5 days to go...

Since the Megalong Mega I’ve had a couple of good solid runs. The week after it was a bit of a recovery week due to work and being a groomsman at a friend’s wedding the following weekend. I felt pretty good after the MM, but thought it best to keep my long run to 2 hours on the day of the wedding.

Two weeks ago I parked off Bago Road and made my way up to Bago Bluff/The Rollover and Bago Lookout. That was a three and a half hour run, and I chose that area as the hills were bigger than around the usual area I’ve been running. A lot of it was just the standard rolling hills before the first climb starting from an altitude of about 50 metres up to 400 metres at The Rollover (in about 3-4km), then back down to 70 metres before climbing back up to 350 metres at Bago Lookout. The views were pretty spectacular at the top, and I took a few photos on the phone but they’re a bit average as it was an overcast day. There was some light rain along the way but nothing too serious. It was almost back at the car a bit earlier than expected so I did a few hill reps up from Blue Creek which wasn’t quite as blue as advertised, but was a good strong effort to finish.

Last weekend was back out to Queens Lake State Forest for two and a half hours around Jolly Nose Hill. It was another pleasant run, and I’m really enjoying running in that area. I noticed that there was much more wildlife to see and hear in the area that there was the previous week out Bago way. I went up to the top of the hill again, and found some interesting stats for the climb (to me!).

For 2km it rises from 30m to 100m (mix of falling, level and mostly rising terrain), which took me 13 minutes up and 10 minutes down. The final 750m section rises from 100m to 250m (1 in 5) and took 12 minutes up and 5 minutes down.

The weekend just past I had an easy 15km run down Queens Lake way again. Was a cool, clear morning and I felt good throughout.

I’m in the middle of a couple of week’s holiday at the moment. I’m looking after the kids full time as Jodie has a 3 week block of intensive lectures for uni and also has casual work at the hospital in the gaps. She’s actually worked 5 shifts in the last 7 days, and after a 2 hour lecture last Thursday went straight to a double shift from 5pm to 7am. Amusing and looking after the kids and house chores are keeping me busy enough during the taper.

All that’s left for me to do before the weekend is a couple of easy 40 minute runs, a massage and to get myself to the mountains on Friday.

I'm in wave 4 on Saturday, so get to watch the earlier waves take off before it's my turn. I probably haven't put as much training in as I should have, but I guess that's reflected in my rough goal time of +/- 6 hours. Being otherwise occupied over the last week or so has kept my mind off the race, but by the middle of the week I need to think about what's ahead and start mentally preparing myself for Saturday. At least for now I'm really looking forward to it.

Megalong Mega 2008

Thanks Ellie for the photo of Ben and myself taken just before we headed off.

This was my one and only look at the Six Foot Track before race day. It was quite a good day for it, with cloud cover for the whole morning keeping the temps down. There was a good turn up too, with around 140 people running/walking.

The run down to Coxs River took around 45-50 minutes of mostly single file track. Being stuck behind others was a good thing to avoid going too quick from the start. The river was waist deep and refreshing. The climbs up to Mini Mini saddle and Pluviometer were certainly steep and long, as expected. Most of the uphills were at as fast a walk as I could manage, other than the odd flat bit that I ran, and the downhill to Alum River.

I made it to the top of Pluvi 2:30 from the start, and had a short break before rolling my way back down.

After the river crossing on the way back I took my shoes and socks off to empty out quite a bit of sand and stones, which felt good. I also took my pack off and had a quick splash to cool down.

Gruelling describes the climb back up to Megalong Road from the river quite well. It was really hard work, but I was trying to run as much as possible on the flat to slight uphills, but some of the steps were a real struggle after 4+ hours. There was some light rain through this section that was very welcome. I made it back to the start in a few minutes over 5 hours, which included about 20 minutes of stops at the top of Pluvi, at the river, and the odd stone stop here and there.

There were a few other streams to cross between Cox's and Alum, and after 4 hours of being wet my feet were suitably shriveled at the end, but thankfully no problems with blisters.

It was great to get out there and see the course. The scenery was certainly beautiful although I didn't get to take it all in during some of the tougher sections.

I was interested to see how the steeper sections compare to the local climb I've been doing up to the top of Jolly Nose Hill, and was pleased to find that it was certainly no steeper than what I'm used to, just longer. So I can see myself heading back to that hill for some more local hill sessions once my legs get a week or so to recover (that would be about now!). Some acclimatisation is in order as well, so I think I need to throw in a long run or two later in the day and in some more open sections. I'm used to a bit more of a closed canopy than there was on the course, and I usually head out in the pre dawn cool, so I'm not used to the heat so much.

I actually thought my legs would be a lot worse than they were afterwards. They are a bit sore and stiff for a couple of days, but not too bad really.
I'm glad that I have the Salomon shoes, as it felt like the rockiness of some of the sections would have left my feet bruised and knocked around a bit otherwise.

I decided that my plan on race day would be to carry a spare pair of socks to change into at the top of Pluvi once I've crossed (hopefully) all the water. I think I'll take my fuel belt with just two bottles for convenience, which is nothing compared to the hydration pack and 4 fuel belt bottles used in training.

I was trying to work out a time based on the two and a half hours from Megalong to the top of Pluvi, and figured that anywhere around the 6 hour mark would be just fine by me.

Long weekend ahead...

As usual it’s been a while.

City to Surf

It was so long ago now but I did make a couple of notes. Whilst I felt ok over the first half of the run, the heat combined with my lack of fitness/preparation saw me feeling very average over the back end. I made it to half way in 35 minutes and felt pretty good on my way up Heartbreak Hill, but I really faded through the ups and downs of 9-11km and ended up finishing in 72:50 for the 14km.

That’s a pretty shocking back half given that most people negative split on this course. Still, that was to be expected and I’m happy to have met my goal of retaining a red bib for next year, when I hope to be better prepared. Great day though.

In the fortnight immediately following C2S I only did one run and ended up covering just 67km in August. That’s my lowest monthly total since the August to October period last year when my calf was playing up. At least back then I made up for the lack of running by substituting cycling and swimming. I don’t feel too bad though...it’s a good break to freshen up before I get back into it all. I’m happy to relax and get out for 3-4 easy runs a week with nothing over 15km until the middle of October before picking things up a bit prior to the Central Coast Half, which should then lead into training for Six Foot Track.

Whilst on the subject, I have started my preparation for the track. I picked up a pair of (yellow!) Salomon XA Pro’s a few weeks ago, and have taken them out for the last couple of weekends.

First up I ventured from Bonny Hills along a 4WD track / fire trail to a local creek. All up it was a 10km return trip. Last weekend I followed some fire trails down to the Queens Lake Picnic Area for a 14km round trip.

Both runs were very enjoyable, and a nice change to the normal road scene that I run closer to home. At one stage I may have had to jump a gate to get where I was headed...sshhh, don’t tell.
I’m planning on getting out for a trail run once a week, starting off by exploring some more of the trails around the Queens Lake area before moving further afield.

Apart from that, life is very busy. Jodie had her mid semester exams the other week and starts some casual work from next weekend. I’m in the middle of an additional project I’ve taken on as overtime that should last a couple of months. It’s using new development tools that we’re using more for future projects so it’s a good learning experience. The extra money is coming at a useful time, but all I have time for at the moment is work, spending some time with the kids, a few chores and sleep. There should be some respite come December when my overtime is finished and Jodie has completed her end of year exams followed by her couple of weeks placement at a nursing home.