Coburg 24hr

Wasn't the race I was hoping to have, that's for sure. Had a great few days before the race to relax, rest and get the campervan all sorted. Silly me thought the race began at 9am instead of 10 so we were set up well and truly by the time we started.

Things went to plan for the first 3 hrs chalking up about 10.5k/hr feeling comfortable and then things started to deteriorate. We were changing direction every 4hrs and that began to take its toll on my body with the hip flexors screaming. Had a few massages from a guy trackside and these confirmed what I suspected - I was in trouble. kept churning the laps out for another 3hrs and by 7hrs I had done almost 70k but was starting to go down hill quickly. 8hrs and 78k was a real low point, I knew my 200k plan was gone and I was really hurting, running was just so painful and I was beginning to really seize up.

After a pep talk I got back on the track and began ticking off the laps again getting through about 8.5k/hour for the next 4 hrs. Passed 100k in about 11:30 which was a track PB so that was nice but well down on where I should have been. 30 min later at the 12hr mark I was completely done, I could barely move and feeling really sick - My race was over!

Went to bed for a few hours and after some troubles vomiting, managed to get a good sleep. Woke up and dragged my body back onto the track for the final 4 hrs where I walked, shuffled roughly another 20k before the race finished, ending up with 122k or so.

Obviously very dissappointed with the race, but not demoralized. At the end of the day my body just wasn't strong enough to cope with the track and I suffered accordingly. I am really tired after 5 months of solid training for this one event and I really want to take a step back for a while and rediscover my passion for running. I know now where I stand in Ultra running and it is well behind where I want to be. I believe I just need some time to develop a stronger body that will help me deal with things better.

I would love to do a 100k race in the near future (road course) and test the waters out. Speed is something I've never really tried for but is something that excites me at the moment - I want to run faster! Bunbury 50k in a few weeks should be a good opportunity to target a sub 3hr marathon and then continue on for a good 50k time. This is a race that I would dearly love to win one day and who knows this might be my year.

I haven't ruled out Caboolture again this year but will just see how we go. Sub 3hr marathon is top priority at the moment and my training will reflect this with more speed work (tempo runs mainly).

I know I can run 200k+ in 24hrs and I certainly won't stop trying, but it might be a year or 2 before it happens. One thing I know for sure is that I still have lots of goals that need achieving, it's not a question of if it will happen but when it will happen.

Nate