The Ultra Diaries 2 - Heads, Shoulders, knees and toes…you singing?! No, just listing the parts that hurt

Alright folks,

I hope you're all well.

With the annual wave of post‑London running‑mania sweeping the nation, I thought it would be a good time to complain talk about how the ultra training has gone over the last couple of weeks and a bit of a reflection piece for myself. This is a couple of days later as I wanted to get my long run done this week before writing this.

If you had the displeasure of speaking to me… then it would have been about running because a) I'm boring and my two topics of conversation are running and football, and b) given Liverpool’s recent implosion, football no longer exists so it would have been about running… then you’ll have likely made the fatal mistake of asking something along the lines of “what are you training for?” or “any races booked?”. This would have been a welcome question for me, but the long‑winded, dull lecture would have likely left you eyeing up the nearest road as if it were a super king‑size bed… but hey, at least it wasn't about cycling 😜.

Anyway, I digress. Yes, I'm running an ultra in June. This will be the fourth and by far the furthest I have run in one day. The race is called The Wall, starting at Carlisle Castle, trekking close to Hadrian's Wall and finishing up in Newcastle. 70 miles or 112 km… or 22 and a half parkruns, which seems to be the unit of measure for any distance running. The race cut‑off is pretty generous at 26 hours, but I've set myself ABC goals of finishing the race (C), finishing in 20 hours (B), and finishing in under 18 hours (A)… that of course is if I survive the training!

As I'm writing this, I have 6 weeks and 6 days until I take on this challenge. To be honest,

I had to look that up… I felt it was slightly longer and now I want to be sick. Until 4 weeks ago, I hadn’t run further than a half marathon since October last year (G2E ultra). The jump in distance for the long runs has been brutal, but it's been a must based on the time scales and the training priorities this year. In those 4 weeks, I have gone from 13 to 28 miles (13, 18, 22, 28) in my long runs, with the next one increasing to 37 miles! That is on top of another 5 runs during the week. My body is sore! Not full, first‑post‑marathon sore, but just tight and aching. I'm actually slightly better after the 28 miles than the 22‑mile run, but my glutes and quads are screaming today. I'm nearly 38 and the difficulties of sitting on the toilet I see in my near future make me feel twice that.

For clarity, those of you doing your first half, marathon or ultra — I would definitely recommend not doing your training this way!! Give yourself 12–16 weeks minimum!

These big steps are due to a short training block off the back of half‑marathon training.

This is definitely the most intense training block I have done. This is what this week (week 4) looked like:

• Monday – pm: Strength Upper

• Tuesday – am: 10k at Zone 2 / pm: Club Run

• Wednesday – am: 12k Zone 2 / pm: Strength Lower (moved to Sunday due to work)

• Thursday – am: 70 mins spin bike / pm: Club Run

• Friday – am: Strength Full Body

• Saturday: 28‑mile / 45k Long Run

• Sunday: a wee sob and greet to myself

Chuck in a smattering of mobility, stretching and several dog walks and that is currently a week's training in the life of me.

Unfortunately, the last 2 weeks the strength sessions slipped due to one or two things that have taken up more of my time, and I've prioritised the running sessions. From a training perspective, I’m lucky in the sense I don't have a lot of commitments. I don't have kids, I work from home most of the time, Jen runs and goes to the gym with me as well. That said, it's very easy to be thrown off by something. Those of you who are training and have kids, or even harder, are a single parent, don’t work from home, have elderly relatives that rely on you and still manage to train and smash these races out the park… you are legitimately incredible! I'll never understand how you do it.

This week’s long run was great. The weather was perfect and still a bit of a buzz from the night before from celebrating with the running club marathoners (London, Manchester and Boston… well done again all of you!). I had planned the route in advance, taking in the glorious sights of Carmyle, Mount Vernon, Uddingston, Viewpark, Bellshill, Mossend, Holytown, Newhouse, Newarthill, Carfin, Motherwell, Strathclyde Park, Hamilton, Bothwell and finishing at Blantyre train station. The highlight being an upturned shopping trolley in the middle of a football pitch in Mossend. Classic.

It was a long way and listing them out makes it feel even longer. The plan was 9 reps of 4km running and 1km walking, which worked perfectly. The 1km walk allowed me to practise my nutrition — destroying a full loaf of Soreen, a banana, Haribo and a couple of energy gels. The only way I think it could have been better was if the hills fell on the 1km walks! The one out of Strathclyde Park at 25 miles was vomit‑inducing, having me blowing out my backside. Other than that, I couldn't have asked for a better run, although after 5 and a half hours I'm probably going to need a few new playlists!

Special thanks to Adam who drove me up the road from Newton train station to save me the extra mile walk, which gave me a bit of time for an ice bath before heading back out for a gig.

Anyway, there you go. You've just lost 5–10 minutes of your life reading about me going for a run. At least everything else in your day will seem a bit more exciting now. But thanks for humouring me. Also, well done to everyone completing the Fling yesterday! Looked amazing! DING DING!

Hope you all have a good week.

Muchos Loveos,

Ben