running further...

2011-12-24T12:10:00.001+11:00

This time 4 years ago I was on a walk/run routine strictly in Five Fingers. That summer I was able to get over a long term injury (1.5 years?) and build up my distance for the first time ever.

Today I am on a walk/run routine, strictly in Five Fingers, getting over a different long term injury (3+ Years).

Today was 100% pain free and I can't wait til I can run the whole way! I can't wait til I can do hill sprints again! My natural running pace has improved from not running. My cardio fitness is there and my strength is better than ever due to weight training. A couple more weeks to go and running the whole way is scheduled! But I'm going to be cautious and not do anything long for a while.

In the meantime I've come up with my race schedule for 2012. I'm going to get fitter and faster. I'm going to get close to my 5km PB which dates back to 2009. Then I'm going to get close to or beat my half marathon PB (not sure how though as none of the HMs on the calendar interest me). Then I'm going to BEAT my 50km trail PB and finish by SMASHING that goddamn Great Ocean Walk race.

:)

Werribee Gorge

2011-12-09T16:37:00.001+11:00

I rarely head out west to hit the trails but today I decided to check out Werribee Gorge for the first time and did the 8km circuit track.

This really is the wild west! The terrain is the complete opposite of everything out east. The ground is rough, rocky and ragged. The trees are not dense and there is little shade. It was 30 degrees today but I seem to be doing better walking and running in the heat lately so the temperature didn't really affect me. I wore my racing flats and they were perfectly suitable.

I had to backtrack a few times in the first couple of km as there are lots of unmapped trails and at times the actual trail wasn't clear. At one point I was certain I was following a trail, but while trying to scramble up a dry creek bed and crawling on all fours up a grassy cliff that was probably home to many snakes, I decided I had to turn back. It was just as hard sliding down. Once I was back on the real trail it was much clearer the rest of the way.

The geology is really amazing here. There are lots of information signposts, that I don't usually read, but these were interesting. They describe how the rocks are shaped and some of the Aboriginal culture.

Needles Beach looks like a great swimming area

There are some great lookouts along the way and you can even see the city skyline from one. The trail is quite runnable until you get to the river. From there you have to rock-hop along the river bed. What is not mentioned in my guidebook or the Parks Vic notes is that you do have to do some horizontal rock climbing. Some of it REALLY took me out of my comfort zone! That was a great surprise!

Hold onto the cable but who knows where your feet are supposed to go.

I didn't really run much of the way as I still have about a month to go til I am allowed to run properly. At times I settled into what has been my slow jog for much of this year, but it was so awkward I had to run with a proper running gait and could do this pain free! Now THAT'S good news! Still wasn't 100% for the run but of the bits I did run, it was feeling much more natural and proper.

There are some more areas to explore around here so I'll be back again soon.

2011-12-03T13:27:00.001+11:00

Last weekend was the Razorback run. I was very disappointed to have to DNS in this but when the physio said it would take around 12 weeks to get back to running he looked at me like I was crazy when I asked, "Can I do a short run in 3 weeks?"

We went up there anyway and walked a very small section of the Razorback trail. There was lots of cloud, a little drizzle, and it was surprisingly not too cold.

It is such great terrain up there, I really hope to do this next year. I am missing my weekly trail run and have a list of maps and trails to discover when I am able.

Strongman Competition

2011-11-02T13:54:00.000+11:00

Since I am not running for a while due to tarsal tunnel syndrome, I've been getting into some other training.

Yesterday was Melbourne's Strongest Man Comp and there were 4 of us girls entered. I have only been to 2 strongman training sessions so being a newbie I was good at the stuff I already know and crap at everything else! I came equal 3rd/last.

First up was the farmers walk and tyre flip. The farmers walk was 59.5kg in each hand - heavier than I had done in training and the tyre was 220kg - a bit heavier than the 150kg they originally said the girls would flip! I dropped the farmers walks 3 times in the 20 metres so I think technically I was out then. George told me to keep going anyway but I just could not flip that tyre. I have not even been able to flip it in training so I knew this event would suck. After watching the rest of the guys do this event, it was clear that short people have a disadvantage in this one!

The second event was the overhead medley. I've been adding more clean and jerks into my training with the olympic barbell, and in the two strongman training sessions I've been to, managed to nail the technique for the log and keg so I knew this would be a good event for me. We had 60 seconds to press a 45lb dumbbell, 40kg keg, 40kg log and 45kg axle. I think I did it in around 45 seconds and came third in this.

Next was the 50kg tyre drag for 20 metres. I am ok at this, although not fast. This is the only event that irritates my ankle. I'm pretty slow at this, which is strange since my leg strength should be good enough to go faster. I think I came last in this one.

The fourth event was the one I was most confident in. Deadlift for reps in 75 seconds with olympic bar + a 44kg tyre each side for a total of 108kg. I got 14 reps in. It was really easy at first but I wanted to pace myself. By the end it was getting heavy! I came second in this.

The last event was the atlas stone. Originally the girls were supposed to use a 50kg stone but I don't think they had one. The lightest was 63kg! After the shock of seeing it being weighed, I then saw the bar it was supposed to be dropped over. It was so high it was at shoulder height for me! But not to worry, only one of the girls could even lift the stone and she did 3 reps. She's been strongman training for quite a while and none of us other girls had even lifted a stone before so I wasn't bothered by this.

It was a really long day as there were many weight classes for the guys so I was there for 6 hours all up! They were still continuing into the evening with the deadlift and bench comp and the open section of the strongman for the super strong truck pulling types.

This is all really good training for running so when my stupid ankle is better I should be able to get back into things fairly quickly. On Saturdays I'll be alternating strongman and kettlebell training, and keep it up even when I can run again.

GOW 2011 DNF again :(

2011-10-19T19:55:00.000+11:00

The lead up to this race wasn't very good due to injury. I'd been getting acupuncture treatment which helped a bit, but all that work was undone in the actual race.

I went in confident I could handle any conditions. I wore my Inov-8 Talon 190 shoes that enable me to run through ankle deep mud and grip the trail like nothing else. I noticed a few other people wear them too. I also knew I could handle any wild weather as I have been training in crap weather over the past few months and got used to it. All the mandatory gear could be packed in my small Nathan pack and I was very happy not to carry a big pack like so many others out there.

The day before I worked out what was the slowest possible pace I could do while making the cut off times. It seemed I could even do better than "just make it" so I aimed to have a 30-60 minute buffer on each cut off time.

The run started at 6:15am and the weather was perfectly mild. The start is very flat so everyone was off to a cracking start, I hung on near the back of the pack quite well and my ankle warmed up after 5 minutes so I felt quite comfortable and confident.

There was quite a bit of mud in the first section, but nothing like last year. I was so happy to be wearing the most awesome shoes ever that enabled me to be confident and not slip at all. When the mud was super deep I just walked so my shoes would not get sucked off but I was able to keep moving about a million times better than last year.

I made it to the first checkpoint at Blanket Bay spot on for my slow pace, about 45 minutes before the cut off time. My legs felt good and I only had the occasional twinge from my ankle. I stocked up on food and head off again happily.

Unfortunately things started to come undone here. The softer sandy beach and trail sections wreaked havoc with my ankle and I could no longer run on any flat sections. I managed some hobbling where the left leg would run, and the right leg would drag along but it was getting uncomfortable. At times it rained heavily and it was very cold while not running.

At Cape Otway Lighthouse the trail became very runnable - if there wasn't anything wrong with my ankle. I just couldn't manage it. I walked as fast as I could on the ups and the flats, and jogged the downhills. There was one tree that had fallen down and there was no way around it. I found myself on all fours crawling through the branches.

I thought I was coming dead last the whole time but 2 people overtook me here. I was surprised! But soon enough the sweepers caught up with me. They backed off a bit so I didn't feel rushed and I made it into Checkpoint 2 at Aire River with 20 minutes to spare, briefly catching up to the other 2 that had passed me. I stocked up on food and water, happy I'd made another cut off time.

There were 3 hours to get to Johanna Beach, just 13km away. I thought even if I have to walk it, I should still make it. This section was gently undulating and the most runnable section in the first half of the course. Unfortunately because there were no steep downhills, and the sandy surface had well and truly ruined my ankle, I had to walk most of this. It was even hard to walk some parts and my right ankle just wasn't functioning as it is supposed to. I was devastated. I knew my time was up and I would not make it to the next checkpoint in time.

When I hit Johanna Beach the sweepers caught up to me and they joined me for the 2km strip of soft sand. We walked and talked, occasionally wetting our feet in the ocean. The ocean is so powerful and it just roars constantly. This is a lovely beach, but I wouldn't want to be caught in the water! There was one river crossing at the end of the beach before hitting the dirt road to the next checkpoint. I was about 20 minutes too late. My leg muscles felt fairly fresh but that was it for me.

It was such a shame to not finish this course AGAIN. I was so upset at my stupid ankle. I was also annoyed at myself for even thinking I could do this with an injury. I know that if I was injury free, I wouldn't even have to train more than I do now and I could finish this damn race! This is so annoying because now I have to go back again next year and do it again!

I came up with a plan this week to see my old physio and get him to fix me. Unfortunately he's not practising any more so I am still trying to get a good recommendation but no one knows anyone as good as him. I would continue with acupuncture but it is very expensive and hurts so much I can't face going back just yet. We'll see what happens, but I will fix my ankle and I will be back. Meanwhile, I have a strongman competition in a couple of weeks to train for.

Cram Training

2011-10-02T14:06:00.000+11:00

While getting acupuncture treatments every 5 days I have been also getting some cram training done for the GOW. My ankle is feeling much better and there are times I can even run properly. The acupuncturist says I have tarsal tunnel syndrome. Makes sense. I think I will have just one more session as the pain is so unbearable, it would be more comfortable to tattoo my whole body than get another needle or massage in my ankle.

On Friday I did my last long run before the big day. I did a loop through the Tanglefoot Track in Toolangi Forest to the top of Mt St Leonard and return along Quarry Track. It was only 21km but took 3 hours 45 mins. I took 3 phone calls on the go, walked up the steep hills, and did not press pause on my watch when I stopped to see a lyrebird or flick off leeches, so hopefully my time is not too bad considering all that.

I packed my small Nathan Intensity pack with all my gear for GOW. It was just about bursting at the seams, but I am so glad I can just fit everything in. My headlamp really made things a tight fit but because that is worth money I'm not sure I want to leave it at a checkpoint. Usually I'm very self sufficient and prefer to carry everything with me at all times, but this time I'll have to make thorough use of dropbags at each checkpoint, remember to refill with water, and even rely on the food provided at the checkpoints. It will be great to carry this smaller pack rather than one of my big packs. I also have a little pouch that I'll attach to the waist strap to carry food and my map.

Generally speaking I felt good and fresh, only limping occasionally and really enjoyed it. It was sunny for most of the run, except for about 5 minutes when it hailed. I was very glad I packed everything including my jacket :) Due to recent rains there was one small river crossing, and one track had pretty much turned into a stream. I am always surprised at how cold the water is!

You Yangs 50km 2011

2011-09-22T09:43:00.001+10:00

I was secretly very happy this year when the You Yangs 5050 was postponed due to flooding in July because it meant a) I had more time to train and b) It would fit in nicely as a decent long run before GOW which is 4 weeks after.

Unfortunately (what I thought was) my achilles troubles has been holding me back from specific running training. I've been hitting the trails once a week, aiming for difficult terrain with GOW in mind. I've run in ankle deep mud, through thunder, hail and snow, and climbed up hills that would have been easier with an ice pick. Although I haven't done long distances, I've done long times!

Last weekend was the You Yangs 50km and I was terribly under prepared. Since my running partner for most of this year is in hospital due to a tragic experience in a race, I did this for her. I have done some crazy runs with Kate this year, and her strength always amazes me. It doesn't matter how tiring it all is, how long and steep the hills are, she just keeps going. Running when able, walking the hills the rest of the time. So this year even though I knew I would be slow at the You Yangs, when the going got tough, I always asked myself, "What would Kate do?".

The course changed again this year, and I think for the best. I liked NOT going to the top of the hill and back multiple times, and I enjoyed the technical circuit around the hill. The first 10km went quite well for me. Although slow, I was feeling good. At 15km I was still feeling good and hopeful I was on track for under 8 hours. At the half way point, although I was starting to get even slower (how is that possible?) I was still on track for under 8 hours and I thought if I could just keep running on the flats and downhills that I would be ok.

My achilles (which now isn't that... more later) issues meant my running speed was walking pace. I had no power in my right leg and I was going so slow that I was naturally breathing through my nose much of the time. There is a section through gum plantations that is quite flat. Flat bits are a problem for me as you really need to keep up your momentum. I just couldn't do it. At 30km I was feeling ok but then at 40km I was back at the plantation area and it was a real struggle. I ran as long as I could (at walking speed), while knowing that Kate would be running there too. It was so unnaturally slow but I just did not have the power in my right leg to run at any normal running pace.

At around 45km I started walking. This run was much harder than it should've been. There were (dare I say it) too many flat runnable bits! I realised I was going to be way over 8 hours and decided my ultra career is over until I sort out this leg problem. If you can't train, you can't run at any speed. My leg strength from weight lifting enables me to complete these distances, but is not enough to actually run properly. Getting over the injury and being able to run in training is the only thing that is going to help.

I decided I would pull out of GOW this year. I couldn't get my money back on the accommodation so worked out a really nice weekend away. I even planned some nice walks and it was going to be the relaxing holiday I've been in need of all year! At this point in the race, I had reached a calm. This was it for me! The last long race of the year! Yeah!

With Kate in mind, I still kept running when able, and walking when I couldn't. I don't know what time I crossed the finish line, but I wouldn't be surprised if I came dead last! I quickly found Andy to withdraw from GOW before I changed my mind. But he told me to think about it... ugh.....

So anyway, since then I have had some acupuncture and it's been discovered that my achilles is fine. A bit thicker than usual, but functionally fine. It's the flexor hallucis longus that has been killing me. This muscle originates near the calf behind the achilles so it has been making me think the achilles is to blame. This makes perfect sense as I had problems with my big toe a long time ago, and it is still quite tight and inflexible. Now the source of the pain has revealed itself, the acupuncturist reckons it wont take long to fix. I am hopeful this time! And I am doing GOW! Even though I shuffle at a snails pace, provided I don't get lost, it will still be enough to make the cutoffs.

Mt Sugarloaf and Sugarloaf Reservoir

2011-08-05T17:13:00.000+10:00

Sugarloaf Reservoir

Today I went for a 15km loop around Sugarloaf Reservoir in Christmas Hills. I noticed Parks Vic took down their map online so I printed a DSE map but now that I've done the run, I realise the map did not have the walking tracks so no wonder I was getting confused out there today!

Can you see the kangaroos? (click to see bigger pic)

There were hundreds of kangaroos out there. It's quite a nice area, with gentle undulations around the reservoir. I took a detour, which I thought was the best way to go at the time, but it ended up being a dead end so for most of the run I stuck to the trail around the perimeter of the water catchment area. I did see a turn before I climbed Mt Sugarloaf, but didn't want to end up in another dead end so I didn't go there. Turns out that was the right way to run close to the dam, and I ended up going a stupid way, although getting to the top of Mt Sugarloaf was better than not doing it so that's not so bad. From the top you can see the city skyline.

View from near the top of Mt Sugarloaf

It seemed like forever that I was running along this perimeter trail, and I knew it just had to be wrong as I had previously seen the Parks Vic map where you can follow another trail closer to the water. I was checking my DSE map and I just couldn't tell where I was. At one point I saw a sign that said trespassers prosecuted, and I thought, How can that be, if I legitimately entered and have been following a firetrail? Oh well, at this point there was a road so I went down there, and it led to some special looking water catchment thing that I probably shouldn't be near, but hey, at least I was back at the dam!

Then I saw what looked like a single trail, but it was hard to tell. I followed it and realised this is where I should have been going all along. There were occasional markers confirming the right way, but the trail seemed so rarely used that at times it was hard to know if I was following a trail or going cross country. Either way, it's impossible to get lost just going one way around a dam.

These occasional markers confirmed that I was on a trail and not going cross country

Soon enough the trail became a much more well managed trail. It went really close to the water and at times I just stopped to listen to the water gently lapping the shore. It was very peaceful. And it was a gorgeous day. I could really visit there for a run again, but take some food and relax for a bit with some lunch.

Stupid way around the reservoir. You can see the correct trail I should have taken that stuck close to the dam.

Silly me did not eat any carbs before the run. I had 2 of ChocChilliMango's yummy protein bars and 2 coffees beforehand, so a bit of dehydration and lack of carbs did not do me well and I felt nauseous towards the end, which kind of makes sense since I finished around 1 pm so it was well past my lunch time. It was pretty hard driving home when all I wanted to do was lie down on the couch! Lesson learned :)

12 km in the hills

2011-07-29T15:51:00.000+10:00

I screwed up my achilles again doing intervals at the track a couple of weeks ago. I knew hill sprints would have been a better option but I just wanted to go fast so I hit the track. It was so good to be flying along and pushing myself so I felt like puking after each repetition... and then I decided to do just one more rep. That was it. Limping and in pain :(

The Toolangi Forest run last week wasn't very successful but I've been diligently doing my achilles exercises and it was starting to feel more manageable so today I met up with Kate to do a 12km loop at Mt Dandenong. We started with some insanely steep hills, which were a perfect warm up for my achilles. We finished with a loop of the 1000 steps. After deadlifts yesterday, and the steep running we had already done, my quads started to feel like jelly.

I only can't run on dead flat ground now so it's starting to get better. I have high hopes that it should be manageable again in a week or two. I hope to get back into more minimalist running too, but I have so many fitness goals at the moment that it is really hard to fit everything in. Although I still think I should be able to do everything that I want to do, it's becoming apparent that being crap at everything is not great fun and at some point I'll probably have to focus on one or two things at a time.

Testing new Nathan Intensity pack at Toolangi Forest

2011-07-16T14:13:00.000+10:00

I had yesterday morning free so went out to Toolangi Forest for a short trail run. This was also a good opportunity to test out my new Nathan Intensity pack, which is the women's version of the HPL20.

