Alpine Race Report Part 4: The End

I walked slowly out of Langford Gap as Tamyka struggled with a bag malfunction. I was getting far too cold standing still, so I decided to walk very slowly and let her catch up to me. While we had been at Langford Gap, the very familiar walkers, Cassie and Lee, had overtaken us again. I think it was around this point that I decided it was very important that we beat them. With Tamyka back with me, I passed the time by discussing how we could not be beaten by walkers. Although Cassie and Lee were lovely, they were walking and we were meant to be running. My bad tummy, twisted ankle and ITBS were not going to cause me to be beaten by walkers, surely. Upon deciding this, we decided to refer to them as our new ‘arch nemeses’, a flashback to The Kokoda Challenge in 2009.

Unfortunately, from Langford Gap to Cope Hut, we weren’t doing too well at achieving our goal to beat the walkers. We again swapped positions with them several times. Every time we stopped they would power on past us, successful with their consistent pace. We would then pull ourselves together a bit later and run past them. Then the weather would call for us to add an extra layer of clothing or there was a need for a nature break, and we would stop and fall behind again. Although the first few kilometres from LG were quite runnable, we still didn’t move too fast due to Tamyka’s bad tummy and out constant breaks.

Not long after Cope Hut we crossed a road with our arch nemesis and then followed a new track not far from the pole line. Although the map indicated we should be right on the pole line, but we decided to take the new track because it was nicer and we could still see the poles as well as the lights from Cassie and Lee’s headlamps. The two tracks soon merged and we were just a little bit ahead of the walkers.

Eventually we reached the SEC hut and turned right to follow a smaller pole line. We could see a blue light flashing very far off in the distance and figured this could be Paul, the RD, at pole 333. The track was wet and the water was freezing, so it was not a nice feeling when my feet went in puddles. Despite wearing 5 layers including thermals, I was freezing cold. To make matters worse, this section was extremely foggy so we couldn’t see the poles. We would stand at each pole and pear into the fog with the light of our ay-ups and eventually locate the next pole. On a positive note though, the activity of identifying the location of each pole kept us awake. When that didn’t work, one of us would yell out “wake up!”

Eventually we reached that flashing blue light at Pole 333. We spoke to Paul who was inside his tiny hiking tent, hiding from the wind and cold. Tamyka stopped to change the batteries on her GPS and I just moved around to try and keep warm.

From Pole 333 we headed off to Tawonga Hut which was only another 2.5km. Matt had hiked in to meet Tamyka at the hut so she was pretty excited to be stopping there soon. Although I would have liked to go straight through without stopping as we were now on the home stretch, I knew the break would help Tam. We even managed to run a bit of the track here.

We sat inside the hut where it was quite warm and drank tea. I tried hard to stay awake. By this point I was well and truly doing battle with the sleep monsters. This is the first time this has happened to me in a race, as my heart rate is usually high enough to keep the sleepiness away. I shoved down a few gels that contained caffeine and drank some coke but not much was helping.
My sleepiness decreased a little bit when we got moving again, but Tamyka did have to yell out “Wake up!’ a fair bit. There was only 21km of the course left and I was excited that it would be over soon. I told myself it wasn’t too much longer I had to stay awake for, and there would be a warm bed at the end of it. In fact, I think the lure of a warm bed is the only thing that stopped me from curling up in my emergency bivvy on the side of the track and sleeping. I started to appreciate the sudden shock of cold when I ran through a puddle because it woke me up and also numbed the pain from the massive blister forming on the bottom of my foot.

My memory of this section is quite hazy, probably because I did it half asleep. I think this is the first race I have done where I actually had a full appreciation of the term ‘zombie runner’. I mostly remember being very cold and having to stop a fair bit. I think we passed Cassie and Lee fairly early on and actually managed to do a bit of running.

I remember being quite excited when we reached Bogong Jack Saddle because it was a big landmark and indicated it really wasn’t long to go. By this point the battery on my Garmin was dead, so this was the only indication I had of how much further we had to go. This landmark also indicated that we only had downhill to go.

