Rotate the whole compass until the "red shed" on the bezel lines up with the red magnetic needle.

Essentials on getting into a climbing harness & connecting to the rope.

Beginner's Guide to Adventure Sports - Video Tutorials

Tips from Steve Gurney as a Roving Bike Mechanic Motatapu Mountain Bike Race Motatapu Mountain Bike Race Rough, wet and muddy mountain weather was inevitable after 9 years of fine and fast conditions.This year was a most excellent reminder to take back-up, clothing, gear and tools when adventuring into remote mountain terrain. However, there were a few very grumpy competitors, annoyed with delays and queuing for the river crossings, but somehow they missed the point… Mother nature's mountains need an attitude of respect. Darwinism, (natural selection), will probably silence these naïve (and that’s being polite) types, but unfortunately, in our nanny state of cotton-wool and bubble-wrap, it’s the poor race organisers that take the rap for their death. I’m now specialising my keynote conference speaking in this area, “Escape the cotton wool catastrophe, tips to regain your power and to breed smart people”. Contact me, your next speaker, at steve@stevegurney.co.nz. Here are some things I learned for bikers: Roving bike mechanics were kept incredibly busy through the 2015 Speights Motatapu Mtb…. I know, because I was one of them. There were dozens of broken and bent chains, many snapped rear derailleurs, dozens of brakes worn metal to metal, many punctures, gears jammed, broken seats, 1 lost seat and 3 bikes lost temporarily in the river!! And then of course there was the "chain suck”. In addition to the broken bikes, there were dozens of "broken riders”, so worn out and fatigued that they could only manage to walk their bikes. But there was nothing much we could do on the day to fix “broken riders” except to patch them up with a big smile and a squirt of enthusiasm! My day as a roving bike mechanic highlighted some tips for riders: Broken chains The biggest problem by a country mile is always mangled and broken chains. How to avoid broken chains: Gear changing Plan ahead Change into a lower gear before you need it Reduce pedal pressure and Change one gear at a time if possible. Chains break when asked to bend sideways too much. They’re designed to bend sideways a little bit, but too much bend, too many gears at once, under too much pedal pressure will compromise their strength and eventually bends the side plate off the pin. It’s time to be frank and honest… broken chains are mostly a rider problem. It’s the back half of the field that break the most chains, .. the less experienced riders. The problem comes with attempting to change under full uphill load, and it’s usually when riders are trying to change too many gears in one push of the lever, half way up a steep pitch, under race pace pressure, crowded in by riders all around. On a mechanical level, the chain is being asked to bend sideways as you change to another gear, and when a rider has full pressure on the pedals, the chain has to bend more suddenly then it’s designed to as it crosses over between the cogs. It’s worse when the rider tries to change several gears at once as the chain has an even bigger sideways bend in it. Yes the Motatapu course has way more short, sharp uphills than most courses as it dips into streams and then back up quite steeply, but the real issue is that in a race, riders are exerting more pedal pressure to do a fast time, … (and of course our ego likes to be seen riding those tough bits rather than walking). You’ve gotta be gentle and plan ahead for the hills that need gear changes. Change gear where it’s flatter, just before the hill, under less load and less urgency. If it’s a dip you’re going into, you can even change, in anticipation as you’re coasting down into the dip. Don’t change gears whilst pedalling in the water at river crossings, because the sideways current force the rear derailleur into the spokes and snap it off. You'll be pedalling hard in the water which only makes it worse. Gear Choice Choose gears that keep the chain as straight as possible Don't use gear combinations that cross the chain from one side of the front cogs to the other side of the back cogs, for the same reason as above; avoid excessive sideways chain bend. Crossing like this makes the chain bend suddenly as it feeds onto the chain-ring. Gear ratios are designed so that there is an overlap in the ratios between the different front chain-rings, mostly for this very reason. Chain-suck The excess mud we had in the 2015 course exacerbated chain suck and the subsequent chain breakage. 