Psyche of Butcher ultramarathon man

Three times national ultramarathon winner Graeme Butcher has heard it all before.
Anybody who even contemplates running 100km in one go would have to be bonkers.
Butcher, 47, admits he felt the same way himself once.
"There was a time when I thought you'd have to be mad to take that on, it wasn't something which was a long term goal or anything like that," he said.
Not that Butcher didn't have a proven background in long distance running before making his 100km debut in 2004.
Even a cursory glance at the history of the DB Wairarapa country marathon will provide proof of that.
Butcher has already been first home on five occasions there.
His decision to try himself out over an ultramarathon was not exactly planned either.
Rather he simply saw an advertisement for a 100km race in Taupo and decided it might be "worth a crack".
Which it was, Butcher finishing second but with the winner being an overseas competitor being accorded his first national title at his very first attempt.
"I wasn't really running to win anything, I was just wanting to finish," Butcher recalls.
"There was a fair bit of pain involved but somehow I managed to guts it out, it wasn't very pretty."
Pretty isn't a word which goes with ultramarathons though.
Now that he has completed seven 100km races, including representing New Zealand on the international front, Butcher has a good understanding of exactly what is likely to happen every time he makes it to the starting line.
Aching muscles, blisters, mental exhaustion & they all come with the territory.
Butcher's latest national title, which came at Taupo only last weekend, provided a graphic example of what can occur in the space of about 9hrs (9hrs and 56secs to be exact).
Reaching the 65km mark Butcher had a lead of about three minutes on his closest rival, Australian representative Kerrie Bremner, and was travelling comfortably enough to feel he had victory in his grasp.
Then for no apparent reason a feeling of sickness swept over him, leaving him vomiting into his shoes.
It lasted 15kms, enough for Bremner to not only make up the leeway but establish a lead of two minutes over Butcher herself.
"I felt horrible, absolutely horrible," Butcher recalls
"I had to slow down, there was nothing else I could do."
Well, nothing except withdraw from the race and that was never on the Butcher agenda.
"You go into these races knowing that somewhere along the line you are going to suffer and you have to cope with it," he said.
"Pulling out is the easy option and you know that if you do it once it just might become a habit.
"You have to believe that things will get better, that it's not something which is going to last forever.
"I just kept thinking there was still plenty of time to make up the lost ground, that she (Bremner) would be hurting too."
It was a philosophy which paid huge dividends for Butcher for once he recovered sufficiently about the 80km mark to get back into full swing he not only overhauled the Australian but pulled away to have more than 2mins to spare in the end.
Butcher labels self belief as the most crucial element in the mindset of an ultra marathoner.
"You don't go into these sort of races without having a hell of a lot of kilometres behind you, and you have to believe that what you have done will get you to the end, no matter happens," he said.
"And you focus a lot on the mental side of things in training, you go over all the scenarios which could occur and how you will cope with them.
"You have to be ready for anything, mentally and physically."
Race tactics are vital too with many rookies in 100km racing falling into the trap of going out at normal marathon pace and wearing themselves out by the half-way mark.
"You have to be sensible with the way you run, early on it's better to be on the conservative side," he said.
"It's basically two and a half marathons and that's the way you have to approach it.
"You have to keep telling yourself to stay comfortable, not to increase the pace just because you feel perky. That can change pretty quick."
The recovery process from running 100km is more than just getting the body back in shape, of allowing the muscles to recover from the stresses and strains.
There is a need too to refresh the mind, something which Butcher says can take up to three to four weeks to get right.
"It's not all about the body, the mind needs a rest too," he said.