running writing

October 9, 2016

The road to McLaren Vale!

This blog post was MEANT to be a review of McLaren Vale Half Marathon. And I’ll get to it, I promise, but a lot has happened this week so rather than cram it all into one post, I thought I’d write about my week, and save the race review for a separate post!

Last week I talked about running for fun. Well on Monday, after I’d written that post, I went for a trail run that was just that. It was 22km along the Heysen Trail (a section of the 105k course), in pretty gnarly weather. We got hailed on at least 3 times, maybe 4. It rained pretty much constantly. We got blown sideways by the wind. We had to cross a whole lot of rivers and lakes that weren’t there the last time I ran it. And the mud, so much mud! The run finished with a lake crossing and a waterfall where there used to be a road. It was a walk/run, at a comfortable pace, with a small group of like-minded individuals. It might not sound like much fun to a lot of people, and there were times where I thought I should have stayed in bed (did I mention that I had to get up at 4:45am for said run?) but looking back I have nothing but happy memories of that run!

On Wednesday, one of my normal ‘rest’ days, I went out to run at the first SA Masters track meet of
the summer season. (Summer. Yeah, right!) The season started early this year because the World Championships are on in Perth at the end of the month, many of the local Masters athletes are
going over, and most of them probably haven’t run on a track since the Nationals in April! I opted not to go to Perth, not least of all because it clashes with the Heysen 105, but also because while I was lucky enough to win a few medals at the Nationals, I could not envisage being competitive at a World Championships!

I ran the 1500m and 3000m, about 30 minutes apart. I was happy with my 1500, just over 6 minutes,
and significantly faster than the last time I ran that distance, at the Nationals. I’ve never broken the 6 minute barrier but I think it’s on the cards at some time this summer! After the 1500, like many others, I experienced a bit of ‘track hack’, an affliction peculiar to track running which is a dry cough that can last up to a few hours. It’s partly the exertion and partly something to do with the track surface, so I’m told. Anyway, my 3000m was nowhere near as good as my 1500 as a result, but still I was happy to get under 13 minutes (my PB being closer to 12 minutes).

On Thursday, after having done my usual morning run (cut slightly short as I was a bit tired from
my track outing), I went out to the inaugural Kathmandu Salomon Trail Running Club, which is a new venture starting and finishing at the Kathmandu store in Rundle Mall, every second Thursday. I didn’t know much about it but it popped up on my Facebook News Feed, and it being a rare free Thursday night for me,
thought I’d give it a go! I knew Laura was going but I didn’t know anyone else. I was surprised when I got there and Barry McBride was there, actually he was leading the group! (Barry is the Race Director for Yurrebilla, and an experienced and accomplished trail runner.)

The group was all female (just a coincidence – guys are more than welcome!), some of whom (like myself and a few others) had done some ultramarathons, and many of whom were cyclists (and all seemed to know each other!). We went for a short, easy run along the River Torrens and Barry gave us a few tips on downhill running in particular, and trying to run with more of a midfoot strike (I have a definite tendency to run more on my heels, as evidenced by the wear on my shoes, and I know that I could improve my technique and my times if I could change to a midfoot strike, but up to now I’ve found my times have improved anyway so I haven’t bothered to try to change).

Which brings me to something else that happened earlier in the week – I attended a lecture at the
Physiotherapy Association from running coach Chris Taylor, who talked a lot about running technique in relation to injuries, and a lot of the stuff he said was echoed by Barry on Thursday night. I had had one one-on-one (try saying that quickly!) with Chris a few years back as I prepared for my first marathon, and he did pick up that I was more of a heel striker, but he said that it was probably not a good idea to mess with my technique too much, only a matter of weeks before the marathon. So while I had all good intentions to tweak my technique (techtweak, if you will) after the marathon was over, of course I didn’t.

Barry recommended barefoot running as a way to try to move towards a midfoot strike (something else mentioned by Chris) and I decided I was definitely going to give that a go.

I highly recommend the trail running club to anyone interested (I think they’re being run in a few other cities too), whether they be complete noobs or relatively experienced. There’s always something new to learn, and I’m sure the newbies appreciate getting advice from more experienced trail runners too!

