Running – Page 9 – running writing

October 2, 2016

Running – just for fun!

Don’t get me wrong, I love to run. Training runs, races, parkruns – I mostly enjoy them. I train because I love to race events, and I want to do my best in every event I do. The training is (mostly) enjoyable because I can see where it is leading.

‘Fun Run’ is a weird term for me. City-Bay Fun Run, which I’ve now run 4 times (most recently 2 weeks ago), to me is a serious affair, and although I have had some great runs in that event, I would never describe it as ‘Fun’. For many people, it is ALL about fun. I presume those people in gorilla costumes were enjoying themselves!

I know plenty of people who don’t do many events, so they run purely for enjoyment and fitness. Sometimes I’d like to be like them…

Sometimes, I do run purely for fun. I might get some kind of bonus training benefit out of it, but there’s no particular goal. I’m not trying to run a specific pace, get a certain amount of ‘vert’ or test out any new gear.

This weekend was just one of those runs. Originally I had planned to hit up the Heysen Trail with Heysen training buddy Kate to run a section of the 105km course, but then Kate arranged to go away for the long weekend so I had the rare luxury of being able to choose from a few different group runs, or even not run at all (as if that was even an option, although I was 1 week post ultramarathon, so I could have been forgiven for having a sleep-in, especially considering that Daylight Saving started on Sunday so we lost an hour of sleep!)

As it turned out, I would also end up doing a 22km section of Heysen, on the holiday Monday, with a group, but this was more of a reccy than a training run – the idea being to see whether the course was still safe after the extraordinary weather events of recent weeks, and if any deviations would need to be made from the Heysen Trail for the actual race in 3 weeks time.

Sunday’s options were a 12km trail run through Cleland, part of which we had run just last week as part of Yurrebilla, or a road run, I’m not sure of the distance. Given that for the rest of this year my only road races are 5k races, I felt that a long road run was not necessary, so I opted to hit the trails. It would be interesting to see how much damage had been done by last week’s storms.

Beck was keen on the trail run too, although like me was not so keen on the 7:15am meeting time (effectively 6:15!) However, we both made it in plenty of time and given the short distance, we both just opted for a handheld bottle rather than a hydration pack.

It was just a really nice, enjoyable, FUN, 12k. There had definitely been a lot of damage, with many trees down (which we had to decide whether to go over or under!), a lot of new creeks, and some very slippery mud in sections. I was so grateful that it wasn’t like this for Yurrebilla!

We walked up many of the hills, chatting all the way, and even stopped for a few photos. The weather was kind to us too, with both of us quite comfortable in singlets and shorts, and with no hint of rain (which was a nice bonus because we had been anticipating rain!).

Another bonus was running into some of the girls from our Tuesday and Friday running groups, at one of our favourite post-run coffee haunts, who had done a different run that morning but in a similar area. And for the first time since winter started, we were able to sit outside and enjoy the glorious sunshine!
I must remember, once in a while, to get back to nature and just run for fun!

September 26, 2016

RACE REPORT – YURREBILLA TRAIL 56k ULTRA 2016

Yurrebilla can be many things. For many people, just an awesome day out with great food and fantastic company. For others, a chance to push themselves to the limit. 2016 marked the 10^th edition of Yurrebilla and it was always going to be a special
day.

This was my second time tackling this challenging event. Last year was my first and you can read all about it here.

My preparation this year was, admittedly, not the greatest. Last year, after running the Gold Coast Marathon in early July, I focused all my attention on getting myself prepared for Yurrebilla. This year, I have done way more big events and therefore found myself very underdone in the trail running department. After UTA100 in May I
didn’t even run a trail for over 3 months while I focused on my 2 marathons and
trying to let my hamstring recover.

My only Yurrebilla training run, 3 weeks ago, was a 41k which covered the last 2/3 (and a bit) of the course and took me 6 hours. I was hoping for a sub 7 hour Yurrebilla, which looked pretty far from reality after that run! (Last year I ran 7:07 and did ‘waste’ a fair bit of time stopping at checkpoints. Realistically all I had to
do was cut down a bit of time at the stops to get my sub 7.)

A week and a half before the event, a freak storm hit Adelaide and washed away parts of the trail, and even one of the roads we were meant to run on! Amazingly, within a
very short space of time, the organisers redesigned the course to bypass the
unsafe/inaccessible sections, and ensure the race would go on! There was some
debate among people who were familiar with the usual course and the new bits,
as to whether it was going to be faster or slower.

A few informal training runs took place in the week leading up to the event, introducing people to some of the new bits. I decided it was best to stay in the dark – I
had run UTA100 having seen only a small section of the course, so I didn’t think there was really anything to gain by getting a preview!

Despite taking it relatively easy in the week leading up to Yurrebilla, I had done 46km prior to race day. Tuesday I did my fast run for the week, followed by a ‘bonus’ 5k trot
with The Running Company Run Club on Wednesday evening, where we were joined by Yurrebilla ambassador (and all round top chick) Lucy Bartholomew. Thursday’s
regular run was meant to be an easy one but ended up being a bit faster than planned! On Friday, rather than the speed training I’ve been doing, I went for a gentle hill run with my running group. Then on Saturday I did a very cruisy parkrun in the rain. I realised after that, that after Yurrebilla I would have done 99.5km for the week. So I did what any sane person would do – went for a quick trot around the block in the rain to make sure I reached that magical
100km milestone – it’s pretty rare that I would get close to 100k in a week so
of course I had to!

This year I had opted for the 8am start wave instead of 7am like last year. Having completed last year’s event in just over 7 hours, I was confident that 9.5 hours would be more than enough to complete the course (the cutoff time is 5:30pm regardless of start time).

I had originally entered Yurrebilla in the
super earlybird period prior to Christmas, and had selected the final, 8:30 wave. I had thought, if I’m going to start at 8, I might as well start at 8:30 with the elites, what’s another half an hour? (Plus, another half hour’s sleep!) I was convinced by regular running buddy Gary of the merits of starting at 8. In the 8:30 group I would surely be one of the slowest, and therefore
would be on my own for much of the day. 8:00 would be a happy medium and I
would have more chance of having company out there, as well as eventually
overtaking some of the 7am and 6am starters. Decision made. I was starting at
8!

For the 8am start I needed to be on a bus near the finish at Athelstone at 7. (The 7am start bus ended up being at 5:30, due to the size of that particular start group! Another
good reason for me to start at 8!)

I hadn’t settled on my kit until the night before. I had a few parts of my outfit organised but there were a few pieces of the puzzle that still needed to be put into place. My black lululemon skirt over Skins shorts was a trail running standard – black
being the most practical colour for what promised to be a muddy run, and the skirt has a zip pocket plus a couple of waist pockets to stash snacks. I had my Salomon Speedcross 3 shoes and black Nike socks (the socks which would probably be due for the bin after Yurrebilla, having run through some pretty stinky mud over the last few months – at least I hope it was mud!) I did have a BEAUTIFUL new pair of trail shoes but decided this was NOT the day to break them in! My usual white hat was in the kit as well as a buff.

I ended up going with a green lulu T-shirt which I’d done one long run in. Normally I run in a singlet but it was to be a cooler day and also a T-shirt would make reapplication of sunscreen a lot easier. Then I added my signature rainbow arm warmers and blue Compressport calf sleeves. In addition I decided to wear my
cycling gloves that I’d worn for UTA. I was reliably informed that the climbs at the end were a bit brutal and I thought I might be on hands and knees at some point! Plus, if I did fall over (which, let’s face it, was not out of the realms of possibility) the gloves would save my hands.

I had opted to wear my larger Ultimate Direction backpack rather than the smaller one I’d used last year. This was so I could carry more in the way of food and drink, and thereby cut down the time spent at aid stations. Food-wise I’d packed 2 ‘Snickers’
sandwiches (peanut butter and chocolate spread on white bread), 2 nut bars, and
a bag of almonds and Lifesavers (which I didn’t end up touching!) I didn’t need
much in the way of food because there was plenty of good stuff at the aid stations, but it was good to have something to eat in between stations, especially when climbing steep hills when I’d have to be walking anyway. Hydration-wise I had 2 500mL bottles of Gatorade, plus 3 extra scoops of
powder. In my bladder I had around 750mL of water – I don’t tend to drink much water at all during runs and with the cooler weather I thought that would be ample.

This year the organisers had seen fit to give us all 2 bibs, one to be worn on the front
(with timing chip) and another one, just with our first name, to be worn on the
back. I really liked this idea and I hope they keep it going in future, because it meant we could yell out encouragement to the people we were passing, and people passing us could also encourage us. I think it really adds to the community feel of Yurrebilla. (Unfortunately a lot of people didn’t wear the back bibs, or they put them on the back of their shirts and then put a backpack
over the top!)

The night before, I had an early night, after having had a delicious vegan mac and cheese and a glass of red for dinner. I got up at 5:30 for the standard brekky shake
(Weetbix, oats, cacao, chia and almond milk) and getting all my gear together.
I had opted for a drop bag at Morialta (around the 35k mark) purely because the
course promised to be wet and muddy, and I thought a change of shoes and socks
would be wise. I also threw in a change of top and arm warmers, and some more
Gatorade powder and a sandwich. We also had the option of a drop bag at Cleland
(22km) and at the finish. I did have a finish drop bag which was mainly warm clothes, sandals, and my 2016 Yurrebilla singlet which, superstition dictated that I could NOT wear before the race!

At 6:30 I was at Gary’s place to get a lift to Athelstone. Gary’s partner Christine had already started, in the 6am wave. Fortunately she had managed to get a lift to the start at Belair, otherwise she would have had to be on a bus at 4:30!

It was only a small group on the bus, I think there were 17 people booked but a few of them didn’t show. There were a few familiar faces – Uli, Josh and Leon among them. I didn’t see anyone that looked like my pace – they were all quite fast! However, I had always planned to do my own thing so that didn’t bother me!

We arrived at Belair Railway Station with about half an hour to spare. I had my energy drink, put on some sunscreen and did a quick portaloo stop before taking my drop bags to the correct places and getting my bib scanned to ensure I received a finish time. And a quick selfie with a couple of guys in bright rainbow outfits.

And before I knew it, we were away!

Echo Tunnel was about 2km in and it is one part of the course I never enjoy! It’s quite low which means I have to duck to avoid hitting my head, and also very dark, even with the lanterns that were there to light it up. I had my hand torch on but that didn’t even seem to do anything! I hoped no-one behind me was wanting to run because I was walking with my hand on the wall the whole time, until I could literally see the light at the end of the tunnel and with relief I started running again!

I had printed out the estimated splits at all the aid stations for my goal 7 hour time, laminated it and attached it to my backpack, so I could see how I was tracking.

Aid station 1 was at Sheoak Road at 5km and other than a quick selfie and picture of my watch, I didn’t stop. I was 4 minutes ahead of schedule. As per tradition the volunteers were all in onesies and seemed to be having a great time!