90% of chain-suck is because of worn chain-ring teeth and a worn chain. It’s usually on the wee granny gear, front chain-ring. The chain gets pulled up between the chain-ring and the chain-stay of the frame as it leaves the chain-ring. It’s often not a problem until it gets muddy. The best solution is to check for worn chain and teeth before the race and replace if necessary. Replace worn chain-rings and chain Keep your chain clean On race day: Change gear early and Judiciously use a half back-pedal. If it happens in the race, it’s possible to do a quick back pedal for half a turn, to clear the suck. Planning ahead and changing down before you get to the hill will substantially increase your chances of being able to rectify chain-suck with a back pedal. As it’s usually only the small chain ring that chain-sucks try to use the other chain-ring/s as much as possible instead. A clean (no clogged grease) and well lubed (oiled) chain will reduce mud clinging to it. In the race it’s often useful to wash the mud off the drive train (all cogs and chain) at river crossings. You can buy devices that bolt on under the bottom-bracket to prevent chain-suck, and the good ones really do work! Fixing a broken chain: You can easily use a quick-link, purchased from your bike store. Make sure you buy the right one to match your chain, (number of rear cogs on your cluster) 8-speed, 9-speed, 10-speed etc. Most of the time you will need to use a chain-breaker tool to remove the broken side-plate remainder of the link. It’s much easier to turn your bike upside down to work on the chain, and create some slack in the chain by derailing it off the front chain-rings. Make sure you’ve threaded the chain back correctly around the front and rear dérailleurs, (it’s easy to thread the wrong way around some of the metal guides!) You’ll need to leave both ends of the chain with just the inner plates. Remove the outer plates by pushing the pin out with the chain breaker tool. Insert the 2 quick-link pieces, “69” style to join the chain, and tug on the chain to click into place. It’s much easier if you wash any mud and grit off (squirt water with your drink bottle). Remember if you’ve removed more than one link of side plates, your chain will be shorter, and you might not be able to use some of the gears that use the large cogs. Test which gears you can’t use before you start riding again (you’ll be able to watch the rear dérailleur cage extend forward to it’s max). Buy yourself a decent chain breaker tool and learn how to use it on an old chain that’s destined for the bin, BEFORE the race. Note: If you have no quick-link, it is possible to remove the broken and bent links and carefully use the existing pin, but you’ll need to skilfully leave the pin in the side plate that you’re keeping so that you can push it back in again. You’ll need to be extra careful not to push the pin right out with this method. Use the chain breaker tool or a sideways bend to free up the resulting stiff link. Practice this at home first! Broken Derailleur Derailleurs usually only break in the Motatapu when changing to a lower gear during a river crossing (the sideways current pushes the cage into the spokes) or when the derailleur has been bent inwards accidentally, thus it subsequently gets sucked into the spokes when changing to an easier gear. Accidental bends can be from other bikes pushing against it during transport, or laying the bike over on its right hand side and the dérailleur is bent by some dirt or a rock for example. Get in the habit of only laying it against the left side. Sometimes or the lower stop screw needs adjustment to stop it hitting the spokes. Either way, with the enthusiastic gear changes of race day, it doesn't take much of a fault in the dérailleur for it to get sucked into the spokes when trying to select the lowest gear, and then snapping it. Always do a quick check that your dérailleur changes into lowest gear ok before the race; in the race, be aware and careful the first few low gear selections, changing down one gear at a time. Keep riding by…. A snapped dérailleur is not the end of your ride if you've brought a chain-break tool and quick-link. You can make a single-speed! Remove your dérailleur and put it in your bag. Tie or tape the remaining cable out of the way. Choose a gear combination that leaves the chain in a straight line. It’s usually a middle gear on the rear cluster, and the middle front chain-ring (or if you have only 2 chain-rings use the smaller one). Lay the chain into place around the selected gears and figure out how many links you need to remove to make the chain a firm fit. Shorten and join your chain. It’ll be much easier to join if you take the wheel out. Remember not to use your front dérailleur once you've made a single speed.. (out of habit)! Tyre Punctures Choose the right tyre pressure and practice fixing flatties at home. Choosing a tyre pressure Flatties in the Motatapu are usually pinch flats (“snake-bites”) from not enough pressure in the tyre when going fast over rocks. More pressure keeps the tyre away from the rim when it gets a hit from by a rock. But too much pressure makes for less grip in slippery conditions and a rougher ride. (Lower pressure makes for better grip in slippery conditions). It will also depend on how many "pies you’ve eaten" and the profile (fatness) of the tyre. Heavier riders need more pressure. As a very general rule, for the Motatapu, I like around 30 to 40 psi for a 75 kg rider. If it’s muddy like 2015, maybe 25 to 30 psi. Practice fixing punctures I was amazed how many riders didn't know how to fix a puncture, didn't know how to use a tyre lever, or use the pump! Practice before the race is a worthwhile investment! Make sure your spare tubes are intact by testing them full of air overnight. Also make sure they’re the right valve type