On Friday I went to speed training for the first time in 3 weeks – the session was 1600m, 2 x 1000m and 2
x 400m. I tend to do better on the longer intervals but my second 400 was my fastest in a while, probably because I had Tina breathing down my neck yelling at me that she was going to catch me! (I thanked her for not doing that on one of the earlier intervals – I was happy to go all out on the last one, knowing I didn’t have any more to do after that!)

On Saturday, instead of my usual routine of parkrun, I went for a trail run with Kate, to try to get ready for Heysen which was now less than 2 weeks away. We went up Ansteys Hill, following the course of the trail race that we both ran last December. I must admit my legs were pretty heavy and I was amazed that I had run up some of those hills during the race. There was a lot of walking (I described it on Strava as a ‘plod’ – I think that was pretty apt) but it was nice to get out on the trails and it was quite a lovely morning.

Around lunchtime I decided to give this barefoot running thing a crack. After agonising over which shoes to wear given that I would be running on grass – road or trail (I’m not joking!) I put on my thongs (flip-flops or jandals for my international readers – NOT what you’re thinking!) and walked across to my local park. I think
cricket season has started but fortunately there were no games on at that particular oval that day.

I started slowly, not really thinking about technique but mainly just trying to avoid the yellow flowers on the ground which were of interest to the local bees. I started running laps around one oval but then quickly got bored so started doing figure 8s between the 2 adjacent ovals. It was amazing how quickly I got into a
rhythm, each kilometre being faster than the one before. Barry had recommended about half an hour being the optimum length of time of a barefoot run (at least initially) so I went with that. And managed to avoid stepping on anything sharp (or any bees!). So my first barefoot outing was a success!

So, that was my week leading up to Sunday’s McLaren Vale Half – stay tuned for the race report!

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 11, 2016

Having a ball!

A week or so ago I shared my new recipe for lime and coriander balls. You can find it here.

I decided to try something a little different today. Still sticking with the same basic formula but changing up the flavours a bit.

This time I used orange zest, a mixture of orange juice and rosewater, and a mixture of cashews and pistachios.

These balls:

are VEGAN
can be GLUTEN-FREE (use GF oats)
contain NO REFINED SUGAR
are a PIECE OF CAKE to make!

ORANGE, PISTACHIO AND ROSEWATER BALLS

(makes 16 balls)

INGREDIENTS

1 cup rolled oats (use gluten-free if needed)
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup plus about 3 tablespoons pistachios
10 Medjool dates, pitted
1 teaspoon orange juice
2 teaspoons orange zest
1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
2 teaspoons rosewater

INSTRUCTIONS

Soak the dates in hot water for about 10 minutes, and drain.
Place pistachios in food processor and grind to a coarse powder. Take out about 3 tablespoons worth and set aside.

Add dates, zest, juice, rosewater and oil, and process until they form a dough-like paste (mixture will clump into a big ball – this will take less than a minute)

Divide the mixture into balls – the number of balls will depend on how big you like them. I usually make 16 because it’s easy to make them roughly the same size – I divide the mixture in half, then half again, then again, then again.

Roll the balls in reserved ground pistachios and refrigerate until firm.

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!

September 3, 2016

I like balls!

Before I go any further and you get COMPLETELY the wrong idea of what this post is about, this is a recipe post!

Energy balls are a fantastic easy on-the-go snack. They can be expensive to buy, but why buy when they are so easy to make? The beauty of making your own is that you can tweak the recipe to suit your taste, or if you happen to be missing one ingredient, you can often substitute another for equally good (and sometimes even better) results.

I have an old favourite recipe which I might tell you about in a future post, which is a raw cacao ball. I tweaked it by soaking the dates in fresh espresso coffee instead of hot water, to make mocha balls.

Anyway, today I am going to share my new take on an old favourite.

Here is a link to the original recipe – I’ve made these balls so many times that I can now make them without even consulting the recipe for the ingredients or quantities.

