My plan

It's less than a week now until the 24 hour race. Rather than just run and see what happens (like I did last year in Perth), I've decided to try and plan things a bit better. I've made a note of the main things below, trying to use what I learned last year, particularly from some of the more experienced runners:

Pace - my plan is to run at the following pace:
Hours 1 to 4 - 24 laps an hour (i.e. 6 miles per hour pace);
Hours 5 to 12 - 22 laps an hour (5.5 mph pace);
Hours 13 to 18 - 20 laps an hour (5 mph pace);
Hours 19 to 24 - 18 laps an hour (4.5 mph pace).
If I manage to keep to that plan, it would give me 500 laps (which is exactly 200k). If I can get a few laps ahead in the early stages then that would be give me a bit of scope for 'error' later, but in some ways I think the most difficult part might be the first 4 hours.

Eating/drinking - I plan to do this systematically: I'll have a drink every 20 minutes (then walk for a few seconds afterwards) and I'll have something to eat every 2 hours (then walk for a bit afterwards to let it digest). I plan to stick with this strategy for the full 24 hours if I can; eating every 2 hours should be enough to keep me going. I don't think I'll bring much food with me but just eat the food provided by the race - they seem to be providing a wide range of food and drink.

Clothing - I plan to wear my tracksters from the start and probably not change then for the full race, unless I need to. I found last year in Perth my legs felt better being covered, and after a while it was quite difficult to get changed because my legs were really sore. However I do plan to change my socks every 6 hours, as I think this will help prevent blisters. I'll wear the same shoes throughout. In terms of tops, I'll need to see how cold it is, but will probably put my number on a vest and wear that over the top of a warmer top - it means I can change the warmer top but won't have to mess around changing a number from one vest to another. I'll have a couple of waterproof tops with me that I can wear if necessary.

Blog - I've set up this blog specifically for the 24 hour race, to let people know how I am doing. Hopefully Dave or Lee will be able to update it on a regular basis with the latest information, so please have a look!

Not long now...