The Eiger Sanction

DogSlySmile

Synopsis:

Former ultra runner DogSlySmile now devotes his time to teaching and collecting paintings, but his quiet life is interrupted when he is persuaded by a bunch of his mates to take on yet another ultra race. DogSlySmile has to join a crew of explorers on a trip around the Eiger, a treacherous Swiss mountain. He must simultaneously determine which of his fellow runners is a Soviet spy, kill his target and complete 101km of mountainy fun.

Coming soon to a training log near you!

DogSlySmile

Recent History:

Havent logged at all since completing the Lavaredo Ultra trail 120km last June. Since then I ran 2:57 in DCM, finished 2nd in the Wicklow Way 50 mile race and 8th in Art O'Neill.

Current Training:

Since November '15 I've been training mostly according to the Maffetone Method. The key here is to work out your Maximum aerobic heart rate using a formula (180 minus your age). This heart rate is the top end of your aerobic range. Anything over this HR and you are going anaerobic. The idea is to become more aerobically efficient at your Max aerobic HR by training at this HR consistently until your body adapts and becomes faster and faster at the same HR. Also, at this HR you are burning fat for fuel, and by training this way becoming more efficient at burning fat. Going over this HR makes you work anaerobically and more carbs are used for energy.

During an ultra, almost 100% of your energy is coming from the aerobic system. So it makes sense to me to train this way and improve my aerobic base as much as I can.

You can perform a test (Maximum Aerobic Function or MAF test) to check your aerobic improvements:
1, warm up for 15 minutes
2, run 5 miles sticking to your max aerobic HR (best done on a track or treadie)
3, take your splits every mile

Your first mile should be the fastest and each mile after that should be slower as you tire. People with a strong aerobic base will have only small drop off in times.

I have performed two such tests:

5th November MAF test: 06:49, 06:57, 07:01, 07:03, 07:05. Average - 6:59
26th November MAF Test: 06:41, 06:50, 06:54, 06:51, 06:53. Average - 06:50

So I saw some improvements pretty quickly. Unfortunately, I got injured after the second test and havent performed one since. But I'm feeling like I'm getting back in shape now so will attempt another test soon.

Whats next:

My next race is the IMRA Wicklow Way 50k, training has been going well. Mileage has been 48m, 50m, 46m, and 53m in the past 4 weeks and will hopefully peak in the 65-70m range a few weeks before the race. I've been doing lots of hills but with Maffetone training it means I have to slow down a lot on the climbs to stay aerobic.

Following on from that is the Eiger Ultra in July. Looks like a great race and cant wait for it. Beyond that I have an eye on the Kerry Way ultra.

Looking forward to getting back into some consistent training and consistent logging, too.

DogSlySmile

|MAF Test 1 | MAF Test 2 | MAF Test 3 |
Date | 5/11/15 | 26/11/15 | 25/2/16|
Mile 1 | 6:49 | 6:41|6:47|
Mile 2| 6:57| 6:50|6:48|
Mile 3| 7:01| 6:54|6:50|
Mile 4| 7:03| 6:51|6:52|
Mile 5|7:05|6:53|6:54|
Average| 6:59|6:50|6:50|


Did my third MAF test (see post 2) yesterday. No improvement in average pace over the test but good to see that I am back where I was in November after an injury. There is an improvement in the variance between my first mile and last mile, it was 16 seconds on the first MAF test and its now 7 seconds which is an indication of an expanding base.

So why no improvement?
My first two MAF tests where done first thing in the morning after a 15 minute warm up. Due to an early meeting in work I wasn't able to do that yesterday morning so I ran to work (5 miles) and then ran to the track (4 miles) after work. I think theres a good chance this had an effect on my times during the test. To see objective improvements its important to do this test in the same conditions (food, hydration, sleep, stress, weather, time of day etc). So I was a little tired from work/running at the start of the test which was probably reflected in the test.

The good thing about MAF testing is that it doesnt take too much out of you so you can retest fairly quickly.

On the next test I'll try to use the same conditions as test 1 & 2 to get a better gauge of my aerobic fitness.

Myles Splitz

Interesting to see different approaches.

Aside from the testing and the "180 formula" what exactly does the training compromise of in terms of modulation or is it as simple as maintaining this (MA HR) throughout training to become more efficient?

DogSlySmile

Myles Splitz wrote: »

Interesting to see different approaches.

Aside from the testing and the "180 formula" what exactly does the training compromise of in terms of modulation or is it as simple as maintaining this (MA HR) throughout training to become more efficient?

You are correct, the idea behind the training is to become more efficient at your MA HR. At your MA HR your body is burning more fat and through regular training at this HR becomes more efficient at doing so. Also through regular training at this HR you will become faster at the same HR increasing your bodies ability to burn fat for fuel at a pace that it would have previously used carbs for energy.

This makes sense to me as I run longer races so being more efficient at a lower HR is of bigger benefit to me than say doing 200m reps all out where I will become more efficient at a HR I will not access during races.

When you have built a solid base (which is signified by a plateau in MAF test times) you can add in anaerobic work following the 80/20 rule.

Depending on how quickly my base builds I am considering progressing from Maffetone training into Hadd training later in the year.

Myles Splitz

DogSlySmile wrote: »

You are correct, the idea behind the training is to become more efficient at your MA HR. At your MA HR your body is burning more fat and through regular training at this HR becomes more efficient at doing so. Also through regular training at this HR you will become faster at the same HR increasing your bodies ability to burn fat for fuel at a pace that it would have previously used carbs for energy.