I am a little obsessed with coriander (some of you may know it as cilantro). I get that from my Mum, who famously once said “If I could dry it and smoke it, I would.” Well, I’m sure she COULD, but I’m not sure it would have the desired effect…

I am determined to come up with a recipe that incorporates coriander into a dessert. I know coriander is probably THE most polarising herb there is, so if you’re a hater, just leave it out. (Also, we can’t be friends.)

So, what I’ve done is swap out lemon for lime, and vanilla essence for chopped fresh coriander. Simples!

These balls are vegan, can be gluten-free if required, contain no refined sugar (the dates are the only sweetener) and are EASY AS to make!

LIME AND CORIANDER BALLS

(makes approximately 16 balls)

INGREDIENTS

1 cup rolled oats (use gluten-free if needed)
1 cup raw cashews
10 Medjool dates, pitted
2 teaspoons lime juice
2 teaspoons lime zest (one lime gave me enough juice and zest)
1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped coriander/cilantro (optional if you’re a weirdo who doesn’t like it)
Unsweetened shredded coconut (to roll the balls in)

INSTRUCTIONS

Soak the dates in hot water for about 10 minutes, and drain.

Place the oats and cashews in a food processor and process until they become a powder.

Add dates, zest, juice, oil and coriander, and process until they form a dough-like paste (mixture will clump into a big ball – this will take less than a minute)

Divide the mixture into balls – the number of balls will depend on how big you like them. I usually make 16 because it’s easy to make them roughly the same size – I divide the mixture in half, then half again, then again, then again.

Roll the balls in coconut and place in fridge to get firm. Because you want your balls to be firm.

Don’t eat them all at once (I challenge you!)

August 29, 2016

Is it worth it?

Whenever something in life seems particularly difficult, requiring sacrifices, hours upon hours of blood, sweat and/or tears, you really need to ask yourself one question.

Is it worth it?

I remember being asked this very question at work after returning from UTA100. Now I will add that I was very broken that day, and actually amazed I made it in to work at all. So in hindsight, it was probably a fair question. But despite my brokenness, there was no hesitation when I responded, “Of course!”

I guess this applies in all areas of life – work and relationships being two that immediately spring to mind. Today I am going to focus on the running side (surprise, surprise!)

Training for a marathon, or ultramarathon, requires (for me at least), a lot of hours of training. Sometimes you don’t really feel like training, but you kind of have to do it. And almost always, you finish the run thinking “I’m so glad I didn’t listen to 5am me!” It also requires sacrifices – almost always having to go to bed early on Saturday nights in order to be fresh for Sunday’s long run. And you (well, I at least) can kiss goodbye the thought of doing anything productive on a Sunday afternoon after said long run.

Any time it all seems too hard and you can’t seem to get motivated, think about the goal and ask yourself that question.

Is it worth it?

I have not yet done a triathlon but I do plan to at some stage. I don’t, however, see myself doing an Ironman at any time. My theory being, if marathon training requires running 5 times a week, pretty much wiping out all of Sunday and not being particularly functional the next day, how on earth could I possibly find time to do all the Ironman training, with a marathon PLUS the cycle and swim legs to train for? And not just the time factor but presumably there will be some muscle soreness to factor in, but presumably not much opportunity for rest/recovery days. So for me, at this point in time (never say never) the answer to the question, “Is it worth it?” would be “No”.

Lately my Sunday Runday recovery has consisted of getting into my compression pants (I imagine watching me trying to put those bad boys on would make quite amusing viewing – I am lucky enough that I don’t experience cramps when running like a lot of my friends do, but the one time that I do get cramps is in my feet when trying to get my compression tights on and off!) and crashing on the couch for a few hours when I really should be doing something useful like making dinner or getting stuff organised for work on Monday. I don’t seem to get DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness for the uninitiated) anymore. It pretty much starts either as soon as I stop running, or when I get out of the car after driving home. But is it worth it? So far, I’d say yes.

