Me too. I said whem im in really good shape in going to treat myself to one of the Sunspel Riveria polo shirts Daniel Craig wears in casino royale.
The film came out in 2008, its now 2022. I don’t own one of those shirts
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i tend to buy my rewards before i do the hard work…and guess what???
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Yep done that too. Got this really nice shirt in the wardrobe. One day it will fit me. One day.
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Oops I appear to have entered a Backyard Ultra on Friday
Peer pressure is a terrible thing
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Woody is really digging deep and with only 16 miles to go the finish line is in touching distance. He’s covered 414 miles and is still managing to do a little jogs on the flat. Last night was very challenging with bad weather, bad luck and a big big to contend with. Woody was so tired he was hallucinating so had a nap on the ground for 10 minutes. He has been superbly looked after all week but last night and today has been his brother Frazer Felton and the fabulous Ian Harrison. Thanks so much for looking after him.
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That’s hardcore!
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Link so we can follow in between working on Mrs T’s job list?
How long/flat is the loop ?
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Start at 1200 CET Friday… i am hoping to.get to 100k
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2 laps done. Great course
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Keep going Matt 
Pace looks spot on!
Going strong 
Not sure what happened there - but good job 
Next will be last lap
Takes me over 100k.
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Well done Matt
Well done Matt
Good work - how are you feeling?
Top effort Matt. Textbook Ironman training 
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Chapeau
The Swiss Easter backyard Ultra was a last minute decision. It was taking part just 5km from my house, 4 friends had entered, so I decided to go along and see how I would do. The weater forecast was perfect, the intensity level would be low and I could bail out at any time, plus I would be running with Friends.
The venue was perfect, a log cabin in the woods (very posh log cabin with kitchen, electricity, toilets, BBQ area, fire pit. In addition the organisers had put up a number of marquees, including one with heating. I setup my camping chair and kit in a corner of the heated marquee, close to one of the heaters. There would be a BBQ with Wurst and Cervelat sausage, Pasta and tomato or pesto served from 5:45pm until the end of the race, fluids, sweets, chocolate and fruit for the whole race and Gels from 10pm
At 1145 there was a race briefing. 37 very fit looking athletes all ready to take on this unusual event. The route was 6.71m, mainly on forest trails and single track, it included 160m climbing. Starting at 1200, athletes would run a lap of the course, which they needed to complete within one hour, at the start of the next hour they would run another lap, any runner who did not start the next lap within 30s of the start of the hour would be excluded. 3 minutes before the start, a whistle would be blown 3 times, 2 minutes to go twice, one minute to go a single whistle, and on the hour a large cow bell would be rung.
At 12 all 37 runners set off. the first kilometer followed a wide forest track then branched off along a boardwalk accross a swamp (I love running on boardwalks). After that there was a steep descent to a small lake, followed by some more forest tracks. The first climb was 300m @ 10%, immediately followed by a steep single track descent back to the lake. We ran around the lake on a wide path before hitting a 1km @ 10% on gravel. The next 2km along the top of a ridge before a very, very steep decent on the tiniest of single track paths, covered in roots and branches. After that there was a flat wide section before the route turned right up through the forest on a short, but incredibly steep and muddy climb. At the top there was a beautiful run along the ridge, with forest on one side and a stunning view of the Zugersee lake on the other. The final 1km was back on single track th6 rough the forest. Basically a tough but very beautiful running course.
Even before the start, my legs were still a little tired from the Marathon. For the first 4 laps, I was taking 42 mins per lap, in hinesight, probably a little too fast. I started taking it a bit easier from Lap 5 and times increased to 45mins per lap. I was trying to take plenty of food and fluids between laps, after lap 4 I had a Wurst and bread, which was probably a mistake. After lap 6 I ate a bowl of pasta and tomato, unfortunately from that point on, eating became a real issue, each lap, I needed to force myself to eat. I think that I am used to eating little and often, taking on a lot of food in one go didn’t really work for me, I guess I am more used to processing Maurten gels than proper food.
I was keeping a really close eye on my HR, basically aiming to stay below 130bpm. The laps passed by, and my pace was consistent, but each time it was more and more of an effort to get going again. However, once running I felt fine. At 8pm we were instructed to put on our lights, I found running at night easier, with lights picking out roots and changes in terrain really well.
During the day we ran past picknic places, where lots of families were having fun in the sun, as day turned to night, the picknic spots were filled with party goers: It was fun having support first from families with kids, and latterly with increasingly drunk adults.
Only a few runners dropped out in earlier laps, a famous Swiss TV personal trainer with bulging bisceps was running, he had his wife and young kids supporting, however, it was clear early on that he was struggling, lap 4 and 5 just making the cutoff with lots of cheering from athletes and supporters as he crossed the line, unfortunately lap 6 was too much. A young guy, who was miles out in front for the the first 5 laps, lap 6 I caught him 1km before the end of the lap, he was clearly destroyed, lap 7 he set off at a gallop but hit the wall half way round and retired. Lap 8 was a big lap for retirements, apparently by completing lap 8 you had done an ultra distance, and this was clearly the objective for many. Hitting a nice round number of 10 also seemed to be the objective of many people, leaving just 9 people running lap 11.
Lap 11 was my low point, my pace was still good, however, I was feeling pretty bad, energy levels were low, my stomach didn’t feel great, and I pretty much decided to finish at midnight after lap 12. However, at the end of lap 11 I went to the toilet, had a massive dump and immediately felt 1000x better. After Lap 12 my friend Jerome dropped out, leaving me and Sam and 6 others still in the race. We settled into a steady pattern, 4 runners were in a group ahead, then Sam myself and another were in a group, and finally a girl was a minute of so behind. The pace was always 47-48 minutes.
My objective was to finish 100km, 15 laps. My laps were still consistent, my form was still good, the pain and discomfort remained at the same level, however, I reasoned that running further would increase risk of injury, would add significant extra fatigue. I was not in this race to win, Gian Marchet Schicktanz, one of Switzerland’s top ultra runners was there, Jan Bruhnsen, a past winner of the Engadine Ultra was also running, my friend Sam Sheppard, who came 35th in UTMB was running… basically against “real” ultra runners I was not a contender.
I finished at 2:45am, still feeling good and really happy with what I had achieved. When I got home I realised just how tired I was. Next morning I got up, and went back to see how the runners were getting on. Just 2 were left on the course, my mate Sam and Gian. I rode my bike with them for a couple of laps. Despite running for 22 hours both looked fantastic, unbelievably the pace was back into the low 40’s, they were getting quicker. Sam and Gian were running together, chatting away, but both trying to psych out each other, Sam looked better, but neither runner looked ready to throw in the towel.
After 24 laps, Sam was the one to admit defeat, he started the race with the intention of completing 24 hours. If he had carried on, I am sure that both runners would have been capable of running for at least another 12 hours. Gian then set off on his 25th lap to secure the win, we were all stunned when 26 minuntes later he crossed the finish line, after 24 hours running, he completed the last lap at faster than 4mins/km.
This will not be my last Backyard Ultra. It was a great event and I loved the challenging course. Next time 24 hours
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