Molonglo River

Running: was out running 7.85 km in 57m:53s

I was down in Queanbeyan this weekend so I asked the friends I was staying with what a good run would be: they started me off along the Molonglo River. I was a bit nervous about getting lost, but I didn't have a running pouch for the mobile phone so I had to run nervous - that's why the run was a bit short. Actually I'm quite pleased to have found my way back; in general I have no sense of direction. It's true that with a river around you always have a fair chance of disentangling yourself, and with practice I suppose I could use the sun.

It was a very nice little run and potentially a great run. You can see (best in the satellite view, rather than the map view) where I ran up the hill away from the river; I met three kangaroos (grey) loping along through the grass at the edge of the bush and the road. As it turns out, I could have run down the hill and got back to the main road but the thing with bush running without a map is that you don't actually know that in advance, and sometimes you have to be back for tea! It looks like there's a salt mine down there, or a white coal mine, or something. Plus, access to some more remnant scrub.

You can see at one point that I was moving very slowly - that's because the track ran out and I didn't realise I needed to backtrack. Well, needed was a bit strong because I did manage to scramble across the   rocks (and flood debris), noting (ever the naturalist) several kangaroo prints. Having looked at the map now I can see I needed to run directly behind the fence(s), but at the point that I went down to the water's edge the trail seemed very clear and promising. Once you're down at river level, you don't have any idea what's above you (the bank is about 8-10 metres). I mean, I could guess that there was a fence line, but there wasn't any particular guarantee that it was navigable. I've run into that problem in Richmond, Vic. along the Yarra banks.

But it all worked out nicely, and really, a run/walk/scramble is more fun than just a run along a known path.

About halfway up the hill was a false crest with a tent neatly tucked away; great spot for a kids camp because civilisation is invisible despite being less than 400 metres away.

Next time I'm down I'll arm myself with a water bottle and some food and explore a bit more.

Jabulani 2012

Running: 23.69 km in 3h:05m:15s

This was hard, in my opinion much harder than last year, although there were people at the finish to disagree with that. For me, last year was steep but not very technical, and although I didn't enjoy the steep part of it at the time, I've done a lot of training since then and I'm a lot stronger. King of the Mountain was steeper.

But this year was much less steep - in fact a net downhill run as you can see in the link. To make up for that, it was a LOT more technical - virtually no roads. Altogether, maybe 4(?) km of road. The rest was track, and various parts of it were rocky/steep/slippery and/or worn down between tree roots. I'm a bit of a shuffler, and 95% of my training is on grass or road (this year I think apart from NOSH, I've done no trail running at all!), so not falling over is a big problem for me. Possibly a mental problem to some extent (I'm not confident on poor surfaces, plus I'm not convinced the multifocals are optimal for it), but I lost my footing completely once and tripped/stumbled 5 or 6 times. Garigal National Park rang to the sound of a runner shouting "Concentrate, you bloody idiot". It's not easy when your glutes seem to have metamorphosed into a block of aching wood, to:

•  Look at the ground 
•  Look at the path ahead 
•  Breathe properly 
•  Remind your motor system to lift the feet OFF the ground, despite the fact that all available feedback from the legs says it can't be done.

Having said all that, I finished without serious damage.

Trail running really is a different sport. Different form, different muscles. The guy who won the marathon looked like the quintessential skinny marathon guy but with the thighs & quadriceps of a 100 meter sprinter. Having said all that, it's easy to understand why, on the basis of today's course, why people love it. It really was a superb course, absolutely beautiful, starting in Mt Kuring Gai National Park and finishing in Garigal National Park. There was a fair bit of rubbish on the trail (like broken branches) from the winds, but today the sun was shining through a slight breeze. Magnificent.

