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They say, “when life gets too monotonous and you feel stuck, try reaching for something that feels beyond your capability, in the process you will find a newer and stronger version of you”. After a bam-bam season of “Murph 2023” earlier this year and an amazing outdoor adventure in the Himalayas, it was time to test unknown waters yet again.
4x4x48 was always on the cards, it was something that seemed unthinkable to the common mind and I always thought to myself how would someone pull such a thing off. Last year I saw David Goggins kicking off this event with an Instagram live and I completely ignored the thought of me embarking upon this challenge as it seemed too much.
If you are wondering what 4x4x48 means, it is running 4 miles (6.4 km), every 4 hours for 48 hours. So, you are essentially running a total of 48 miles (77km) in roughly 48 hours or 12 times in 2 days. It was end of April when I posted the event to be done in June first weekend. It would be a 6-week prep which included:
· Short distance running
· Long distance running
· Odd time running
· Running and training multiple times a day
· Weight training
· Crossfit
· Ice baths
While I never expected others to join me for this event because it truly looks daunting, we were 4 of us ready to go for the kill at week 1.
The prep started full-fledged and we were grinding it. With two workouts in a day – running in the morning, weights in the evening, dedicated CrossFit workouts to build a good cardiovascular capacity and distance work again for building capacity on the road, we were preparing for giving it our all even when the legs are too tired and the mind says no! This is the essence of 4x4x48. While it looks like a running event, it is more of a mental toughness event that requires a warrior mindset and it will prepare you to push through when your mind and body seem to shut off.
My sample training week would look something like this:
For recovery purposes, I was consuming roughly 130-140grams of protein per day and a total of approx. 2500+ calories per day, would regularly take ice bath each week to reduce inflammation and feel great and consume a lot of electrolytes being the May-June season which is hot in India. I was averaging about 7 hours of sleep each night and include a lot of mobility and self-massage drills in my warmups.
The defining moments of the prep :
1. A 15km run at 4am in the dark along the national highway among dogs. I did this with my friend Varun and it had me wake up at 2:45am and run this much when half asleep.
2. A torturous run in the middle of the day at 1pm under the scorching sun. We took an off route and while we were slower, this one definitely tested us and gave us the idea about running in the afternoons.
3. 4X4X16 : running 4 miles every 4 hours for 16 hours. This was basically a trailer of the main event and while I got a good taste of running back-to-back and got tired to the core, the last and final run at 11pm in the dark over an 800m loop really tested me. I had to take the next week easy to recover mentally from this torture. In fact, I extended the main event by one week just to put in some more prep ;).
4. What built true confidence was a 21km run a week prior to the game week! Although it was slower than my previous half marathon, I was sure I will not give in this easily vs the 4x4x48 event.
A day before the start of the main event, I stocked up on electrolytes, coconut water, bread, glucose cookies, bananas, mangoes, fruit juice, dry fruits and whey protein.
Coming to the main event!
I had initially planned to start my run at 7 in the morning as I would be fresh and can easily pull off 3-4 runs. But slowly I realized that there would inevitably be those runs in the dark over that 800m torturous loop and imagine being deep into the event, 4 or 5 runs down and then running the loop on day 1 and similarly on day 2. Hence, I decided to start running from 6pm Friday onwards. I was in a 6-10-2 loop. Mind you, each run was a separate battle of its own and I treated it that way. When I was running I wasn’t thinking of running again after 4 hours or completing 12 legs.
Below are my post run photos:
I was pretty conservative from the start. I usually run at an average pace of 5.5 min/km but right away I was at 6.5 as I didn’t want unnecessary fatigue to build up initially. First 3 runs were good and I was fine, took no naps and was eating within the first hour of coming back from the run.
After my 10pm run, I went for a nap at 00:00 and set my alarm up for 01:30 am. My sleep gets broken even at the slightest of the sounds, so getting up at 1:30 wasn’t too much of a hassle, the only big part was sustaining at lesser sleep. I got up in the dark, while rest of the family members were in their deep sleep. Immediately washed my face and without thinking too much, laced up and went outdoors. I warmed up outside at the starting point. I was listening to an audiobook for my day time runs, but for the night the voice in the book could have led me to sleep again so I amped up my headphones with music.
Tired, I ate a bread and some dry fruits after sipping on electrolytes and went back to sleep at 3am which was probably one of the sounder sleeps I had in a while only to get back up at 5:30am for the 6am run. It was morning and mornings are my power time as I am a morning guy. It was coffee time and the first sip was enough to get me going. That morning was cool and roads were empty given the weekend. I had a pleasant run. Slept again at 7:30pm after eating a piece of fruit.