This makes sense to me as I run longer races so being more efficient at a lower HR is of bigger benefit to me than say doing 200m reps all out where I will become more efficient at a HR I will not access during races.

When you have built a solid base (which is signified by a plateau in MAF test times) you can add in anaerobic work following the 80/20 rule.

Depending on how quickly my base builds I am considering progressing from Maffetone training into Hadd training later in the year.

Hope you don't mind me weighing in here

While I can see the logic of it I think there are a few tweaks which could ultimately see you make more benefit

1) At Maximum aerobic heart rate most of the mitochondrial development comes in fast twitch (white) and intermediate (red) muscle fibres. This means by training at this intensity the whole time you are not actually developing aerobically in the most important muscle fibres (slow twitch) which make up the majority of muscle composition

2) The "180 formula" is a bit like the general "220-age" figure, it is not that accurate. Fine for a general article but ultimately not ideal. A Vo2 max or even a DIY max HR test could be done and work off Heart rate reserve (Max HR- Resting HR) to establish the correct intensities a little more accurately

3) Progression runs to Max Aerobic effort can be more beneficial for fat oxidisation development which can be beneficial in particular to Ultra runners who are looking to use this as primary fuel source.

4) HR is not the be all and end all. You need to be doing something for your run economy. You can do higher paced work to work on running economy that will not have you "go anaerobic". It's not the pace that dictates this but rather the duration and the recovery.

I think this sort of base work (MAF and HADD) can work well but I think you will get better bang from your buck with the MAF stuff if you modulate your efforts to easier-steady rather than mono-effort.

DogSlySmile

Myles Splitz wrote: »

Hope you don't mind me weighing in here

While I can see the logic of it I think there are a few tweaks which could ultimately see you make more benefit

1) At Maximum aerobic heart rate most of the mitochondrial development comes in fast twitch (white) and intermediate (red) muscle fibres. This means by training at this intensity the whole time you are not actually developing aerobically in the most important muscle fibres (slow twitch) which make up the majority of muscle composition

2) The "180 formula" is a bit like the general "220-age" figure, it is not that accurate. Fine for a general article but ultimately not ideal. A Vo2 max or even a DIY max HR test could be done and work off Heart rate reserve (Max HR- Resting HR) to establish the correct intensities a little more accurately

3) Progression runs to Max Aerobic effort can be more beneficial for fat oxidisation development which can be beneficial in particular to Ultra runners who are looking to use this as primary fuel source.

4) HR is not the be all and end all. You need to be doing something for your run economy. You can do higher paced work to work on running economy that will not have you "go anaerobic". It's not the pace that dictates this but rather the duration and the recovery.

I think this sort of base work (MAF and HADD) can work well but I think you will get better bang from your buck with the MAF stuff if you modulate your efforts to easier-steady rather than mono-effort.

Not at all

1) - I should have been a bit clearer on this point. All my training/every run hasnt been at MA HR. I generally keep my HR on a run around MAHR-10. Only on hills and in the MAF test am I pushing at MAHR for a decent amount of time. I wouldnt be able to hold that pace on every single run (...I wish).

2) - Totally agree. Its a decent guideline to go by and nothing more. Cheers for the tip on the Max HR test. Will have to read up on how to determine my MAHR based on MaxHR.

3) - Interesting stuff and sounds easy enough to integrate into my training. Any links on this?

4) - During runs I push on the downhills reps but keep my HR below MAHR. I recover on the flats and hills. Could this be considered economy training?

Thanks for the insights

Myles Splitz

DogSlySmile wrote: »

Not at all

1) - I should have been a bit clearer on this point. All my training/every run hasnt been at MA HR. I generally keep my HR on a run around MAHR-10. Only on hills and in the MAF test am I pushing at MAHR for a decent amount of time. I wouldnt be able to hold that pace on every single run (...I wish).

That sounds a bit better for sure as this would probably put you in the 60-70% HRR range which sounds a good bit better, mind you 1-2 times a week I think going to the MA HR can be used to help boost fitness without compromising the aim of the plan (it actually ties in closely enough with HADD actually now that it is laid out)

DogSlySmile wrote: »

2) - Totally agree. Its a decent guideline to go by and nothing more. Cheers for the tip on the Max HR test. Will have to read up on how to determine my MAHR based on MaxHR.

Once you have your MHR and you RHR simply use the following

Max HR - Resting HR = HRR using this you can calculate intensities
(HRR x % intensity level (70-80%) + Resting Heart Rate

eg

Max HR - 205
Resting HR - 50

HRR - 155

(155*0.7) + 55 = 164 bpm for 70%
(155*0.8) + 55 = 179 bpm for 80%

From here you are able to have a good idea of intensity ranges (sessions should be mileage grade based so for shorter sessions relative to weekly mileage you start at upper end of the scale while long sessions start at lower end to allow for cardiac drift)

DogSlySmile wrote: »

3) - Interesting stuff and sounds easy enough to integrate into my training. Any links on this?

I'll see if I can dig this out, was part of a slide which was referenced at a conference but I will try find the original paper. Basically the idea behind it is that the lower intensity start allows the effort levels to naturally increase from a low intensity which generally is where fat utilization tends to be developed as you start to recruit more types of fibres as a result of increase in intensity but also due to slow twitch fibres fatiguing as the duration goes on.

