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What’s next?

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3 years ago this week, I ran my first ever race. I could never have imagined where running would take me in the ensuing 3 years. Interstate races, overseas races, ultramarathons… back then my only goal (like many new SA runners) was to complete the 12km City-Bay.

Now I find myself in the ‘off-season’ and not quite knowing what to do with myself! This weekend I have had a break from running (other than a parkrun of course!) and a much-needed break from ‘everyday life’ in Melbourne.

I am looking for a new challenge! I rode a bike on Saturday for the first time in probably 5 years. It’s a bit like riding a bike… you never forget how! I did own a bike once – after having ridden it 3 times in 4 years I decided that as attractive as a dust-gathering bike looked as a display piece in my living room, the best option was to sell it. I did keep the helmet though so I guess I must have known that I’d ride again one day!

So what’s next? Well next year my 2 big goals are to conquer the 100km Ultra-Trails Australia event in the Blue Mountains, and to run a Boston Marathon qualifier, probably the Gold Coast Marathon, with the aim of running Boston in 2017. Of course there will be other events in between but those are the two big ones.

I think I’d like to do a triathlon one day. Not an Ironman. At least I don’t think so! Marathon training is exhausting. I run 5 times a week with the long run peaking at 3-4 hours. That works out at about 7.5 hours a week. And that’s just running! I have NO idea how anyone can fit that in along with enough swimming and cycling training!

Maybe a Tinman. I probably need to get a bike first! And I haven’t even thought about the swim leg yet! Swimming! In the open water! Aargh!

I guess one other factor to consider re doing a tri is that I’d need a new sports watch. Which could be a pro or a con depending on which way you look at it! On one hand I’d LOVE to be able to justify buying a new Garmin Fenix 3. On the other… my bank balance! On top of a bike and presumably some kind of tri-suit that’s a pretty hefty wad of cash!

So maybe the tri will have to wait. But it’s definitely in my mind, and once I set my mind to do something…

I have done a fair bit of shopping this past weekend and among my purchases was Tristan Miller’s ‘Run Like Crazy’, the story of him running 52 marathons in 42 countries in 52 weeks. I already have a few overseas and interstate marathons on my bucket list… I may regret buying this book! It cost me $3.50 from an op shop but it could end up costing me a whole lot more!

Maybe I need to take up a cheaper hobby… maybe I should give knitting a crack…

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I want it all!

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Many runners specialise in a particular type of running, be it sprinting, middle distance, marathon, ultra. Road, track, trail. For example, you can’t imagine seeing Usain Bolt lining up on the start line for a marathon. My friend Karen says she doesn’t really get going in anything less than 100km.

But I want it all!

My first experience of running, when I took it up 3 years ago (my first race was 3 years ago this week – happy runniversary to me!) was a 5km fun run. I must now have done that distance 120 times or more.

Early on, probably within the first six months or so, I met the aforementioned Karen and also Graham who both mentioned the 6/12/24 hour event which I thought sounded both incredibly boring and somewhat insane. But this year I did the 6 hour and I definitely plan to do the 24 hour one year!

Within my first 12 months of running, (probably inevitably, given the type of people I was increasingly spending time with,) I had signed up for my first marathon. It was around 18 months after my first fun run that I actually completed said marathon. Certainly not something that had even entered my mind when I first took up running. It’s amazing what peer ‘pressure’ can do! (I say ‘pressure’ because no-one really tried to talk me into running a marathon. It just kind of happened. Everyone else was doing it, so I thought, “Why not?” And just because I know some of you will be thinking it, NO, if everyone else jumped off a cliff, I wouldn’t do it!!)

Even before my first marathon I almost got talked into running my first ultra – I managed to resist that temptation but did eventually run my first ultra this year.

6 months ago I had no intention of running a 100k but it’s funny how things happen. I was inspired to run The North Face 100k (now Ultra-Trail Australia 100k – will take some getting used to) after being over in Katoomba for it this year. As a 100k ‘taster’ I decided to run the Heysen 105 – not an event that was ever on my radar. And I did it – and loved it!

In amongst all that I have run a number of half marathons – I really enjoy that distance. It’s long enough that it’s an accomplishment to finish, but short enough that you can train for it and still have a life outside running. Plus you generally get a sweet medal which makes it all worthwhile as we know!

And then of course there is the event that motivates a lot of Adelaide runners, newbies and elites alike – City-Bay. That was the event that I was aiming for after I completed my first 5k and it’s a good benchmark to see where I’m at – I’ve run it every year since I started running. I LOVED my first one, didn’t so much enjoy the second (possibly because I knew what was coming) but I got my mojo back this year and managed to set a new PB.

Also this year for the first time I tried racing on a track at the Masters Games. I loved the feel of the surface and I’m hoping to get in a few more track races over the summer season. I also want to try some shorter distances – 800m and 1500m – I did a mile race in the Masters last month and quite enjoyed that – it was over before I knew it!

Then there are the shorter trail races – I managed to do quite well at my last one so the Yumigo! Summer Trail Series seems like a logical progression, followed by the state Trail Championships in April.

What else?

The Big Red Run – 6 days in the Simpson Desert. Not something I had ever really considered doing but I went to the info night last week just out of curiosity, and found myself actually getting quite excited at the prospect! (I just need to get past the fact that I’d be living on dehydrated camping meals for 6 days – ugh!)

100k state championships. On a 400m track. Overnight in January. Yes, I’m tempted. Yes, I know that’s 250 laps. Or to put it another way, 20 parkruns. Still tempted!

So you can see my problem. I’m dabbling with the idea of getting a coach but I  pretty sure they would want me to focus on one particular surface or distance and I wouldn’t know which to choose!

I want it all! Is that too much to ask?

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Race report – Kuitpo Forest 21k

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TERRIBLE preparation. FANTASTIC day!

2 weeks ago I was recovering from the Heysen 105k ultra. Yesterday I was back in Kuitpo Forest, where Heysen ended. The last section of Heysen 105, through Kuitpo, is technically the easiest part, so naturally I was anticipating a relatively easy run. How wrong I was…

The Kuitpo event was run by Trail Running SA which is a new organisation, having split from SARRC a little under 12 months ago. TRSA had already put on several successful events, with the low cost and beautiful locations being some of the selling points.

Last weekend I was in Goolwa, chilling with a group of girlfriends. Other than a bit of shopping at the markets and some funky local stores, we spent a hell of a lot of time eating ALL OF THE FOOD and drinking ALL OF THE WINE! 

Saturday morning I snuck out to Victor Harbor for a sneaky parkrun but other than that there was very little physical activity done that day apart from moving my hand to my mouth, alternately containing food and a wine glass. We had planned to go to the local restaurant for dinner (walking distance, so we didn’t have to ‘rock/paper/scissors’ for who had to drive) but after grazing on the deck all afternoon and into the evening with dips, crackers, bread, olive oil and dukkah, wine and chocolate, it became apparent at around 8:00 that we weren’t going to make it to dinner. I had certainly eaten plenty but it wasn’t the ideal pre-race ‘meal’. Not to mention the fact that I had drunk practically NO water all day… all I’d had to drink other than wine was a can of Coke with lunch. Another less than ideal piece of preparation. I said to my friends that if I had a good race, then I’d have to have the same preparation for every race from now on!

I got to bed around 12:15 and my alarm went off at 5:50. Second night in a row of less than 6 hours sleep. Not enough for this little black duck!

