My fourth ultra was a self-created beast (Hannah)

The idea of a “big week” came from the Transalpine organisers’ suggested training programme.  The idea was to run 20 miles a day for 8 consecutive days as preparation for the big one in a month’s time when we’ll be running an average of a marathon a day over the Alps.

In an ideal world I’d have been able to take a week off work and do this on trails and be able to structure my recovery.  But 2.5 weeks off for the race itself meant this wasn’t to be.  Luckily a day off for the Olympics and one work-from-home day meant I’d only have to spend 3 days in the office – on those days I’d run 10 miles to work and 10 miles home.  So the plan was do-able even if a little challenging.

And the plan was simple.  I “just” had to run 20 miles per day.  Nothing clever or fancy about it.  I just had to cover the distance.

We started the week in the New Forest where we were thankful for some lovely sunny weather for once.  It made us feel like we were on holiday and we even managed to have some fun as this photo of my brother Barney shows...

And this one of Brett and me with the New Forest ponies...

We did the same thing again on the Sunday.  And on both days the Olympic road races were a great excuse to spend a large part of the afternoon stretching in front of the TV!

Monday was a trip out to Dorney at the crack of dawn for some Olympic rowing action.  This meant our run got relegated to the late afternoon slot – I always struggle to run in the afternoon as I’d rather just get it out of the way.  And this was definitely a tough session.  We were up in Richmond Park for 3 laps.  We have a great route that we do which winds its way round the park on hidden single tracks.  This makes for a more interesting run which is slightly longer than the main track and with a few more hills.  The people we meet on that route tend also tend to be more friendly – often cos they’re training for the same sort of thing as us and have the same mindset.   On Monday we did two laps on our single track route.  But on the last lap we just stuck to the main trail and slogged it out – we hardly spoke a word the whole lap which is a good indication of how we were both feeling!

Tuesday was run-to-work day number 1.  It’s the same route I run several times a week so my body knew what to expect.  I took it a bit slower than usual though and needed a Nutrigrain bar en route where I usually manage without any fuel.  It was a tough run on the back of the evening before as it meant I’d had less than 12 hours rest.

I hadn’t been looking forward to the run home.  Normally I stop at Waterloo and get on the train so it was going to be a psychological battle when I got to that point of the run.  But I was fairly confident I’d be alright after that and so I made myself run on the opposite side of the road to usual to distract me!  And, other than beach volleyball crowds in St James’ Park, the whole thing was fine.  Slow but fine.  I think I’d built it up to be something worse than it was!  I just took it nice and easy and there was no need for any nutrition.  I needed a big refuel as soon as I got home though!  And was straight into my compression gear which I’d missed in the office – it works with winter trousers but not with summer skirts!

My right knee had started feeling tender on the run home – I could feel the impact of running on concrete for 20 miles.  So on my run the next morning (Wednesday) I really focused on staying light on my feet and keeping my core engaged.  I tried to run as silently as possible and played a game with myself – trying to run up behind people without them hearing me.  The knee held out pretty well.  But by the end of the run home I could feel it again.  Luckily I was going to be back on the trails again the next day.  So I stretched out my quad and worked on it with the ITB roller and tennis ball to try and loosen it up.

By this point in the week my guts were starting to struggle as well in the way that they’ve done at the end of an Ironman triathlon.  I haven’t taken Immodium this week as I don’t like to take it in training.  But I’ll definitely be taking a supply out to the Transalpine in case I need it for the later stages.  As I don’t expect there to be any portaloos on the top of the Alps!

Thursday I was working from home and so I was up early for a long run in Richmond Park.  Again it was slow but I focused on form and just keeping going.  I felt like my form was still there – all the gym work and pilates is paying off.  But I only had one speed by this point and it wasn’t fast!  My energy levels were low as I’d lost my appetite and so hadn’t really been eating very differently from usual.  I have found this previously when I did a couple of multi-day cycle events – the Tour of Ireland and the Pyreneean RAID.  My experience this week reminds me that I’ll need to really force myself to eat on the Transalpine.  Working from home meant it was easier to keep forcing myself to eat on Thursday.

Thursday evening I had a sports massage booked with Martin.  We worked on generally flushing out my legs but with a focus on my right quad due to the twinges I’d been having in my knee.  The general conclusion was that my legs were coping really well with the run volume and I’m really chuffed with that.  But tightness in my right lateral quad meant I had a bit of inflammation in a couple of tendons.  So we decided that I wouldn’t run to and from work again the day after.

I’ve learned a huge amount from 6 days back to back – whilst I know I could mentally push myself on for another couple of days, I need to save that strength for the Transalpine.  It’s not worth risking aggravating my knee by hammering it on the concrete for another 20 miles.  It definitely helps to have an objective third party help you make those sorts of decisions.

I might not have done the full 8 days but I’ve learned a lot from running 20 miles a day for 6 consecutive days.   The main things I’ve learned are:

• It was a good job I didn’t set myself target speeds.  By day 4ish I only had one speed and that was slow.
• I lose my appetite on multi-day events like this so I need to actively monitor my calorie intake to make sure I don’t end up in too much deficit.
• Recovery is key – lots of stretching and wearing compression tights whenever I’m not running.  I’ll also take arnica pills during the Transalpine.
• Sleep is key – at least 8 hours sleep per night and napping when possible.  Not being able to nap is the main challenge when fitting training around work.
• My guts are likely to start feeling traumatised from around day 5.

Well all that training is in the bank now – I just need to focus on strength, flexibility and staying well and injury free.  Four weeks to go!!!