The 8 hour trial run is done, dusted and negotiated successfully. We put to bed a couple of demons but my word was my Chimp enjoying itself.

Every little niggle or sharp pain was met with a screech and comments like:

“So this pain is here after 2 hours and it is only gonna get worse, no way man, no way you can go 8 hours let alone 38. You ain’t gonna make the 4 hour mark”

or

“Careful that sharp pain is really serious, it’s not gonna go away”

or

“Wow that’s a new pain – never had that there before – I’d give up if I were you”

or

“You haven’t peed yet, yer dehydrated already!”

or

“That’s a cramp starting – game over dude”

Yeh! my Chimp really does talk like that, or

“You are too ****ing old to do be doing this ****, what planet are you from?”

or

“Look at Karam, he is still moving to the T and cutting every one of your shots off – no way you can stick that for 38 hours”

or

“Look at Karam, he is stretching again – no way you want to put him through that for 38 hours. Don’t make him go through this.”

I thought that last one was a devious change of strategy. Or whilst we were listening to Peter Gabriel’s Secret World Live when “Don’t Give Up” came on

“Well if you need to listen to that your *****d. Stop now, walk off court – go on you know you want to”

Screech, screech, screech, screech all the time.

And so the reality

Yes there were pains in the legs, just behind the inside of knees and the ITBs were sore as was the back. The right wrist got a little sore as did the right shoulder in a particular position The pain inside the knees went away. The ITBs stayed as they were. But honestly whilst it was uncomfortable it felt more mental than physical. Knowing the knees had packed it in in the previous doubles attempt my mind was trying to protect myself.

We found ourselves going through various patterns of play – long stretches of us serving and the receiver putting it away for a winner. Other patterns where we played alley games which kept us both moving putting it away when either of us felt like it. The former leads to a lot of standing around and little movement which does not help the body stay awake. The latter definitely is better. Personally in hour 8 I was still able to do small lunges to play shots.

The day after felt pretty good actually, a bit of a headache, the weak area in my back and ITBs were sore and stiff but my legs felt pretty good. I felt a lot better than I thought I would. Despite what my Chimp was warning about there was absolutely no cramp not during, after or asleep.

Whilst I was glad it ended I know I could have gone on longer.

I wear a Fitbit and whilst I take the stats with a pinch of salt these are them in anycase:

Steps	32,891 from day total of 37, 961
Distance	24.35 Km from day total 25.65
Calories Burnt	5471 from day total of 7,311
Floors Climbed	83 from day total of 86
Avg HR	124
Peak HR	158 (near end of hour 2)
Mins Fat Burn	58
Mins Cardio	434
Mins Peak	87
Total time for effort (including breaks)	09:40:06

We think the Fitbit detected lunges as climbing stairs so based on that 83 flights of stairs at 13 steps per flight works out to 1,079 lunges.

Lessons and Observations

Some lessons learnt and other observations in no particular order:

• Our S & C coach Beth came and watched for a bit and made some observations: Our movement has improved; we are both right leg dominant; we must do our specific stretches during breaks (a lot to fit in)
• Do not put new grips on all rackets for the start of the attempt – this causes extra friction which may lead to blisters
• 3 pairs of shoes (1 dried, 1 drying and 1 being worn) won’t be enough in the summer. I sweat too much.
• Can the shoes be changed every hour instead of every two hours
• The Heel Slipping technique for tieing laces is not a good strategy for getting the shoes on and off quickly.
• My favoured drink of 2 parts coconut water and 1 part orange juice is ok in short efforts but not an endurance effort as my standard drink. Causes too much wind and intestinal discomfort.
• Bananas seem ok
• Didn’t fancy the goat’s milk yogurt with strawberries and blueberries
• Didn’t fancy the mix of pistachios, sunflower seeds and raisins
• Flapjack mini bites seem ok.
• Spaghetti and pesto with parmesan was great pick me up at lunch.
• Chocoloate milk needs to be full fat and cold
• In fact all drinks need to be cold.
• Despite taking in about 5L of liquid I didn’t visit the loo for a pee until 6 hours in and had a mild headache after hour 2 for the rest of the day
• I need to do a lot more work off court to reduce stress on lower back and ITB – whatever the root cause of that is
• Lose more weight, lose more weight
• Longer rallies better than two shot ones
• Need more strategies in dealing with the Chimp
• The wrist will get sore so need to do more exercises to make it stronger and more flexible
• Absolutely need to change all my clothes every break, get towled down fast and talcum powder on in nether regions and torso
• Will need clothes washing and drying or a lot more dry clothes available. I sweat a lot and hate being in damp clothes
• Must keep chatting with Karam – too many long periods of silence
• Lob serves make life easy for the server but not for the receiver, putting it into play as though you were teaching a novice would be better.
• All the basic faults in movement are very evident during such a long run – there is no point in getting frustrated by repeatedly doing it ‘wrong’ – it will be what it is.
• Whilst the squash itself may not be of a consistently high standard we are not being meausred on the quality of our squash – mind there were some sublime pancakes from volley nicks from Karam.
• We both were getting really frustrated at the same time and I think it fed of each other, need a strategy to recognise and deal with it
• Take every possible opportunity for a little stretch – ie when partner goes to pick up a ball.
• During breaks someone needs to go on court and keep the ball warm
• People watching is a massive energy boost. Is it worth exploring having a fun social squash event running at the same time on the other two courts, ie a fancy dress doubles tournie overnight
• My usual headbands are fine for league matches but after an hour of wearing them they are irritatingly tight. Need to find an alternative.
• Need to get base HR down about 20 beats. Being alert on court tends to raise my HR by 10 -20 beats per min. This would allow for more movement and a lower rate and being able to be more alert.
• Most pain feels more like mind trying to protect me rather than anything significant.
• It is boring
• Do a few more 4 – 6 our trial runs after more training to work on first phase where it is possible to bank some time for later use

What next?

• Schedule 16 hour trial run
• Review training program and adjust accordingly
• Start some mental training
• Start incorporating some very long walks into training programme
• Work with Richard to develop more left leg work on forehand.
• Lose weight