It has now been over five weeks since I did this race so I will be relying on my memory for most of the details. I will try to stick to the truth and restrain my natural flair for poetic licence.
I stood at the start line brimming with nervous anticipation in what would be my fifth and final ultramarathon of 2011. My training for this specific race had been good with five continuous 100km+ weeks since the Glasshouse 100 race and my taper had gone well with some quicker times on my shorter sharper sessions. I had also managed to get a PB on my regular 5km Mt Archer hill climb so I felt that I would be primed for a significant result. If I am being honest, I was hoping for a podium place. I had reviewed the 40+ entrants listed on the website and noted that current World Ultraman Champion and new course record holder at the Glasshouse 100mile race, Mike Le Roux, was racing so I knew that first was out of the question, still I was hopeful of top three. I was acutely aware of the impact that racing others has compared with racing myself and felt a little uncomfortable about worrying about what others were doing. I guess that my natural competitive nature was beginning to surface, just like it did when I was preparing to qualify for the Hawaiian Ironman. In the last year my philosophy has changed somewhat and I have been more focused on adventure and accomplishment instead of racing to beat other people, so a return to this competitive mindset felt a little alien.
The start was reasonably relaxed except for Mike Le Roux who began sprinting at 400m pace and was out of sight very quickly. I began jogging and was surprised to find myself in 2nd place. I didn't want to go out too fast so I focused on relaxing and getting into a rhythm. A local whom I had just met, Keith Fearon, came past me and I settled in behind him with two others following a few metres behind. The course begins climbing almost immediately and after a short amount of road and undulating trail we began the climb proper. Unfortunately our group of four runners took a wrong turn off the course on what turned out to be a mountain bike circuit, deviating by a couple of hundred metres. As the four of us stood around a clearing I had decided to retrace my steps and try to rejoin the course. I was annoyed at myself for getting lost but it was not the first time I had done so in a trail race and I had only gone an extra 500m to 1km which was not too bad. I was wary of running too hard to make up time and tried to settle into my climbing rhythm. One of the other guys who got lost passed me running quite hard and I decided to let him go instead of trying to staying with him.
The first climb is quite brutal and it took some time before I caught up to other runners meaning that I was in about 40th place after the little detour. I continued to pass other runners as the climb progressed albeit at a slower baby-steps type of pace. I had felt that my climbing had improved recently so I was surprised at how early I started walking. I tried to follow my run/walk strategy but was getting increasingly tired and fatigued as the very steep and difficult climb progressed. The last two kilometres of the climb were particularly brutal and my pace blew out to around 12min 40secs per kilometre. I felt like I was hiking up an alpine mountain in some places as my legs and lower back were tightening under the pressure of the climb and I even needed to use my hands to grip some of the tree roots to haul myself up the slope. Thankfully the dense bush began to thin out and I found myself at the top of the climb, skirting a chain-link fence to get to the first water stop at the weather station. I refilled my hand-held bottle and thanked the St Johns ambulance staff who told me that I was in about 18th place.
As the laws of physics dictate, what goes up must come down, so I used the decent to try and stretch out my legs. At the bottom of the decent we passed through the first checkpoint and I could see a long line of runners ahead. I ran through the checkpoint without stopping and began running on the undulating road section of the course. I continued to pick up places so that by the time I caught up to a group of runners on Black Mountain Road I was in about 7th position. This section of the course is run on a gentle undulating gravel road which is quite enjoyable to run on.
At the time my legs felt more heavy and tired than I expected them to be but I attributed this to be a consequence of the big climb up Saddle Mountain. I was telling myself at the time that I was relaxed and running a comfortable place but in hindsight and upon reflection I was running too fast. I look back now and blame my desire for a podium place as the cataylst for pushing too hard too early. I was sticking with my practiced nutrition strategy but I was working too hard. I had run myself back up to fourth position on the road and was playing cat and mouse with the top woman who was running really strong.
At about the 28km mark I dropped back from the first placed woman as she continued to surge ahead and I was beginning to feel the effects of my fast early pace. I continued to run on strongly but by the 33rd kilometre I knew that something was wrong. I was starting to feel very fatigued, more than I expected for this stage of the race and with 41km to go I began taking some walking breaks to try and recover and slow my breathing down. I had been passed by a group of three runners and as I walked the inclines more runners came past me. By this stage I didn't really care about places or podiums and from previous experiences I knew that the day would be more about survival than racing for time or place.
My pace had slowed drastically from running low to mid 5min/km's out to 8-9min/km's. I was pretty much by myself from the 36km checkpoint as I made my way along Black Mountain Road. I couldn't drink or eat anymore as a result of perpetual feeling of nausea but I pushed on regardless. This part of the course felt quite strange to me, I don't know if it was as a result of my state of dehydration but I felt quite vulnerable here. I felt that my safety was not assured. I was aware of a local plant commonly known as wait-a-while which has barbed tentacle like vines which hang from above and grab hold and imbed themselves in clothing and any exposed skin. In fact at one point I ran right into one which ripped the leg of my shorts, left a barb in one of my fingers and made my right ear-lobe begin to bleed. This coupled with the risk of spiders and snakes out on the course meant that I was constantly on edge. It felt quite eerie running along the trail with unusual vegetation and a myriad of dead leaves, plants and wood covering the ground providing lots of tripping obstacles and excellent hiding places for reptiles and arachnids.
The isolation also added to my growing apprehension and a fear that I had gone off course again. So each time I came across a marker or water container I felt a surge of relief. It was at this point on the course that I caught an injured French woman who was hobbling along but fiercely determined to finish. She could not run the downhills but was surprisingly agile along the flat and on the uphills, compared with me where the downhills and some of the flat sections were the only times that I could run. This meant that we played leap-frog for about 10km.
I finally made it to the 57km checkpoint and was really struggling. As I got closer to this point I was debating on whether I should continue on or drop from the race. I had no energy and was seriously questioning my ability to continue. For the last 20km I was rationalising internally why I do these long endurance runs. I had pretty much made up my mind that this would be my last ultra and needed to push through the pain and discomfort to finish this damn run. Waiting at the checkpoint was the guy who had gotten lost with me at the start and ran strongly past me on the hill to make up time. He looked in pretty bad shape and I could tell that his race had ended. Prior to taking up ultramarathons this season I had never had a DNF, even in my seven Iroman races and numerous other triathlons and running races, however I had failed to finish The North Face 100 in May only making it to 83km before quitting and then dropping at the 127.5km mark in the Glasshouse 100 mile race in September. I couldn't have a third DNF so I downed a couple of cups of Endura and ambled my way down the Bump Track. Only 17km more kilometres to go, how hard could it be?
I only made it another kilometre or so before I had to stop, move to the side of the track and proceed to empty my stomach of all its contents. I have been in this position before and knew that immediately after purging there is a small window where I feel better, so I began running again. After a few undulations there is a very steep four kilometre decent. I tried to take advantage of gravity and jogged on. I passed the French woman and started to feel a little more confident in my ability to finish this agonising run. Whereas the earlier part of the day was surprisingly temperate with good cloud cover and moderate humidity and temperature, it was now becoming extremely hot and I was really starting to heat up.
About a kilometre from the bottom of the decent I began to suffer acute stitch and stomach cramps which were impacting on my ability to breathe without pain. I began walking with my hands on my head and exaggerating my breathing to relax my diaphragm. I managed to make it to the bottom in one piece but I was starting to suffer from the effects of heat sickness due to my dehydrated condition. I sought solace under a shaded tree next to a van where some supporters were waiting for their runner to come by. I sat down for about five to ten minutes and tried to cool myself down and get my breathing under control. I gave up 10th and 11th place but I really didn't care anymore.
