Less than 100 days now until I toe the start line for the first of 10 back-to-back marathons at Brathay. It’s time to start applying some serious focus!
This may well be the most extreme physical challenge I will ever undertake. I am determined to finish, but to accomplish this I must also treat the event with extreme respect.
Everything I do for the next three months has one overriding goal. I must get to that start line injury-free, yet with a fitness level that will carry me through 262 miles on one of the most difficult road courses in the UK.
This means that I need to be hitting 50 to 60 training miles per week on average, listening intently to my body at all times and dealing with niggles as soon as they crop up.
It means I have to unlearn my bad running habits, and incorporate all sorts of tedious and annoying stuff I never bother to do – stretching, leg-swings and core strengthening to name just a few.
And it means I have to grit my teeth and do some really unpleasant things, like ice baths and waxing and protein drinks, bleurgh. On the good side I get to have sports massages and learn unimaginable things about my anatomy…
The routine is often challenging, given long work days and regular business travel. But I have no choice, if I am to survive at Brathay. Fortunately though my physical fitness is slowly improving, and I am starting to feel more confident that I can handle the workload.
My training is structured around series of back-to-back runs. Currently I am on day 4 of a 10-day series – the last four days of which will be the Enigma Quadzilla, for a total of 145 miles in 10 days. More on that in another message.
The idea is to teach my body some “active recovery” skills. This is a fancy term meaning that you run on tired, aching legs – scrap the rest day, and suck up the pain!
(On a more serious note – your brain supposedly learns how to recruit the muscle fibres that were not damaged in the previous days’ workouts, and your muscle usage progressively becomes more efficient. The challenge is to do this without overstepping the fine line that leads to injury…)
But after all that talk about training, my reality is that the challenge is 90% psychological at this point.
I am afraid. Failure is my greatest fear – it haunts me on a daily basis.
I know for a fact that there will be many moments during the 10-in-10 where failure will be the easiest and most tempting option. At some point it may even appear to be the only option. Those are the moments when I will need the sheer guts to turn my back on the support van, and slog through to that day’s finish line.
I don’t think I have ever been tested like this, and frankly I don’t know how I will deal with it when the moment comes. I am hoping though that by anticipating it, I may be better prepared. To paraphrase my 10-in-10 colleague Keith Luxon: “if you cannot fail, then it is not a challenge”.
At the end of the day though, I am not doing this for myself. I am doing it to play my small part in helping kids from deprived and abusive backgrounds to regain their confidence and self-esteem. In the moments when I want to throw in the towel, I will imagine the hardship they have to endure on a daily basis, and hopefully that will be enough to get me moving again.
You can play your part to help me by telling your friends about my challenge – they can visit my blog here at www.robertdallison.com, or sign up to receive my email newsletter at tinyletter.com/robruns10in10.
If you have not already made a donation, please consider doing so. Click here to visit my fundraising page for more details, www.justgiving.com/robruns10in10. No donation is too small, and I mean that literally!
Going through my sheet music this evening, I stumbled across the Ciaccona (or Chaconne). Tucked away in the middle of Bach’s beautiful Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (1), this piece is as haunting to listen to as it is fiendishly difficult to play.
The 6 Sonatas and Partitas are known as a reference work for serious violinists, but even the best will approach the Ciaccona with respect — sometimes taking years to prepare it for performance. Johannes Brahms, himself no slouch when it came to composing, had this to say about the Ciaccona in a letter to Clara Schumann:
On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind.
If you have twenty minutes to spare, pour yourself a glass of wine and listen to this sublime recording of the Ciaccona by Itzhak Perlman — unfortunately split into two parts, but well worth the trouble of a click halfway through!
Part 1 of 2
Part 2 of 2
1. Johann Sebastian Bach, Partita no. 2 in D minor for solo violin (BWV 1004)
It’s funny how the calendar can play tricks with one’s perception of time. Until just a few days ago, everything about Brathay 10 in 10 was qualified as “next year”. And because 2011 has been a year of major upheaval and adjustment (all very positive fortunately), things labelled “next year” have taken something of a back seat…
Until now, that is. All of a sudden, “next year” is right around the corner — and with it my crazy challenge of running 262 miles in 10 days.
In just two weeks from tonight I will be at the the Brathay training weekend, having dinner with my fellow 10 in 10 runners. And the next morning (Jan 14) I will be running my reconnaissance circuit of Lake Windermere. We only have limited running time (4½ hours) to complete the full marathon course. This is less than 40 minutes longer than my best marathon time, so I have little or no margin for manoeuvre, given that I am far from race-fit at the moment.
