So here's the low-down of the two big runs we did over the last two days;
Friday
Didn't set out till 1pm as Jesh worked till 3am the night before so needed a full nights beauty sleep before the run.
The first few km's we went very slow. This is going to be critical in the first 5km of the race in order to ensure we have the energy to finish. It feels very weird cause you are already going slow because of the terrain... and now forcing yourself to slow down further. But I can testify to this strategy paying off big time at the end of this 40km...
Didn't take in first gel until 60mins - about 9km. Some people do the first one at 30mins but this always feels far too soon for both of us. However, as i've learnt it's going to be important to be sipping electrolytes in that first hour rather than just water.
The first 15-17km were pleasant, felt good and going at nice pace so were able and willing to talk lots. This tends to change later on when you are too tired and grumpy to be bothered with conversation! I found the few km's between about 17 and 20 the hardest of the whole run. Kind of weird but i think this was purely psychological. My legs were starting to feel a bit tired and I was just keen to get to halfway. Plus I always find it hard going through new territory. We'd only run about 15km into the park previously so the last 5km (through and past Torrent Bay) to halfway was all new. Nice to see a new part of the track but mentally difficult because you don't know what to prepare for!
Quick dip at a very conveniently located pool...
Well Jesh got right in... i put my legs in. Wasn't keen on being completely soaking for the rest of the run!
Stopped here for about 10mins and then set off eating our sandwiches as we walked for first 5mins. I needed another gel at this stage too. I hadn't timed my breakfast overly well and was feeling very hungry by this stage!
The next 5kms (to around 25km) seemed to go really fast and felt nice and easy. We seemed to have settled into a good rhythm.
We decided to have a 1km walking break before we hit the waterfall - which i thought was at the 32km mark. So we started walking at 31km... but the waterfall was more like 33km so after walking for 15mins we realised we'd need to start running again to get inside our goal of 6 hours.
At this stage it's actually the changes between walking and running that are difficult. It's often really hard to get running again after a walking break and actually just easier to keep jogging slowly.
In terms of injuries/niggles - my left ankle (sprained 11 days prior) was a little achy but overall feeling fine. I was very glad to be taped up though as another roll at this stage would make the likelihood of me getting to the starting line pretty low! Other than that i had a very sore toenail for some reason. Jesh was trying out new shoes (despite my advice not to) and was having problems with something digging in on the inside of one foot.
Km's 32-40 were actually ok as long as we could keep going at a relatively even pace. We even jogged up the few last hilly bits between 38-40km!
Went home exhausted but happy, and feeling alot more confident about completing the race in a few weeks time.
Saturday
Started out at about 5.30pm, as we wanted to allow for 24 hours between our b2b's. And this way we would only be running in heat for about 30-45mins. Plan was to do 20km. I did not strategise this well and went out thinking we'd do it in 2hrs. Jesh tried to slow me down saying we should just be aiming for 2.5hours. But we still went out too fast. During the first few km's i felt a niggle in my left quad. It seemed to come right for a while and although my legs felt tired and a bit sluggish i felt pretty good.
That all changed around the 13-14km mark. We had a walking break and when we started up again my left leg literally gave way on me. It was like i was carrying a leg with no muscle in it. I kept trying but it kept giving way. I finally got going... a limp/jog for a wee while before having to walk again. This continued and everytime i tried to run after walking my leg would give away. I'd never felt anything like this before and was completely bemused.
Jesh picked up that i hadn't had enough electrolytes/energy. He carries water with electrolytes all the time, while i've always carried just water and gels. It had worked for me the day before for 40km...? I'm not very good at getting the right nutrition in at the right time though. He had also had a whole bottle of Loaded when we finished the 40km, whereas i'd only had half.
So I figure what i was experiencing was 'hitting the wall'... which i've never done before. Maybe because i've never done a marathon before? The closest distance i've come was 37km in a road relay. I don't count the 100km run here because you naturally eat ALOT of food over this distance and i clearly had alot of powerade or similar during that run.
So i've learnt my lesson and will now be carrying electrolyte charged water from the beginning of the race. If i want plain water i'll have to wait until the aid stations. I'd say that's a pretty vital lesson to learn at this stage as i'd be getting a DNF if that hit me during the race!
Onwards and upwards - less than 3 weeks to go now.
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