Race report: Xterra 5km trail race (and loads of holiday photos)

I like to look for local races to do on holiday - so was happy to find the 2018 20K/10K/5K Phillip S Miller Park XTERRA Trail Race, an Xterra branded event in Castle Rock, Colorado just an hour's drive from where we're staying in Boulder. The race was to mark the opening of several miles of newly created trail in the grounds of the park. Mrs and I signed up for the 20k event - but I dropped down to the 5km on the day. Why? Let me offer some background...

Mrs came to Boulder for work a couple of months ago and loved the mountains, we agreed to come back for a holiday. A quick check of the map showed two beautiful parkruns within easy driving distance (a rarity in the US) and so I was all-in! Let's go!

We arrived on Tuesday, and by Thursday afternoon we'd hiked to the top of Green Mountain at 6,854ft (2,089m) and I'd thrown myself head first down the other side and spent the afternoon in Boulder Medical Centre getting bits of mountain pulled out of a massive cut in my knee (laceration with complications, according to the paperwork), and then getting it put back together with ten stitches (my first ever stitches, very exciting!).

Almost at the top

The top of the trig point shows the other peaks you can see from Green Mountain

Last known photo of me before the tripping incident

I fell running down a path like this - long runable/fallable downhill trail

Fetching new pink bandage hiding a bit of a horror show underneath!

The following day I drove to Aspen so we could run Aspen parkrun on Saturday. It was my first run after my accident so I was prepared to walk the whole route. Turns out I was able to jog along a little, and walk the hills, so I finished third from last (still in 6th place!) in a parkrun career personal slowest time of 0:44:24 - but I don't care, because the course was staggeringly beautiful, the team were really friendly, and at 8,000 feet (2,438m) above sea level it's the highest parkrun in the world.

I love finding the parkrun flag on a Saturday morning, it's a high point of the week

The course starts on an astroturf sports field, they were warming up to play baseball after we'd run 

There were more than twice as many doughnuts as there were runners!

Just look at the mountains! I've honestly never seen a parkrun so beautiful

Jeff gives the run briefing - taking part are two Brits, two Germans, two Australians, and two locals

A bridge on the outbound leg of the out-and-back course

The whole course is on what they call "trail", well paved and maintained pathways

A bridge on the return leg with an old church to one side

A large painted Aspen logo on one of the walls of Aspen High School

We drove back via Mt. Evans, the highest paved roadway in North America, and one of the famous fourteeners in the Rockies (a peak of 14,000 feet or higher). We drove up a winding road with 180-degree hairpins and no guard rails to the car park near the very top. Up at 14,000 feet the effective oxygen level is just 12.3% (compared with 20.9% at sea level) and I really noticed it! There's a short hike to the peak, and I had to stop every minute or two to catch my breath, I felt like I was on the verge of passing out all the time! The view from the top was hazy but incredible.

The top of the world (almost) - Mount Everest is twice as high above sea level as this

My doing a good impression of someone not about to pass out

Mrs seemed far less bothered by the altitude, and even jogged down the path back to the car

Mrs, looking like she's in a fitness magazine photo shoot

The highest ground either of us have ever stood on

So, that's enough background and holiday snaps. Back to the race. I was signed up for the 20km but there was no way I was getting round that so I dropped on the day to the 5km. Registration was 6am to 6:30am with race start at 7am. They like it early round here, to get out and done before it gets hot. We got up at 4:15am and were out on the road by 4:45am (it's not a holiday without a stupid early start to get to a race).

The course was very up-and-down, and all single track trail (proper trail this time) so overtaking was hard. I was fine with that as there were no heroics required - I cringed inside whenever I imagined tripping and falling onto my leg again!

I trundled round the 5km and was really pleased that once warmed up I was running fairly well. I completed the course nearly ten minutes faster than yesterday's parkrun! Mrs was sticking to the 20km and ran a really impressive negative split with the second 10km lap 90 seconds quicker than the first.

Post-race, with free t-shirt...

...and a decent slab of bling

No more races, we've got the rest of this week out here, and then we fly back on Saturday after South Boulder Creek parkrun.

Race report: Croydon Ultra

I have had a previous attempt at an ultra, and it didn't end well. I had to stop after 30km with my old friend ITBS irritating my knee. I have wanted to take another go for a while. On a whim I signed up for the Croydon Ultra about 6 weeks ago. I've been running relatively regularly, and relied on running every day in June (Juneathon) to give me what I needed.