Suddenly it’s all become very real. Those 10-day training series with ever-increasing mileage? I can only squeeze in a limited number between now and May. And weekends (only 19 left) are now a precious resource, to be used wisely — including for family time, because I’ll be spending so many hours out on the road due to work and running…
But my training plan is taking shape nicely, with a scattering of events every month. Early February I will be running the Enigma Quadzilla — four marathons in four days — which will give me a taste for what lies in store. In March comes the Bath Half Marathon, by which time I will hopefully be fit enough to shoot for a sub-1:45 personal best. And last but not least, early April the Sussex Marathon will be a good dry run for Brathay, as apparently the course is hilly and challenging.
The challenge of Brathay 10 in 10 is just as intimidating as it has ever been. But I’m loving every minute of it, even if the adrenaline tends to buzz a little every time I think about it!
2011, you’ve been great. 2012, here I come. It’s time to crank it up!!
“Grit” was the word uppermost in my mind this morning as I drove to work through the first snow and icy roads of the winter.
I couldn’t help thinking, “that’s what I want for Christmas” — a massive dose of grit and determination, as I train for the Brathay 10 in 10 — ten marathons in ten days around Lake Windermere!
Actually, that’s not all I want. I also want you to help me attain my goal…
I am undertaking this crazy challenge to raise funds for Brathay Trust, the event organiser. Brathay Trust is a charity that supports and empowers young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, equipping them to take a constructive and fulfilling place in society, against all the odds. Click here to learn more about Brathay’s work.
My fund-raising target is £5,000, and I must reach £500 early in January.
My perfect Christmas gift would be if everyone I know could give a couple of pounds (or dollars, or euros) to help me reach this target.
Please check your back pockets to see what you can spare… And just as importantly, please take a few minutes and tell your friends about my running challenge and this very worthy fund-raising cause!
Thank you in advance for your generosity. Stay tuned to hear about my training, and to follow the event itself!
If you’re a UK tax-payer, Brathay will receive an extra 25% through Gift Aid. And if you’re not UK-based, you can still donate using a credit or debit card — your donation amount will be in pounds sterling, and your bank will convert the amount automatically.
Photo credit: John Stillwell/PA Wire
Ten marathons, ten days. Run 26.2 miles, eat, sleep, repeat 9 more times. The more I think about this challenge, the more I realise that mental preparation will be as important as physical preparation, if not more so.
Since I started running in 2009, I have read my fair share of literature on the subject. One book that marked me particularly is Brain Training for Runners by Matt Fitzgerald.
You can click on the link to read synopsis and reviews [see my note below], but the basic idea is that the perception of our physical sensations is largely a product of our brain, which can be trained and controlled with a view to making our training and race performance more effective. In other words, when you think you are exhausted, you almost certainly have energy left in the tank — but your brain tells you that you don’t, as a mechanism to avoid over-exertion and injury.
If you have ever run a marathon or half-marathon, you may well have experienced an extraordinary rush in the final quarter mile, where suddenly your fatigue drops away and you find yourself sprinting with energy that you could only dream of a few minutes earlier. That energy, argues Fitzgerald, was there all along. It did not suddenly materialise from nowhere. It seems plausible that the brain “lifts the foot off the brakes” and allows your body to deploy its true reserves, because with the finish line so close there is little risk of physical damage.
What if we could harness these reserves, and tap into them at will? Therein lies Fitzgerald’s thesis, that it is in fact possible to retrain the brain and its mechanisms. Of course, these mechanisms are unconscious and deep-seated, and getting one’s brain to relearn them requires time and persistence. Also it is clear that injury and over-training are a risk, so it is essential to listen closely to one’s body and not be a slave to the training plan.
My quest to finish a marathon in under 4 hours was successful in Jan 2011, largely thanks to the ideas in Fitzgerald’s book that I adapted for my own purposes. Specifically, this involved teaching my brain how to perceive pain and fatigue differently. I deliberately created training situations designed to familiarise my body with the discomfort of miles 20 to 26 of the marathon, which from personal experience I knew to be massively more difficult than the first 20 miles combined.
Thanks to this training I developed a much deeper awareness of my own capabilities, and learned to use pain and exhaustion as gauges of what I could still accomplish, rather than as warning signals to be obeyed blindly by stopping at the edge of the road.
Now I am faced with a challenge of a different nature, one of endurance on a scale which I find intimidating every time I think about it. As I enter now into the critical 6 months before Brathay 10-in-10, I am exploring and testing new ways to use these same “brain training” principles.
The challenge I apprehend the most is that of avoiding injury despite the absence of recovery days. Having completed one series of 10 back-to-back training runs, my next yardstick will be to complete a “100 miles in 10 days” training series. Hopefully this exercise will give me a good idea of where I need to set my “cruising pace” so as to maximise my next-day recovery, and I fully expect it will teach me things about running that I have yet to imagine.