Then we hit the awesome fun of the switchbacks which were a bit slower than last year because of the mud and general slipperiness – it was a bit early to be falling over! Thankfully I didn’t, and heading down Brownhill Creek Road I started following
a guy in a bright orange T-shirt (and no back bib!). We got off the road and onto the trail heading up to the next station at McElligott’s Quarry. I saw him stop to a walk and then head into the bushes so I decided to stop following him at that point! Eventually he caught up and we ran together for a bit. I didn’t get his name but he had a Spanish-ish accent. I think from memory it was his first Yurrebilla and he was aiming for about 6.5 hours. After the quarry I didn’t see him again.

I reached the quarry in 1:03, 12 minutes ahead of my cheat sheet. Again, I didn’t need anything other than a quick selfie and watch photo! A few of the people at the aid station were laughing at the whole selfie thing and saying things like “You know this is a race, right?” but it was really only for my records, just so I could look back on it afterwards and see where I could have done things differently!

The next stop was Kavell’s, where my parents were going to come and see me. Not long before this the first of the 8:30 runners started to overtake me. The first one took me by surprise, and the second one was a familiar face, Andrew, who passed me just as I went through a gate, so I thought I’d hold the gate for him!

I reached Kavell’s 10 minutes ahead of schedule, luckily my parents were early otherwise I would have missed them! I grabbed one of Maurice’s famous vegan brownies and went to have a quick chat and photo with the folks. I also reapplied my sunscreen at this stage – Mum finally managed to find the little bottle in my backpack which saved me the trouble of having to take my backpack off!

From there it was up Mount Barker Road into Cleland. The course had changed a bit there – the Waterfall Gully to Mount Lofty track was closed, and part of that track is part of the Yurrebilla Trail. Before reaching the Cleland aid station I was passed by a few familiar faces, Mick and Dej, who both seemed to be in great form. I also caught up to regular parkrun buddies Liam and Tom who were both struggling a bit. I ran/walked with them for a little while before taking off.

After what seemed like an eternity I reached the Cleland aid station. First stop was the toilets, before heading into the station to fuel up. I was looking forward to some boiled salted potatoes but was a bit devastated to find that they’d run out! I did manage to grab a vegan brownie and some fruit cake and top up my Gatorade bottle. Regular running buddy Kay was there, in a bad way with cramps, and I thought that was the end of her day but in the end she got to 45km, unfortunately not quite able to make it to the end of her first Yurrebilla.

Another good friend Nat was there, volunteering her podiatry services and by
all accounts she was kept quite busy!

I left Cleland just a few minutes ahead of schedule. The next milestone was the 28km, or halfway point. At around that point, at a slightly tricky road crossing, were 2 familiar faces as road marshals – Shannon and Brian. I broke into the chorus of Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer” before crossing the road and heading back up the trail towards the Coach Road aid station. (That would be the only singing that I did throughout the day!)

I was a bit behind schedule when I reached Coach Road but didn’t really need to stop here so pushed on. I had thought I was still well ahead of schedule and I was getting close to where I thought Beck and Kate were coming out to cheer me and some of the other runners on, Norton Summit. So as I headed into the next aid station at Woods Hill, I quickly texted Beck to request a lemonade icy pole. This had been so appreciated last year when James brought them for us, but I had been doubtful as to whether it was the right weather this year for an icy pole! As it turned out, despite a few showers earlier, it had warmed up a bit and I had decided yes, I definitely wanted one.

I reached Norton Summit and couldn’t see any sign of Beck and Kate, so I gave Beck a call. Turned out they were a few kilometres up the road at Morialta Cottage, so I kept going. As I heard them yelling at me to hurry up, I could see two familiar backs in front of me, Di and Michael. They, along with Marc, had decided that it might be fun to start at Athelstone at 8pm the night before, run the trail in reverse, then start in the 6am group with Arwen, Michael and Toni. Hmm, yeah, that sounds like fun – NOT!

Alas Kate had forgotten the icy poles but they did have some DELICIOUS vegan Anzac biscuits for me, along with Coke and water. I grabbed some chips and a sip of nice fresh water (the water in my bladder was by now warm with a delightful hint of plastic, so wasn’t very appealing!) before getting going again! As much as I would have loved some Coke, I was saving that for after the 40km mark. Having reread last year’s race report, I had wished I had started drinking Coke from around that point. I had been reluctant to start drinking it in case I then craved it. Consequently I hadn’t drunk it at all until the finish.

Apparently I was back ahead of schedule by the time I reached Morialta Cottage. At the official aid station I was excited to see potatoes! I quickly downed one, dipped in salt, and a brownie, and topped up my Gatorade. Nat was there again and got a pic of me stuffing my face!

I think it was here that I saw Graham, an distance running veteran, looking a bit shabby in the back of a station wagon and doubtful if he would continue!

Not long after Morialta I saw a very familiar runner – Terry Cleary, the Godfather of Yurrebilla (the one who started it all!) I caught up with him and had a quick chat with him before taking off. He said he was struggling a bit, and given that he lives in Darwin where there are NO hills, his training was a bit lacking!

The next aid station was Moores Road, 40km, staffed by the CFS fireys. After the bright yellow uniforms, the first thing I saw was that they had Coke! I was very excited by this and decided to have 2 cups because it was just so damn delicious! I was right on target – 40km in 5 hours. Just 16km to go!

Somewhere around here I saw a few more familiar faces – first there was Stirling, who looked like he was limping a fair bit and when I caught up with him he told me that he had torn his calf a week ago! Naturally, the thought of not running Yurrebilla probably hadn’t even entered his mind! Then I heard the familiar voice of Ziad, and ran/walked with him briefly.

The next stop was the bottom of Orchard Trail and I’d actually made up some time, according to my cheat sheet I was 2 minutes ahead of schedule. I think this was the station where there was a creek crossing just afterwards and I pretty much chose the hardest way across the creek and ended up on my hands and knees on rocks in the middle of the creek. Fortunately I didn’t fall in as there would have been plenty of witnesses and undoubtedly photos!

AND THEN…

That was when the big climbs started. First we had Orchard Track at around 45km, with about 30% gradient over 500m. Here, for the first time ever, I felt the need to pick up a big stick and use that to drag myself up. Around me at this point was a woman with poles and a guy who seemed to be doing it way too easily. From then on my ‘running’ joke was offering people $20 (all the money I had on me) for their poles. Surprisingly no-one took me up on the offer! I ditched the stick at the top of Orchard Track as there was a runnable section after that and I didn’t fancy carrying the stick while trying to run.

After Orchard, which seemed to go on forever, we met Boobook Track at about 47.8km which was a similar distance to Orchard and just as steep! As I saw the track up ahead I screamed out “NOOOOOO!” and said “I think I’m going to cry now”. (I didn’t – I needed every scrap of energy just to get up that damn hill!)

Next was ‘Ambers Loop’, the ‘sting in the tail’. At 49km there was a group of pirates, and then I saw a regular running buddy Paul who had started in the 8:30 group and had passed me earlier. I was surprised to see him as I thought he would have been further ahead of me. Turned out, he was on his way back down after the loop. He was WAY ahead of me! We had to go along a track where we met fellow runners on their way back out of the loop and heading towards the finish line. Although I hated the fact that we got that close to the finish STILL with over 7km to go, I did like seeing other runners who I wouldn’t otherwise have seen – the likes of Karen, Sue, Christine and Gary (Gary was ahead of Christine, unlike last year when Christine finished just ahead of him and MC Karen took great pleasure in announcing that fact!).

After that section we ran downhill for about 2km. That can’t be good – “What goes down must come up”. And boy did we come up!

I had met Ambers Ridge once before but didn’t remember it. I won’t forget it now!

It is way worse than Black Hill, the normal big climb towards the end of Yurrebilla. It is a climb of about 1.5km, mostly on Besser blocks (a bit like Black Hill). The slope is up to 38 degrees. Here I met James, who I’d done a few trail runs with since the Adelaide Marathon. He had started at 7 and was still looking pretty strong.

He’d been to a wedding interstate on Friday and had entered Yurrebilla semi-last minute when he realised the wedding was not on the Saturday as he had first thought!

Also on the climb I ran into Tim, who was a fellow 8am starter who I’d done a couple of group trail runs with. He was also aiming for 7 hours but had pretty much decided that was out of the question (this was the point at which I decided that I wasn’t going to be able to crack 7 hours, and decided to stop looking at my watch except to see the kilometres tick over).

The whole loop, from when we first met the pirates to when we saw them again, was around 5.6km. And it was a looooong 5.6km!

Then we were back onto familiar territory, the usual descent back down to the finish. That is a technical steep descent of around 1.5km. I wasn’t able to run it as quickly as usual because I’d smashed my legs on the climbs, plus it was a bit slippery and of course I didn’t want to fall over, because I highly doubted I’d be able to get back up!

Somewhere around here I passed Simon, who was an 8:30 starter, having passed me much earlier. I said as I passed him, “I’m just going to pass you, because then I can say I passed you, feel free to pass me again!” (He didn’t, but he still managed a sub-7 hour time)

And then, after the challenging descent, that finish! What a great feeling, getting called across the finish line by MC Michelle, and then seeing both my parents there to watch me finish. My watch showed 7:19 on the dot (around 12 minutes slower than last year) and my official time was exactly the same.

Then came the best part – celebrating with friends, and watching others finish.

Beck and Kate presented me with a glass of sparkling wine which I gladly accepted, and the long-awaited lemonade icy pole!

It was great to see that Graham had finished. He had been picked up by Liam and Tom after being on the verge of pulling out, and ran/walked most of the rest of the course with them. Whe I saw him he was wearing a T-shirt that said ‘Everything hurts and I’m dying’ which summed it all up nicely!

I stayed until the cut off time of 5:30. Karen’s husband Daryl, who had walked with Mike, made it with half an hour to spare (last year he made it by mere minutes). We were standing around anxiously awaiting the last 2 Yurrebilla Legends, John and Terry, who both made it within the last 10 minutes. All the other Legends had already finished. Not long after those two, Kristy finished with running buddy Uli, who had long since finished but went back up to run the last little bit with her. I saw a fair bit of that, lots of people crossing the line in pairs or threes, and people going back to finish with their friends. MC Michelle even went back up to cross the line with her husband Mark.

Once the finish line was closed I made my way back home, as a few of us were going out for a Thai meal. I find that spicy food is an excellent recovery meal so I went with a green curry which was delicious, along with the best part of a bottle of Jansz sparkling – I’d forgotten that last year I’d brought a bottle of Jansz to the finish line! I guess that’s tradition now! I managed to manoeuvre myself into my compression pants, which I would leave on for a good 24 hours to aid recovery.

