Mt Sugarloaf and Sugarloaf Reservoir

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 :)

Things I learnt from the GOW

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.

Bruny Island Ultra 64km

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

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.

GOW100km

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.

You Yangs 5050

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.

Vegan for a week and 100 Pushups! What? 100 pushups?!

Last week I was vegan. An initiative of the Plant Powered Cool Runners group, those of us who were not vegan decided to give it a go for a week.

I was terribly unhealthy. I thought Right, I'm vegan. Vegan food is good food. I will bake some vegan muffins, vegan banana bread, vegan pancakes, go to the local World Vegan Festival and buy lots of vegan muffins and vegan raw chocolate. But you know what? Muffins are still muffins and chocolate is still chocolate no matter what label you want to give it. Hence I had a week of terribly bad health. So today I am back to my normal diet. I felt the need to cleanse myself of this terrible vegan eating so for dinner tonight I had a huge bowl of vegetables. Potato, squash, zucchini, green beans, cherry tomatoes and broccoli. I feel sooo much better after that!

It's funny, there seem to be a lot of barefoot or near barefoot runners who run long distances and are vegan. They are a bunch of hippies. They are like the beautiful people at doofs in the bush who dance barefoot all night and all day.

Eating vegan food is one thing that makes me feel closer to the earth. I remember several years ago I came home from Rainbow Serpent and wrote down a list of things that I wanted to do to be myself. One of the things I wrote down was to walk outside barefoot at least once a day, even if it's just in my back yard, so I could connect with the earth.




Has anyone checked out the 100 Pushups Challenge? Who wouldn't want to be able to complete 100 pushups in a row? ONE HUNDRED FULL PUSHUPS! Well I am giving it a go starting tonight, I did Week One, Day One.

And I am not doing any of this girly knee pushup business. Full man pushups all the way baby! It makes such a difference. The girl pushups are so lame I think, even though at the start of the year I could only do 10 before collapsing. I have noticed with full pushups I really feel my core working, and that is what I need.

I have been building up to this for a while, working on my girly pushups so I can do 35 in one hit without a break. Then I suddenly went from being able to do 5 full pushups to 10 to 15! I tried again this morning, but with correct form I could really only do 10 full pushups. So I started the 100 pushup challenge tonight. J is doing it too so it will be good to compare notes :) We have made a rule to start today and to do full pushups with correct form - No cheating!

I suggest anyone who is interested in general fitness and strength to give it a go. Who knows when you will need to impress someone with your ability to do so many pushups?

The Tan Ultra 53k

First, the stats:

53.578k in 6:06:50

1st female out of 4

8th person out of 15 (1 DNF)
Winning male completed in 4:21:18
Last person completed in 7:44:40

I won a trophy and a crunchie bar! First time I've ever come first in anything sporty! I really just can't believe it.

My partner drove me in because I thought I might be a bit sore to drive home after and I told him I'd probably be around 6 hours and I'd call him to pick me up at the end. I packed my bag with a couple of ladyfinger bananas, kiwi fruit, a promite sandwich on multigrain bread and a couple of V8 juice boxes. I also took a water bottle, and packed some emergency magnesium and salt tablets.

When I got there I was impressed with the 100k runners who had started 2 hours earlier. They were all looking fighting fit and strong and running a decent pace considering how far they had to go. I got there pretty early so just hung out at the lap counting area watching the people go past and talking to a few of the other 53k runners. There were a few other people who hadn't done any ultras before, but I think I might have been the only person who hadn't done a marathon yet so already it seemed that I was out of my depth. I was wearing my Vibram Five Fingers although I did bring my Asics DS Trainers incase my feet got sore. People asked me about my shoe choice, but I knew I had to wear the Five Fingers if I wanted to run in comfort. I also brought my old Kayanos with orthotics in to wear after the race for that cushy cushy feeling when my feet would want to sleep.

The course was 14 laps of the Tan track so it was a good opportunity to have a really long run and experiment with eating on the run but without having to carry all your supplies. OK so you shouldn't be experimenting in a race, but it was my first opportunity so I had no choice. There was plenty of food provided - jam sandwiches, vegemite sandwiches, fruit cake, bananas, chocolate, chips, potatoes, gatorade, water, chocolate coated coffee beans and probably a lot more that I didn't notice. It really was a fantastically well organised race and I reckon I'll be back every year.

It was a chilly morning so for the first two laps I wore my arm warmers but then I was fine to take them off. I had a kind of system of running 1 or 2 laps with my drink bottle, then 1 or 2 laps without. This gave me a chance to sip water slowly but give me a break from carrying it. I popped a magnesium before the race so didn't see the need to drink gatorade. Too much sugar anyway so it's not really hydrating and it doesn't have enough salts to do anything in that regard.