This pack is soooo comfortable I can't believe it beats my Camelbak! The bladder is easy to fill up and so easy to seal without air to stop the water sloshing. The shoulder straps are so soft and comfortable and do not need to be adjusted tight. As with my other Nathan pack, this one doesn't bounce at all! It's just incredible. It feels so light and I think I've found my perfect pack. There's a pocket on each shoulder strap so you can store your phone/food/supplies and access them easily. There is also a decent amount of storage space in the pack itself and I think it would be possible to do long ultras in this and still carry all the mandatory gear. If I can get my running fitness up, then I will try to get away with just this small pack for the long stuff.

It was such a beautiful day yesterday. It was sunny but there were patches of thick fog in the valleys. I ran up to the top of Mt St Leonard and you can see the fog below in the picture. It looks like I'm in some high altitude above cloud level! Lesson learned though: Be cautious when climbing metal stairs that are iced over if you don't want to slip over.

Unfortunately my achilles has been giving me grief again. I think it's because this week and last week I ran some intervals at the track. I go there because I like to push myself to go as fast as I can, but I really can't run on flat ground. My achilles can handle up hills and down hills but nothing in between. It was so painful still after the initial climb and run back down the hill that I considered getting in the car and driving straight home but I knew there would be more hills I could do.

I hobbled along the Quarry Walking Track to the Wirrawilla Rainforest Walk, then went south back down the Tanglefoot track. The Tanglefoot was so overgrown. The few runnable sections were barely runnable as you still had to clear branches and try to avoid tripping over huge strips of bark. There were so many black cockatoos about. I have never seen so many before! I reckon they were all stripping the bark from the trees. I also saw a couple of lyrebirds for the second time in my life! They are so elusive. I tried to get a picture but they were too quick for me.

After about 8km my achilles seemed to warm up, but I think maybe I just found a way to hobble that was comfortable. All up I did 12.6km. It was pretty short but it took a long time due to the hills and overgrown trees on the Tanglefoot track.

I'll have to get out there again soon as I saw a small single trail from Mt St Leonard and I think that would take me down to Healesville or the Maroondah Dam. Parks Vic doesn't have a map of that though, and the DSE maps stop there.

A Non-runner's Running Plan

2011-06-16T12:21:00.000+10:00

It's been a week now since I've been training properly for the next ultra. Except I'm not much of a runner, and I don't have time to spending hours running every day, and I don't want to get injured, and I have other non-running fitness goals too.

My program looks like this:

Mon: General conditioning or running intervals
Tue: Clean (1-3 reps), Squat (1-4 reps), Upper body/Core if time, Conditioning
Wed: Kettlebell work (strength and conditioning)
Thu: Hills
Fri: Deadlift (1-4 reps), Single leg work if time (4-8 reps), Barbell complex, Some other conditioning
Sat: Med-long run or Trail run
Sun: Kettlebell work (strength and conditioning)

So there are 2-3 runs in there. The weekend run includes hills too. I know to run faster I need to run more, but I also need to increase my cardio fitness and I find body weight and kettlebell work do that the best with no risk of injury. I also have a pipe dream of entering a kettlebell comp so that fits in well. So far this week I have PB'd in the clean, squat and kettlebell snatch!

Today was hill day and I threw myself in the deep end for a Volcanic Hills Balls Of Steal run. Just an out and back today. It was very tough but I managed the return trip 3.5 minutes faster! It is so pretty out there. It was just me, the kangaroos and a fox.

Mt Macedon Trail Run 30/50km

2011-06-07T12:25:00.000+10:00

Yesterday was the Mt Macedon Trail Runs. I entered the 50km, thinking it would be fine. The last time I went for a run was my last post - 6 weeks ago. At least then I was running 1-2 times per week including hills or intervals. Since then I focused on a grueling hypertrophy program, often spending over an hour at the gym every single day. The volume got to me and I got sick twice in 2 weeks. Then somehow I still thought I didn't need to run in order to complete 50km. What a stupid idea!

It was so cold at the start line, there was frost on the ground. I wore my arm sleeves for the whole run, which is very unusual for me. At the race briefing Brett warned us about some sections. I am not good at paying attention here as it is always a bunch of words that don't mean anything until you're out there.

Once we were off I felt awkward from the start. I was wearing my MW101 trail shoes, but despite being minimalist, they felt clunky compared to my usual flats. My fingers were freezing and I was trying to find a good spot in my pack to keep my Garmin watch (since it is almost dead and I knew the batteries would go flat so I just wanted what data it could manage but didn't want to wear it). The ground surface was really nice and soft, and it was such a pleasure to run on. I was thinking about this, while my frozen fingers fumbled with my watch, when I literally fell into last place. My main concern was not landing in kangaroo poo. I managed to land on some rocks, with massive scrapes on both thighs. Fortunately it was so cold, I couldn't feel if anything hurt. In hindsight, I think Brett mentioned something about being careful about the rocks in the first 200 metres.

It took about an hour for my achilles to warm up. It was really painful to start with but I have been vigilantly doing my achilles exercises for the past week so I was able to run the rest without achilles pain. I quickly caught up ahead of a few people and finally settled into a rhythm.

The hills in this run are so mean. Both up and down. Some of the downhills were not even runnable. I found one was very smooth dirt, and everyone was sliding down. I was stepping carefully on the grass on one side, whilst holding onto ferns for balance.

It was very windy out there, and after Hells Hole, on the top of Mt Towrong, it was very exposed and it was very chilly. Climbing back down was difficult as I was being blown about in the wind, while trying to navigate the tricky rocky trail. My legs were feeling shaky and unstable from my trail shoes and the fall early on so I was taking every step very cautiously.

At about the 20km mark I considered dropping out at 30km. I just felt so slow and cumbersome (remember, 3 weeks of hypertrophy training and 6 weeks of no running or metabolic work of any sort). This should really have felt comfortable and the run just wasn't working for me.

Look, no knuckles! Does anyone know what causes or how to cure the hand swelling in some long events?

Heading up the Zig Zag track, I decided that even if I made the 30km cut off time, I would drop out there. 50km would have been unnecessarily torturous.

I missed the cut off by about 7 minutes. Brett said I could continue but I said no way. I think at least 3 others DNF'd at 30km.

It really was a lovely trail and it renewed my enthusiasm for trail running and ultras. I feel like I have run a lot of crap races recently and it's time for me to step it up. I want to run comfortably again and I'm going to hit the hills and trails a lot more often now. The You Yangs 50km is on in 6 or 7 weeks. I originally thought I might volunteer in this but now I am going to train and I am going to do it well.

45km Mt Dandenong

2011-04-24T18:08:00.003+10:00

I've clearly been hanging around the wrong crowd lately. Yesterday I went for a 45km training run with Kate at Mt Dandenong. I have never done any long runs there before because it is all hills. For some reason I forgot about the hills when I thought it would be a good idea to do it. I also forgot that even if the weather's good, it is always muddy in some sections and it would have been smart to wear trail shoes instead of racing flats.

We met near Sky High and had a loop in mind, taken from the Moonwalk charity race. Our run started off really nice and it felt so easy like we could go forever. We were taking it easy but I think it felt so good because at this stage we were mostly heading downhill.

At around 7km we came across this funny looking wombat who looked like he'd been in a few fights. Wombats are so rare and this is the first time I've seen one in Victoria. He didn't mind that we went up close and I stuck my phone in his face for photographs.

Our loop was mostly pleasant. We went through an arboretum which had lovely deciduous trees in all their autumn glory. We also passed through another public garden that had stunning trees and I think I'll have to go back there soon.

From about half way I really got fatigued. I was so proud of myself for actually remembering to pack food and even having breakfast before setting off (I never eat before a run) that I forgot my salt caps. I was drinking plenty but the hills were taking their toll. We climbed up Heartbreak Hill, which was just a taste of what was to come next.

There was the Mofo-Hill-Of-Death that climbed nearly 200m in about 2km. I am pretty good at getting hills done but that one was so bad that Kate passed me, and I was counting 50 steps at a time before letting myself take a 2 second breather.

There were more terrible hills, even worse than that. At one point I thought I needed an ice pick to climb it. My Garmin died early on so I don't have data of the other steep hills.

I don't usually drink much water and I was glad I took my Nathan pack so I could fill my water bladder without it feeling too heavy. I drank all my water and at about 4km to the end I had to fill up from "not safe to drink" water. Normally I wouldn't fuss about 4km without water but those last 4km were all up up up and were going to take a long time. So I took the risk and I haven't died yet.

My tibialis anterior were cramping from a combination of hills and no salt caps. I'm surprised that my achilles didn't give much grief so I guess my method of low frequency and low mileage is at least doing some good.

It was such a relief after all that climbing to make it to the top where our cars were. We made it in a bit over 8 hours.

I think this run wasn't so much physically challenging as it was mentally challenging. If I was doing this by myself, I would have looked at the map to find a shortcut back to the car. But I couldn't do that here. We were going slow, but running more than I would if I was by myself. It was not that it was hard or painful to run, but mentally I was fatigued and the thought of running seemed harder than the action of running. Having someone else there with me really helped push me through and I must remember that feeling of pushing on in my next ultra.

As soon as we stopped my legs felt all crampy. The drive home consisted of a lot of swearing and wondering why I drive a manual. As soon as I got home I downed some Gastrolyte and felt much better. My legs are a bit fatigued today but not bad. It was a great run and it's good to know I can run an ultra without doing any running training. Long runs would be beneficial but are not a necessity. I really enjoy running out on the trails so I think from now if I do any long runs they will have to be trails.

1000 Steps again

2011-04-18T16:44:00.000+10:00

Yesterday I met up with Kate again for the 1000 Steps. She knows even way crazier people than I have ever come across and this time she brought her friend Andrew along. He had just completed the 170km Marysville to Melbourne paddle/bike/run race last weekend. Solo.

We went up the 1000 Steps 3 times again. The first time up the stairs Andrew ran them. Not me or Kate though. It seemed much easier this time, although I didn't want to suggest a 4th rep. According to my watch the first rep was a minute slower but the 2nd and 3rd reps were about a minute faster than last week. It's amazing what a little bit of training does for your fitness!

I've got more plans to head up that way for a group run or two over Easter. Meanwhile I am focusing on training hard at the gym. I hit another squat PB today. I want to get my squat up to 80kg this year and my deadlift up to 120kg. Just as much mental strength as physical strength required. Hopefully it wont take too long to get there.

1000 Steps

2011-04-09T16:12:00.000+10:00

This morning I met up with Kate at the 1000 Steps in the Dandenongs. Kate runs much more serious and crazy hardcore runs than I do, and she wanted to do 3 repeats of the steps.

The first time up was pretty good, and we decided to run down the Lyrebird track to make it a nice loop. I felt good after that but then it was time for round 2! Here I slowed down a bit, and after running back down the track I would have been quite happy if Kate suggested we'd had enough. But like I said, she's a bit hardcore, and she was training for The North Face 100, whereas I don't really train.

Half way up for the 3rd time I started to get dizzy. Actually I woke up feeling dizzy yesterday, have had a headache for over 24 hours and same with the dizziness thing. The run cleared me up a bit but I think I just got fatigued here. I was so glad to get the 3rd lap done!

It took us 1 hour 23 minutes and it was really tough. But I guess this is what real ultra runners do for training! Now that I've recovered, it was quite fun! I'll have to head out that way more often for some runs.

Unfortunately the Wilsons Prom run was cancelled due to floods. An alternate run in the Alps is on offer but logistically that would be a pain in the wallet. So what to do next? I really feel the need to enter something asap but don't know what!

Nathan Synergy pack

2011-03-25T09:53:00.000+11:00

Recently I ordered a Nathan Synergy pack for longer ultras. The main feature is the bladder which has two reserves so you can fill one up with water, and the other up with your sports drink of choice. This was not the reason I got the pack though. My Kathmandu pack that I used for longer runs is very uncomfortable and causes the worst chafing ever so I really wanted something that was big enough to carry all the mandatory gear and be comfortable too. Everyone raves about how comfy the Nathan packs are, and I like the pockets, so that was my main reason.

This morning I took it for a test run out in the rain. I filled the bladders up and after spending about 5 hours trying to get the air out, in the process squeezing most of the water out, I gave up and decided to use my Camelbak bladder. I don't know why the air just wouldn't get out of the Nathan bladder. This was really annoying, although I have heard many reports that the Nathan bladders suck and a lot of people use a Camelbak bladder in a Nathan pack. So unfortunately this time I did not get to try the double bladder, which would be really handy in long ultras so I don't need to pack my special drink at aid stops.

I loaded the pack up with just over 4kg as I think that is what it weighs when I carry the usual mandatory gear, food and water.

Once loaded, I couldn't believe how comfortable it was! There is NO bounce! At all!! Even the sternum strap was comfortable, and usually I don't use it on any of my packs. It wasn't needed this time either but it was in a comfy position so it didn't bother me.

As usual, I found I had to do the shoulder straps up as tight as possible, but unlike my other packs, I could take the pack on and off without dislocating my shoulders. The pockets on the shoulder straps were just perfect. I can fit my phone (which doubles as a camera) and there is also room to carry snacks. There are some other side pockets on the main body of the pack which are easily reached without taking the pack off. These will be perfect for carrying my ultra food.

The pack didn't feel heavy at all. I don't know how it works, but it doesn't weigh down on your shoulders and I didn't feel my form suffer from it. Usually even 2kg is too heavy for me but over 4kg felt like nothing.

I am so happy to finally get a large pack that is comfortable and doesn't chafe. I hope I can get the hang of getting the air out of the Nathan bladders so I give the whole 'Synergy' thing a try with two drinks. Although I am a bit scared of the bladders bursting like many others have reported.

I am really looking forward to using this pack for my next ultra, but the weather has been terrible and the road to Wilsons Prom was washed out this week, with people needing to be rescued by boat. I imagine the tracks will be a wreck but hopefully the run wont get cancelled.

New training plan... again

2011-03-08T15:29:00.002+11:00

I am changing up my training... again... hence no posts in a while. I had been so intent on getting out for my 2.5 hour run every weekend but it wasn't working for me. My working structure has changed and I'm often so tired that getting up at 6:30am on a Saturday to run is not fun. And running should be fun. I also took some time out of running to fix my achilles. It's doing so much better now (about 90%) and I can't believe I didn't think to do this earlier. Anyway, I'm not going to do any long runs leading up to the Wilson's Prom Ultra (60km). I am going to do the exact opposite of everyone else that will be there!

Over the past two years I've learnt that heavy squats and deadlifts give me the required leg strength to run an ultra. 3 sets of 3-5 reps of squats and deadlifts is the equivalent of a weekly 3-4 hour run or even more! The only difference is a much shorter recovery time, and no more sleeping on the couch for the rest of the day!

I've come to trust that my training is suitable, and even preferable to the usual running programs out there. So now my 2 or 3 runs a week are interval based. Usually I'll do 5 x 6 minutes or 20 minutes worth of hill repeats or something along those lines to keep up leg turnover and good technique. I also seem to increase my fitness better doing bodyweight circuits, burpees and kettlebell workouts. I also don't get injured doing those things!

Wilson's Prom is on at the end of April. So that give's me 2 months of getting my legs stronger and increasing my cardiovascular fitness. I'm really excited about this as I've found with myself and my clients that bodyweight and kettlebell work increases fitness like nothing else. I'm really looking forward to this and seeing how my running will be affected, and how it will all go in April!

Maroondah Dam 2011 - volunteering

2011-02-20T19:42:00.000+11:00

I've wanted to do the Maroondah Dam run for a while now, but I hate running in hot weather and this year I felt my conditioning not up to scratch to tackle the hills. So this year I decided to volunteer.

I was at the 25km aid station with Bruce and Gilda. We had a table full of sports drink, water, jelly beans, snakes, chocolate, salt, fruit cake, chips, sandwiches, oranges and bananas. It was a smorgasboard of ultra food!

We were taking photos, ticking off names as they went through and constantly topping up supplies. It was super busy and a real frantic hive of activity! We got into a good rhythm with Gilda taking photos, Bruce filling cups and me ticking off names.

Gilda also drove further down the course a few times to pick up several injured runners. Once she had 3 DNFs and the flow of runners started to slow, she drove them back to the finish.

Soon enough the rain and fog set in. We sat in the car, only getting out when the occasional runner went past. In the afternoon Andy, the sweeper, came through and we could pack up our soggy chips and fruit cake and drop all the gear off at the finish.

It was a great event and fun being part of it. My fellow aid station-ers were great people and we worked well together. I will definitely volunteer again in the future and highly recommend it!

Achilles exercises

2011-02-15T20:51:00.001+11:00

I hate to admit it, but after 5 days of these exercises my achilles is starting to feel stronger. Of course, it could also be because I'm not running.

And I guess now the exercises are getting easier I need to up the ante on them so they will no longer be easy and cause more pain. I am dying to go for a run to see how it goes... Maybe on Friday :)

My fitness has not been suffering whilst sidelined from running. I have been doing a series of killer bodyweight intervals every day developed for one of my jobs. They cause me to swear and lie in a puddle of my own sweat. So maybe I am even increasing my fitness more than if I was still hobbling down the streets.

2011-02-13T12:43:00.000+11:00

I'm hoping to beat my achilles issue once at for all. So this week I started doing daily exercises for it. I've always believed everything comes down to form, and if your form is not 100% then you'll get injured. I've been working on my bad leg, making it do the same as my good leg, but lately I've found it hard to tell if the bad leg is doing the right thing or just running any way that will avoid pain. Since it's never relaxed, I know it's not right.

I'm not convinced my stupid achilles exercises will work but it's cheaper doing them than going back to the physio only to be told to do them again.

The result is my achilles is more sore than ever. Yesterday I went out for my long run but 3kms into it my achilles still hadn't warmed up so figured it was best to turn around and go home before it was too late. So no long run this weekend. This was so disappointing, especially since I decided to enter the Wilsons Prom Ultra. Running up hills doesn't seem to be a problem so I'll have to do more hill repeats and work more with the kettlebells to increase my fitness.

Perfect HTFU weather!

2011-02-05T11:50:00.000+11:00

Thanks to tropical cyclone Yasi it is pouring with rain here. Perfect htfu weather for a character building run! Today I head out for 17km. The Plenty River, which was just a mere trickle last year, was very full, and I think most of the bridges will be submerged by the end of the day. The Main Yarra Trail was ankle deep in water most of the way! I only came across one crazy cyclist and one mad runner out there today. It was great!

