Two Bays 2015: So I thought I had it all under control and that a Sub 7 hour run was not an unrealistic expectation, but it didn’t happen, in fact I didn’t finish, no it did not end in tears, but it should have. By the turn, Sub 7 hours was not going to happen, but I was looking forward to a Sub 7-30, as I was cruising, but not going too fast to push anywhere near the limit. As I climbed out of Dromana, climbing that hill who’s name I cannot remember, about 33km in, that dreaded ‘cramp monkey’ jumped out of a tree and decided to keep me company. I carried him until about the 40km to 42km mark, which reduced my pace, and still had me finishing with in the cut-off, and then at about 42km he struck. I fought him off 3 or 4 times and each time, I got back to cruising at sub 6min 30secs/km, but had to stop every 400 or 500 metres, but I was struggling to average 10mins/km, so as I ticked off each km, the mins/km to reach the cut-off became less, and I started to push, and no matter how hard I pushed, I was really struggling to do 8mins/km. At about 46km in, I needed to average 8mins 30secs/km to beat the cut off, and at about 47km, disaster struck, I tripped and was on the ground with a paralysing calf cramp. Old mate Jarrod, who had just past me heard me go down and returned to help, but there was nothing he could do, except leave me in my misery. I was on the ground for what appeared an eternity, but in hindsight it was probably less than 1 min, and the cramp eased, so I was up and running again, and I was moving at about 6mins/km (with the benefit of a downhill), so fast infact that I was back in visual contact with Jarrod, and sailing towards a medal. Then the downhill became uphill, and I stopped, not with cramps, but because there was nothing left in my tank, I had spent all of my pennins. I had been at this stage before, on the Comrades course 7 short months ago, and I had that feeling which I had, about 5km before I collapsed. I couldn’t run without extreme effort, and as Comrades 2015 showed, this effort could result in a total collapse. So to avoid a trip to hospital, and the risk for collapsing on a trail with limited access, I decided to walk to the Boneo Rd Aid Station and withdraw, and for me this was a huge decision. At Boneo Rd, I just sat down, had a drink, and took my race number off, I had decided that that was that. Like Comrades, it was difficult for me, with runners coming past who knew me, encouraging me to continue, but I refused, as I was aware of the risk I was exposed to, and decided that venturing on was not a good option. So, am I just becoming weak in my old age?, or am I more sensible? or am I understanding my body more? I think it is more the later 2 of the 3, because in the 48 hours after the run the following happened(this maybe too much information for some people): -Normally, as a restless sleeper, I get up and go to the toilet at least once during the night, during the race I probably drank 3.5 to 4litres of fluid (75% sports drink), plus I drank about 1.8 litres of water after the race, and 6 post race drinks at dinner, I didn’t feel the need to go to the toilet, and on Monday, I only went once, briefly. -For dinner on Monday night, it was 3 more drinks, plus what I drank during the day (maybe 750ml, as I wasn’t feeling thirsty), and again not toilet visit. So the question is why?, was I at the limit of my body shutting down? Did I get it right, when I pulled out? To me, Sunday was not hot, and the hills were no worse than I run most Sundays. So we know what happened, but why did it happen? The answer is probably in the electrolyte source, as although I though I had taken plenty of precautions (as usual) before and during the race, I changed to source/brand about 3 weeks ago. Could my body be that sensitive to a brand source? Who knows, but I am 4 weeks out from Tarawera, and the experimentation continues. I got it wrong at Comrades 2015, I got it right at Bruny Island (but I never really pushed to the limit), and I got it partly wrong at Two Bays, but I am almost there, as this journey continues. PS-And 48 hours later, I have walked about 5km, and swam twice, and my legs are still sore, and walking is still difficult, so I did push hard.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 09:55:22 +0000
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