Lake Tarawera Ultra 100km

Denise and myself made our way over the South Pacific ocean on Wednesday 7th March 4 days before this event. Wed night was spent in Auckland and Thursday we drove down to Rotorua. Nice place if you can handle the smell.
The Thursday night the organisers had put on a casual 7.5km funrun in the Redwood forests. Amazing soft trails! They bought over Anton Krupicka from the states who has raced and won many ultras in the states. After the run they put on the movie Endurance. Its a movie about the 2010 Western States ultra. Anton came 2nd that yr.

The morning of the race was pretty damn cold and for fear our car would get locked in the gates at 8:30pm (the race is a point to point so we wern't sure if we would be back in time) we parked our car about 1km from the starting line. Trying our best to keep warm we did a walk then a jog then waited until it was time to start before we ditched our warm clothes.

What an amazing technical race this is. It has it all. Nice forestry trails, nasty gravel trails, a little bit of road, lots and lots of technical tree roots trails, river crossings, running along cliff edges, some nice hills, some nasty hills, fallen trees, awesome aid stations, awesome volunteers, a great lead up to the race with a funrun and the Western States movie. Even the finishing medals were outstanding!

My race started off just as planned. I had 2 goals I wanted to reach. Sub 10hrs and a top 10 placing I got one of those goals.
We got to the start just before 6am and with the race stating at 7am we had just over an hour to go. I found it pretty cold waiting. After a quick pre race briefing we were lined up ready to go.

I wore a head torch for the first 4k as it was just a little dark in the forrest and put my trust in who ever I gave it to that my quite expensive AYUP head torch would find me at the finish. I'm glad to say it was!

I set myself about 5 rows back and just eased into it passing quite alot of runners. After about 30min or 40min I found myself up with the leading 100km runners. I was quite surprised at how easy the pace was. It was at one of the aid stations at about 19km I stopped to get the crap out of my shoe. Going through the river sections I got some stones etc in there. It was also at this stage I noticed my left calf feeling rather sore. I slowed down a bit to let it settle but as the run went on it just got worse. It wasn't long before I was on the tree roots and I reckon there was around 40km of tree root trails to run through which made it interesting. There was alot more hills than I expected also.
Not long before the 60k someone told me I was 27th. yukk! I've gone from about 6th or 7th down to high 20. By the time I made it to 60k I was in about 20th place. It was also here the first female came charging by!
I decided I better get my butt into gear.
Leaving the 60k we were on a gravel road then we started a climb. The more I climbed the hills the more my calf would spasm up. I found I could keep it at bay with salt tablets. Alot of the race is a bit of a blur after the 60k but I remember we started to make our way down hill and all of a sudden my calf came good. So while it felt good I ran a pretty good pace. I manged to catch up to alot of the other runners that passed me in the tree roots. Going up the hills now I had no problem running and passed alot as most were walking them.
The main hill is this 5km loop thats starts just before 80km. It was here my calf got really sore again and on that loop one other guy I passed and the chick caught back up to me. I found this hill quite good as it gave me a chance to break the run up with some walking. Back at the aid station my calf came good again so I took advantage of it and ran a nice steady pace dropping Nicola (the female runner) and the other guy. I got to 90km checpoint and only stopped for about 30sec. I made it there in 9hrs33min. There were 2 more drink stops between there and the finish. I only stopped at the last one. They tell me only 3km to go. That was a long 3km too. All this time I had no idea how close the girl and guy was behind me but knew if they can't see me they have no idea how far in front I was.
Finally I could see the finish line!
I finished in 10rs23min36sec and 7th place. Beating that guy by 2min and the girl by 3min.
Not the time I wanted but the placing was good :-)

Denise had a much better race than me. She raced the 60km and got 3rd female! Pretty darn impressive for running her first ultra and having suffered a calf injury for the 6 weeks prior to the race!