Woke up at 9:20am for the 10am run on day 2. Surprisingly I felt fresh. Ate again and had a decent run. It was getting warmer as the sun was up. Chugged up whey protein and ate a bit more after the run. No sleep before the 2pm run.
This was probably the hottest today while I grinded hard on the roads amongst traffic and noise and pollution and focusing on the audiobook in my ears, I dreaded the incline road on the way back. Fatigue started to build up now. I was deep into the battle with 6 runs down. I simply lied down after hydrating and waited for the next run at 6pm.
A beautiful sunset awaited me as I treaded on the off roads near my area, still amongst traffic but got a bit more space to place my feet well. This time around I was losing control of my lower abdomen and hip areas and was feeling like peeing again and again. I stopped and pissed and was thankful for the 10 sec halt. Sipped on water that I was carrying and moved on. Again, a dreadful incline on the way back and a shit load of a Saturday evening traffic, I somehow got it done.
More fatigue was building up and even after stretching and performing some mobility pre-runs, it was taking me 2km to warmup and get into a rhythm. Until then it was painful in the ankles and SI joint. I simply looked down as I ran the next 10pm run trying not to focus on the chaos of a weekend evening around me.
Ate and slept again to get up at 01:30am. Too fatigued and in pain I dragged my a** to the road outside after sipping on a pre-workout drink to charge up a bit. It was time to tackle the merciless loop which had a constant incline decline. Many times I thought of walking this part of the event but inside I wanted to see what I was made of. I started my run and realized that the pre-workout didn’t hit me yet and all my weight was pulling me from the hips and tail bone. I pushed through. Pee-ed once, pee-ed again and was completely out of control of my core muscles. I just got this done as I was aware this would pose a dreadful challenge to me.
The next morning 6am run was the longest and almost a zombie run. I was tight as hell and dragging each and every step of mine. At this point I was irritated on any moving thing I saw. Any vehicle that moved or any person I saw I was uurrgghh !! :P
Time for whey protein again and fruits. I was now almost sure of pulling this off. With just 2 runs remaining in the challenge I was a little pumped yet in pain and focused because I didn’t want to mess this up. I was pretty sure of the route that I was going to take for the 10am run and I took it and luckily got into a rhythm quickly.
The last and final run was in the scorching heat at 2pm. All set and ready to finish strong I embarked on the pre-decided path. The only change was that the footpath was flooded with water, apparently there was some cleaning that was happening and I had no choice but to get back on the traffic laden road. I went on and the dreadful incline wasn’t so dreadful with music in my headphones. Another 30 minutes and it was done, I finally did it.
It wasn’t too big of a fanfare and celebration outside but inside I knew I had conquered something within me which I never accessed. I was happy and content. All those weeks of hard work, wee-hour runs and training had finally led to a successful completion of the 4x4x48 event.
A few tips if you are planning to do this challenge:
· Find a tribe. It is always better to run together and push each other esp. in the midnight runs and when you are fatigued and getting negative thoughts.
· If you happen to do it all alone, have a big enough reason to pull this off. Reflect upon it multiple times in the weeks before the event. I took inspiration from the Indian army, David Goggins, Cameron Hanes, movies like Cinderella man, Rocky, Rambo, GI Jane. Obviously my biggest reason was myself as I wanted to see what I was capable of and this would be a big achievement dropping right into my cookie jar.
· Another way is to raise funds for a noble cause – it could be for humans or animal welfare or environment. Working for a noble cause always motivates you to keep moving and not give up.
· Always prepare before the event. I kept 7 weeks; you can keep more or less as per your requirement but always train specifically to the main event – off timing and multiple runs.
· With regards to food, you will not be able to digest a lot of things esp when out of sleep and tired. So, simple food like fruit, white bread, fruit juices, even whey protein works best and that too if eaten in the first one hour of your run. That way you can get time to digest them. Don’t make the mistake of consuming too much food and fatty/rich food between the runs, it wont digest and you will feel it while running and trust me it is the worst feeling.
· If you’re running in summers, keep a water bladder or water bottle with you during the run. I sipped on water every 3.2km (half way) and moved on. It will be a huge relief.
· Don’t skip electrolytes, even if it isn’t summer. Electrolytes will help maintain balance in the body esp. when it is getting off balanced with so much running and very less rest.
· Decide upon the routes that you are going to take for each of your runs. For me, running on the same route is mentally too draining, hence I switched between 3-4 routes near my house.
· Have a reliable GPS tracker. You wouldn’t want a messed-up tracker in the middle of the event and not know where you lie in terms of distance or time or speed.
If you happen to take up this challenge, I hope this article helps you get ready. I would love to read or hear about your experience, hit me up in the comments section here or DM me on my Instagram @liftnwander or email me at liftnwander@gmail.com.
More Strength!
Be The Outlaw!
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