From this point I had about 12km or so to go which ordinarily is the distance of my recovery runs. Unfortunately this last leg was fully exposed to the elements and the suns' scorching rays felt like they could penetrate all the layers of my skin and liquefy my muscles and incinerate my bones. Well maybe it was not that dramatic but I was feeling very sorry for myself and acutely aware that I would have to walk the remainder of the race without additional food or water due to my persistent nausea.
More runners passed me as I made my way through the Port Douglas streets and onto the beach for the final 4km which is run almost exclusively on sand. Ordinarily this would be a picturesque run but I just wanted it to be over. I could see the end of the beach in the distance and like a mirage, every step I took seemed to take me no closer to my oasis. I kept an eye on my watch and was walking at about a 10:30min/km pace. After what seemed like an eternity I was almost at the end of the beach, I could hear the sunbathers and beach-goers applauding the runners who had recently overtaken me and I knew that I would have to try and salvage a little self-respect and jog my way to the finish. I exited the beach and hobbled along the esplanade towards the finish. I acknowledged the crowd on the beach, the people clapping from their balconies and the patrons in the cafes sipping cold beverages and licking delicious looking ice-creams. I crossed the finish line in 17th place overall in a time of 9hrs 37mins 32secs, totally spent. My friend Will had met me on the beach and together with his neighbour, Scotty, welcomed me at the finish line.
After the race it took me a while to get myself under control. I was overheated, very dehydrated and just lay on the grass for about 10 minutes trying to recover my composure. Will and Scotty looked after me and offered to get me food and drink but I knew that it would be some time before my stomach would settle enough to consume anything. The pain relented enough so that I could walk to the beach shower where I saturated myself (clothes and all) in glorious cold water. With my core temperature a little lower I felt a little better and I could sit up and talk with some of the other competitors. Keith Fearon ran well and ended up in 7th place overall. Mike Le Roux won the race by half an hour in 6hrs 45mins.
After the race I called Mel and gave her a quick update on my disastrous day. I updated my Facebook status and headed back to Will's place for a swim in his pool and to try absorbing calories. Once I had had a swim, something to eat and drink and felt a bit more normal I rang Mel again. Melanie is so supportive but I know that she worries about me hurting myself or doing some permanent damage from my participation in this extreme sport. Mel knew of my lofty goals and ambitions for 2012 and was relieved when I told her that I was done. The pain was still so fresh, so it was not difficult to lament to her how disappointed I was in always getting sick and that I felt like I was always hitting my head against a brick wall, that the sensible thing to do would be to stop and try something else.
When I got back home to Rockhampton I was careful to avoid saying that I was retired from ultras, even though in my mind I knew that I was through. I told my friends and training partners that I was done with long ultras and would at the most run the short 50km races if I ever did another one. I contemplated my future pursuits (as I am not one for sitting idly-by) and turned my mind to the possibility of doing some mountain biking or playing soccer. Mel took my semi-retirement with a grain of salt and even said to me she didn't think that I could stop. I was adamant however and after two weeks off running altogether I continued to tell anyone who would listen that I would stick to 'sprint distances' such as the marathon.
UPDATE:
Since completing the Cairns to Port Douglas Trail Ultra I had two weeks off running altogether. My first week back running was difficult and without an immediate goal I ran three times for a total of 33km. The next week involved only two runs for a total of 26km. I am currently in New Zealand having a family holiday over the Christmas period. As stated in my previous post I have had a change of heart AGAIN and have entered the 2012 edition of The North Face 100 to finish what I started. I will endeavour to relate my recent thoughts and experiences in my next post: "2011 - A year in review" which will be published upon my return to Australia. I would again like to thank my wife Mel, children Holly and Ethan, family, friends and training partners for all their support, without it I would never be able to achieve what I have or have the strength or courage to step outside of my comfort zone to challenge myself and push the boundaries of what is possible. I would also like to especially thank Will and Lynn for putting me up on short notice and looking after me in Port Douglas, I really enjoyed spending the weekend with you both.
I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and...................
Keep running.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Stop Press
Firstly I would like to acknowledge that it has been a long time since I posted on my blog. I did not intend to wait so long but I needed to sort out some issues in my head before writing a race report from the Cairns to Port Douglas 74km Ultra I did four weeks ago. That report is still to come and I hope to post it here in the next week.
In short, I was again going to retire from doing long ultras (100km, 100mile, longer etc) after another sickness plagued race. I felt that it was the right decision even though I also felt like I was letting my friends down who were planning on travelling down with me and sharing in the adventure that is The North Face 100 in the Blue Mountains (Sorry Sean). Prior to the Port Douglas Ultra, I had planned out 2012 in my head as being a huge year for ultramarathon running but after that race I discarded those plans almost immediately. So when entries to the 2012 TNF100 opened I watched as everyone else posted their race numbers on Facebook or Coolrunning. Even though everyone else expressed their nervous excitement about the impending race I was steadfast in my resolve to stick to the shorter sprint type races such as marathons.
I had fielded a few inquiries from my training partners about whether I was still going to avoid the Blue Mountains, including an email link from Raelene that stated that there were only 25 more spots available before the race was full. So I surprised myself when I entered. For some unexplained reason I began analysing my recent race experiences and accomplishments, my last year of training and racing and my potential futures one which included my previous plan for ultra saturation. My first Ultramarathon was in September 2010 and I have experienced so much in that short time, I have had some great achievements and some spectacular failures and it is those failures as well as the potential to experience more adventures along this ultra journey that drives me to continue. I guess what I needed was some time to forget about structured running for a while, to recharge and refocus. I still need to sort out my nutritional problems but I will not give up, I am returning to TNF100 to finish what I started this year.
After the Port Douglas race I took two weeks off running, my first week back I ran three times with a total of almost 33km and this week I ran twice for a total of 26km. I am currently in New Zealand for the next three weeks and while I am here I plan on running some of my favourite trail and road runs in the area. The Wellington region is great for running with some good hills and trails which will give me a great base as I begin my preparation for an exciting 2012 of running long.
I will endeavour to publish posts more regularly on this blog as I continue to challenge myself along the exciting and challenging ultra path. I hope to encourage and motivate others to step outside their comfort zones, strive to achieve their goals and to have fun.
Keep running.
In short, I was again going to retire from doing long ultras (100km, 100mile, longer etc) after another sickness plagued race. I felt that it was the right decision even though I also felt like I was letting my friends down who were planning on travelling down with me and sharing in the adventure that is The North Face 100 in the Blue Mountains (Sorry Sean). Prior to the Port Douglas Ultra, I had planned out 2012 in my head as being a huge year for ultramarathon running but after that race I discarded those plans almost immediately. So when entries to the 2012 TNF100 opened I watched as everyone else posted their race numbers on Facebook or Coolrunning. Even though everyone else expressed their nervous excitement about the impending race I was steadfast in my resolve to stick to the shorter sprint type races such as marathons.
I had fielded a few inquiries from my training partners about whether I was still going to avoid the Blue Mountains, including an email link from Raelene that stated that there were only 25 more spots available before the race was full. So I surprised myself when I entered. For some unexplained reason I began analysing my recent race experiences and accomplishments, my last year of training and racing and my potential futures one which included my previous plan for ultra saturation. My first Ultramarathon was in September 2010 and I have experienced so much in that short time, I have had some great achievements and some spectacular failures and it is those failures as well as the potential to experience more adventures along this ultra journey that drives me to continue. I guess what I needed was some time to forget about structured running for a while, to recharge and refocus. I still need to sort out my nutritional problems but I will not give up, I am returning to TNF100 to finish what I started this year.