Did these as part of my base phase back in August and generally started at Recovery pace and progressed by 5 bpm every 10 min till I reached close Marathon effort (close to MA effort in terms of intensities)

DogSlySmile wrote: »

4) - During runs I push on the downhills reps but keep my HR below MAHR. I recover on the flats and hills. Could this be considered economy training?

I think this sort of work is fine but it is too specific to Hill/trail running to be focused on overall economy. Because the focus is on eccentric contraction of the quads it is not functionally specific to normal running. Up hill strides with full recovery or flat would probably tend to work better for focus on hip flexion and knee drive as well as decreased ground contact time.

demfad

DogSlySmile wrote: »

Recent History:

Havent logged at all since completing the Lavaredo Ultra trail 120km last June. Since then I ran 2:57 in DCM, finished 2nd in the Wicklow Way 50 mile race and 8th in Art O'Neill.

Current Training:

Since November '15 I've been training mostly according to the Maffetone Method. The key here is to work out your Maximum aerobic heart rate using a formula (180 minus your age). This heart rate is the top end of your aerobic range. Anything over this HR and you are going anaerobic. The idea is to become more aerobically efficient at your Max aerobic HR by training at this HR consistently until your body adapts and becomes faster and faster at the same HR. Also, at this HR you are burning fat for fuel, and by training this way becoming more efficient at burning fat. Going over this HR makes you work anaerobically and more carbs are used for energy.

During an ultra, almost 100% of your energy is coming from the aerobic system. So it makes sense to me to train this way and improve my aerobic base as much as I can.

You can perform a test (Maximum Aerobic Function or MAF test) to check your aerobic improvements:
1, warm up for 15 minutes
2, run 5 miles sticking to your max aerobic HR (best done on a track or treadie)
3, take your splits every mile

Your first mile should be the fastest and each mile after that should be slower as you tire. People with a strong aerobic base will have only small drop off in times.

I have performed two such tests:

5th November MAF test: 06:49, 06:57, 07:01, 07:03, 07:05. Average - 6:59
26th November MAF Test: 06:41, 06:50, 06:54, 06:51, 06:53. Average - 06:50

So I saw some improvements pretty quickly. Unfortunately, I got injured after the second test and havent performed one since. But I'm feeling like I'm getting back in shape now so will attempt another test soon.

Whats next:

My next race is the IMRA Wicklow Way 50k, training has been going well. Mileage has been 48m, 50m, 46m, and 53m in the past 4 weeks and will hopefully peak in the 65-70m range a few weeks before the race. I've been doing lots of hills but with Maffetone training it means I have to slow down a lot on the climbs to stay aerobic.

Following on from that is the Eiger Ultra in July. Looks like a great race and cant wait for it. Beyond that I have an eye on the Kerry Way ultra.

Looking forward to getting back into some consistent training and consistent logging, too.

Best of luck. Doing Maffetone before Hadd looks like a great way to squeeze every drop out of your aerobic training.
Have you noticed any affects of the slow uphills and fast downs yet? I have a hunch you'll get very strong as a result. I think in normal uphill running a lot of the slow type muscle fibres are 'skipped' in favour of some of the stronger fibres. If your uphill pace improves at a low climbing intensity like max aerobic HR would be, then youll be sucking diesel (which it should because you're doing loads of it). The slow relaxed climbing should help strenght and technique too. More strenght and efficiency gains on the fast relaxed downhills also. Hope it works out well, Im sure it will.

DogSlySmile

Myles Splitz wrote: »

Once you have your MHR and you RHR simply use the following

Max HR - Resting HR = HRR using this you can calculate intensities
(HRR x % intensity level (70-80%) + Resting Heart Rate

eg

Max HR - 205
Resting HR - 50

HRR - 155

(155*0.7) + 55 = 164 bpm for 70%
(155*0.8) + 55 = 179 bpm for 80%

From here you are able to have a good idea of intensity ranges (sessions should be mileage grade based so for shorter sessions relative to weekly mileage you start at upper end of the scale while long sessions start at lower end to allow for cardiac drift)

thanks for the explanation. My Max HR in a hill race I did yesterday was 187. I'll measure my resting HR in the morning and go from there.

So keeping my HR in a range between 70-80% of HRR reserve is an aerobic range?

I'll see if I can dig this out, was part of a slide which was referenced at a conference but I will try find the original paper. Basically the idea behind it is that the lower intensity start allows the effort levels to naturally increase from a low intensity which generally is where fat utilization tends to be developed as you start to recruit more types of fibres as a result of increase in intensity but also due to slow twitch fibres fatiguing as the duration goes on.

Did these as part of my base phase back in August and generally started at Recovery pace and progressed by 5 bpm every 10 min till I reached close Marathon effort (close to MA effort in terms of intensities)

If you have the article send it on would like to have a read

I think this sort of work is fine but it is too specific to Hill/trail running to be focused on overall economy. Because the focus is on eccentric contraction of the quads it is not functionally specific to normal running. Up hill strides with full recovery or flat would probably tend to work better for focus on hip flexion and knee drive as well as decreased ground contact time.

Maffetone recommends downhill reps at a fast pace and MAHR to give the legs some practice at higher turnover/sharpen up before a race. But I see your point. What would you recommend? 5 x 10 sec uphill stride during a run and build from there?