We stumbled along through the dark, sometimes running, sometimes chatting to keep ourselves awake and pass the time and sometimes to ponder upon the question of how much of a lead we had on our arch nemesis. Tamyka was still struggling. To add to her misery, she banged her toes quite a few times on rocks when we were running. I tried to encourage her to run (so I could get to a warm shower and bed faster) but I also knew there wasn’t much point. Tam is a tough runner who will push herself as far as she can.

Finally we reached the road leading us back into Bogong Village. I think I was far too tired to even cheer at this point. We managed to run the last kilometre or so to the finish line. To top off such a bad race, there was nobody at the finish line, not even a race official! There was a clock though, telling us we had finished in 24hours and 47minutes.

I really wish I wasn’t disappointed by the result. Given everything that went wrong and the fact I decided to keep Tam company, I know I should be happy with only being 47minutes behind my goal time. Moreover, my goal a few months ago was just to finish under cutoff, which I think was about 34 hours. I sound like a brat whinging about it, but I trained really hard and I know I could have done better.

I have been over everything I did before the race and I don’t know why I got sick. I didn’t do anything different to normal and I ate the same food as everyone else. The night after the race I woke up with night sweats and I had blocked sinuses and a sore throat. This makes me think that I actually just got a bug, a very poorly timed bug.

I think I will do it again. Maybe I will do the 100mile next time. I’ll dress warmer and carry more gels rather than solid food. I won’t be worried about navigation next time, or the dark. I’ll just be worried about getting sick.

Alpine Race Report Part 3: Warby Corner - Mt Bogong - Langford Gap

I was in and out of Warby Corner quite quickly, mostly because I wanted to get to the toilet at Roper’s Hut as soon as possible. Unfortunately there are not many places to discretely go to the bathroom on the high plains, and my tummy was quite upset. As I was coming into Roper’s there was just no way to hold on any longer and I took a quick detour off the track and tried to hide behind some big rocks. Unfortunately, this didn’t make my tummy any better.

As I passed Ropers Hut I wasn’t quite sure where the path started and with two walkers only about 100m behind me, I just waited to see where they went. A quick chat to Lee and Cassie, the walkers I would get to see a lot of over the race, and I was off on the right track. I headed down Duane Spur towards Big River. As I descended I started to worry that I was lost. I hadn’t seen anyone since leaving Cassie and Lee but I reassured myself there hadn’t been any junctions and a quick look at the map indicated there wasn’t anywhere I could have gone off course.

My tummy was also giving me all sorts of problems. The cramping was very painful and running just seemed to jiggle my already angry tummy around more. Hoping that Cassie and Lee were a fair bit behind me, I ran off into the bushes. This time my tummy came good for a bit and I was able to start moving a bit faster. Problem is, Duane Spur is not the most runnable downhill. It is steep and slippery and I stumbled quite a few times. I also started to worry again that I was lost. My Garmin told me that I had travelled further than 6km since Warby Corner, yet the race notes said it was only 6km to Big River. I pulled out my GPS and checked my location, then cross checked on the map. Yep, I had wasted a few minutes just to confirm I was on track.

After a twisted ankle and subsequent face plant right near the bottom of Duane spur, I finally came to Big River. The water was rushing through and clearly quite deep. I naively pushed right through, grabbing the chain as I went in. The water was freezing and I realised I needed to get across quickly or I would end up with hypothermia. Unfortunately, the raging river was making it difficult for me to move forward or backward. As I tried to move forward I was being pushed down stream by the torrent of water. I inched along, fear building up in my chest. Then I reached a rather large rock and had no idea what to do. Going around seemed impossible, but I wasn’t sure my legs were long enough for me to go over. I stood in the freezing water, weighing up my options and finally opted for over. I was very relieved when I made it and I continued a little faster to the other side.

Coming out of the river, my legs were frozen. When I touched the bare skin between my compression socks and shorts, I couldn’t feel the touch. My teeth were chattering and I was struggling to warm up. On the plus side, I could no longer feel the pain in my ankle from my earlier stumble. I started to run the steep uphill in the hope that I would warm up. Luckily it worked, but running up T-spur is really not realistic and soon I had slowed to a walk. I was still a bit cold, but I didn’t want to get my thermals out when I knew my body temperature was only going to increase.

