Tuesday, 10 February 2015

Time waits for no-one, for the fortunate and not so…….

Wow, its been almost six months since my last post here. A lot has happened and writing a blog has been the last thing on my mind. Having left off with a rather successful feeling post the Bilpin Run, attention was drawn to the next race, which was the Coastal Classic from Otford to Bundeena. This has always been a scenic run and a great test of trail running with elements from technical descents and climbs, beach running, some rock cliffs, more sand running and a little bit of everything mixed in. A 29.5km course after significant rain during the past week makes it even tougher on the legs and for me it was a cramp and mud bath, but I rather enjoyed the latter ! The good old course got me again with cramps mid way through but I battled on to do a nice PB and a time of around 3:06. Very happy indeed particularly when you finally get to cross the line before Robyn and Tim – think that must be a first in my trail running career, but they had an excuse given Sydney Marathon was 2 weeks later and they both smashed PBs with Miss Bruins upping the ante by demolishing my PB.

A week or two later I headed to Melbourne for the AFL Grand Final to watch my beloved Swans get trounced by the Hawks. The day didn’t begin well when pulling up very sore with shin splints after a 8km tempo run around the streets of inner Melbourne suburbs. I never really thought shin splints could be so painful and actually make you stop running, but that’s exactly what they did and I had a good 2-3 weeks forced rest (well I saw the physio many times and maxed out my private health cover) from running, but managed to join the local gym for swimming work and exercise biking to keep some form of cardio up.

I needed the exercise as I had signed up to Hobart’s Point to Pinnacle (P2P), a Half Marathon that starts from sea level to eventually climbing 1,300m, finishing at the top of Mt Wellington. So once I had the green light from the physio, I had a couple of runs back to get me used to the legs again before entering the Kedumba 10km. Rocco and Gillian were in the 21km event and we all travelled up in my car for the morning hosted by Running Wild NSW. The 10km had a very small field of runners and was simple, a 5km down the Kedumba Valley Fire Trail and then turn and run the last 5km up the steep slopes. Good way for me to get back into it and train for P2P. The 21km race was the same except run down for 10.5km and climb up a lot further than I could at present.

Gun went off and the 3 of us simply lined up at the back of the field to treat it as an easy training run. We were slowly jogging the first 800m and then it got all too frustrating so I decided to actually stretch the legs and try and go quicker. I was mindful of the downhill running with the previously sore shins, but things were going well. No pain. I made the turnaround in 5^th position I think and saw 2 very young looking lads (15 years old I was told), way out in front coming back up the hill. It was then my turn for the all uphill and I was worried about fitness given the recent rest but I aimed not to walk it and gave it a good go. I made it to 4^th then battled hard to finally get 3^rd before I spotted one of the tall young runners walking up the last big hill. I caught him and encouraged him on but before I knew it, we had made the top of the hill ready for the flat and downhill sprint and he took off – cheeky kid ! He got 2^nd but I held the gap to 6 seconds so was pleased considering the lazy or easy start at the back of the field and simply jogging the first section. Rocco and Gillian did well in their 21km run, making themselves stronger for P2P.

After Kedumba, I begin working on some training with the aim of being fit for P2P. I even bought a road push-bike, well let me refresh that, I let Raki and Wilson do the shopping for me and made me spend a lot of cash. A couple of weeks later I went for a morning ride with Raki and had a nasty fall that I wish no-one can experience. It was all my wrong doing and fault, inexperienced, riding to quick, downhill and panicked on the breaks whilst avoiding little items on the road. Luckily no cars were involved, only me, my bike, and my helmet and head. Thrown over the bars at speed landing on the top right of your head is not fun, but the helmet I was wearing saved my life, there is no doubt.

Initially I thought I was Ok after the incident but my life and head was heading in a downward spiral within a week, feeling dizzy, drowsy, neausea, anxious, neck pain. After numerous GP visits , I had a CT scan on my brain , neck and back and then weeks later an MRI (those machines are simply freaky for head scans). Scans showed no brain damage and specialists were baffled as to what was causing the issue other than to say it could be me being anxious or even Post Concussion Syndrome. It was probably both the two to be honest and I battled through the next two months really. A very nasty and down period in my life, coupled with a few other things that had I had to deal with and it was really low times. In the past, running has been the cure for those times, but this time, that was not on the table, I simply could not run with my head injury. It’s those times that you thank and become appreciative off the people around you, friends and family offering support and I thank every single one of you.