What a journey, and something tells me it’s only just beginning…
As always, it’s important to keep a sense of perspective. The physical challenge is tough by any standards. But it also has a purpose — to raise funds and support the excellent work done by Brathay Trust. Every pound, dollar or euro that you donate will help a disadvantaged young person extract themselves from hardship and deprivation, and will give them a fighting chance to make something of their life.
Please take a moment to visit the Brathay web site, and then click on this link to make a donation.
[note] Yes, that book title up there is an Amazon link. If you end up buying the book — which I do recommend if you want to explore new ways to train — I will donate my affiliate commission to Brathay!
There are days when your running goes according to plan. Most days, in fact. You’re in control, you’re on track for your goals, and you feel capable of anything.
And then there are days when your running takes on a life of its own. Turns around and gives you a slap in the head. Nothing too brutal, mind you – just an unmistakable reminder that it deserves some respect, and so does your body (which by the way is no longer 25 years old).
Today was quite a wake-up call for me. I breezed out on a 14-mile towpath run – slightly rough terrain, but dead flat – planning on an easy 9-minute per mile pace. Without warning, at mile 10 all my indicators suddenly hit the red zone. Complete energy depletion, dead-weight legs, heavy stride, breathing off…
I applied all the “out-on-the-road” fixes I know, including breathing exercises, slow recovery intervals, and concentrating on my stride. Ultimately though, I only covered the last 3-4 miles with a combination of mental grit and stubbornness, as well as moral support from Alex who was along for the ride (thank you coach!).
So what happened? Why did my wheels come off, on what should have been a moderately easy training run?
Part of it was certainly due to the 10-miler I ran yesterday, which included a stiff climb up to Claverton Down. But the whole point of my training for Brathay 10-in-10 is to prepare for challenging back-to-back runs.
The real reason, I suspect, is that I am just trying to do too much. Today’s “bonk” was my body’s way of reminding me that I really do need to sleep 8 hours a day, and attach as much importance to rest as I do to active running. Without this I will never be able to build up to a regular training mileage of 50-60 miles per week, at the same time as holding down a demanding professional activity.
Mental grit is good. Stubborn is good. These are what got me from mile 20 to mile 26.2 in my first sub-4 marathon finish. But on their own they are not enough. What really got me that 3:53 finish was preparation, discipline, common sense, and listening to my body week after week, for over a year.
So as I prepare for Brathay in 2012, I will be applying the same principles. Respect your body, and respect the event. (Hard not to, “intimidating” doesn’t do it justice.)
Above all, any time my wheels come off, I will take a step back, and think of the young people that Brathay Trust exists to help. Many of them suffer hardship that we cannot begin to understand, and yet they find a way to rise above it. Lessons to be learned there, for sure.
Every mile I spend out on the road during the next 291 days will be a mile closer to the start of Brathay 10-in-10. To prepare for this 262-mile event, I will be training somewhere between 2,000 and 2,500 miles in 9 months…
I hope you will help me prepare in your own way, by contributing to my fund-raising goal of £5,000 in support of this very worthy cause.
Stay tuned for another post very soon, about my projected training plan. That’s what I was going to write about this evening, but after today’s experience I think it needs a little extra revision before going public!
I started running in 2009 at the age of 43. Until that point I was convinced I hated running, but I was surprised to discover that it brings me a unique combination of challenge, discipline, and relaxation.
After running a couple of decent 10K races, and breaking 2 hours in my first half marathon, I set myself the goal of finishing a full marathon in less than 4 hours. It took me over a year to accomplish my goal, and in the process I ran almost 1,500 miles and burned off 20lbs of unnecessary body mass.
I finally made it in January 2011. Curiously, within minutes of crossing that finish line, one of the first thoughts in my mind was: “Where do I go from here?”
Over the next few months I started to think more and more about ultra-endurance running. During this time I had the privilege of meeting Chris MacDougall (author of Born to Run) and Scott Jurek (ultra-marathoner and Badwater champion) at a book signing event. They both gave me some great advice, and above all reassured me that yes, ordinary people can run extraordinary distances – so long as they train properly!
Then in May 2011 a friend told me about this extraordinary challenge called Brathay 10-in-10. I followed the 13 participants on their daily blogs and video reports, and could not stop thinking about next year’s event. Finally I filled out the application form, and just a few days ago learned that I have been accepted to participate in 2012…
Right now I am still coming to terms with the fact that I am indeed one of next year’s 19 runners, and that I will have to run 262 miles in 10 days.
In addition to the massive physical challenge, I have to put together a solid fund-raising programme, as well as a training plan that will get me in some state of readiness for the event. Both tasks seem monumental right now, but I have some good ideas about how to get started, and some great people supporting me!