I know in the last post I mentioned not getting carried away entering every race that piqued my interest... but when I saw that entries opened this week for the Wilsons Prom Ultra I couldn't help myself! So I entered the 60km option. It's on at the end of April so I really have to htfu, increase my aerobic conditioning and be mentally ready to handle tough conditions. I think it's rainy and windy at that race every year so I've gotta be prepared!

18km in the Five Finger Trek Sports

2011-01-22T17:15:00.000+11:00

After last weekend's race I've got a good feel for where I'm at and exactly what I need to do to improve. Last year I entered every race I was vaguely interested in, which meant I never really focused on anything. I completed 3 ultras in the second half of the year but achieved nothing of note. This year I have one goal race only. I'm going to try not to get carried away with entering anything and everything, especially if it detracts from my training.

So today I continued with my current phase of low heart rate training. I did an 18km loop up to Blue Lake and back in my Trek Sports. These have an aggressive tread and very little ground feel, so I wanted to see what they'd be like on the trails.

Fine gravel is easy going but on the very rough rocky stuff I could still feel the rocks and had to watch my footing. On the single trail they generally felt good and my feet felt a sense of freedom as they could run correctly and faster. Unfortunately on sandy soil they were quite slippery so I probably wouldn't be able to wear them on any ultras (oops, I forgot already that I only have 1 goal race this year so why am I even thinking this?).

I had a good run today and went up a single trail I hadn't been along in a while. It seemed quite overgrown and it didn't look very familiar.

When this trail joined up to another trail I realised I had been there before and if I continued down there I'd end up having to bush bash my way up a steep cliff/hill/mountain thing. I really wasn't into that so I decided to bush bash my way to the main trail and make my way down to the river crossing.

Plenty River has flooded a few times this year with all the recent rain we've been having so I expected it to be deep. Usually this crossing is only ankle deep. Today it was knee deep. The water was a perfect temperature and if the water was clean I would have loved to go for a swim.

If it was knee deep here, it would be chest height later on so instead of re-crossing the river later on I got off the trails and took the streets the rest of the way home.

My feet felt great and I was pleasantly surprised that my achilles didn't cause me any grief. I did a 5 minute mobility warm up before I head out and I really wish I was bothered to do this more often. It helps every single time.

The run was so nice and easy. But soon I am going to have to get out of my comfort zone. I love shuffling along at my slow pace and I could keep going forever like that. But that's not good enough. Soon my low HR phase will be over and I will have to pick it up a bit and get uncomfortable.

Two Bays Trail Run 2011

2011-01-19T14:20:00.001+11:00

Last weekend was the first official Two Bays race. It's been run as a Fatass for many years but after getting caught and fined last year, it was made official this year and completely sold out with 500 entrants.

The Two Bays Trail is from Dromana to Cape Schanck.... and back for the tough ones. I just did the one way option, which was 28kms. I am really impressed with the 56km runners after slogging the hills to the lighthouse at Cape Schanck and then turning around to go back to Dromana. They are all amazingly strong people!

After just a few hours sleep, I got up many hours before dawn and drove down to the finish line at Cape Schanck, where comfortable buses were organised to take us to the start line. At Dromana I caught up with some running buddies I hadn't seen in ages - Terrie, Bruce, a couple of Davids and Phil (sorry it took me so long to register who you were - it's been a very long time!).

It was quite humid in the morning, and mist sat on top of the hills. It was a much tougher course than I expected. I knew the first 3kms to the top of Arthur's Seat would be tough, but on fresh legs that wasn't such a bother. It was the rest of the hills that really got me. Some of the hills were quite long. I really enjoyed going down them though! I've been practising my downhill technique and felt really solid. For the first time ever I was able to fly past people down the hills. This was on rough rocky gravel and also single trail. It was so good to be able to do that! I noticed there was a bunch of people I kept passing down the hills. Then they'd always pass me going up. It was kind of annoying! But good to know I can run faster downhill now.

The funny thing about this race is because there were so many people doing the 28km, they were not all ultra runners. So here was I taking it easy and walking up the hills, with this mindset of "It's a trail race so it's just like an ultra" but there were so many fast people who were obviously in the mindset of "It's 28km - just a bit longer than a half". This made it feel like there was a sense of urgency about the race. I found it less relaxing, but I guess that's the point of a race. For me this was more of a training run, as I am not planning on doing anything fast for at least another month.

The course was so well marked. I didn't look at the map at all, not even before the run, and there was absolutely no need to. There were marshals directing us at road intersections, and clear markings on all trail intersections. A lot people uploaded the course to their GPS watches, but I'm not a fan of that. Part of the experience, for me, does not include a gadget telling you if you're going the right way or not. The possibility of getting lost is part of the adventure, but I do appreciate markings on course.

It was a really good course and I was surprised to see fields of ferns and gorgeous forests with blackboys on the peninsula. I have been visiting this area most of my life and never knew such varied bushland was here. Every now and then the trees would clear and you'd see the lovely rolling hills of the countryside, and as we got closer towards the end, sea views of Bushranger's Bay. From here to the end was really tough with steep stairs that were quite demoralising. One guy passed me up here saying "I am dead". I was too. My achilles was really feeling it from the hills and I was concentrating on my running form. My legs were fatigued but when I stopped to walk, my muscles hurt even more. I think going all out on the downhills did trash my legs a bit, but the fun of it was worth it.

The finish was so grand! It was set up so well and there were so many people. It was such a hive of activity. I collected my awesome medal, which doubles as a bottle opener, and sat down with an icey pole. My legs were really feeling it, and if I had time I would have taken advantage of the free massages on offer.

I contemplated wearing my Five Finger TrekSports for this, but due to the stairs and my dodgy achilles, went for my MT101 trail shoes. These aren't a perfect fit and my feet felt tired in them. They also felt a bit clunky considering I've been wearing FFs for all my running lately. Two fast people passed me early on wearing FFs and the trail was easy going so I probably could've worn them. Next time!

It was a tough but great morning and it is such a nice part of Victoria and so accessible from Melbourne. Can't wait to do it again next year!

Garmin Forerunner 410 review

2011-01-07T10:25:00.000+11:00

For the past few weeks I’ve had the pleasure of trying out the Garmin Forerunner 410, courtesy of Highly Tuned Athletes. My usual running watch is the Garmin 305 but it’s over 2 years old now and the battery life isn’t what it used to be. This was a great opportunity to see if the 410 was for me.

Click here to read more

Five Fingers Trek Sports

2010-12-26T08:40:00.000+11:00

Yesterday evening I took my new Trek Sports out for a walk. There was a fair amount of rocky gravel and some single trail too. Conditions were perfect so there was no mud or anything slippery to really test their limits.

The aggressive tread on the Trek Sports (with upper made of coconut fibre, not kangaroo skin like the KSO Treks) gave excellent grip and it was very easy to get around on the gravel and trail. The coconut fibre is super comfortable and it felt like I was wearing lovely soft slippers. I like how the strap does up, without putting pressure on my achilles. There is a 4mm EVA midsole plus the 4mm Vibram outsole. Because of all this stuff in between you and the ground, there is almost no ground-feel. Although it really doesn't feel like a whole 8mm, for those who like the 'barefoot' feel of the thinner Five Fingers, the Trek Sports probably have too much sole material. Most of the tread is built up around the forefoot and toes so it strangely felt like a negative heal drop. I haven't given them a good go running yet so can't comment how that might affect things.

I will give these a good go running sometime soon. I can see these being great trail shoes in perfect conditions, but we'll see how they handle rain and mud. Without a doubt these will be my new bush walking shoes! You don't need super tough feet to handle tough terrain in these and I have always said I am too lazy to bother building up my feet toughness. I can't wait to hit the trails more in these.

New Five Fingers: Bikilas & TrekSports

2010-12-25T08:35:00.001+11:00

Hope everyone is having a great Christmas! You can never have too many Vibram Five Fingers and Santa knows that too, so I was pretty happy to get not one but two pairs!! The Bikila and the Trek Sport:

Straight away I noticed both have excellent grip. Both my Sprints now have holes in the upper, and since I am wearing FFs on all my runs at the moment, the Bikila and the TrekSport will be my new shoes of choice.

I took the Bikilas out for a spin today. These are designed specifically for running. The grip is just amazing compared to my old Sprints. They are sooooo comfortable. The material is super soft and the heal just fits around my tender achilles perfectly, making my (hopeful) recovery a smooth ride. There is much less ground feel than the Sprints, but that is not an issue for me. I just need something super light, super flat and super comfy. The Sprints will stay as my walking shoes and the Bikilas will be my new road racing shoes.

The Trek Sports have a more aggressive tread and are better suited to rougher conditions. I will test them out on some trails soon.

Sri Chimoy 5km at Williamstown

2010-12-12T12:17:00.001+11:00

Today was the last Sri Chinmoy event of the year so I entered the 5km. I love 5km races because they are short and fast, and are a good gauge of fitness. I wanted to see how slow I had gotten from a) doing little running training and b) running too many ultras this year. I think I only ran 3 ultras this year but they always slow me down, plus my achilles has been giving me a lot of trouble this year and during my last ultra 2 weeks ago I had a revelation about fixing it, so hopefully that's behind me now.

For the first time ever, I got to Williamstown without missing any turns and actually managed to get a park early enough with ample time to sign in and drop my bag off. It was a perfectly sunny morning, although being Williamstown, there was a breeze, meaning there'd be a headwind for 50% of the run.

Thanks to Rob at Highly Tuned Athletes, I have a Garmin 410 on loan to test out. Last night I was playing with it but I didn't bring it today because I'm technologically retarded, and wasn't used to the bezel, and thought I'd stuff it up while running. Then I'd look like an idiot with 2 watches on my wrist, (for later comparison) and I wouldn't even know how to use one of them. My own Garmin 305 is playing up, thinking it's fun to turn itself on randomly while it should be charging. So when I turned it on this morning, it immediately warned me the battery was nearly dead. Fortunately it lasted the 5km run, but it turned itself off soon after. Stay tuned for when I learn how to use the 410. I'll post a review.

I lined up at the start in my regular place in the middle of the pack. We were all told everyone would get some chocolate at the end and there would be other spot prizes too! I was so glad I came today!

I started at a pretty good pace, overtaking lots of people. The weather was just so perfect and I was really enjoying it. After the first turnaround we got the headwind. It wasn't too bad but it did slow me down a bit. I was checking my watch for my pace. I wasn't expecting to go fast today, but I was expecting to get under 25mins so I really had to force myself to put in the effort here. I slowed to 5:20min/k for a while and just couldn't seem to pick it up.

At the next turnaround there was no wind (or maybe it was an unnoticeable tail wind) and I picked up the pace a bit. This was going better but I never made up the time I lost earlier. Once the finish line was in sight, I picked it up to around 4:20min/k. It felt so easy and I don't know why I couldn't do it earlier. According to my watch, I crossed the line in 25:10. A bit disappointed in those 10 seconds, but I shouldn't be surprised. I felt nauseous afterwards, so at least I know I put in a good effort!

I wore my Five Fingers shoes and my achilles was behaving perfectly! I saw guy in FFs overtake me so congrats to you!

I stuck around for the awards at the end coz I thought there was a pretty good chance of getting a spot prize. I got a new cap to add to my collection and that made up for my bad time!

I ordered 1 tshirt from Ron at Punk Rock Racing. He's such a bad businessman that he sent me 3. This is his new technical tshirt. I'm not usually a fan of running in tshirts but this one is really comfy!

Bruny Island Ultra 64km - 2010

2010-12-05T20:44:00.000+11:00

Yesterday was my 3rd Bruny Island Ultra. They really don't get any easier! Bruny Island is a small island not far from Hobart. It has a pub, a cheese factory, some shacks, lots of sheep and that's about it! There is a new cafe at Dennes Point that looks really nice so even though I didn't eat there, I do recommend checking it out if you're down that way.

The trick about this race is you can start at any time you like, but you have to time it so you finish between 12:30 and 2:30pm. Then you have time to drive back to the pub for presentations at 3pm.

This year we decided to stay close to the start line at Dennes Point to maximise sleep time and minimise the early morning shock to the system. We were about 100m from the start line so after a good night's sleep, I got up around 5am, had an avocado for breaky and walked to the start line for my nominated 5:30am start.

It was pretty warm, maybe around 20 degrees and muggy, with fog rolling in along the water.

There seemed to be quite a few of us ~~suckers~~ regulars who keep showing up each year. Davo and Chris were already there, but I was starting by myself at 5:30 while they were a bit after me.

The first 2km are steep uphill, but since I still haven't wisened up to good ultra running technique I ran it since I had the energy. Once I got to the top I was greeted with a perfect sunrise over the water. This first part of the race is my favourite. It consists of lovely rolling hills and views of the water at sunrise. It's very quiet at that time as not many other runners have started and the relay teams are a long way off starting. It's just like going on a beautiful long run in the country with just yourself and the sheep. Every now and then a car would drive past and the driver would wave or offer words of encouragement.

Dad and J were meeting me every 8km for the first few bits and I was a bit ahead of schedule, which made a good change from my usual slow plod. Their mobile kitchen had my oranges, strawberries and dad's homemade boysenberry cordial.

About 20kms into the race the road flattens out, you lose the scenery and I find it a real mental struggle to keep going. It was getting pretty warm, my lumbar spine was tiring from carrying my camelbak and I was questioning my sanity. What was I doing running ultras when I only run once or twice a week in training and don't do any long runs?

From about here on Dad and J stopped more often. I didn't need anything - I was just looking for an excuse to stop. In hindsight I was really stopping too often as it did slow me down, but I have always found this middle flat section draining. I was also eating too much and was having difficulty digesting it all on the run. I told myself at the first hill I got to, I could take a walk break. This was at the 32km mark, which is half way. This was great as it signaled the start of more undulating terrain, which I am much better at. The scenery also improved and I could see the rolling hills, horsies and sheepies.

There is a nice downhill section into Alonnah to the pub and I knew from here things could only get better. More runners were out and about now. The relay teams were out and spurring me on. And some more solo runners were out and passing me.

I was really getting hot and could feel I was getting sunburnt. Whenever I met up with dad and J I took the opportunity to pour water on my head to cool down. I was also really craving an icy pole.

At about the 40km mark there are more uphills. Previously I had found these difficult as my legs got sore and tired but this time, due to my weight training, my legs were feeling great. A couple of weeks ago a hit a 100kg deadlift and this strength was making running so much easier. All I have to do in future is run more to get some speed back. My achilles wasn't even giving me much grief. When it did, I concentrated on relaxing my feet on landing (as I tell my clients, but this is the first time I've taken my own advice) and then the pain would disappear! Magic!

Although I was walking up a fair chunk of the hills from here on, my legs really were feeling fine. The soles of my feet were a little sore and fatigued from wearing flats (Adizero PRO, which are ripped but I keep forgetting to duct tape up), but generally I was feeling pretty good. I knew that if I just kept my heart rate low I could keep going forever.

Once I realised there were only 18km left I regained some energy and started to feel good about the run again. The weather was starting to cool down and the wind picked up. Most people would probably not like this but it was such a relief to me as I much prefer to run in the cold than the heat.

At the 14km-to-go mark I left my cambelbak in the car and took sips of water every 2km when dad and J stopped for me. Dad said if I ran fast enough I'd beat the wind and the rain. That was enough for me! The relay teams were cheering, cars were tooting their horns and I could feel the finish. It was mostly uphill from here but it seemed much easier than my previous two times here. I was able to really give it a good go on the downhill bits and I even managed to pass a couple of other slower solo runners.

Someone gave me a boost at the end by pacing me to the bottom of the final steep hill. Thanks so much for that! It was such a boost and it gave me the confidence to run the whole way up the steep hill and steps to the top of the lighthouse. I yelled at people "RUNNER ON THE RIGHT!!" so I didn't have to stop and made it to the top of the lighthouse before feeling the need to puke. Fortunately I checked myself before I made a mess of things! I made it just under 8 hours 30 mins. Not sure exactly as my watch wasn't exact and official results aren't up yet.

Up until here my legs were feeling great but once the run was over my legs knew time was up and I could only manage a hobble back down the hill to the car.

I made dad stop off at a shop for an icy pole on the way to the pub. Presentations at the pub were great, with lots of fantastic free food on offer. I think this was the largest field yet with around 60 teams and 28 solo runners. All us solo runners got a $20 gift voucher for The Running Edge so I've left that in Hobart and will give dad a few ideas to spend it for me.

This is such a great friendly run. I think I will need to be back as I've got the leg strength, but I need to work on my pace to see how much faster I can do it.

Toolangi Forest run

2010-11-14T19:58:00.002+11:00

Today I met up with the north eastern hill seekers, Rob and Tony, at Toolangi Forest to do an 18km loop down the Tanglefoot Track and back up Quarry Track. The map had a slight problem with the creeks and mini creeky things marked differently so we ended up on the road after that but it could have been all trail. It's a lovely forest area with ferns and lots of fallen trees across the track. It's nice and quiet, and we only came across 2 walkers out there.

Rob and Tony are both amazingly super fit strong runners, so lucky they could keep up with me! My conditioning sucks so much I resorted to walking up most of the steep hills. As the run progressed, I gave up on hills altogether and even the not-so-steep hills slowed me to a walk.

Click to enlarge

We came across this awesome bunch of streams, or maybe it was one big crazy stream, where there was a boardwalk so you could walk over the top of the water. It stopped us in our tracks. I thought I'd take a picture with my phone... but my phone was no longer in my pocket! Oh well, didn't like it anyway.

Once back to the car I noticed blood streaming down my legs from leeches. Five bites in total.

After sending out emails to my students and clients, few of which know my landline, I planned which phone I want to get next and looked up the number to call my provider. Before calling them I gave my phone a ring and one of the walkers we passed earlier answered. Turns out he lives just the next suburb from me so I've still got my crappy phone after all.

I plan to head back to the amazing streams and take some good photos with our good camera.