Test

Testing this 

2010....from no running to ultra running

Just a look back at 2010 and my running has gone from nothing to ALOT! It feels great to be finishing the year with no injuries (just niggles) and I'm pretty happy how the year has turned out. So a bit of a run down

January - Started off with no running at all for the first 2 weeks. I'd had 22days of total rest as I stopped running back in December. I then managed to do a few 1km run on the t'mill. I then took up cycling and swimming. Started to do some 60km rides and swimming about 3k.
Around the last week of Jan I was starting to run slowly on the t'mill up 10km and also managed a 57min 10k outdoors. On the last Sat I did trotters 10k time trial in 48min but still feeling pain.

February - I bought a bike of a friend & started to do some longer rides of around 150km. Was keeping up the running but very very slow. Also was improving in the swimming.

March - This month was a mixture. Lot's of downs! Had a subluxation on my right shoulder in the pool doing a tumble turn. Then Did my first ocean race at Caves Beach. 1.5km. Loved it! 3 days later my right shoulder fully dislocated. End of the month I was running 10k a few days a week but still getting hammie pain

April - I started to get into running this month. Did Novice xc in 39:45 so back to sub 4min pace. Injury was still there but could run with it. Also went to Stawell gift with Jono, Rach, Charlie & Josh and was starting to do slow long runs again. Pain was always there after long runs

May - This is the month I started to get back into running again!!!!
Started off State 10k in 38min. Did SMC 10k in 37min and that was the first sign of no pain before or after running. Also did Miranda xc relays in the mud. All were good runs and was great to be racing again.

June - This month was just spent maintaining my running. Back to long runs and raced bay to bay in 46min (my slowest time). I also paced Suzy in the Woodford to Glenbrook run in just over 2hrs

July - This is when all the big long races all started to happen. Running good now. Still feel hammies but can now run through it and even race through it.
Start of the month I paced Nat to 3:21 marathon at Gold Coast. I felt great in that & decided to have a go at Hunter Valley marathon 2 weeks later. Finished that in 3:01 in 3rd place. Then decided to do Bush Capital 60k in Canberra 2 weeks later. This was the longest I've ever run. Finished in 5hrs8min in 3rd place


August - I decided now to enter GNW100km in November. August started off with the city to surf which I finished in 53:30. The following week I ran with Nat & Buzz & Rob on the 12ft track. 90km. Did a few local xc races as well. Ended with Lake Maquarie 1/2 marathon in 81min

September - I started off sept with Central coast 10k & 1hrs champs. 10k was in 36:48 and went on to do the 1hr in 15.643k
Next was Cooronbong with a hangover. 38min for that one. And other weekends were spent on the GNW course doing 50km plus runs.

October - Not much this month. Had groin pain but just kept up GNW training.

November - GNW100k done. 14hrs37min and 4th place. Also did terrigal trotters 10k 2 weeks later and finished in 39min in 1st spot. Rest of month was just recovering


December - End of the year. Entered Narrabeen allnight in Jan, Six foot track in March & TN100k in May. Also join AURA. Just getting back into running again still fighting groin pain that I got a couple of month ago. Mainly doing long Sunday runs. Last one was a 69km last Sunday. Now only 2weeks until the end of the yr & 3 weeks until Narrabeen I'm taking it easy

Interval Training....the workout that gives you the most bang for your buck!

Interval training....it the workout of all workouts. So what is it and how do you do it?

It can be done on any workout in any location. It involves bursts of high intensity work followed by low intensity or rest. It's the magic key to running faster, swimming faster, cycling faster in fact it's the key to making you faster in almost any sport that requires some kind of speed.
Interval training can supercharge your fitness, boost your metabolism, burn off that extra fat and let you start reaching those goals that you have set yourself.
As with most types of training there are many different types of interval work you can do. For the purpose of this blog that's what I'm going to cover.
In general, interval training is best done 2 or 3 times per week. It can last anywhere between 5 to 30 minutes or more, depending on your level of fitness and what you are training for.