DogSlySmile

demfad wrote: »

Best of luck. Doing Maffetone before Hadd looks like a great way to squeeze every drop out of your aerobic training.
Have you noticed any affects of the slow uphills and fast downs yet? I have a hunch you'll get very strong as a result. I think in normal uphill running a lot of the slow type muscle fibres are 'skipped' in favour of some of the stronger fibres. If your uphill pace improves at a low climbing intensity like max aerobic HR would be, then youll be sucking diesel (which it should because you're doing loads of it). The slow relaxed climbing should help strenght and technique too. More strenght and efficiency gains on the fast relaxed downhills also. Hope it works out well, Im sure it will.

Thanks demfad. Definitely noticing an improvement in uphill pace at MAHR. My regular run to work has a drag of climb which is about half a mile long. Back when I started Maffetone training I had to slow down to 11 min per mile on this climb to stay below MAHR, now I'm doing it in 9 min per mile. Not fast but definitely going in the right direction! I run this hill at least once a week so its good to use to check progress.

DogSlySmile

Mon, 22 Feb - Rest Day, cycle in and out of work
Tue, 23 Feb - 10m hilly am, 5m easy pm
Wed, 24 Feb - 5m easy am, 5m easy pm
Thu, 25 Feb - 5m easy am, 10m including 5m MAF test pm
Fri, 26 Feb - Rest Day, cycle in and out of work
Sat, 27 Feb - IMRA Ticknock 5m race - Finished 12th in 35:40
Sun, 28 Feb - 24m on Dublin Mountains Way

Very happy with this week. Great to be back doing IMRA races. I didnt do any at all in 2015 due to injury mostly and other things getting in the way. Really enjoyed the race, its always tricky to pace the first IMRA race of the year so I followed the lead of some wiser heads on the first climbs before pushing on on the downhills.

Finished up in 12th place, happy enough with that considering I havent done any fast paced runs since October last year.

Wasnt in the mood for a long run on Sunday at all but felt better as soon as I was out running. Tried to keep HR at MAHR-20.

Total running: 69 miles
Total ascent: 6,033ft

DogSlySmile

Mon, 29 feb - rest day, cycle in and out of work
Tue, 1 Mar - 10m hilly am, 5m easy pm
Wed, 2 Mar - 5m easy am, 5m easy pm
Thu, 3 Mar - 11m hilly am, 5m easy pm
Fri, 4 Mar - rest day, cycle in and out of work
Sat, 5 Mar - 25m Wicklow Way
Sun, 6 Mar - 5m hilly

Another solid week. Four hilly runs and 71 miles in total should see the aerobic system ticking along nicely. Saturdays run was great, tried to keep the HR close to 130bpm as much as I could, but tricky to do on the climbs. As the miles clocked up and I got more tired it got harder and harder to keep the HR down on the climbs. When the HR went above 140bpm I walked until it dropped down below 120bpm before starting running again.

Trying to come up with a strategy for the Wicklow way 50k race regarding HR. Something along the lines of 130bpm in general but let it climb to 140bpm on the climbs. I'll look in to my HRR a bit more before making a decision.

The taper starts here. Two weeks of dropping down mileage before race week. Will work in some specific downhill/uphill sessions for speed.

Total running: 71m
Total climbing: 9,600ft

DogSlySmile

Thurs 10th Mar - Downhill reps

Wasnt in the mood for this after work but didnt give myself the chance of not doing it, so just went out and did it.

The reps started at the top of killiney hill. From there I ran down the steep main path and out the gate onto Killiney hill road, past fitzpatricks castle and finished down in Dalkey village. The downhill is 1.2m in total.

I tried to focus on just being relaxed and letting my legs turnover naturally rather than trying to get down the hill as quickly as possible (like if I was on a bike on a steep descent, I would just relax and let gravity do the work for me).
Rep times were: 7:16, 7:08, 6:53 so improved with practice.

On the uphill, I just took it easy and tried to keep the HR under aerobic max.

Will try to do this session again next week to get a bit more specific downhill practice on descents before the Wicklow Way 50k (Maurice Mullins Ultra)

9.5 miles in total.

DogSlySmile

|MAF Test 1 | MAF Test 2 | MAF Test 3 | MAF Test 4|
Date | 5/11/15 | 26/11/15 | 25/2/16|12/3/16|
Mile 1 | 6:49 | 6:41|6:47|6:35|
Mile 2| 6:57| 6:50|6:48|6:40|
Mile 3| 7:01| 6:54|6:50|6:38|
Mile 4| 7:03| 6:51|6:52|6:40|
Mile 5|7:05|6:53|6:54|6:41|
Average| 6:59|6:50|6:50|6:38|


Did my fourth MAF test yesterday. I figure whatever I do in future with regard to training the MAF test will still be a good measure of my aerobic fitness and be a good way to gauge fitness over all over time.

Saw a nice improvement, so my recent weeks of increased mileage and hilly runs are definitely paying off. The average pace for 5 miles was down to 6:38 which is a 20 second improvement in my average 5 mile time from my first MAF test. Good to see all 5 mile splits coming in under 3 hour mara pace.

DogSlySmile

Taper week

Mon 7 Mar - rest day
Tue 8 Mar - 5m easy am, 5m easy pm
Wed 9 Mar - 5m easy am, 5m easy pm
Thu 10 Mar - Downhill reps, 9.5m 1,450 ft climb
Fri 11 Mar - Rest day
Sat 12 Mar - MAF test, 7.5m total
Sun 13 Mar - Rest

I've been tired all week. I've been keeping an eye on my resting HR recently. Its usually around 42 bpm, but on Saturday it was 46bpm. I figured it was due to a late night on Friday so went out and ran anyway. On Sunday I set the alarm for 6am to head out for a hilly group run, but when the alarm went off I just couldnt get out of bed so bailed on the run and didnt get out of bed until 11am! Zonked!