After the Port Douglas race I took two weeks off running, my first week back I ran three times with a total of almost 33km and this week I ran twice for a total of 26km. I am currently in New Zealand for the next three weeks and while I am here I plan on running some of my favourite trail and road runs in the area. The Wellington region is great for running with some good hills and trails which will give me a great base as I begin my preparation for an exciting 2012 of running long.
I will endeavour to publish posts more regularly on this blog as I continue to challenge myself along the exciting and challenging ultra path. I hope to encourage and motivate others to step outside their comfort zones, strive to achieve their goals and to have fun.
Keep running.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Oops
This week has been a bit of a mixed bag really. I made a miscalculation with my training and ended up with 83km in the first four days of this week. This normally is not much of an issue as I quite often hit 90km by the end of a Thursday. I had also planned to run 10km on Friday and another 45km this Saturday with a projected weekly total around 150km, again volume that I can ordinarily cope with. The problem is that Saturday would mark the two weeks to go milestone, a time when I should be tapering off the training and trying to freshen up for the race. I knew the dates and thought that I had planned correctly but heading out to meet my friend Sean on Thursday, I realised my error as I ran on tired legs at 4:30am.
To ensure that I wouldn't be standing on the start line feeling over-cooked I did the sensible thing and took Friday and Saturday off as rest days. Work has been very busy recently and the break from training helped me to overcome the general tiredness I was feeling.
I had good solid runs this week continuing on with some undulations and my final stretch up Mt Archer. I was not as fast as last week but still a solid effort. I will now reduce the volume even further and take extra rest days in the next two weeks to help with recovery.
I was originally going to travel to Cairns via train but after multiple warnings from lots of people I booked flights instead. The prospect of a 20 hour approx train trip each way was not too appealing I must admit. I'm really looking forward to the race and catching up with friends in the Far North that I have not seen for almost two years. I also learned that Mike Le Roux has entered the race which is awesome. Mike won the Glasshouse 100 mile trail run in September, he is a phenomenal athlete and is aiming to compete in the Badwater Ultramarathon next year. Mike finished the Glasshouse 100 in a course record 15hrs 38mins (161.7km) where I took 17hrs 36mins to complete 127.5km, so it will be great to have someone of his calibre in the race (he is a local too), not that I will see much of him!!
I ordered my second pair of Hoka One One shoes this week as I have logged quite a few kilometres in my current pair of Bondi B's. Hopefully they will arrive this week so that I can break them in for the race. I believe I was the first person in Rocky to wear these 'different' looking shoes but I love them and I know Jason is now hooked on them as well. Who knows, by the time TNF100 comes around next May there might be a few more converts in Rockhampton.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 15.10km - 1hr 18mins 22secs - undulating run
- 2.05km - 14mins 43secs - run with Holly & Ethan
Tue - 28.50km - 2hrs 31mins 08secs - hill run up Mt Archer
Wed - 15.10km - 1hr 18mins 27secs - undulating run in heat
Thu - 23.14km - 2hrs 22mins 22secs - trail run with Sean in am
Fri - Rest day
Sat - Rest day
Sun - 16.80km - 1hr 26mins 04secs - mainly flat group run
Totals - 100.68km - 9hrs 11mins 09secs
Once I hand in my next law assignment I hope to put a bit more work into my next project, a guide that I am putting together to help my friends (and anyone else that is interested) in preparing for The North Face 100 next year. I have got the outline and most of the content sorted out and will start to put my ideas into written form shortly. If all goes well I hope to have it finished in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned and......
Keep running.
To ensure that I wouldn't be standing on the start line feeling over-cooked I did the sensible thing and took Friday and Saturday off as rest days. Work has been very busy recently and the break from training helped me to overcome the general tiredness I was feeling.
I had good solid runs this week continuing on with some undulations and my final stretch up Mt Archer. I was not as fast as last week but still a solid effort. I will now reduce the volume even further and take extra rest days in the next two weeks to help with recovery.
I was originally going to travel to Cairns via train but after multiple warnings from lots of people I booked flights instead. The prospect of a 20 hour approx train trip each way was not too appealing I must admit. I'm really looking forward to the race and catching up with friends in the Far North that I have not seen for almost two years. I also learned that Mike Le Roux has entered the race which is awesome. Mike won the Glasshouse 100 mile trail run in September, he is a phenomenal athlete and is aiming to compete in the Badwater Ultramarathon next year. Mike finished the Glasshouse 100 in a course record 15hrs 38mins (161.7km) where I took 17hrs 36mins to complete 127.5km, so it will be great to have someone of his calibre in the race (he is a local too), not that I will see much of him!!
I ordered my second pair of Hoka One One shoes this week as I have logged quite a few kilometres in my current pair of Bondi B's. Hopefully they will arrive this week so that I can break them in for the race. I believe I was the first person in Rocky to wear these 'different' looking shoes but I love them and I know Jason is now hooked on them as well. Who knows, by the time TNF100 comes around next May there might be a few more converts in Rockhampton.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 15.10km - 1hr 18mins 22secs - undulating run
- 2.05km - 14mins 43secs - run with Holly & Ethan
Tue - 28.50km - 2hrs 31mins 08secs - hill run up Mt Archer
Wed - 15.10km - 1hr 18mins 27secs - undulating run in heat
Thu - 23.14km - 2hrs 22mins 22secs - trail run with Sean in am
Fri - Rest day
Sat - Rest day
Sun - 16.80km - 1hr 26mins 04secs - mainly flat group run
Totals - 100.68km - 9hrs 11mins 09secs
Once I hand in my next law assignment I hope to put a bit more work into my next project, a guide that I am putting together to help my friends (and anyone else that is interested) in preparing for The North Face 100 next year. I have got the outline and most of the content sorted out and will start to put my ideas into written form shortly. If all goes well I hope to have it finished in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned and......
Keep running.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Getting out the door
In June I published a post about motivation and inspiration. This week I had to take a leaf out of my own book and practice what I preach. Sometimes it can be very difficult to view your own training objectively. If someone asks for some advice, generally, I can have a look at what they have been doing and what their goals are and come up with a pretty good suggestion or solution. But when it comes to looking at my own training I can and do make lots of silly mistakes and do things that contradict what I would normally advise someone else not to do. Since my two week break I have been logging some good volume with weeks of; 102km, 133km and 161km. With only two weeks of high volume before my race taper I intended to run around 160km each week.
This week started off strong and I continued making significant deposits into the running bank. On Monday I ran with my kids before a good undulating workout. On Tuesday I struggled with motivation and during the first couple of kilometres, considered turning around and going home. With a high volume of accumulated distance in my legs and lots of early starts at work I was getting quite tired and was struggling to find the motivation to keep pushing. I was still focused on my goal but in the back of my mind I was trying to find excuses not to run.
I find that getting out the door is the hardest part and generally feel much better afterwards. So on Tuesday, as I struggled through the early part of the run, I thought about how lucky I was to have my health and fitness and focused on trying to enjoy my run and not think about the 30km or so ahead of me. As is often the case I had a great run and managed to get a PB on my Mt Archer climb. I hit the bottom of the main climb having completed 8.78 km and as I took a drink and time check, a cyclist came past. GAME ON. At first he thought he was alone but after a quick look behind my competitive intent was exposed. I developed a good rhythm and got into the zone, focusing on my breathing and keeping the cyclist in view. He started with about a 100 metre advantage and as we climbed the distance between us would yo-yo depending on the gradient and whether he was seated or standing. I was still about 100m behind him, as we approached the saddle, when tragedy happened. He turned around and went back down the hill. D'oh, I thought I could catch and pass him by the summit. I briefly considered taking a breather but was still 'in the zone' so continued onwards and upwards. My kilometre splits were all low to mid six minute kilometre range and I made it to my 5km end marker (top lookout near the antenna's) in 31mins 45secs a PB by 1 minute 3 seconds. After a quick breather and admiring the magnificent vistas I ran around a few of the lookouts before heading down the hill again. On my way home I passed by the Central Queensland University grass running track. Quite a few of the Rocky Road Runners meet for their speed work sessions on a Tuesday so I thought I would say hi. I love the energy of running with a group and I couldn't resist running a couple of fast (too fast) 200's with them. I hadn't done any speed work since the Gold Coast Marathon and as a consequence felt a bit tight for the rest of the run home.