I've got two more for these coming up! To be honest, I hope they're a bit easier, because the next one is 42K in October. There's not a lot of training I can do between now and then to stop a lifetime (well, two years) of shuffling)

Weather

I've probably written about this before, but never mind. I love running in storms. I read once about (illustrating the madness of the colonial Britons) a group of harriers who only ran during Hong Kong typhoons. It may have been fiction (was it Le Carre?) but it ought not to be. Had the me of now been there then, I would have been out there

Extraordinary weather the last couple of days in Sydney. Apart from the roofing iron blowing around the back garden on Friday, which was perhaps a bit too scary - if you were hit by one of those you'd be dead and there'd be no way to avoid it even if you saw it coming - Saturday AM was perfect running weather.

In the wind, every lap of the oval is different. There was a women's football match in progress: scoring only occurred at one end. Tarpaulins snapped and cracked at apparent random. The air turned grey; then clear again.

I can never really feel that the wind is behind me. My watch tells me I'm going faster than expected, and I can know it's easier, but there's no reversed equivalent to the running through water sensation of a good headwind. Running into a headwind is an excuse to run harder; when I'm running at a fixed pace designated less than race pace there can be a feeling of frustration but the need for the extra work to maintain the pace into the headwind is satisfying. It feels like the the kind of effort training should be. Although if it went on too long the virtue would be quickly replaced by exhaustion.

Sometimes the joy of running is the rhythm that lets me forget that my body has to work to make the movement happen. Today, though, is a day to relish the work.

Westlink M7

Endomondo Running Workout: was out running 42.47 km in 3h:53m:29s

I'm a little disappointed, but under 4 hours is always my 3rd goal, so 1 and 3 isn't bad. (1 is finishing, 2 is the target time). It was surprisingly hilly, as you can see from the elevation profile. Curiously though it wasn't the big hill in the 1st half, it was all the small undulations in the second half. Well, nothing in the 2nd half is easy.  Also, you can see from the GPS that I ran an extra .275 km - and GPS usually understates the distance - so I need to concentrate harder on running straight lines through the curves.

Another very well organised run. It starts in the middle of nowhere (sorry, residents of Prestons) and uses the  bike tracks along the M7. Much of the time you're running through remnant bushland, admittedly with a freeway in view, but it's not the least pleasant run I've done. It's nicer than both Canberra and Sydney; better  managed as well. We finished at the Blacktown International Sports Centre, which is kind of a good venue, although the track has seen better days. Poor suburbs don't get money for that kind of facility upgrade. Apart from the athletics oval, there's baseball, football, soccer grounds, a pretty large complex. I hadn't realised - since I normally only drive through it - how much development is still to take place out there. There will (certainly) be another half-a-million people over the next period of time. Assuming the economy is still functioning.

Anyway, the weather was also perfect. Cold, admittedly at 7am, but after a kilometre it's only your hands that feel it and after 5 they don't feel it either. By the time I got to the finish it was a sunny winter's day, probably around 18. I didn't see anyone I knew, but after the race someone came up and thanked me for my advice (I told him as I passed him at 29km that it doesn't get any worse after 31km. It was his first marathon, and that's how I felt at Canberra, which was mine). I guess I must be improving, because I didn't feel any worse until after 39km. Man, that final 3km was really, really hard. There's an uphill bit at 40-41 that was murder, and other than relief I didn't enjoy the concomitant final 1.2km downhill at all. Although, I did pass someone I hadn't seen since the 500 meter mark when he strolled past taking one smooth stride to my two stumpy ones. I wanted to sprint the final 300 metres around the track (I train for those fast finishes), but want was not will. I think I maintained a 100% steady shuffle.

Hats off to Liz who provided valuable cheering at many viewing points on the way. A capering supporter is the best kind!

Look - running, not shuffling at 41km

I didn't know I was knock-kneed

I'm pleased to say that in one of them I appear to be running, as opposed to the usual shuffle! Mind you, in the picture of me crossing the line (not shown due to technical difficulties), I appear to have developed a serious list to starboard.

Thursday today and  I took my classes (AM and PM) on the Spit Bridge to Manly walk, so that was a gentle workout on a glorious day for one of may favourite walks.