Hoping I'm not coming down with something.

total running: 36m

DogSlySmile

Tuesday, 15 March - Downhill reps

Same session as last thursday. Headed up to Killiney hill then ran down the hill out on to the road and down into Dalkey. 1.2m in total.

Nice increase in pace compared to last time. My fastest downhill last time was 6:53. Splits for this one were: 6:43, 6:30, and 6:13. Really felt an improvement in turnover overall and ability to relax on the steeper sections.

9.5m total.

DogSlySmile

Taper week

Mon 14 Mar - 10m am + 6m pm
Tue 16 Mar - Dowhnill reps 9.5m
Wed 17 Mar - 5m recovery
Thur 18 Mar - Rest
Fri 19 Mar - Rest
Sat 20 Mar - rest
Sun 21 Mar - 13m on Dublin Mountains Way

forgot to update the log last week. Im upped the miles on Monday as I didnt get a long run on the Sunday. Following that up with downhill reps left me shattered on the Wednesday. Needed the day off on Thursday (Paddys day) and Friday. Was still feeling tired and unwell on the saturday so took that off too as a precaution. Felt a bit better so headed out for a hilly run on Sunday but am still not 100% have a sore throat, generally tired.

I've been keeping track of RHR in the mornings. Its still a few beats above my usual RHR so something is not right.

Two more days to get healthy before the race. Lots of vitamin C and rest needed!

Looking forward to the race though. It will be my third go at it. My best time is 4:42 so hoping to get around that kind of time. I'm not as fit as I was setting that time but think (hope) I'm a smarter runner/pacer.

Total running: 44m

demfad

DogSlySmile wrote: »

Taper week

Mon 14 Mar - 10m am + 6m pm
Tue 16 Mar - Dowhnill reps 9.5m
Wed 17 Mar - 5m recovery
Thur 18 Mar - Rest
Fri 19 Mar - Rest
Sat 20 Mar - rest
Sun 21 Mar - 13m on Dublin Mountains Way

forgot to update the log last week. Im upped the miles on Monday as I didnt get a long run on the Sunday. Following that up with downhill reps left me shattered on the Wednesday. Needed the day off on Thursday (Paddys day) and Friday. Was still feeling tired and unwell on the saturday so took that off too as a precaution. Felt a bit better so headed out for a hilly run on Sunday but am still not 100% have a sore throat, generally tired.

I've been keeping track of RHR in the mornings. Its still a few beats above my usual RHR so something is not right.

Two more days to get healthy before the race. Lots of vitamin C and rest needed!

Looking forward to the race though. It will be my third go at it. My best time is 4:42 so hoping to get around that kind of time. I'm not as fit as I was setting that time but think (hope) I'm a smarter runner/pacer.

Total running: 44m

Best of luck!

DogSlySmile

Maurice Mullins Ultra report

Third attempt at the Wicklow way 50km (now called the Maurice Mullins ultra). Did it in 2013, and 2014 but missed out last year due to injury. Training has been ok since art oneill in January. Steady but nothing spectacular.

Got regged on the morning in the glencullen golf club (a fine coup by IMRA). And headed to the start line. The plan was to keep a close eye on my hr, keeping it around 140 and letting it drift to 160 on the climbs. I know from training that I can sustain 140bpm for a long time so keeping it within 140-160 during a 50km should be doable.

After a few words from Maurice Mullins daughter and we were away. A small group of 10 or so hit the front very early. I just kept it steady and considered the early road section my warm up. After a mile or so of handy running I checked the Hr to make sure I was in range, to my shock my hr reading was 170!! I was running comfortably and well below marathon pace. In training I can keep hr below 150 and run faster than marathon pace. ****e. What to do? My HR monitor can act up from time to time. What else could be effecting my HR? I deliberately didnt have any caffeine before the race as I know it affects my HR. The only other explanation would be that the excitement of race day was keeping my HR high. I ignored it for a while and waited to see if it would drop back down into my usual HR range. I checked it again at the start of the first climb and it was still very high for the amount of effort I was putting in so just decided to ignore it and run by feel instead. It was pretty early for a change of race plan but if I was to stick with the original plan of keeping hr around 140bpm I wouldnt even be testing myself.

On the first climb towards Prince Williams seat I was in a loose bunch of 5 runners. Djoucer was leading the group up the climb. I do a fair bit of training with him and we are well matched over a variety of distances so I was happy to keep him in sight in the early miles. Descending PWS the group stretched and bunched as the terrain changed from rocky and technical to runnable. I checked my HR again on the easy downhill and it was over 160bpm even though I was gliding down the descent.

My only real dilemma before the race was shoe choice. With all the rain in the days before the race certain sections would be very muddy. So I had two options: My Skechers are super comfortable but perform poorly on wet and muddy ground. My hokas, which are newer are fantastic on muddy ground but I dont find them that comfortable and I always feel like I will get blisters in them. In the end I decided to go for the skeckers. Better to be comfortable for the majority of the race than have good grip for very short sections.

My footwear got their first real test on the descent from curtlestown towards the river. Its a steep descent, which I dont particularly enjoy anyway but it was wet now too so found it a little bit slippy. I lost a bit of ground here and on the flat section along the river.