On Wednesday I ran the same undulating course as Monday but felt a little tired, which is understandable I guess. After the run I enjoyed a little jog around with my kids which always lifts my spirits. Like me they were a little tired so we only did one lap around the block. By the time I got home from work on Thursday I had hit the wall and could not face going out for my planned 30km run. I briefly considered driving to run with the Thursday pack but couldn't even face that, the door remained shut. It can be a fine line between doing too much and not doing enough. I firmly believe that it is better to be slightly under-prepared than over-trained. There is always the possibility of pushing that little bit harder or longer in a race if you have slightly undertrained but there is little or no chance of coming back if you are over-cooked. I felt bad about abandoning my run and kept trying to justify my decision but I am glad that I stayed at home. With my big volume and consecutive early shifts I felt that I was always tired and not spending as much time with Mel or the kids as I wanted. As it turned out I had a great afternoon and evening at home with my family and got to spend some quality time with both of my wonderful children.
Friday was always going to be an easy 10km run but after I got home from taking the kids to school I took the opportunity to mow the lawn which usually takes 1.5 hours. I was very hungry and needed to eat before running but decided to abandon the run in favour of cleaning the car. I could've run in the afternoon but I wanted to save myself for Saturday's long run. I was so tired by the end of the day that I almost neglected to make up my drinks and prepare my gear for the run in the morning.
My alarm went off at 3:45am. I got up but then went back to bed. I lay there debating on the virtues of staying at home again. I was still tired and wanted to go back to sleep, the only trouble was that I was awake and knew that I would be angry with myself if I missed three days of what is supposed to be a big week of training. It turned out that all I needed was two days off to refresh both mentally and physically because I managed to run a quickish long run to make it back-to-back weeks of 50km Saturdays. I did my own undulating 11km loop before joining the group. The pace remained quick for most of the run, especially when running for a short time alongside Marty at sub 4:00min/km pace. As the run progressed the group whittled down to Michael, Marty and myself. Thanks to M & M I managed to keep a good consistent pace with great company so that I only had to run another 7km or so by myself at the end. At the conclusion of the run I was tired but not shattered and began turning my mind to the 10km race on Sunday.
At about 7:00am on Sunday morning I stood on the start line of the Balance Podiatry Pink Ribbon 10km fun run. I knew that running a fast 10km race after running a quick 50km the day before would always be a challenge. Even as the starter's gun fired I did not really have a time or place goal. I honestly thought something like 45mins or at best around 42mins would be achievable and considering the huge turnout (around 250 people for the 5k, 10k & kids run) I was not worried about a place. I settled into a good fast rhythm and was surprised at how good I felt. I passed a few runners in the first couple of kilometres as the leaders pulled ahead and looked down at my watch to find that I was running at just under 4min/km pace. My legs were a little tired but not heavy which enabled me to push out with a longer, stronger, faster stride. I continued to pass a few runners so that I started the second 5km lap in 6th place with Marty just ahead. I ran a consistent race with close to even lap splits to finish in 39mins 39secs for 5th overall. The course was slightly short with my Garmin reading 9.8km but I was incredibly pleased with my surprising performance and was unofficially about 20-30 seconds away from Michael who took home third place. A huge thank you to Kelly, Leah and their volunteers who put on a great race. Well done to all the people who placed and who completed the run and in the triathlons / duathlons held at Yeppoon.
I would also like to acknowledge the truly remarkable achievement of my cousin Cameron Brown (no, not the triathlete), who last night became World Champion in both the singles and pairs at the Aerobics World Championships on the Gold Coast. Cameron has dedicated himself to his sport for many many years at the elite level. I'm so proud and happy for him to reach the pinnacle of his sport and being crowned World Champion is a testament to his dedication and drive. Well done cuz.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 2.07km - 15mins 39secs - run with Holly and Ethan
- 15.05km - 1hr 18mins 35secs - undulating run
Tue - 31.10km - 2hrs 43mins 55secs - hills incl' Mt Archer
Wed - 15.05km - 1hr 20mins 43secs - undulating run
- 1.12km - 8mins 57secs - run with Holly and Ethan
Thu - Rest day
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 50.25km - 4hrs 17mins 16secs - long run with group
Sun - 2.52km - 12mins 50secs - warm up for 10km race
- 9.80km - 39mins 39secs - 10km Pink Ribbon race
- 4.10km - 20mins 26secs - warm down
Totals - 131.06km - 11hrs 18mins 05secs
With only one more week of high volume and three weeks to go until race day I am getting very excited about the race. I've never been to Cairns or Port Douglas before so I am looking forward to what will be another exciting adventure.
Keep running.
This week started off strong and I continued making significant deposits into the running bank. On Monday I ran with my kids before a good undulating workout. On Tuesday I struggled with motivation and during the first couple of kilometres, considered turning around and going home. With a high volume of accumulated distance in my legs and lots of early starts at work I was getting quite tired and was struggling to find the motivation to keep pushing. I was still focused on my goal but in the back of my mind I was trying to find excuses not to run.
I find that getting out the door is the hardest part and generally feel much better afterwards. So on Tuesday, as I struggled through the early part of the run, I thought about how lucky I was to have my health and fitness and focused on trying to enjoy my run and not think about the 30km or so ahead of me. As is often the case I had a great run and managed to get a PB on my Mt Archer climb. I hit the bottom of the main climb having completed 8.78 km and as I took a drink and time check, a cyclist came past. GAME ON. At first he thought he was alone but after a quick look behind my competitive intent was exposed. I developed a good rhythm and got into the zone, focusing on my breathing and keeping the cyclist in view. He started with about a 100 metre advantage and as we climbed the distance between us would yo-yo depending on the gradient and whether he was seated or standing. I was still about 100m behind him, as we approached the saddle, when tragedy happened. He turned around and went back down the hill. D'oh, I thought I could catch and pass him by the summit. I briefly considered taking a breather but was still 'in the zone' so continued onwards and upwards. My kilometre splits were all low to mid six minute kilometre range and I made it to my 5km end marker (top lookout near the antenna's) in 31mins 45secs a PB by 1 minute 3 seconds. After a quick breather and admiring the magnificent vistas I ran around a few of the lookouts before heading down the hill again. On my way home I passed by the Central Queensland University grass running track. Quite a few of the Rocky Road Runners meet for their speed work sessions on a Tuesday so I thought I would say hi. I love the energy of running with a group and I couldn't resist running a couple of fast (too fast) 200's with them. I hadn't done any speed work since the Gold Coast Marathon and as a consequence felt a bit tight for the rest of the run home.
On Wednesday I ran the same undulating course as Monday but felt a little tired, which is understandable I guess. After the run I enjoyed a little jog around with my kids which always lifts my spirits. Like me they were a little tired so we only did one lap around the block. By the time I got home from work on Thursday I had hit the wall and could not face going out for my planned 30km run. I briefly considered driving to run with the Thursday pack but couldn't even face that, the door remained shut. It can be a fine line between doing too much and not doing enough. I firmly believe that it is better to be slightly under-prepared than over-trained. There is always the possibility of pushing that little bit harder or longer in a race if you have slightly undertrained but there is little or no chance of coming back if you are over-cooked. I felt bad about abandoning my run and kept trying to justify my decision but I am glad that I stayed at home. With my big volume and consecutive early shifts I felt that I was always tired and not spending as much time with Mel or the kids as I wanted. As it turned out I had a great afternoon and evening at home with my family and got to spend some quality time with both of my wonderful children.