Obviously P2P could not be run in my condition but I only made a last minute decision to pull out the night before the scheduled flight weekend. The flight risk was simply too great for me. Chantelle happily and probably gladly took up my race bib and was heading down to Tassie that weekend anyway. Turned out she smashed it and I am not surprised as she is a brilliant runner ! Thanks Chantelle !

Things were beginning to improve a little around Christmas time so I started to do some light 5km-8km runs. I knew that would make me feel better mentally about things but the fitness would be lacking on an enormous scale. Given I had entered a race in New Zealand that was being held in 5 weeks (I had entered back in late June for memory) I was almost certain that I was going to forgoe my entry and plane fares making it a rather expensive last few months. Given the race was 100km and all, what else should you do………….

…….time was ticking fast and really I had to make up my mind on what to do. There was about 7 weeks to go before the start of the 2^nd official race of the Ultra Trail World Tour – the Tarawera Ultra Marathon 100km in New Zealand, from Rotorua to Kawerau via Lake Tarawera and Tarawera Falls.

I had entered this race way back in June or July and was really looking forward to this one, my second 100km race after The North Face in the Blue Mtns last year. It was supposed to be a lot flatter, faster and easier. But with time not on my side and a lack of fitness following my head trauma I was feeling very uneasy, anxious and ready to pull the pin on this. Watching your friends putting in the kms training around you whilst you are unable to run is not easy but I know I was doing the right thing by not attempting to run. The risks were far too great. As I began to feel better week by week, I warmed to the idea of heading to NZ (still anxious about flying) to perhaps complete in the run but move my 100km entry down to 60km. At least that was something.

I began training with a 20km trail run and remember this one vividly, with Ruth absolutely schooling Tim and I on a local trail run around Lance Cove. Wow, I had a lot of work to do I thought to make this upcoming event possible. The next week Pat and I ran a 23km trail around Lane Cove trails again, but we both suffered in the extreme humidity and heat and pulled up about 6km short of the 29km planned run. The week after was a bit lighter on for kms but I was in desperate need of a long run the following week and completed a 41km run with Rocco, Tim, Robyn, Suzi and Chantelle on another hot morning. That was a great training run for someone who needed the gallop. Three weeks to go to race day and a light week somehow made it in my training schedule before another long run with the Knapsack Race of 30km under quicker conditions to get my legs into intense race mode. A vey tough Wed night Hills session followed by another hard 22km trail run on the Saturday meant reverse tapering was complete with an 80km week completed seven days before race day. I guess I was lining up for the 100km event as I hadn’t changed to the 60km !

Wednesday, 27 August 2014

Bilpin Bush Run (BBR) 32.7km

Sat 23-August-2014

This was the inaugural running of the BBR. The Mt Wilson to Bilpin run (Willy2Billy) was a popular run on the racing calendar that began in 1995, an event everyone tells me that NRG had supported strongly in the past but was not held in 2012-13 due to landslips permanently closing the route. The Bilpin Rural Fire Brigade, part of the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS), elected to take up the run organisation this year and mapped out a course with the guidance of NRG’s Steve Bruggeman and Gillian Russell.

As described on the official run website http://www.bilpinbushrun.com.au , “the course winds its way through Bilpin, around Mt Tootie (that word makes me laugh) and into the Wollemi National Pk and includes both challenging terrain and stunning vistas. As the course traverses private property it is ONLY accessible to runners on race day.”

The drive (thanks Gillian for taking Adam Connor and myself) up to Bilpin was about 1hr 15mins, so not overly long. The recent rain had cleared but the weather was cool and reasonably cloudy so ideal for running in the mountains. Runners started arriving and Adam commented that the ladies race will be interesting with Beth Cardelli (2012-13 AURA Female Runner of the year) up against Jess Baker (last year’s Ultra168 website female runner of the year and C2K record holder). My money was on Beth, only because I hadn’t really seen Jess run and I know how quick Beth is. For the guys, I couldn’t recognise anyone in the superfast category and I figured they were all unavailable due to OxFam Trailwalker or Glenbrook Trail Marathon being held this same weekend, and also our regular NRG trail racing guys like Sam, Matt, Az, Ian, Luke, Tim, Richard, and many others were not here to race. James Matthews (a fried of Lucinda and Kristian – those two seem to know EVERYONE) was present on the day and based on what Lu had said of his 6ft track time this year, was my pick to take out the gents race.