Staying away from home before a race you have to be prepared in advance. Well on Friday from the time I left work at 4 to the time I hit the road just after 6, I was running around like a chook with its head cut off. As it turned out I forgot a couple of things. I forgot to bring sports tape to strap my feet to prevent blisters, and I also forgot to bring my trusty XS Energy drink. I guess that’s not so bad. I could have bought tape in Goolwa but I decided to wing it. With proper socks, and no threat of rain to cause wet socks and subsequently possible blisters, I would be fine without tape. The energy drink… I’d just have to see how I went without it!

I decided to try a new piece of kit on race day. My Yurrebilla singlet. I thought a trail event was an appropriate place to debut it. Hasn’t anyone ever told you NEVER try something new in a race? I was trying a lot of new things as it turned out!

I made it to the start line with an hour and a bit to spare. As always I didn’t time my portaloo visit too well… as race time approached I needed to go again but by then the queue was ridiculous so I decided I could hold on. I’d done it before and could do it again.

There were a LOT of familiar faces out there! Around 700 people had registered for the 2 events, the 21k and the 10k, and it seemed like I knew at least half of them! One person that I felt like I knew but had never actually met, was Andy, a friend from Instagram, who is very inspirational, having lost an amazing amount of weight and chronicling his journey via social media. It was great to finally get to meet him as we both did our first trail half marathon!

Time-wise I didn’t know what to expect. Other than when I have paced 2 hours, all my official halves have been sub-1:50. No way was I expecting to do anything like that in this event, given that it was a trail run! I was anticipating somewhere between 2:00 and 2:30, probably closer to 2:00.

Just slightly behind schedule (as Race Director and Chef Extraordinaire Maurice said was standard for trail events) we set off for the 21k just after 8am. It was a chilly start to the day – I had opted not to wear my traditional stripy sleeves, mostly I admit because they clashed with my singlet, but was wearing gloves up until the start, as my hands were numb from the cold! It was going to be a warm day though, and despite the fact that we were running in the morning, and the temperature in the forest was generally going to be cooler, many people would be affected by the heat.

I started slowly, although to be fair the first few km were uphill! I quickly caught up with Justin who first of all asked me what I was doing so far back, and then when we were discussing a recovery beach session for later in the day, said to me ‘But now you have to piss off and start racing!’ or words to that effect! (This is the guy who told me after Yurrebilla 56k that I’d had my fun and now it was time to start taking it seriously!) So I did. After a while I thought to myself, if it all goes pear-shaped later on, I’ll know who to blame! Previously I have always started half marathons quite conservatively. Not any more, it would seem!

It was a great course – it had a bit of everything. Not too technical, mostly wide track and a bit of gravel road. Some uphills, but all runnable. Some quite steep downhills. Some nice flat bits. There were two out and back sections which I really liked. You got to see all the other runners and encourage them along. I saw Andy both times and gave him a high five the second time – he really seemed to be enjoying himself!

There were drink stations but the trail running events are trying to go ‘cupless’ for environmental reasons. Hence a drink stop would literally be a stop – no ‘grab and run’ like in road events. I didn’t want to stop, and being a warm day (and me being already pre-dehydrated) I wouldn’t be able to get by without drinking. So I had made the decision to carry my small hydration vest with 500mL Gatorade in bottles and just over 500mL water in the bladder – any more would have been uncomfortably heavy to carry. Probably about half the runners were wearing either vests or bottle belts.

I settled into a rhythm. I flew down the hills and slowly plodded up. I managed to avoid walking, other than a couple of minutes with Jim, who had started 2 and a half minutes late but still flew effortlessly past me and stayed ahead of me for the rest of the race! Not bad for a guy who’s 60 and a relative newbie to running, putting people half and even a third of his age to shame!

On the second out and back section, at around 14km, I passed Beck who told me that I was 4th female. Oh no, why did she tell me that? Now the mind games would begin! I had seen the first two girls, one was Bronwyn who had finished about 40 minutes ahead of me at Heysen, and the other girl I didn’t know. They were pretty close together! The girl in 3rd place was also looking strong and I did not think I had it in me to catch her. I was happy at that stage to try to hold 4th place but I also knew there were a few girls not far behind me. No sooner had I had that thought, than I started to gain on the 3rd placed girl. Before I knew it, I was only a few metres behind and quite happy to stay there for the time being. This is where I started to get tactical. Up until that point I had been calling out encouragement to everyone passing the other way (this was still the out and back section), whether I knew them or not. Now, I went quiet. I didn’t know if she knew I was there but I thought if she didn’t know, I would try to keep it that way! I did notice that she wasn’t carrying any hydration and couldn’t help wondering if she might need to stop for a drink.

Then, at around 16km, she did! As much as I would have preferred to stay behind her, I had to make a move.

Having passed her and moved into 3rd, I needed to put a bit of distance between us. My next 2 kilometre splits were 4:14 and 4:32. I was reasonably confident that I had her, and if she was going to get back in front of me, well she was damn well going to have to earn it!

I kept the pace up until the 20th kilometre which was uphill. I did walk a bit there. I had a few sneaky peeks behind me and couldn’t see any other girls near me. I didn’t want to give anyone the opportunity to pass me and I didn’t want them to know I was struggling by letting them see me walk. I saw that Jim up ahead was walking so I figured it was OK!

Once I got over the hill we were into the home stretch. I kept looking over my shoulder but there was no sign of the girl I’d passed.

I crossed the line in 3rd place in 1:48.46, and the 4th placed girl was only a bit over a minute behind me – it was a near thing!

After going back to my car for a protein drink and then grabbing a coffee, I went back to the finish line to see other friends finish including Andy, still smiling! I was so happy for him!

The last order of business for the day was the presentation of the medals for the placegetters, followed by the random prize draw. The medals were something special, handmade ceramic medals by SA trail running legends Stirling and Jen Greeneklee. I didn’t win any of the random prizes but I did manage to position myself right next to the tray of vegan brownies made by our esteemed Race Director… I may have indulged in one or two… or five!

All in all it was a fantastic day – personally, a great race for me but just a wonderful event (so many happy smiling faces!) and great to see the SA trail running scene looking so healthy. Thanks must go to every single one of the fabulous volunteers who made the event happen!

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Inspirational? I don’t think so!

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I love to run and to write about it. I love it when random strangers that I’ve never met, read my blog and comment on it.

Recently a lovely friend sent me these beautiful flowers after I completed the Heysen 105. In the card she said I was ‘an inspiration to many’.

But I don’t feel like an inspiration!

I’ve read many people’s reports of races I’ve run, and running blogs. Everyone has a story… people I run with regularly, people I meet at events, people I follow on Instagram. Each one inspiring.

Me?

I haven’t ever had issues with my weight. I haven’t had any personal tragedies in my life. I am fit and healthy and have never had any serious health problems. I’ve been lucky when it comes to injuries. A shattered foot from my pre-running days is about the only injury of note that I’ve had but thanks to my surgeon I rarely even think about it.

I’m a single person, working a 9 to 5 job, with no kids. I have a supportive family and friends. Fitting in 5 runs a week including a long run on the weekend is no trouble at all.

I’m 178cm (5′ 10″) with long legs. Yes, it makes it hard to buy jeans sometimes (cue the tiny violin) but it gives me a huge advantage when it comes to running, especially of the long distance variety. (Not to mention getting over those f*!#ing stiles in the Heysen 105!)

After reading so many inspirational stories recently, I just don’t see how my story could be described that way.

Having said that, I’m going to keep running. And blogging. And Strava-ing. And Instagramming. And Facebooking. And if you enjoy it, that’s great. If it inspires you, even better!

But it doesn’t stop me feeling like I’m some kind of fraud!

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I know what I’m doing!

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Non-runners just don’t get it. I think that’s the bottom line.

I try not to go on too much about running when I’m with non-runners. But when you rock up to work on Monday walking like one of your elderly clients, and wearing pink fluffy slippers (because you can) people tend to notice.