Dolls Point 2012

Endomondo Running Workout: 21.02 km in 1h:55m:03s

Undeniably my worst ever half marathon, but arguably my best ever training run (since I usually train at 5:30 pace). Boy, was I stiff - still recovering from last week's run at Kangaroo Valley, I think. An absolutely stunning day, clear, just a touch of breeze - last year we ran in a howling gale. It's fantastic to run next to the sea, listening to the shoosh of breaking wavelets. Plus, there were boats, people fishing, walking, cycling, doing headstands and generally entertaining themselves.


Afterwards, some stretching, pancakes and oranges, then home for gardening, shopping at the local market and carpentry (still plodding away on that staircase, but progress is progress - the next timber pieces to be bent are much more fragile than the last lot, and I don't want any breakages.) Ran into two colleagues at the market, including the one who had a tumour removed from his brain last Monday! No, seriously. And he looked pretty well and sounded coherent. Fingers crossed. Of course, he's still waiting for the tissue biopsy results, so has no idea what the future holds, but whatever, nice to see him up and about.


That's about it.

King of the Mountain

Endomondo Running Workout: was out running 32.10 km in 3h:13m:34s

Up at 5:00 this AM to drive down to Cambewarra - I'd never heard of it, either - for the Shoalhaven King of the Mountain, a relatively famous NSW race, not exactly a trail race, because it's on roads the whole way, but it's substantially through bush except for maybe a total of 10 km spread over the start and the finish in Kangaroo Ground.

We had a fantastic trip down in about an hour fifty - it's a pleasure driving anywhere in NSW on a Sunday before 8 AM.

I haven't been feeling good about the long distances this year, so I was pretty nervous. I'm supposed to run 35 km every 2nd weekend for training, but frankly between injury, illness, weather and falls, I haven't made more than 30, and certainly not every fortnight (don't tell my coach). King of the Mountain is 32 km, but there are two fairly significant hills as you can see from the profile in the link. The second is 360 meters high - it calls itself Mt Scanzi, in the tail end of the Illawarra escarpment - and you can see from the times at 22 and 23 km that the last section is pretty steep. In fact, just by running non-stop up this section I passed about 8 people who I never subsequently saw. It's obviously a big advantage to get to the top first because you start running downhill first and it's pretty hard for those behind to catch up; although I'm not the strongest descender in the world (I get very nervous about falling) and in fact I had been passed on the down slope of the first hill by a couple of those 8 aforementioned people, but despite that I did manage to stay in front after this second peak.

 One guy I had passed on the way up did pass me in the main street of Kangaroo Valley, but after the last Cooks River episode I wasn't having any of that and I took my life in my hands (the last kilometer is the main street - not the pavement! - of Kangaroo Valley) and overtook him during a gap in the traffic and ran as hard as I could for the finish. It's obviously wrong to say I was feeling good, but you can see from the splits for the last couple of kilometers that I was in reasonable shape, so I held him off.

It's a very social race; one guy gave me some good advice at the 1km mark - don't look at your watch - and said Hi to me later in the car park. A bunch of people stopped to chat with the volunteers at every drink station; this made me feel a little rude (I didn't), but it's not that easy getting moving once you stop in my experience. I prefer continuous motion.

If you're ever in Kangaroo Valley (and you should be, it's stunningly beautiful) I can strongly recommend Jack's Tin Shed for exceptional coffee at fair, that is, city, prices; possibly the best toasted banana bread in history and undoubtedly a very fine hamburger and chips. (Good rural coffee is usually 20-30% more expensive than the city in NSW) Since the main reason I run in these events is to have an excuse to eat chips, it's very important that they stand out. And they did, so it was all worthwhile.

This will give you a rough idea...

A great effort by the organizers; it couldn't have gone much smoother that I could see.

The living room

Finished decorating. That's my first wallpapering job - not too bad, although I probably will spend the rest of my life looking at the blemishes. A bit of delusion seldom goes astray in this situation.
We have a new rug too, but it doesn't photograph so well.