I went to check the circuit out a fortnight ago, and didn't enjoy it too much. So I went back for another go a few days later and had a much better day. I still wasn't entirely confident I'd make it round two laps, but it was worth a shot.

Normal breakfast - anti-hystamenes essential

I got up early and ate a normal breakfast before heading out. I know I can do three hours of exercise on a cup of coffee, not sure about six! The night before I made a couple of snack packs too - a boiled egg, stick of cheese, and a bit of bacon. I was going high-fat low carb all the way, no cakes, sports drinks, or sugary sweets for this athlete.

Snack pots!

The trip to the start was easy, just 30 minutes on the tram. The two-lap course meant easy access to my bag at half way so that, plus an aid station half way round, meant very little to carry. I wore my trusty Flip-Belt with iPhone and inhaler, then in my shorts pocket an emergency bank card, cash, and copy of the route. Pretty sure I didn't need the instructions thanks to my familiarisation runs, but better safe than sorry.

Race start was at 9am, and at about 8.45 it started drizzling. By the time we started it was really raining hard. I decided to go for shorts and a vest, expecting warm dry weather - at least in a vest I wouldn't get bogged down with the weight of wet clothes, or poach myself in a waterproof top.

Registration - before the rain

At 9am on the dot we set off. There were around two dozen of us. A lot like the most recent 2nd Sunday 5, everyone shot off into the distance. I was fairly sure that within the first kilometre I was in last place. I didn't mind, I'm OK with that. Maybe they'll come back to me later, maybe not. For me it's about getting round.

There were a reasonable number of orange arrows painted onto the floor at opportune moments, and a few orange streamers tied to trees. Better markings than I was expecting for a small low-key race.

The rain continued, and I held a good pace. Jogging along the flats and downs, walking briskly up the hills. The White Bear aid station came round fairly quickly, I had a cup of water and a surprise piece of cheese (I was surprised, not the cheese) - nice to see something other than the usual sugar fest - maybe ultras are more accommodating? There wasn't any coke/pepsi, just flat water or orange cordial - it looked somehow more appropriate than the sugar-fest aid stations I'm used to from Ironman.

I'd enjoyed the first half of the lap, it's interesting and mainly trail. The middle section was country lanes, bit boring, and then the last part was mainly around suburbs - quite housing estates and some seriously nice houses.

I got back to the start to see two runners just leaving, maybe I wasn't so far at the back after all. I stopped for a few minutes, I don't know what my mid-point time was, I'd already decided I didn't care (within reason) about the time - it was about finishing. I was wearing my Garmin and it was recording, but I was just ignoring it. It buzzed regularly as the kilometres ticked by, but they passed uncounted. I consumed one of my snack pots - it was good! Felt so much more reviving than an energy bar or gel.

2x 15 glorious lumpy miles, South of Croydon

Setting off from the aid station to start the second lap I was still going OK. I clearly had a few hours' running in my legs, but I wasn't too tired. I enjoy the first third of the course, on the vanguard way, and was looking forward to seeing it again.

It had rained all the way round lap one, but had slowed to a drizzle now. The trail section was a little slipperier but still manageable. I'd made the right choice by picking my shoes for the two-thirds of the course that's on-road, not the third that's trail. After three or four kilometres I caught the pair who had left in front of me. They looked very tired, we exchanged greetings and "hang-in-there"s, and I pushed on forward.

My first twinge of worry was following the transition to the road section. I pushed a little to keep my rhythm on the flat, but couldn't run down the hill - yup, knee pain! Before long I was finding it hard to run for any more than few minutes, the pain built up gently until it made me stop, then I walked a bit, then I could run for a few minutes again.

The line up - I was at the front for approximately 1 second

By the time I hit the mid-point aid station I couldn't run at all, but I could walk - and I could walk fast.  For some reason that was fine. I was determined to finish - I need to pop my ultra cherry! I decided there and then to power-hike the whole second half of lap two, and not do any more damage by trying to run.

While I was there one of the pair I'd overtaken arrived - from the wrong direction! He'd lost the guy he was running with, and then got lost, and eventually chopped off the whole bottom end of the circuit, so he came back up the course to the aid station to get the distance covered. It was his first ultra, he was determined to get a finish too.