“So are you going to take a break for a while now?” was a common question on Monday, after the 105. My response “I’ll probably walk or go for an easy jog tomorrow morning” was apparently not acceptable. “You need to rest!” Actually, no. I know what I’m doing!

Yes, I had a 3 week total break from running after my first marathon last year. I was on holidays in Ireland at the time and to be honest didn’t really think about running much at all! (Except one morning in Dublin, Thursday after the marathon, one of my new friends from the hostel was going out for a run and asked a few of us if we wanted to join. I was mildly tempted but declined) When I got back home it took quite a while to get into a rhythm again.

This year, I have been out on Tuesday after every marathon/ultra. It’s been easy pace, sometimes walk/running, but I really think it helps my recovery. If I can run, I will. I won’t smash myself, I won’t try to break any Strava course records, but I will run.

Tuesday’s run was OK – my main issue was a blister on one toe that was padded and strapped to the point where I’m surprised I managed to get my sock and shoe on! But I ran. It wasn’t fast, but I ran.

Thursday was a little faster and I’d taken the taping off my blister. All good. A little hamstring soreness which is probably still a hangover from City-Bay. After what I put my body through on the weekend, I really can’t complain.

After a gentle trail run on Friday morning I got a little bit of speed up at parkrun on Saturday morning, average pace 4:46 mins/km and no niggles. I did not run on Sunday. That felt WEIRD!

Now for the eating side of things. According to Garmin Connect my Heysen run burned 6705 calories. To put that into perspective that’s almost 4 times my recommended calorie intake for a normal day. Now realistically I don’t think it would be possible for me to eat that many calories in a day. Even the constant snacking on top of a decent breakfast is not even going to come close. I think I’m still trying to make up for it now… can’t stop eating!

And yet people still feel the need to tell me I need to eat more! Trying to follow a mostly plant-based diet means I won’t tend to go for the kind of quick and easy food options that are often on offer. Stop it please people – I know what I’m doing!

After doing a mega long run it’s normal to burn more calories than you could possibly eat. After an ultra, I think it is quite normal to finish a few kg lighter (if you’re racing that is, and not enjoying the buffet too much!) I am definitely trying to regain what I lost at Heysen but there’s no need to be silly about it. I’ll eat the same food as normal, just a bit more of it (in the case of this week, a LOT more!). I’m not going to go out and start eating McDonald’s now.

In the sense of wanting to become the best runner I can be, I am a sponge. I am happy to listen to any advice from other runners that might help me improve. I won’t necessarily take it all on board but I WILL listen.

I AM willing to listen to dietary advice from fellow runners. And dietitians. (Unless that advice is to start eating meat or other animal products – in which case I will listen and ignore!) But I won’t take dietary advice from people who are neither of the above.

So it seems that everyone has an opinion of what’s best for me in terms of training and diet. Does anyone else find this?

Oh and don’t get me started on (well-intentioned) people who are trying to find me a man!  Admittedly my recent track record is not good but I think I’ll just concentrate on living my life the way I want to, and let whatever happens, happen! ☺

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Race report – Heysen 105

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For those who are unfamiliar with this event, it is a 105km (ish) ultramarathon along South Australia’s Heysen Trail, from Newland Hill to Kuitpo Forest near Meadows. It is the brainchild of Yumigo!’s Ben Hockings and has been going for some years. This year for the first time there was a ‘half’ distance, 57km, which proved popular with over 100 entrants across the two distances.

My day started at 3.30am after having as much of my gear sorted as possible the night before. I stayed at my parents’ place for the Friday and Saturday night as it is slightly closer than my place to the start of the race.

The day before, I had seen an article on the Ultra168 website which mentioned my name as a possible podium contender – I was shocked (and flattered of course!) I think that did mess with my head a bit because before seeing that I was just focusing on going out and doing the best I could. All of a sudden I was now thinking potential placing!

We had to be at the finish line by 5am to get a bus back to the start. It was somewhat chilly down there compared to when we left town! Breakfast for me was a shake of cereal, rice milk, chia and cacao.

The start line was a hive of activity. There hadn’t been many 105km runners on the bus (most of the passengers were 57km runners) but there were a lot more at the start who had managed to get a ride to the start, negating the need for such an early start! Last minute gear checks and bib collection done, it was time for the race briefing. Beck had lent me a buff which I had planned to use as an ear warmer if it got cold later, but it came in very handy at the start!

The forecast maximum temperature was 31 degrees (Celsius) which was going to make the exposed sections of the course very trying!

Before we knew it the clock had ticked over to 7:00 and we were off! It was going to be a long, hard day.

START TO CHECKPOINT 1 – 17km
The first section was relatively easy, more so of course because I was still fresh! I may have erred by having an energy drink at the start – that possibly made me go out too fast. The other effect of having the energy drink was that very early on in the race, despite the bus making a toilet stop on the way to the start line, I needed another! Maybe that made me run faster too – I knew there were toilets at CP1 (real ones, not portaloos!)

I ran the first section in good time and 1 hour 43 was on the clock when I left the  checkpoint post toilet stop and application of sunscreen – average pace 5:59 per km . I seemed to waste a fair bit of time there despite trying to streamline my pit stop procedure after Yurrebilla! As I left the checkpoint I saw Jo Kruk, red hot favourite to win the women’s event, approaching the checkpoint. I was surprised to see her behind me – I would have expected to see her ahead in the distance.

CHECKPOINT 1 TO CHECKPOINT 2 – 18km
From the training runs this was the hardest section I’d seen (bearing in mind that I had missed the CP2 – CP3 training run). Lots of elevation, STEPS, narrow trails, ducking under trees. I also grew to hate the stiles we had to climb over to go through paddocks – there were so many of them! I ran with SA running legend Barry McBride for a little while which was great, and found out that Jo is a slow starter and fast finisher. He wasn’t kidding! As most of the runners slowed to a walk going up one of the early hills in this section, Jo kept running, relentless! I couldn’t see any way that she wasn’t going to win the women’s event!

After a particularly brutal section of the course my pace had dropped when I reached the checkpoint but still respectable at 6:34/km, the time clock showed 3 hours 51 and I’d covered 35km.
Once again I tried to be as efficient as possible at the checkpoint – reapplying my sunscreen, filling up my drink bottles (water and Gatorade) and guzzling some amazingly delicious Coke!

This was also the first point where we could have drop bags – I had put boiled, salted potatoes in each bag so eagerly hoed into those but they didn’t taste very nice (maybe not enough salt… who knows?) so that was the last I had of them! I had planned to supply most of my own nutrition so I was carrying nut bars, almonds, Lifesavers, sandwiches and my new favourite, salted mashed sweet potato in a gel flask. Like baby food. Nom nom nom! I should have put a nut bar in each drop bag but had gone with alternate ones – I REALLY felt like a nut bar at CP2 but didn’t have one. Another lesson for next time!

I got out of the checkpoint quickly but soon realised I’d forgotten to grab a brownie or two – DEVASTATED! Those brownies are legendary! Oh well, too late now – no turning back!

CHECKPOINT 2 TO CHECKPOINT 3 – 22km
This was a hard slog. The temperature was really starting to heat up and there wasn’t a whole lot of shade in this section. Plus it was LONG – 22km between checkpoints – whose idea was that? It was also the only part of the course I hadn’t seen, having missed that particular training run. I had been warned though!

To make matters worse I managed to have a stack at around 38km (still nearly 20km from the next checkpoint) and grazed my knee. It happened in slow motion – as a result I managed to land relatively softly and saved my hands from damage but still when I looked down, there was blood. Oh well, can’t stop now, just gotta keep moving and we’ll deal with that at the next checkpoint! There was a fair bit of running through sand in this section – something I knew I would experience again near the finish! We also encountered a few curious cows – I greeted them and kept moving, trying not to startle them. I didn’t think any of them were bulls but I didn’t want to take any chances!

