want to quit early on, but as my freind Jan was there I needed to cover ore distancethan him.
Then the Frankfurt marathon was a shit show in the rain and my worst ever time over that distance. That said, despite being so heavy and the weather so bloody awful, my mental strength is so much better, as I kept going in the rain.
On top it all I broken my fibula in January 2024 on top of a broken metatarsal in July 2022 resulting in 12 screws, 14 stiches and yet another 8-10 weeks of no running.
The only real highlights is baskin in the glory of others by crewing in Spartathlon each year. I really do enjoy crewing. Looking after Alastair Higgins in 2023 and then Andrew McKillop this year was a pleasure. Gary Seary crewed Alastair with me and did all of the driving. he introduced me to the glory of disco and the talent that was Teddy Pendergrass. This year was another crewing highlight as my wife Chrissy was able to come to Spratehlon for the first time and we had a lovely time together.
I have really learnt that I need to loose weight and get back the pace Mark Cockbain gave me. As much as I love Robbie Britton and James Ellis' attempts to get me fit the only person who got me performing well was Mark. The only way I have lost weight is by fasting.
So now I am committed to a month of fasting and a ten week block of training twice a day, six days a week until Baracelona 24hour race on 14-15th December. The aim is the following
1) Get weight under 70kgs.
2) 10km time to under 50 minutes.
3) Marathon time under 4 hours.
I am fairly confident my mental strength is fine. I know what to do for nutrition, so I just need to stay focused on achieving the goals above and I will be on for 180km and Spartathlon qualifier. Get that and I shall return to running heaven for the tenth anniversary of my one and only finish.
No comments:
Post a Comment