The starter welcomed us all and we runners thanked the organisers for putting this race back on the map. We were told to follow a blue line for a lot of the course and some witches hats/cones. My thoughts were “how in the world are we going to follow a blue painted line in the middle of bush and paddock?” but sure enough, there was a blue line present, even up those sapping short steep climbs. I reckon the cows in the paddocks are having their own hallucinations and rave parties amongst the blue lines right now!

As the starter let us go, the field didn’t seem to be in too much hurry and I casually made a start wishing fellow NRG runners the best of runs (and there were plenty of them, about 20% of the field, and it was so great to see all the White, Orange and Grey singlets populate the event). I found my way to about the first 8 people after a short time and went past Beth and Jess for a brief moment (savour that, as it probably won’t happen again!). The pace on the Garmin wasn’t too quick, but feeling fine I kept up the momentum until the end of the first big climb and as expected, Beth went flying by and Jess then went flying by not too far behind in an attempt to catch her on the next downhill. That first section was a little uneven and soft underfoot running in a cleared fire break area, not exactly a fire trail, more like a bulldozer had been through the bush to make a clearing. There was a fair bit of that terrain on the day so it did make your leg muscles work all over.

The course then took us on a short burst of gravel road before some technical downhill rocks to scale down, then another gravel road passing the first 5km drink stop before we detoured off into what I called private land paddocks. With the recent rain, the ground was soft and the blue line wound its way over the hills of paddocks and it seemed you were running on an angle for a good 3-4kms.

The first of the tough hills was around the 7km mark and once you reached the drink station at the peak of Mt Tootie, you had earned refreshment that’s for sure. There was a group of kids holding signs and screaming their heads off, good on you young ones, it certainly spurred you on hearing their voices when attempting the climb down at the bottom of the valley. Here, the handheld bottle was re-filled, Hammer Fizz Electrolyte inserted (Adam C why can’t I get a sponsor J) and gel consumed ready for the downhill for the next few kilometres. The downhill was again paddock running, jumping and dodging the many cowpats and saying hello to a few cows along the way. On the previous big climb, I managed to a pass two runners so I thought I was about 6^th overall. Then after the drink stop and my general weakness of downhill running compared to the ‘gun’ runners, I had allowed one or two of those runners to pass me. It gets frustrating when you do the work on the uphills only to see the work unfold on the downs, so that is an area for improvement and hopefully I can focus on.

After the downhills, some the firebreak areas continued and were boggy and slushy in areas, but having the trail shoes on, there was no point of tip toeing around, so it was hell or high water as I could feel and see the mud and water flying after running through the said areas.

Finally we reached a gate where a drink stop and fire trail was present. This was the beginning of the out and back section. A good 8km or more in total of fire trail running with undulations but not overly steep. I think I managed to speed up here and suddenly caught two runners and then could see Jess in the distance. Approaching the turn-around point, not actually sure how long it was in distance at the time (and where another drinks station was situated), I saw James out in front followed by another runner then Beth and another male runner coming back in the opposite direction. By my calcs, that meant I was in 6^th place overall and 4^th male and I was determined this time to keep my pace and run this race leaving nothing to spare in the tank. After refilling the bottle again, I took off for the ’back’ section having 17.5km read on my Garmin so I know we were over half way completed now. Somehow I caught up and passed Jess and was feeling good, running the ascents consistently.

I then saw the familiar faces and colours of NRG coming up the ‘out’ section. Chris Dawe was having a great run and was just ahead of Gillian, both in Top 20 positions by my rough calcs. Apologies for the ordering, but I also saw Adam C, Leigh R, Kristian W, Dave Madden, Steve B, Fred P, Chris J, Gavin, Fiona P, Rosie, Jim, Gemma, Kathryn, Elizabeth, Pam, Linda and Brian from NRG and we all offered each other encouragement out there on the course which was great. It was good to see our runners enjoying it all – well at least I hope they were.