I don’t believe in going for a long run just for the sake of it. If I’m going to run 20km or more, it will be for one of the following reasons:

It is a race that I believe I can do well in (not necessarily figure in the placings, but run close to a PB) and preferably one that has a finisher medal.
It is a training run for a race I believe I can do well in (and DEFINITELY has some kind of bling at the end of it)

Most runs would fit into one of these categories anyway, because lately it seems like I’m always training for something. And that doesn’t look like ending anytime soon, because after my last big race for the year (Heysen 105 at the end of October) it won’t be long before Boston Marathon training kicks in. (I just checked the calendar. 16 weeks from Boston is Boxing Day!)

I know of a lot of people who go for 30+ km runs (and sometimes even more) just for fun. And good on them, but that is not me. For me, the time taken for the run, plus the time taken to recover from the run, is NOT worth it.

I read a story about a woman who ran the Kangaroo Island Marathon this weekend, and it was her 504th marathon. I can safely say you will NEVER be reading a story like that about me. This woman was in her 70s, and even if she’d started in her 20s (which is very young for a marathon runner), that meant she must have done 10 marathons a year for 50 years! (I worked that out in my head!) So far I have never done more than 2 in a year – that is well and truly enough for me. I don’t run marathons for fun (again, I know a lot of people do and I admire that, but it is not me). I train, I make all the necessary sacrifices, and I leave it all out there. If I am going to run 42.2km, I am going to give it everything I’ve got, and feel like I’ve earned that bling. Consequently there is no way that I would ever be able to run 10 marathons in a year.

Only once have I ever considered pulling out of a race. That was the 2015 Clare half marathon. I had gone out way too fast (a common mistake!) and consequently died in the back half. I didn’t specifically ask that question, but I must admit that a few thoughts crossed my mind. One, the medal at the end. Two, knowing that I COULD definitely finish (ie my legs were still working, just not as well as I would have liked) I would have kicked myself if I’d DNFed (if I had had the strength in my legs to do so!) So in that case, pushing on despite having a crap time, WAS worth it!

I know people who have pulled out of races because they know they’re not going to get the time they want. That’s fair enough too, because they have other races further down the line that they’re training for, and to push on to the finish just so they don’t have to DNF, might jeopardise a good performance in a future race. So I totally get that. For them, the answer to the question “Is it worth it (to finish this race)?” is a resounding NO.

One of the ‘sacrifices’ I’ve made this year was to stop running trails for 3 months, from UTA100 in May, to last weekend’s Heysen 105 training run. Every time I’d see photos on Facebook or Instagram of friends out enjoying a beautiful trail run (often in glorious weather too), I’d be wishing that was me out there, instead of pounding the pavement in preparation for my 2 marathons. The reason for my self-imposed trail ban was three-fold:

Rest my dodgy hamstring which REALLY doesn’t like going up hills.
Avoid the likely injuries that go along with me running trails (usually just a minor stack resulting in a few grazes, but the potential for a rolled ankle is always there and would be a MAJOR inconvenience while trying to train for a marathon)
I needed to get in a long road run each weekend and to try to do that AND a trail run would be a recipe for disaster.

But was it worth it? HELL YEAH it was. My first marathon this year was my Boston qualifier, which was my number 1 goal for the year. The second one was to try to get my friend Beck her BQ, which we didn’t quite manage to do, but I enjoyed most of that run and I totally don’t regret doing that. And when I did get back out on the trails last weekend, I think I enjoyed it all the more (despite my lack of sure-footedness!)

Some runs are better than others. That first trail run back was an absolute delight, despite the fact that I ran most of it on my own (by virtue of being not quite fast enough to stick with the lead pack, and significantly faster than those behind me) and my pace was pleasing considering I hadn’t done a trail in so long. The trail run this last weekend, 41km along the Yurrebilla Trail, was a bit of a slog and a wake-up call – a lot slower than I would have expected, a lot HARDER than I remember, and it showed me that I have a lot of work to do before the Yurrebilla Ultra in 4 weeks to get my goal time of under 7 hours. But – it will be worth it!

So, I am willing to put up with the early starts, early nights, not-so-delayed-onset muscle soreness and the occasional blister or lost toenail, if the prize at the end is something I really want. As soon as the answer to the question “Is it worth it?” ceases to be a resounding “YES!” then it’s time to start seriously considering what I’m doing!

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?