2.5 hours in the sun

2010-11-06T17:43:00.000+11:00

Last night I realised there are only 4 weeks left until the Bruny Island Ultra and I thought I better do something about it. So I told my partner that when I got up this morning, he was instructed to kick me out the door before I got lazy and decided I couldn't be bothered. It worked.

I went out for an easy paced 2.5hr hilly run. I have not done a training run this long since September! My legs felt fine and hadn't lost any endurance, which was great considering my lack of distance lately, but I felt fatigued like my conditioning was not up to scratch again. Dead lifts yesterday morning and some impromptu sprints in the evening didn't help.

It was pretty hot in the sun and towards the end I felt a bit nauseous and had to lie down when I got home. Even after an hour nap my heart rate was still pretty high but at least I could function.

The plan for the rest of November is to continue weekend runs of 2.5 hours and ramp up my conditioning during the week. My experiment this year of not doing low heart-rate runs to build a base didn't work. Once Bruny is done I need to focus on getting my aerobic base back for a few months with the long slow boring stuff.

New trail shoes: New Balance 101

2010-10-30T16:45:00.000+11:00

This week I received my latest order from Zombie Runner - the new WT101 (MT101 for men). I really wanted something lightweight, minimal and that could handle tough terrain.

At 175g they are fairly light, slightly heavier than the Nike Free 3.0, but not as heavy as the Nike Waffles. It's interesting that a trail shoe can be lighter than a racing flat.

They do have a noticeably raised heel, but I think it's probably only noticeable for those of us who usually get by with dead flat shoes. It actually works out quite well for me while I sill have achilles issues. The insole is not removable though so if I want something flatter for the trails, I'll just have to wait for the New Balance Minimus line which is due for release next year. These are also higher off the ground than I am used to (15-25mm) but it didn't take me too long to forget about it.

I took them for a short run on the trails around Blue Lake. They've got excellent grip on the technical sections, although there was no mud for me to give that a go. They fit a bit snug for my liking but I don't think anything will fit as perfect as my Adizero Pros. I'll wear thinner socks next time. I can't wait to give them a go on a longer trail run with more technical bits.

New lifting shoes

2010-10-30T13:03:00.000+11:00

I've been on a bit of a shoe shopping spree over the past week. Recently I got some new Do-Win weightlifting shoes. They are basically the same as the Pendlay shoes but cheaper. And even cheaper still since I get them at trade price :)

It may seem strange for a runner who likes flat shoes to get lifting shoes with a heel but for someone with long femurs and who is totally inflexible, these have been so helpful in making sure I achieve proper squat depth each time. I'm sure I would miss depth at least once in each squat session. Of course now I've had to take a piece of humble pie and drop the weight a bit since I'm going full range each and every time. The shoes are also great for cleaning, or specifically for me at least, catching the clean.

So now I am the poser at the gym who goes in with two pairs of shoes coz I don't want to get my lifting shoes dirty from the carpark to the gym floor and so I can do my crazy conditioning work in my Volleys after I'm done lifting.

But it's not all in vain. I'm improving in all lifts and getting better at the explosive lifts. I am generally as explosive as a snail so in time this work should translate to better running efficiency and speed.

2010-10-24T13:48:00.004+11:00

We took a mini holiday in Mornington this weekend so of course I had to bring my running gear. This morning I was woken up very early by the cacophony of birds. (For my international readers: most Aussie birds don't sound nice. They squawk loudly and obnoxiously.) I tried desperately to get back to sleep but it was too loud. So at 6:30am I was off for a tempo run, taking advantage of an area without hills.

It was mild and perfectly still. 3km out at an easy pace, and planned 3km back at a faster pace. Missed the turn off to get back so it ended up being about 3.5km back. Still managed to get home a minute faster despite the longer route.

Things I learnt from the GOW

2010-10-20T20:43:00.005+11:00

Trail running is not about taking it easy. It's about getting out of your comfort zone. It's character building.

Racing in bad weather is not nearly as bad as it sounds (see above point).

My unconventional training is effective. I don't need to spend hours and hours running each week.

Training on similar terrain would have helped immensely (although where to find mud during a drought, I don't know. Then suddenly La Niña popped up, turning the course to mud).

I need to carry less food - my pack is heavy enough as it is.

It is possible to run for a long time on fats and little carbs. Perhaps even preferable.

First trail DNF

2010-10-17T17:13:00.009+11:00

On Friday afternoon we drove down to Apollo Bay for the GOW100km. I was so nervous and excited, I was totally ready to smash my previous time.

Not far from Lorne, there was a landslide on the Great Ocean Road. Huge boulders covered the road and no one could get through. I said to A, "Is this a bad omen? A sign of things to come?" It was already late afternoon and I was stressing about our accommodation and race check in, which needed to be done by 6:30pm. Not only that, but the race briefing was due to start at 6:30 and I'd miss getting my drop bags in on time! My phone had no reception so I couldn't even call anyone to say we're running late! I checked the map and we could go back to Lorne and take an inland route. It looked like a long detour and our trip to Apollo Bay could end up being for nothing.

My phone had reception at Lorne so I called the hotel to say we were checking in late and they said they'd leave the key out for us in case they were no longer around. My phone received a message from Brett alerting us to the Great Ocean Road blockage - it had been sent over an hour earlier! So I called him to say we're way late, but it was cool, they were allowing later registrations and the race briefing would start later. Phew!

The inland route turned out to be smooth sailing and not too long. As we got closer to rejoining the Great Ocean Road, suddenly there was a long queue of cars that had come to a stop. What now? After a while we started moving and passed another landslide that had just been cleared.

Finally we made it to the hotel then quickly scooted over to the pub where I checked in, got my drop bags sorted, and had the mandatory gear check (where I can't believe one guy next to me had zero mandatory gear. What an idiot). The race briefing was over dinner and we were told of someone who had to be air lifted out the previous night. We were warned that there was plenty of mud on the course, river crossings were higher than usual, not to hold onto some trees as they may fall, and there is a hole in the ground where a tree had recently fallen out so careful not to fall in. Safety first.

After a night of tossing and turning I wandered back to the pub with a handful of diced coconut for breakfast for the 5:45am check in. I gotta say, this was such a nice touch to do the roll call at the pub. Thanks Andy + Brett for organising this. The pub opened up at 5:30am to let runners in and serve coffee! Just brilliant!

We gathered round the anchor over the road for the start and it was cold, windy and raining. Soon enough we were off and running. The first part of the course is quite exposed, over grassland and beach. The wind was blowing me sideways, I had to tighten my cap to stop it blowing off my head, and I couldn't wait to get to the sheltered inland. It is so much nicer not being hailed on.

I saw some footprints in the sand and mud that belonged to a pair of Five Fingers. Well done to whoever that was! I hope you had a great run!

The ground was so muddy. I know we were warned about it and I knew it would be muddy but muddy doesn't even come close to describing it. Running on the soft sand was much easier than sliding around in the mud. My glutes and hamstrings were feeling it just trying to keep myself upright. It took me 90 minutes to travel 10km. I then calculated at that rate I could finish in 15 hours. Maybe 17 to allow for fatigue.

There is a little 5km loop that the 100km runners do to get the distance up. This was quite slushy but not too slippery and I was actually able to run again. As part of this loop there is a river crossing we have to go through twice. It was about knee deep and icey cold. It cleaned the mud off my shoes though.

The rest of the run was a mix of me running through mud, walking through mud, having my shoes ripped off by the mud and skiing down the muddy slopes. At times it was shin deep and there were a few puddles that were knee deep.

There were some points along the way where some people just went running past me. How is it possible they can run through this? I could barely keep myself upright! Obviously I never train in the mud!

I checked my watch and noted I had 1 hour to cover the 8km left to get to checkpoint 1 at Blanket Bay before cut off. Not a chance I would make it. I thought I was dead last and every time I heard someone from behind I expected it to be David sweeping me, but each time it was a runner running through the mud. Why were they only picking up speed now? And why weren't they slipping and sliding like me? Why couldn't I run like that through the mud? I tried to pick up pace a few times but it usually resulted in me going for a little ski. If I had a sled I could could've done it.

A said he would surprise me and meet me at some checkpoints along the way for moral support. I hoped he was coming to checkpoint 1.

Blanket Bay was at around the 26km mark and I was about 15 mins late. 3 others also didn't make it in time. It was so disappointing because physically and mentally I was feeling strong and fresh. A quarter of the way through and I felt great.

A was planning to meet me at checkpoint 2 rather than here, but fortunately a kind volunteer drove us back to Apollo Bay. I think we were all feeling a bit sorry for ourselves. This nice volunteer stopped along the way to show us the Manna gums where the koalas like to hang out. He pointed out some koalas and soon enough we were spotting heaps of koalas sleeping in the trees. Well at least something good came of the morning.

After spending ages in the shower (it was perfect without a water saving head) scrubbing the mud off my legs, we took a drive through the wind, rain and hail to the 12 Apostles. It was so wild there. The rain was horizontal and I had to hold onto my phone with two hands to take photos. It definitely lived up to its name of the Shipwreck Coast.

This race had everything. Wind, rain, hail and shine. Dirt, mud, sand, water and a few runnable bits. Many thanks to the organisers and great volunteers. This is the most well run race ever. Everything had been thought of. I was prepared and ready to smash my previous time based on last year's perfect conditions. I will be back with a vengeance next year. I will buy some trail shoes (my Adizero PRO racing flats are great on dry rocks but not mud) and I will hit the trails and toughen up. Just you wait, GOW, I will conquer you yet.

Nearly ready

2010-10-13T20:45:00.003+11:00

This week I am tapering big time. I don't run much anyway, but I do push myself at the gym so as of Tuesday I've been restricting myself to walking only and lots of foam rolling on this pesky TFL that seems to be playing tricks lately.

Before every ultra I've done I've always become absolutely terrified of the task ahead. Will I be able to make the checkpoint cut off times? Will it be windy and rainy the whole time? Will my achilles behave? Will I remember to eat breakfast this time? Will I even be able to finish?

I've never believed in carbo loading before, but since I've been eating low carb I am considering it now, only because what I eat during a run is fruit so I don't want to get any unexpected sugar highs or crashes from it. So as of today I'm upping my carbs to about 75g per day until the big day.

There are a lot of things to pack. I'm scared I'll forget some of the mandatory gear or my favourite foods for the drop bags. At least I've remembered to put the beer in the fridge for when I get home :)

There will be GOW updates on Twitter at twitter.com/gow100s. You don't have to sign up to follow.

Making the Garmin 305 go the distance

2010-10-06T18:35:00.004+11:00

I'm not sure what the battery life on the Garmin Forerunner 305 is supposed to be but mine only lasts about 6.5 hours now. This is no good if you plan to run longer and you want a pretty map and all the graphs that come with it.

Today I got this recharger that will charge it on the go with either 2 x AA or 2 x AAA batteries! You can also recharge your batteries with it from the computer and it comes with lots of adapter thingies to make it useful for your phone, camera, or whatever else you have that needs charging.

The only problem with running a long way is I've read that Sporttracks wont upload files longer than 18 or 20 hours or something like that. I'm not sure but there may also be a limit on the length of time the Garmin will record. I plan to hit the lap button when I plug the charger in so that hopefully I can split the laps for upload and stick em back together.

Anyone have any tips on this?

2010-10-02T10:00:00.002+10:00

My original plan was 2.5hrs today but I had a sudden attack of The Lazies and decided on a shorter route. By the time I made it home I'd done 14km and was just feeling warmed up and ready to do more. Oh well.

This time in 2 weeks I will be either having a fab time out on the trails on the shipwreck coast or questioning my sanity or both. Seriously, all I can remember from last year is sand, some steep hills, sand, and spiders that come out at night... on the sand.

Run home from work

2010-09-23T15:40:00.005+10:00

For the first time in a while I had a weeknight free so ran home from work last night. The plan was to hit the trails and follow the river all the way home so I could test my new headtorch on the single trail, and also see how it felt using the middle strap over the top of the head.

I took a favourite route that I don't get to often.

And took some new trails in too.

I wasted time on a trail that went in a complete circle so I decided I couldn't be bothered running along the river all the way home coz it would be pretty late by the time I made it so I just hit the streets for the rest of the way. I forgot that the purpose of this run was to test the torch on single trail and it wasn't dark yet. I'm not concerned though.

It got dark as I got closer to home and I saw some people running around with headtorches on. Damn! Missed another Street-O. One day I will go! This would've been the perfect opportunity to run around with my headtorch.

I put my headtorch on for the last few kms when I got to some dark streets, including a short cut that's rough underfoot and has no lighting. It took a minute to get used to the extra strap but it felt pretty secure and surprisingly comfortable.

The lighting is pretty good. Last year at GOW I used dad's headtorch which you can either set to a focus or diffuse beam. I couldn't see much. My new Fenix has a focus spot, but also a broader beam at the same time. Since I can't see anything at night, this is perfect for me. The lighting settings are also very good and I surprised myself by not needing the brightest setting on the streets.

The torch also turned out pretty handy because usually I am blinded by oncoming traffic and everything just goes pitch black for me and I have to stop. Last night was great, because I could still see the focus bit of the beam on the ground and didn't have to stop every time a car went past.

When I got home I was so exhausted. Maybe it could be to do with having DOMS in my calves. Or maybe it could be from eating low carb. I will post more about my nutrition experiments later.

Form and technique

2010-09-17T12:08:00.002+10:00

I came across this interesting video on running form on the Crossfit Endurance website:

You need to be pretty fit to implement some of the changes they look at. If you reduce your vertical bounce and increase your stride distance, you will obviously be able to go much faster. But could your heart rate keep up with yourself?

Speaking of which, my conditioning has gone to shit. My legs are strong, but my poor cv fitness will be what holds me back at GOW this year.

New gear!

2010-09-05T16:16:00.003+10:00

This week my order from Zombie Runner arrived! I needed a headtorch for the GOW in October and always have to pick up a few extra things when I order from them. I got a Fenix HP10 headtorch, an Ultimate Direction 10oz hand held water bottle, and a book on the Barkley Marathons.

I tested the head torch during the week. Without the batteries, when you put it on it is so light it doesn't weigh anything! I actually weighed it while it was on my head and it was 0 grams. Fantastic! Then I put the batteries in and it was about 5kg. I didn't wear the middle headstrap and that meant the battery pack did weigh it down and pull near the back of my head. This will be a dilemma as I will have to change my hairstyle so I can wear the middle strap. I don't like low pony tails or plaits coz I can't stand things on the back of my neck when I run but that will probably be the only way I can get around this middle strap. I'll give that a go next week.

As for the lighting, it was pretty good. I only ran on a bike path so it was very clear, and I knew it very well. I should probably give it a go on some single trail, but I think it will be ok. It will light up 120 lumens for 7.5 hours and I don't plan to be in the dark longer than that at GOW.

Today I used the small handheld bottle. Since my long runs are now time based, and at 2.5hours, I wanted a small handheld bottle. That time is not long enough for me to be bothered with a Camelbak, but I still get a headache after that time if I haven't had anythink to drink. It's adjustable so you really don't need to grip it at all. And it has a pocket, which as you can see, fits my house key, and more if I needed.

I've wanted to read the Barkley Marathons book for a while now. The Barkley is the toughest ultra in the world. The run started in 1986 and to date only 9 runners have ever finished. There are so many quirks about this run - it is a completely bizarre concept and I recommend reading some race reports of this to get an idea, or even just find out how to enter! I look forward to reading the book.

What would the experts say?

2010-09-05T15:53:00.003+10:00

My achilles has been getting a little worse lately, and the worst of it has shifted from the right side to the left, which is really strange, because I am never injured on my left side. I don't want it to get to the point it was 2 years ago where I couldn't run as far as the end of the street. I thought I should go to either the pod or physio again. But then I thought of the cost, and how every time I pay $70 or so just to be told kind of what I already knew, but had never put into action.

So this week, I said to myself What would my last podiatrist say? He'd probably tell me off for wearing flats for long runs, he'd tell me to buy some more Nike Frees, then he'd tell me to put heel lifts in for a few weeks and to ice after each run. I'm too cheap to replace my Frees but I put the large heel lifts (that he gave me last time) in my Adizero PROs. Pain diminished A LOT! I have also taken up icing the achilles after running when I remember, which makes no difference.

I also said to myself, What would the physio say? And I took up stretching my tight muscles nightly, particularly adductors, hip flexors and hamstrings, and occasionally doing eccentric calf raises (even though a previous pod said my calves were strong as iron and don't need them). I've also added some single leg work including split Bulgarian squats for the glutes. I haven't been consistent enough to notice anything from these things yet, but I just saved myself the cost of appointments to 2 people.

In recent race photos I've also noticed some excessive shoulder rotation which was not there before, so I'm now including some Pallof Presses (and variations) a few times a week to strengthen my core. They are deceptively difficult. I recommend everyone give these a go as part of a warm up. Everyone could do with a stronger core.

2010-08-29T12:24:00.002+10:00

I've been having a hard time trying to get up early for my long run on the weekends. I prefer to sleep for 12 hours to catch up from the week but I dragged myself out of bed after 10 hours this morning for my long run.

My long runs are now time based and I don't plan to run longer than 2.5 hours. That means I wont be running to exhaustion and not aggravating my achilles more than necessary. It also means that hopefully I'll be able to run a bit faster, and because I am too lazy to carry stuff, I wont have to bring any water.

So today I headed out for 2.5 hours. My achilles weren't happy, especially with the 4km uphill slog home, but other than that I felt fine.

After my shower I felt a bit nauseous and had to lie down for an hour. It's hard to know what caused this because the actual run wasn't strenuous. Was it because I only got 10 hours sleep, and needed that extra bit? Or because I wasn't very hungry yesterday and only ate about 1200 calories, half of that being beer and takeaway?

Swooping season is here

2010-08-20T15:53:00.004+10:00

I was just thinking about how nice it is the sun is rising a bit earlier and the magnolias are blooming. That means winter is nearly over! Finally! But it also means it's nearly magpie swooping season. I got swooped a few times while out running last year. They hit you really hard in the head! And mess up your hair!

The DSE has produced a Magpie Map where you can see where all the latest swoopings have been reported! Where the most magpies are, well that's where I run. You can also get a Swoop Off Kit, which includes eyes to stick on the back of your bike helmet to scare them off.

