Training Log Archive: fletch

Event: WARA Spring 24hr Rogaine
 

Have given myself a few days to ponder before I write this to get a bit more perspective on things...
Good points: tRicky is a machine and we seem to like travelling similarly (running, walking at same times / for extended periods / at similar paces)
Nav was pretty good for the most part (got a bit dodgy in the rain at night)
Were still on schedule when I quit
50kmish of a rogaine is a lot longer than a 30 minute slow jog, so I should be happy I made it that far.
Achilles were pretty good. Left a little sore for a few hours, but not restrictive
Was good about food and water intake - drink a lot more out of my old bladder with the tap rather than the new one with the bite vavle. Drained 3L before first water stop and nearly did it again by second. Laos threatened to cramp after 2.5hrs (mostly running, so not unexpected) but never did, so electrolytes were good.
Stomach never got twitchy like it often does in long races.
Point score at 6:49pm would have got us 20th
If I'd just followed tRicky 200m to what was effectively going to be our last bush control, then by the time I dragged my sorry but out to the water drop (still only about 10:50pm we would have been 10th...)
107km seemed to be feasible for the terrain. Worth remembering for future, particularly if dry.
Don't seem like I will have any issues that take more than a few days to resolve as a result of doing something so stupid

Bad points: Rain
Crap in shoes - need debris gaiters
Modified orthotics meant that braces rubbed, when they usually don't with orthotics
Pants fell down in rain
Awesomeness is no substitute for training for a 24hr event. Awesomeness may be enough to get through a 12hr. Keep in mind for future races.
I get too negative very quickly, especially once it is dark, and even more so when I am wet/cold. Raincoat on at first opportunity even if it seems lie a waste of time. Much easier to recover from being too hot than to try to warm up.
tRicky and i are not the best communicators, particularly when things aren't quite going right. Also an issue in knowing whether I was going at a sensible pace, having never seriously attempted anything like this before.
Annoying to pull out with an issue other than pre-existing conditions (although have had hip flexor problems plenty of times in the past).
Rogaining at night is a very different challenge to AR at night (moslty track based)

tRicky's log gives the details of our race. I thought the loop we planned was pretty good - will be interesting to compare to Mark and Wil. We started probably a bit hard, but were still travelling pretty comfortably. I recovered well from the early exertions just by walking for a couple of legs that I may otherwise have jogged a bit of. Nav was good early, with a couple of misses in the wet night. I found the dark much harder to deal with that I expected. Guess I haven;t had much practice, although AYUPs are a lot better than whatever rubbish light I was using back when I last did something similar.
Hip flexors were the first and only significant fatigue point, which contributed to catching my foot and stumbling a few times, straining L side further. Once it rained for the 3rd time and it lasted more than 30 seconds, I got cold, and stupidly decided to add warm and dry clothes one item at a time rather than putting a lot on at once, hoping to save some for later. I also forgot to pop the nurofen at the second drinks stop, so by the time they kicked in, it was already too late.

So, many good points, but also many mistakes on my part. Most mistakes are easily fixable, and despite all my pre-race bravado, I knew it was going to be stretch to finish the thing, so I come out of it pretty postive about trying again at some point.

Priority now is to get to the physio to try to sort out any biomechanical issues / muscle imbalances that may be contributing to my constant flow of injuries and gradually build the fitness without pressuring myself to get ready for any particular race/challenge.

Time to start my pre-rogaine taper. Not like Andre, who's been too soft to run intervals for the last 2 weeks. And Wil.

C • Will be back 2

Did my rehab again today - did it all last week, but skipped it over the weekend and Monday. did it this morning and tonight was the worst my achilles have felt since Saturday :(

T'was looking like a small turnout tonight for our return to the beach, but we had just lost a few around the other side of the shops... Ended up with Ann, Martin (knew Ann), special guest appearance by tRicky, Simon, Shanel, Alisha and Tarryn