Friday was always going to be an easy 10km run but after I got home from taking the kids to school I took the opportunity to mow the lawn which usually takes 1.5 hours. I was very hungry and needed to eat before running but decided to abandon the run in favour of cleaning the car. I could've run in the afternoon but I wanted to save myself for Saturday's long run. I was so tired by the end of the day that I almost neglected to make up my drinks and prepare my gear for the run in the morning.
My alarm went off at 3:45am. I got up but then went back to bed. I lay there debating on the virtues of staying at home again. I was still tired and wanted to go back to sleep, the only trouble was that I was awake and knew that I would be angry with myself if I missed three days of what is supposed to be a big week of training. It turned out that all I needed was two days off to refresh both mentally and physically because I managed to run a quickish long run to make it back-to-back weeks of 50km Saturdays. I did my own undulating 11km loop before joining the group. The pace remained quick for most of the run, especially when running for a short time alongside Marty at sub 4:00min/km pace. As the run progressed the group whittled down to Michael, Marty and myself. Thanks to M & M I managed to keep a good consistent pace with great company so that I only had to run another 7km or so by myself at the end. At the conclusion of the run I was tired but not shattered and began turning my mind to the 10km race on Sunday.
At about 7:00am on Sunday morning I stood on the start line of the Balance Podiatry Pink Ribbon 10km fun run. I knew that running a fast 10km race after running a quick 50km the day before would always be a challenge. Even as the starter's gun fired I did not really have a time or place goal. I honestly thought something like 45mins or at best around 42mins would be achievable and considering the huge turnout (around 250 people for the 5k, 10k & kids run) I was not worried about a place. I settled into a good fast rhythm and was surprised at how good I felt. I passed a few runners in the first couple of kilometres as the leaders pulled ahead and looked down at my watch to find that I was running at just under 4min/km pace. My legs were a little tired but not heavy which enabled me to push out with a longer, stronger, faster stride. I continued to pass a few runners so that I started the second 5km lap in 6th place with Marty just ahead. I ran a consistent race with close to even lap splits to finish in 39mins 39secs for 5th overall. The course was slightly short with my Garmin reading 9.8km but I was incredibly pleased with my surprising performance and was unofficially about 20-30 seconds away from Michael who took home third place. A huge thank you to Kelly, Leah and their volunteers who put on a great race. Well done to all the people who placed and who completed the run and in the triathlons / duathlons held at Yeppoon.
I would also like to acknowledge the truly remarkable achievement of my cousin Cameron Brown (no, not the triathlete), who last night became World Champion in both the singles and pairs at the Aerobics World Championships on the Gold Coast. Cameron has dedicated himself to his sport for many many years at the elite level. I'm so proud and happy for him to reach the pinnacle of his sport and being crowned World Champion is a testament to his dedication and drive. Well done cuz.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 2.07km - 15mins 39secs - run with Holly and Ethan
- 15.05km - 1hr 18mins 35secs - undulating run
Tue - 31.10km - 2hrs 43mins 55secs - hills incl' Mt Archer
Wed - 15.05km - 1hr 20mins 43secs - undulating run
- 1.12km - 8mins 57secs - run with Holly and Ethan
Thu - Rest day
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 50.25km - 4hrs 17mins 16secs - long run with group
Sun - 2.52km - 12mins 50secs - warm up for 10km race
- 9.80km - 39mins 39secs - 10km Pink Ribbon race
- 4.10km - 20mins 26secs - warm down
Totals - 131.06km - 11hrs 18mins 05secs
With only one more week of high volume and three weeks to go until race day I am getting very excited about the race. I've never been to Cairns or Port Douglas before so I am looking forward to what will be another exciting adventure.
Keep running.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
The Running Bank
All of our life experiences, whether positive or negative, affect us in a myriad of ways. The person we are today is a result of the accumulation of these experiences. The same can be said for training and racing. For me, my running is about the enjoyment of physical exercise and pushing at the boundaries of the preconceived limitations of what I thought was possible. Through challenging myself to go harder, go higher or go longer I can (to borrow a phrase) live a life less ordinary. Running is MY metaphor for living. So, considering all of the hours that we put into running / training for an event, what we achieve on race day is the accumulation of those experiences both physically and mentally.
To further this train of thought, think of your body (and by extension, your mind) as a bank. Every time you go out for a run you are making a deposit into the bank. Every time you run in the heat, humidity, rain, wind, up the hill, down the hill, on the sand, you are adding to your knowledge and experience balance. Every time you run with a partner or a group you debit your account with the wealth of the combined experience of others. Every time you read a book, read a magazine or even watch a sporting event on television or film you strengthen your fund. So why is this important?
Endurance running to me is about putting one foot in front of the other for as long as you can until you achieve your goal. This sounds simple enough but the longer we go, the more we need to draw upon our inner strength and resolve to meet the inevitable challenges along the way. Ultra marathons by their very nature and distance alone, are difficult enough, however, many events can be characterised by other significant variables such as extreme heat, terrain and altitude. The key to the successful completion of an ultra event is by managing all the difficulties and obstacles and this is where we may need to make sizeable withdrawals from our running banks. It is highly unlikely that any normal person (once again normal is purely subjective) undertaking an endurance event will not be faced with significant challenges in which they need to draw upon their experience to carry on. Having trained effectively and developed, our knowledge, skills and experience whilst physically preparing our bodies we are able use the experience we gain in training and apply them on race day.
As mentioned in a previous post on this blog, I am training for the Great Barrier Reef 74km trail run on the 12th November. Although run on trails with some good elevation gain, I believe the most challenging factors for this race will be the heat and humidity whilst running through the bush from Cairns to Port Douglas. To ensure that I achieve my goals I have begun specific run training to address these additional challenges. I have made some very good deposits into the running bank this week with some difficult runs in the hot part of the day.
On Monday I ran at 10:15am in 30+ degree heat on an undulating course for 15km, then on Tuesday I ran 25km in the early morning humidity through undulating to hilly trails before backing up again in the afternoon for a quick 7km in high humidity. Wednesday was a repeat of Monday's undulations with 15km starting at 10:30am and Thursday was some more hill work running for 28km in 30+ degrees including the 5km road climb to the summit of Mt Archer.
Saturday began with an earlier start of 4am and about 15km of road before hitting the undulating to hilly trails with Sean, Peter and Neville. What was interesting about Saturday's run was the high humidity. Running on muddy trails meant that my overall pace was slower which is a good thing when I was aiming to run 50km. I love running on the trails through the bush and was having a great time. The high humidity meant that I was drinking much more than I normally do and was sweating profusely. We ran through the trail known as 'first turkey' and took a left hand turn onto another trail. This branch lead us all the way through to the Rocky-Yeppoon Road where we re-filled our drink bottles at the go-cart track before heading back the same way we had come. We had a brief respite from the humidity when the rain came as part of a thunder and lightning storm.
Unfortunately the rain only lasted for a short time so that when the sun came out it supercharged the moisture in the air to produce a sauna like effect. It was at this time that I started thinking about the running bank and how running in these conditions would be very beneficial for my race in four weeks time. After we had re-traced our steps and returned to the beginning of the trail Peter and Neville peeled off and I ran with Sean to his place. Whilst running with Sean I was turning my mind towards the additional 12km I would need to run after he made it to his house. I refilled my water bottles again at Sean's (thanks mate, that cold water was magic) and continued towards the 40km mark of my run. It was at this point that I started to struggle, the charged energy I had felt as part of our positive group dynamic had left me and I was really feeling tired, sore and the heat and humidity had a physical blanket-like quality as if it was about to wrap me up. I sat down at the intersection of Yaamba Road and Farm Street and took stock of my situation. If I turned right and ran down Yaamba Road I could be home in about 20 minutes and run somewhere around 43km or if I continued down Farm Street I could run a route that would take me close to my pre-run target of 50km.