I was excited about my long run tomorrow through the local trails, but after reading that it's swooping season already, I'm a bit scared!

The Tan Ultra 53.5km

2010-08-19T19:25:00.006+10:00

The Tan track is a Melbourne icon. People travel there to run or walk it. It's a wide footpath of fine gravel, a bit under 4km around the botanic gardens and the domain, and to be honest it's not very interesting. I have never even considered going there for a training run.

Last weekend was the Tan Ultra 100km main event with 53.5km "fun run" option. I did the "fun run". I did it to see how I'd compare against my previous time 2 years ago (6:06:50) and would have liked to have gone under that, but kind of knew I wouldn't since I am not doing as much running now. After DNFing all the long road races I've entered this year, and after really killing both achilles' after the You Yangs, I was a little hesitant about this. To top it off the weather was forecast to be rainy with 40km/hr winds. But I decided to tough it out. I was really curious to see what my 50ish km road time would be and this was the only run of this distance left in the year for me to do.

The fun run started at a leisurely 9am so it was nice not to have to get up super early for a run. It was so inspiring getting there and seeing the 100km runners who had been going since 7am and all at such a cracking pace! The guys go at a super fast pace and the girls were so impressive running at around my half marathon pace! I am in awe of everyone there. Maybe one day I can be that fast too!

My plan was to run to around 20kms then take walk breaks up Anderson St for the rest of the run. I was hoping not to walk as much as last time - I do remember last time struggling on the flats a lot. Unfortunately on the 3rd lap up Anderson St my left ITB twinged a bit so I had to hobble that before getting it under control, and from the 4th lap onwards I walked up Anderson. Last time I found the southern end of the loop quite a challenge but I'm pretty sure I only took 1 little walk break along there this time. Comparing the stats from previously, my running pace is much slower this time round. Last time I walked 4.6kms, this time I walked 3.9km. Last time the first 4 laps were all under 6min/k! That's way fast for me now!

I took it easy this time going at my own plod of a pace. I guess I just like to be in my comfort zone! Each lap got slower and slower, until a running friend joined me in the middle of his Sunday long run. It was funny as I was running he was walking beside me! It is interesting looking at my stats as you can see where I tried to keep up with him on my 10th lap. Thanks Bruce for slowing to a shuffle for me! That was great to get me to that point as I knew I was on the home stretch from then.

I took a hand held water bottle and ran every 2nd lap with it, until the last 2 laps where I couldn't be bothered with it anymore. From about the 1/2 way point it occurred to me I hadn't even had breakfast so from then I occasionally stopped to eat some strawberries or orange slices, and take some sips of apple juice or my dad's homemade boysenberry cordial. That was plenty of food and drink for me, although as usual there was a fabulous spread on offer including chocolate, chips, salted potatoes, fruit cake, sandwiches, bananas and probably more I didn't notice. Thanks to RD Nick and the great volunteers for putting this all out there and also offering kind words of encouragement. It is always so welcome to be around friendly faces when you are really tired! And as usual all the other runners were super friendly and encouraging. I'm not sure that I've mentioned enough just how great the ultra running community is.

I had never worn an Ipod before during a run but decided this would be as good time as any. 14 laps could get old without some entertainment. Unfortunately since I had never done this before, I didn't consider the chafing from the arm band! I didn't bring any Bodyglide, since I don't normally suffer chafing or blisters, but it wasn't too bad in the end. I started off with the radio, then a Dvorak Symphony I hadn't got around to listening to yet, then shuffled songs for a bit, and finally on the last lap a bit of techno to pump me up. I have selective hearing though, and despite being a musician by trade, I tend not to pay any attention to music if it's background noise. I wasn't really listening much until the end when I cranked it up to get me to the finish.

It was a good finish for me. I had picked up the pace in the last kilometre and felt like I was actually running. Dad, J, and 2 relatives visiting from Russia were all there at the finish so I made it across the line at around 6:41:xx with cheers from them and got my finisher's medal from Nick with a few photos taken.

My achilles were quite sore during the race but because I was walking up Anderson St it wasn't as bad as it could've been. I wore my Adizero PROs which were very comfortable and my feet didn't get tired at all. Overall I felt my legs are strong and can handle any distance, but cardio-wise I felt unfit. The plan now is to work on my conditioning until the GOW100. My legs have the strength to run further, but they can't go at any decent pace if I am getting puffed too soon.

Is there such thing as a Quick Fix?

2010-08-08T10:51:00.000+10:00

On Thursday I went to the physio and begged him for a quick fix for my achilles so I'd be ok for the Tan Ultra next weekend. Well, he did his quick fix but I'm not sure it was as good as last time.

Went for a test run this morning - Intervals at the track. Right achilles fine; left so-so. Didn't do any hills apart from the warm up and cool down so really can't say for sure. Just hope the Anderson St hill at the Tan doesn't cause too many problems.

It was such a beautiful morning. Frosty and sunny. And there were lots of people out on the track walking, running, or just walking their dogs!! I was not into having to get out of the way of a stupid yappy thing charging towards me. I tried to point it to go in a different direction but it didn't understand. Never come across a dog who doesn't understand that. Who walks their dogs on a running track anyway? The running track is next to endless walking trails along the river. I looked for a No Dogs sign but there was only a No Rollerblading sign.

So now all that is left for me to do today is wait for entries to open tonight for my fav race! I've got the website open, alarm set, and ready to hit refresh at the time!

After the Tan I think I will revise my training AGAIN to come up with a plan for the next one. I am finding the whole getting-up-early thing while working long hours very tiring so it's hard to find a balance between running, weights and metabolic conditioning. Not sure how essential running much is. The weights are essential for leg strength and recovery from ultras. But now my legs outrun my lungs so need to make more time for kettlebells so I can get fit again.

Sri Chinmoy Craptacularly Not 30km

2010-08-02T16:18:00.000+10:00

Yesterday was the Sri Chinmoy 30km. I did this 2 years ago and was very happy with my time (something like 2:46 from memory) and for some reason I thought I could get sub 3 hours again, even though I run less.

When my alarm went off I could hear the wind and the rain outside. It was horrible, but I tried to have faith in the SC promise of fine weather. They did a good job but I think the weather was too much for them this time. It was raining at the start but it did manage to clear after 5km. This is the first race in over 5 years (possibly more) that it has rained during a Sri Chinmoy event.

The course is 6 laps of Princes Park. I think I like the laps as it is much easier mentally counting to 6 than it is to 30. But that bugger of a hill near the train station is not nice to do so many times.

I decided to hover around 5:40min/km in order to get under 3 hours. For the first 2 laps this was ok but the 3rd lap was a bit of a struggle. By the time I had done the 4th lap I was ready to call it a day but still pushed on, trying to convince myself that 2 more laps was not much, although I no longer had sub 3 hours in mind. On the fifth lap my legs just fell appart. My hamstrings and calves just started burning and I had to walk up the hill to the train station. It was a bit of a hobble after that and I knew my legs were not going to get better. I started walking some more, occasionally stopping to stretch, and decided to call it a day at 25kms. I was not going to walk the last 5km and I knew there was no more running left in the legs. This was the exact same I'm about to cramp pain that I had at Frankston to Portsea earlier this year.

So now I wonder:

Was it dehydration?

Lack of magnesium?

Road running?

Wearing Five Fingers when I haven't worn them on any long runs this year?

I this it is because it was on the roads not the trails. I seem to do much better on trails walking up hills and running the rest. If this is the case, I don't know how I'll cope with the Tan Ultra in a fortnight.

You Yangs Ultra 50k (last Sunday 25th)

2010-07-29T12:13:00.012+10:00

This was going to be an interesting ultra. The first of the year and the first in my low mileage experiment. I had not run over 30k yet this year and in the weeks leading up to it I didn't run more than twice a week. I bet this is the exact opposite to how everyone else there had been training!

As soon as I got there I was amongst familiar faces and friendly people. Ruth, who won the women's 50k barefoot last year was volunteering this year, and introduced me to Dave, who was wearing Five Fingers for the run. The surface isn't that rough, but with some rocky sections and gravelly bits with big stones I think his feet must be super tough!

We ran together for the first bit at a nice easy pace. He was aiming for around 7 hours, which suited me as that would be just slightly faster than my pace last year. I thought if I can stick with him I'll be right. Soon Matthew from Seattle joined us. This was very interesting as I got to learn about mountain lions and his encounter with a black bear! I am just fascinated by the wilderness, trails and scary animals in the States! We were all feeling pretty good after the first loop of 15k. Then there was the climb to the top of the hill. I swear that hill was longer this year. And this is where I fell apart.

Both my achilles tendons could not handle that steep climb. I was hoping to pick up pace as I ran down the hill but the forces on the achilles while leaping down from the steep giant stairs were too much and I was hobbling down the hill saying ouch, ouch, ouch with each step.

I tried to keep up with Dave and Matthew but at 20km decided to sit back and take it easier. It's amazing how much power you lose when your achilles' are not doing their job so from then I could only run the down hills and walked even the slighted incline. I was concerned about running by myself but the course was much better marked than last year. In fact, the course marking was exceptional so I just had to pay attention.

As I got closer to the 30k return-to-base my achilles were starting to feel a bit better. But then it was time for the second trip to the top of the hill and it got worse again.

It was interesting that there seemed to be quite a few international people there. Matthew commented on the fact you don't need to do any altitude acclimatisation here and later I heard a German and someone else with an accent I couldn't pick saying how nice and flat all the races are here! And this is not a flat course at all!

After the second trip to the top of the hill, and hobbling down saying ouch, ouch, ouch again, there was some really nice single trail running on a gentle downhill which made me feel much better. I was comfortable just spending a day out in the You Yangs and happy to take it easy from there. There was plenty of encouragement from other runners coming from the opposite direction as by now the 15k and 30k field were out and about and the whole area was abuzz with friendly runners saying hello and offering general words of encouragement. I love ultra runners!

Once I got to 40ks I was pretty happy there were only 10k left to go! My leg muscles were feeling great, but my achilles' were not good, and I was ok with 1/2 walking and 1/2 shuffling the rest of the way home. I was thinking about how well marked the course is. Brett is a fantastic race director and it was great to not rely on the map to get around and to be confident seeing course markers every 100 metres or so. My mind was wandering, thinking I'd really like a nice cold beer when this is over, and which bottle shop should I stop at on the way home that sells the best ales. Once I got to 41k I was thinking how strange it was that I hadn't seen a course marker in a while. Not that it was possible to get lost, so I must be on the right track.

I got to a junction and came across some markers for the 30k and 80k runners, but nothing for the 50k-ers. Well I just followed the 80k markers because I was pretty sure we were going the same track, but opposite directions here. Unfortunately my Garmin had told me its batteries were running low and I didn't clear that warning, so missed the beep that should have happened much earlier to tell me I had gone off course! It said I was 500m out. Ugh. Nothing like going off course to get you back into gear and running again!

So I went back down the path I had come from. Or had I come from there? Where exactly was I on this map? My watch was telling me I was now 700m from the course! So I ran back to the junction. I still wasn't on course, but I wasn't as far. I found a km marker for the 80k course and worked out where I was. So I ran down some other path and managed to get back on course, after doing an extra 1.5km!

From here I picked up the pace as much as I could. I was previously on track for doing a similar time to last year but now I was ages behind! I got a bit confused at times, losing focus with fatigue, and concerned about wasting more time. At one point I nearly followed an 80k runner, thinking that was the right way despite course markers telling me otherwise. It was demoralising looking at my watch which said I had only 5k to go when it was really 6.5k due to the detour. I was even more concerned when sometimes my watch would beep saying I'm off course, but then 2 seconds later say I'm on course again. There was no way I was going to run any further than necessary!

Getting closer to the finish there was a slight uphill and my achilles' couldn't keep up with my eagerness to get to the end and not be much slower than last year. I was reduced to walking again, but fortunately managed to run to the finish line. It was a great finish with lots of cheers and friendly runners. Brett cheekily suggested I keep going and do the 80k. No thanks! Maybe if my achilles tendons worked.

So all up I did 51.5km in 7:49. Very slow. My leg muscles felt great though and I would love to know how I'd go if there were no injury issues.

During the race I drank about 1.2L water, ate 2 punnets of strawberries and a small handful of sunflower seeds and diced coconut. I forgot to take my dad's homemade boysenberry cordial and I know that would have given me a bit more energy but it wouldn't've fixed my stupid achilles. I wore my Adizero PRO flats. They were really comfortable and sturdy on the technical sections. No blisters, chafing or any of those uncomfortable things associated with long distances. At one point I popped a magnesium and electrolyte tablet when I thought my calf was going to cramp, but it never did. Not sure if it was the pills that fixed it or if I actually drank enough water for a change.

I'd like to say a huge thank you to the helpful volunteers, encouraging kids on bikes, the amazing runners and RD Brett for making this a great day! I'm looking forward to next year already!

My legs are feeling fresh, despite hitting the gym a few times already this week so this coming weekend I will be doing the Sri Chinmoy 30km, then after that I have booked into the physio for his magical quick fix on my achilles, which will be just in time for the Tan Ultra 53.5km.

TXP : the Tshirt Exchange Project

2010-07-21T20:55:00.003+10:00

Fellow tweeter and blogger, Adam of Stretch Exercise Eat, has come up with a great concept. He's designed a tshirt and it's all yours if you send him one of yours! I sent him an Australian Kettlebells T and now I have a T that says Hello in Korean. It is made of super soft cotton. Like, really soft! And a funky design. This is such a great idea - it's like mail art, but with tshirts! And more practical. Check out the details here, and have a read of his blog too. He's got some great ideas and a perfectly rounded approach to training.

2010-07-11T17:58:00.004+10:00

Felt a bit lazy this weekend and opted for a sleep in instead of something really long. I skipped my usual VHBOS run and went for 23kms of rolling hills including some of the single trails along the Yarra. My left achilles was being stupid, which is highly unusual, and my right achilles was absolutely fine. Finally my right leg has started doing something right as my right gastroc was tight during the whole run. Yes, as painful as it is, it is a good thing. The muscles are working properly.

Sri Chinmoy half marathon

2010-07-05T19:52:00.003+10:00

Yesterday was the SC half at Como Landing, South Yarra. I surprised myself by thinking I got there in plenty of time. Well, maybe if there was a park right at the start but there wasn't. So as is often the case for me, by the time I parked the car I had just enough time to run to the start, sign in while they were calling the half marathoners to get to the start line, dump my bag and make my way to my place near the back of the starting line.

After 27km of intense hills the previous day, my quads were not going to cooperate. They weren't sore, they just didn't want to move. At the 5km mark I was ready to call it a day, at 7ks (this race was 3 laps of 7km) I couldn't believe I had to do it again. And again. By 10km my legs had lost any sense of what running is supposed to be and I started crawling. At 14km I wished I'd just entered the 14km option. At 16km my calves became very tense, almost cramping, and I hobbled home in around 2:16. That's my 2nd longest half ever! It was funny looking at my splits afterwards. The first km was in 5:16, a reasonable pace I should be able to hold. It got slower and slower til my last km was at 7:07 pace!

This is the first time I've done the SC Como Landing course and to be honest I didn't really like it. Too much going up bridges and down tunnels for my liking. I think I only like their Princes Park and Yarra Boulevard courses.

I wore my Five Fingers, and as usual they led to interesting conversations during the race. I spoke to some people while in the line to drop off my bag and at least 3 people during the course. Always happy to spread the minimalist word! It was good to wear them and run with better form, but 2 days of 20+km runs in a row in flats/FFs just about killed both my achilles tendons. I'm really not sure what to do about them. Maybe next year I will have to start running again from scratch. Or take up something low impact like Girevoy Sport.

Double Whammy

2010-07-03T17:27:00.003+10:00

I did my usual VHBOS run today and it worked out to be a touch over 27km and included Ingrams and Reynolds roads. Ingrams didn't feel so bad, and I was really relishing the hills, probably because I took the short way to get there so my legs were pretty fresh. By the time I got to Reynolds I was ready to get down on my hands and knees and crawl. My quads were burning. It was awful. If any crossfitters are reading this, imagine the worst WOD you've ever done and put all that pain into your legs, times it by 2, and that is how it felt. I kept going though, as I refuse to be a soft arse, and my achilles hated me for it.

After I said good morning to the little Asian lady who sings opera along the Diamond Creek trail, I headed home along Allendale Road. That sucked.

My legs just felt like they were on fire. They burned so much I couldn't even tell which muscles were hurting, if I was cramping, or if it was just tiredness. During the last few kms I narrowed it down to my calves and soles of my feet. At first I thought maybe it was because I wasn't drinking much but it wasn't a cramp, and I worked out the real reason.

I wore my Adizero PRs on this run. For the past couple of years, I have worn my Nike Free 3.0s on pretty much all my long runs, and most of my ultras. My feet never feel tired in them. I tell people time and time again that they are not a "barefoot alternative" shoe and that they are really just a light weight trainer/racer. This is so apparent now as I have been using them as a way to make the long runs more comfortable. You don't have to run correctly in them and it is so easy to become lazy in your form as you fatigue. I think today my calves were so sore because I had not trained them well for so long. It was the soreness you get when you start barefooting/minimalist/Pose running. My laziness had finally come to get me.

Tomorrow there's a Sri Chinmoy race on that I plan on doing to make this a 2-long-runs-in-2-days-weekend as part of my You Yangs training. I think I'll do the half marathon. Or if my calves are still complaining I'll go the 14km option. My feet will be fine as I plan to wear my Five Fingers.

2010-06-27T10:02:00.000+10:00

With the demise of my Frees, my last lightweight trainers, I'm deciding what to do next with my choice of footwear. I saw the new Nike Free Hyper TR online, but it's too new for it to be in the factory outlet and I don't want to pay full price in the store.

I've been reading some more blogs this week and I am really out of touch with what is going in the international world of barefoot and Five Fingers runners! This trend is growing much faster than I realised! Not only is there a Barefoot Running University and Barefoot Runners Society, but it seems thousands of people are getting into it in the states and it no longer seems to be considered abnormal! It's been great seeing what these people are up to so I've updated my blog roll on the right for you to check out some more runners.