Heading into Crone wood I began to lose sight of djoucer, he was climbing well. I just couldnt get moving at all. I couldnt get my head into the race either. I was feeling flat, and dissapointed that my HR was so high. In my mind I was already finished the race and conducting the post mortem on what went wrong.

The flat feeling continued all the way to the foot of djouce. On the long hike away from the river I was passed by a bearded runner and then a runner in blue. I told myself to stick to the back of them but gradually they got further and further away from me. I ran where I could on djouce but hiked a lot of it. On the shoulder the puddles slowed me down further. Finally, I hit the boardwalk and could start running properly. This was a bit of a boost for me and I gradually started reeling in a runner in front. My recent downhill training seemed to be paying off as I felt very comfortable on the descents. I passed him as we were approaching Lough Tay and I was passed by the lead ultra runner going in the opposite direction. He was flying. Began the long descent to the Ballinastoe turnaround and I caught up with Djoucer. He wasnt feeling great either and we hit the halfway point together. I hit halfway in 2:20.

I turned straight around and started back up the hill. I was passed here by an American runner and again he gradually got away from me. I got a gel into me and a dioralyte. I tried again to get my head back in the race. I wanted to finish in a decent time. I told myself that everyone has run 25km of tough hills, everybody is tired so it will come down to who can suffer the most over the remaining 25km. I began to feel better as the miles wore on and I caught and passed the american runner on the boardwalk climbing towards djouce. the rain had stopped and the wind wasnt too bad (which is weird for djouce). Coming around the shoulder of djouce I was flying, finally starting to feel good and enjoying the race. I was getting passed by some runners but they were moving so fast I figured they must have been doing the shorter trail race. The climb away from the dargle is one of the toughest of the race. Its short but very steep and I hiked the whole thing. Descending down towards crone I just focused on good descending technique and kept my legs turning over as quickly as possible.

I grabbed a cup of water in crone and tried to keep my momentum going. By this stage the ultra runners and trail runners had become interspersed. I couldnt tell who was in the ultra/trail race. I figured the guys with less gear, no bag etc, were in the trail race but that was only a good guess. On the climb away from the river heading towards curtlestown I took my last gel. It had three shots of espresso in it so I was expecting a good boost from it. I was passed by the ultra runner in blue around here (I didnt remember overtaking him but apparently I did earlier in the race). Again he got away from me.

As I mentioned, this is my third attempt at this race. the previous two times I suffered badly on the last climb up PWS and the final descent towards Glencullen. I was determined to put that right this time. I downed two cups of water at the start of the climb and got running. I tried to keep my feet tunrning as quickly as possible. I was only able to take small steps but I gradually started reeling in the runner in blue. The climb is long so I had time to look up and spot my next target (the american). He was hiking with two Trail runners. It seemed to take forever for me to catch the group ahead but I did eventually and powered on toward the final rocky climb to the summit. Proud to say I ran the whole thing and hit the decent with good momentum.

Again, I felt that the recent downhill training that I had been doing was paying off. I was passing some ultra runners who took the early start option. Even though we werent competing directly it still felt good to be overtaking someone. As the trail finished and turned into road I could see the bearded runner ahead of me (I hadnt seen him since he passed me heading up djouce). I had to catch him. As we passed the bridge in Glencullen I was closing on him but he gradually got away from me on the climb. With one mile to go I upped the pace and slowly ate up the space between us. Just as I caught him I upped the pace again to make sure he didnt try to latch on to me and headed for home. Crossed the finish line in 4:51 and 12th place. 10 minutes slower than my fastest but happy with the result given how flat I felt in the early miles.

This was a weird race for me. Usually I feel good at the start and then gradually get worse the more tired I become. This was the opposite. Felt really sluggish at the start and then gradually felt better. The HR thing was weird too. it may have just malfunctioned and gave me higher than normal readings as effort wise I didnt feel like I was pushing as hard as my hrm was telling me.

DogSlySmile

Just easing back in after the race

Mon 28th Mar-Thu 31st Mar - easy cycles to and from work.
Friday 1st Apr - Easy run to and from work. 10m total
Sat 2nd Apr - 5.5m hills
Sun 3rd Apr - 7m easy

I usually give myself a week off after a race but felt like the legs healed up a bit quicker than usual this time so started back with an easy run on Friday.
Went out for a short hilly run on Saturday and felt great. any time I've done this run I usually try to keep the HR around 145 bpm. On this run I upped the pace a good bit and was hitting 180 at times. Averaged 160bpm for the 45 minute run which is making me wonder what kind of 10km shape I'd be in.

So whats next?
I think I've built a decent base now. Time to add in some speed. I have signed up for the Lap of the Gap marathon, which will be a good training run. Its a very hilly course so I wont be targeting a specific time. But it will be a good excuse to get out for some tempo runs etc in the coming weeks.

After that I'm looking at the Wicklow Way ultra 127km in June. Its 5 weeks before the Eiger 101km so should be enough time to recover between races.

DogSlySmile

Tue 5 Apr - 10m steady am, Muse gig pm :cool:
Wed 6 Apr - 5m easy am and pm
Thr 7 Apr - 10m steady am, 5m easy pm
Fri 8 Apr - 5m easy am and pm
Sat 9 Apr - rest day
Sun 10 Apr - Off

A half good, half bad week. first half was good, racked up some decent miles and enjoyed Tuesdays steady run. Took a planned rest day on Saturday and woke up with a sore throat. got chills later in the day and by night time I was convinced I had the flu. Couldnt sleep, I was sweating and freezing at the same time, coughing and had aches all over. Was still pretty wrecked on Sunday so running was never going to happen. By about 5pm on Sunday I was feeling a good bit better and was grand by sunday night. weird

total running: 44m

DogSlySmile

First update since April!

