Running soul decay

Apparently the legendary Emil Zatopek, at the start of the 1956 Melbourne Olympic marathon, uttered the words "Men, today we die a little" in reference to the physical torment that lay ahead for the athletes. While not for a moment comparing myself to such a great man and his deeds, each Saturday that I head out to the Dandenongs to tackle to slopes of One Tree Hill I feel that I leave a little bit of my soul behind in the drips of sweat that drain from my skin.

I do love running and I'm grateful to even be doing some of it at the moment...but the effort of climbing those goddam steep hills on legs already tired from cumulative running fatigue, fills me with a sense of anxiety and dread for the kilometers and hills ahead. Each Saturday when I finish, along with my tired and stiff legs, the relief is measurable, until I think ahead 7 days to the next encounter.

Over the last four weekends this month I've done three assaults on the One Tree Hill loop (the Two Bays Trail Race was on the other weekend), a loop which was the scene of an epic bonk on the first weekend. Perhaps scarred by that memory I haven't tried a full three laps again, changing course after two laps to something slightly more moderate, by comparison, at least!!

So training has been going pretty well during January, getting in consistent and pretty good miles. Bleary eyes, tired legs and very slow morning starts are the standard, but much to my surprise a couple of niggles I've had during the month have actually improved, which is a great relief both physically and mentally. I concluded that being stiff in the morning is part of being old(er) and doing a lot of running, but things warm up after 5-10-15 or maybe 20 mins of shuffle at the beginning of each run.

In terms of actual numbers, the weeks of January have totalled 139km, 128km (incl Two Bays Trail run), 147km and 153km. Numbers are only part of the story, with session quality varying from week to week depending on fatigue, and each week has got slightly better in that respect.

Then there is the Saturday long run in the Dandenongs...my weekly nightmare. I started the 6ft campaign with the goals of doing 40km+ and 2000m+ ascent in a single run, plus running > 60km across Saturday and Sunday. For these three non-race weekends I've ticked the 40km+ box (45km each), also the > 60km box (62-65km) but according to both my Garmin GPS watch and the SportsTracks software I download it to, have only come as close as 19m short of the 2000m+ ascent box. So near yet so far...and it bugs me a little...but hurts my brain to think what it will take to get those 2000m+...

We've got two more weekend runs in the Dandenongs, and this Saturday we're going back to the classic and favourite - not to mention a lot "flatter" (many would argue with that!!!) - Belgrave-Ferny Ck loop, with extra bits added on to bring up the distance. Then the following Saturday I'm going for a final attempt at three laps of One Tree Hill that will hopefully bring the trifecta. It's that or bust!!! Monty is slowly gaining some mountain legs, but is suffering in the process, also!!

Something I have learned from doing these weekend runs is that I am never going to be signing up for an ultra marathon. Even the 6ft Track Marathon at 45km is pushing my boundary...I couldn't even think of doing more more, with 50km really being the entry point for being an ultra runner. As much as I love running, I'm learning there can be too much of a good thing, even if the surrounding trails are lovely.

The other thing I've learned - and loved - is just how gooood a large chocolate Big-M (or two) tastes on the drive home!! Mmmmmmmmm.

So it's onwards from here. Less than 6 weeks until 6ft, but still plenty of run training to go...