So this has all got me thinking. Currently I have 2 pairs of Adidas flats and 2 pairs of Five Fingers, which are also beginning to fall apart after a few years. The soles of my feet do tend to tire while wearing flats for long runs, but I have done an ultra in the FFs before, so maybe I should just toughen up again and do my long runs in the flats and short runs in the FFs. I'm really not bothered to toughen up enough to run trails in the FFs, especially since mine are the Sprints with poor grip. So it will be flats for the trails and FFs for the roads. My right achilles will hate it, but I'm running less than ever this year, relying on leg strength from weight lifting to get me through long distances. So just maybe I can do this.

I've got 2 trail ultras and 2 road ultras planned for this year. The road ultras will be tough in flats, but the trails should be fine. Next one is the You Yangs 50km on July 25.

RIP Nike Frees

2010-06-22T07:03:00.003+10:00

This morning while deciding which shoes to wear, I noticed my Frees got a massive rip in them from the rogaine. I guess that's why my feet felt like they were slipping around so much. Lucky they were being held in by gaiters.

These shoes have been going for 2 years, 2377 km (1477 miles), 2 road ultras, 1 trail ultra and a 6 hour rogaine.

They'll still be good for road running until I can get some more. But now what to wear at the You Yangs 50km in July?

My ideal shoe would be the shape of the Adizero PRO, the softness of the Adizero PR, the sole durability of the Nike Frees, the under sole grip and shape of the Nike Waffles and the flatness of the Adizero PR with room to insert a heal lift for when my achilles complains. Any suggestions?

First Rogaine - We Came 2nd!

2010-06-20T09:48:00.005+10:00

Yesterday was my first rogaine! It was a 6 hour event a couple hours drive north of Melbourne. I didn't really know what to expect, but was told we'd be walking and jogging. I can manage that for 6 hours.

My all girl team consisted of 2 other girls who are hardcore adventure racers and know how to navigate. It turns out I also know how to navigate but lack the lingo. "If we go due east to the summit then we should be able to see the saddle near the water junction and from there nav to the checkpoint up on the spur" - not something I'd normally hear in everyday conversation.

We did very little running as we were rarely on tracks. I'm pretty slow at bush bashing, unlike the adventure racers who walk through scrub, over logs, and drop 2m down into creek beds as casually as if they were just walking down the street. I tend to look where I'm going, check the tree I'm about to grab onto for spiders and take the long way down to the creek bed if it's easier. When we did get to a track and could run, this was much easier for me!

We passed through interesting land including old cottages, mines, aqueducts, bushland and many creek beds (sorry, water courses), which were fortunately all dried up. It was very hilly out there and after a couple of hours my achilles decided to complain, but since it was at an easy pace it wasn't too bad. The weather was perfect, starting off cool and foggy, but soon enough the sun came out and it was just lovely. I wore my Nike Frees which aren't that good for rough ground. I like my shoes loose with room to wiggle my toes about but in this situation my feet were sliding around in my shoes and I did get a couple of minor blisters, which I would never normally get. I can really see the value of trail shoes in this situation.

We got back to the Hash House with 9 minutes to spare and feasted on their amazing food! They had on offer toasties on the bbq, vegie burgers, soup, potato, rice, curry, stew and for dessert there was apple crumble and custard! Unfortunately after a million servings of the best vegie soup ever, the apple crumble had all disappeared. Next time I will have a strategy for getting all the food I want.

Not having any expectations for my first event, and going at such a casual pace, I had no idea what was considered an average score or something reasonable to aim for. It turns out we placed second! Only beaten by a team of 70 year olds!

My team mates being much faster at bush bashing than me:

How to prepare for a rogaine?

2010-06-14T09:50:00.005+10:00

On Saturday I got my VHBOS run in (Volcanic Hills Balls of Steel), which was around 25km including Reynolds and Allendale Rds from the Wattle Glen end. It was much easier starting at this end. I plan to take in part of the VHBOS every weekend possible to get as much leg strength and mental strength from the hills as I can. My hamstrings were still pretty sore from stupidly doing RDLs on Thursday (way too late in the week for hamstring work with a long run on Saturday). I wore my Adizero PRs to see how my feet would hold up in flats over that distance. I love those shoes so much but the soles of my feet were pretty fatigued so unfortunately that means I will have to wear the Nike Frees next weekend for a rogaine.

So... this coming Saturday I will be doing a 6 hr rogaine! The course will be 60% state forest, 30% historical diggings and 10% private land. I've been orienteering once about 15 years ago but that was very quick and easy. I'll be in a team of 3 and one of the girls has done a lot of this stuff so I will be in good hands.

I have been told to wear long pants and gaiters because the scrub can scratch up your legs. Well I don't have any long pants, because who runs in long pants? I have small roc bloc gaiters for running and I have big bushwalking gaitors, but I have been told there are special orienteering ones too! The little gaiters aren't suitable but I don't know how uncomfortable it will be running in big bushwalking gaiters! But then, I've also been told it will be quite easy going walking and jogging, because obviously you can't go at proper running speed while bush bashing. I have all the other gear - waterproof jacket, first aid kit, compass etc.

This will be my first long distance event of the year, although at an easy pace. So I'm not sure if I should be tapering or not. In any case, I am not going to risk the event with DOMS from weight lifting or any fatigue from running too much so my week will look like this:

Monday - Kettlebells
Tuesday - Gym (squats, rows, push ups, most likely followed by intervals on the C2 rower)
Wednesday - Hill sprints
Thursday - Something easy to recover from, probably kettlebells
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 6 hr rogaine
Sunday - Rest!

So... anyone reading this done any long distance orienteering or rogaining? Should I do more of a taper or not worry? Do I need to buy long pants? Or will 3/4 tights and bushwalking gaiters do? Any tips?

Pipeline Track

2010-06-06T19:37:00.003+10:00

I was in Hobart this weekend so decided to do a bit of a run up the mountain. I am also thinking about doing the Point to Pinnacle run this year and thought I should give myself a taste of it.

I ran up Ridgeway Rd, which was 5km of relentless uphill. After that there were a couple of kms of undulations, although still mostly uphill to Huon Rd where I took the Pipeline track back down. This led to Gentle Annie's Falls. The only thing gentle about going down this waterfall is that there is no water, just steep sandstone steps. You can see it on the elevation profile at around 9km - the vertical drop down. From there I took some trails around the Waterworks and headed back home. It was very nice running downhill after all the up!

Attack of the Mega Hills

2010-06-01T20:02:00.006+10:00

I was out of town last weekend, and will be again this coming weekend so decided to get some kms in the bank during the week.

I ran to work this morning. It was a pretty good run and the 2.5kg pack didn't slow me down too much. It's nice running amongst the horses during peak hour when you are really not far from the city.

I've run either to or from work on a semi regular basis, but never done both in one day. I was a little undecided whether to catch the train or run home. It's 17.5km each way. After a heap of chocolate for afternoon tea I decided I would run home. They say 17.5km x 2 does not equal 35km. Most people would say it's about the same as 25km in the legs in one go. Well throw in a few Mega Hills, DOMS from gym the previous day, and an inadequate diet of chocolate, this seemed more like 50km. My left calf was cramping big time and I was attempting some running type movement in slow motion. Half way up the last of the Mega Hills, I called A to pick me up, but he wasn't answering his phone! So I had to crawl home at a snail's pace. It took me 10 mins longer to get home than it did to run in.

It was an interesting experience. And I think I'm going to give it another go on Thursday.

No soft arses here

2010-05-22T14:09:00.007+10:00

It was really cold this morning setting off at 6:30am when it was 0 degrees and frost everywhere. By the time I got home it had warmed up to 6.

Today's long run was 29.5km and took in Ingrams and Reynolds Rds from Research to Wattle Glen. I had been told Reynolds Rd is worse than Allendale Rd and like with Allendale, if you walk you have to yell out SOFT ARSE! Well I didn't want the cows and kangaroos to know I am a soft arse so I killed my quads contending with this:

I'm not sure if you can see clearly in the picture, but those powerlines at the very top of the hill, where there is a break in the trees, mark the end of the first hill on Reynolds Rd (this is after Ingrams Rd, which is also a toughie).

On the elevation profile, you can see that Ingrams Rd starts at 12.8km and the start of Reynolds (the above hill) is at 15.5km where the elevation looks more like a scaling of a cliff than a road.

I was really buggered by the time I got into Diamond Creek (the suburb). I took in some of Diamond Creek (the river) on the way home. I could hear some opera in the distance. It sounded like someone was practising Madame Butterfly at first but then it became a tune I didn't recognise. As I ran further, I came across a little lady walking down the path singing! Her mouth was wide open and she was doing I guess the classical equivalent of noodling. Just singing some beautiful notes with a lovely tone.

Then I took in some of Allendale Rd to get home via the streets. At 27km my legs were shaking, but it was good. It's amazing what a good run does for your mind, it was a really good run. I tried to speed up over the last 800m but my quads weren't into that. It's good to know my legs still have some endurance and I can think more about the ultras I want to do this year :)

Birthday run

2010-05-10T16:13:00.004+10:00

Every year I go for a nice birthday run. Today it was nice and sunny so I wore the Five Fingers out for a little trail run. There was a fair bit of gravel so I got to practise treading lightly. It wasn't nearly as painful as I thought it would be but then I started to relax and stepped on something ouchie. My foot still hurts! Although it was ok to continue to run on when I focused on light footsteps. There were so many butterflies out! I wanted to get a picture of one but they wouldn't stay still.

2010-05-08T09:45:00.001+10:00

25.5km of suburbia, cross country, road works, country roads, trying not to get run over, kangaroos and highways.

My long runs are getting better now, turning into long runs. Maybe I'll hit 30km next weekend.

Run to work

2010-05-06T14:39:00.003+10:00

I decided on a whim to run to work today for the first time this year. Last year I really found the 3kg pack with all my stuff in slowed me down and I found the 17.5km quite fatiguing.

Today my calves were really tight from 60 squat jumps yesterday so I wasn't sure how they'd like a medium distance run with a few mega hills at the start. My traps are killing from something, maybe deadlifts mixed with some other pulling, so wasn't sure how they'd like having a pack rest of them for that distance. There was constant rain this morning, so it really should've been a horrible run.

But it actually turned out well. The pack didn't slow me too much so I was well under 2 hours, my sore muscles didn't bother me at all while running and even though I struggled to get out of bed I had a good amount of energy and managed to pick up the pace towards the end.

Sri Chinmoy Princes Park 5km

2010-04-25T15:42:00.004+10:00

Today I did the Sri Chinmoy 5km. I was concerned about the weather as it was forecast for wind and rain. It never rains at SC events but I didn't want to battle the wind like in Frankston to Portsea the other week.

It turned out to be a fabulous calm, cool, sunny day. Perfect for really seeing where I'm at. I was expecting to be just sub 25mins, but secretly hoping for closer to 24mins.

I did some foam rolling before the run and I think it really helped. I wore my Five Fingers and had no achilles problems at all so it was a completely pain free run.

The first 2 kms were good splits at 4:36 and 4:37 and they felt quite comfortable. I started to get tired around 1/2 way and had to use more effort for a 4:47 3km split. I struggled with the little incline near the train station. My HR was so high on the flat run home and even though my legs had the strength to do more I really couldn't go any faster. Made it in 23:50 by my watch. I think that's my 2nd fastest 5km so nothing to complain about there. It wasn't fast enough for an age placing though :( so I was unsocial and didn't bother sticking around after.

2010-04-17T10:19:00.002+10:00

Last weekend's mediocre run was the start of me getting back into endurance training and preparing myself for better races this year. I'll still lift weights and swing kettlebells but I will focus more on my running goals and less on my obsession with lifting big numbers.

I need to plan my runs a bit better though. Today I was aiming for 25km but it only ended up being 19km. I always forget just how far long runs actually are.

It was a nice day:

Frankston to Portsea

2010-04-11T15:12:00.002+10:00

Lesson learned today: If you are going to run an ultra, you should consider training for it.

My game plan today was to maintain a lively pace for as long as I could, slow down, not take a walk break until at least 30km, and shuffle the rest of the way home.

So I started off ok despite the 45km/hr wind and settled into a good pace with Michelle. I lost her after about 5km when took my rain jacket off, which I was wearing for the very first time. I still had her in my sights and thought as long as I could see her in the distance then my pace was good.

I was very lucky that there were a bunch of awesome crews so special thanks to Bruce who was carrying my bag with my special homemade boysenberry cordial and to Bernie who kindly offered to take my water pack and offer me food and drink every few kms instead. And thanks to all the other crews who offered me stuff, especially the guy with oranges. Yay, a fruit on offer to a runner that's NOT a banana! To be honest, I could've arrived without any food or drink and be adequately looked after. I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone rely on the good nature of volunteers and crews but it was great to lose the pack.

I was traveling ok til about 14km when I started to tire. I guess I was going faster than usual and at that point felt like I had had a good run and was ready to go home and have some coffee and breakfast.

Some time around the 20km mark the headwind increased in strength and it started to rain. Hard. And hail. So I was practically being blown backwards with sharp things landing in my face and rain washing the sweat down my face and stinging my eyes so I was trying to run with my eyes closed down a busy highway with poor visibility hoping the drivers could see better than me. It was just brutal. And it must've looked a funny sight with a bunch of runners along the road in this weather.

At 25km I stopped where both Bruce and Bernie were doing their crew thing and had a drink. Suddenly my hamstrings and calves cramped up and I couldn't stand still. I popped a magnesium and continued on my way, aching legs trying to resist the headwind and keep me moving forward.

After this my legs just weren't feeling any better, the wind was practically blowing me backwards and I realised my game was up. I took my first walk break at 26km and couldn't walk much better than I could run. I do not enter races just to finish. I don't want to be battered and bruised and miserable until I'm at least 90% done. So I pulled out at 28km, thankful to be in a warm car and away from that pain and misery.

I'll post some photos of pain and misery when I get them, but for now, here's a chart of my pace with elevation. You can see where it falls appart.

Running an ultra with no specific training

2010-04-10T06:49:00.003+10:00

Tomorrow I'm doing the Frankston to Portsea 55km. This race has a long history based on Percy Cerutty's interesting training methods so I am really looking forward to taking part in this slice of running history.

The only thing is I haven't trained for it.

Over the past few months my weekly training has looked like this:

Deadlift x 1
Squat x 1
1 other lift (eg push press, front squat etc) x 1
Kettlebells x 1-2
Other metabolic training such as TRX, ropes, bodyweight x 2-3
Running - hills x 1
Running - intervals x 1
Running - medium distance 10-25km x 1

Looking at that outline, it doesn't even look like I'm training for running. It just looks like general fitness. And if you were told that is a running program, what distance could it possibly be? 10km? Half marathon?

I have not run over 25km this year. This is mainly because my goal races are months away so I haven't been bothered, it takes up time, I'm too lazy to take water on the run, and I've been very busy this year so sometimes opting for a sleep in instead.

I know I can do 55km, but how will it go? Will I crash and burn at 30km? Will my ITB play up like at my last ultra? Will my head hang low as I stumble last to the finish line? Can I run the whole distance? Can I maintain a lively pace? Could I possibly even do it well?

Who knows. We'll find out tomorrow :)

Living Barefoot Podcast

2010-04-05T14:56:00.002+10:00

A while ago I had a chat with Al and Tina from Living Barefoot. They've got a podcast with some interviews of very interesting people who are high up in the barefoot and minimalist footwear world. Then they interviewed me. Check it out here.

22 months of achilles pain GONE

2010-03-13T18:23:00.003+11:00

For a the past few weeks I've had some issues in one of the patella tendons in my right knee. It was painful at times and started to be felt while running. Last weekend I attended a kettlebell workshop and when I couldn't kneel on it to do TGUs, the instructors recommended a physio.

So on Thursday I went to see Andrew Lock in Hawthorn. I had high hopes since he was recommended by people I respect, so I thought I'd also mention this ongoing achillies problem in the hope he'd have some thoughts on that.

While sitting in the waiting room I browsed some of the titles on the shelves.

He did some tests on my legs and I seemed fine. So a little digging into lower back later, and my achilles was fixed!! He explained the science behind it. Stuff to do with nerves and stuff. I was in shock really.

All Friday I kept poking it, expecting it to hurt at any moment, but nothing!

Today was a lovely day for a run.

Even after 25km of hills - something that would normally aggravate the achilles - I was not limping. No problems at all. Unbelievable!

I've still got 2 weeks til I next see him, so that's 2 weeks to see if I can stuff it up again. Not that I want to, I just can't believe it was fixed so quickly.

First Long Run of the Year

2010-02-27T19:01:00.005+11:00

Today I decided to go for a long run to see if my endurance has suffered, and to attempt to build up a solid base for my main races this year.

Although I had not been getting enough sleep during the week and have been walking around like a zombie, I felt surprisingly good when I woke up and had a rough idea of a 20-25km run. At 6am it was 26 degrees, I could see lightning on the horizon but no rain to cool me down. I was expecting my hamstrings to be a bit sore from heavier-than-planned deadlifts late in the week but they felt fine. My leg turnover was pretty good and it seems like doing lots of intervals this year (for distance, time and hills) has improved my general speed. Unfortunately with all the hills and heat my heart rate was so high I was forced to slow down. At the 14km mark I was overcome with extreme thirst and didn't bring water or any money to stop at a shop to get some. My HR was still so high but I forced myself to keep going so I could hurry up and get home and rehydrate. At 500m to go and 2 short but steep hills remaining, my HR got to 189 and I just walked the rest of the way, totaling 22.6km. After some water, a nectarine, some homemade boysenberry cordial and a shower I went to sleep for a couple more hours.

Despite totally crashing at the end, my legs feel absolutely fine considering it's been so long since any decent length run. All these deadlifts and squats must be making them nice and strong. Lots of intervals have improved my comfortable running speed. Now I either need to get fitter or the weather needs to start cooling down and I should be able to make the most of it.

I wore my new Adizero PRs. They are soooooooo comfy! But I think they will wear out quickly. Their light weight soles are showing more wear than I've seen on any other shoe before - and my fav shoes are still going strong after 1000-2100km.