I set off at quite a stride, visualising the various sections of the course that remained - walking it in for 7.5 miles was going to take a while. My knee seemed OK on the flat but was complaining increasingly on gradients. At one point even walking up and down kerbs was uncomfortable!

Finally, now with sore feet because my shoes were certainly designed for running and not walking, I rounded the corner back to the aid station. 30 miles done - 22.5 running, 7.5 walking. Still, to get the bling all you have to do is get to the end - and I got to the end, so I get my little medal :)

Look at that drop off in pace!

I'm still not sure I'm an "ultra runner", but I certainly covered an ultra distance, and completed an ultra race, so that's good enough for now. Since Sunday I took Monday off exercise, and today (Tuesday) I cycled home from work. Knee is absolutely fine - as soon as the irritation subsides I'm back to normal in no  time.

Fell into the pub on the way home for a recovery wine

We have a train strike for the next few days, so I'll cycle for the next couple of days too, then parkrun on Saturday (of course), and the third 2nd Sunday 5 trail race on Sunday, which I should be right as rain for.

Done

I think I'm going to stick to races that are just up to and including half marathon for a while. I'll try longer again at some point, but I'm not going to get over excited and enter loads of races (I was kind of considering some 50-milers next year - but there's utterly no point if it's 25 miles running, and then 25 miles "walking it in").

Still, it was fun, and I had a nice day, and I'm pleased I showed some resolve to get to the end and not give up. Job done :)

Race photos are here, but apart from the start line shot I was too slow to end up in any of them! The official results are here, together with a short blog post form the organiser. The men's race was won by last year's winner, David Ross, in a new course record of 3:43. The women's race was won by Daisy Rolfe in 5:02. I eventually rolled in at around 6:20, but I managed not to come last!

I'll take that, thank you very much :)

Juneathon day 10/30 - Battered, bruised, and taking it very easy

A very slow trundle around the 5km route with Mrs. Same route I fell over on yesterday - back on the horse and all that.

My local 5km route, in a very relaxed 

My cuts and grazes are doing fine apart from my knee which seeped through its dressing today and ran down my leg (apologies if that's a bit graphic...). Ran out this evening with no dressing to give it some air, but it needs dressing again tonight (sheets) and tomorrow (trousers). Will try to spend the weekend in shorts I think!

My Juneathon totals: 10 runs for 68.82km in 7:16:33

Juneathon day 09/30 - Never to old to trip over

5:30am start to get to Manchester for a presentation, got home at 6pm and went for a short, slow, distracted juneathon run.

The usual 5km route

4.5km into my 5km and just as I was daydreaming about complaining in today's blog about being tired I tripped on some uneven paving and went down hard.

Ouchy hand...

...ouchy elbow...

...and ouchy knee!

Mrs was lovely and broke out the pain-wipes, I mean, antiseptic wipes - but oooooh it doesn't half sting!

My Juneathon totals: 9 runs for 63.81km in 6:42:04

Time to man-up and hit the reset button

This blog was about my quest to become an ironman. Well the votes are in and the results are out: I made it. Wimbleball, Bolton, Galway, Tenby - all finished, and I've got the incredibly rare Ironman Ultimate Finisher glassware to show for it.

My second full distance Ironman finishing chute, Ironman Wales 2012

At some point after Tenby I got a bit too wrapped up in entering more events, and wanting to go faster and further. I went balls-out on the Royal Parks Half Marathon and got myself a bout of ITBS to show for it. That wasn't fun, and it still isn't. I haven't run since November. I thought cycling was fine, so I got excited about cycling and put my efforts into completing a turbo-trainer mega-set over Christmas. Turns out cycling brought on ITBS too, so no more cycling either.

Rolling into 2013 the races I wanted to do and in some cases had already entered are ticking past without me in them. The first Hell of The Ashdown (last year's report) I've missed in 4 years, The London Ultra (Mrs ran it, she had an amazing day, and so did parkrun extraodinaire abradypus - I cheered them on), Thames Turbo Race 1 (Mrs raced it she had a good day - I marshalled and cheered, good fun). Next up is Thames Turbo Race 2, I won't be in that either.

