CHALLENGER STORY
I BLAME IT ON THE
SALESPEOPLE!
# 16: BLITZ – SBBU 2023
Intrepid salespeople got me signed up for the 2022 event, when in my mind this was a guaranteed way to get injured, by overloading the body with stop-start exertion. The idea of others signing up and the fact that I had survived multiple crazy adventures in running, swimming, cycling, hiking and canoeing, made it easier for me to give SBBU a shot.
I enjoyed it in a very unexpected way so I was back for more in 2023. The idea of doing an event, chatting and snacking afterwards, then going home is appealing but here there is a whole lot of buzz going on for around 26 hours for the participants. It was fantastic to witness young kids running laps with the participants and to run with enthusiastic junior school supporters and club members who joined in to clock up some easy kilometres. The 2am support runners were amazing.
I had been more focused on taking on the challenge than discovering a whole new style of camping with a purpose. My sense of good sportsmanship was also tested at times as my mind did not have the energy to interpret certain remarks intended as encouragement, and at moments of close competition, the exact lap distance covered was left to each participant’ s sports watch.
Quirks which may seem to help or hinder me in any running activity aside- proper warm-up, comfortable pace, varying of shoes and attire, spending a bit of time focussing on“ swimming drills for runners” now and then, plus pretending imaginary circumstances are real- let’ s look at the specific conditions of the SBBU challenge.
Lessons from 2022 that helped in 2023.
The presumption that 4.2km is a very short distance so the whole event will be easy if you are just going for a finish: The 2022 event started at 6pm so accumulated fatigue was quite bad by 1am on lap 7 and I was convinced no one would be able to complete the full 24 laps. I was not expecting the buildup of mental and physical fatigue and it was a complete shock to me. What kept me going was a fellow participant saying I was looking strong. For 2023 I concluded the way to tackle this event was to look after the body and mind, keeping them within their abilities and pacing the activities to maximise recovery and to minimise the amount of recovery needed.
Foolishly, in 2022 I did an extra hard lap to keep up with a surging runner which left me broken for the next lap. This is not something to try!
The more humane 10am start in 2023 helped as there was much more fuel in the tank for all the laps and it was easier on the mind getting a large chunk of the event done in daylight, avoiding the sudden onset of surreal night running.
Warming up for the next lap with very limited time: The last 14 laps of 2022 were slow starts with the legs seizing up quite badly so I had to invent a warm-up trick of taking small rapid paces for the first few minutes, leaving me 400m behind but gaining on the field once feeling ok. For 2023 I had increased half my training runs during cross-training sessions from 3km to 7km and added equipment-free gym exercises. This helped the legs to not take too much strain, so the subsequent lap starts were much easier in my 2023 event.
Recovering from the previous lap: In the early stages, most people are quite relaxed and jovial as they await the next lap, then, without warning, become jaded and bleak during the few minutes of off-duty time. It seems to work well for me to change into dry clothes frequently, to rest on a mattress( trick – focus on really relaxing so you feel all parts of the body sinking into the mattress) and find a snack and drink that seems appealing at the time. Two further improvements in strategy for 2023 were to do stretches and, when all other mini chores were out of the way, to keep the legs raised during the brief non-running / standing time. An ice bath can help but I only used it once.
Cross-training with two runs built-in on hilly terrain: An inadvertent feature of my training that I feel makes a significant difference is to run 3 to
7km, swim and gym, and run another 3km. The switch back to running during this workout is some form of mental / physical / physiological prep for the format of SBBU.
Not having an existing training programme for a more conventional running event: I was able to get to the start of SBBU without having to overcome fatigue from a structured training and racing programme for other running events aimed at preparing the body to keep running continuously for much longer periods. I expect a coach would give such runners a 50 % reduction in training for 10 days then a 3-day rest before taking on SBBU.
Even with my prep for 2023, quality running was leading to noticeable muscle fatigue three weeks after the event so I think it would be a major disruption to a structured training programme except for the pros and the young.
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