Rest as your friends, not your foe

there is no-one else standing.

Guterl was the last person standing, beating the second-tolast, Kiwi Will Hayward, by running 60 hours, covering more than 400km.

It’s an astonishing feat of endurance and an astonishing feat of fending off sleepiness.

But Guterl is in no way a champion of the boast, ‘‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead!’’

She told us how much she values rest and recovery – especially after an event like Big’s.

‘‘People keep asking me, ‘How long will it take you to recover?’ and I’m like, ‘I don’t know – I’ve never run that far, I have no idea’.’’

And so she has taken it easy over the past three weeks. ‘‘I’ve only run three times and no more than three miles.’’

She learned about the need to rest and recover after burning out in 2017. ‘‘I felt like there was no off-season, you just recover and train for something else – or you hope you recover and run something else.

‘‘You get pretty caught up. You do well in a race and you think, ‘Oh, I want to do this and shoot higher’.’’

Guterl says she has been lucky with injuries, but the sign for her when she needs to back off is more mental.

‘‘When training becomes a chore, that’s when you need a break.’’

Of course, every runner will tell you that some days it’s hard to get out the door – it’s raining, or it’s cold, or there’s something good to watch on

Netflix. Guterl is not talking about those days.

Those days, you just need to push yourself, and most often once you’re outside, you won’t regret it. ‘‘When it’s just a slog, that’s when you know. It’s hard on your adrenal glands and everything, it’s not just your muscles.’’

It’s refreshing to hear a runner of Guterl’s stature and ability talk about the importance of rest, of recognising when you’re in danger of overtraining.

It’s a message I can’t hear too many times. It’s easy to get caught up in a desire to chase miles, to chase training goals.

When really, sometimes the best benefit will come if you remember the two Rs – rest and recovery.

Eugene Bingham and Matt Rayment are hosts of the trail running podcast Dirt Church Radio. Learn more at dirtchurch radio.com or get in touch via email dirtchurchradio@gmail. com