As I continued climbing up T-Spur I confirmed that the climb was just as sharp and painful as I remembered. I didn’t have to stop several times like I did when I hiked it though. Tamyka would have been proud. My tummy was mostly ok at this time, which I judged by the fact that I didn’t need to run off into the bushes on the hike up to Cleve Cole Hut. I did not feel like eating any of the food I had packed though. I couldn’t stomach anything solid as it pushed down on my upset bowel, but I had been through most the gels that I considered to be palatable. Something I have learnt for next time is always carry enough citrus Cliff Shots and tropical Hammer Gels to get me through the entire race if necessary. I was a little grumpy to be hiking up such a steep climb with food that I no longer had any intention of eating weighing me down.

Just before Cleve Cole hut I stopped at Camp Creek to fill my drink bottle. Cassie and Lee weren’t far behind and they stopped too. They were becoming familiar faces. We had a chat and then I was off. It wasn’t long before I reached the hut and I was most excited to find a much gentler climb the rest of the way to Bogong Summit. I still couldn’t move too fast because it upset my tummy. Finally I reached the summit and loudly unannounced to the race official that I had never been so happy to see a summit cairn in all my life. I proceeded to take some bad photos and text my super crew, Poh, to let her know where I was. At this point I was exactly on my target time for reaching the summit, but I hadn’t consumed enough calories and my tummy was still cramping, so I knew things were probably going to go pear shaped.

Unfortunately, things went pair shaped a little earlier than I expected. As I started to head downhill my left ITB gave me that nice sharp pain in my knee. It wasn’t too bad yet, but I thought it would only get worse going down hill, so I stopped quickly to dig through my bag for my ITB strap. Of course it was at the bottom because pre-race I’d had the silly thought that I wouldn’t be needing it. While I was stopped I popped two panadols too and wondered about some immodium, but I figured it was better out than in! Cassie and Lee passed me once again while I was stopped and they very kindly checked to see if I was ok. I think I mumbled something about my ITB and told them not to worry.

Finally I set off again. It was quite good having Cassie and Lee in front of me as it was obvious where to go, and this was the part of the course I was quite worried about. I eventually caught up to them and walked with them for a little bit. Again this section was downhill, but a bit gnarly and not too runnable. Eventually I set off on my own again and only went off course twice. These were very minor detours and I found the path again very quickly. Nearing the bottom of Quartz Ridge, I heard Tamyka’s voice! She had caught up to me but was still very ill. We shared our miserable stories with each other and set off together, Tamyka still hopeful to finish the 100mile, and me just happy to finish the 100km.

It was nice to have Tam to walk/shuffle and chat with and I started to forget about my tummy. We crossed Big River and reminisced about the last time we had walked up Big River Fire Trail. Just like that time, we winged about the hair pins and nervously watched some ominous clouds closing in. We decided it was best to put our rain jackets on but thankfully the rain stayed away and we just appreciated the extra warmth provided by our jackets. Once things flattened out a bit we attempted to run the last few kilometres back to Warby Corner. This upset our tummies but we tried to push through and take minimal walk breaks. Finally we arrived at Warby Corner and Tamyka took a quick break to call Matt and let him know how we were travelling and how long we would be. I mostly tried to keep warm and stuff down some calories while I was standing still. Eating was much easier when stationary.

We then headed off to Langford Gap. This was probably the most runnable section of the course, but both Tamyka and I were still doing battle with our tummies so we weren’t able to fully appreciate this. Tamyka was a lot worse than me and had consumed far fewer calories too. When her tummy couldn’t handle shuffling we walked. During this section we were passed by Cassie and Lee during a toilet break. During this break, Tamyka had managed to get burrs stuck all over the ass of her tights and I had to pick them off. Our friendship truly reached new heights during this race. With that incident out of the way we started to shuffle along a little bit again and once again swapped positions with Cassie and Lee.

We were quite relieved to come into Langford Gap because this meant hot tea and soup! We had now covered about 62km of the course and Tam now had to make the decision on whether to continue in the hundred mile race, or drop down to the hundred km. Although I thought it was a bad idea for her to wonder off by herself towards Mount Hotham in the dark, I didn’t want to push her either way. I thought she was too sick and sleepy for this to be safe. It seems she came to the same conclusion too and opted for the shorter course. I know she was really upset to not complete the 100mile and I understand that disappointment, but also think what she achieved was pretty amazing given the circumstances.

