The last 5 weeks been pretty tough. I had a fabulous 2 week holiday 5 weeks ago and since returning I've really had trouble sleeping. Since I've had Lyme I go through periods like this a few times a year. I feel like I'm coming out the other side now but when you're getting by on a few hours sleep a night or less it's hard to stay positive.
So needless to say it's been hard summoning the willpower and energy to train for the stair running competition I'd been targeting.
But I stayed tough and trained and last weekend I turned up with my teammates to take on the 34 stories (600 steps) of the Almere World Trade Centre.
This year there were three categories: business teams, amateur, professionals.
My strategy was to take it relatively easy the first 10 floors, build pace for the next 15 and hang tough for the last 9. The first 10 floors went well, however when it came to the build and sprint for the finish I just didn't have it in my legs. I gave it my all though and passed three people (we start 1 minute apart) so was hopeful I'd put in a good time. Last year I'd finished 15th and I was hoping for a top 10 this year.
After the finish I hung out with my teammates at the top and then we all ventured down to the timing area. To my surprise I was coming first! There were still quite a few runners to go so we milled around outside and watched the invited elite 'professionals' warming up.
A few minutes later all the amateur and team runners had finished and the presenters counted down the top ten teams. He got down to the top two and we still hadn't been called out. Then he announced the winner..... we'd won!!! That was a great moment for us all to savour. As well as being part of the winning team I'd got the fastest amateur time, about 18 seconds faster than the 2nd place getter.
Of course most of the elite category beat me and the top few beat me pretty soundly (I got 4.30, the winner got 3.35). However there were lots of things to be positive about and lots of areas where I can improve for next year and other events later this year.
I'm focusing on a 3 pronged strategy for improving:
Weight - for the race I weighed 90kg with a bodyfat percentage of around 22%. If I could get down to, say, 78kg that would make a massive difference to my results. With stair running you have to lug your mass at least 100 vertical metres, so every additional kilogram is significant.
Endurance - when I was at my fittest 16 years ago the training component that really made the difference to my endurance was running, lots of running.
Explosive strength - I'm aiming to get this through a combination of weight training and plyometrics.
I've got 6 months till the dutch tower running championships. Last year I rang 2.29 and placed 14th. This year I'd like to go sub 2.09. That should get me on the podium which would be pretty cool.
I'm excited about the next few months. I had around 10 years of bad eating habbits and inactivity that left me overweight and unfit. Now I'm turning it around and it's an exciting process. Bring it on !!
