44. Man With A Plan

I'm now about to begin my last 4 ramp-up long-runs that will lead me into the two-week taper leading to the main event all this has been working towards - The Jurassic Coast 100km Continuous Ultra Marathon, for Cancer Research UK!

An this means I need to have a plan...

At the end of these next 4 weeks i will be easing up significantly in order to ensure my legs are recovered and and in the best shape I can get them in, while preserving all the miles I've now built into them.

Exciting!... well, at least it is for me.

Training week by week (Next 6 weeks)

My training cycles will be starting from this weekend so I'll start the long run from there. (I'll post my weekly progress updates as per usual though)

1. Building back up (45km total running week)

1. 30km Target Long run

2. 2x 45 min run treadmill

3. 45 min run-walk outside

4. 5x calf/ankle strength & rehab (rolling, stretch, massage)

2. High Mile Week (53km total running week)

1. 35km Target Long Run

2. 2x 1hr treadmill run

3. 1hr run-walk outside

4. 5x calf/ankle strength & rehab (rolling, stretch, massage)

3. High Mile Week (76km total running week)

1. Back to back 25km/25km Target Long Runs (50km)

2. 2x 90min treadmill run (2x 9-10K)

3. 1hr run-walk outside (8-9K)

4. 5x calf/ankle strength & rehab (rolling, stretch, massage)

4. Ease Down Week (45km total running week)

1. Back to back 20km/15km (NIGHT TRAIL RUN) Target Long Run (35km)

2. 2x 45min treadmill run (2x 5K)

3. 1hr walk outside (5K)

4. 5x calf/ankle strength & rehab (rolling, stretch, massage)

5. Taper Week (31km total training distance)

1. 20km Target Long Run

2. 2x 30min treadmill run (2x 3K)

3. 1hr walk outside (5K)

4. 3x calf/ankle strength & rehab (rolling, stretch, massage)

6. Event Week

1. 12km Long run - slooooow! (at start of the week)

2. a couple of easy 30 min walks

3. 4 full rest days

4. Easy rolling, stretch, massage

5. 100km Ultra Marathon at the end of the week

Eating Plan

I'll be low/no carb for the next 5 weeks. This means salad, veg, oil/fats and protein.

I still have 8kg to lose before I hit my initial target. I'm being honest with myself, and I think I will be a couple of Kg away from that (92-93kg). I have to factor in the week leading up to the event, and bringing carbs back into my diet slowly so I don't end up with the stomach disruption I had last time. This will mean I'll probably add a couple of kilos of water weight by the time I hit the start line.

All I can really do is eat clean and drink lots of water, and continue to do my long runs fasted where I'll be fuelled purely from body fat. I will also add in a bit of early morning cardio the next few weeks. A short 30mins run after I get up in the morning can also make a difference over that period of time. This isn't in my training plan, but will see how my body is feeling in those higher mileage weeks.

Being smart

I'm a 'gung-ho' kind of person when it comes to going for something. Ironically, I strap-lined this blog "Rebuilding myself from 0-100". And that's quite evident in me at times... 0-100. All or nothing. I've mentioned before that when i set about a physical goal I will be relentless in pursuit of it. I will throw myself in, hard and charge at it. I don't do quitting. I don't do 'maybe'. Not for something like this. You have to commit to it. See it through. And the thing here is that you can push too hard. I'm very prone to it. I like to see where my limits might be, and that can be self-defeating at times. I'm in that phase now that you often hear about, where people push hard and end up breaking down before their event / match / tournament / race / etc through injury. I've waited too long to do this only to be my own worst enemy now. Any injury at this point could jeopardize my challenge. It's bad enough I still have tendon issues but I figure that a few hard weeks and then rest going into the event will see me right. I've hiked a 50k with a broken toe, played rugby having dislocated a shoulder, so I can grin and bear discomfort. I know this. The thing is giving myself the best chance of this. I can say that a 100km on your feet will expose every niggle, weakness and physical flaw you have. And it will magnify it. So, while God laughs in the face of plans, I will be very flexible about easing up or cutting back runs if it feels like things will only get worse if I keep pushing that day. I have my framework and my plan is just that. If I fall short of my target mileage for the week, I don't care. If I fall a couple of kilos short on the weight loss, I'm not bothered. I am lighter, fitter and have more endurance than I've had in decades (since I was in competitive sports 20+ years ago!). And I did it in only 5 months. I will be smart about these next few weeks and judge each day by what my body is telling me.

Mindset

This is an area that is already in my expert lane. Getting into the right state of mind over the next few weeks is essential. So often we can go well beyond what we see as our physical limits through our own will, motivation and determination. It will carry us 40% further when you think you've had enough. That is really important to remember.

Over something as huge as a 100km continuous challenge, your mindset is everything! Every doubt, every uncertainty, every limiting belief about yourself will be magnified tenfold during the event. You will be tested. You will want to quit. And you will be taken by surprise if you've never tackled something like this before. I plan to do the work the next few weeks to make my peace with pain and to trust in my training to achieve the outcome I want. I will write another post specifically on this subject of a bullet-proof mindset. It's such a big factor. I will now take so many of the lessons from my professional career and studies, and put them in context for this challenge. The mental roadmap I work to is the same in achieving success in work, study, personal goals, etc. And it works. I'll not lie. I have a degree of anxiety about doing this. Though it is less now because I ran a solo 52km the other week.... I have the evidence to attach my 100km finish to. Now I KNOW I can do this. And that's a powerful tool for me to use over the next few weeks. I also know this belief will be tested in my first 100km run. It's inevitable. I will make peace with this fact and train my mind to deal with it!

From here I will be going into the unknown for me. I've never any kind of distance runner at any stage of my life. Ageing. Injured. Overweight. The thought that people like me were never meant to do something like this. All thoughts I've had so far and all thoughts that will come up in my dark moments on the challenge. This means strength of mind, while having strengthened my body, will guarantee success... and that is what I'll be working on from now until the finish line.

From now I will be picking up my daily visualisation exercises (most people do this wrong, btw), meditating/breathing, and my 'reinforcers'. Those little evidence-based reminders (which when drilled can create what's called an instant psychological 'meta-state', which interrupts the pattern you are in and helps you switch gears to the positive) that I have got this which can be easily anchored with a word or short mantra during the event itself. I have a few for this and will reveal them in the mindset post ;-)

Thanks for reading...