We were stopped at Langford Gap for quite a while and in that time I started to get very cold and my feet were cramping. On the positive side though, I managed to take down a lot of food and finally decided it was time to take the emodium. I was starting to feel better but also decided to stick with Tam. I figured it was a safer option, nice to have company and it also meant I didn’t have to worry about navigation. I had already decided to stop worrying about my sub 24 hour goal, so I was happy to go at whatever pace Tamyka could manage.

Alpine Race Report Part 2: Up to Warby Corner

Race day started at about 3:15 in the morning. Our little cabin was full of activity and nerves as we all rushed around getting ready. Todd and I were ready to walk to the start line around 4:10, but Tamyka still seemed to be getting ready. I knew something was wrong but didn’t want to bother her when she looked stressed. Todd and I headed up and hoped to see Tamyka soon. Luckily, she knew what she was doing, because signing in took all of 30 seconds, and she was there with plenty of time to spare.

The race started out the front of Bogong Jack pub in Bogong Village and we headed up the road briefly before joining the Magazine Cable Track. I started with Tamyka but she was struggling with an upset tummy and soon it was just Todd and I together. Not long after we came to Spion Kopje fire trail, I let Todd run off in front of me and I was just surrounded by people I didn’t know, but happy to not be alone. Everyone seemed to be in teams and it was pretty easy just to follow them.

The Rocky Valley Creek Ford arrived in no time. This has been greatly improved since the last time I did it, when I ended up with water up to my thighs and struggled to find any stable ground on the rocky, uneven and slippery surface. I grabbed the chain and charged through the water, across in no time. Then it was up Spion Kopje for quite a few kilometres. It was in that time that my tummy started to cramp. It wasn’t too bad just yet, but I knew it was probably going to get worse.

Spion Kopje was not as bad as I remembered. Although it was a long climb, it certainly wasn’t as steep as it seemed in 2009. It is amazing how some fitness changes your perspective on what is steep. I think the other big difference was that the trail wasn’t blocked by massive trees that had fallen down in storms. During our hike, Tamyka and I had to throw our packs over these huge trees and then crawl or climb over ourselves. The tree fall this time was not such a hindrance as the trees were quite small.

Finally, after gaining about 1000m in elevation, the climb up Spion kopje was over. The trail was just a little bit runable now and I started to move quicker. I even passed a couple of people. Running along the aqueduct I easily located the crossing and was then off to Warby Corner.

Alpine Race Report Part 1: The Beginning

It started with a text message. My friend Tamyka suggested I enter the 100km at the Alpine Challenge. At the time I laughed (or LOL’d) this off as a rather ridiculous idea. I had hiked about 50km of the course with Tamyka back in 2009 and could still remember the agony of hiking up T-Spur to summit Mount Bogong, and the bewilderment I had at the idea that she was planning to run the course. Thinking of that, I was certain there was no way I could run that course, and then there was the navigation to worry about too.

　
I am always a little taken in by Tamyka’s ideas though. In some way, I think she is better at gauging my abilities than I am and the more we trained together, the more the idea started to resonate with me. After a while, I knew I had to do it. I had no idea if I could finish, or even find my way, but I just had to try. I consider this to be the toughest 100km trail run in Australia and that is something I couldn’t miss out on having a go at.

My proper training started around December, when I finally committed to signing up. Having spent the end of 2010 and the first half of 2011 sidelined with injuries, I put a lot of thought into how to train for this event. It is quite apparent that my body can’t handle high mileage training and I only had to look at my record of overuse injuries to see that. So my Alpine training plan involved a lot of cross training. I also tried to avoid consecutive running days for the first couple of months. A normal week looked like this: run 20-70km, swim 2-3km, ride 70-100km and throw in some weights training.

I am proud to say that I didn’t get injured. In fact, I haven’t had an injury since I came out of that horrid moon boot back in April last year. I experienced minor niggles about 3 times and on each occasion identified the cause, rested and was niggle free within a couple of days. This is quite possibly my biggest running achievement to date.

By the end of February I was pretty exhausted from training. Although my mileage was low, I still found myself extremely busy. I all but gave up my free time and social life for training. I have no idea how people manage 100km plus weeks. Finally March arrived which meant tapering! I was very happy to give my exhausted self a rest.