After the fire trail section a brute of a hill had to be conquered and again following that blue line. I had the 3^rd place guy in sights and was making ground on him with the climbs, but again when the downhills began, the gap widened. After some quick gravel road running for a couple of kms, I felt the tempo was going well again ready for the return section of some short sharp rock climbs and fire break running on the uneven ground. Just as we were approaching the second last drink stop, I gained closer sight of the runner in front of me and managed to move past as we left the drink area. I said to myself whatever happens just go hard as you can and that’s all you can ask. So I did and felt satisfied I had done so. I knew the runner wasn’t too far behind at one stage but by the last 1.5km I knew I had forged a larger gap and it remained so until I finished over the line with nothing left in reserve. Was absolutely stoked to claim 3^rd male position in 2:52:02 (4^th overall as Beth simply blasted out a great run to finish 2^nd overall in 2:45:43). Jess Baker must have absolutely stormed home because she was only about 80 seconds behind me to claim 2^nd female and 5^th overall.

James Matthews crossed the line in first place in a time of 2:38:59 and Michael Alperstein 2^nd male home in 2:48:51.

All the results can be seen in the link below

http://tiktok.biz/list/bilpinbushrun/2014/run/

Chris Dawe was busy collating the NRG results below:

Chris Dawe 3:18:30

Gillian Russell 3:20:29

Adam Connor 3:24:57

Chris Johnson 3:37:10

Stephen Bruggeman 3:37:46

Kristian Wynn 3:42:45

David Madden 3:44:23

Fiona Phillipps 3:45:16

Fred Panzetta 3:47:10

Gavin Pilz 3:49:07

Rosie Mills 3:54:13

Leigh Reynolds 3:58:22

Jim Carter 4:05:40

Gemma Dawson 4:05:40

Kathryn Anderson 4:05:50

Pamela Carter 4:24:22

Elizabeth Adams 4:24:23

Linda Kim 5:04:42

Brian Adams 5:14:12

The race acted as a 6ft track qualifier for those that need it (don’t think too many of us needed one here as many were already qualified) with a 4hr 15mins the cut off.

The BBQ and cake stall after the race looked good, but I was in no position to consume after a large Protein Accelerade Endurox Recovery Milk Drink followed by some Mountain Goat Beer (thanks Az). I even let Adam C woof down an extra sausage sandwich (that he paid for)!

Big thanks to Tony and Lucinda for support and many photos here.

In summary, get on this one next year. Any RFS running event is superb in my view (it’s a real shame Fitzroy Falls was cancelled this year due to lack of a major sponsor) and runners are catered for extremely well both on and off the course. You are providing much needed funds to the brave volunteers that make up the RFS.

Google Earth Map of the Course and Elevation of 872m in total for the 32.7kms.

Just checking my time gets recorded ;) Great work by the RFS all day - superb !

The monster climb where the kids were providing support.

NRG Crew and runners. Thanks Tony for the snaps !

What's another 33km on top of a 285km week hey Adam ?

Andres has a future with flamingo Dave showing the way.

Has the race started yet ? Don't think Kristian has raised a sweat.

RFS organiser with Gillian and Steve who helped decide the course.

Monday, 30 June 2014

June 2014 : Wingello Trail Classic

June 29, 2014

Wingello Trail Classic 25km

This was the second year that this race was put on and after enjoying the course so much last year, I decided to enter again and spread the word amongst the NRG community to come along and have a go. It is organised by young running gun and current Commonwealth games athlete in Harry Summers and supported by NSW Athletics and members of the Jim Owens Running Group based in Oatley. All profits go to Cerebral Palsy Alliance.

Last year there were over 120 runners in the 25km event and this year the numbers were much lower perhaps due to the extreme cold or the Woodford to Glenbrook race that had been scheduled the same weekend. Like last year, there was a 6km race mainly contested by more elite NSW Athletics runners (over 40 in total) and the designated trail race, the Wingello Trail Classic.

The aim for this race was to beat last years’ time and prepare for the sharper faster local fun run / road runs coming up in the next 2-3 months. My interval times were probably lagging just a touch from 12 moths ago so I was not sure how it would pan out and apparently Ian Lochrin, Gillian Russell and I were testing a new ‘night before or pre-race experiment’ (that Ian had found on the web) with red wine and how it may improve running performance (readers, this is not medical advice and experiment at your own risk and enjoyment and risk of feeling crap the immediate next morning). Suddenly the one bottle of red between the three of us during our nice pizza or pasta meal that was going to be politely consumed turned into a lot more with added supplies required before the local Bundanoon ‘bottle-o’ closed for the night on a freezing and gusty winter evening in the Southern Highlands.