and diameter for your rims. You’d be surprised how many spare tubes on race day didn't match! Know how to use your pump or CO2 system. Yes, waste a canister! Tubeless tyres are becoming more and more prevalent now and they are generally immune to snake-bite punctures. Brake failure In muddy, gritty conditions, brakes will wear much more quickly, especially if you have rim brakes as the rims are constantly picking up grit to grind the pads. Disk brakes wear much less. Either way, it’s common sense to check you have enough wear left before a long race like the Motatapu. If in doubt put in new ones before the race. If you’re using rim brakes, make sure you know how to adjust them as they wear. It’s a simple wind-out nut system on the brake levers, but you’ll need to make sure the cable is adjusted in enough for you to have the full range of the thread for race day. Be Creative One of our GurneyGoo enthusiasts emailed us how he used duct tape, GurneyGoo and a lot of creativity to finish his race despite losing a wheel bearing. (GurneyGoo is primarily designed to prevent skin blisters and rubbing!) Here's his story: "It's not obvious in the pictures, but you can see the duct tape which covers the side of the axle. Basically the bearing on one side of the wheel was just gone! So it was carbon on aluminum... To fix it we just filled the space of the bearing with as much GurneyGoo as possible and closed the space with duct tape. This fix lasted more than 100km first at "low" speed then gradually increased as the fix was just working perfectly. We finished one last 50km section without touching it... fearing we would screw-up the fix! It saved our race and allowed us to finish in 11th position." Hope to hear from you soon! Charles R'ADYS Team Switzerland Prior Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss-Poor Performance Planning time is a fantastic investment. In an adventure like the Motatapu, it’s not “if” you get a breakdown, it’s “when”. Adventure has uncertainty and risk at it’s definitive soul. What truly makes adventure successful is your attitude to being adaptable. Be smart, be a thinking athlete. Steve Gurney Adventure athlete For Steve's great sports products go to: www.gurneygears.com www.gurneygoo.com

Lots of fun horsing around with the media crew for the Speights Coast to Coast - including Steve Dickson from New Zealand Adventure magazine. Thanks for the photo Steve!

Check out these classic videos of the 1985 Alpine Ironman. A bold claim, but probably the best race in the history of multisport! John Howard and I were joint winners. Those were the days when in races we took responsibility for our own safety and judgement of risk. Good on ya Juddy! (race director)

Energy flows where attention goes The confident countdown: Here are some tips, in chronological order, as we cruise the last couple of days to the start line. To continue our cake analogy, the “icing on the cake”, which will give you considerable extra speed on the day, is freshness, plus the excitement and buzz of race day. You’ve done the work, the best thing you can do now is to find the “racer’s zone” in your attitude. It’s a kind of assertiveness. Just the right balance between the useful nervous motivation I talked about last week, and the relaxed confidence of knowing you’ve done the best preparation you can with what you had going on in your life. Thursday - Hydrate & Sleep You might like to drink a little more on Thursday and Friday. Not lots, just enough so that your pee is clear in colour (note that taking multivitamins will darken your pee so don’t be alarmed). If you’re peeing more than once every couple of hours you are over hydrating. The “night before the night before” is the most important night for getting good sleep. Race eve night is sometimes disturbed sleep due to nerves and early morning start, but research shows that this does not adversely affect race performance if there is good sleep in the night’s before this. So get to bed early on Thursday. Friday - Layering, Blister prevention, Preparation Check the weather forecast and make decisions on any warm-up gear. It looks like there may be a chance of rain on Race day. Layering with thin layers is better than one thicker garment so you can strip back as needed. Warm beanies and gloves are good light weight options too. I use a simple, thin hotel style shower cap over my beanie if it’s really cold, it’s light, and easily disposable in my pocket or at a drink station. (Be ready for the laughs too!) It’s better to be slightly over-dressed than chilly during the race. In rainy weather cotton is definitely out, use thermals that wick and still keep you warm if damp, eg merino, or polyester blends. Top your layering with a really thin, shower-proof, paper-weight jacket. This jacket will keep the wind-chill factor at bay if there’s any rain. If you get too hot you can take the jacket off and tuck it in the back of your pants waist elastic. You could even label it well with your name and phone number and toss it to a spectator on the course or hide it behind a shrub on course to retrieve later. If it’s raining, to avoid blisters, socks should definitely be thermal wicking (eg merino), and rub water repellent on your toes and heels, (eg GurneyGoo). GurneyGoo is also perfect for preventing chaffing in the rain, on crotch, armpits and nipples. For confidence and a good relaxed sleep, lay all of your race kit out before you go to bed on race eve. I also have a paper and pen beside the bed in case I think of something in the night. Saturday - Race Day! On the morning of the race, don’t eat or drink anything new that you’ve not tested in training. Ideally breakfast is something close to your usual, but low in fibre (you don’t want a loo stop during the race!), or something that you’ve tested in training (eg “UpandGo” etc). Breakfast should be at least 2 hours before start. I typically lay my breakfast on the bedside table as I go to sleep the night before, set my alarm for 3 hours before race start, so I can eat without getting up, and then roll over for a few more winks. Remember to set your alarm again though!! Hydrate moderately, with a glass or two of water, sipping in the couple of hours before race start. You could take a small disposable bottle to deposit in the recycling, or leave in the pocket of your warm-up jacket. If you’re driving to the start, parking is available, but make sure you get there early enough to beat the road closures. 7 am should do it. I recommend a 10-15 minute warm-up, 30 minutes before the start. (jog 5 mins and 2x Pick-ups as in the schedule). Then put on warm gear (possibly a raincoat and rain pants) to wear as close up to race start as you can. Allowing 15 or 20 minutes between your warm-up and race start allows your glycogen (energy) to resupply, otherwise, it’s like adding another 15 minutes effort to your race! Race organizers have provided you a numbered bag for your warm-up gear if you don’t have a supporter. You can use this gear at the race finish too! Remember to have a pee just before the start. Race Start With all of the excitement you’ll be tempted to start fast and energetically, washed along by the others, but you’re better to warm into it with a relaxed and easy start. Aim for the second half of your race to be faster than the first half and it’s here that you’ll be over-taking the tired, fast starters. You’ll recognize the half-way mark as the start of the half marathon on Speargrass Flat road. Use gravity of the down-hills to coast at speed, striding out with longer strides. Have a rule, no walking, and on the uphills, chop down a gear to smaller steps. Alter your stride lengths a little throughout the race to give your muscles some variation. Constantly remind yourself to hold your form and technique, run tall, chest out to inhale fully, slight lean forward, put glide in your stride. Drink little, but often. At the start of the race we generally don’t feel like drinking or eating, but research shows that dehydration in the second half of endurance races like the marathon will detrimentally affect your performance… the bind is, that by the time you’re thirsty, it’s too late, no matter how much you drink in the rest of the race, you won’t recover unless you stop. So the trick is to drink a little bit at every drink station. No need to stop, just grab the cup as you run by using your finger in the top like a parrot’s beak. You might spill a little, but that’s ok. Remember my favourite race-day quote: “Energy flows where attention goes”. So make sure you’re focusing on powerful, positive goal-achievement, and your biochemistry and biomechanics will support this. (Negative, problem-style focus such as focusing on the pain will invoke different internal responses and poor results). As you see the last km mark approach, gradually squeeze out every last joule of energy. Have no regrets, leave everything out there on the trail! Run even more with the technique of your role model runners, enjoyment clearly obvious on your face for the photographers. Post race Celebrate, and congratulate yourself, and remember to thank those who supported you over the months. My research shows very clearly, to avoid the “PIT” (Post-goal Inaction Tumble) it’s useful to reset your next big goal within the next 3 days. What next achievement would “spin your tyres’, light up your smile and put a sparkle in your eyes? Let me know what you achieved with your race, and if you’d like some coaching for your next goal email me: steve@stevegurney.co.nz Week Twenty three non-training schedule: Thursday 20th Nov You don’t need to do any training today. But some athletes feel calmer if they do something, so either rest today, or go for a 20 – 30 minute walk, or 2 “pick-ups” as below. Ideally at 8 am, the same as race start time. (or earlier is OK if you need to be at work) Warm-up jog; 10 minutes “Pick-ups” x 2 as follows; 15 seconds or 100m sprint, top speed. Flat or slight incline uphill. Feel the “ease of running” with glide and power in your technique. 3 mins easy jog or walk, recovery; could be back to the start again. Important to have a long 3 mins recovery to get heart rate down. Warm-down walk; 10 minutes “Pick-ups” are simply reminding your cardio-vascular system (heart / lungs) what it’s like near maximum, but then immediately backing right off to walk/jog. Lots of recovery is important. Friday 21st Nov Rest day, or go for a 15 minute walk. Saturday 22nd Nov Race Day YIPPEE!

A confident head space, a piece of cake. Like baking a cake, we’ve pulled together the separate ingredients of endurance, speed and technique over the last 21 weeks. The cake now needs to “rise”, our focus and energy shifting toward getting our mind into a confident space. A week of mental confidence boosting. The physical training tapers down,.. sharpening up with short, intense sessions. We’ll talk about the icing on your cake next week with race-day tips and strategy. This last week is a good week to get those nervous butterflies that inevitably start to flock in the lead up to an important race like this, flying in formation. Most athletes start to feel very nervous in the lead up week to their event. It’s very normal and in fact, nervousness is a very good sign, showing that you’re very motivated to doing your best in the marathon. This is the perfect state of mind to do some planning for peak performance. Excessive nerves can interfere with your sleep, your bowels, and confidence, so get them working for you. A. “What you resist, persists” So don’t resist the nerves, embrace them. Fully accept it, knowing that even the top contenders feel nervous, yet they go ahead to pull out world record performances. Then observe, as slowly but surely, you move through the feeling, to a relaxed ease and confidence. B. Perfect pre-play Sport psychology is rich in research on visualization techniques. As a brief summary, you can get very real benefits by pre-playing your perfect race in your mind. It’s important that you pre-play your perfect race, but realistic race. Ie, it’s not realistic that you’ll break world records if you’ve not done that level of training, but it would be powerful and perfect to visualise yourself achieving or exceeding your target time. Imagine it in rich detail as if you are seeing it through your own eyes, feeling it, and hearing it. Gliding with efficient, easy strides, full breathing. The contented and confident smile on your face, the goosebumps of excitement on the back of your neck as you realize you’re running to target, the encouraging comments you make to the people you pass, the cheering from the supportive crowds, your positive self-talk, the stunning Queenstown scenery as it whizzes past, and the time on the finish line clock that you want to see. Now replay that but turbo-boosted, enhanced with even more vivid colours, louder, more exciting sounds. Add the smells and tastes of your success. C. Attitude from here on in Now that you’ve visualized how you’d like your perfect race day to be, work backwards from race day to this moment to determine what you’d have to do from this moment onwards for this to be able to be a reality. Visualise the days leading up to the race as you would like them to be. Research shows that successful achievers create their reality with this sort of imagination, they have a degree of control on how life events unfold ahead of them by designing their attitude. Living on purpose. What sort of attitude would you need for this to happen for you? Now visualise how it will be after the race, in the way that you want it. How will you feel, what will you be saying, what will you be seeing? D. Prior Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance I make a brain-dump of everything that could possibly go wrong and then set about planning preventions. Here are a few common examples: Getting injured this week: Be conservative, no new, risky activities. Getting sick this week: Avoid folks with a cold etc, get early nights, eat really healthy, take multivits, reduce your stress levels. Needing a toilet stop in the race: Go to the toilet close to the race start. There are likely to be queues, so plan enough time for #2’s, or pee behind a tree for #1’s. Getting the stitch or uncomfortable stomach: Practice all of your training this week simulating race times, early breakfast, morning run. Blisters: Buy and practice with GurneyGoo Next Thursday, I’ll give you some race day motivation ideas and race day strategies. Week Twenty two training schedule: Thursday 13th Nov Warm-up jog; 15 minutes Pick-ups x 10 as follows: 30 seconds hard, then walk for 30 seconds, jog for 2 minutes. Pick-ups are simply reminding your cardio-vascular system (heart / lungs) what it’s like near maximum, but then immediately backing right off to walk/jog. Lots of recovery is important. Ideally up a hill. Warm-down jog; 15 minutes Friday 14th Nov REST DAY. Ideally book a sports massage for recovery. Saturday 15th Nov 45 to 60 minutes EASY endurance run. Start at 8 am. Eat breakfast 2 hours prior. Soft trails such as dirt, gravel, grass etc to avoid injury. Stretch straight after, and ideally get a massage to aid recovery. Sunday 16th Nov Easy walk or hike, eg with friends or family. 30 mins. Make it scenic and fun. Monday 17th Nov Warm-up jog; 15 minutes Pick-ups x 7 (s on Thursday, but only x 7) Warm-down 15 minutes Tuesday 18th Nov Warm-up 5 mins. Fartlek 20 mins. (speed-play, little sprints on undulations interspersed between easy) Warm-down 10 mins. (No time trial this week) Wednesday 19th Nov Steve’s Strength and conditioning clinic: 5:30pm sharp! til 6:30 pm Meet 5:25pm at the Tennis courts on the grassy banks Lake Avenue, Frankton, Queenstown. Alternative: 30 mins, easy pace jogging with fartlek

Getting fresh What’s the optimal way for us to use the final 2 weeks before the Queenstown Marathon? In a word: Taper. In a sentence: Ease off the really long hard training, sharpen up with short intense sessions, and add lots of recovery, so that you line up for the race as fresh and crisp as you can possibly be! No cramming allowed Some of you will be tempted to cram in “one last little bit” of hard training because you’ve missed some training over the last month or two from injury or from other time pressures. There will be some of you too, who are considering doing an extra-long run in the next 2 weeks because you’re worried about whether you can make the long distance on race day. Bad move! Research proves it. And I’ve been there, done that, losing races because I was over-cooked, tired. It’s too late now and you’ll get better results from your time and effort by freshening up with the schedule below. Race-day research clearly shows that many athletes perform sub-optimally simply because on the start line they are still recovering from their training. Exercise science shows why too much last minute training is counter-productive: the gains in fitness are significantly over-shadowed by muscles that are tired and catabolic. If you’re still worried, then be calm in the knowledge that it’s significantly better to line up on the start slightly underprepared but jumping out of your skin, than fatigued and tired from doing too much training close to the event. Assure short recovery times In 2 weeks there are no benefits from the really long sessions, because our bodies won’t recover enough by race day. However our bodies still benefit from intensity training, because our cardio-vascular, oxygen delivery system can still improve in 2 weeks, so long as we allow lots of recovery for our muscles between intervals within a session, and recovery between sessions. We want to reduce the long Saturday run so your legs “bounce back” quickly in the following days. So then you’ll find it easy to increase your speed in the intervals, especially as we’re shortening them a little and spacing them out more to allow your heart-rate and energy levels to recover between each speedy sprint. This will be your last time trial so enjoy recalling the improvement from your first TT! Avoid all injury risk = thoroughly warm up and down It’s time to banish any injury risk, by thoroughly warming up and warming down, especially around the interval sessions. It’s all but impossible to recover from injury in 2 weeks, so avoid all risky activities that could cause an injury such as tennis, water skiing and outrageous swinging from the chandelier (but more on the merits of pre-race coitus next week). So invest in all of your fantastic weeks of commitment by thinking cleverly and conservatively. Week Twenty one training schedule: Thursday 6th Nov Warm-up jog; 20 minutes Intervals x 6 of the following. 90 seconds hard. It's sprint this time! Ideally up a hill. 3 mins easy jog or walk, recovery; could be back down the hill to start again. Important to have a long 3 minute recovery to get heart rate down. Warm-down jog; 20 minutes Friday 7th Nov Well earned REST DAY. Ideally book a sports massage for recovery. Saturday 8th Nov 20 kilometers, easy endurance run, practice race food, drink, and clothing. Start at 8 am. Eat breakfast 2 hours prior. Soft trails such as dirt, gravel, grass etc to avoid injury. Stretch straight after, and ideally get a massage to aid recovery. Sunday 9th Nov Easy walk or hike, eg with friends or family. 45 mins. Make it scenic and fun. Important to make it easy, to help recovery from yesterday’s long session. Alternatively, an easy bike ride or swim, or easy jog 45 mins. Monday 10th Nov Warm-up jog; 20 minutes Intervals x 5 of the following: 90 seconds full-on sprint, ideally up a hill. 3 mins easy jog or walk, recovery; could be back down the hill to start again. Warm-down jog; 20 minutes Tuesday 11th Nov Warm-up 15 mins. Your last Time Trial! Do this in the morning if possible to simulate race start time. Warm-down 10 mins. Record you time. Notice the over all improvement from TT#1. Wednesday 12th Nov Steve’s Strength and conditioning clinic: 5:30pm sharp! til 6:30 pm Meet 5:25pm at the Tennis courts on the grassy banks Lake Avenue, Frankton, Queenstown. Alternative: 45 mins, easy pace jogging with fartlek = speed play.. with 4 x3 mins effort (fast run) in the middle. Undulating small hills.

The last hard week, the top of the hill! This week is our pinnacle training week, our hardest of the program. After this hard week we will begin our taper. Congrats on all of your good work to date! Only 3 weeks to the marathon. Time to feel the excitement! Find your race pace Duncan’s noticed that he can find a good “gear”, or “zone” during his long weekend runs, and he felt like he could keep this up for a long time. That’s exactly what we’ve been teaching your body with the long sessions, in order that this concept of pacing yourself can transfer through to race day. However, race day pace for this zone will be a bit faster, and we’ll call this your race pace. In the meantime, in our training, it’s important that your Saturday long run is very EASY pace. Our cake is not ready to rise until another 3 weeks. We’re not doing race pace over long duration until marathon race day itself. You can practice race pace in your shorter runs mid week. Race pace and duration will come together on race day like the final baked cake. The icing on your cake will be the freshness you have from taper and the excitement of race day. Keep your iron levels high Duncan’s also noticed he gets really hungry after his long run. This is all normal, but it’s really important to have a good, nutritious meal after hard training, rich in protein and carbohydrate. Red meat and veges would be ideal. Remember to keep your iron intake high during these hard weeks, easiest iron absorption is red meat, vitamin C and avoiding caffeine around meal times. Duncan might also like to try eating a little more whilst actually out run training. Test Powerade before race day Race drink stations will have water and Powerade. You might like to test Powerade in training to see if you could use it on race day. Or you can carry your own sachets and food of choice. I prefer to take my own sachets, in a small waist bag or fuel belt, drinking water provided by the race, as I can guarantee that this fuel will work for me. Prevent chafing and blisters Duncan has found his cotton socks get a bit “sloppy” on longer runs and also when it rains during training, and he nearly got blisters. So he’s splashed out on some nice moisture-wicking merino socks. That is a fantastic and worthwhile investment. Of course, do NOT use new ones on race day, wear them in training first. He’s also been practicing his long runs with the shorts he plans to race in to check that they don’t chafe his crotch. GurneyGoo, anti-chafing, anti-blister goo is also perfect for training and race day. www.gurneygoo.com. Week Twenty training schedule: This is it! The toughest week of the lot! Only 3 weeks to the marathon! So that means you’ll be able to put in that extra effort this week, knowing that it can only get easier after this week. Remember to practice all of your race breakfast, race food, and race apparel in training, including grabbing cups of drink and drinking it whilst jogging. Thursday 30th Oct Warm-up jog; 15 minutes Intervals x 7 of the following: 3 mins hard; pace, unable to converse. Ideally up a hill 3 mins easy jog or walk, recovery; could be back down the hill to start again. Warm-down jog; 15 minutes Friday 31st Oct Well earned REST DAY. Treat yourself to a recovery sports massage, especially concentrating on tired / tender muscles. Saturday 1st Nov 35 - 40 kilometers; long, easy endurance run / jog. Start at 8 am. Eat breakfast 2 hours prior. Pace yourself to jog or run the entire time, (no walking) to show yourself the discipline for race day. Soft trails such as dirt, gravel, grass etc to avoid injury. Stretch straight after, and ideally get a massage to aid recovery. Sunday 2nd Nov Easy walk or hike, eg with friends or family. 60 to 90 mins. Make it scenic and fun. Important to make it easy, to help recovery from yesterday’s long session. Alternatively, an easy bike ride or swim, or easy jog 45 mins. Monday 3rd Nov Warm-up jog; 15 minutes Intervals x 7 of the following: 3 mins hard; pace, unable to converse. Ideally up a hill 3 mins easy jog or walk, recovery; could be back down the hill to start again. Warm-down jog; 15 minutes Tuesday 4th Nov Warm-up 10 mins brisk walk or easy jog Time Trial #16. Time to really step it up. Aim to "smash" your previous time. Your best Time Trial ever. Do this in the morning if possible. Warm-down 10 mins walking. Record your time. Notice the overall improvement from Time Trial #1 Wednesday 5th Nov Steve’s Strength and conditioning clinic: 5:30pm sharp! til 6:30 pm Meet 5:25pm at the Tennis courts on the grassy banks Lake Avenue, Frankton, Queenstown. Alternative: 60 mins, easy pace jogging with fartlek = speed play.. with 4 x5 mins effort (fast run) in the middle. Undulating small hills.

Don’t get stitched up Duncan’s a bit concerned about getting the “stitch” around the start of the Marathon. One of the main causes of stitch is eating too much, too soon before the race start. However, it’s a good idea to have some sort of breakfast on race day, (you’ll need fuel in your tank for the start, as well as top-ups during the race), so this warrants testing in training to get it right. It’s not just the stitch, it’s also that uncomfortable feeling of too much in your gut, and feeling like throwing up for the first 5 to 10 minutes. Saturday Race Simulations - figuring out what to have for Breakfast So on his long Saturday run Duncan has been simulating the race start time and testing different breakfast types and breakfast times. Everybody is different in terms of digestion rates, and this also varies with food types. But the general consensus is to eat breakfast at least 2 hours before the race start, and it should be something that is easy to digest with little fibre or fat. Ideally it would be very close to your normal breakfast, something your body is very familiar with, nothing new on race day. My personal favourite is good old porridge, (add a bit of honey and yogurt). It has a good glycemic index (slow, sustaining energy release). Porridge can be a bit “heavy” for some, (with years of practice, my body has learned to race like a rocket on it.) Other lighter options are rice bubbles, corn flakes or white toast with honey etc. If it’s a big race and I’m really nervous, or want a quicker digestion time I’ll use a liquid product like “Fortisip”, or “Ensure Plus” (from a pharmacy) or “Up and Go” from the supermarket. But once again, make sure you test this in training. Remember too, to hydrate with your breakfast, 2 or 3 glasses of water is good, and then sip a mouthful or 2 every 15 minutes. However, not too much, don’t want to keep stopping for a pee on the day. Once again test in training. The schedule: (The cake’s not baked yet, but it’s starting to rise.) How was your easy recovery week? As part of our overall Periodisation plan, week 18 (last week) was an easy week to allow you to rebuild stronger and get ready for this next week. There are only 2 more hard weeks, followed by a 2 week taper before race day! This week will be your hardest yet, and you can revel in Graham Felton’s wise words: “The greater the challenge, the greater the rewards. Choose to do it, because this needs to be done to achieve your goals” Week Nineteen training schedule: Up until now, I’ve prescribed the long Saturday jog simply as a time to run. For the next 2 weeks, we’re going to run by distance instead, to prove to your mind that you can do it. Remember that this is still only training, we’re not race ready for another 4 weeks, and by then we’ll have done a lot more speed training. I intend that the long Saturday run of 40 kms will be slow. Come race day with the culmination of our 22 weeks of training, and the addition of our final speed training, your speed will lift dramatically. Trust the system. The cake is not baked yet, but it is starting to rise. Thursday 23rd Oct Warm-up jog; 15 minutes Intervals x 6 of the following: 3 mins hard; pace, unable to converse. Ideally up a hill 3 mins easy jog or walk, recovery; could be back down the hill to start again. Warm-down jog; 15 minutes Friday 24th Oct Well earned REST DAY. Treat yourself to a recovery sports massage, especially concentrating on tired / tender muscles. Saturday 25th Oct 40 kilometers; long, easy endurance run / jog. Start at 8 am. Eat breakfast 2 hours prior. Pace yourself to jog or run the entire time, (no walking) to show yourself the discipline for race day. Soft trails such as dirt, gravel, grass etc to avoid injury. Stretch straight after, and ideally get a massage to aid recovery. Sunday 26 Oct Easy walk or hike, eg with friends or family. 60 to 90 mins. Make it scenic and fun. Important to make it easy, to help recovery from yesterday’s long session. Alternatively, an easy bike ride or swim. Monday 27th Oct Warm-up jog; 15 minutes Intervals x 6 of the following: 3 mins hard; pace, unable to converse. Ideally up a hill 3 mins easy jog or walk, recovery; could be back down the hill to start again. Warm-down jog; 15 minutes Tuesday 28th Oct Warm-up 10 mins brisk walk or easy jog Time Trial #15. Aim to beat the previous time. Do this in the morning if possible. Warm-down 10 mins walking. Record your time. Wednesday 29th Oct Steve’s Strength and conditioning clinic: 5:30pm sharp! til 6:30 pm Meet 5:25pm at the Tennis courts on the grassy banks Lake Avenue, Frankton, Queenstown. Alternative: 60 mins, easy pace jogging with fartlek = speed play with 4 x5 mins effort (fast run) in the middle. Undulating small hills.