Unfortunately, tapering is when the panic starts. With a bit of free time, I found I actually had time to think of the challenge ahead. Although the physical challenge was daunting – 100km with over 4000m of ascent – that isn’t what really worried me. I was fitter and stronger than ever and I had something far scarier to worry about – navigation!

This is not a marked course. There was no flagging tape in trees, no signs at junctions and sometimes, the trails become quite indistinct. I can read a map and use a compass. I found my way around the Canadian Rockies just fine, and the one time that I did get lost, I managed to use the contour lines and some landmarks on the map to figure out where I was and scramble back to safety. Feeling confident in those skills would be rational however, and all I could think about was when I had hiked the area 2 years earlier with no map reading or navigation experience to speak of. Back then I had to rely entirely on Tamyka. Even worse, I remembered coming down Quartz Ridge and losing the path several times because it was indistinct and overgrown.

In the spare time I had between packing and coming up with a race plan, I studied the map. This only made me panic more. On top of this, there was talk of a course change due to all the rain, so I was absolutely convinced I was going to get lost. Most likely this would happen in the dark. I am afraid of the dark. By race week I was feeling ill with worry. I somehow managed to stuff a suitcase full of all the gear I would need, plus some I didn’t, get on a plane and eventually end up in Bogong village.

Nervous much...

So it has been a while since I wrote anything. I have a good excuse for once though – I have been busy training. Now it is just 5 sleeps to go until Alpine Challenge 100km and although I know I am the fittest and strongest I have ever been, I remain very, very nervous. Although I know the physical challenge will be the toughest I have ever faced, that is not what scares me this time. I am worried about getting lost and about the feeling of complete isolation as I run alone for hours and hours in unknown surrounds. That is half the reason I signed up though, so I am just gonna suck it up and go with it.

This is the hardest I have ever trained for a race. By the time I started my taper, I honestly felt that I could not manage one more week of training because I was so tired. I have only been running about 60km a week, but that is actually a lot for me as I have always battled overuse injuries when I have done anything more than 50km. I have also thrown in about 80km on the bike each week and 3km of swimming, plus some weights sessions.

There have been some fantastic runs in that training. Almost every week, I went out for a night run with Tam and/or Todd for 2 – 3 hours at Coot-tha. We ran when it was pouring rain and got to see a very impassable Simpson’s Falls, as well as wade through creeks. We saw rocket frogs (these things are cool – google em) and a tiny little possum (sorry they are still cute even if they are pests).

I have also been making it out most weeks for the moon light run with the girls. These are great social runs. If you live in the Brisbane area and want to go for a mid week night time run, are a lady and don’t like to run up hills (who does), let me know and I will bring you along.

There has also been a start on the Trail Walker training. Our whole team got together and did a fantastic 35km(ish) loop in BFP back in Jan. Mallani took us down and up Township Break which is rather steep. I stood at the top of one hill and said to Tam, "I just can’t see a safe line to take. Oh well, stuff it, I’m just gonna go and hope for the best". Then off I went, fast, tiny steps and all. In no time I had lost control and was hurtling down the hill at about 20km/h, arms and legs flying everywhere. How I managed to stay upright, I don’t know. Libby was very upset with me for this performance. I hope she forgives me someday.

Finally, there has been the long weekend runs. My favourite was a 50km run I did with Tam. I started at Chapel Hill and ran up to Channel 9 at Mt Coot-tha via the Kokoda trail where I met Tam at the top of Powerful Owl. We then ran out to Mt Nebo. The weather had been horrible in the few days before our run and it was forecast to continue that day. We were lucky though, making it almost all the way to Mt Nebo without getting wet. The rain started as we ran the last little bit through the rainforest up to the café. As we sat eating our lunch at the café, I noticed a leach on Tamyka’s hand. Then we noticed a whole lot of leaches all over our shoes and legs. Needless to say, squealing ensued and the mountain bikers and motor cyclists had quite a laugh at us. I don’t care, leaches are disgusting. We then ran all the way back to Mt coot-tha. I left Tam at the top of Quail Trail and headed down to Gap Creek Reserve and then into Chapel Hill, while she still had to go up Highwood Rd and then down Powerful Owl.