At the 50km mark I rewarded myself with a couple of energy pills (all legit I might add!) and certainly noticed that they gave me a boost when they kicked in about half an hour later. I approached the checkpoint strongly and reached 57km in 6 hours 58, average pace 7:14, slower again but still within my goal pace (I was aiming for 14-15 hours) and faster than my 56km Yurrebilla time. So all in all, things were going well!

It was a bit weird seeing the 57km runners finish… why did I enter the 105 and not the 57??? I had some fantastic help at this checkpoint from volunteer Annie (who was at every checkpoint from then on) and supporter Shannon who reapplied my sunscreen while I tried to text my buddy runner Kirsten to let her know I was ahead of schedule and suggested that instead of meeting me ar CP4 at 5:00, she could meet me at CP5 at around 5:30/6. There were some technical issues with the phone and there MAY have been some swearing.

I also had the first aid girl take a look at my knee, I said I didn’t want a dressing on it as that would restrict my movement. She put some Vaseline on it to keep the flies out (they were all over it before then – ewww!) I marked the halfway point with a fresh top and I was good to go!

CHECKPOINT 3 TO CHECKPOINT 4 – 17km
This was when it all went a bit pear-shaped. At around 60km (coincidentally also the longest distance I’d ever run up to that point) I got myself a bit lost. Up until that point I had had no trouble following the Heysen Trail markers and the extra markers that the fantastic volunteers had put out, but I came to a field where I was supposed to go ‘diagonally across’. Unfortunately I went the wrong diagonal! No markers, no nothing! CRAP. I walked around the perimeter of the field for what seemed like ages, still nothing! I tried using navigation on my phone but that was useless. I did have brief thoughts of quitting at that point but told myself to HTFU and get on with it. I even contemplated getting out my map and compass (the latter item I had very little idea how to use) and then I saw a figure running diagonally across the field in what turned out to be the correct direction. I chased him down and ran with him for a while, his name was Brenton and he was very familiar with that particular section of the course, having marked it previously. I was back on track!

That little detour made that section probably the least enjoyable for me. There was one other point in this section where I wasn’t sure of directions – at a point where a group of guys were sitting having a few beers. How rude of them not to offer me one, I thought… a hard earned thirst needs a big cold beer, right? I continued straight ahead, up a hill, and couldn’t see any markers, so I thought to be sure I’d go back and ask the guys where the runners had been going. They told me, up the hill. Of course it was up. Barry had told me earlier, when in doubt, it’s always UP hill. I said to them “You’re not messing with me are you?” (I may not have said ‘messing’) and they said of course not, they wouldn’t mess with someone who runs 100+ km for fun! Right. Fun. That was why we were here!

My pace really dropped in this section so I was texting Kirsten back and forth revising my ETA at CP5. First it was 5.30, then 6, then it became apparent I wasn’t going to make it by 6. In the end I should have stuck with the original plan!

Throughout the day I’d been regularly encountering people who were crewing for competitors in the race. Two in particular were Bev, Barry’s wife, who would always offer me something as I ran past her, and Michael, husband of Anna, who I had met on a trail run at the beginning of the year and I seemed to keep running into at events ever since! Michael had offered me an Icy-Pole during this section and I had declined, but on the approach to CP4 there he was again with the Icy-Poles. As I was going to be stopping briefly there anyway, I gratefully accepted – the Icy-Poles were a winner at Yurrebilla and I really needed one now!

I reached CP4 (74km) in just under 10 hours, average pace 7:52 min/km – a significant drop in pace, not really surprising! Again Annie was there with the other fantastic volunteers and helped me get my hydration and nutrition sorted as well as my night running gear which would soon be required. I took my head torch and hi-viz vest out of my drop bag (both mandatory items) and threw in the gloves and hand warmers (just in case – nothing worse than cold numb hands!). I did one last sunscreen reapplication and ditched the sunscreen in my drop bag. Thankfully the temperature was starting to drop and it was looking like being a beautiful evening.

CHECKPOINT 4 TO CHECKPOINT 5 – 12km
It was about 4:50 when I left the checkpoint, trying to text Kirsten with an update but frustrated to find that even with the supposedly superior Telstra network I had no reception. It didn’t matter though because a car drove past me and I quickly realised it was her! Dropped off by her husband, she joined me and my mood elevated immediately!

This was a short and relatively easy section, but I have no doubt that Kirsten’s arrival improved my run from that point. They say ultra running is mostly mental and there’s nothing like having someone fresh to run with, to take your mind off all the crap that goes through your head when you run on your own for long stretches! The 4-and-a-bit hours we ran together seemed to go so quickly, the conversation just kept flowing and I didn’t even have to resort to singing!

We reached the final checkpoint (86.5km by my watch) in 11 hours 35 – average pace 8:03 min/km. We hadn’t lost much pace at all in that section! We definitely ran more than I had in the previous section – I think I had walked more than half of that one. Again it was having a fresh set of legs with me that encouraged me to run/walk when I would otherwise have been inclined to walk/walk!

The fabulous Mal and Merrilyn were at CP5 with their usual spread of food (the pumpkin soup sounded very appealing but I didn’t really want to eat ‘proper’ food at that point – I would have preferred that at the finish! I opted not to have a toilet break here because I thought if I sat down I might not get up again. Besides, I didn’t really need to go. I could make it to the finish – only 18km to go! We had to don our hi-viz vests and we had our head torches ready to go for when darkness fell.

CHECKPOINT 5 TO FINISH – 18km
This section was just magical. The course was beautifully marked with glow-in-the-dark signs that made it impossible to get lost (a good thing given that I am somewhat navigationally-challenged, not to mention the fact that by now I was a wee bit tired!) The weather was ideal – balmy and still.

It was quiet, and we saw very few other runners other than a few behind us at times. Whenever we saw someone getting closer we’d pick up the pace – there was NO WAY I was letting anyone pass me now! We walked/ran (amazingly I still had some ‘run’ left in my legs) and made sure we kept some distance between us amd the people behind. They may not have even been part of the race but we weren’t taking any chances!

I was re-acquainted with one of my least favourite running surfaces – sand! MAN that was tough after 90+ km!

Running through Kuitpo Forest was wonderful. We saw a bunch of roos bounding across the track. The trail was relatively easy, a good thing given that it was dark by this stage and we were navigating by torchlight!

I guess the fact that we were almost at the finish helped make this section my favourite! The last little bit did seem to go forever though… the course was measured to be 102.4km so I had based my time estimate on that, but I knew my little navigation mishap in the field would have added on distance – I just didn’t know how much. When we hit 100km I was still confident we’d get under 14 hours. It wasn’t to be – but it would be close!

Kirsten saw a red light up ahead and said ‘Is that a clock?’ I quickly realised that was the time clock and THAT WAS THE FINISH LINE! I was so excited! We had done it! I picked up the pace and crossed the line to the cheers of the crowd. There is no better feeling! According to the Garmin I had borrowed from Simon for its longer battery life (unfortunately software compatibility issues mean I haven’t yet been able to upload the run to Strava, which technically means it didn’t happen), my time was 14 hours 5 minutes. Just outside my goal of sub 14 hours but I ran 104.87km rather than 102.4km so I’ll call that a sub-14! Average pace was 8:03 min/km – we had maintained our overall average pace from the previous section! I was over the moon!

