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PB'S Six foot track - 4:09 March 08 3000m 9:50 - October 09 5000m 17:25 10k 36:03 - may 2009 1/2 marathon 79:56 marathon 2:54:56

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Orchard run

I got out here around 7:15am and not a car in sight. I felt pretty buggered before I even got running. I think the 12 beers last night didn't help!
Went what I thought was a steady pace but by the time I got up the top of the hill I had sweat dripping off me. Got to the roundabout in 35min and the intersection in 53min. I almost turned around here but thought bugger it i"ll keep moving forward. Got to the green sign in 1hr3min and the road in 1hr23min
The run back was really tough! I found the downhills hard and it was pretty bloody hot too!
I had to stop about 3 times in total just to regather myself

The car at the end was a much welcome sight!
Ran it in 2hrs41min all up

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Thurs to Sat

Well I seem to be back into the swing of things. The legs are feeling good again

Managed to run 10k on Thurs in a little over 48min
Fri I did another 10k but this time a slow 55min
And Sat I ran with the trotters. We ran the round dve. About 12k n 55min
So all going good so far

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Post GNW

Well after 3 days I think I'm coming back to normal. The last few days have been tough to say the least! My legs have been so tired and been feeling like they just need a massive stretch! My feet have been puffed up and have massive cankles!
After the race we (Denise and I)made our way to Nelsons Bay for a bit of a break

All Ive done is eat, drink beer and chill out by the pool. Oh we did go on a dolphin cruise and play a bit of pool :)

Today being Wed we got back home. Swelling in the feet has gone down and I managed a 1k swim then did 5k on a treadmill in a little over 25min. Legs were pretty good but did feel tired

Lets see how I go tomorrow

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

GNW 100mile (107.9miles).....a long long race!

What a weekend and what a race! So much goes into an event like this and that's what make it such a big part of your life.

I guess it all starts on Friday. For me it was an easy 8k run. I've always found going for a bit of a run the day before a race helps and hey......if i can't run the day after doing a slow 8k then I'm not ready to tackle 175k!

We stayed up at my Mums place as she lives about 15min from the start line.
The Friday night was a get together of about 70 people for dinner. That was great catching up with some people i haven't seem in a while

Tried to get an early night but knowing i have to do this race in the morning made sleeping something that just wasn't going to happen. I think i got about 1hr sleep. 3am comes and its time to get up.
First thing i need is breakfast. Just a couple pieces of toast. I don't want to eat too much as the last thing i need to worry about out in the bush running is stomach cramps and needing to find a toilet.
Next was make sure I've got all my gear ready and packing all the food.

We got to the start just after 4:30am. After checking and weighing in i went back to the car to shut my eyes. The lack of sleep was also sinking in. 5:30am we all gather around and listen to Dave to hear the briefing before we all make our way to the start line all looking fresh and excited! How things look different at the end!

Now i decided just to run my own race and not worry about how fast everybody else will go at the start. I think i had about 12 runners in front of me for the first 6km of road then it was on the trail and i had another runner past me there. He had a green band on (green band for 100miles and orange band for 100km) I just watched him run those early hills thinking I'll catch him soon enough.
Getting to Freemans drive and crossing the road in about 1hr26min I'm thinking I've maybe gone too fast but I'm feeling good so i just stick with my pace. I catch up to the guy who past me just after crossing the road and also Shona (she was in the 100km) I'm watching still running the hills and asked if they have been on this course before. They both tell me they haven't so i told them they might just want to walk some of these hills.
After running with Shona for a while she decided to take off while i kept my steady pace. Next thing i know I'm in the rain forest slowly making my way through. The guy who was running all those early hills caught up to me here but 10 min later he dropped off.
After 3hrs26min I make it to the first checkpoint.
Denise was awesome. She had all the food out all ready for me. She tells me I'm in 8th place. A few min later I'm gone again.
About 20min later i catch up to Shona again but she soon dropped off. The rest of the way to checkpoint 2 I'm all on my own. I got through that section in about 2hrs20min. I get my weight checked here and I've lost just over 1kg. Still in 8th place i head off again.
It wasn't long and i pass another 100mile runner then a 100km runner. Next thing I'm starting those hills again. I'm quite surprised how good i feel going up them. Crossing watagans creek i pass Dave waugh then make my way up the next big hill. Got to the top of that still feeling good but was glad to be up there. Checkpoint 3 came soon after and I'm now in 6th place.
I found the climb out of the basin a bit tough but after running 85km i think that's normal!
The rest of this section us pretty easy going and before i know it I'm on the road section 10KM away from Yarramalong. It was here i pass another victim of running hard too early and i then plod along making my way to checkpoint 4 (103km) 3km to go I catch up to levi and we ran in there together.
I get my weight checked again but this time i put on 200grams. About 7min later I'm off again but notice water leaking from my pack. I turn back and luckly i had 2 water bladders so Denise changed that for me and I'm off again.