All up, this has been a fantastic 3 or so months of training, but I am also excited at the prospect of having some spare me again! During my taper I have actually managed to sleep in twice and cross quite a few items off my To Do List (which is 3 A4 pages long).

Yesterday I worked out my race plan. It seems a little pointless when the course is likely to be changed due to flooding, but all the same, it gives me peace of mind to know I have something. Now all that is left is familiarising myself with the map a bit more and packing. Oh and pre-race dinner where I plan to consume all the calories that I will burn the following day. So… five more sleeps and off I go into the wilderness. Oh dear.

I Would Rather Be Running

There is really nothing to like about waking up at 3:30am, driving to Robina, waiting around for 3 hours and then diving into murky canal waters. So it is really no suprise that I hated race 4 of the Gatorade Tri series. Still, I was a little shocked by just how miserable I was, especially after the swim leg. Even more suprising that I kind of want to do another one, despite saying "I am never doing this again" as I crossed the finish line. Here is my report on my first sprint distance triathlon (750/20/5).

Race day did not start too well. After racking my bike I went to put my wonderful Garmin 310XT on, only to have the band break. I didn't even have a spare waterproof watch so I could at least see my splits and have some idea of how I was going. To make the wait even more pleasant, the weather was miserable leaving me cold and soaking wet. My wave started second last, so the elites had actually finished before my feet even touched the water.

Swimming in a canal is most unpleasant. I usually swim at Ithaca or Bellbowrie pool, where I generally share my lane with one other person and swim in peace with good visibility. Today's swim was very different. For a start, the water was very murky so I could not see where I was going at all. I would swim a little bit of freestyle, look up and discover I was heading off course and realign myself, then the whole thing would happen again. This was one of the many reasons I just gave up and swam breaststroke. I positioned myself at the back of the pack at the start because I know I am a weak swimmer. I at least didn't have to battle with other swimmers for the first few hundred metres. I did have to do battle with seaweed and reeds however and I got myself tangled a few times. Then some people in the wave behind me caught up and I was getting hit and spashed. Then the girls in my wave who were still around me seemed to become quite aggressive. I think they all had a sudden panic that they didn't want to come last, and they didn't care who they hit or kicked on that mission. I had a few good wacks to my head and one in the ribs, making me very cranky. I thought I must have been dead last as I came out of the water, but race results indicate I was ahead of four other competitors in my category.

My transition went much better than in my first triathlon attempt. I had no trouble locating my bike this time and didn't waste time with socks. I was quickly out on the road on the bike. I was very excited to overtake those girls who got aggressive on the swim leg. I overtook a few people on the first lap but then I think I stayed in the same position until the end. The roads were wet so I took it very easy on the turns but some people didn't. There were quite a few crashes and stacks.

I was in and out of transition very quickly again. I didn't feel as stuffed on the run as I did last time, and I had swum and rode a lot further this time, so I think that the brick training helped, and I don't think I went out quite so hard. Again I overtook a couple of people at the start but then stayed in the same position for quite a while. The only wave behind mine was the team wave so sometimes it was hard to know who was in my wave and who wasn't. I assumed the runners who looked really fresh were in the teams so i was ok with them overtaking me. For the first lap of the run I was sitting about 50m behind a girl and I just couldn't close that gap. On the second lap she stopped for a water and I put my foot down, passing up the offer of a cup of water and moving past her (really who needs water with 2km left). I stayed in that position to the end and even managed to sprint over the finish line.

It was really just the swim leg that I hated, but I wouldn't say I really enjoyed the rest either. Still, I am interested to see if I can do better so maybe I will do another one. Maybe. I would rather run 100km though. At least the other runners are nice to me, and being slow over a really long distance is kinda ok. Also, I still find the term 'sprint' rather offensive. The only bit I sprinted was the last 100m or so.

In Training

Alpine training has taken off recently. I have been doing some pretty long runs and feeling very strong. I continue to be a slow and steady runner. When I train with friends I am always one of the slowest on shorter runs, but generally keep up on longer runs, because I just have one pace - slow. A nice steady plod is what I need for Alpine though. Throw me in a half marathon tomorrow and I will fail miserably, probably taking well over 2 hours to pass the finish line. There is a reason I like the longer runs – make it long enough and I will eventually catch up to the middle of the pack!