More about the training plan and the fund-raising in separate posts. In the meantime, if you are interested in following my journey to Brathay, please follow me on Facebook, on Twitter, or subscribe here to receive updates via email.
You can also click on the “Sponsor me” button to donate to the Brathay Trust, and help me reach my fund-raising target of £5,000. Thank you for your support, and stay tuned for another update very soon!
Starting 11th May 2012, I will be one of 19 runners (some would say nut-cases) attempting to run 262 miles and finish in one piece. This event is the fifth edition of the Brathay 10 in 10, an ultra-endurance running challenge that consists of 10 full marathons in 10 days, around Lake Windermere in the English Lake District.
Running one marathon may seem difficult, not to speak of ten marathons back-to-back. And yet, this challenge pales in comparison with the difficulties faced by young people who find themselves trapped in a spiral of abuse, drugs and crime.
The Brathay 10 in 10 event was established to raise funds in support of the Brathay Trust in Ambleside, a charity that improves outcomes for thousands of young people across the UK. They work primarily with those under 25 who are most disadvantaged or vulnerable, and who have suffered abuse or neglect, social exclusion or who are outside employment, education and training.
My personal fund-raising target is £5,000. Every donation, large or small, will be gratefully received. Please click on the “Sponsor me” button to visit my fund-raising page. You will find more details about the event and how to make a donation.
Remember when Deep Blue beat world champion Garry Kasparov at chess back in 1997?
Although Deep Blue won that six-game match, many AI commentators pointed out that the accomplishment was focused on a very narrow cognitive area – understanding the rules of chess, and selecting the best move to play within a specified time format.
While the accomplishment was significant, it was still more about programming and CPU speed than about anything we would call “machine intelligence”.
Now 14 years later, IBM is back. This time it’s all about Watson, a super-computer that will compete on Jeopardy against two of the all-time champions of the well-known quiz show.
“So what?”, I hear you say, but actually you should expect to see some mind-boggling technology at play here. Voice recognition, natural language semantic analysis, heuristic search algorithms… Just thinking about how to program all of that – and get a response within two or three seconds – is enough to make anyone’s head hurt.
In order to win Jeopardy (or even participate), Watson needs to handle not only a vast range of subjects, but also the cognitive challenges involved in understanding and analyzing Jeopardy clues (not to mention Alex Trebek’s sense of humor). These usually require some level of linguistic intuition and cultural awareness, in addition to encyclopedic knowledge.
So although it is still about programming and CPU speed, this time around the computer’s performance is likely to cross the line into a domain that most of us would consider “intelligent” in some sense.
Sceptical? Then think about the original test of machine intelligence proposed by Alan Turing – “A human judge engages in a natural language conversation with one human and one machine, each of which tries to appear human. All participants are separated from one another. If the judge cannot reliably tell the machine from the human, the machine is said to have passed the test.” [source Wikipedia]
Of course, the Turing test raises a host of questions, among which my favorite is whether the ability to behave indistinguishably from a human is, in itself, a definition of intelligence…
But I digress. Regardless of how one chooses to define intelligence (or lack thereof), it will be interesting to see how Watson performs tonight and the following two days. Make sure to watch these episodes of Jeopardy, if you are even vaguely interested about how advanced computer science has really become…
Details here:
http://www.jeopardy.com/minisites/watson
Crossing the finish line - clock shows about 5 minutes slower than my real time because it took us that long to shuffle to the start!
On Sunday Jan 30th I ran the ING Miami Marathon, my second-ever marathon. My finish time was 3:53:49. This was a PB, or “Personal Best” – not just on race time, but also for several other reasons. I broke the 4-hour barrier; I maintained a relatively steady pace throughout the race; I completed my longest race in Vibram FiveFingers; and I improved my previous marathon time by 45 minutes.
My main objective was to break 4 hours. To accomplish this, you have to run an average pace of 9:09 per mile. On shorter runs this is “conversational pace”, meaning you can run at this speed and talk comfortably at the same time. After 15 miles or so, however, it becomes very difficult to talk, or think, or in fact do anything other than just run. And after 20 miles, even your running starts to fall apart at the seams…
Because the last hour is the hardest, my race strategy this time around was to put as much time as possible “in the bank” up front, while making sure to keep enough energy to finish strong. My friend and training partner Richard’s goal was also to break the 4-hour barrier. Our pre-race plan was to stick together as long as possible and “carry” each other through the tough moments of the race, since this team dynamic had worked well on our long training runs.
If you are interested in the mile-by-mile account of my race, read on! I’m really writing this for myself so that I can refer back to it in the future and learn from my experience. But if you want to know how it feels to run a marathon, this is as good a place as any to start. Of course it’s long – but every minute you spend reading is twenty or thirty minutes that I spent running, so if I can do it, then so can you! Click here to keep reading
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