It was time to celebrate and eat All. Of. The. Food. Spuds with salt. Coke. BROWNIES. I was very excited to open my finish line drop bag and find a pair of ugg boots in there. I was initially scared to take off my shoes and socks but surprisingly my feet were relatively intact and slipping into those ugg boots was HEAVEN!

The only thing that marred my enjoyment of the finish line was the fact that I couldn’t find my car and house keys, which I was SURE I’d put in my finish line drop bag! I checked ALL my drop bags and other people were only too willing to help, Paul very kindly even went back to CP5 and got my last 2 remaining drop bags (they weren’t in there either!) I called the RAA to break into my car (which was parked MILES away from the finish line) so I could get everything out that I needed. While waiting for them, Michael found some tape that would allow Vince to try to get into my car. We made the long trek to the car. Not only had I left it UNLOCKED but I had left my interior light on! A girl called Kate had left a nice note on my steering wheel to tell me she’d turned it off! Luckily I had left it unlocked otherwise I would have had a flat battery as well as no keys! Thanks Kate!

Vince and fellow 105k finisher Arwen very kindly gave us a lift back to my parents’ place, getting there around 2:15am. Mum was there waiting to let me in, as I’d told her about the key situation! After a long awaited shower I finally hit the hay around 3:30, 24 hours after I got up! What a day!

THINGS TO NOTE FOR NEXT TIME
-No energy drink at the start – save that for CP3 or 4. And on a related note DON’T GO OUT TOO FAST!
-More nut bars!
-Buddy runner – ESSENTIAL!
-Learn how to run in a diagonal.

Overall I was really happy with how it went. It was a tough day… many people didn’t make it to the finish. I don’t know if I’ll run this event next year but if not I’ll definitely be involved somehow! It was a great first 100km experience and I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is keen to give this distance a crack!

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Heysen 105km pre-race diary

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MONDAY

The enormity of the task ahead is beginning to sink in. What have I gotten myself into? After a chat with the very experienced ultrarunner Karen last night I am going to try to increase my carb intake this week without going silly on the calories and without strictly ‘carb-loading’. Karen suggested to replace protein with carbs. This is going to be tricky because I already know I struggle to get enough protein in. I’m thinking I’m going to be eating a lot of potatoes and bread in the next week.

On Saturday night I taped my feet to prevent blisters. I was a little overzealous when removing the tape and took some skin off the bottom of my foot, near the pinky toe. I can feel it with every step. I need to find some way of padding it so it doesn’t affect me on Saturday. 105km is a LOT OF STEPS! Tomorrow morning will be my last run before the big day – my last opportunity to try out whatever remedy I manage to come up with!

TUESDAY

Went for my last run this morning – 10km in 1 hour. Felt OK – a bit flat, just tired I think! Will be good to have a few days off leading up to Saturday. I put some gauze over the open area under my foot and secured it with strapping tape – seemed to work OK. I noticed it when I thought about it, but it didn’t really bother me too much. It should be better by Saturday anyway. Caught up with Kirsten this morning – her husband was a buddy runner for someone last year so she knows what to expect.

Finally got around to reading the event handbook. Good thing I did too because I found out there is no gear drop at Checkpoint 1 which means I will just have to carry a little bit more food in my pack – glad I found that out now and not on the day!

WEDNESDAY

Shit’s getting real now.

Just saw on Facebook that CP2-3 is very wet and possibly won’t dry out by Saturday. This is also the section I haven’t seen, having done City-Bay instead of that particular training run. Also heard it’s gonna be WARM – I still think I’d prefer warm to freezing cold. Will need to throw an extra pair of socks into my pack!

I’m halfway between ridiculously excited and shitting bricks!

On a positive note I took the tape and padding off my foot this morning, seems to be healed and it’s felt OK all day today. Must be more careful next time I take tape off!

I’ve decided to carry 2 phones on the day – a small basic phone with a Telstra SIM card (better reception and battery life) and my usual smartphone (let’s face it, mainly for photos/videos and Facebook updates!)

THURSDAY

OK so I’m sort of organised now. I’ve started packing food and gear into my drop bags. I can’t leave the drop bags out because my cats will destroy them! I’ve put spare shoes and socks into the bags for CP2 and CP3 (apparently CP1 – CP2 is also wet) and I think I’ll just end up putting spare socks into all the drop bags. I don’t have enough spare shoes!

I went for a walk this morning with my regular Thursday morning group. There were a few of us walking this morning! My fellow 105k competitor Arwen was RUNNING – crazy woman!

Tonight I’m going to cook some potatoes to put in my drop bags. I found the salted potatoes at Yurrebilla THE BEST!

FRIDAY

A nice sleep in (6:00am alarm) and coffee with my running group was the perfect way to start race eve. Last night I got all my food ready and ticked a few more items off my list. I’ve got a short day at work today (finishing at lunchtime) to allow for any last minute prep so I can get to bed at a reasonable hour! (I haven’t quite worked out what ‘reasonable’ is but it’s gonna be pretty damn early considering I have to be up at 3:30ish tomorrow – eek!)

FUCK! Less than 24 hours and this is actually happening! Whose idea was this?

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100km – a whole new ball game!

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This week I entered the Ultra-Trails Australia 100km event in the Blue Mountains in May. You may know it as The North Face 100. It is an iconic event, Australia’s biggest ultra (I think!) and this year there were 1300 places allocated to the 100km event. At just under $400 to enter (let alone all the costs for gear, travel and accommodation) it’s not cheap but still it sold out in under 2 days, so I got in early. I’m in!

I decided to enter the event after crewing there this year. Much like my Yurrebilla volunteering experience in 2014, attending the event as a non-participant made me determined to enter as a competitor the following year!

Yurrebilla was my first ultra. Although that was a challenging course, UTA100 is a different kettle of fish. For a start, it’s pretty much double the distance. And instead of being in the Adelaide Hills, this is in the Blue Mountains. Extremes of temperature are common, and there is 4200m of elevation. On top of this is the added challenge of running through the night which most (other than the super elites who are finished before sunset) have to contend with.

As part of my long-term preparation for this event I entered the Heysen 105k ultra which takes place this coming Saturday. I thought it would be good to have a 100km event under my belt before tackling UTA100, and being close to home (less than an hour from town) the travel and accommodation costs would be minimised. I would also have the opportunity to train on the course, and it is a much gentler course than the UTA100.

One of the biggest challenges of the 100km event as opposed to the shorter ultras, is running through the night, mostly on trails. I have done a bit of night trail running before but never in a race. The night trail runs I have done have been around Cleland and Belair in the Adelaide Hills, always in a group, and always social, so we tend to stick together (or at least regroup at regular intervals). A race is totally different, especially an event with around 100 participants, where the night section of the race will come quite late and therefore the field will be more spread out – it is highly unlikely that I will be in a group by that stage.

Last weekend I did 2 night trail runs. The first one was around Cleland, which is relatively familiar territory for me (although with my somewhat limited navigational skills, I could probably easily get lost if I ended up on my own). It was an abbreviated, 12km run, thankfully cutting out the climb up Mount Lofty, and we saw a couple of koalas, lots of kangaroos, a few deer, and even a frog!

The second night run for the weekend was along the last section of the Heysen 105 course – around 18km. We started just before 7:30pm in fading light, and it wasn’t long before the mandatory head torches came into action. This run was different to any of the night runs I’d done before. Whereas the Belair and Cleland ones are more technical, this one was mostly wide tracks, quite a bit of dirt road, and some sand (which I’m sure will be a whole lot tougher next week when I will have already run 90km!)! I ran pretty much the whole run with a guy called Adam who had run this section in daylight the week before, so was familiar with the course – very handy! Running through Kuitpo Forest was interesting, I couldn’t imagine running that section on my own – well I could imagine it but it was a scary proposition!