So – time for a quick bit of analysis. According to Strava I got 15 personal records (ie segments faster than last year). I was on track for a sub 7 hour until the 44km mark. The ONLY thing that stopped me was those f***ing climbs at the end. And that’s just a training thing. My lack of hill training really found me out. Considering the
training I’ve done, I have to be really happy with that run.

A MASSIVE thankyou to Race Director Barry McBride, MC and general legend Michelle Hanlin, and all on the Yurrebilla committee for making this event the brilliant day that it always is, especially given the massive challenge of having to change the course at the last minute (yeah, maybe not so much thanks to Barry and Matt Angus and any other sadists involved in devising the last 12km!!!) Thanks also to the fantastic volunteers and supporters, the fabulous Race Ambassadors Majell and Lucy, and last but not least all the wonderful runners/walkers for the brilliant camaraderie out there – according to the results it looks like we had 464 finishers, a big jump from last year’s record of 400!

So, what’s next?

In 4 weeks I’ve got the Heysen 105km ultra where I am confident of a PB. Before that, I’ve got the McLaren Vale half marathon in 2 weeks where I am the 2 hour pacer. I’ll try to sneak in a few nice long trail runs too!

Next year – that sub 7 hours will be mine!

September 18, 2016

Race report – City-Bay Fun Run 2016

City-Bay, for the uninitiated, is, quite simply, an Adelaide institution. It’s been going for over 40 years and has at times boasted a field of over 40,000 runners and walkers. It is an event that pretty much stops a city, and is the goal race for so many new runners/walkers (including yours truly in 2013) – a nice flat/downhill 12k from the centre of Adelaide CBD to the iconic seaside suburb of Glenelg.

This was my 4th consecutive City-Bay. My first one was in 2013 and despite the timing issues, got me the desired sub-60 time of 57:32. Thanks to the sadly missed Brian Wyld I got the coveted sub-60 bib and that was a big contributing factor to my getting under the hour (and, importantly, making it to my 10am soccer game in time). In 2014 I also had a game to get to, and gave myself a bit more time to get there by beating my 2013 time (from memory I think it was 55:57) but unfortunately I didn’t have the luxury of starting the game on the bench as we only had the bare 11 players. I don’t think it was my best ever game!

2015 was another story altogether. Having decided to hang up the soccer boots earlier in the year, I had no game to get to. Somehow (and I still don’t know quite how) I managed a 51:21. You can read all about it here.
Then came 2016. I have had a pretty big year. So far, I’ve had 2 marathons and 3 ultras in 2016. There was NO WAY I was going to beat, or even get close to, last year’s time. For the first time, I had to face the very likely prospect of not running a PB. I was not sure quite how to deal with that.

My preparation was as good as could be expected. I had a solid hit-out on Thursday (despite a stop at the river to check out the aftermath of Wednesday’s big storm) and a decent speed session on Friday. Saturday was an easy 5k parkrun with my mum to celebrate Torrens parkrun’s 200th run.

Gear-wise I’d gone with something a bit different – all built around the pink sub-60 minute race bib (they said it was magenta but it was clearly pink). I went with a nice floral lululemon skirt, with a new blue Skins singlet which I’d bought way back in July at the Gold Coast Marathon expo and had only had the chance to wear once so far, and had had a fantastic run that day. I’d also gone with the 2XU compression socks with which I’d done a near-PB at the Barossa half and a Boston qualifier at Gold Coast (despite nearly losing a toenail as a result) and my almost brand new Brooks Ravenna 6 shoes (my 6th pair of Ravenna 6s!). To top it all off I wore my stock standard white hat and another new addition, a pair of pink leg warmers (worn as arm warmers) which I’d bought from the Central Market the day before for the princely sum of $1. Money well spent if you ask me but one of my running buddies at the start line somewhat unkindly told me that I’d been ripped off (I’m talking to you, Mark Newman!)

It was a chilly morning so I’d donned a tracksuit top and gloves as I made the journey to the finish at Glenelg. That was a bit of a weird experience as I drove along the race route of Anzac Highway, seeing the kilometre markers which I would see again a few hours later! From Glenelg, I trammed it back to the city, arriving an hour before the 8am start. The tram ride was interesting – I didn’t know anyone on the tram but most of the people around me were clearly newbies who would be happy just to finish. It kind of put things into perspective, and took me back to 2013 when I would have been stoked with anything under an hour. Oh to be able to just go out there and enjoy it without the (self-imposed) pressure to perform!

On arrival in the city, I first stopped at the portaloo before doing a warmup, then removing my jacket and dropping my bag at the baggage drop, and quickly downing my energy drink before making my way to the sub-60 starting ‘cage’ where I couldn’t look anywhere without seeing a familiar face!

I had a few goals. My ‘A’ goal was to run around 54 minutes which would equate to 4:30 per kilometre. My ‘B’ goal was under 55 minutes. My ‘C’ goal was to retain my spot in the cage by running under the hour. I didn’t set any goals beyond that. For me, anything over an hour would be a disaster!

My regular running buddy, Peter, who I hadn’t seen before the start, was also aiming for around 54 minutes, so I was hoping to run at least part of the way with him. It is always good to have someone to run at least a few kms with!

Another sometime running buddy, Matt, had reminded me of how I’d breezed past him towards the end of last year’s race. I laughed and said that would be unlikely to happen again!

While waiting in the cage, light rain started to fall. I hadn’t experienced a rainy City-Bay before. Another reason why I wasn’t going to get a PB (or close to it). Fortunately, the rain stopped and the sun showed its face just before the start!

And before we knew it … it was go time!

I won’t talk too much about the race itself because it was a hard slog from start to finish. My first kilometre was 4:30, spot on pace. I saw Peter ahead of me but he was quickly away and I didn’t see him again until afterwards.

There were a few other familiar faces along the way – Matt, who I think I finished just ahead of, and another Matt who hadn’t run since San Francisco Marathon about 6 weeks earlier. Also there were regular parkrunners Jacques (who I probably hadn’t seen since City-Bay last year) and Chris and Michelle, both of whom I knew I was unlikely to see again after they passed me early on. Beck was also out there but after a bad run last year she was with the main pack, outside the ‘cage’, so I wasn’t expecting to see her.

My first few kilometres were on or ahead of pace but it wasn’t long before the pace started to drop. Despite not needing to stop for a drink (I was carrying a bottle of Gatorade) and passing a lot of people along the way, my pace continued to slow.

I ditched my gloves at the first drink station. I’d worn them because it had been a bit chilly earlier, but really could have done without them. I tried to throw them in the bin but it was quickly apparent why I’d never made it as a netballer or basketballer.

I managed to get in the obligatory high five to a couple of kids at the halfway mark. There is a 6km race starting here, which would have started not long after we passed.

Then we hit 7km and I tried to tell myself it was ‘just a parkrun to go’ but for some reason that didn’t help.

At around 8km I decided that the kilometre split times were doing my head in (because they weren’t as good as I had wanted) so I pulled my arm warmer (by now completely redundant, as the sun was well and truly out and it was lovely running weather) up over my watch so I couldn’t see it. It was time to get the head down and just get this thing done.

I did have to look up from time to time. People have a nasty habit of stopping and walking without warning, and I could easily have run up the back of someone. Still, that last 4km really seemed to drag!

2km to go. Less than 10 minutes. Head down, one foot in front of the other.

After what seemed like an eternity, we finally got off Anzac Highway and onto the road that led us onto Jetty Road for the last few hundred metres. It felt like a lot more than that! A few people passed me on Jetty Road but mostly I held my spot and occasionally passed people. I stuck to the middle of the road, along the tramline, as I didn’t want to hold anyone up – I would have hated that last year!

FINALLY we turned the corner and the finish line was in sight. Unlike the previous 3 years there was no elation, no posing as I crossed the line, just pure relief that it was over! And huge disappointment when I finally looked at my watch and it was just over the 55 minutes! I’d given it everything I had but it just wasn’t enough.

I grabbed my race bag with the medal and made my way to the post-race recovery area. I hung around at the SA Road Runners Club marquee where I caught up with many of my fellow runners. Peter had done WELL under 54 minutes so there was no way I was ever going to be running with him! Beck had had an uneventful run and got her sub-60 bib back for next year. Gary had finished not far behind me and was very happy with his time. This for me was the best part of the day – getting to see all the other happy runners and forget how craptacular I felt my run was!

My response, when people asked me how I went, started as ‘Terrible’ then ‘Not as good as I’d hoped’ and finally settled at ‘Meh’. After 3 excellent City-Bays, I finally knew what it felt like to have a sub-par race. Much like this guy…

As I had lunch plans, I couldn’t stay long but I did manage to see 2012 Olympic gold medallist (and unsurprisingly the winner of the men’s 12k walk) Jared Tallent being interviewed onstage as well as Jess Trengove, also fresh back from Rio. I even managed to get a photo with Jared, as well as meeting Instagram friend Kristie who finished 3rd in the women’s walk – talk about mixing with the elites!

So, while it was not a great race personally for me this year, City-Bay is still a wonderful Adelaide event and just a brilliant day. Thanks so much to Race Director Joe Stevens and his team, including the fantastic volunteers, for making this event a ‘must-do’ for so many people every year, all the way from the elites to the back-of-the-pack gorilla-suited walkers!

And yes, despite saying ‘Never again!’ at the end of the race, chances are I will be fronting up again for my 5th City-Bay in 2017!

September 12, 2016

Taking the scenic route!

Trail running is a funny thing. Distances are not precise like they are in road races. Case in point, last Sunday’s trail race which went from 18k to 19 to 21 before settling at 19.5k. There is always going to be variation – different people will follow different paths while still staying on course, surprise obstacles can crop up, and of course a whole group of people can run the EXACT same route and ALL get different distances on their watches.
(Road runs are not ALWAYS a set distance. Local knowledge is important. Last weekend I went to a parkrun (not mentioning any names!) and managed to make what should have been a 5km run into a 5.2km run. The absence of the turnaround flag was not an issue for most of the runners, who were regulars and knew where the flag was MEANT to be. I found myself on my own, not seeing where the people behind me had turned, looking at my watch and realising I must have gone too far, and seeing the guy behind me turn around. It may have been an omen for the trail run to come that night – we’ll get to that.)

Then, there’s the other way that trail runs become longer (or shorter, but nearly always longer) than expected. Getting lost, or as we like to call it in trail running circles, ‘going exploring’.

One early example of this was during the Summit to Sea social run a few years back. It is a run from the top of Mount Lofty down to Brighton beach, traditionally following the Sea to Summit trail. It is ‘meant’ to be 34km and includes a hill climb at O’Halloran Hill late in the piece (but on the plus side there was a drink station there). Somehow we managed to miss a turn, cut out the OHH climb and drink stop, and cut it back to 32km. I later found out that SA trail running legend Terry Cleary said that the run was “from the Summit to the Sea, doesn’t matter which way you go!”