I was signed up for Coach Joe Beer's tri-camp at Club La Santa in Lanzarote. I went there at the end of January with a month of pain-free knee. Lanzarote was great - incredible place, if a bit windy. I had already paid to take my bike out, so I took it. I cycled a bit too much, and on the morning of the last day the pain came back.

The leisure pool at CLub La Santa (the only Sports/Holiday camp with its own theme song)

I did absolutely nothing for 2 weeks afterwards, then got back onto my exercises (as scheduled by Mountain Man Rob Turner). I've been sticking vaguely to my rehab exercises since then - probably not as well as I should though.

I went Low Carb High Fat from mid-November, I saw great results up until Christmas with everything positive - the weight fell off and I got lower than I've ever been before. As I got more unhappy and rolled into 2013 I totally broke it. I made a string of very poor nutrition decisions, including stopping logging my intake entirely since the start of February. I thought I had everything in check and could freewheel. I couldn't. Recently I've put on weight at an astonishing weight due to continuing poor meal decisions. I've broken my adaptation to being a fat-burning athlete, I've eaten cake, pizza, toast - all of which now leave me with a horrible bloated stomach and a real toxic stomach ache as I'm just not used to processing carbs in such volumes lately. I've totally over-consumed alcohol, and I commented when I started this journey over a year ago that I have a problem with that.

I have stopped working with my coach (thanks Joe, you were great), and I'm not going to South Africa for Unogwaja or Comrades (I got accepted, I got excited, then ultimately declined - though not because of this injury).

Terrible clip-art, shamelessly stolen. I'm not proud.

The only person that can turn this around is me. So I am. It's time to man-up, take control, and hit the reset button. There it is, above. You can hit it too if you feel you could use a symbolic action.

The positives are that I am getting stronger. I can now cycle-commute twice per week as long as it's not on consecutive days, and I don't get any pain. If I carry on improving I could start running slowly and minimal duration as early as the end of April. I have an aim to run Wimbledon Common parkrun on my birthday - that would be a significant moment. I really miss parkrun.

I'm going to remove those races from the countdown on the front page (apart form the couple I'm still signed up for). I'm going to freshen up the colour scheme a bit. I did consider just not blogging any more (I achieved the point of the blog after all), but I think there are more races and adventures to come. I'm going to celebrate the success of last year - without feeling the need to go bigger and bolder this year.

I'm logging my nutrition in the wonderful Weight Loss Resources again to get a grip. I know the weight falls off when I'm well balanced - recently I haven't been, but I can be again. It'll all be good again, and I'll return stronger than I ever was before, ready for my next challenge, whatever that turns out to be...

ITBS: A comprehensive plan of attack!

I put my cards on the table in a recent post regarding my knee pain. With (very) big aspirations for next year I need to go into 2013 fighting fit. So, here's what's been happening with my knee. My problem is a very common condition in endurance athletes so I'm hoping it'll be helpful for some of you - if not now, then in the future. Take note now, and you may even avoid an injury like mine.

First I went to see my GP - this is the right place to start in the majority of cases. She checked for obvious skeletal problems by wiggling my leg around and comparing my knees (it was probably more medical than that). I was anticipating a referral for some physio, but the GP had a good contact who specialises in problems like mine, so he was a good place to start. One referral letter later, and I was off to make an appointment at Wimbledon Parkside Hospital's knee clinic.

Wimbledon Parkside Hospital

A few days later I saw orthopaedic consultant Dr Peter Thompson - his wiry frame gave him away as quite the runner himself. After talking through my history and in particular when I started getting pain, we ran through a series of tests and examinations. He looked at my balance, symmetry, and general skeletal condition. He identified a very minor difference in leg length, left leg fractionally longer than right. Most people have little asymmetries and differences from left to right so there's nothing to worry about there. From everything I said, he said it was clearly identifiable as Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS).

ITBS is an overuse injury. Once it starts it will cause a problem every time you do whatever it is that irritates the condition. With me that's running, and it comes on after 5-7km or thereabouts. Wikipedia's definition is:

ITBS is one of the leading causes of lateral knee pain in runners. The iliotibial band is a superficial thickening of tissue on the outside of the knee, extending from the outside of the pelvis, over the hip and knee, and inserting just below the knee. The band is crucial to stabilizing the knee during running, moving from behind the femur to the front while walking. The continual rubbing of the band over the lateral femoral epicondyle, combined with the repeated flexion and extension of the knee during running may cause the area to become inflamed.

