THE MIZUNO ENDURE 24

Today I started my final preparation for the Mizuno Endure 24, which takes place in June this year. It's safe to say it's a pretty gritty race as it lasts for 24 hours. You can learn all about it HERE. There are lots of different team formats ranging from solo to teams. I will be doing it with my friend Robin. Robin and I are runners with different skill sets that I think will blend quite well for this event. He runs marathons in 3 hours and has completed awesome events such as the CCC. I, on the other hand specialise in running across countries and have been known to run over marathon distance for multiple days.

I have never trained for an event like this before so I am approaching my training with no real knowledge about what to do, but I do have a plan. My basic fitness is pretty good and have recently cycled 3700km across South America and completed the Hackney Half Marathon in a pretty respectable time.

My training is focussing on three things:

Endurance: This is a given as I will end up running for about 12 hours over a 24 hour period. My focus in training is to be able to run at a consistent pace for an extended amount of time. The main thing I am trying to achieve is a very efficient running style. This essentially means I am trying to hone my running style to incorporate as little movement as possible.

Recovery: Normally when we train we do one session and then recover over night until the next run. I am trying to add as many short runs as possible. If I am going to the gym, I will run when I arrive and then repeat it at the end. Over the next few days I am going to try and run in the morning and then again at night. I want my body to get used to getting back into the swing of it as quickly as possible.

Overall fitness: I am aiming to run in a 24 hour event but I believe that only running is not the best way to prepare. Over the next week, I am going to be focussing on increasing my overall body fitness. To do this I will incorporate weights (not too heavy), swimming, hiking, rowing and anything else that will increase fitness but rest my legs.

Out with my physical training I will also be looking at how to improve my nutrition and sleep. I am shocking in both of these areas and to be able to perform well at the Endure 24 I need to make some adjustments.