Since I myself am a runner I'm going to give examples of some running interval workouts but once you know how to do this wonder workout you can implement it to any sport.
So remember it all about going hard at a certain intensity for an amount of time followed by a lower intensity or complete rest for an amount of time.








The first type of interval training is one of my favourites. It's simple and doesn't require much brain use which I find best when I'm running quite hard!







You simply get out and start off at a very easy pace for 5min. This is your warmup then run hard for 3min with a 2min recovery run. I like this one as it's in blocks of 5min. So every 5min you know you have to run hard again. Just keep repeating it for as long as you have planned for your workout.



The time and pace will vary depending what your training for. If you are training for a 10k run then you will go at about your 5k pace. If you are training for a 1/2 marathon then do them at about your 10k pace and you would do more reps of them. If you are training for a marathon then 1/2 marathon pace is good and again you would do more reps



Always finish with a 5min easy warmdown

Another interval workout that's quite effective are hill intervals. First find a course that has a mixture of hills and flat ground. You start with 5min easy as your warmup then every hill you get to run about 90% effort up the hill. Once you reach the top you then run easy until the next hill. Do for as long as you had planned for your workout. Finish with 5min easy run.

Another good hill one but a bit boring for my liking are hill repeats. Just find a hill than 100-500m long then sprint up that sucker then walk back down. You might do 2 sets of 5 reps making each rep faster than the one before. Word of caution though, this can be a vomit workout!!!!

Next one is a great marathon workout and does require quite good fitness. You will cover over 20km in this one all up including the warmup and warmdown. Find a course that has km markings on it or wear a GPS watch. Start with your 5min easy warmup then do 1km hard, 1km easy, 2km hard, 1km easy, 3km hard, 1km easy, 4km hard, 1km easy, 5km hard then do a 5min warmdown. You might find an ice bath after this one will help you recover better. If you are training for a marathon then do each hard rep at your marathon pace or slightly faster and make the 1km recovery run as slow as you like

So far I've given you some great road interval workouts. Now lets look at some on the track.

First up make sure you do a really good warmup before you attempt these ones. That will consist of slow running, some drills then some stride's

For most people you want to do around 2km to 3km in total of hard running. If you are training for longer distances then you can do up to 5km or 10km of hard running but your intensity will be slower than shorter ones.

First type of track intervals are repeats of a certain distance followed by a distance of recovery or total rest.

Popular one's are

• 8-10x400m with a 30sec-1min recovery or a 200m easy run



• 5-6x600m with a 1min-2min recovery or a 300m-400m easy run



• 4-5x800m with a 2-3min recovery or a 400m easy run



• 3-5x1km with a 3min recovery or a 400m-600m easy run

Other track intervals are pyramids

examples are

• 1x400m, 1x600, 1x800m, 1x1km then rest 5min then 1x1km, 1x800m, 1x600m, 1x400m. The goal of this one is to do the second half faster than the first half.

If you're in the gym and you're on those BORING things called cardio machines then try spicing up your workout with some short sharp intervals.

So as you can see, you can implement these ideas on any cardio workout of your choice. You can do it on a treadmill, a bike, a rowing machine or in the pool. Play around and have some fun with them

One thing is for certain though....you will feel pain. The good news is you will get fast results in a short amount of time

The magic of recovery!

It's the magic tool to staying injury free. You can train all you like as hard as you like for as long as you like, but if it's one thing I've learnt the hard way you need to let that body of yours recover!

I'd like to share with you what I think we should be doing for recovery.

I'll go deeper into each one of the points over the next few weeks but for now I'm going to just touch with the basics

Remember that there isn't one magic cure for recovery or fixing those injuries. It's a mixture of all these things plus many more. Your body will heal itself over time.

First up...whenever your not training you should be recovering.