Dr Thompson advised I get it checked by ultrasound to confirm his suspicions. I've never had an ultrasound before, it's normally a procedure I associate with pregnancy. In advance he said I should run until it hurts to ensure that any condition was clearly identifiable. I popped back a few days later having run 5km the night before, and a further 5km at lunchtime. The ultrasound revealed good news and bad news. The good news was that my knee was not pregnant (it's OK, panic over!). The bad news was that there was clearly a dark patch underneath the IT Band termination. This is the fat pad, and it was inflamed.

Back to see Dr Thompson and he verified his earlier ITBS diagnosis. He referred me to leading consultant physiotherapist, Ms Claire Robertson, and, following a look at my running style on a treadmill, a consultant orthotist named Gary Gordon (I'm really not a fan of sticking things in your shoes to address bio-mechanical problems, so it should be an interesting conversation!). We discussed if I should continue running, and if so how much. We settled on a rule of no more than three 5km runs per week between now and Christmas, with a slow (10% increase per week) build up if all is OK by then. Great news that I can carry on running a little bit and won't need to drop the parkrun obsession just yet. He also advised a strap to go round my lower thigh, this pushes down hard on the IT Band, lifting it slightly on each side and therefore easing some of the friction. Not a long term solution, but it can provide improved comfort whilst resolving the condition.

Diagram from here showing ITBS alongside PFPS (Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome)

My session with Ms Robertson was well above expectation. She's a keen runner who has suffered with ITBS herself and was eager to talk about my training, races, and injury in depth. Very quickly she identified the root cause.

She had me lie on my side and raise my left leg so my foot was about 18" above my right foot, left leg straight, right bent slightly at the knee for balance. Leaning on my ankle, she told me to resist as she tried to push my legs back together. I couldn't resist at all. She was amazed, apparently I should be able to resist easily, and keep my leg rock solid. We repeated the test with my left knee half bent where I resisted well but she could still move me, and then with my knee fully bent where finally I could resist entirely. I flipped over onto my left side and we repeated the test with my right leg. I was stunned when I could hold her full weight with no effort whatsoever, it didn't feel like she was pushing at all.

This, then, is the root cause of my ITBS. I have a very large imbalance in the strength of a specific area of my gluteal muscles, with the left side demonstrably weaker. This part of the glute helps give stability through the hips as you push off with each running step. Because my hip would drop to one side it was effectively pulling excessively on the top of the IT band, and causing it to become overly tensioned and rub. The rubbing leads to heat, and the defence mechanism for unwanted heat is to bring liquid to the area, and this is the inflammation that was so clear on the ultrasound. It doesn't help that both my IT bands are really tight anyway - a possible side effect of not stretching out after exercise.

The TFL shown here is where I have to focus my efforts (diagram from Wikipedia)

We worked out a comprehensive plan of attack - lots of little things that should help all focussing together. This was my advice, and I aim to follow it meticulously:

One: Avoid running through the pain. It's an overuse injury - there's nothing to be gained by "manning up", and it won't go away - it'll just hurt more, and take longer to recover.

Two: Ice massage after running. Use a single ice cube in a cloth applied directly to the area. You don't need a broad ice bag, it's only a specific point that needs treatment.

Three: Go and have a chat to Rob Turner - he's an expert at rehabilitation training after just this kind of injury and can advise on strength and conditioning.

Four: Go get a sports massage and get them to focus on my left IT band.

Five: Make friends with the foam roller (ouch!) starting with 3 minutes standing (applying pressure with my arms) and building up to 10 minutes of bodyweight twice per day and again before running. Not everyone agrees with this.

One of my cats, Dexter, demonstrating poor foam rolling technique (not for the first time)

Six: ITB stretches, 3x 20 seconds each, twice per day, and always after running. If pain comes on whilst running, can stop and stretch out like this too.

Static standing stretch, leaning on the wall

Seated stretch, when this gets easy twist from the torso to increase

Seven: Static glute exercise, left side only (need to address the imbalance), every other day. Stand on the stairs on left foot with right foot hanging over stair below, use banisters for balance. Slightly bend left knee. Drop right leg from the hip, then pull it up using the outside of the left glute. Stay aligned and don't twist. Start with 3x 12 reps, build up to 3x 20 reps.