Not long into it and levi and his pacer catch up to me. I let them pass and walk run the bumble hill section. 15min later i catch up to them again. We run together for quite a while but they slowly dropped off and next thing i know I'm on my own again getting to Somserby for checkpoint 5. The climb to Somserby was tough but still felt great at the checkpoint. I change my shoes here and leave in 4th spot.
Next section wasn't too bad until about 1km from checkpoint 6. That's when i went through my first real bad patch. I get there and for the first time i have trouble eating and drinking. I tell Denise its getting tough. Levi came in about 4min after me

I leave the checkpoint still in 4th but knew Levi would catch me.
I manage to run until the suspension bridge then he caught me.
The rest of the race was the most challenging thing I've ever done.
I went through stages of bring able to shuffle to almost dry reaching. I could no longer stomach anymore food and had trouble keeping water down. Then the next thing i felt on top of the world like nothing could stop me.
Soon enough though i really started to chafe from having the pack on for so long that i couldn't run. My legs were coming good but was reduced to power walking. About 3km to and i found if i just shuffle without letting the pack bounce too much i could kinda run to the finish.
I got to the lookout just before Patonga had a look behind me and couldn't see a runner in sight. I knew now i was going to get 5th spot and I WAS GOING TO MAKE IT!
The last section leading to the beach was just sensational. Running on the beach to the finish line was just priceless. I reached the finish pole collapsed on my kness kissed that pole got that medal around my head and felt on top of the world!

I finished in 24hrs28min in 5th place

A true ultra experience!

Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Tuesday - 4 days to go!

Went out for a lunch time run. Around 34deg. Quite hot and humid. Its spose to be cooler this weekend but it was only going to be 30deg today. 4deg hotter so really who knows what it will be come Sat.
Ran 10k doing 4x5min at a moderate pace with a 5min recovery. Total for the 10k was 42:52
Left achillies slightly tight but other than that I felt great. The heat didn't bother me too much but I could feel it

I then made my way to the gym and got in the steamroom.

I'll take it easy now until Sat

175km. I can do this thing!

Sunday, November 06, 2011

Somersby to Girrakool

Had Sharon pick me up and we met Gary & Suzy at Girrakool around 6am. We then got in Suzy's car and made our way to Somersby shop. Sunny warm morning for this run. Steady pace most of the way. The first part of the trail Sharon took the lead. I rolled my ankle not far into the run. Just kept running and it came good.
It wasn't long and I was now leading to the end followed by Sharon then Suzy then Gary.
Got to mooney creek in around 1hr10min and to Mooney Bridge in 1hr47min.
Finished in 2hr26min

I was really happy with how everything felt
I guess around 22 or 23km in total

Saturday, November 05, 2011

Trotter...Crommety hill

Felt good again this morning. Started off steady and just picked up the pace once we got to Wambie shops. Ran pretty hard up the hill but Mick came screaming past me! Ian was just behind me at the top. I wanted to push hard down the hill to see if I had any tight spots that I need to focus on for next week. Only my left hammy was tight but still felt ok. Ran back along the road making it 14.6k done in 1hr2min (4:15/km)
Very happy

Friday, November 04, 2011

Friday easy day

Went for an easy 10k from Terrigal to Wamberal and back. I was really happy with how my legs felt. Felt like I had a spring in my legs. I guess It took just over 45min.

Later I met Denise in the gym so I thought I'd do a bit of hill walking on the treadmill. Walked 3km building up to 7km/hr and slowly going to a 15deg incline. That was pretty tough! Then ran easy for 1km. Got in the steamroom for a bit after that

Thurs Rumbalara run

Raining when I got running. Just ran about 13 or 14k doing the rumbalara course. Felt pretty good with no real niggles

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Wednesday....10days to go

Ran a comfy 12k from Trrigal to Forries and back. Legs felt good. I thought they would be stuffed

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Melbourne cup day

Felt tired when I woke up. Went for a slow 10k to start the morning. Then I went to the gym for the steamroom

Later I did 3k race night at Mingara. Quite a big turn out. Warmed up with Baz and Clarke doing Hansens. The race was pretty quick (for my standards at the moment) Still very much lacking speed but I'm getting back there. Just can't hold a fast pace for too long. I guess on 7weeks back running and only been doing speed work for 3 or 4 weeks does that to you.
Went through 1km in 3:20, 2km in 6:55 and 3km in 10:27.
I really struggled on the last 1.2km. Just managed to hold Jess off
Finished with a 2km warmdown
13km done tonight

23km all up today

31st Oct...Mondays swim

No running for me today. Just a nice 3k swim down at WoyWoy pool. Took about 56min. Stopped every 5-10 laps to break it up a bit