How do you recover? hmmm I'm glad you asked!
Recovery isn't anyone thing in particular. It starts as soon as you've stopped your workout.
Your warm down is recovery. You do a spin class then the cool down at the end is vital! The race that you just did...then the 5-15min easy running after is your cool down.
Then what? Well it all depends on what you're training for.
Examples of recovery are

• Sleeping
• Nutrition
• Massage
• Self massage
• Ice Baths
• Gym workouts (yes the gym is part of recovery!)
• Yoga
• Steam room/Sauna
• Cross training
• Rest days

Now I'm not going to go to deep into each of these but I'll explain a little on each one. Remember there is alot more to recovery than these points

Sleeping - Whats that correct amount of sleep? It all depends on how much you have been doing & what your training for. For most people it's between 7-9hrs. It also varies depending on you age. Kids & teenagers tend to need more sleep than adults.

• Nutrition - What should we be eating? Well I'm not going to into this one much as it really does vary on each individual. Basically if you eat it then feel bloated/crap/tired...etc...etc....etc than simply don't eat it! We all know that too much food leads to alot of problems. Even too much healthy food will lead to problems. It's all about balance.

Also it depends on what sport you are playing. A sumo wrestler will require much different energy needs than a ballet dancer.

Nutrition/fuel for the body has to
refuel the muscle and liver glycogen (carbohydrate) stores
replace the fluid and electrolytes lost in sweat manufacture new muscle protein, red blood cells and other cellular components as part of the repair and adaptation process.

• Massage - Maintenance to prevent injuries, it's shown to shorten the recovery time between workout by increasing blood flow, reduces spasm & tightness in the muscles, releases the fascia and ensures the muscle fibres repair in a strong & flexible manner. How often should you get massage? Again depends. Depends if you are doing heavy training, light training, when you competition is, if you have any niggles or injuries. A general guide is for best results - once a week to once a fortnight. Some people find once a month suits them better but always remember...ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING!

• Self massage - This is where it's great to have a bunch of massage tools at home. Things like golfballs, tennis balls, baseballs, rolling pins, foam rollers. The great thing about self massaging is you can keep things loose until you see the massage therapist. If you have just done a hard session & notice your calves or back is tight then you can target that area straight away.

• Ice Baths - Brrrrrrr!!!!!! well it's not as bad as you think. After any long hard sessions an ice bath can do wonders for your recovery! Simply fill your bath with cold water, get in then add 1 or 2 bags of ice 5kg-10kg and sit in there for 15-20min. After 3 or so min it gets easier. Once you are done go have a warm shower. Have an ice bath and your body will thank you the next day

• Gym Workouts - This is all about active recovery. You don't need to kill yourself everytime you go into the gym. When I get in the gym the stretch floor is my friend. You will find that you simply do more in the gym than you would if you were at home. Mainly stretching workouts & if your gym has one grab the foam roller. It's quite easy to spend 60min doing a stretch & foamroller session

• Yoga - What can I say about yoga ? It's sensational for strength & flexibility. Start doing 1-2 yoga sessions each week and see for yourself the difference in you sport. There is just too much to go into with yoga. Try it for yourself!

• Steam room/sauna - again another fantastic tool. Some of the benifits are
  
  •relief from muscle soreness
  •relief from stiff joints
  •immune system enhancement
  •lymph detoxification
  •blood circulation improvement
  •sinus congestion relief

• Cross training - Well this is any activity that you do other than your primary sport. This will keep you fit while resting the muscles of your sport. Also perfect if you are injuried.

• Rest Days - Vital!!!!! Now it doesn't mean to do nothing. Far from it. A rest day is simply a day off from your sport. This is where you will give your body a chance to get stronger/faster/leaner!

There is so much more to this little bit than I've wrote about for recovery.

Simply if you want to be the best you can it is a MUST DO!

Well I've decided to start up a blog for my business. I'm finding there is so much information that I've learnt in the health & fitness world over the last 15yrs that I'd really like to start sharing with everyone.

So please feel free to keep track of this blog as I'll be updating with information on a regular basis

Yours in health & fitness

Darren McClellan