It wasn’t a race so it didn’t matter.

I memorably ‘went exploring’ in a large field during the Heysen 105 last year, a mistake I won’t make again. I can’t guarantee I won’t stray from the traditional route at some point, but I won’t make THAT mistake again!

This past weekend I organised a small group to run the last section of Heysen 105, usually around 18km, on Saturday night. This training run is traditionally held at night as the majority of people will finish, if not start, this section in darkness. The fact that the training runs are being held earlier this year meant that daylight saving hasn’t yet started, so instead of starting at dusk, it was already dark by the time we kicked off the run. Partner in crime Kate and I had decided to do the run a week earlier than the scheduled group run, because next weekend is the City-Bay Fun Run and we didn’t really fancy a potentially very late night and long trail run the night before what we hoped to be a fast road run! We put the call out to see if anyone wanted to join and on the night we had 13 other keen runners join us for our little adventure!

We had organised that people would stick together in small groups so no-one would be on their own, and I asked people to message me when they got back, so I would know we hadn’t lost anyone.

After meeting at the finish and carpooling back to the start, we headed off shortly after 7pm. Ziad, who I am guessing probably knows the trail better than any of us, and is frequently seen at trail races as sweeper, offered to stay at the back. He was running with Laura, who was hard to miss in her hi-viz yellow top and amazing glow-in-the-dark tights! Everyone else settled into their small groups and followed the Heysen trail reflective markers.

It was super muddy and wet, as Ziad had warned us (he had recently run this section during the day) and we quickly gave up on the idea of trying to find a dry path. There wasn’t one.

I ran with Glen for a while – he had done Heysen several times and he pointed out to me where he had gone astray last year. Once again – once you’ve made a mistake on a particular route, you can be sure you won’t do the same thing again!

I dropped back to run with Kate and James. I had met James 3 weeks earlier at the last Heysen training run and had seen him every weekend since – our 41km Yurrebilla epic training run, and Mt Hayfield the following week.

Things were going well – we were following the arrows, crossing creeks, running through mud and sand, and we’d got to about 13km, expecting we had about 5km to go, when we ran into Ziad and Laura. Supposedly they were the back of the group! We had somehow taken a 3.5km detour and STILL had 8.5km to go! How had this happened? We were definitely following the Heysen arrows!

Apparently we went wrong twice, but I can only explain one. It was a good lesson to learn. At some point we had followed the wrong arrow and gotten off the Heysen trail. The Heysen arrows are red but we had followed some blue ones. In the dark of course, they all looked the same! By the time we ran into the others we were back on the Heysen alright, but we were going in the opposite direction to what we were supposed to be! So theoretically, if we hadn’t run into them, we could have kept going all the way back to the start of the run!

(The purple line on the map shows the route we SHOULD have taken – thanks to James for this map!)

So from then on we were very careful to make sure we were following the HEYSEN arrows. (Of course, on race day, there will be a lot of additional markers, and the markers in this section will be reflective.)
I checked my phone from time to time and got text messages from people who had finished and were heading home. We wondered if we might be the last ones back!

The other time when we could potentially have gone very wrong was right near the end when the Heysen marker indicated to go straight ahead, but we actually had to go right, up a road to the campground carpark where the cars were. On race day that will be marked with an arrow. Of course, the race doesn’t finish ON the Heysen trail. If we’d kept going we would have ended up in the Flinders Ranges! (I like to think we would have figured it out well before then!)

By the time we got back we’d done 22km and Ziad and Laura were the only ones yet to come in. They arrived maybe 10 minutes after us, and we could all go home to shower and clean our shoes!

So we did our fair share of exploring, but we learned some valuable lessons which will stand us in good stead on race day in 6 weeks. Plus, I got a blog post out of it!

September 5, 2016

RACE REPORT – MOUNT HAYFIELD TRAIL RACE

2 weeks ago I did my first trail run in a little over 3 months. I was so happy to be back out there again after 3 months of marathon road slog. I was happy with my pace too, surprisingly slightly faster than when I did the equivalent run last year (a nice little 27km jaunt along the Heysen Trail, training for the upcoming Heysen 105).

1 week ago I somewhat ambitiously decided that the 20-odd km YUM 3 training run (the third of 3 official training runs for the Yurrebilla 56km ultramarathon, which when combined, cover the whole course) was not long enough, and with a small group of fellow crazies set out to combine runs 2 and 3. I estimated it would be 38km but it turned out to be 41km. It was a lovely day out but I was dismayed to see how slow it was compared to when I did similar runs last year. Admittedly I WAS only 2 weeks post marathon and I was only just getting my trail legs back, so I shouldn’t be too disappointed with how it went. I enjoyed the last few kilometres, after the brutal ascent up Black Hill – a nice technical descent into the finish at Athelstone. I did get a bit excited. And boy, did I pay for that – that last downhill section gave me the worst DOMS I’ve ever had, and I couldn’t walk properly until Thursday! It was a bit of a downer week because I started having doubts about my ability to run a sub 7 hour Yurrebilla and it was all because I had overcommitted myself to events throughout the year and not focused properly on trail training.

And then we come to my first trail race since UTA100 3½ months ago.

Mount Hayfield is quite far away from Adelaide. It was a good 1¼ hour drive to Yankalilla, the nearest significant town, and then a nice bumpy dirt road drive to the race start. Luckily I had organised to carpool from Yankalilla with fellow trail runner Sandy who had a WRX, which handled the road conditions much better than my little Corolla would have!

I had entered the long course which started at 8 and was meeting Sandy at 7 so that meant leaving home around 5:45.

The long course was originally stated to be 18km, later revised to 19km. I was a little surprised to hear at the start from several different people that it was a bit longer and might even be 21km! 21km is very different to 19km! Trail races are notorious for being not quite exactly the distance they are meant to be. I was hoping it would be closer to 19km but I kept 21km in my mind as the worst case scenario.

We were told to bring a change of shoes as it was going to be MUDDY!

Sandy and I had been chatting in the car and the topic turned to goal times. He said he’d be happy with anything under 2 hours and I thought that sounded pretty reasonable. Little did I know…

You know how they often recommend that you study the course map before a race so you don’t get lost? Yeah, I don’t do that. I prefer not to know. I knew there was some elevation but I didn’t know the detail and I was quite happy with that.

I had forgotten my energy drink and remembered as I was already on the road, but didn’t want to go back for it. I did have my energy supplement which I stashed in one of my arm warmers (it sounds dodgy but it isn’t. COMPLETELY legal) so I wouldn’t forget it. I did manage to lose that on my bathroom stop at Yankalilla. So I was left with NO caffeine, my only option would be to get a coffee from the coffee van but I NEVER drink coffee before a run. (ALWAYS after, though!)

Given that Trail Running SA has adopted a “no cups” policy, I had decided to wear my small race vest with about 750ml water in the bladder, 2 x 250ml bottles of Gatorade and enough powder to make another 500ml of Gatorade if needed. My plan was not to stop at any of the drink stations so I was anticipating that the water and Gatorade I started with would be enough to get me to the finish.

After collecting my bib (Bib number 5 – I’ve never had a single figure number on a bib before!) and a quick portaloo stop, it was time to go!

We were lulled into a false sense of security by a nice downhill start. Sure, it was muddy underfoot and there were rocky sections so you really had to pay attention to where you were putting your feet, but it was downhill. I guess we were all thinking, “What goes down must come up!” (and I’m not talking about the food at the post-race aid station!)

Up until the 7km mark everything was going nicely. 44 minutes, average pace 6:17, admittedly almost all of that was downhill. Then we hit the first major climb.

In previous races, I have tried not to walk up the hills. This was not possible for me when I hit that first climb. I tried a new tactic on a few occasions during this race – run 10 steps then walk 10. I’m not sure quite how effective it was, as people were still passing me, walking, while I was doing this. I can probably safely say I got up the hills quicker using this technique than I would have had I just walked.

The first big climb was followed by a few nice downhill kilometres to prepare us for the Big One.

The bottom of the big hill was the point where I decided to pull out my phone and take a few photos. It’s not something I normally do in a race (except in an ultra, when there is always going to be walking and there are always going to be photo opportunities), but when I realised there was no way I was running up that thing, I felt it was necessary to try to capture just how steep it was, in photographic form. It was pretty steep alright – my elevation profile shows it being pretty much vertical for a long way, then a few teasing little downhills before climbing again.

I gave up on the “run/walk” strategy on this particular hill. It was a long hard plod (almost verging on a crawl).

I think at this point (in fact, probably earlier than this) the whole idea of sub 2 hours became an impossibility.

Mercifully, the big climb was followed by a few downhill kilometres before we faced more uphill, but none of the other climbs were anywhere near as steep or as long as that one.

Most of this run I did on my own – occasionally I would see a familiar face (usually passing me) but for most of it I was just concentrating on sticking with the person in front (and ideally trying to make up some ground). There was one girl who passed me on an uphill – not looking like it was too much of an effort – so I assumed she must be doing the short course. Plus she wasn’t carrying a bottle or wearing a hydration vest, and there’s no way anyone could run this kind of terrain for 2+ hours and not need a drink! I didn’t expect to see her again but when we passed the drink station where the short course runners went one way and we went another, I was surprised to see her still in front of me (by now, just a dot in the distance).

As we got close to the 18km mark I could see her ahead of me and I did eventually manage to catch her. Her name was Mel and I asked her if she had a bottle stashed somewhere to which she replied no, she never runs with any kind of hydration vest/belt/bottle etc. There was also a guy called Trevor who was running with us at that stage. Mel said “only 1km to go” and I thought to myself, “Would now be a good time to bring up the 21km thing?” I decided against it. I instead said “Hmmm, we’ll see about that – never believe you’re near the end until you can actually SEE the finish line!”

19km came and went, and still no finish line. SURELY we didn’t have another 2km of this to go?

Not long after that we saw Greg, one of the volunteers, who said “Only 200m to go. Maybe 300m”. I could cope with that, and I didn’t think he’d lie about something like that! Then we saw Bev at the drink station and she said “It’s just up there!” and then we could see it – that magnificent mystical structure that they call the finishing arch that somehow miraculously makes you run faster. I said to Mel and Trevor “Shall we run it?” to which they replied in the affirmative and promptly went on to finish just ahead of me. (Mel was 2 seconds ahead of me in 10th place – not that I was in any way thinking about placings on this occasion but top 10 would have been nice!)

The last 2.5km were uphill but compared to some of the earlier climbs it wasn’t so bad. The final distance was 19.5km – more than enough!

Priorities, priorities – my first stop was the food tent to get me one of those famous vegan brownies before they were all gone! I’d volunteered at the last 3 Trail Running SA races, the last two on the finish line food table, and had managed to get a couple of said brownies, but I didn’t want to take any chances of missing out! Then it was time to catch up with other fellow runners/torture addicts to see if they’d found the course as challenging as I had!

