Saturday 26 Km
I met up with Miners, Riggo and Col at Town Beach car park and headed out on the first of the three legs that made up today’s run.
The first leg was just over 8km in just over 40 minutes, which was a little faster than I had planned over a hilly course. The again, what else would I expect when going for a run with 2 Ironmen and a speed demon!! We did a loop down to Shelly Beach, but by the climb up from Flynns Beach on the way back I hit the anchors and let them get away as I was a little concerned for the back end of the run!
The rest of the group was just about ready to go by then, so I belted up and headed off for the second 50 minute leg. This was a lap around Kooloonbung Creek then over for a lap of Westport Park and back to Town Beach. This time I ran with Leigh at a more relaxed conversational pace…actually it was still a bit quicker than planned, but the mostly flat terrain reduced the degree of difficulty considerably.
After dropping her back at Town Beach and a quick refuel I headed back out for my final 50 minute leg. On the way out I passed most of the others on their way back, and doubled back for a brief chat with Miners before he got sidetracked with his GPS treasure hunt! For some reason I thought I had 25 minutes to go at that stage but on recalculation it was pretty much double that. After having the conversational distractions for the first hour and a half combined with the earlier pace I really had to push myself through the last leg solo. I was surprised to note that I was still travelling at a decent pace on auto pilot. I headed back along the river to Westport Park before forcing myself to grind out some hills over to Flynns Beach and back to Town Beach. Cooled down with a 10 minute walk and 15 minutes of stretching…and I really needed it by then!!
Jorex was asking about the fuel belt, so here are some notes. I only wore it for the 2nd and 3rd legs. I’d used plenty of bodyglide in preparation for it on Tesso and Go Girl’s recommendation. I was very conscious of it for the first 5-10 minutes, but soon forgot about it. It was very convenient, and didn’t leave the area sore at all even after more than an hour and a half for a first try. It’s firmly elastic, so I set it with a little tension around the hips and it didn’t move at all. The pocket on the back is handy as well for keys, gels, etc.. The four bottles take roughly 750ml all up and I believe you can buy more to attach. I’m really glad I have it now and it will certainly add some flexibility to these longer runs.
At the end of the second leg I tried a pb sports lemon-lime gel, which went down well. I also refilled a couple of the fuel belt bottles at that point to get me through to the end.
By the time I got back, cooled down and stretched I was well behind everyone else so skipped breakfast…found out we had visitors coming anyway so headed straight back home with the whole weekend ahead to recover! Posting this Sunday night…It’s been a busy weekend…even missed the PM Ironman highlights amongst it all :’( I pulled up great today, and I’m looking forward to my run tomorrow so time to pack up for the day. Hope to catch up on some blog reading in the next couple of days!
The first leg was just over 8km in just over 40 minutes, which was a little faster than I had planned over a hilly course. The again, what else would I expect when going for a run with 2 Ironmen and a speed demon!! We did a loop down to Shelly Beach, but by the climb up from Flynns Beach on the way back I hit the anchors and let them get away as I was a little concerned for the back end of the run!
The rest of the group was just about ready to go by then, so I belted up and headed off for the second 50 minute leg. This was a lap around Kooloonbung Creek then over for a lap of Westport Park and back to Town Beach. This time I ran with Leigh at a more relaxed conversational pace…actually it was still a bit quicker than planned, but the mostly flat terrain reduced the degree of difficulty considerably.
After dropping her back at Town Beach and a quick refuel I headed back out for my final 50 minute leg. On the way out I passed most of the others on their way back, and doubled back for a brief chat with Miners before he got sidetracked with his GPS treasure hunt! For some reason I thought I had 25 minutes to go at that stage but on recalculation it was pretty much double that. After having the conversational distractions for the first hour and a half combined with the earlier pace I really had to push myself through the last leg solo. I was surprised to note that I was still travelling at a decent pace on auto pilot. I headed back along the river to Westport Park before forcing myself to grind out some hills over to Flynns Beach and back to Town Beach. Cooled down with a 10 minute walk and 15 minutes of stretching…and I really needed it by then!!
Jorex was asking about the fuel belt, so here are some notes. I only wore it for the 2nd and 3rd legs. I’d used plenty of bodyglide in preparation for it on Tesso and Go Girl’s recommendation. I was very conscious of it for the first 5-10 minutes, but soon forgot about it. It was very convenient, and didn’t leave the area sore at all even after more than an hour and a half for a first try. It’s firmly elastic, so I set it with a little tension around the hips and it didn’t move at all. The pocket on the back is handy as well for keys, gels, etc.. The four bottles take roughly 750ml all up and I believe you can buy more to attach. I’m really glad I have it now and it will certainly add some flexibility to these longer runs.
At the end of the second leg I tried a pb sports lemon-lime gel, which went down well. I also refilled a couple of the fuel belt bottles at that point to get me through to the end.
By the time I got back, cooled down and stretched I was well behind everyone else so skipped breakfast…found out we had visitors coming anyway so headed straight back home with the whole weekend ahead to recover! Posting this Sunday night…It’s been a busy weekend…even missed the PM Ironman highlights amongst it all :’( I pulled up great today, and I’m looking forward to my run tomorrow so time to pack up for the day. Hope to catch up on some blog reading in the next couple of days!
posted by PortRunr @ 9:31 pm
4 Comments:
At 6:23 am,
Mandy said…
Aww you only got the 4 bottle fuel belt? We have ones that hold 10 (?!^%) bottles! I would call you the Juicinator.
At 9:18 am,
miners said…
Great effort mate! you were certainly travelling well all morning, and Joe and I had just about had it when you were heading out for your 3rd leg, so well done!
I forgot it was the first outing for the fuelbelt! Great to hear it went well. One other tip is to perhaps tuck your shirt in (even if you feel a little daggy) as it can prevent any chafing that might occur in the small of your back from the strap.
btw - I worked out that particular treasure map in the town green!
At 9:43 am,
Tesso said…
Wow, 26k. That doesn't sound like much of a taper before SMH Half :-)
Glad the fuel belt worked out okay. I wonder how I ever survived so long without one.
At 4:39 pm,
Rachel said…
Sounds like you ran a marathon! 50 mins here, 50 mins there. I think I need to get one of those fuel belts.....once I reach over 15k!
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