Luckily in the Heysen 105, runners are allowed/encouraged to have buddy runners to run the last part of the course. Buddy runners are allowed from Checkpoint 3 which is also the finish of the new 57km event. The idea of the buddy runner is to run through the night. The cut-off time is 7am Sunday, and runners have the option of starting at either 6am or 7am. As someone who values her sleep, and has no intention of being out there for even close to 24 hours, I opted for the 7am start.

Beck, with whom I ran most of Yurrebilla, was originally going to be my buddy runner and then, after making sure I had an alternative, she decided to enter the 57km event. That worked out well, because now I potentially have someone to run with for the first 57km! Theoretically I can then have my buddy runner (Kirsten) with me from that point, but I thought I’d be nice to her considering she has just run the Melbourne Marathon!

I needed to work out what time I would estimate getting to the checkpoints so I could then work out when I would be likely running at night. The plan is to have Kirsten with me just for the night section and based on my training runs there was no way it was going to be dark by the time I got to 57km! I had done all but one of the training runs and cumulatively covered around 80km in 7.5 hours, averaging just over 10km/hour. It is a less physically challenging course than Yurrebilla which I did at around 8-ish km/hour, but realistically I knew I wasn’t going to be able to run 105km at 10km/hour – I’d LOVE it if I could, but fatigue will be a factor.

Double Yurrebilla time seems to be a pretty good rule of thumb for those who have done both events. For me that would be around 14 hours – add an hour to be safe. So I’m hoping to be finished between 9 and 10pm. Therefore realistically I might only be running from Checkpoint 5 to the finish in the dark. To be safe though I decided to ask Kirsten to run with me from Checkpoint 4 which would mean she would be doing the last 28km with me. Just a nice walk in the park for her after Melbourne Marathon! It wasn’t going to be fast running either, let’s face it (and probably a lot of walking). I did the last 18km section in 1 hour 40 on the weekend but I’d be dreaming if I thought I could do that in the race! Based on the average pace of 7-7.5km/hour I estimate I will reach Checkpoint 4 between 5:15 and 6pm.

One major difference between the 56km Yurrebilla ultra and this event is that the checkpoints are fewer and further between. This means that I need to carry a lot more gear and food. For a start there is a mandatory gear list including head torch, hi-viz vest, beanie and gloves – all of these for the simple fact that night running is part of the event. I’ll also need to carry more water – at Yurrebilla I only carried a maximum of 250mL water and 250mL sports drink whereas at Heysen I will need to carry not only bottles but also some water in a bladder, given that there will be around 20km between checkpoints. I needed to buy a bigger pack – the pack I have been using all year for my long runs and also for Yurrebilla just won’t cut it for the longer distance. I went with an Ultimate Direction PB Adventure Vest which I ordered online and fortunately arrived on the Friday before the second last Heysen training run. So I have had 2 opportunities to practise with it before the event – so far so good! The only minor hiccup was, the first time I used it, I couldn’t figure out how to operate the drink bottles – I got to the point where I would unscrew the top and drink like I was drinking out of a glass – I knew that there had to be some easier way to get the drink out!

At Yurrebilla I relied mostly on the food provided at the checkpoints, but at Heysen I am going to have to supply a lot of my own nutrition. To avoid weighing myself down, I plan to use drop bags – one for each of the 5 checkpoints and one for the finish line. For this I bought 6 supermarket cooler bags and labelled each with my name and the checkpoint I want it left at. Without having a support person to follow me around, this is the best way to ensure I have what I need, when I need it. In the bags will be mainly nutrition but also other gear that isn’t going to be needed throughout the entire race (eg cold weather gear and hi-viz vest).

Nutrition-wise I’m keeping it simple and keeping with the tried and tested. My sports drink of choice is lemon-lime Gatorade, having not had too much success accessing the Nippys True Grit which was supplied at Yurrebilla – that stuff was GOOOOD! I use the powder, so will put 500mL worth of powder in each of my drop bags, so I can mix up some more at each checkpoint. I’ll also have a few pre-mixed protein shakes if I need them along the way.

For food I am going to carry a cut-up nut bar (with a couple more spread between a few of the drop bags for later), a portion of Lifesavers and almonds (again, some more of these will be in drop bags), and half a white bread sandwich (each drop bag will have half a sandwich in it – alternating between 2 different nut spreads, for a bit of variety!). I plan to have some salted, boiled baby potatoes in each drop bag as these were a godsend at Yurrebilla – I’m not normally one who craves salty food but it’s amazing how much you need (and appreciate) it after running for a long time!

My new ‘thing’, and something I tried for the first time at that last night run (not wanting to try something new on race day – NEVER EVER do that!) is mashed sweet potato with salt, in a gel tube. The tube I used was actually designed for toiletries, easy squeeze with a leakproof valve, but is certified food-safe. I used that during the night run and MAN did it taste good! I plan to carry one of these and put more in later drop bags. Very easy to eat, no chewing required, tasty, salty and a good hit of carbs – ticks all the boxes!

I booked a room at the St Francis Winery Resort, about 17km from the finish. I did not fancy driving back to Adelaide, potentially very late at night, after running 105km. Camping at the finish line was an option but I thought a bed sounded a lot more appealing.

Normally I run 5 times a week. My plan for race week is to have an easy run (call it a ‘jogette’) on Tuesday, and a walk with my Thursday morning group. I will skip Friday altogether (although knowing me I will probably go and meet the group for coffee afterwards!). I need to be fresh for Saturday and I certainly don’t want to risk injury by doing anything silly!

My next blog post will be a report of the Heysen 105 – wish me luck!

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Two halves make a whole… right?

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A while back I ran the Adelaide half marathon as the 2 hour pacer. I enjoyed it so much and found it so rewarding that within days I had signed up to pace again at the McLaren Vale half. I initially said I’d pace 2:15 but quickly switched to 2:00 after I was told by someone involved in the running club (who shall remain nameless) that 2:15 was a ‘BS’ time to be pacing. No disrespect intended but 2:00 was likely to be a more popular target time and therefore one more in need of a pacer.

Why pace again? I had this elusive PB, now almost 18 months old, that I couldn’t seem to break. I had come within 10 seconds in May (which over 21.1km is VERY close) and in the ensuing months had set new PBs in every other distance. Pacing would remove all possibility of breaking my PB of 1:42:43.

Well, there was the small matter of the Masters Games half marathon the previous day. Here I WOULD be targeting a PB. By all accounts it was a tricky course, being the same course used the last time the Games were held in Adelaide. It was a 4-lapper, so roughly 4-and-a-bit parkruns. My PB was set at the 2014 Greenbelt half which was an undulating but net downhill course. I didn’t really know how to pace it. I knew I should be able to get the silver medal but there was a chance that my 5000m conqueror, Lisa, might not be running. Other than tying her shoelaces together (which one running buddy did jokingly suggest) there was little chance of my beating her considering she had won the Adelaide half in a time well beyond anything I’d ever done! Only the fact that she was wanting to have a good run at the Melbourne half the following week would give me any chance.

I had initially targeted the Masters half as my chosen event for a virtual run organised by fellow runner Chris. A virtual run is a popular way to raise money for a given cause, by encouraging people to sign up to run a particular distance (anything from 5km to 150km, either in a single run or cumulative), pay a registration fee, and get a sweet medal! You know me, anything for more bling! Chris was running some ridiculous number of marathons over 24 months to raise money for cancer research. I don’t know how he does it – 2 marathons in 6 weeks nearly did me in!