New shoes! Adizero PR

2010-02-19T20:16:00.007+11:00

I was so excited today I got to try out my new Adizero PRs. I have been wanting these for sooooo long and they are now discontinued but I managed to find them online. (They still crop up on eBay if you're interested). When they arrived, the box felt so light, it felt empty! They even felt lighter than my Five Fingers but I couldn't believe that was possible. So I weighed them on the bathroom scales but they were too light to register! So I got out the kitchen scales and weighed all my shoes. From lightest to heaviest, this is what I have:

Overall I find the fit of the PRs pretty good. I like the fit of the PROs better as they are slightly wider around the ball of the foot. But the PRs are not too narrow and I had no blisters.

I took the PRs out for 14km - a mix of road, trail, hills, rocks and a water crossing. They are really stable on rough ground and being such open mesh, they dry quickly after being soaked. After the run I checked the sole and saw signs of wear already after 1 use! So I'm a bit concerned how long they will last, especially as they are to be my main shoe of choice (FFs still for track and short races). We'll see over time.

Vibram Five Fingers - Where do you wear yours?

2010-02-13T17:48:00.007+11:00

I've been running in Vibram Five Fingers for a couple of years now. I mix up my footwear a bit during the week but always wear them while training on the track and in short races.

A few weeks ago I saw some people wearing them at an outdoor dance party. This was the first time it occurred to me that people might wear them for a non sporting activity.

Sometimes I wear mine gardening.

Where do you wear yours?

2010-02-13T10:20:00.004+11:00

I'm still struggling with my running. I'm hoping in March it will suddenly become easier as the weather cools down, but I also have a feeling my current regime of intense workouts and weight lifting is not doing any favours.

Today I did 15km and it wasn't so bad, although with humidity at 95% I felt like I was swimming through an oil slick.

The run took in Horrible Horse's Hill which I have avoided for most of my runs over the past 12 months. I think it's gotten a bit easier.

The Other Runner...

2010-02-10T20:23:00.001+11:00

Regular readers of my blog know I’m a big fan of running in minimalist footwear. That is, shoes that offer no support, are light, and are not much different to running barefoot.

I’ve been in conversation with Diana from her blog The Other Runner. Check out what I have to say here.

2010-01-31T09:25:00.003+11:00

So it's Sunday and I finally managed to drag myself out for my second run this week. It was about 27 degrees at 6:30am so instead of the max effort runs I've been focusing on this month I just took it easy. I was sporting my new unbelievably cool Punk Rock Racing cap that Ron at PunkRockTriGuy.blogspot.com sent me this week. His Punk Rock Racing website will be up soon with some super cool racing gear and I can't wait to get some.

Shameless plug

2010-01-30T09:27:00.003+11:00

Aside from not doing much running, lifting heavy things, buying a TRX and kettlebells, I have finally officially updated my personal training site. If you're interested, please take a look at wildfitness.com.au - feedback welcome :)

Struggling

2010-01-16T17:50:00.004+11:00

I've been struggling on my long runs since I started my new training plan. I think it's a combination of the weather and also a lot of high intensity stuff at the gym. Still working out the best days for heavy squats so they don't affect my interval or hill running too much. And also working out which days are best for double workouts and which combinations go best so I can put max effort in.

This morning I woke up hungry but made a quick getaway before I gave in and ate breakfast to do my short-long run of 14km. My legs were just so exhausted and I was finding it pretty tough at 6:30am already 20 degrees and 99% humidity.

I found a little trail off the main Plenty River trail and decided to go down there for a bit. After a while it branched off into mtb-ish tracks so I picked the route with the least amount of stinging nettles before making my way back to where I was going.

A tough run, but still good to be out with the wildlife.

Sri Chinmoy 5km

2010-01-16T17:34:00.005+11:00

Last weekend was the Sri Chinmoy 5km at Princes Park. This first race of the year was for me to see just how much slower I've got. Well I did it in 25:08 - shame about those 8 seconds, but it took me at least 1 km to warm up and even then I was really struggling to hold on. I'd like to blame the weather, because it did get warm towards the end, but I honestly didn't notice it that much.

I wore my Five Fingers, which turned out to be a great choice. My feet just felt so light. Pity about the heavy legs and unusually high heart rate. I passed someone else in FFs and hoped to catch up with him at the end. I only hung around for a few minutes, but maybe he was in the 10km event because I didn't see him.

Anyway, now I know how slow I am. The next race will be better.

2010 goals and new training plan

2009-12-19T13:22:00.006+11:00

After all the running I've done this year, I have gradually gotten slower. I put it down to 3 ultras in the second 1/2 of the year and also doing my long runs at a more comfortable pace. It served its purpose this year for me because I ran further and longer than before, and my recovery from the ultras this year was much quicker than last. Now I feel confident at distance and know my body can recover well, it is time to change it up and get faster for 2010.

I think it's important to have goals so you know what you're aiming for and why you're doing it. In 2010 I want to run a 20 minute 5k and complete the ultras much faster. No set time for those, except for The Tan Ultra 53.5k I'd like to get under 6 hours.

This is my new plan to get me there, starting this week:

During the week:
All runs will be intervals or tempo runs. If I feel the need to do a recovery run then that will be at a very easy pace and done barefoot, focusing on form.
I will be sure to do additional workouts focusing on my weaknesses. I will be working on strength and/or high intensity workouts combining resistance and cardio.

On the weekend:
Long run will be at a lively pace. I will cut these back to around 16km and gradually increase distance to 30km at the same effort.

I just joined a gym this week (3rd so far this year!). I don't use machines (except the Concept 2 rower) and stick to the free weights. What I like about this gym is they have a good selection of non traditional equipment that I just can't afford right now including kettlebells, TRXs and tyres. It's also good because nobody else uses these OR the squat rack (they're all queuing for the smith machine) so I don't have to wait to use anything I want there. To give you an example, here's what I did today:

Warm up:
A couple of each with empty barbell:
Hang clean, hang squat clean, press, push press, push jerk, front squat, thruster.

Workout #1:
Deadlift 5, 5, 5, 5
Warm up 5 @ 40kg
50, 50, 55, 55
(Could've gone heavier but first time doing deadlifts in this gym and conscious of the noise of the weights. Next time I will do it outside where I did workout #2)

Brief stretch

Workout #2:
21-15-9 reps of
Kettlebell swing @12kg
TRX rows
Push ups

Brief stretch

Bruny Island Ultra 64km

2009-12-12T08:44:00.005+11:00

Last weekend was the Bruny Island Ultra. I knew I would be slower this year than last but my legs are much stronger now so was expecting less pain overall. I wasn't expecting to be over an hour slower this time round but now that means I have to get even with this course next year.

Mum and I stayed at the Explorers Cottages in Lunawanna. I highly recommend them to anyone in the area. Very comfortable, the kitchen has everything, there's a bbq out the back, they even have books, board games, CDs and DVDs and it's the perfect place to relax.

We left the cottage at 4:30am to get to the start at Dennes Point at 5:30. I had scheduled a 5:30am start (you nominate your start time in this race to time your finish between 12:30 and 2:30pm) but ended up starting about 15mins later.

I really like the first 10km of this run. Maybe even the first 18km. The first 2km are all up hill but I don't find it treacherous. The scenery is rolling hills and water down below and it is very peaceful at that time of day. After around 18km it starts to flatten out and the scenery is less interesting so I find it a struggle til around 40km. From there you get more rolling hills, nicer scenery and the thought of the finish, but the hills get worse and I'm pretty sure the kilometres get longer too.

At around 20km I started to get twinges in my right ITB. I could tell this is because after the GOW100s I got a massage. The massage therapist really dug into my ITB and I think he loosened it up too much because I have had the odd twinge ever since. I tried to focus on my form but nothing seemed to help. At 25km it was really sore so I took some paracetamol, which did nothing. The camber of the road irritated it more, but of course, being a country road, there were few sections that were even so there was not much proper running I could do. This meant the remaining 40km I was mostly limping up the hills and hobbling the rest. It was a real shame because my left leg was feeling great. Infact, it could've happily done another 64km! I was thinking, if only I could hop the course!

Mum was meeting me every 8km at first, then every 6, then every 4 and at the end I left my camelbak with her for a few 2km intervals before battling my way to the lighthouse for a 8:43hr finish. I ate lots of watermelon and strawberries. I cannot express enough how refreshing these foods are on a long run! If you have not yet eaten fresh watermelon during an ultra, make it your plan next time! I also popped a few magnesium and Saltstick caps, drank nearly 2L of water and of course my secret weapon for all runs - homemade boysenberry cordial. I wore my Nike Frees which was a great choice because my feet did not tire at all.

Apart from my stupid right ITB, the race was great! It had the biggest field yet with 19 solo entrants and about 50 teams. As usual, the support from everyone was fantastic. The teams were fabulous later in the day as they all caught up to us solos. My friend Jade was in a team and it was great to get some extra cheering along the way. Got to see a few people from last year, and chat to lots of lovely people. A special shout out and congrats on a super effort to SorryICan'tRememberYourNameInTheBlueSingletWhoReadMyBlog! And to the girl (Jess?) in the yellow singlet! Awesome achievements for your first ultras! Hope to see you back next year!

Since then I have been resting. My ITB is still not 100% (can't sleep on that side) but my muscles are fine. I have a plan of attack for next year. And I wont let anyone massage my ITB again.

Anna's Get Healthy Now Diet

2009-11-24T15:58:00.006+11:00

This past week I have a sinus infection. This is sooooo frustrating because it breaks my 18 month streak of no illness. I thought I was immune from sickness. But now I have been sick for a week and it is showing no signs of improvement.

I think it is my body telling me to tone it down a bit. I had been feeling mentally drained for some time but stopped listening to my body. I recently had a week of high mileage which included no rest days and crossfit workouts 3 times in that week and I think maybe that was a bit too much. The Bruny Island Ultra is on in 2 weeks and I don't want to be sick for that so as of yesterday I am on Anna's Get Healthy Now Diet.

The diet includes fruit, vegies, pulses, nuts, seeds, rice and quinoa.

It does not include processed food, ice cream or chocolate :(

The simplicity of it means my preparing/cooking/washing is even easier before (and for the record, I refuse to cook anything that takes more than 10 mins and involves more than 1 dish to wash up). I've been having lots of salads and mono fruit meals which is so yummo. I am hoping it will send me back on the path of good health.

17.5km run to work

2009-11-12T20:24:00.004+11:00

It's been pretty hot lately - 6 days in a row over 30 degrees! It's quite pleasant running to work in the morning though. It was 25 degrees when I ran in this week. I was organised enough not to need to bring a pack which made it so much better. But I would've loved to be organised enough to pack some strawberries to eat by the river for breaky.

Marysville Marathon Running Festival

2009-11-08T15:06:00.007+11:00

Yesterday's long run was 30km and I nearly died in the 27 degree weather. Today it was 33 degrees and I got sunburnt just waiting in line to collect our race numbers at the Marysville Marathon. I can't imagine how the half mara or 45k runners felt.

Phew, they were giving out caps. Sunscreen alone was not enough protection:

Today I did the 3km event with A. We just walked it. So glad we just walked and took our time. There were over 2000 people across 4 distances at this event. Proceeds went towards rebuilding the community after the Black Saturday Fires in February this year. We also donated extra to the Kingbilli Wildlife Refuge.

It was a nice drive there and back. I like the Black Spur area. The trees are just so unbelievably tall.

The event today started and finished at the oval in the town. It is hard to imagine those who survived were gathered on the oval while flames surrounded them. Walking along the streets you see letter boxes and driveways leading to nothing but maybe a clothesline which survived or a caravan where the owners are living now. It was good to see some homes being rebuilt and the bright green leaves growing on the trees again.

Such a good family orientated event. There was a market and plenty of sponsors stalls, and a merchandise stall with very well priced items. The 3k run itself was only $10 entry. I hope this event continues. It was good to be a part of it and I'll definitely be back again.

Maroondah Aqueduct - Yan Yean Pipe Track

2009-11-01T15:04:00.004+11:00

Today's long run is the start of me getting back into things in preparation for the Bruny Island Ultra. It wasn't a particularly interesting run, and I didn't even hit 30k (it was 28.8km) but it was the flattest route around here. I will hit the hills from next weekend.

I took in part of the old Maroondah Aqueduct trail in the Bundoora-Reservoir area which then joins up with the Yan Yean Pipe Track.

Mostly people's backyards back onto the track. There's an area where there's factories too. These people have small backyards so they overflow onto the track, planting their own fruit trees, colourful flowers, and kids have created a play area amongst all the other graffiti.

(I got a new phone recently so I hope the photos from now will be better quality)

GOW100km

2009-10-18T08:59:00.004+11:00

This time last week I was in Apollo Bay having a most awesome breakfast at a fabulous cafe who kindly made up a breakfast not resembling anything on the menu for a perfect post 100km feed. My legs were sore, I had slept about an hour, and the courageous 100milers were still running through the bush.

This run is my favourite run so far. It has everything. Beautiful long stretches of beach, sand dunes, river crossings, mud to stuck your shoes off, forest, open farmland, steep steep hills with stairs, kangaroos, koalas, echidnas, the most amazing views that stop you in your tracks and finally a little bit of flat terrain near the end. It was the best organised run I've ever done. The pre-race briefing over dinner at the pub the night before was great, the volunteers at the checkpoints were just amazing (Have a seat, want me to fill your water bladder? Want me to get your drop bag? Want would you like? We have fruit cake, biscuits, lollies, sports drink etc) and for me they really made my day, so THANK YOU MOST AWESOME VOLUNTEERS AND FANTABULOUSLY ORGANISED RACE DIRECTORS!

The start. I'm at the back left:

I hadn't done 100km before so my only aim was to finish in the cutoff. I knew there were 3 people behind me the whole time and the sweeper would be behind them so I just wanted to hold my position. I found myself counting the kilometres to each checkpoint and trying to keep ahead of each cutoff.

At the 2nd checkpoint I was getting a bit concerned when I had travelled the required distance but the checkpoint was nowhere in sight. I was expecting to be about 30mins ahead of this one. Finally I made it smack bang on the cutoff time with my watch telling me I had done several kms further. This was the case for everyone so they adjusted the cutoff times and there was an extra hour to complete the race. This made me feel much better.

It got dark during some difficult steep up and down sections and I had to use my headtorch on the trails for the first time! It really wasn't bright enough, but fortunately I was only borrowing this one so I know now when it comes to buy one I need a brighter one. I also had a couple of little led lights on my fingers which helped brighten up the trail a bit.

When I got to the last checkpoint, Moonlight Head, I was told I had 4 hours to get to the finish which was about 20km away and this was the most runnable part of the course. "Easy!" they said. Off I set.

Moonlight Head, Final checkpoint - decked out in flouro gear:

This is where finishing in the required timeframe fell appart. At one intersection I saw a Parks Victoria sign pointing left so I went that way. Then I bumped in to someone as we both congratulated each other thinking the other person was the leading 100miler on their return leg. OOPS! This was Lynda telling me I was going in the opposite direction and nearly back at Moonlight Head. She kept going saying urgently, "I've got to make the cutoff".

I stopped and looked at the time. I had spent nearly an hour running around in a circle. Now I had less time to make the finish in time and this was no longer a certainty. I stood there pondering what to do for a moment. There was no going back. I came here to complete 100km and that was exactly what I was going to do.

So I bolted off after Lynda, running faster than I had all day. I passed her and when I came to the intersection again, I noticed a couple of metres above the Parks Vic sign, there was a GOW100 sign pointing in the opposite direction. My light was not bright enough for the sign to stand out the first time. So I kept going as fast as I could. It was only 20k or so to the end so I wasn't concerned about running out of energy. The road was occasionally unrunnable when it would turn from nicely packed gravel to soft deep sand but I kept going at a reasonable pace. It was difficult not knowing exactly how far to the end but I just kept moving as fast as I could.

Then after Princetown I saw a sign pointing to a beach. I was quite sure there were no more beaches in the run so I thought it was maybe a beach campsite or something. We weren't supposed to enter campsites so I went down a different trail. After a while this trail became very overgrown. I was practically crawling through trees. Then the trail divided into 2 animal tracks. This was so wrong. Shit shit shit.

I turned around and went back to the beach sign. Checked the map - no sign of any beach on the map, but double checked and the sign did not say it was a campground and the Parks Vic arrow was pointing in that direction. I should have gone there. I was checking the ground for footprints to make sure it was the right way. It seemed right.

Now I knew I was not going to make the finish by cutoff but I didn't care. I was going in the right direction and running as fast as I could considering I'd already done about 90km, I had a 2-3kg pack on my back and poor lighting. This path just seemed to go on forever. It was supposed to meet up with the main road but it just kept going and going and going. I wondered if I was actually taking a detour but finally after what seemed like way too far I hit the main road.

I crossed to the right side of the road and kept running. I was sure we were supposed to just go over the road and there would be the end in sight but I couldn't see it. I just kept going. There were witches hats placed there so I guessed it was right. It was now 2am - 1 hr after cuttoff so I sent a text message to one of the race organisers to say I took some wrong turns but was now on the final stretch.

Finally I made it to the 12 Apostles! Everyone at the end had gone home but Whippet who was patiently waiting for the final stragglers. I was the last person coming in at 20:09. Lynda was being collected in a car further down the road. I quickly put on some warm clothes while Whippet woke up A who was sleeping in the car while waiting for me. We gave Lynda a lift back to Apollo Bay and I finally got to bed at around 4am. I hardly slept though as my legs were so sore they could not get comfortable.

The soles of my feet were quite sore during the run - it felt like I had been on my feet shopping all day! My legs were not so bad though, probably because of all the walking. Some muscles cramped that had never cramped before but I did take some Saltstick caps and magnesium which helped. My legs really only got sore once I sat in the car afterwards. Considering all the energy I had at the end to run to the finish, I know I could have pushed myself more early on. I wore my Adizero PROs which turned out to be great for the trail. Because the mesh is so open they let a LOT of sand in on the sandy bits. On a long beach stretch I deliberately walked in the water to wash out some of the sand. I didn't get any blisters and I think they were a more comfortable choice than the Frees. I think they also made it easier to maintain better running form, especially at the end.

At each checkpoint I ate a punnet of fresh strawberries. I also ate on the run some dried fruit (mango, paw paw + pineapple). I had some apple juice and some of dad's homemade boysenberry cordial. I drank about 3L of water. Food and drink-wise I felt I did really well. I did get some hand swelling from about 60km onwards - Does anyone know what causes this??