Turns out I wasn’t the only one who found it tough. 2 people separately described it as “harder than Mt Misery” – an event I’ve never run but which is notoriously tough. So it wasn’t just me being a wuss/completely out of trail condition! It was a legitimately tough course!

I had to get back to town for a Fathers’ Day lunch but I made sure I waited until after the presentations and lucky prize draw before I left. Good thing I did too, because I won a hydration pack – valued at over $200! Go me!

Thanks to all the fantastic volunteers from Trail Running SA who put on yet another brilliant event. It was great to be out there as a runner after volunteering at the last 3 races, and it just makes you appreciate all the more what the volunteers do to make these races happen. Thanks to Sandy for the lift from Yankalilla to the race and to Laura for giving me and my filthy stinky shoes a lift back after the race!

Massive thanks too to the awesome Sputnik who seemed to be everywhere on the course snapping away and from whom I got most of these photos.

Well done to everyone who participated in both the short and the long course, and hopefully I’ll see a lot of you again at Kuitpo in November (I’ve already entered!) if not at Yurrebilla in 3 weeks!

Yes, it was tough, yes, there were certainly times when I didn’t want to be there, and yes, I would do it again in a heartbeat!

August 22, 2016

Race photos – a how-to guide

It’s no secret, I am a sucker for a race photo. It’s entirely possible that I have spent more money on race photos than race entry fees. I don’t want to add it up and find out for sure!

People often comment on my race photos and say things like, “How can you look like you’re not dying?

With a quiet patch coming up in terms of races, but a few big ones coming up, I thought this week would be an opportune time to share my tips on nailing a good race pic!

But first, here is my first EVER race photo, from my first EVER race in November 2012.

SO much wrong with this photo. Mostly the outfit.

Could be worse though – I could be Tess, photobombed by a tree!

1. Don’t be afraid to fake it!

Trust me, the photo does not always reflect my frame of mind at the time! The smile in the second photo is definitely very fake. But hopefully you would have been so dazzled by the brightness of my outfit that you would not have noticed that.

2. Be aware of where the photographers are.

In a road race, they’ll usually be along the left side of the course, usually wearing a hi-viz vest. I tend to try to run along the left side where possible. Also, then I get to high five spectators!

3. Wear something distinctive.

It’s not always practical to wear a costume, although in some themed runs it can be fun to get into the spirit of it! It’s also great to dress up when you’re a pacer, so your ‘bus’ passengers can easily pick you out of the crowd!

Bright colours are also good. The added bonus is if you have to find the photos yourself among hundreds of other photos, you won’t have too much trouble picking yourself out!

4. Prepare a few interesting poses.

This is a work in progress for me. Usually all I can think of to do is wave at the camera. Different facial expressions, hand gestures – the list is endless!

5. Might as well jump!

One of my running goals, and one I have failed at spectacularly to date, is to nail the perfect jumping photo. I’ve thought about doing it several times but chickened out at the last minute. I tried one during Heysen 105 last year but succeeded only in almost strangling myself with my buff. I tried it at the top of Mt Kosciuszko (the highest point in Australia) but it was so windy that day I was a bit worried about being blown over and landing on a pile of rubble! Here is a video that gives a few tips (from someone who DOES know how to do a jump shot) on how to perfect your technique!

6. Pics with others are always more fun!

Also, tight arse tip: if you run with a friend, you can just buy one lot of race photos and share them!

7. A good finish line photo is essential!

Ideally, wait until AFTER you cross the line to stop your watch (ie not like in the last photo!)

Bloodied knees optional (like in the first photo)

8. Make sure your race bib is visible at all times!

When bib recognition is used, and you get a link to all your photos, a visible bib is essential, otherwise you may miss a bunch of photos. In a shorter race, generally having the bib attached to the front of your top will make it visible. In a longer race where you may either change your top or put a warmer top on over it, it’s best to wear your race bib attached to a belt. I have been doing the latter for the past 12 months or so and never find the bib interferes with my running, and I always get all my photos! (Chris, in the blue and white, didn’t get this photo sent to him as his bib was not visible. Luckily I’m generous and I sent him a copy!)

9. If you’re going to wear a hat, make it a white one.

This is a tip from a photographer friend. With darker hats, it’s REALLY hard to see your face. Plus, darker hats get hotter. Normally you’re wearing a hat because it’s warm. Lighter coloured hats will keep you cooler! I almost ALWAYS wear a white hat. Gets a bit dirty especially on the trails but it can always be washed! Doesn’t look so white up close now but still looks OK for the photos!

10. The photos you take yourself, or that friends take, are often the best!

Selfies during an ultra, or photos taken by friends who are supporting, are often more natural and can be the best photos you get of an event. Plus, they’re free! And if you happen to know the official photographer it often leads to better pictures! (The composite photo shows a few different interesting facial expressions when I was unaware I was being photographed – the one in the middle shows when I saw my friend Dave behind the camera!)

BONUS: Don’t be afraid to photobomb!

I don’t think I was even aware I was photobombing in this race photo! The second photo is one of my favourite pics from this year’s Gold Coast Marathon. I had no idea I was being photobombed, the guy taking the pic offered to do it again but I loved it the way it was!

So there you have it, my top tips for getting the best race photos.

Do you have any other great tips to share?

August 15, 2016

Race report – Adelaide Marathon Festival 2016

The 2016 Adelaide Marathon Festival consisted of 4 events, the marathon, half marathon, 10k and 2k family fun run. For the first time since the redevelopment of the Adelaide Oval, all the events finished on the hallowed turf. As a cricket tragic from way back and with Adelaide Oval being my spiritual home, there was no way I was missing out on this opportunity.

I had run Adelaide last year for the first time, as a pacer in the half marathon – that was also my first experience of pacing. You can read about it here.

This year I had also volunteered to pace the half, on the condition that if I needed to run Adelaide for a Boston qualifier, I would run the full instead. I decided early on (even before Gold Coast) that I would commit to running Adelaide Marathon as well, so I gave the organisers plenty of notice to find another 2 hour pacer.

I was running Adelaide with Beck, aiming for somewhere between 3:40 and 3:45, to try to get her across the line to Boston too.

My taper week was uneventful.

Tuesday was my usual 12k run, albeit slightly slower than usual. To make up for it we threw in a few short sharp efforts.

Thursday was a short 6k easy run. I noticed some discomfort on the outside of my left foot. I then realised that the shoes I was wearing had done over 900km! Luckily these weren’t the shoes in which I was planning to run the marathon!

I took Friday off and did an easy parkrun with Mum on Saturday.

On Saturday afternoon I had volunteered to do a leaflet drop for SARRC (SA Road Runners Club – the organisers of the marathon) – basically putting flyers on cars along the tighter parts of the course, to politely ask people to park elsewhere on marathon morning. My designated area was the Mills Tce zigzag section and along Strangways Tce beside the golf course. The Mills Tce section I had earmarked as probably the most difficult section, after last weekend’s reccy run with Beck. It was great to get another chance to see it before race day, although hopefully I would be covering that section a bit quicker during the marathon!

I had a quiet night Saturday night, watching Olympics highlights, and my marathon eve dinner (as per tradition) was pizza – homemade dukkah-roasted pumpkin, chickpeas, spinach and pine nuts – with a cider. I’m glad I had the foresight to make 2 pizzas!

The alarm went off at 4:45am on Sunday and I dragged myself out of bed to get ready. With ideal running weather forecast (mid teens as a top, not too cold overnight, and no rain) my kit was pretty standard – pink SARRC top, rainbow arm warmers, black and white skirt with compression shorts, pink calf sleeves, and my slightly newer shoes. I’d bought a pair of cheap gloves at the market the day before so I put them on along with track pants and a jacket, and my standard white hat. Ready well ahead of the time I needed to leave to pick Beck up, I sat down to watch a bit of Olympics coverage. Then, it was time to go. I thought, am I missing something? OMG, my Spibelt with race bib attached! I’d hung it up on my wardrobe door so my cats wouldn’t use it to sharpen their claws, and damn near forgot it! After grabbing that and putting it on, I headed out to pick Beck up and head to the Adelaide Oval.

We got there in plenty of time, surprisingly there’s not much traffic on the road before 6am on a Sunday morning! That gave us plenty of time for a warmup, toilet stop, bag drop, energy drink, sunscreening and a fair bit of socialising! Unlike at Gold Coast where we had to be in our starting area a good 20 minutes before the start, we could wander onto the road with just a minute before the starter’s gun. Also unlike Gold Coast, and one of the best things about having the race based at a major sporting stadium, there were plenty of CLEAN toilets, running water, soap and even hand dryers! None of those stinky portaloos here!

We met our 3:45 pacer (‘bus driver’) Simon – I hadn’t realised that Beck and Simon hadn’t met before! He was easily visible, like all the other pacers, in his fluoro yellow SARRC top and helium balloons. Also carrying out pacing duties were fellow Yumigo athletes Paul (pacing 4 hours) and David (pacing 3 hours). Sadly we were not going to be able to get anywhere near David’s bus, and we were definitely planning to stay well ahead of Paul!

In the start area we saw Mick who was wearing the No. 1 bib – quite an honour! I expected him to be on the 3:00 bus but he said he didn’t think he would be – his goal race is Melbourne in October. Still, I expected him to be well ahead of me, unlike at Gold Coast 6 weeks ago!

Also there was Nat, running buddy and cycling teacher, who was doing her 3rd straight Adelaide Marathon and was aiming for around 4:30, so we were unlikely to be running with her during the race, although we would see her a number of times in the out and back sections.

It was cool but pleasant, and after warming up I had decided I didn’t need the gloves, so had left them in my bag. I did realise at this point that I didn’t have my sunnies! I thought I must have left them in my bag but I later found out they were sitting on the passenger seat of my car! It was too late by now to get them, so I had to just hope it wouldn’t be sunny!

Aaaaand just like that, at 7am, we were away!

We started relatively conservatively – the plan being to stick with Simon for as long as we needed to, with the aim to move ahead of him if and when we felt the time was right. To try to go ahead of him too early was just asking for trouble. ‘Time in the bank’ is an easy mistake to make in a marathon – go too fast too early and you will lose that ‘banked’ time and more when you fatigue badly at the end.

I hadn’t used ‘Pace Alerts’ on my watch for a while but decided that might be an easy way to ensure we stayed on pace. 5:20 minutes per km would have us sitting right on 3:45. 5:12 would put us just under 3:40. I set my pace alert for 5:05-5:20.

The course is interesting – quite undulating and 2 laps can be a bit mentally tough. It’s also hard to maintain even splits when you’re going up and down. I found this particularly challenging last year as a pacer – it’s best for a pacer to maintain even splits throughout.