The rationale behind choosing this event was because usually for a half marathon you get a finisher medal but in the Masters Games it’s only the top 3 in each age group that get a medal. At the time of entering I expected a lot of competition so would not have even considered a medal as a possibility. As it turns out, under-40 females don’t tend to enter Masters Games athletics events. (The low numbers may have also had something to do with the Oceania Masters Games being scheduled at the same time. In the Cook Islands. I have no idea why anyone would want to go there…) So a medal was a distinct likelihood.

Given that I would be getting a finisher medal for pacing at McLaren Vale, I decided to mark this unique weekend by making my ‘Virtual Run’ a marathon, run literally in two halves, across the weekend.

I always like to talk about preparation. Be it superstition or actual science (let’s face it, most likely the former) I find it helpful to review my pre-race prep to determine where I may have gone wrong or right.

My lead-up week was (appropriately) similar to a marathon week. I ran Tuesday reasonably easy (it was a hilly run so it wasn’t exactly easy but it wasn’t fast) as a recovery from the 5000m on Monday. Thursday I had a good solid hit-out. Then I walked on Friday morning because I’d entered the City Mile on Friday night. I won’t talk too much about that (because it would take longer to write about than it took to run!) but it was a bit of fun… 1600m of going hard and fast! The course was lovely, running past the Adelaide Oval to the roar of the crowd (OK so the crowd were there watching an A-League blockbuster, not us, but still…) and finishing with a run across the Riverbank Footbridge. It also included a nice little downhill (which I would grow to love) and a nasty little uphill coming out of Elder Park (which I would grow to hate. Very much.) It was a warm and muggy night and my new hi-viz yellow singlet seemed to be the favourite of every bug in the place! I did a respectable 6:19 and finished second in my age group (again, after Lisa who was also first female overall).

It took ages to get home by bus (I’d gone with public transport because I thought the football crowd would make parking difficult) and I was getting hungry so on impulse I stopped at Grill’d on The Parade for a mushroom burger on my way home.

Race morning I had my usual breakfast and wore my new pink SARRC top which had already been ‘broken in’ in the 5000m. I went with my black lululemon skirt rather than the black and white… I knew I was tempting fate here because it was the black skirt I had worn for the ill-fated Clare half, and I’d done 2 good marathons in the black and white. I had taped both feet as usual to prevent blisters.

I got to the start in plenty of time and it was great to see so many familiar faces. And no Lisa, who had told me the night before that she wasn’t going to be running the half. So now I was going for gold as well as a PB…

The start was delayed a bit to ensure we didn’t run into the Torrens parkrun which was due to start at the same time, and covered part of our course. The day threatened to be hot but it was mild and overcast as we prepared to start.

I don’t like to start too close to the front as I have a tendency to go out too fast. But hardly anyone seemed to want to start at the front (and it was a modest field anyway) so somehow I found myself right on the start line.

I didn’t have a pacing strategy as such. I just wanted to keep a consistent pace throughout. I had set my watch to alert me if I ran outside the range of 4:35-4:50 minutes per km.

Looking back at my Strava data, without getting into too much analysis, it looks like the first 2 laps were faster than the second 2. This is the opposite of what I have previously aimed for in half marathons but it makes sense. By lap 3 it had started to warm up. I also found the halfway point the hardest part of the race… getting to the end of lap 2 and knowing I still had to go around twice more!

I ran behind fellow parkrunner Donna for the first couple of laps. I knew she was carrying an injury and might slow down, I was in no hurry to pass her, quite happy to sit behind her and let her set the pace! I didn’t want to pass her until the final lap but I think it was just before the end of the 2nd lap that I realised she (and therefore I) was slowing and I needed to get past. Maybe that’s another reason why I found it hard around the halfway point – I’d lost my pacer!

I did find the 4 laps the most difficult aspect of the course. Early on there was the aforementioned downhill which I used to my advantage… I knew when it was coming up and ensured I was positioned so I could fly down and gain some valuable seconds. On one of the laps I had to negotiate cyclists going both ways, another runner and some walkers. I tucked my arms in close, called out ‘coming through on your right’ and managed to get through without hitting anyone.

The uphill out of Elder Park also happened to be where one of the official photographers was positioned so of course I had to pretend to be enjoying myself! After going past the photo-op I would plod up the (thankfully quite short) hill, cross the river via the bridge, thank the lovely volunteer marshalling on the corner and head back along the very familiar northern side of the river, part of the parkrun course.

There were a few points on the course where the spectators gave me a great lift – some of them were familiar faces, others random strangers, but all very welcome! There was the fabulous bunch of ladies in crazy hats who were there cheering on some friends in the race but gave all the competitors a great cheer as we passed. They were also running McLaren Vale the next day so I told them to look out for me! There were the volunteers under the Montefiore Rd bridge – they were volunteering for the dragon boat competition but still cheered us on. Speaking of the dragon boats, on the northern side of the river their village was set up and the crews who were not competing at that time would also give us fantastic encouragement (although they also threatened to get in our way at times – at one point I was thinking that tripping over an oar would be a very unfortunate way to go out of a running race!). Finally there were the parkrun people who always gave a great roar as I passed. (It was particularly great to see fellow parkrunners Graham and Neil come to the start to wish us well before the start, and again to see Neil there at the finish!)

I knew my previous PB pace was 4:49 minutes per km and when I got to the final lap I knew that PB was going down! The next question was, could I break the 1:40 barrier? I thought under 100 minutes was a nice mark to aim for.

On the final lap, especially after passing the dragon boat crews and parkrun friends for the last time, I got my second wind. I managed to pass one more woman, who had looked really strong. I had seen her in the distance and didn’t have any plans to pass her – not that she was in my age group so it didn’t really matter – but suddenly there she was and I found myself needing to pass her otherwise I was going to have to slow down. I thought she’d probably run me down before the finish line but she didn’t.

With 1km to go I did a quick calculation. Barring disaster, sub 1:40 was a done deal! I did contemplate pulling back at the finish to give myself a chance of beating this new PB, but didn’t. I went for the customary sprint finish – I think I passed one more woman just before the finish chute. I was glad I had a strong finish as both of my parents were there to see it!

Garmin says 1:37:54. Official time 1:37:52. That’s nearly 5 minutes off my previous PB – I finally did it! And I got a gold medal to show for it! (My gold medal has been engraved with my Garmin time as I wanted to take advantage of the cheap engraving at the Games village and I didn’t want to wait for final results.)

Saturday night I met Mum at the Village for the Closing Ceremony. After the formalities were over, an excellent INXS cover band took to the stage. I kept running into people I knew and after Mum headed home I hit the dance floor with some former soccer teammates. I’m not going to mention any names but a few friends were buying me drinks/getting me free ones despite my efforts to have a relatively quiet night! It was a fantastic night but the 5:30am Sunday alarm was not exactly welcome! I was cursing myself for letting things get out of hand but quickly got to business… breakfast, kitting up, rehydrating! I also needed to add some extra tape to my feet as I had acquired a couple of new blisters from walking through town the previous night, and then dancing the night away, while wearing thongs! (For those readers unfamiliar with Australianisms – thongs are a type of FOOTWEAR)

Sunday’s kit was, as per tradition, a costume rather than a running outfit as such. I’d gone with German beer wench (possibly ironic given the event was being held in one of SA’s best known wine regions) in honour of Oktoberfest – given the race was being held in October! I had never run in it. Not even at all.

Rule #1 of running – don’t try anything new on race day.

I made it to the start in plenty of time (I had actually thought the half started at 8 – turned out to be 8:15. Oh well – better early than late!) I was feeling the effects of the night before, continuing to rehydrate right up to the start. This of course had the undesired effect of me spending the entire 2 hours of the race counting down the minutes until I could get to a toilet!