At this point I needed to make a small withdrawal from the running bank and draw upon my previous experiences of feeling sore, tired and overheated. I tested my commitment and again proved to myself that I am worthy, I got to my feet and began running down Farm Street. Like last week I was in survival mode, I was putting one foot in front of the other and focusing on moving forward. My pace had slowed considerably and I needed to re-fill my water bottles again. I had been having a few watch issues including forgetting to re-start it at a couple of water stops meaning that I had actually run a couple of kilometres extra than what my watch said. I eventually developed an efficient little shuffle-like run and managed to make it home in one piece. Despite running slowly in the increasingly hot and humid conditions I even ran past my place to do an extra loop so that my watch showed at least 50km.
After the run I felt a little sun and wind-burned but recovered reasonably well. I drank quite a bit, was a little stiff walking around and needed a nap but before long I was out and about with my family for the afternoon. As a result of Saturday's little adventure I was able to make a significant deposit into the running bank, and although I took a little loan from the bank to make it to the end, the overall experience I gained (both physically and mentally) meant that I was able to repay my small loan with interest and come the 12th November, I will be able to draw upon this run and others to help me achieve my goals.
Sunday's run was a good back up from Saturday. I still felt a bit sore in the morning but had a crusiy day at home so that by the afternoon I was ready to run. I set off at about 4:15pm and it was still about 32 degrees. I felt pretty good and ran some undulations before meeting the group after running for 8.5km. I wasn't sure how much I was going to run and was playing it by ear. I felt good so joined the group and had fun knocking out a 20km run to bring my weekly total to 100 miles.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 15.10km - 1hr 21mins 18secs - undulating run in heat
Tue - am - 25.10km - 2hrs 26mins 35secs - hills & undulations in humidity
- pm - 7.25km - 35mins 10secs - quick run in humidity
Wed - 15.25km - 1hr 20mins 13secs - undulating run in heat
Thu - 28.05km - 2hrs 31mins 39secs - hill run incl Mt Archer in heat
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 50.05km - 5hrs 03mins 53secs - trail & road, undulating in humidity
Sun - 20.39km - 1hr 45mins 05secs - undulations & group run
Totals: 161.19km - 15hrs 03mins 55secs
With only four weeks to go, I have two more big weeks of training and two weeks of taper. The two weeks off have not limited me too much and I have been able to continually build on my consistent base. Consistency has been the key for my running development and is a significant improvement on the months leading up to my run at The North Face 100 this year. Stay safe, have fun and.......
Keep running.
To further this train of thought, think of your body (and by extension, your mind) as a bank. Every time you go out for a run you are making a deposit into the bank. Every time you run in the heat, humidity, rain, wind, up the hill, down the hill, on the sand, you are adding to your knowledge and experience balance. Every time you run with a partner or a group you debit your account with the wealth of the combined experience of others. Every time you read a book, read a magazine or even watch a sporting event on television or film you strengthen your fund. So why is this important?
Endurance running to me is about putting one foot in front of the other for as long as you can until you achieve your goal. This sounds simple enough but the longer we go, the more we need to draw upon our inner strength and resolve to meet the inevitable challenges along the way. Ultra marathons by their very nature and distance alone, are difficult enough, however, many events can be characterised by other significant variables such as extreme heat, terrain and altitude. The key to the successful completion of an ultra event is by managing all the difficulties and obstacles and this is where we may need to make sizeable withdrawals from our running banks. It is highly unlikely that any normal person (once again normal is purely subjective) undertaking an endurance event will not be faced with significant challenges in which they need to draw upon their experience to carry on. Having trained effectively and developed, our knowledge, skills and experience whilst physically preparing our bodies we are able use the experience we gain in training and apply them on race day.
As mentioned in a previous post on this blog, I am training for the Great Barrier Reef 74km trail run on the 12th November. Although run on trails with some good elevation gain, I believe the most challenging factors for this race will be the heat and humidity whilst running through the bush from Cairns to Port Douglas. To ensure that I achieve my goals I have begun specific run training to address these additional challenges. I have made some very good deposits into the running bank this week with some difficult runs in the hot part of the day.
On Monday I ran at 10:15am in 30+ degree heat on an undulating course for 15km, then on Tuesday I ran 25km in the early morning humidity through undulating to hilly trails before backing up again in the afternoon for a quick 7km in high humidity. Wednesday was a repeat of Monday's undulations with 15km starting at 10:30am and Thursday was some more hill work running for 28km in 30+ degrees including the 5km road climb to the summit of Mt Archer.
Saturday began with an earlier start of 4am and about 15km of road before hitting the undulating to hilly trails with Sean, Peter and Neville. What was interesting about Saturday's run was the high humidity. Running on muddy trails meant that my overall pace was slower which is a good thing when I was aiming to run 50km. I love running on the trails through the bush and was having a great time. The high humidity meant that I was drinking much more than I normally do and was sweating profusely. We ran through the trail known as 'first turkey' and took a left hand turn onto another trail. This branch lead us all the way through to the Rocky-Yeppoon Road where we re-filled our drink bottles at the go-cart track before heading back the same way we had come. We had a brief respite from the humidity when the rain came as part of a thunder and lightning storm.
Unfortunately the rain only lasted for a short time so that when the sun came out it supercharged the moisture in the air to produce a sauna like effect. It was at this time that I started thinking about the running bank and how running in these conditions would be very beneficial for my race in four weeks time. After we had re-traced our steps and returned to the beginning of the trail Peter and Neville peeled off and I ran with Sean to his place. Whilst running with Sean I was turning my mind towards the additional 12km I would need to run after he made it to his house. I refilled my water bottles again at Sean's (thanks mate, that cold water was magic) and continued towards the 40km mark of my run. It was at this point that I started to struggle, the charged energy I had felt as part of our positive group dynamic had left me and I was really feeling tired, sore and the heat and humidity had a physical blanket-like quality as if it was about to wrap me up. I sat down at the intersection of Yaamba Road and Farm Street and took stock of my situation. If I turned right and ran down Yaamba Road I could be home in about 20 minutes and run somewhere around 43km or if I continued down Farm Street I could run a route that would take me close to my pre-run target of 50km.
At this point I needed to make a small withdrawal from the running bank and draw upon my previous experiences of feeling sore, tired and overheated. I tested my commitment and again proved to myself that I am worthy, I got to my feet and began running down Farm Street. Like last week I was in survival mode, I was putting one foot in front of the other and focusing on moving forward. My pace had slowed considerably and I needed to re-fill my water bottles again. I had been having a few watch issues including forgetting to re-start it at a couple of water stops meaning that I had actually run a couple of kilometres extra than what my watch said. I eventually developed an efficient little shuffle-like run and managed to make it home in one piece. Despite running slowly in the increasingly hot and humid conditions I even ran past my place to do an extra loop so that my watch showed at least 50km.
After the run I felt a little sun and wind-burned but recovered reasonably well. I drank quite a bit, was a little stiff walking around and needed a nap but before long I was out and about with my family for the afternoon. As a result of Saturday's little adventure I was able to make a significant deposit into the running bank, and although I took a little loan from the bank to make it to the end, the overall experience I gained (both physically and mentally) meant that I was able to repay my small loan with interest and come the 12th November, I will be able to draw upon this run and others to help me achieve my goals.
