Washpool/Gibraltar Range NP 50km Race Report

I was very excited about Washpool and the scenery certainly lived up to my expectations. My running on the other hand, did not live up to my expectations.

We headed to Glen Innes on Saturday morning. I had packed in a rush on Friday night and just before we got into Stanthorpe, I realised I had not brought my orthotics. I can normally get away with running trails without my orthotics, but given my stress fracture earlier in the year, I have been extra cautious recently. I didn't even have insoles in my shoes though, so I was in a bit of trouble. It turns out that stores in Stanthorpe, Tenterfield and Glen Innes are only open for a few hours on Saturday so it was too late for me to buy new shoes. A pair of 'sports insoles' from Bi-Lo was all I could manage to find. Not a good start.

We woke up early Sunday morning and drove about 1 hour to Gibraltar Range NP. It was a pretty cold morning so I was keen to start and warm up. Right from the start of the race I felt flat and was struggling to breathe. I hate using my Ventolin because it makes my heart race so I put it off, hoping things would improve. I left my long sleeve top on over my other shirt and breathed in as hard as I could. Finally around the 10km mark the air didn't feel so thick and my chest didn't feel constricted. Sweet. Unfortunately, no engines were firing yet and I felt flat and miserable. I forced myself to run the flats and downhills but walked the hills. Luckily the first 15km or so was largely downhill so I actually made descent time despite the fact that it was taking all my effort to just put one foot in front of the other. During this time I swapped places with a couple about six times. The would get in front of me on the uphills, only for me to overtake them on the downhills.

The next 20km or so involved a lot of climbing. There weren't too many steep hills, but there were a lot of hills. It seemed like all I did was climb for a few kilometres, run downhill for a couple hundred metres and then start climbing again. On one of those small downhills my ITB went. I swallowed a couple panadols, tightened my ITB strap and ignored the plethora bad thoughts in my head. I was in all sorts of pain and all sorts of trouble. All I could think of was getting to the next check point and then deciding if my ITB could make it. It was also very exposed and hot for a lot of this section so I went though more water than expected and ran out 5km before the checkpoint. At the time I was really annoyed with myself for being negative, but looking back, I am proud that I pushed through. Even when I came to yet another hill and wanted to scream, I just smiled and walked on up. I even made a clear break from that couple I had been swapping positions with for 30km. At long last the aid station showed up. I guzzled down some water, filled my hydration bladder and grabbed a coke. I figured I should keep on going as the pain killers had kicked in, making the pain in my knee bearable.

We had been told at the start of the race that the last 15km was downhill. I could call it flat. The profile from my Garmin Forerunner confirms that there was an elevation loss but it certainly didn't feel that way. I really had nothing left in the tank (having started with very little). I would run about half a kilometre and then walk a few hundred metres. It took all my will power to just keep moving. I came across An at a creek crossing. Her calves had seized up and she DNF'd. Greg had given her a lift between checkpoints and she was walking the last section (to view the prettiness). Good on her for going back out after the DNF. After a short chat I took off. There was only about 2km to go and I was determined to have the pain over as soon as possible. It wasn't long before I passed another guy. He said something about me still having lots of energy left. The truth was I just wanted the pain to end as soon as possible. I don't know how I was still standing at this point, let along running. I continued to stumble forward for what seemed like far more than 2km. Finally, after 7hrs 46mins, I caught a glimpse of the big red finish sign. As I ran between the flags to the finish line, the other runners, spectators and race organisers and volunteers cheered for me and it all felt worthwhile.

After a stretch, chat and ice cold shower, we were back on the road, headed back home. The six hour drive home was pretty uncomfortable. My muscles stiffened up and all I wanted to do was sleep. I felt a bit disappointed with my run. I certainly am not as fit as I had hoped and I was pretty annoyed with myself for letting the negative thoughts in. On the other hand, it was a tough course and I have finally completed another ultra - my first since September last year.

Plan B

I had two weeks of good training and then it all went downhill rather quickly. Last Sunday I went out for a 30km run at Lake Manchester and everything was going quite well until the last 4km or so. Coming down a steep hill I felt that very horrible sharp pain on the outside of my left knee that can only mean one thing - ITB syndrome. I had quite a few downhills to get through before I got back to my car, so I limped and grunted my way back over the next 4km. Once home I jumped on the foam roller and applied a heat pack. I was a bit grumpy, but not too worried as I ran 100km on a dodgy ITB last year. It was nothing that pain killers, massage and dogged determination couldn't overcome.

I took the first few days of this week off to help my ITB loosen up. I was therefore very surprised to wake up Thursday morning with pain in my foot. Worse still, the pain was in the exact same place as it was when I had my stress fracture earlier this year. Uh oh. As yet I have done little about it. I am just hoping the pain will go away. I don't think this has followed what I would consider the clinical development of a stress fracture, so I am hopeful that it is just some tight muscles from walking in heals.

In any case, I have decided to go through with a plan that has been forming in the back of my mind for a while - train for a triathlon instead! I figure that I can reduce my running mileage and up my swimming and cycling and hopefully start to avoid some of these injuries. My plan is to do a baby distance tri next month and then build myself up to a real distance. So watch this space people. Follow my training and progress (or lack there of) over the coming months! Fun times await.