The first kilometre was slightly uphill, heading up Montefiore Road and around Light Square, the only time the course ventures into the Adelaide CBD (the rest of it is adjacent North Adelaide). We got through in 5:21 so we were just behind our goal pace but given the slight uphill that was fine. We were running close to Simon at this stage, so close at times we were getting balloons in our faces! Note to self: running DIRECTLY behind the pacer is probably not the best idea!

One of the great things about a course with lots of out and back sections is the opportunity to see a lot of the other runners. Early on we saw all the leaders in the marathon as they came back past us, but later in the race the front runners were so far ahead we didn’t cross paths with them again.

We went through 5km comfortably in 26:19 with an average pace of 5:16. This was around the start of the challenging Mills Tce zigzag, just after we passed the first drink station where Alison and Kay were working hard to keep the drinks coming!

Beck and I had both put ‘special drinks’ at all the drink stations – the drinks themselves weren’t all that special but having bottled drinks is more convenient than trying to drink out of plastic cups while running. With bottled drinks, you can grab the drinks even if you’re not quite ready for them, and you’ll have them when you need them, rather than having to wait another 5km for the next drink stop. I remember at my first marathon in Liverpool the water was all bottled, and it was so handy, I’d grab one at one drink station, and hang onto it until I got close to the next one, and so from the first drink station onwards I was not without a bottle in my hand. I used the same tactic at last year’s Barossa marathon (some bottles with Gatorade and some with water). At my last 2 marathons, at Gold Coast, personal refreshments was a privilege restricted to the elite runners. Here, at Adelaide, my drinks were all Gatorade, given that I had hardly drunk any water during this year’s Gold Coast, which was a much warmer day than Adelaide in August! I’d attached straws to the top to make them more visible, but as it turned out they weren’t that easy to spot, and actually quite annoying to carry! So I won’t be doing that again! Beck’s drinks were all water as she was using gels for nutrition. After the first drink station, once I saw what Beck’s drinks looked like, I offered to get her drinks for her as we passed each station – either I’d run ahead and grab them, or I’d drop back and get them, and catch up with her. This was so she could maintain a steady pace and not have to stop/start.

We passed 10km in around 52:45 – our average pace was still 5:16. We’d gone around the Mills Tce zigzag, up around Wellington Square where we’d seen familiar faces Trish and Britt marshalling, and back around the zigzag again. As predicted, this was quite challenging but the way back was slightly easier. On the way back I spotted Lisa, a former colleague and triathlete, marshalling on one of the corners. We were still comfortably on the 3:45 ‘bus’ by this stage. Also with us was Gary, who I had met at Henley to Henley, looking at doing a sub 4 hour time for his first marathon, and looking well on track to achieve this. Around 10km we got our first drinks. It took me a while to find mine and I ended up running around behind the drinks table, and dropping it on the ground before grabbing it and catching up with Beck and the bus. I realised it wasn’t quite as strong as I like it (I use the powder and mix it myself) but it would have to do!

Ahead of us were a lot of familiar faces in the marathon. Not far behind David (3:00 bus driver) were Gordon and Alex running together, Mick and Leon (the latter easy to spot in his bright red wig!) and then a bit further back around the 3:30 bus were Riesje and Zorica, both looking very strong every time we saw them. Also around there was Charlie, who I had met at Henley to Henley doing the run/walk strategy. I saw him a number of times during the marathon and thought he must have been taking it easy at H2H because on that day he and I finished together, whereas in the marathon he was WELL ahead of me!

Somewhere between 11 and 12km, heading back along War Memorial Drive towards Montefiore Road, we reached the 1 hour point and we saw the nearly 1000 half marathoners head towards Light Square on the start of their journey.

We ran into the Par 3 Golf Course carpark towards the Torrens Weir – very familiar territory, as this is where Torrens parkrun happens every Saturday. Here we saw a very familiar face, Karen, dressed up in a Where’s Wally outfit to cheer us all on with her funny signs.

We were still sitting on 5:16 pace at 15km (1:19:05) – we were in very familiar territory, around the Uni Loop. If we were able to maintain this pace we would be looking at a time of around 3:42:15. Just before this we’d passed the Adelaide Harriers drink station where there were a lot of familiar faces. Julie even had one of my drinks in her hand ready to give me when she saw me coming – talk about great service! I still had plenty in my bottle at that stage and I knew we’d be coming back this way soon so I said no thanks and kept going.

Although the pace seemed to be about right, we had to take into consideration that the distance showing on our watches was significantly more than the kilometre markers showed. The kilometre markers we assumed were accurate – GPS watches are notoriously not so much. Early on, our watches were vibrating to indicate another kilometre had passed, and it was about 200m before the marker. As the race went on, the discrepancy got bigger, up to 400m and then 600m. So the splits I have are based on a slightly inaccurate watch – without having officially timed splits that was all we had to go by. (There was a timing point at the top of Wellington Square but I think that was more to stop people from cheating by cutting corners, rather than giving split times)

As we approached the end of the first lap, we actually increased our pace slightly, going through 20km in 1:45:00 with an average pace of 5:15. This was one part of the course we hadn’t seen – when we did our reccy run last week, we’d run too far along the river, to the point where the only way to get up onto Montefiore Road was to go up stairs. We knew that wasn’t right – there would be no stairs in the marathon. I think I would have preferred the stairs – the hill was short but nasty. We ran up Montefiore Rd, back onto War Memorial Drive and back past the Adelaide Oval to commence our second lap. It was here that we saw (well, probably ‘heard’ is more accurate) Michelle for the first time, unmissable in a brightly coloured wig, marshalling at the entrance to the Adelaide Oval carpark. Boy, would we be happy to see her next time around!

As we went back towards Light Square I commented that I didn’t feel much different now than I did at the start of the race. A good sign, surely.

We were still sitting on 5:15 pace when we passed 25km in 2:11:27. This was on the way up War Memorial Drive past the golf course towards the Mills Tce zigzag. This was the first time we saw some of the half marathoners, among them Megan, Chantel, Caitlin, Neil and Michael.

Somewhere along this zigzag we fell off the 3:45 bus. We were gradually starting to drop behind but still within striking distance. At one point Simon looked around and wondered what was going on because he couldn’t hear me anymore. I offered/threatened to sing but it didn’t eventuate. We were convinced that Simon was ‘speeding’, because by 30km (2:38:11) our average pace had only dropped slightly to 5:16 as we ran back down Strangways Tce into the last zigzag. We decided not to try to run after the bus as that would waste valuable energy. Instead we decided just to stick to our own plan – we were still on target for a sub 3:45 finish.

(GPS inaccuracy is one of the difficulties of pacing. Normally the GPS says you’ve gone further than you actually have, so you need to run slightly faster than your watch would suggest, but you can’t go too fast otherwise the passengers will fall off the bus!)

At around 32km, with just over 10km to go, I remember saying to Gary, “This is where it gets ugly”. Gary had never run more than 33km in training so soon he would have surpassed his longest distance run.

As we ran back towards the weir, Karen had been joined by Shannon, Brian and Kym. Karen chased Beck and me for a short while – it was a welcome distraction and great support!

I think we ‘dropped’ Gary not long after this – I hope it wasn’t something I said!

But I was right. It did get a bit ugly after that. We reached 35km in 3:05:08 and our average pace had dropped slightly to 5:17. Just before this, with around 8km to go, factoring in the GPS inaccuracy (the GPS was about 600m out by now) we reached the low point – running past Adelaide Oval along the river, Beck called it. 3:45 is not going to happen, we just have to get it done now. Things went a bit quiet for a little while as we dug deep and focused on ticking off the kilometres.

As we passed the Harriers drink station again I grabbed a second Gatorade even though I still had almost a full one. One in each hand would make me balanced! Beck was starting to cramp at this stage and she didn’t have any drinks left at this drink station, so I offered her some of my Gatorade. I knew that one bottle was more than enough – I’d purposely overcatered and we really didn’t have far to go now. We saw Andrew, a very fast runner who was initially on the 3:00 bus but he was in real trouble with cramps and was now walking and it looked like it would be a long hard slog for him to get to the finish. And he wasn’t the only one. Although our pace had slowed significantly, we never stopped running, and passed a lot of people who had slowed to a walk.

We passed the very welcome 40km marker in around 3:33:02 with average pace 5:19. If the GPS was accurate we would have been looking at a time of JUST under 3:45. At this stage we were running along river, near Elder Park, and it was here that the 10km race leaders started to pass us. Most of them were in red and white Adelaide Harriers singlets. (I’m not even joking, 5 of the first 6 runners we saw were Harriers)

All that was left was the little ‘bitey’ hill up to Montefiore Rd and then we would be on the home stretch!

Our last few kilometres were 5:50 and 5:43 (our slowest, not surprisingly!) and we made our way back past the front of the Oval, up King William Street, up another (not quite so bitey) hill on Pennington Tce and into the carpark, cheered on by Michelle! This was it!

At the northern entrance to the oval I saw my parents waiting to cheer me on. Alongside them was Sputnik, a regular at running events, often taking photos WHILE running but this time just on photography duty. He seemed to be EVERYWHERE, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he covered more ground than we did! After quickly saying hi to Mum and Dad, we ran into the oval and onto the hallowed turf!

We saw a time clock that showed around 2:48. I said, “Yep, I’ll take that!” Never mind that it was clearly labelled ‘half marathon’ (they had started an hour after us)!

We ran around the oval and Beck grabbed my hand as we made the final dash to the finish line and crossed together in an official time of 3:49:22 – not quite what we had hoped for, but sub 3:50 is still very respectable! (My Strava time was 3:49:05 for 42.8km!) Laura and Naomi were on the finish line and gave us our medals before we had to start making our way up the stairs off the oval. (Yes, stairs. Whose idea was that?)

(I later checked the results and Simon finished in 3:44:19 so he was spot on pace – not bad for a first time pacer who only got called up at the last minute!)

It was time to celebrate – we got a photo with ambassador Steve Moneghetti, saw Mum and Dad again and caught up with a whole lot of other running friends. In particular there were a few who had run their first ever marathons (among them Rachel, Toni and Wendy). We were a bit worried because we hadn’t seen Gary and we thought he wouldn’t have been far behind us. As it turned out he was only about 4 minutes behind us but we must have been otherwise occupied at the time so we missed seeing him finish!

There were some other great results too. Bronwyn, who does really well in trail and ultra races, finished second in the marathon. Jenny was 6th female and Riesje broke 3:30 for the first time, Zorica not far behind her.

I ended up staying at the Oval until about 1:30, having a coffee first with Beck, Zorica and Leanne, then after helping out with some publicity photos for SARRC I ran into Anna and went back to the cafe to have another coffee with her and the Southern Running Group. I got a photo down by the Oval with my 5 marathon medals and then made my way back to the car and home where I annihilated the second pizza I was so glad I had made the night before!