Since then I have been mad busy with work and also changed jobs recently so logging has been the least of my worries. Not that their would be a lot to log about. In december 2015 I began to get a pain in my foot. Nothing too sore, not too sore that I wouldnt run on it. That got worse and better as time went on. It disrupted my prep for AON but then seemed to clear up and I got through the Maurice Mullins 50k ok.

In April it got worse again so took a couple of weeks off running. No improvement after two weeks so went to the physio who suggested it was a stress reaction in my foot due to constant load. More weeks off followed, tried to come back running a few times but the pain would always return. Dry needling seemed to help but it never fixed it. After weeks and weeks off I decided an MRI was the way to go and the MRI showed metatarsal bursitis (an inflammation in the bursa around the metatarsal). It was great to finally know what I was dealing with and could start treating it with ibuprofen to reduce the swelling. This helped a lot and I've been gradually building back up the mileage over the last 3 weeks (6 miles, 13 miles, 30 miles). Feeling like I am finally on the right path.

For a long time I thought I would have to pull out of the Eiger Ultra. I am back running now so will at least be fit enough to give it a shot. It will be a very hard day out given my current fitness levels/lack of training but looking forward to it anyway.

Also, I am now the National Beer Mile Champion.

If I can do that, I can do anything :cool:

DogSlySmile

Race week

Last week was another week of getting back to it slowly.

The last 7 days have been: 5m, 8m, rest, rest, 5m, rest, 8m. So 26m total.

I'm sitting here with a cold. Work has been busy, havent been sleeping and had a few late nights this week. Not a good mix at all so defences have been low. Going to rest up now until the race, will have a full day of travel on thursday and wont get much sleep on friday as the race starts 04:30am on saturday.

I'm heading to the race with 7 other lads. Two of them have had to withdraw completely in the last couple of days with injuries so I guess I cant complain about my little cold

I am heading into the race knowing that the longest run I have done since March is 10 miles. Obviously I dont have the endurance training in the legs to give the eiger a proper go. It will be a mentally and physically very hard day out. But I also know that the longest run I had going into Lavaredo 120km was also 10m so I know I can suffer through.

Nice to have that in the locker.

Ososlo

Best of luck tomorrow DSS. And just remember your own wise words when things get tough:

Also, I am now the National Beer Mile Champion.

If I can do that, I can
do anything

DogSlySmile

Eiger Ultra Trail 101km race report

This was my third trip away for an ultra following CCC 100k in 2014 and Lavaredo ultra 120k in 2015. My preparation for this race, or lack of it, pretty much mirrored exactly my prep for lavaredo. Before lavaredo I had a stress fracture which kept me out for 3 months in the lead up to the race. This time around I had bursitis in my foot. Bursitis and stress fractures are similar in that they take a long time to heal and that they "feel" healed for a long time before they are actually healed.

On the Monday before the race I ran 8 miles to work and could feel that the bursitis hadn't fully cleared up. That left me with 5 days of rest before the race to RICE. I travelled to the race with 5 other lads I train with the odd time and got settled into our hotel. Talk soon turned to expected finish times etc - I didn't want to commit to a specific time, I would just be happy to complete the race given my prep. Having said that I did think a time of 20 hours would be doable (the race is 100km, 20hours would allow 1hour per 5k which should be plenty of time).

The night before the race we went to bed early and set our alarms for 3:00 am. One of the only good things about not training properly for a race is that you worry/stress way less about the race and can actually sleep properly! Usually I am too nervous to sleep the night before a race - I usually lose sleep thinking about all the hours of prep I've put in and did I do enough hills etc was my long run long enough etc etc. The other guys I travelled with barely slept a wink. I slept like a baby!

The start line of the Eiger ultra trail was eerie. 600 people gathered in the centre of Grindelwald village in almost complete silence. It was weird, there was no music, no countdown either, we just started running when the clock struck 04:30 am - a real lack of pre race atmosphere:(

We got running (quietly) through the town and out into the hillside. I was keeping a regular check on my HR from the start. I train using the MAF method. It basically defines a couple of HR zones to indicate when you are running aerobically and anaerobically. I knew that I had to keep my HR under 150bpm to stay aerobic, maximise my energy reserves and give myself the best possible chance af completing 100km. From the start my HR was a little higher than normal. Usually when I'm running easy in training my HR will be around 110 bpm - at the start of the race it was around 130bpm. I've noticed this increase a few times in races, probably a result of the adrenaline of race day.

The climbing starts early in the Eiger ultra. Basically the first 15km is all uphill and a lot of it needs to be hiked. I had to keep slowing myself down right from the start. My HR was over 150 bpm so I just eased off a little until it fell below 150. I just kept telling myself that every time I slowed down to stay in an aerobic zone, it meant I would have more energy later in the race.

The climbs were very steep at times, the descents too were steep, too steep to run comfortably a lot of the time. I decided to attempt the race without hiking poles. I'd say over 90% of the field used poles in the race but I find them very cumbersome and I haven't learned how to use them efficiently enough, so was relying on pure leg power to get me through this race! I havent written off using poles in future races though. I observed other people using them in the race and noticed how easy and natural they make it look. So I will consider them again in future.