In December I strung together a few weeks of good training. I was still only aiming to hit about 40km a week, with the odd week here or there where I went over 60km. I am mixing it up with lots and lots of cycling and swimming to keep me fit while avoiding the plethora injuries that have plagued me in the past. Two of my favourite sessions from mid December were:
City to Mt Coot-tha and up Powerful Owl – I packed a heavy bag and ran from work, through Milton and Bardon to Mt-Coot-tha where I met Chris and then we headed up one of my favourite trails, Powerful Owl. Chris had forgotten his headlamp, and my old Black Diamond really wasn’t going to do the job for two, so we called it a night after that. All up it was about 15km with a lot of steady ascent.
Mt Coot-tha hill repeats with my Alpine training buddies – It was one of the few days I actually managed to knock off work at 4pm whereupon Todd and I headed up to Mt Coot-tha (by car not foot) and met Tamyka. We then did hill repeats of Powerful Owl and another trail I don’t know the name of. Again it was lots of steady ascent and I think once again, I did about 15km.

My next good training session was my altered version of the Festive Fat Ass. Deciding that I didn’t want to get up at the crack of dawn, drive all the way to Payne Rd only to run on some trails alone after everybody took off at the start, I came up with my own training run instead. Susannah, Sara and Mark seemed to like my version better too, so we headed out at a much more reasonable hour from Gap Creek Reserve. It was a nice 25km run up to Mt Nebo where we stopped for some lunch before heading back down. At the top I checked my water and established I had a bit more than I had consumed on the way up, so would be fine to not refill. Bad idea. I think the run back was a lot hotter because the clouds had moved on leaving us rather exposed. 7km from the finish and I was out of water. Uh oh. Everybody else was running low and although I pestered Mark for some of his once (thanks Mark), I knew nobody else could spare any so I just decided to stop whinging and go without. I think I was quite seriously dehydrated. I felt dizzy and kept getting cold chills. I felt terrible because I really slowed everyone down for the last few kms as a result. When we finally reached Gap Creek Reserve, I guzzled down as much as I could stomach from the bubbler. We also made it back just in time, as the storm basically started as I was leaving GCR.

On New Years Day, Chris, Todd, Poh and I headed up Mount Barney. This was a hike, not a run and it was pretty slow going. Chris and I did our own thing, meeting up with Todd at different points. He was running ahead and then going back down to help Poh. We had to scramble up a lot of rock and Chris, not liking heights and a lack of stable ground, freaked out a little bit. I have now discovered how I can beat him in a race – enter us in an event that requires lots of scrambling and opportunities to fall from great hikes. Going up wasn’t too bad but on the way back down, he was really struggling. When we reached rum jungle we tried to find our way to Easy Peak, but seemed to get lost very quickly ( a result of not looking at the map, GPS or compass. I was expecting the path to be as obvious as the one going up and I am lazy. There was no clear trail, but lots of branches off trails. Being tired and hot, I decided I was over it. I promptly sat down on a rock, pulled out the map and GPS and figured out how to get back to Rum Jungle, rather than heading up. I am sure we could have found our way, but the whole thing was taking longer than I wanted it to and I was allergic to every plant and grass out there and decided I had had enough, so back down we went.

I had been considering doing Hares and Hounds on Jan 8, but decided I didn’t want to pay or get up at 3am, so again I organised my own thing. This time Todd joined me for a run from Gap Creek Reserve to Lake Manchester. This was quite a similar run to going up to Mt Nebo, but we turned off South Boundary onto Creek Rd eventually ending up at Lake Manchester and following Lake Manchester Rd South to the Picnic Area. It was a ridiculously hot day and Todd got a bit ill about 5km from the end. We had a short break before walking the rest of the way. I think he was dehydrated and over-heated. Not to worry, I think Alpine will not be anywhere near that hot! All up it was a 30km run and I was pretty happy with how I did, although I pulled up a bit sore on Monday. My right hip flexor was extremely tight and even on my run on Tuesday, I was still feeling it in my legs. I think these sessions have been pretty good and I am really happy that I don’t have any injuries. Three runs a week and lots of cross training seems to work for me. I am doing a sprint distance triathlon on Sunday. Other than the early start time, I am looking forward to it.