I ran solidly for 20k and it was then that I started taking walking breaks. I figured I had a long way to go and just about everyone else had been walking up the Anderson St hill from the start. By the 20k point I had lapped one girl already and knew I was ahead of the others. It was then that I visualised calling my partner at the finish telling him I won! All I had to do was stay ahead. My pace was naturally faster than the others. I just had to keep moving. It's funny, I have never felt competitive in running, only competing against my own times, but I had a taste of competition, going back to my music eisteddfod days when I competed for the sole purpose of winning, and I wanted to win! I decided if I could do it in 6 hours I would be very happy and if I could win, well, suddenly that became the whole point.

The run itself was good in the lap format. I passed people, people passed me, we could chat for a minute, I could pick up tips from the experienced ultra heads and I could also learn a lot from the lovely people who were smiling, chatting, being very friendly and treating the whole day as a social event rather than a competitive one. It was interesting to see people who looked like they were doing great but saying they were in their own private hell, it was inspiring to see strong people lapping me and the whole event felt great with really supportive people. It was also quite funny when a few people in the general public asked what we were doing and when I told them how far the race was they just couldn't believe it!

I knew that it would be sensible of me to eat during the race even though I don't eat in training. I had a quarter of a jam sandwich. It went down ok, but it slowed me down for a whole lap while I digested it. So I tried a piece of banana. Same thing. It didn't make me feel nauceous, just sluggish. This wasn't going to work if I wanted to run more than walk. So then I had a V8 juice. Now that hit the spot!!! It tasted good, I was thirsty anyway so it was easy to drink and it gave me instant energy. It really picked me up so I was able to keep going on that.

At around the marathon point, I was getting really tired. The two girls in skirts passed me and I thought I was no longer in the lead. My heart sank. Winning isn't everything but I already had a taste of it. As long as I finished in one piece that's all that would matter at the end so I dragged my tired body along. My walk breaks were getting longer and longer. I was finding it easier to run on the up and downhills but the flats were painful. I was hurting and tired and as it was lunch time I was actually starting to feel hungry. I thought I was no longer in the lead so I just kind of gave up and decided when I next got to the lap area I would just sit down, eat my sandwich and call my partner to say I would probably be longer than 6 hours so not to worry if he doesn't hear from me at 3pm on the dot. Fortunately, before I got to the lap area, a guy caught up to me (at the time I thought he was lapping me) and told me there were only 4 laps to go. 4 laps?! That's not much, I thought. I can count to four. I can do this. So when I got to the lap counting area, I quickly downed another V8 juice, felt some energy return and kept moving. I was still taking walking breaks but tried to keep them short because I knew the end was near.

During the last lap, my partner drove by and he beeped his horn at me while he was looking for a park! He came to meet me early and it was so great to see him! I picked up my pace (well it felt like it, but after 50k my watch told me I was only shuffling at 7min/km). When I finished the final lap everyone cheered and when they told me I was the first female I just couldn't believe it! I thought the 2 girls in skirts lapped me ages ago, but obviously not! People took photos of the race director presenting the trophy and crunchie to me. I look more happy about the crunchie but the truth is I was just so overwhealmed that a won! A guy took a photo of my Five Fingers - he thought they were great shoes (and rightly so).

I called my partner and told him I won, just like I visualised previously. By that time he had found a car park and was just wandering around the botanic gardens. While I waited for him I ate a kiwi fruit and my promite sandwich, and chatted to a few more runners and spectators. Then I took some chocolate, put on my cushy cushy Kayanos and we took a walk around the botanic gardens for a while. We came back thinking I'd have some of the bbq that was being prepared but I wasn't hungry anymore so a quick goodbye to a few people and we headed off.

So it was a great day! I learnt about eating on the run. I learnt about how friendly runners are and that I aspire to be that friendly and supportive. I also saw the great strength in the 100k runners and that is another thing I aspire to.

Since then I haven't run much. It feels like my feet have some internal bruising or something after all those hours. I have tried to run a few times when they felt fine but obviously that was pushing it too much and I actually feel worse now. My next goal is sub 4 hours at Melbourne Marathon, which is going to be a big stretch as it took about 4:30 for me to get to the marathon point in this ultra, although that did include walking. I am really hoping my feet will get better soon so I can squeeze in some more long runs in preparation for the marathon but at the moment I just have to be patient. At least I now know I can cover the marathon distance! Now I just have to work on the pace.

Lead up to First Ultra

3 days to go until my first ultra. I have been doing a few things in the lead up to make sure I am feeling good on the day.

Firstly, I bought some Dunlop Volleys. I thought it would be good to have some flat, unsupportive shoes for trail runs, rocky ground, and general situations where the Vibram Five Fingers may not be my first choice. I am also too cheap to buy some propper flats at the moment, although would LOVE to try on the Adizero PRs. I ran in the Volleys on Monday (felt good), Five Fingers on Tuesday (felt better), and my old Nike Waffles on Wednesday (legs felt great, pitty the shoes are so narrow). This switch in footwear has alleviated a lot of the recent achillies/bursa/metatarsal pain and my feet are feeling pretty good. I didn't run today, and probably wont run until the day, although I might sneak a short one tomorrow or Saturday.