Drop the right leg, lift back up from the outside of the glute on the left

Eight: Check out aqua running. This is something my coach has mentioned on many occasions, but I've never looked into it. AquaPhysio Ltd are down the road, so I'll try them out.

Nine: Wear the lower-leg band when running.

Leg strap (complete with foam roller chewing kitten caught in the act once again)

So there we go. I'm due a follow up in January. Let's see how it goes.

Podcasts, Ultras, and The Road to Unogwaja

20 months ago, if it had existed then, I'd have been listening to the wonderful parkrun show podcast by Danny Norman and Nicola Forwood without having ever completed a parkrun. I'd still have enjoyed it, but I'd feel a little like an impostor - parkrunning vicariously through the adventures of others. I fixed that in April 2011 when I ran my first 5km parkrun at Wimbledon Common. I was hooked, and the regular reader will have noticed my subtle pro-parkrun stance. There were, however, a few more of my favourite podcasts I needed to "legitimise".

The parkrun show on facebook

This summer, I was overjoyed to complete my first (and second) full distance Ironman events, which meant I could legitimately enjoy IMTalk (iTunes) - the absolutely fantastic Ironman-centric podcast by Coach John Newsom and Bevan James Ayles.

IMTalk podcast

My Mrs met them in Kona this year and had a great time (and got mentioned quite a few times on the show as a result). I was proud to give the guys some exposure and finished both IM 70.3 Ireland in Galway and IM Wales in Tenby in my IMTalk tri-suit.

L-R: John Newsom (IMTalk), Nick Rose (@ironrosey), and Bevan James Ayles (IMTalk)

220 Triathlon magazine had approached Ironman for an Age Group athlete to run an article on in their November edition, and my name was suggested. So I managed to get IMTalk even more love and exposure by getting my article in the number one triathlon magazines in the UK.

My 15-minutes of fame in 220 Triathlon magazine (click for larger image)

As I outlined in a previous post, I was hoping to run a stand-alone marathon at the end of November - and as a result be officially able to consume the wonderful Marathon Talk podcast (iTunes) from Tom Williams and Martin Yelling. Unfortunately, and frustratingly, it doesn't look like that's going to be the case.

Marathon Talk podcast, by Martin Yelling and Tom Williams

I suffered some pain in my left knee after the Royal Parks Half Marathon recently, and it's never really settled. A couple of times I've needed to cut some runs short as it's started to hurt, and even when that hasn't been the case I've suffered quite badly in the hours following a run. Last week I decided to have a full week away from running, and then gently plodded around Wimbledon Common parkrun yesterday in the positively pedestrian time of 28 minutes and 27 seconds. A little wobble from the knee at 4km, but everything felt OK by the end.

Within an hour or two I found I couldn't get up off the sofa without yelping in pain. This lasted a few hours, and then by late afternoon all was well again. It's fine this morning, but clearly something is wrong. On Monday, I'll go to the Doctor, and get a referral to a physio to get it checked out properly.

I'm very frustrated about this right now, partly as Mrs has just gone out for a 90 minute run, and I'd like nothing more than to have gone with her, but mainly for the following three Very Big Reasons.

Reason #1 that I need to get my knee fixed...

Despite still not being able to listen to Marathon Talk yet, I am still hoping to legitimise my enjoyment of the incredible Talk Ultra podcast hosted by Ian Coreless (with early editions co-hosted by ultra-running superstar Ian Sharman). This is a fortnightly release focusing on the ultra-running scene. It's a long production, regularly well over 2 hours, and with in-depth interviews and discussions and thought-provoking interviews on training and nutrition. It's opened my eyes to a world of opportunities I didn't even realise existed. It turns out people can run a long way, a really long way.

The more you listen to these productions, the more it becomes apparent that the athletes completing these races are regular down-to-earth guys and girls like you and I. They train hard and have incredible mental strength, but what they're doing isn't outside the realms of possibility (OK, so the times they're putting in are far outside the ability of most, but the distances less so). As ultra-running legend Karl Meltzer says in the intro to his regular "Meltzer Moment" section on Talk Ultra, "100 miles is not that far".