Later in the day a group of us gathered at the pub, firstly for dinner to farewell regular running buddy Alison who is moving back to Canberra soon, and then later in the night to watch SA’s own Jess Trengove run in the Olympic marathon in Rio. It was amazing how quickly the marathon seemed to go, compared with how looooong it seems when you’re running it (and also, not an elite runner by any stretch!) It was a very long day but a perfect way to end it.

Well done as always to SARRC for putting on a BRILLIANT event. Thanks to the many wonderful volunteers for making it happen, and to the amazing supporters along the way! Congratulations to all the participants, especially those who were doing their first marathon! We didn’t quite get the result we were after but it was just a fantastic day nonetheless!

August 8, 2016

Running with music – yay or nay?

Music has always been a big part of my life. Some of my earliest memories are of the music my parents used to (and still) listen to, such as the Eagles and the Grateful Dead. Music can instantly take you back to a time and place, and equally can remind you of people from your past. Music in the car is an absolute must for me – to the extent that when I was about to buy my current car, and the dealer told me the stereo wasn’t working, I was about to walk away. I love to sing while I drive (and often also when I run) – I’m not sure if the people around me enjoy it as much as I do!

The topic of listening to music while running is a hotly debated one. Sure, if you’re running on the treadmill (something I have NEVER done, and would prefer not to if I can avoid it!), I would imagine listening to music would be the ONLY way to make it tolerable. But does music have a place when running on roads? Trails? Track? In races?

Prior to starting running, I often would do the Mount Lofty climb with a group of friends. On the way up, we all did our own thing as we were different paces, and on the way down we’d all walk together. On those occasions I would listen to music, and later when I started doing the climb on my own, I would again crank some tunes to keep me motivated!

In the beginning (and when I say ‘beginning’ I mean the beginning of my running life) – probably early 2013 when I first started going for runs on my own – I could not imagine running without music. At that stage, solo running was a chore and the music was a welcome distraction.

Then, I went through a long period of rarely ever running on my own, after I got into a regular morning running routine. On those runs, I would never listen to music. Although, in the early group runs, I would often find myself on my own in the middle of the pack, WISHING I had some music to listen to!

Getting towards the end of a long run or race, I will often tell myself how much further to go in time rather than distance. Somehow “only 20ish minutes to go” is mentally easier to deal with than “only 4km to go”! While using music, I sometimes say “just a few more songs”. Whatever it takes to get you through!

When running on the road, I tend to keep the volume low, and use earphones that allow me to hear the sounds of traffic, cyclists and other potential hazards! I did buy a pair of running earphones in the early days but they were hopeless (albeit very comfortable). The standard iPod earbuds seem to work as well as any, and if they have a tendency to fall out I can always wear a headband over my ears. I hate those massive cans that you see people wearing. No way can people hear anything of the outside world with those bad boys!

In 2015 I started doing a lot more trail running. Admittedly, most of the time I run with at least one other person – my sense of direction is a little challenged and it doesn’t take much for me to get lost! But even when running alone, such as during ultramarathons and shorter trail races, I never listen to music out on the trails. I like to be able to hear what’s going around me – the sounds of nature, my own footsteps, and the sound of a runner or mountain biker behind me, wanting to pass.

Which brings me neatly to my next point – using music during races. Whether on road or trail, I am not a fan of it. I don’t do it myself and I find it particularly frustrating in a race when I’m trying to overtake someone wearing earphones and despite me calling out that I’m passing, they don’t hear me. Even more frustrating was when I was marshalling a 5km race a couple of years ago and had to yell at some people SEVERAL times to tell them to turn around. I would be very happy with a blanket ban of music devices during races.

The only exception I make to this is in looped track races, such as the recent Adelaide 6/12/24 hour race, and the 50km/100km track championships in January. I think it’s quite reasonable to have music in those types of events for several reasons:

Not much chance of getting lost – no marshals’ instructions to follow
No vehicular traffic and no or few bicycles to contend with
It helps keep you sane!

As long as you are aware of other runners wanting to go past you, I have no problem with people listening to music in those types of events. I did it myself in the second half of the track 100k, and while I didn’t feel the need to have any music during either of my 6 hour races, I did have my iPod and headphones on standby, ready to go with some motivating tunes!

And that segues nicely into the final part of this post, a few of my favourite running tracks and the reasons behind them! I’ve listed 10 but it’s not necessarily a top 10. My preferences change daily, depending on my mood, the type of running I’m doing and a myriad of other reasons.

BON JOVI – LIVIN’ ON A PRAYER

No running playlist is complete without this gem, if only to belt out the chorus at the midway point of any race! The first time I cranked this one out was at the halfway point of the Yurrebilla 56k last year. I decided to start singing it at the checkpoint, and Beck joined in, along with a few other bemused spectators and participants!

U2 – WHERE THE STREETS HAVE NO NAME

It’s got a great beat, perfect tempo and the first words are “I wanna run…” – what more could you want?

SURVIVOR – EYE OF THE TIGER

Another song that was sung by me just after halfway in Yurrebilla. This one also came out towards the end of this year’s Gold Coast Marathon, and really helped me get through the last few kilometres and even pass a few people while singing it (I think they were probably so put off that they slowed down, rather than me getting faster!). It also happens to be featured in one of my favourite episodes of my favourite show, ‘Supernatural’.

CHOIRBOYS – RUN TO PARADISE

It’s a great song. It has ‘Run’ in the title. It takes me back to the summer of ’88 when my family was in the process of moving back to SA from Melbourne. We spent a week or so at the Rising Sun Hotel in Port Wakefield. This song was on high rotation on the pub jukebox and it quickly became a favourite and remains so to this day!

MILEY CYRUS – THE CLIMB

An odd choice yes. It has made appearances several times during races. The first one was during the climb out of Horsnells Gully during Yurrebilla 2016. It came out again during the final stages of UTA100, as we ascended the Furber Steps, much to running buddy Anna’s disgust! The most recent ‘performance’ was during the Gold Coast Marathon as I approached the final few kilometres. I aborted that performance early as I clearly was not getting anywhere near hitting the high notes. Anyway, it is a favourite of mine especially where hill climbing is involved!

QUEEN – DON’T STOP ME NOW

Because Queen. Duh.

BRING ME THE HORIZON – IT NEVER ENDS

Not one I tend to sing along to so much because I can’t quite understand all the lyrics, but it is a cracker to listen to on solo runs, which fortunately, despite the title of the song, DO (eventually) end! Plus their guitarist at the time was originally from Adelaide!

EVER FALLEN IN LOVE – THE BUZZCOCKS

Short and sweet, catchy AF and a great pace for running!

PANAMA – VAN HALEN

The number one song to crank in the car to instantly put me in a great mood. If I happened to hear it during a race it would certainly give me a huge boost, right from the opening guitar riff. It’s so 80s and so so good!

GOING WRONG – ARMIN VAN BUUREN

This one has an awesome beat. And it’s nearly 6 minutes long which means that I can cover a fair bit of territory during the course of the song!

So, what is your view on running with music? When is it, and when is it not OK? And what tunes do you like to run to?

August 1, 2016

Just keep running…

Friends often ask me how I manage to keep doing events, often vastly different events, close together, without much rest and without getting injured.

Well, given that I didn’t do any events this weekend (I know, shocking!) I thought this week was as good as any to share a few words of ‘wisdom’ that have helped me and hopefully will help others too!

DISCLAIMER: There may be a little overlap from my recent post “20 things I’ve learned about running” (link here)

REST DAYS. In an average week I will have 2 days off from running, usually Monday and Wednesday. I know some people can run day after day after day (sometimes even twice a day) but that’s not me. I do usually go to the gym on my ‘rest’ days, but I don’t do cardio. Lately I have been doing some of my long runs on Saturdays instead of Sundays – this usually means doubling up, with the 5k parkrun in the morning and then a long run around lunchtime or in the afternoon, but what it also means is I get an extra rest day, and even better, 2 full rest days in a row! (Also, even if I go hard at parkrun, the fatigue from that doesn’t usually hit me until the next day. Kind of like I’m trying to trick my body into running again before it realises what it’s doing!)
VARYING TERRAIN. At the moment I am doing all road runs because I am 2 weeks out from a marathon. As much as I would have loved to be out running at Mt Crawford this weekend, the chance of my falling over and sustaining some kind of injury is just too great. Even a grazed knee (my favourite trail injury) would slow me down and I just did not want to risk that. However, after the marathon is over I will be trying to get out on the trails at least once a week. I find trail running much easier on my joints and muscles and I am definitely feeling the effects at the moment of having done nothing but road running since UTA100 11 weeks ago.
VARYING PACE. Not all my 5 runs in a week are at fast pace. On a typical week, I would do Tuesday at ‘easy’ pace, Thursday at ‘tempo’ pace, Friday speed training or hill running, Saturday parkrun (5k race pace usually!) and Sunday long run at an ‘easy’ pace.
RECOVERY. After my long run, I get into my compression pants as soon as possible and leave them on until the next morning. That is easier said than done sometimes! Not to mention getting them back off again the next morning! You know that thing called DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) that all athletes would be familiar with? Well lately, the MS has not been all that D! In fact if I sit on the couch for a few hours on Sunday night, I am really struggling to get up! However, with the compression pants on, and downing a couple of paracetamol tablets before I go to bed, weirdly enough my legs feel pretty good on Monday morning! Even after a marathon! A good spicy curry also helps with recovery – I’m not sure if that’s science or just superstition. Either way, it works for me!
MANAGING INJURIES. Sometimes with an injury, you CAN continue to run but it will only get worse over time. Sometimes, you can’t run at all (that’s when a lot of my friends have discovered cycling and swimming). Sometimes, you just have to manage it and rest won’t make it better. Fortunately for me, my chronic hamstring tendon issue fits into that last category, and I know that:
1. Some days will be better than others, and there’s no point trying to flog yourself on a bad day. (Unless that happens to be a race day, of course!)
2. Running uphill and running fast are the two things that seem to cause it to flare up. Therefore, while I am not going to stop doing either of those things, I need to try to mix things up. Hence the importance of varying pace and terrain. Weirdly speed training doesn’t seem to bother it! Maybe because we run on a grass surface?
3. If I run, say, over 30km on road or track, regardless of pace, it is going to hurt at some point. I think it was actually the 100km track race in January that really did me in! (That is not to say I won’t do it again next year!)
WARMING UP. I now ALWAYS warm up before a race of up to marathon distance. In some cases (in particular the middle distance track events) the warmup will be longer than the race itself. This year, for the first time, I warmed up for a marathon. I also happened to run a PB that day. Coincidence? Maybe, but I don’t think the first few kilometres would have been very comfortable had I not warmed up. Even for parkrun, unless I am taking it easy, I will always do at least a 1km, preferably 2km warmup. Ideally I will warm up until I can’t feel my hamstring niggle anymore. Then, when the starter says “GO!” I can hit the ground running.
STEADY BUILDUP AND TAPER. For marathon training I follow a 16 week programme, varying it as needed to fit in other events. I make sure I increase the distance of my long runs steadily – ie I won’t go out and run 21km one week and then 40 the next – even though my body is now accustomed to running these sorts of distances. Each time I train for a marathon I’m kind of starting from scratch. I also make sure to taper properly. In previous years I have done a 4 week taper. Because of my unconventional leadup to Gold Coast, I did a 3 week taper which seemed to work fine. For Adelaide, with the 30km Henley to Henley race 3 weeks out, it is again a 3 week taper.
PRIORITIES. This year, my #1 priority was to run a Boston qualifier at Gold Coast. I also wanted to run UTA100 which was 7 weeks before that. I realised that if I were to smash myself at UTA I would need a good few weeks recovery time, which I couldn’t afford. Therefore, I set myself a relatively modest goal of finishing under 20 hours (OK, I did say 16 but that was just a number I pulled out of the ether – anything under 20 hours was a bronze belt buckle and that was just fine by me) and a week later was able to manage a 30k training run. I have another interesting juxtaposition of events coming up in September. First, the 12k City-Bay Fun Run which I have run 3 times and PB’d every time – if I’m honest I am aiming for close to 50 minutes this year. Second, 1 week later is the Yurrebilla Trail 56km ultramarathon at which I am hoping to run in close to 6.5 hours. You see my issue!
BEING ABLE TO SAY NO. I have realised that I do have to pick and choose what events and training runs I do. If I am focused on a goal (ie at the moment I am focused on the Adelaide Marathon) every run I do needs to contribute towards that goal. A 56km trail run 2 weeks out from what needs to be a fast marathon, as tempting as it sounds (and believe it or not, it was a tempting proposition to me!) is NOT what I needed to be doing. Instead, with a 25km run in my plan, I ran 15 laps of a local 1 mile block. SO much fun. NOT. I am so looking forward to being able to do long trail runs on the weekends instead of pounding the pavement!