I have a bit of a friendly rivalry with one of the lads I travelled over with. It started back in stonemad 2014 when I pipped him to third place by a few seconds. Then last year in lavaredo he beat me by 5 mins (though I often remind him how much training he did for that race and how little training I did). Realistically, I knew there was a high chance he would beat me again - he's been training well - while I've been injured. I caught up with him leaving cp1 and we ran together for a bit. He wasn't feeling great at that moment and wasn't running as well as he hoped. We ran together for an hour or so until we began one of the toughest climbs of the race (Faulhorn). The climb isnt very steep its just really really long and really saps the energy from you. I had to stop several times for a breather on this climb and was over taken by loads of people. There is a CP at the top of the climb. I took some time here and had some boullion and bread. I also had a couple of cups of coke (I've never tried coke before in an ultra, I usually have coffee, but it really worked a treat).

the long descent from this CP was intially very tricky. There was snow on top of Faulhorn, and with all the traffic of race day the snow had become compacted, hard and very icy. I had so many moments where my feet very nearly slipped out from under me. Little mini frights where I nearly shat my pants but somehow kept it together. Overall the descent was amazing, it had absolutely everything; snow, ice, single track, rocky technical bits - the works! Loved it.

I got into the half way check point and checked my watch, nearly 10 hours had passed so I was on target for a 20 hour finish. I assumed that my friend had been and gone through the CP already so I changed my clothes and had some grub. All of a sudden my phone rang - who would be ringing me now? Every one knows I'm doing a race. It was my wife, she couldnt figure out how to track me during the race SO SHE RANG ME IN SWITZERLAND TO ASK ME HOW TO DO IT DURING A 100KM RACE!!!!! telling ya...:eek:

Just as I was about to leave my friend appeared in the CP. He was still having a tough time and considering pulling out. I hung out with him for a while while he got some food before heading back out onto the course.

More climbing followed here for a while. I just relaxed into the climb and kept an eye on HR - it had now returned to normal (when I was running easy I saw a low HR reading on my watch). I was amazed my legs were still going. I'd done very little training for this but somehow my legs were still moving forward. I was in a great mood too, managed to remain positive at all times and just kept on going. It was hot though, very hot. Every so often I came across a sping which I used to soak my head which was a nice relief from the heat. A long descent in the heat followed and the route brouhgt us down into a small village. This was one of the highlights of the race. There were small groups of spectators lining the roads, playing music and cheering "hop hop hop". I got in and out of this CP in the village quickly and started the toughest climb of the race.

The climb up mannlichen was very steep. it was like climbing stairs for two hours in a sauna. Looking back, I would have gladly done a bit of "man-licking" to not have to do that climb! It was relentless. I got brief glimpses of the summit where I was supposed to go then the summit would be lost in the trees for 30 minutes before appearing again and it would look even further away! It was a very challenging climb and I was exhausted at the top of it. My legs were dead so I took a long break here and tried to eat some food at the CP.

The descent from the CP was exactly what my sore legs needed. Very gradual, very runnable ground - I could just let my legs turn over and gradually come back to life. Really enjoyed this bit. The descent gradually got steep but life had returned to my legs at that point and I was able to deal with it.

As I was heading into the CP at 85km I heard my phone chirp with a text message. My immediate thought was that my friend had decided to drop from the race and was letting me go. I made a mental note to check the text in the CP. Completely forgot about the text as I lowered cups of coke and cheese into me. Spent and few minutes here before getting back on the course happy to jog the remaining 25km. I remembered about the text just as I was out on the course so dug out my phone. It was a text from my wife saying that I was in the top 100!! :eek::eek: I couldnt believe it! Threw the phone back in my bag, dug out the mp3 player and got going as quick as I could to try and get higher up the top 100.

I loved the last 25km. I was on such a high. I was running like I had just started the race, not like someone who had just run further in the last 16 hours that he had in the last 3 months combined! I was in control and picking runners off easily. No one overtook me in the last 25km at all which was a great boost.

Just as the light was beggining to fade we began skirting along the base of the Eiger mountain. We had seen the eiger from every ankle during the race so was great to finally run at the foot of the iconic mountain. I put on my headtorch as the course slithered its way through thick forest for about 5km. Really enjoyed this part too. The final 5km of the race is all on roads, descending steeply into grindelwald. I just let fly, somehow my legs were still moving so I gave it everything in the last 5km and caught a few others. One final climb to get back onto the main road of Grindelwald village and I hit the gas for the final 400m to the finish line. There were a few people out to cheer the runners home but overall it was a very subdued affair. I crossed the finish line in 18:42. Absolutley delighted with myself considering my training!

I rang my wife straight away - she had been tracking me all day. Apparantly she got my position wrong when she texted me earlier in the day. I wasnt in the top 100, I was in the top 100 of my category. I didnt care, I absolutely loved the race and final 25km of thinking I was in the top 100 was the best bit.

I finished 70th in my category 128th overall.

Delighted with how this run went considering my lack of training. Obviously the few bits of strenght work I was doing kept me in decent shape. Also running by HR was hugely beneficial to me during this race - I knew how hard I could push and knew when to back off and recover.

Thinking about signing up for the Kerry Way Ultra in September, now. But definitely going to take a look at my training. Thats two long term injuries I've had in the last two years. Obviously I am doing something wrong. Perhaps a lower mileage plan with more strenght work will keep me fit rather than just doing miles miles miles. Or maybe I dont need to train at all and just show up to ultras :cool: