The journey to TMBT

*I wrote this post before TMBT but could not post it up because there was no internet. :D

My journey to TMBT has undoubtedly been an extremely bumpy one, one filled with numerous injuries and setbacks.  My main focus in the beginning of the year was KL marathon (where I hope to run sub-3), TMBT and Northface 100 Singapore, with TMBT being the most important race as it's home race for me. My initial plan was to gradually increase my mileage and training intensity till I could run a sub-3 marathon in KL marathon, and then use whatever base I have built to further improve for TMBT and TNF Singapore.

However, things always don't turn out as planned. One week after Mt Mee Mountain Marathon in April, I came down with Achilles tendonitis, due to immediate return to running without proper recovery. I was out for 10 days. When I got back to running, I was determined not to be injured again, as I only had 6 weeks left to KL marathon. Maybe it’s compensation for time missed in training prior to this, (plus someone told me that hill sprint is the way to go if I want to improve my pace), I had one hill session and two days after I was down with Runner’s knee (patello-femoral syndrome) for my right knee. Bummer! With it I knew that I would not be able to run KL marathon anymore, as this injury is known to take a long time to recover. Turned out I was out for four and a half weeks (about a month). During this month, my fitness dropped drastically and each run I tried to run, my right knee would hurt really badly about 5 minutes into the run. It was a very trying period for me, emotionally and spiritually. Finally I was able to run pain free 1.5 week before KL marathon, so I thought I would just train conservatively and try for the half marathon (i finished 1hr31min).

After KL half marathon, I knew I had slightly less than 3 months to prepare for TMBT. I know that if I want to a decent chance of finishing the race well, I cannot afford to get injured again. Everything was progressing well till Flinder’s tour 50km (a race I participated to gauge my progress prior to TMBT) on 29 July, where I finished 6^th. A week after the race, again due to inaccurate technique for recovery, I was down with plantar fasciitis on my left foot. Thankfully it was a mild one, and it resolved after 2 days of massage. I hit the trail right away. And then I had cuboid syndrome of the same foot (a pain at the lateral side of the foot, due to tight peroneus muscle). After some intensive massage on the peroneus muscle (which runs on the lateral side of the leg from knee to the foot), I was able to run without too much pain again. I did not want to push hard this hard, so I decided to switch to mountain climbing with some minimal running in between. Soon after this, I participated in ultra-running research in Sunshine Coast University on 15 Aug (I wrote a detail account of it in one of my previous posts), where I ran 70km in 6 hours (6hrs45mins in total including all the brain testing at every hourly interval). I was quite confident at this point in time. I thought finally things have taken a turn for the better. However, a week after the ultra-running research, something didn’t feel right in both my knees. Once again over-zealousness got the better of me. I ran another 80km in about 8hrs30mins on 25 Aug during Relay for Life, was down with Runner’s knees for both my knees. My worst fear was realized.

Numerous injuries have marred my journey to TMBT. I have learned a lot about ultra-running this year – especially the physical and physiological part of it. Because of my experience in dealing with Runner’s knee, I was able to apply the right treatment for it, with 3 weeks left to TMBT. At the end of the first week, I was able to run 12km with 60% pain in both knees. At the end of second week, the pain was down to 30%. Though still not as fast as I had hoped, I was grateful for any sign of improvement in my run. 4 days before TMBT, I ran 28km along Putrajaya Highway, and the pain was around 5-10% on my right knee and 0% on my left knee. The pain was especially marked during uphill. Was I ready to run a 100km? Even a fool can say that the answer is no. But I decided to run it. I would share the reasons for it in the next post.

Here is a big cheer to all the runners participating in TMBT, whether you have had the best training in your life so far, or you too, are toeing the starting line with some injuries. Whoever you are, you have my deepest respect. The miracle is not that you complete the race; the miracle is you attempted it in the first place. Don’t give up your dream!

See you guys in the starting line on Saturday! :)