Sunday's run was a good back up from Saturday. I still felt a bit sore in the morning but had a crusiy day at home so that by the afternoon I was ready to run. I set off at about 4:15pm and it was still about 32 degrees. I felt pretty good and ran some undulations before meeting the group after running for 8.5km. I wasn't sure how much I was going to run and was playing it by ear. I felt good so joined the group and had fun knocking out a 20km run to bring my weekly total to 100 miles.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 15.10km - 1hr 21mins 18secs - undulating run in heat
Tue - am - 25.10km - 2hrs 26mins 35secs - hills & undulations in humidity
- pm - 7.25km - 35mins 10secs - quick run in humidity
Wed - 15.25km - 1hr 20mins 13secs - undulating run in heat
Thu - 28.05km - 2hrs 31mins 39secs - hill run incl Mt Archer in heat
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 50.05km - 5hrs 03mins 53secs - trail & road, undulating in humidity
Sun - 20.39km - 1hr 45mins 05secs - undulations & group run
Totals: 161.19km - 15hrs 03mins 55secs
With only four weeks to go, I have two more big weeks of training and two weeks of taper. The two weeks off have not limited me too much and I have been able to continually build on my consistent base. Consistency has been the key for my running development and is a significant improvement on the months leading up to my run at The North Face 100 this year. Stay safe, have fun and.......
Keep running.
2011 Glasshouse 100 - Photos
Running early on in the race with Josh Cooper
Running from Checkpoint 8 to Checkpoint 7
Monday, October 10, 2011
Next Ultramarathon
After a brief two week hiatus from running I have managed to log two triple figure training weeks in the build-up to my next Ultra.
I have entered the Great Barrier Reef Ultra which is a 74km trail run from Cairns to Port Douglas on the 12th November. This will be my 5th Ultra this year and although it is shorter than my last race, it will present me with the new challenge of running in the tropical far north of Queensland where I will have to battle high temperatures and high humidity, as if running 74km was not enough.
My first week back was a bit of a shock to start. As soon as I started my first run on the Monday, I was limping and had pains in my upper legs and groin. I wondered if I should stop in case I injured myself. I decided to carry on and limped on for a few hundred metres until I started to loosen up and could run freely. I guess it was my body's way of saying, that will teach you to rest!! I took this week pretty easy with nothing too strenuous or long to ease my way back into full training.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 10.10km - 51mins 17secs - flat to undulating
Tue - 18.25km - 1hr 30mins - mainly flat
Wed - 10.10km - 50mins 13secs - flat to undulating
Thu - 19.10km - 1hr 52mins 20secs - run up Turkey trail with Sean + road
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 35.10km - 3hrs 06mins 52secs - long run with group + extra
Sun - 10.10km - 52mins 50secs - run with friends dog, flat to undulating
Totals - 102.70km - 9hrs 03mins 33secs
I am very happy with logging over 100km for my first week back and it shows that I have not lost too much endurance. I feel that I did lose some conditioning but not enough to worry about and every run I felt stronger.
I have been busy with work recently and have been putting quite a bit of time into my assignments. In order to get a promotion at work I am required to do quite a bit of study and submit some essays. I should have done these last year and have missed out on many supervisor opportunities and more pay simply because I couldn't find the time. So after Glasshouse I decided to make time. It means that I have more commitments and need to juggle my time around but it will be worth it in the end.
My children Holly and Ethan have decided that they want to do some running as well. At 10 and 5 years old respectively, I have let them come to this decision on their own. I don't want to be one of those parents who continually push their children so they can live out their own dreams through the achievements of their children. After a couple of weeks of asking to go for a run I took them down to the uni grass running track. We did some 100m run, 100m walk intervals as an introduction. They loved it. We ended up running for about 2km all up plus walking. We now run loops around the block from home which is about 1.13km. I keep a little log of their runs so they can be like dad. So far they run a full lap without walking then I take Holly on a lap by herself and then take Ethan out for another 750m or so. I bought them some proper Asics running shoes as their school ones were a bit heavy. It is early days at the moment but I look forward to the day where the three of us can go out on a decent training run together.
Last week I increased my mileage a little bit more and aimed to bring back my hill runs on Tuesday and my 45km long runs on Saturday. I ran with a mates dog on Monday but rolled my left ankle as I tried to avoid being tripped up. The dog is quite a large German Sheppard and nearly succeeded in his quest to knock me over a couple of times. I didn't want to exhaust the dog too much so dropped him off at home after 6km or so and added some extra distance. My left ankle was a little sore but did not swell up too much and I could still run on it.
On Tuesday I headed out to hit my usual Mt Archer hill session. Sean and Jason (HRE directors) had gone out earlier that morning and set the times to beat. I ran an undulating 5km before passing the stone sign that marks the beginning of the 5km climb up the road to the summit. I had last run this course a couple of weeks before Glasshouse in a personal best time and I was interested in how I would go. It was getting quite hot by the time I started climbing and couldn't walk even if I wanted to (Sean and Jason didn't). I managed to keep all my kilometre splits below 7 minutes and got to the top lookout (where the antenna's are) in 32mins 51secs, just 3 seconds outside my PB.
During my run on Wednesday I noticed that I was feeling some DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) in my quads from the downhill the day before. I ran to and from the group run on Thursday and had Friday off to help with recovery. On Saturday I had to get up at 4:45am to start work. It was my 4th early start in a row and my 6th of 7 shifts in a row last week. That meant that I started my long run at 3pm feeling very tired with the mercury reading 33.8 degrees. Thankfully the humidity was relatively low (22% or so) as I strode off to begin my 45km. I probably ran too quickly to start with as the high temperature and high winds meant that I was using more energy to cool my body and propel myself forward than usual at the same pace. I kept to my tried and tested fuelling schedule but by the time I got to about 25km my legs and body were very tired and I needed to stop to stretch out and rest my legs for a bit. I was feeling very sore in the legs and feet in particular and it reminded me of how I felt in the later part of the Glasshouse 100. I had a little debate with myself again, ala Glasshouse, about whether I was doing too much too early and if I should head home instead. I thought about my DNF and decided that this would be a true test of my mental strength, to keep going when all I wanted to do was stop. I kept on running but had to make a few more stops to ease my sore legs and feet. I managed to knock out the 45km but it was a difficult challenge and one which I thought I would not face again until the upcoming 74km race. I recovered quite well and strangely enough ran really strong and fast with the group on Sunday knocking out 12km at an average pace of 4:52min/km.
Weekly totals
Mon - 12.63km - 1hr 02mins 31secs - flattish run
Tue - 25.25km - 2hrs 10mins 07secs - hills with Mt Archer
Wed - 12.55km - 1hr 02mins 56secs - flat to undulating run
Thu - 25.55km - 2hrs 09mins 32secs - run with RRR group + to & from
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 45.10km - 3hrs 55mins 26secs - long run, mainly flat with undulations
Sun - 12.05km - 58mins 34secs - flat group run
Totals - 133.14km - 11hrs 19mins 09secs
The next couple of weeks will be about building up my strength by doing more hill work throughout the week and adding in extra distance to each run. I'm not sure if should run on Friday or have a rest day so I will play it by ear and see how I feel. I am also trying to run during the hotter times of the day to try and get used to running in the heat and humidity in preparation for the Port Douglas race. At this stage I plan on taking the train up to Cairns as it is over 1000km away and I can at least sleep and walk around on the train.