Secondly, I have declared myself vegan from today until the ultra. I'm doing this for my health. I have been experimenting with food lately, and I do feel much healthier on a vegetarian diet. I have decided to go a step further and be temporarily vegan, mainly to cut out dairy, but partly just out of interest to see how difficult it is to maintain.

Now I just need to make a list of what I need to take to the ultra, foodwise. It's only 53k so it's quite possible I wont even need any solids. Lately I have noticed on my long runs that I do crave fruit towards the end. Based on that, my list is this:

• Water
• Orange juice
• Apple juice
• Homemade boysenberry cordial
• Kiwi fruit
• Bananas
• Promite sandwich on multigrain or similar bread

I will run in the Five Fingers, but take the Asics DS Trainers just incase. I'll also take a very old pair of Asicas Kayanos with orthotics that I had years ago. They are sooo comfortable. Not to run in, but to wear after a long run when your feet just don't feel like doing anything. The cushy cushy feeling and the orthotics moving your feet for you is just perfect after a long run!

If anyone reading has any further suggestions, please comment!

Achillies issue and problem solved!

It's been a while since my last post. I haven't been running a whole lot. My last long run was several weeks ago at 36.5k. That was MUCH further than expected and my achillies asked me to take it easy after that.

So I took it easier: Less kms per week. Long run of only 23k. A half marathon race (new PB of 1:55:07). And lastly a WHOLE WEEK off running. Walking only in the five fingers.

After this time off and some reflection, I think I worked out why my achillies hated me. Firstly the symptoms - slightly tight feeling in achillies, not a big pain. The main pain was a lump in my right heel where the achillies joins the heal bone. My internet self diagnosis is that I developed a bursa, or a pocket of fluid between the achillies tendon and the bone. It hurt, especially in the morning when I first got out of bed.

I thought it was because I added a 17k mid week run home from work, which I did in my Asics. This 17k is mostly uphill, therefore the achillies would be stretched more than on the flat. In the Asics my feet have less control and I noticed the pain as the bursa rubbed against the back of the shoes. I did some self massage on this area most nights before bed, which helped to alleviate the pain in the morning. I am also now walking the first 5 mins of my runs to warm up. I have had this heal problem in the past to a lesser extent and a 5-10min warm up walk always did the trick, it's just harder of course in winter to go so slow when all you want to do is get warm quickly by running! Also, after some internet reading, appart from the usual "overuse" excuses for injuries, I noticed one podiatrist mentioned achillies tendonitis can be caused by late take off of the foot. By increasing my cadence I noticed this also alleviated the pain and strain. Now, in the past week, I have obviously been paying a lot of attention to what my feet are doing. When my feet hit the ground, it is flat footed, before bending from my toes to raise the heal off the ground and then push off. I noticed that my right toes were not as flexible as my left toes. I have noticed this in the past and have had shin splints partly because of that. This was a big clue because all my problems have always been with my right leg, and in the past, an inflexible right big toe has been the culprit. SO I have been concentrating on relaxing this part of my foot and flexing where and when it should etc so now the pain is just about gone. There is occasional strain, but nothing a good talking to my foot does not sort out.

I have worked out I need to be more careful in my foot take off and also wear the five fingers more. I would like to toughen up my feet to handle gravel better in the five fingers so I can do my long runs in them instead of the Asics. I think that will help immensly.

So now I am not sure if I can still claim to be injury free in 2008. It lasted a couple of weeks, I took a whole week off running, but I worked out the problem and solved it before it caused any major catastrophies such as dropping out of the Melbourne Marathon.


In 2 weeks I am doing a 30k race. Well I am not sure whether to do that or the 21.1k but I am inclined to test out my 30k pace. My current worry is that I have not done a long run in a few weeks. I suppose I should just suck it up and deal with it. I felt really good, too good, after the last half marathon. I need to push myself more. Either go further or faster or both. I don't want to commit just yet, but I think I'll probably go for the 30k race.


Soon I am thinking about incorporating nutrition into my long runs. I have found some great home made gu/gel type recipes on the net. I am also thinking real food is a good option. Strangely enough, I did by some gels a few months ago but they have sat in the cupboard and not even been looked at. I prefer the idea of real food.

Some ideas I have come across include:

• Mashed banana with peanut butter
• Peanut butter, honey, milk powder and optional soy protein isolate formed into balls or rolls coated in cocoa or coconut. Can of course add mashed banana.
• Piklets with jam, cut up into very small pieces (as white flour makes me feel very full all of a sudden)
• Peanut butter with honey and hot water to form a more liquid consistancy

There is obviously a common theme here. Peanut butter providing a lot of calories, slow release carbs and protein (not sure how necessary the protein is), and honey providing instant sweet goodness. Banana is obviously good for the potassium. Actually if I liked bananas, I would probably prefer just to eat bananas. But I'm not a huge fan. Anyway, we'll see how the whole nutrition thing works out.