Does anyone else have any words of wisdom that help them to keep on running?

July 25, 2016

Race report – Henley to Henley

Henley to Henley is an interesting beast. Normally it is called ‘Hills to Henley’, a 30km point to point run which follows the course of the River Torrens from Athelstone down to the outlet at West Beach. It is a net downhill but undulating course, in a similar vein to the Greenbelt half marathon. This year, because of the O-Bahn works, it was not possible to do a continuous run along the river so the organisers opted to make it an out and back starting and finishing at the seafront.

Each year there are also shorter runs on offer. The distances vary from year to year, but this year there was a 15km and a 5km option, both starting a little later than the 30km but also out-and-backs following the same course (naturally with earlier turnarounds)

I had never done the 30k before. In 2013 I did the 15k which at that point was the furthest I’d ever run, and was stoked to finish in just under 1 hour 15. I remember it was a bit chilly at the start but the sun came out as the countdown to the start began!

In 2014 and 2015 I volunteered at this event – in 2014 as 5km turnaround marshal and in 2015 I was on a drink station.

This year I had opted to run the 30k as an ideal lead-up to the Adelaide Marathon in 3 weeks. The timing of the event is designed for that very purpose and I guessed most of the 30k entrants were intending to run Adelaide.

I’d never run a 30k race before. It is an awkward distance, somewhere between a half and a full marathon. Should I run at half marathon pace or full marathon pace? Or somewhere in between?

I crunched the numbers. 5 minutes per km would be 2 hours 30. I can do a half at under 5 minute pace but not a full. Not yet. So I thought 2:30 was a bit ambitious. 3 hours would be 6 minutes per km – I knew I could go much faster than that. 2:45 would be 5:30 per km – again well within my capabilities. So I decided to aim for between 2:30 and 2:40.

As I am thinking of wearing a small race vest for Adelaide, I decided to wear it for this event, to get used to the feeling. I had only 2 small bottles of Gatorade and some spare powder in case I needed to mix up some more. I also put a light rain jacket in there, and my energy supplement for later! I didn’t bother putting the bladder in there as I didn’t think I’d need to drink any water. I hadn’t touched any water until the 28k mark at Gold Coast and it had been quite warm there.

I’d followed my normal programme during the week but my legs felt really heavy, more so than usual – I guess that’s what a marathon, 6 hour ultra and 36k training run in consecutive weeks will do to you! I hadn’t run on Saturday and I’d had my favourite pre-race meal of pizza (a happy coincidence – I’d been to a friends house for dinner and that just happened to be what we were having!) along with a few glasses of my favourite sparkling red!

It was a cold morning. I went with my usual formula – running singlet, arm warmers, compression shorts and calf sleeves, and running skirt. The top I wore was the one I first wore at Yurrebilla and then Heysen, which is stained on the back due to the dye from my backpack running, and which therefore I only now wear under a backpack! I also had trackpants and a jacket over the top for the expected cold start! Oh, and gloves – they would be needed – and a hat to keep the rain out of my eyes.

I can only remember once before racing in the rain and that was at last year’s 6 hour. It was highly unlikely that we’d get out of this race without a little rain!

I got to the start in plenty of time to collect and attach my bib and have a quick bathroom stop. I then reluctantly took off my trackpants and got my sunnies out – not that I was expecting to need them but I thought it would be worth sticking them in my backpack just in case. As I took off my trackpants the sunnies blew off the top of my car and one of the lenses fell out – I got on my knees and looked under the car but couldn’t for the life of me see it! Oh well – it wasn’t going to be sunny anyway!

It was then time for a short warmup. It was really cold but not raining at this point. I ran down to the surf club and back to the car. As I headed back towards the car, the runners were starting to head to the start line. I’d forgotten that the start line was not the same as the finish line! So I had to leg it back to the car, dump my jacket, then go back to the start, arriving about 2 minutes before the start. It was actually perfect timing as I was warm as I could have been by the time we started.

I wore my gloves for the first 2km then took them off and carried them, waiting for an opportunity to dump them at a drink station (I couldn’t be bothered taking off my backpack to put them in!) As someone who always has cold hands, this is the best thing I could have done, as I didn’t have any issues for the rest of the race, whereas others complained of cold hands throughout.

At the start I was going back and forth with a young guy, let’s call him Charlie (because, as I later found out, that is his name!) who was alternating between running and walking. Within the first 4km I think he passed me 4 times and I passed him 3 times while he was walking! At one point I heard him telling someone else that he was using a walk/run strategy. When he passed me the 4th time I wondered if I’d catch him again!

Not long after this I was following a guy who I eventually caught up with and ran with for a good few kilometres. He recognised me and introduced himself as Gary, who I hadn’t met before but knew through Strava. Turned out he was a very new runner – only running for 9 months and doing his first marathon next month at Adelaide! We had a good chat and I eventually left him at around 11km. By this time it had started raining and I think it pretty much continued for the rest of the race!

By now I was in very familiar territory – along part of the Torrens parkrun course and past the Convention Centre and Elder Park (a regular feature of some of my morning runs but also part of the Masters Games half marathon last year). It was around this point that I saw Nat, a regular running buddy who was also the one who taught me to ride a bike with cleats, and who was out for her long Sunday run!

The turnaround point was just past the 15km mark. Not long before this I started to see the front runners coming through. There were a few familiar faces among them – Alex, Gordon and Gary (different Gary!)

I had my energy supplement just before 15km and started the long run back, following the same route as the way out. On the way out I enjoyed the downhills without allowing myself to think about the inevitable uphills they would become on the way back. And although the uphills (such as they were) were a bit brutal, I could take comfort in the knowledge that they would be nice downhills on the way back! (I don’t have my hill legs back since UTA100 – got a bit of work to do there!)

There was a girl in front of me who had been not far in front of me for some time. As I wasn’t stopping at the drink stations and she was, I would make up a bit of ground and then she’d pull away again. I think, from looking at the photos and the results, that her name was Sam. I eventually passed her at around 18km. By now we were back on the parkrun course and after what seemed like no time at all I saw the 19km sign. Up until then my Garmin had been a few hundred metres behind the actual distance, but at the 19k sign I was somehow ahead! I guessed that maybe the strong wind had moved the sign – no way had I done 1km since the 18km mark! 20km came and my Garmin was back to being behind.

I wasn’t looking at my watch except to see my average pace. At the turnaround I was sitting on about 5:09 pace. I wanted to do a negative split. I was pleased to see my pace increasing ever so slightly.

Between 22 and 23km we passed the 15km turnaround and started to see a lot more runners. I had overtaken a few of the 30km runners between the 30km turnaround and the 15km turnaround, and it’s amazing how much of a boost that gives you! I managed to overtake a few of the 15k runners too. Also, up until I started to see the 15k runners I hadn’t seen anyone in a while, to the point that I wondered at times if I was on the right path!

Not long after this I caught up with Charlie. He had been doing a 9 min/1 min run/walk since the start and it was working well for him. Like I had with Gary, Charlie and I had a great chat and that really helped to distract the mind and legs from the running, and the rain and icy wind! Charlie is also doing the Adelaide Marathon and is a relatively new runner like me, having been running for only about 3 years. He was telling me all about the Melbourne Marathon – he recommended doing the half rather than the full, and still finish on the MCG! That sounded pretty good to me!

A bit further down the track we reached the 5km turnaround and we knew the end was in sight – less than 2.5km to go! I told him to feel free to take off if he wanted to – he said no, he didn’t want to, it was a bit early for that! He had stopped walking by the time I caught up with him, opting to run the rest of the way.

We went under the bridge and back onto the coastal path – part of the West Beach parkrun course and SO close to the finish! I saw photographer Tracie who I had seen a few times along the way and tried to do some funny poses – I did SO want to try a jump shot but was worried about falling over on the slippery path!

With just a few hundred metres to go it was time to pick up the pace (and I advised Charlie of this too!)

With the finish line in sight, we increased the pace and as it turned out, crossed the finish line together in an official time of 2:34:50. I think that’s just about as good as I could have hoped for! My average pace overall was 5:06 so I had achieved my negative split!

Not long after we finished, Gary came over – he had finished only a few minutes behind me and was very happy with his run! (This was new Gary. The other Gary, who I caught up with later, had done a phenomenal 2:15!)

The presentations and lucky prize draw were cancelled due to the bad weather, so after grabbing an apple at the finish line I changed out of my wet singlet and cranked up the car heater for the drive home!

Despite the pretty gnarly weather it was yet another fantastic SARRC event. I am hugely thankful for all the volunteers who were out there in the same conditions as us runners, but not able to keep warm by running! Thanks so much guys and girls! You’re all awesome!

It was very satisfying to complete my first 30km race and finish strong – although my legs are well overdue for a break I am confident they will get me through the Adelaide Marathon and then I will treat them to some nice trails! I promise, legs! 3 more weeks…