During the run I never really questioned my ability to finish, but I did wonder if I was cut out for 100km runs. But then I realised this probably wasn't the easiest one to do! Would I do this one again? Definitely! Especially now I know the right way!

Now I have recovered, I am ready to get back into training for the Bruny Island Ultra in December.

a few pics from GOW100km

2009-10-12T17:36:00.001+11:00

Last long run

2009-09-26T13:59:00.005+10:00

Today was my last long run before the GOW100km. I have been feeling quite overtrained lately so I set my alarm for 30mins later than usual and decided to skip the planned 30+km and just to do a fast 21km trying to keep my heart rate quite high the whole time. I wore my Adizero PROs because I think I want to wear them for the 100k.

The first 10k were at a brisk pace, even when a magpie swooped into the side of my head and I had to keep turning around and chasing after it. Then I got a bit of a stitch and found it hard to maintain pace.

Once my stitch was over, my left big toe was feeling very sore. On Thursday I dropped a plyo box on it while only wearing Five Fingers and it's still swollen. So I couldn't go too fast as it stopped bending properly.

Then I hit the Blue Lake trails and because of the rain some of the track was a bit slippery. I decided to take a scenic route there and follow the trail that hugs a cliff face so I didn't go too fast then because I didn't want to slip down a cliff into a river.

I got to the first river crossing and the river was the widest I'd ever seen it. We have had a bit of rain lately and I just stood there staring at this river that had gone from a metre wide trickle to about 6 metres wide. I thought about turning back and going home the way I came but then my 21k run would turn into 30k with no water and I didn't bring my phone to call home and say I'd be late. There was no choice. I had to cross the river. I so wish I brought my phone to take a picture. The water was knee high, freezing and with a surprisingly strong current. After a lot of careful fumbling around I finally made it to the other side.

So with my freezing wet feet, a swollen toe, and usual sore achillies problems, I trundled on to the next river crossing.

Again I was stunned. This one was even crazier. There is only one way to cross here on this metal thing that goes across. But this was totally flooded over and if I were to miss this slippery metal thing, which would be highly likely, I would probably have to swim across. Not safe.

I knew there was some other trail I could take and make my way to the streets avoiding the last river crossing. At least it didn't hail today like it was forecast. And I did manage a relatively fast finish for someone with a swollen left big toe and sore right achillies.

So my run was about 23km and I got 59km for the week, which is quite impressive for me. Now I will start to taper. I'll still run into work next week but I'll shorten next Saturday's long run and do a 4km Sri Chinmoy race on the Sunday. Then after that a lot of nothing.

Run For The Firies

2009-09-13T13:51:00.005+10:00

This morning was the Run for the Firies - a 10km and 4km fun run to raise funds for the CFA just up the road from here. This is the first time I have done a run specifically to support the charity involved.

I just did the 4km because I did 30km yesterday for my long run. The first km was all uphill, then there was the nice flat bit along the Maroondah Aquaduct followed by some super steep downhills which was great for me to practise my downhill running on uneven rocky ground, then a final nightmare of an uphill where my quads started to burn and another steep rocky downhill to the finish. I did it in 20:03 which is pretty good considering the hills and my quads were still quite fatigued from the past week's workouts and runs. I think I was the 2nd female, although as there was no official timing or anything to indicate who even came first I am just going by the small group of people at the finish.

This weekend I have got some serious gear shopping done for the Great Ocean Walk 100s. I'll be testing my new pack this week. I didn't end up finding a head torch at any reasonable price but dad will lend me his Petzl. I've just got to get a couple more little things and then I'll be set. I can't wait for this run. It will be my first 100km and the furthest I've gone. Not to mention it takes place in the most scenic coastal area in the state :)

Schedule

2009-09-02T16:37:00.005+10:00

I've run home a few times but never to work. This morning I ran to work for the first time. It was such a beautiful morning and it was great as I got closer to work I could get off the streets and follow the Main Yarra Trail. I was nearly there when I took this picture. Next time I will pack some breakfast and eat it by the river instead of in a windowless office!

For anyone interested, I thought I'd write up my schedule for this week. I'm hoping it will stay pretty much the same every week. Although running to work can only happen once a fortnight. I've got my first 100km race coming up in a few weeks so this is my plan for increased fitness, strength and mental toughness.

Mon: Intervals
Tue: Crossfit followed by run (<10km) if not too buggered
Wed: Run to work (18km)
Thu: Crossfit followed by run (<10km) if not too buggered
Fri: Easy run (7km) or Rest
Sat: Long run (>30km)
Sun: Rest (45min easy walk)

Adizero PROs on the trails

2009-08-20T14:14:00.005+10:00

For quite some time I have wanted some flats to run on the trails. The Vibram Five Fingers do not have enough grip and my Nike Frees are too far away from the ground which causes instability. The other day I noticed there was some slight wear on the soles of my Frees (after over 1600km) so I went to the Adidas factory outlet and bought the PROs. I wanted the PR model which has slightly less cushioning and also the part surrounding the heal is less stiff which is better for my achillies problems, but they didn't have them in my size. The Adizero PROs are still very flat, with next to no cushioning. They are flatter than the Nike Frees and allow for better running form. They are light but not very flexible. I don't think this is a problem though because generally you are only going to bend at your toes and that is the only part these shoes bend. The Adizero PROs are almost the same as the Nike Waffles but they are wider so your feet have more room to breathe.

Today was the first time I got to take them on the trails. It was wet, muddy and quite slippery at times. I slid around a bit on the sandy soil. I'm not sure how to compare the grip to the Nike Waffles as I haven't worn those in the mud but it was adequate on the rocks. They don't pick up much dirt (like the lugs on the Frees do) and they dry quite fast after river crossings.

Had fun on the trails. I wanted to try to get from the southern end to the northern end of Plenty George Park by trail but I never even made it as far as Blue Lake. I found a new trail, ended up in a dead end, found another new trail with mtb tyre marks so I followed it. It was steep, it was fun, there were kangaroos & noisey cockatoos, found some dirt jumps built in a paddock, realised I was on someone's property, followed some more trails and did a bit of bush bashing to find my way back to the main trail. By that time I was a little tired and decided to head home to get some breakfast instead of continue the way I originally planned.

Gold Coast

2009-08-17T19:29:00.004+10:00

This past weekend was the Tan Ultra. Last year I was 1st female in the 53k event and really wanted to do it again. Unfortunately I had to work all weekend. I was working up at the Gold Coast so I managed to get a 25km run from Broadbeach to The Spit and back. The weather was just perfect - much better than the wind and horizontal rain that the Tan Ultra runners had to battle through. Good on them for toughing it out!

Rocbloc gaiters

2009-08-08T14:34:00.003+10:00

This morning I tested out my new zebra print Rocbloc gaiters on the trails. They are really cool. Especially coz the Nike Frees let so many rocks in on every run so it was great to run on the trails without having rocks in my shoes. I was going to take before and after shots, but even after several river crossings and some rather muddy sections they didn't end up that dirty. That will be fixed over time.

I discovered a cool new single trail at Blue Lake. After finding myself in a lot of dead ends there I told myself there was no point exploring new trails there but I just can't help it. If I notice somewhere new I have to go there. There were bike tyre marks on the trail and it's a fact that mtb riders know all the cool places. I had to pay attention though. One wrong step and I'd be falling a long way into the river. I also saw another cool trail that crossed the river and went up the other side of the gully. That could be the key to making it by trail to the northern Plenty George Park.

You Yangs 5050

2009-08-01T23:24:00.003+10:00

Last weekend was the You Yangs 5050. I had entered the 50mile event, but like a lot of people who had never run in the You Yangs before, I seriously underestimated the toughness of those hills. There was no way I was going to finish in the 10 hrs so I ended up pulling out at 50km. As the sole female 50mile entrant, it was a little disappointing to miss out on my trophy! But I had a great day, it was perfectly organised with great support and as usual the friendly runners made it for me.

There were so many steep hills. It was like running the length of Allendale Rd 10 times. Oh, and the stairs. We had to run up to the summit twice and I tell you it was very long the second time. Those stupid stairs to the top were only suitable for people who are 3m tall. Who put those there? The map was also quite confusing. Because the You Yangs is such a small area, we did about 50 different loops of various fire trails and single trails. I couldn't be bothered looking at the map properly because I didn't wear any clothes with pockets and I couldn't be bothered getting it out of my pack. Fortunately I was running with others most of the way so I trusted their judgement when the course markers were unclear.

I spent the first 3rd just trying to get into a rhythm. My feet felt like they were landing really hard in my shoes (Nike Frees) and it took at least 10k to start to feel normal. There was a bit of tag going on between me and David, Michelle + Mark, who were running together. They were too cheerful and chatty for me on such a long run so I was always either a bit ahead or a bit behind them. The hills were draining and I was still tossing up between distances at that point so I wasn't that chirpy about having to maintain a certain pace to make the cutoff time. After a while I knew I couldn't keep up so just relaxed in my slow pace.

From somewhere around the 15-20k mark I started running with Kate. Somehow we just kind of ended up at the same pace and it was good having someone to chat to and someone to keep me going so I didn't walk the few flat bits. Somewhere after 30k David decided he was not going to keep up with Michelle + Mark, and Kate + I caught up to him. Together we pulled each other up the hills, kept each other moving, complained about the stairs and took a wrong turn and ended up in some strange area with no course markers for a few km. I don't know what happened exactly as I couldn't be bothered with the confusing map of a million loops. We did end up doing 50k all up though so it worked out ok in the end.

We were walking up this steep hill but when we saw the aid station we had to run and look like we were having fun for the photo:

Once we'd eaten our food we didn't think there'd be more photos so settled back into our walk:

The last couple of km were the hardest. We had to make our way around some technical trail up a hill then with the finish in sight we had to turn around and make the treacherous climb to the top of the hill up all those steps AGAIN. It was hard. Kate was good on the down hill and skipped ahead but waited for us just before the finish so we all finished 50km together in 7:22.

Last downhill to the finish:

I popped a magnesium and Saltcap tab before the run. During the run I drank 1L of water, a couple of punnets of fresh strawberries, a mix of dried fruit (pineapple, papaya, mango & coconut) and some fruit juice. Food wise I did really well but I didn't drink enough water because my left gastroc and right hamstrings started to cramp towards the end. As soon as I finished the run I had another magnesium and Saltcap tab downed with a bottle of dad's homemade boysenberry cordial. Pizza was dinner.

Incidentally the female 50k winner did it barefoot! She looked so light and graceful on her feet like she was just skipping along. Hopefully one day my achillies will at least let me do such a race in the Five Fingers.

This is now the shortest ultra I've done, and because of the soft trails and the steep hills, my legs pulled up really well. My quads were a little sore the next day but I have managed a couple of runs since and my legs are now ready to get back into their regular training again. Fastest recovery ever!! Now looking for the next ultra to do but logistically I think that will have to be the Bruny Island Ultra in December.

Dirty Feet after the You Yangs Ultra

2009-07-26T20:07:00.000+10:00

Crossfit

2009-07-25T09:49:00.002+10:00

Since I've been tapering this week, I've been skipping my runs and going to Crossfit Victoria instead. It's heaps of fun! For example, I had never tested my 1RM deadlift before. Now I know what it is (and phew thankfully I can lift more than my body weight - I would be embarrassed if I couldn't!) and now I have a goal for next time :)

They present themselves as being a little crazy, hardcore and out there with their high intensity workouts and Black Flag and The Cult blaring from the speakers. But to be honest the training is not much different from what I do myself anyway. The bonus is unlike at the YMCA where I have free gym membership, I do not have to push past a bunch of posers to get to the barbells and I don't have to squash up amongst people for my workout or drag the barbells and dumbbells out to the stretching area and get in everyone's way there. Oh, and of course they have kettlebells.

I was concerned that in general Crossfit vids and pics show people with terrible form, but I am a sucker for good form and fortunately so are these guys so I don't think I'll see anyone break their backs or tear muscles.

It's great for me to get new workout ideas to incorporate in clients' workouts ;) More tools for the toolbox is always good.

The best thing is, I go there in my Vibram Five Fingers without feeling like a total freakazoid. Hopefully I can convert a few more people to the Enlightened Freaky Footwear Tribe :)

Barefoot curious?

2009-07-25T09:41:00.003+10:00

Anyone interested in walking or running barefoot should check out the Living Barefoot website.

Not just about pure barefooting, they take a look at the many shoes out there that aim to imitate the barefoot experience.

They've also started a podcast with various guests, including myself later on, which so far provides a good insight into why people choose barefoot or minimalist footware. Check it out!

Official Taper Time

2009-07-18T09:29:00.002+10:00

I was undecided what to do today - long run? Free crossfit session? Run with new running club?

Even though my legs are feeling fine and totally up for a long run, the rest of me is exhausted. I need sleep and rest. So I went along to the inaugural run of the Rivergum Road Runners, started by one of the Spartan Legends who has done every single Melbourne Marathon. It was just a short 9.5k run in a flat area. Good to get the legs ticking over and non tiring. Anyone in the north eastern suburbs should come along some time - it involves coffee at the end :)

So now it is official taper time for the YY5050 next weekend. I don't know what I was thinking entering the 50miles. 50k suddenly seems so much more pleasant...

No Entry and Secret Trails

2009-07-11T14:43:00.004+10:00

Today was my last long run before the YY5050 so I really wanted to trash myself. After a couple of seemingly innocent CrossFit sessions during the week, I knew my muscles would be already tired. I ate low carb yesterday so I would have already partially depleted glycogen levels and I wanted to tackle some hills so that the 30k would seem like 30miles. I woke up at 3am due to gale force winds and pounding rain. The wind was so noisy I didn't get a full night sleep. This would be a tough one.

I took in part of the Maroondah Aquaduct trail in Research. I noticed that the council had extended the trail a bit but it was not finished so it said no entry. But the gate was not shut and a sign couldn't stop me, so I went through. Of course the gate was shut at the other end but that was no problem. It was great running along that exposed ridge in gale force winds. My legs were blown sideways and if anyone saw me they would've thought I was a lunatic.

Once I got to the train tracks I realised I could not go home yet because I hadn't gone far enough. I wont say exactly where I went because I don't think that follows correct etiquette.

Anyway at some point I came to a river crossing. All the graffiti and messy bike tyre marks in the trails suggested this was some secret area. Whenever I see tyre marks in trails I assume it is a good area to go, because let's face it, mtb riders know some cool places.

I followed it and found a billion trails leading in all directions, all full of bike tyre marks. From there I discovered a secret dirt jump location in the bush! Hundreds of jumps! Everywhere! Jump Jump Jump Jump Jump! What crazy work! It would have taken so many hours, days, months to build this. Love it! I just looked up this is called the Dimo Jumps.

After checking it out I decided to head home by running the length of Ryans Road, Eltham/Diamond Creek. This is a long road that consists purely of long steep ups and downs. It really trashed my quads. Somehow I ended up closer to home than I wanted because I still hadn't gone far enough so took a detour along Bonds Rd - a giant up and down. And followed that with the usual torturous Lower Plenty Hills.

I started to feel faint on some of the final uphills. This was great, I now know for the YY5050 I will have to carry some food rather than rely on the support there. I will stock up on dried tropical fruit, strawberries and vegan donuts from La Panella Bakery in Preston. I don't think I'm into eating donuts while running, but I have become addicted to these as post long run food.

CrossFit and FFs

2009-07-11T14:19:00.004+10:00

This past week I had a couple of personal training sessions at CrossFit Victoria. I like the idea behind CrossFit. Although since they are usually competing against the clock, looking at youtube vids a lot of them have poor form. And I am not convinced of the Zone diet they have adopted. They have, however, adopted Pose as their approved 'method' of running, which is how most barefoot and freaky footwear people run.

At the first session I wore my Volleys. I wear them at the regular gym and for most activities except running. They were approved by the trainer, also in Volleys.

At the next session I decided to get there early, dump my stuff there, and head out for a run as I really hadn't got many miles in the legs during the week and wanted to catch up. I wore the Five Fingers for the run and couldn't be bothered putting my volleys on after. The first comment from my trainer was "I've got to get some of those. How are they working for you?" It was great for a change to have someone not only be familiar with them but not sceptical and fully supportive.

2009-07-04T10:43:00.001+10:00

Met this fellow and about 3000 of his friends on my run today:

Run Melbourne half

2009-07-03T20:32:00.007+10:00

Last weekend I ran the Run Melbourne half marathon. I was aiming for a PB of sub 1:55 and when I am determined and confident I know I will get what I want.

As I was about to put on my Vibram Five Fingers, I had a sudden change of heart and wore the Nike Frees instead. It is not a flat course and I just had a feeling my achillies would not be happy and the Frees might mask the pain.

It was really cold and dark when I got into town but so glad it wasn't raining like last year.

There was a little fire set up in Fed Square which was a nice touch, although it was not that warm!

I thought it would be interesting to not only reach my goal of <1:55 but to aim for that as gun time.

Heading to the start line at sunrise:

I started off at a good speed and spent most of my time focusing on pace, not dropping back and reminding myself to KEEP GOING! This year they cut out one of the 'hills' and added a few loops of the MCG. This was terribly demoralising running around the dreary concrete when you know you could be heading for the 2nd lap and then later towards the finish.

At the 15km mark I started to struggle holding the pace. I was constantly checking my Garmin, working hard with the positive talk, reminding myself only 6k to go... 5k.... 4k Keep Up The Pace! DO NOT SLOW DOWN!! but I did slow a lot from there.

I wore my red skirt with racing stripes and I think that pulled me through to a finish time of 1:54:14. My gun time was slower than last year but with the wave starts there was no way I could catch up.

Even without the Garmin graphs you can see from the split times I slowed a lot at the end:

5km: 26:01
10km: 52:53
Half way: 55:42
15km: 1:22:41
20km: 1:48:21
Finish: 1:54:14

It was a good time considering I haven't done much speed work, no medium distance runs, and am focusing more on the You Yangs Ultra next month. Although it is a really well organised run with a great atmosphere (great stalls, bands playing at various points in the course, no congestion), I don't think I'll do this event again next year - running around the MCG 4 times was not nice and I am not very good at this distance anyway. 5ks and ultras from now.