Saturday, August 28, 2010

Great Walk!

did the sunshine coast hinterland great walk last weekend.
TOH had a work meeting/weekend up at montville.
got a lift up to the mapleton forest drive entry and did the scenic 'loop' first then headed down south to baroon pocket dam near where we were staying.
all up 53km and 1800/2000 A&D.
took 8.18 which seemed a bit long but it wasnt exactly a flat/nontechnical course.
mostly singletrack, some sections reminded me a little of lamington but not quite as rainforesty or tree-rooted.
some road sections near the end... very nearly popped into a cafe or 2.
only downside was the brown tankwater i drank.
not sick yet so presumably sterilisation was successful (touch wood).

some more of the glute/butt pain mystery has been solved.
the pain locaised to my ischial tuberosity over the last 2 weeks.
you know the bit that hurts after sitting on a bike seat too long.
long story short got an ultrasound and cortisone injection there yesterday.
after talking to the physio i initially decided not to go down that path - i am running fine and didnt want to risk making things worse.
but the problem is i just can bloody well sit down!!!!!!!!!!!
ran 8hrs last saturday just fine but when i got back to the unit i couldnt bear to sit :(
as mellum said it adds new meaning to the saying 'beware the chair' in ultras and may be an advantage as its too painful to sit and rest :)
the scan confirmed no hammy or glute tendinosis which is good and just a very inflammed butt bursa.
pretty sore today post injection but was fine running this morning.
hopefully things will settle fully in 2-3 more days.
i assume this is what has been narking the area up these last few months.

yes mark i am going to gow: look forward to seeing you and DG there.
haven't mentioned this until now but i have entered GH, GOW and GNW 100 milers.
simple plan really: try and keep going until i either finish them all or fall apart trying.
plan is to take it easy at GH (28-29hrs) in 2 weeks.
wont do much between now and then just de-niggle myself.

Monday, August 09, 2010

Are you human?

12 Foot Track 7th August 14.52 90km 3400 A&D

are you human?
seemed an appropriate question at the time.
was just approaching pluvi on the way back.
trotting along using my poles.
2 hikers had seen a few runners come through by then and had sussed out that we were all loonies.
i replied that some of the people ahead of me may not be though i certainly was!

its quite a quick trip really.
hour and a bit on the plane.
1.30-2hrs int he car from the airport.
duct-tape the etag to the windscreen and youre all good.
too easy.
stayed at leura for the weekend.
fly in friday - run saturday - fly back sunday home in time to walk the dogs.

overall impression of this race is how damn slow i am.
way too many people (innes, horrie, brick to name a few) passed me going up a hill with great ease.
that sucks.
was aiming for 14hrs and decided pre-race to push this one hard unlike GCM and GH50km in recent weeks.
wanted a 6.20 first half to give me a chance at a sub14 but had to push to even get there in 6.43 and a 15hr plus was then on the cards.

got back up the hill ok and could run/trot down to pluvi but struggled a bit down to the creek and then really struggled descending from mini to the river.
just couldnt get up any speed downhill at all and used it as an excuse to have a snack and much needed look at the beautiful view of the escarpment.

always thought i could do a sub 3 back from the river but walked almost every step so a 3.15 wasnt too bad considering
went over the swingbridge both ways which was probably a good thing consering the water temperature.
tried to break into a run a few times along the road section after megalong valley rd but found i was slowing down by doing this!

nellies is just a brute to get up.
swearing, sweating and heartrate at the max.
never had the feeling of it 'going on forever' though: however steep it is its not like climbing mt feathertop on the second morning.
kept thinking this to myself.

splits were 6.43 and 8.09 for a 14.52
it really puts into perspective how quick spud can go: sub 5 down then a sub 6 back.
that is really quick.
how the frig can anyone get back sub 6?
takes me over 3hrs even from the river!
maybe spud is superhuman!

glad i brought the poles, and the new headlamp (ayup) worked well.
sub freezing at the start (-3 apparent temp) and +1.2/-1.7 at the finish.
lots of support out there but had planned for a self-supported day so just carried everything (the usual alpine kit minus epirb) and filled up from the tanks.
didn't stop at caves house just tapped the green fence with a pole and turned around.

great to see keiron and jan again: brings back fond memories of thos early 2000s glasshouse years.
met dutchie and karl (of aawt fame) and quite a few other CRs.
a nice course - the unfortunate thing about pushing hard all day is you dont get to enjoy it as much as you should.

Roadie

became a roadie temporarily at brissie HM last weekend.
paced the 1.50 bus (5.10/kms) after blair pulled out due to injury.

i pictured a group of 10-15 running with me the whole way.
and that i would be shit scared at the start and gradually get used to it.
but it was the opposite.

felt very relaxed before and at the start.
even had a 2 second thought about tessos offer to pace the 4hr mara instead!
slight hiccup when one of my balloons popped before the start.
is that a bad omen or what!

a handful announced that they were keen for a sub 1.50.
planned on crossing the start at 40secs and did this with a few spare seconds.
had to watch out for some power cables just above head height at the startline - quite a hazard for the balloons/pacers!
saw an old workmate in the first few kms: you expect to see running friends out there but not workmates so it was a clashing of worlds.

was comfy to the gardens (13km) when i noticed one or two dropping off the back.
it is hard to keep an eye on things when whenever you turn around you see these bouncing blue balloons obstructing your view!
relaxed/slowed up over the bridge as we had a good 30secs to spare on gun time.
a few asked how on target we were at this stage.
started to leak a bit of time here planning on as close to a 1.50 as possible.
there were a few who had been huffing and puffing the whole way and i didnt want to loose them on the kangaroo point loop.

got to the 15km marker and (apparently) had done a 4.40 for the last km.
bullshit!
looked around and had strung them out a bit.
bugger maybe i did?!?
couldn't believe i had gone that quick and thought it was the single-file/narrowness along there.
was pretty nervous until the 16km marker and quickly realised how hard this job can be.
you cut things pretty fine to the gun time and if a marker is out by 50-60m or so which they often can be it can certainly stuff things up.

back on track at the 16km, (15km was indeed out) most had caught back up on the wider path and still had some time to spare.
a few pushed ahead in the last 2-3km, whilst i leaked a few secs here and there and had a nice 5.50 (20km marker) for the last 1.1km to drag some people home.
obviously did a little too much encouraging and coming around the last corner to see the clock tick over to 1.50.00
bugger! crossed 7secs later thinking i had stuffed the timing up but no-one missed out on a sub 1.50 net because of it indeed hopefully i encouraged a few to hold on for a sub 1.50.
pleased to see a few other pacers being a bit over gun time.
amazing how 'the group' changed over the race.
probably only 3-4 people with me from the 3km mark right through to the finish.

not sacked just yet ;)