Herewith a day 46 report:
Heart rates well up, good, they're taking note of our increased pressure; but it doesn't stop it from being one of the most upsetting days in WG & RBs 15,000kms of these capers. Just when we think we're about to see a nice pure day with no funny stuff, the last 13 miles are a huge slap in the face for those who love running and its noble traditions and ideals.
We saw one, I repeat one, 10 minute mile in the day for the first 9 hours and 44 miles of the day, and then he finds SIX in quick succession in the 45th, 47th, 48th, 54th and 57th miles.
How can it be that something so tough to do becomes so easy, after 9 hard hours of slog? Perhaps his heart shoots up and he's really working? But no, of course we know exactly what's coming, because the pattern is so predictable: His heart is NOT going to rise with the much quicker running, it's going to crash. The rate crashes almost perfectly in line with the faster miles: as the day's 140s become 131 for a 10:21 mile [not credible], then a 101 for a 10:59 and a 102 for a 10:17 and a 123 for a 10:21.
For the last 5 miles of the day his HR returns to normal, and the 10s are fired off at 159 and 148. But that stretch of running from 45-52 miles is some of the quickest he has done on the entire trip, and all off an HR of, you guessed it, 105.
He runs 40-65k in 3:25, then 65-90 in 3:10. A monumental uptick in fortune given the moment in the challenge.
People accuse me of hyperbole, but the reason I use big language about WG is that he does big stuff, like ripping off a world class 3:10 25k to end a day. I just checked Dan Lawson, day 5 at Jogle, so still in the first half. Could he match the 3:10? Nope 3:12.
And the remainder of Dan's final 25k sequences?
3:02
3:04
3:25
4:00
3:55
4:30
That's what real multidaying looks like: suffering, decay, degradation, despair. And no, he's not even going massively further than WG. One of them is about the same and one of those runs is only 65k and another 33.
As ever, when WG has these amazing spells, we get no footage or commentary about the incredible uptick in fortune - maybe just a flippant aside, like here: "funny finding your groove after 40 miles." I never understand why they don't try to film more of his epic spells. Surely it's something we'd all like to see?
Some people will now say: "oh we can all run 5 miles in 55 mins"; but they don't look at context; about where it comes in the day; about who the runner is.
Has anyone ever found so many more 10 minute miles in the second part of a multiday, than the first? The ratio here is 1:6.
The big mistake that people make with this case is saying that stats, history and athlete profiling don't matter, and that if we don't catch him riding in the van we must wave him through. But do we need to catch a 4 hour marathoner riding, when they do a 2:30? No, why not? Do we need to catch a golfer saying they shot 58 at St. Andrew's? No, why not?
RB and WG consistently do highly unique and bizarre stuff, and we're just supposed to accept it all. But let it be heard loud and clear that these six 10 minute miles late in the day when only one found in the first 44 miles, is every bit as strange as his 45 for 5 miles the other day. Running simply doesn't work like this.