I took a weekend off trig bagging to try something different – the 4x4x48 Challenge!
If you didn’t know what the 4x4x48 challenge is, it involves running 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours. A total distance of 48 miles (77 km if you prefer). That’s 12 outings in total.
There wasn’t much in the way of visual documentation for this however I thought I might post a blog to keep the content coming.
I’m not new to the world of ultra running, and 48 miles (in total) is ultra territory. The challenge here though is to continually move over the entire weekend with only a little rest, even less sleep and a messed up eating pattern too!
The start of the 4x4x48 Challenge – Friday night at 8pm
I joined this challenge through Rokman whose virtual events I’ve taken part in before. I joined 21 other people so this was a good indicator that this challenge wasn’t for the masses! This group included some hardened 4x4x48 veterans and some newbies like me.
There’s an element of competitiveness within the challenge too. There was a point per mile and a bonus 5, 10, 15 or 20 points up for grabs each run by adding a 5kg, 10kg, 15kg or 20kg Bergen / weighted vest. I have a 15kg vest so for the first run, I got stuck in and went balls to the wall. This cavalier attitude is something I’d later come to regret but I wanted some points to finish in a respectable position.
With run 1 done, I carried on my Friday evening watching TV until the midnight leg came around. I was already dozing off so this wasn’t going to be particularly fun! I ventured out again with the 15kgs, averaging about 15 minute miles as I was thinking about longevity throughout the weekend as opposed to a personal best every 4 hours!
After this one, I was hungry but was too tired to make a proper meal so snacked on whatever I could find. I follow a strict ketogenic diet so cheese, Peperamis, eggs and protein shakes were about the easiest things I could muster up. I’m fueled by fat, carbs are the Devil!
Managed to grab an hour before the 4am alarm went off – when it did I momentarily forgot what planet I was on.
This is going to get interesting! Already a bit tired – not fatigued – just tired. 15kgs and another 4 miles in the bag. However, when I’d finished after, salivating at the thought of going straight to bed when I got back, I was pretty wired. I limited any caffeine as I didn’t want to do / eat / drink anything irregular to mess up the already messed up pattern of the day and night cycle. Pottering about to the point where the 8am run was fast approaching so I got geared up and headed out.
I got back and despite the lack of sleep, forced myself to make an omelette. A perfect mixture of fats and protein plus a bulletproof decaf coffee filled me up enough. Hungry but didn’t want to eat. Tired but didn’t want to sleep. It was weird!
The Saturday midday run was upon me.
I cracked on with what felt like an empty tank. The 15kgs felt a lot heavier too. I got it done. Had a protein shake and took a nap. Did I wake up feeling refreshed and ready to go? No! to the point where I ditched the weight completely for the 4pm run sacrificing points but tried to put a positive spin on it. I breezed through these 4 miles and strangely felt pretty good! Ate a hearty meal of steak, grilled field mushrooms loaded with cheese and a simple keto cheesecake I made for dessert.
By the time the 8pm leg came around, I wasn’t dreading it like the previous couple of runs. Back with the 15kgs I managed it comfortably. Got home, forced some food inside of me and napped until midnight. When my alarm went off for this I was so, so tired – but cracked on.
The Saturday midnight run was hard. I was running on fumes. I got back and pretty much passed out, but I did have the foresight to set my alarm 15 minutes before each run – giving me enough time to get up, grab a drink, get my shoes on and go. There was no point in changing clothes so I hadn’t washed or freshened up – I had to save any energy I had to do this!
I was knackered come the Saturday night / Sunday morning 4am run. However I ditched the weight and dropped more points but it was what I needed. Got the 4 miles done, grabbed a protein shake with a couple of raw eggs in and got some sleep. My watch was keen to tell me I had only had 2 hours 36 minutes of sleep which was concerning!
No more night time runs on this challenge though so that was something to cling on to!
8am run done and there was a spring in my step knowing there was only 2 more legs to go! My first ever 4x4x48 Challenge was almost complete!
I ditched the weight for the Sunday midday run as I just needed a breather. I had a couple of blisters, my back and shoulders ached from the weighted vest. Other than that (and being super tired), I was in fairly decent physical shape – which is why I didn’t want to mess things up before the final outing.
4pm came and a naughty look at the leaderboard showed that I was actually doing alright… To the point where I thought if I grab the vest again, I could finish near the top! So I did and would you believe, I finished second which I was super pleased with!
A hot salt bath and bed to balance out the 3 hours 44 minutes I had cumulated over the weekend ready for work on the Monday.
Bar a couple of niggly blisters and achey knees, I was alright! I pushed myself as hard as I could have physically. My reward was a second placed finished so that immediately washed over the hunger, the pain and the tiredness of the weekend… Ready to do it all again next weekend… NOT!
That’ll do for now, back to the trig bagging! Would I do the 4x4x48 Challenge again? Yes I would! I learned a lot about myself and the challenge, so I’ll be back for more!
Cheers Terry, Team Rokman and the other guys for the camaraderie and support!