I would also like to say a huge congratulations to my friends that raced over the weekend in various races. Marty had an outstanding race at the Golden Hills trail marathon in San Francisco taking 2nd place overall and winning his age-group. Marty, you are in awesome form and I know you will do very well at The North Face 100 next May. At the Hawaiian Ironman, Deano knocked out an impressive 9:45 and Margo easily went under 12 hours for her first outing in Kona, well done on your awesome performances (looking at the coverage and hearing the stories bring back strong memories for me of the 2000 Hawaiian Ironman, which still rates as one of my greatest accomplishments). Graeme (Crowie), Leigh, David and Melissa all went down to Melbourne and ran in the full and half marathons in what was not the easiest of days by all accounts, well done to you all and I hope you are proud of another great achievement and enjoyed yourselves in the process.
I will try and be a bit more regular with my posts and put one up each week but with one more assignment to go I won't be promising anything. I have put up a few posts prior to this one, with links to the Garmin Connect pages for my long run on Saturday and the file for my run at the Glasshouse 100, enjoy.
Keep running.
P.S. Go the All Blacks!!
I have entered the Great Barrier Reef Ultra which is a 74km trail run from Cairns to Port Douglas on the 12th November. This will be my 5th Ultra this year and although it is shorter than my last race, it will present me with the new challenge of running in the tropical far north of Queensland where I will have to battle high temperatures and high humidity, as if running 74km was not enough.
My first week back was a bit of a shock to start. As soon as I started my first run on the Monday, I was limping and had pains in my upper legs and groin. I wondered if I should stop in case I injured myself. I decided to carry on and limped on for a few hundred metres until I started to loosen up and could run freely. I guess it was my body's way of saying, that will teach you to rest!! I took this week pretty easy with nothing too strenuous or long to ease my way back into full training.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 10.10km - 51mins 17secs - flat to undulating
Tue - 18.25km - 1hr 30mins - mainly flat
Wed - 10.10km - 50mins 13secs - flat to undulating
Thu - 19.10km - 1hr 52mins 20secs - run up Turkey trail with Sean + road
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 35.10km - 3hrs 06mins 52secs - long run with group + extra
Sun - 10.10km - 52mins 50secs - run with friends dog, flat to undulating
Totals - 102.70km - 9hrs 03mins 33secs
I am very happy with logging over 100km for my first week back and it shows that I have not lost too much endurance. I feel that I did lose some conditioning but not enough to worry about and every run I felt stronger.
I have been busy with work recently and have been putting quite a bit of time into my assignments. In order to get a promotion at work I am required to do quite a bit of study and submit some essays. I should have done these last year and have missed out on many supervisor opportunities and more pay simply because I couldn't find the time. So after Glasshouse I decided to make time. It means that I have more commitments and need to juggle my time around but it will be worth it in the end.
My children Holly and Ethan have decided that they want to do some running as well. At 10 and 5 years old respectively, I have let them come to this decision on their own. I don't want to be one of those parents who continually push their children so they can live out their own dreams through the achievements of their children. After a couple of weeks of asking to go for a run I took them down to the uni grass running track. We did some 100m run, 100m walk intervals as an introduction. They loved it. We ended up running for about 2km all up plus walking. We now run loops around the block from home which is about 1.13km. I keep a little log of their runs so they can be like dad. So far they run a full lap without walking then I take Holly on a lap by herself and then take Ethan out for another 750m or so. I bought them some proper Asics running shoes as their school ones were a bit heavy. It is early days at the moment but I look forward to the day where the three of us can go out on a decent training run together.
Last week I increased my mileage a little bit more and aimed to bring back my hill runs on Tuesday and my 45km long runs on Saturday. I ran with a mates dog on Monday but rolled my left ankle as I tried to avoid being tripped up. The dog is quite a large German Sheppard and nearly succeeded in his quest to knock me over a couple of times. I didn't want to exhaust the dog too much so dropped him off at home after 6km or so and added some extra distance. My left ankle was a little sore but did not swell up too much and I could still run on it.
On Tuesday I headed out to hit my usual Mt Archer hill session. Sean and Jason (HRE directors) had gone out earlier that morning and set the times to beat. I ran an undulating 5km before passing the stone sign that marks the beginning of the 5km climb up the road to the summit. I had last run this course a couple of weeks before Glasshouse in a personal best time and I was interested in how I would go. It was getting quite hot by the time I started climbing and couldn't walk even if I wanted to (Sean and Jason didn't). I managed to keep all my kilometre splits below 7 minutes and got to the top lookout (where the antenna's are) in 32mins 51secs, just 3 seconds outside my PB.
During my run on Wednesday I noticed that I was feeling some DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) in my quads from the downhill the day before. I ran to and from the group run on Thursday and had Friday off to help with recovery. On Saturday I had to get up at 4:45am to start work. It was my 4th early start in a row and my 6th of 7 shifts in a row last week. That meant that I started my long run at 3pm feeling very tired with the mercury reading 33.8 degrees. Thankfully the humidity was relatively low (22% or so) as I strode off to begin my 45km. I probably ran too quickly to start with as the high temperature and high winds meant that I was using more energy to cool my body and propel myself forward than usual at the same pace. I kept to my tried and tested fuelling schedule but by the time I got to about 25km my legs and body were very tired and I needed to stop to stretch out and rest my legs for a bit. I was feeling very sore in the legs and feet in particular and it reminded me of how I felt in the later part of the Glasshouse 100. I had a little debate with myself again, ala Glasshouse, about whether I was doing too much too early and if I should head home instead. I thought about my DNF and decided that this would be a true test of my mental strength, to keep going when all I wanted to do was stop. I kept on running but had to make a few more stops to ease my sore legs and feet. I managed to knock out the 45km but it was a difficult challenge and one which I thought I would not face again until the upcoming 74km race. I recovered quite well and strangely enough ran really strong and fast with the group on Sunday knocking out 12km at an average pace of 4:52min/km.
Weekly totals
Mon - 12.63km - 1hr 02mins 31secs - flattish run
Tue - 25.25km - 2hrs 10mins 07secs - hills with Mt Archer
Wed - 12.55km - 1hr 02mins 56secs - flat to undulating run
Thu - 25.55km - 2hrs 09mins 32secs - run with RRR group + to & from
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 45.10km - 3hrs 55mins 26secs - long run, mainly flat with undulations
Sun - 12.05km - 58mins 34secs - flat group run
Totals - 133.14km - 11hrs 19mins 09secs
The next couple of weeks will be about building up my strength by doing more hill work throughout the week and adding in extra distance to each run. I'm not sure if should run on Friday or have a rest day so I will play it by ear and see how I feel. I am also trying to run during the hotter times of the day to try and get used to running in the heat and humidity in preparation for the Port Douglas race. At this stage I plan on taking the train up to Cairns as it is over 1000km away and I can at least sleep and walk around on the train.
I would also like to say a huge congratulations to my friends that raced over the weekend in various races. Marty had an outstanding race at the Golden Hills trail marathon in San Francisco taking 2nd place overall and winning his age-group. Marty, you are in awesome form and I know you will do very well at The North Face 100 next May. At the Hawaiian Ironman, Deano knocked out an impressive 9:45 and Margo easily went under 12 hours for her first outing in Kona, well done on your awesome performances (looking at the coverage and hearing the stories bring back strong memories for me of the 2000 Hawaiian Ironman, which still rates as one of my greatest accomplishments). Graeme (Crowie), Leigh, David and Melissa all went down to Melbourne and ran in the full and half marathons in what was not the easiest of days by all accounts, well done to you all and I hope you are proud of another great achievement and enjoyed yourselves in the process.
I will try and be a bit more regular with my posts and put one up each week but with one more assignment to go I won't be promising anything. I have put up a few posts prior to this one, with links to the Garmin Connect pages for my long run on Saturday and the file for my run at the Glasshouse 100, enjoy.
Keep running.
P.S. Go the All Blacks!!
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