I attached my blue balloons and positioned myself in the middle of the field. My pace alerts were set for 5:30-5:45. 5:35 to 5:38 was where I was aiming to stay.

This was a much easier course to pace than Adelaide. For one it is much flatter, meaning it was easier to maintain consistent pace than on the undulating Adelaide course. Also the smaller numbers meant my rhythm wasn’t broken up so much by needing to pass people. Finally I’d started my watch on the starter’s gun, meaning that I was aiming for sub 2 hours gun time, so anyone who finished in front of or close to me, regardless of starting position, would break 2 hours.

I had people run with me for a while and then go off alone, much like Adelaide. Some I knew, some I didn’t. I spoke to a number of people after the finish who had either been just behind me or in front and had broken 2 hours. The out and back nature of the course meant that those who were in front of me got to see where they were in relation to me. It was a great feeling to have had a small part in helping them reach their goals!

I managed to keep consistent pace except when I was chatting to regular running buddy Christine for a while before realising I’d slowed to 5:40 pace… I had to farewell Christine and go off on my own (she ended up finishing in just over 2 hours – not bad considering she only decided to enter on Friday!)

Towards the end I slowed a bit because I didn’t want to finish TOO much under 2 hours, but enough to get people who were following me, across the line in sub-2. One runner, Karen, had said to me with a few km to go, “You passed me at Adelaide… you’re not going to pass me here!” She then got away from me for a while but towards the end I closed in on her again. I think I crossed the line less than half a second behind her! In the end I finished in 1:59:00 gun time which I was pleased with. Once I got my medal it was Mission:Toilet (and not portaloo) but along the way I kept getting caught up in conversations with people! (You will be happy to know I did eventually make it!)

Happily the outfit didn’t give me any chafing or other problems. Again it was the balloons that were more annoying than anything else I was wearing! Passing barbed wire fences and going through tunnels was particularly problematic but both balloons survived the 21.1km journey intact!

So there you have it. Cumulative marathon complete. 2 medals and another to come for the Virtual Run. Ideal prep for a 105km ultra in 2 weeks I guess? Time will tell!

I can’t recommend the Masters Games highly enough. I barely scratched the surface with my involvement but I’m definitely keen to go again – especially if it involves travel! I wish I had gone to more of the social events in the evenings but it’s hard when you’re working during the day. So if you’re 30 or over – pick a sport (or 3!) and get involved!

Satisfied… and exhausted!

Posted on

And now for something completely different…

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Last week was a 56km ultramarathon. This week attention turned to the 15th Australian Masters Games – ‘Australia’s greatest multi-sport festival for 30+ year olds’ (according to the cover of the Games guide!)

I had entered the Games just before the earlybird cut-off. At the time I had entered just two events, the track 5000m and the half marathon. I was later convinced to enter the City Mile by multiple Masters gold medallist Ros.

My mum, a recent convert to parkrun, had entered one event, the 5000m walk, which was the first event on the track on Saturday. She had won gold, 2 laps ahead of the second placegetter! The pressure was on…

Monday morning rolled around and it was going to be a hot one, with a forecast top of 36 degrees. Fortunately the 5000m had been rescheduled from the middle of the day to 9am, the first track event of the day. I had never run on a track before so didn’t really know what to expect.

I was up early and had my breakfast shake before heading to the stadium. I was there well ahead of my event so that gave me time to chat to some other competitors, many of whom had travelled from interstate. I realised then that I had probably missed an opportunity because most of the people I spoke to had entered multiple events. There was the steeplechase (supposedly a lot of fun), cross country, and of course the shorter track events like the 800m and 1500m. I would have had no idea how to race those last 2 distances, but at only $15 per event, you get best value for money by entering lots of events. Also, being in one of the younger age groups, there seems to be less competition. The 40s and 50s look to be the most popular age groups.

I looked over and saw Lisa, who is in my age group and seems to win everything. I wasn’t holding out much hope… she said she was sore after the steeplechase but I told her she’d have to be REALLY sore for me to have a chance of beating her!

It was about 28 degrees as we lined up to start the race. I had set the lap distance on my Garmin to 400m and we would be running 12.5 laps of the track.

I was close to the inside lane, where we would all eventually be running, to avoid running further than we needed to.

The starting gun went and we were off! I started well, with my first 3 laps being 1:32, 1:36 and 1:34. I passed 2km (5 laps) in 7:57. If I could have sustained that pace I would have run 5000m under 20 minutes for the first time EVER!

No matter what distance I’m running, I don’t like getting ‘stuck’ behind anyone. So I did overtake a few people early on so I could settle into a rhythm and not run slower than a comfortable pace. I soon found myself in 4th position overall (I’m not sure exactly how many runners were in the race), behind Lisa and 2 runners from the 45-49 age group, Frina and Sarah. They were all a long way in front of me.

The field included one runner from the youngest age group, 30-34, and two runners in the 80-84 age group. Over the course of the 12.5 laps I passed both of the 80+ ladies several times, offering encouragement all the way. In my job I do get a very skewed view of ageing and it’s quite inspirational to see 80+ athletes out there competing -I sincerely hope I can still compete at that age! (I even saw a man in the 90-94 age group – I don’t know what event he was in but I had to look twice at his bib to be sure of his age – he looked at least 20 years younger than he was!)

Unfortunately (and not really surprisingly) I wasn’t able to sustain that pace. Possibly I should have started a bit slower, and the heat may have been a factor, but my pace gradually slowed over the remaining laps.

I knew I was still in 4th overall… not that that mattered. In Masters Games it’s all about age groups. Everyone runs together but you only compete against those in your age group. Therefore, the 80+ year old who finished the race in just under an hour (to HUGE applause from all the crowd and the rest of the 5000m runners who had long since finished) still walked away with a silver medal.

I had no hope of catching Lisa, or even 3rd placed Sarah. I couldn’t actually see any of them anymore.

I had a rough idea how far I had to go, although I was trying not to check my watch too often. It wasn’t until almost halfway that I noticed the lap counter at the finish line – 7 laps. At the time I didn’t know if it was 7 gone or 7 to go. The next time around it showed 6. That answered my question!

I got to the finish line as the bell rang and the counter showed one lap to go. I was ecstatic… Lisa would be finishing momentarily and hadn’t lapped me! But I miscalculated – the ‘one lap to go’ was for her, not me. I still had two laps. And not 100m after I started my penultimate lap, she lapped me!

After cursing myself briefly I regrouped and set out to finish strongly, hold my position and avoid getting lapped by Frina or Sarah!

I heard the track announcer call Lisa across the line. Predictably, I was running for ‘so-so silver’!

I passed the start line for the last time. 200m to go. I couldn’t see the runners behind me and dared not turn around. I put my head down and focused on a strong finish.

My last 100m or so was at 2:55 min/km pace. I wasn’t letting anyone get past me! I hadn’t realised that the finish was off to the side of the main track but the marshal guided me in the right direction.

My Garmin time was 21:07. That was well outside my 5km PB but I was happy enough. It was hot, it was my first time on a track and I was just over a week post ultra. And I would have a SWEET silver medal to show for it!

It was a long wait till the medal ceremony as we had to wait for the rest of the runners to finish. Eventually the time came and I stood up on the dais next to Lisa. In the other age groups all the medallists got up on the 1st place position together for a photo op. Lisa started to tell me to get up and then thought better of it… even down in the 2nd place position I was still taller!

I really enjoyed today, it’s a great event to be involved in and I highly recommend it to anyone who is eligible (ie anyone who is 30 or over!) It’s fun and friendly, and there’s heaps of social activities too.

I’ve got 2 events left, the City Mile on Friday night and the half marathon on Saturday… stay tuned to my blog for my report next week!