Ultra-running legend "Speedgoat" Karl Meltzer: 100 miles is not that far (image form here)

As a result, I have entered the London Ultra 50km, to be held on 17th February 2013. Of course, I haven't just been brainwashed by podcasts, there is another reason I've entered this race. That brings me on to...

Reason #2 that I need to get my knee fixed...

I've entered possibly one of the most iconic and well-known ultra marathons in the world - the Comrades Marathon in South Africa. This race has an incredible history, having been held every year since 1921 (with exception for the war years of 1941 to 1945). The course runs from Pietermaritzburg to Durban one year (the "Down" run), and back the next (the "Up" run). 2013 is an Up run. Read How It All Began on the Comrades Marathon website. The wikipedia entry has a detailed history of the race throughout the decades.

Comrades Marathon

I automatically meet the entrance requirements by being a full distance Ironman finisher during the qualification period, but I am confident I can get a better placing by completing the London Ultra in a good (for me) time.

Ever since I heard the inspiring Comrades Special edition of Talk Ultra it's been on my wish list. I was never intending to enter it in 2013 (my original plan was to try and go fast at IM 70.3 in 2013, and think about learning to run a long way later) - but one big amazing jaw-dropping opportunity popped up in front of me. And that is reason 3...

Reason #3 that I need to get my knee fixed...

The @TalkUltra twitter account retweeted some content from @ComradesMarathon that made reference to @theunogwaja. Thinking "What's that?" I checked it out. The second I read the description, I wanted to do it. Immediately, right there and then, my plans for 2013 were rewritten.

This is from the Unogwaja Challenge website:

The Unogwaja challenge was initiated to follow the footsteps of Comrades legend Phil Masterton-Smith, who was affectionately known as “Unogwaja” which means the Hare in Zulu.

Phil Masterton-Smith was involvedin two of the closest finishes in Comrades Marathon history, when in 1930 he narrowly lost to the great Wally Hayward. The following year in 1931, he battled against Noel Burree, and crossed the finish line meters ahead to claim Comrades Victory and become the youngest ever Comrades winner at the age of 19.

In 1933 Masterton-Smith couldn’t afford the train fare from Cape Town to run the Comrades Marathon, so he cycled over 1700kms from Cape Town to Pietermaritzburg in 10 days, and on the 11th day he ran the gruelling Comrades Marathon and came in 10th position. Noel Burree and Phil Masterton Smith – 1931

Tragically Phil Masterton-Smith was killed in action on 5th June 1942 by a mortar bomb, defending the Gazala line during the siege of Tobruk in World War II.

This ultimate story of passion, willpower, courage and determination was mirrored by four young men, who followed in the footsteps of Phil Masterton-Smith 78 years later. Team Unogwaja succeeded in cycling 1677km’s in 10 days from Cape Town to Pietermaritzburg, and then running the Ultimate Human Race on day 11.This journey came alive & the Unogwaja team came together through Red Sock Friday (RSF), an initiative that shares its origin, like Comrades, in the aftermath of a World War, and is a global community of people who share a common passion for life and positive energy. The moment that founder of RSF, John McInroy, heard the story of Unogwaja from Dr WP van Zyl, a stranger at the time, the two knew this was a path they were going to follow.

2013 is the third year of the Unogwaja Challenge, and the first year it's being opened to the public and only 12 places are available. I went through the application process, I exchanged tweets and emails with John McInroy, and then had a Skype interview with him the day after Mrs' 40th Birthday celebrations.

The Unogwaja Challenge is open to the public for the first time in 2013

I found out on Friday that I've been accepted onto the challenge!

So that's my focus now: The London Ultra 50km in February, and the Unogwaja Challenge and Comrades Marathon in May and June. And this is why I need to get my knee fixed Pretty Damn Quickly.

Despite what it says in the header to this blog, it turns out 140.6 miles isn't really very far at all - I need to reset my belief of what's possible (and probably update my blog design as a result).

Life changes so quickly, it can be hard to keep up. Stay open to adventure, grasp the chances that cross your path, and never be afraid to dive into the unknown.

PS: I don't really believe that you aren't entitled to listen to listen to the parkrun show, Marathon Talk, Talk Ultra, or IMTalk if you haven't completed the events they discuss - in fact quite the opposite. These podcasts have educated and excited me so much, and I don't think I'd have such bold objectives if it wasn't for them showing me what's possible. Download and listen now!