A local stay meant the luxury of a 7am-ish wake up, unheard of on a race day really. Most of the other NRG crew (except for Luke and Mel, who were scouring the course on mountain bikes on the Saturday), were braving the chilly Sunday morning and driving the near 2 hours down early from Sydney. All up, we had a strong NRG presence (results are below in the link).

The temperature at the Wingello Forest clearing and camping site was 4-5 degrees, but according to the Bureau of Met site for Moss Vale (further north!), the apparent temp with wind-chill was actually -6.2 degrees. Now picture that in combination with Ian only in running singlet and shorts – hence the need for Lucinda and Kristian’s lovely dog Ruby, keeping Ian warm as can be seen below, or was that the other way around. Poor Ruby…Poor Ian!

Runners quickly assembled and before we knew it (as the wind made it hard to hear anything said over the microphone), the starting gun had been fired and people were still setting their Garmin’s!

Perhaps the quick start caught some runners by surprise as after only 50m, there are red flags bending around to the right signalling the way to take, yet the leading 8-10 people veered left towards yellow and green markers (that signalled the 6km course). Perhaps it was the wine but for a split second I began following the said group before remembering from last year that ‘right’ was right and managed to keep on track. Mark (the yoga/stretch guru that many of you know after Steve B’s Monday night interval sessions) commented that he was sticking close to me as I probably was the only one who knew the way around. Well, unfortunately I am not as quick as Mark and that spelt trouble for him and Ian as you read on! Ian and Mark forged ahead with Tim and Luke sitting a few metres behind me (I think!!).

A quick 800m of gentle up and down fire trail before the course takes you left into the forest with pure single track and it required you to make sure you had a good race position as the trail has lots of switchbacks and undulations. I wrote about this feature in last year’s NRG newsletter report and it always remains vivid as a good selling point for this course. Sensational part of trail running on these sections, letting go and focusing purely on the brilliant trail ahead of you. The single track goes on for a few kms before re-joining the fire trail.

Tim as expected went past during one of the fire trail climbs at this point – the mountain goat that he is and then the big Diesel of Luke flew past in hot pursuit. I then tried to catch up to Luke on one of the hill climbs but realised I would be burning all energy rockets early if I continued and also remembering that dehydration may be a later issue later given my overindulgence the night before.

At about the 5km mark, the fire trail reached an intersection where a marshall was standing with a table and a large water container. The race has a no cup policy and rightly so in the forest, so it was mandatory to carry a water bottle or pack in order to carry at least 500ml of water. I chose the Nathan hand held wrap around bottle as per last year. No time to stop for any water here and I don’t think anyone really did but already the leading pack (including Ian and Mark) were well ahead of my sight and the course turned left onto another fire trail for about 200m before quickly turning right onto single track. This is where some confusion began. I saw Luke and Tim up ahead by about 80m and noticed that Luke was signalling Tim to go right which was the correct way. Lucky for Tim that Luke had ridden the course, the true navigator that he is. If you didn’t go right here, you were continuing to head down a gentle slope on the open fire trail. I did see one person a good 200m+ on this fire trail and I stopped for a few moments, trying to yell back at the marshal some 100m behind. He must have eventually heard me as he pointed to the single track. I then yelled out in vain to the runner down the fire trail but he simply could not hear me. The wind direction probably wasn’t favourable either in hearing my shouts. So that’s where I am assuming some of the leading runners (including Ian and Mark) were…..on the wrong course now.

I guess part of trail running involves navigating, but not to the extent of adventure racing or orienteering, so there was not much more I could do but to turn right into the single track and continue on the correct course and I think I was following the third placed female at the time so I continued on the switchback sections of this ferny forest – enjoying the course, just like last year.

From about 8km point the course all came flooding back to me and the memory was working, as I knew the rest of the way. The drink stop was around 10km but strangely this year, there was no one aiding the stop. It was a table and large water container. I still had enough water, so I forged passed the table and down into a valley briefly on fire trail before some sapping climbs back up. Determined not to walk any (and luckily worked out that way during the entire course) I climbed back up before we entered “The Great Wall” signs which is a lovely forest area of single track with modest climbs interrupted by turns then more climbs. Again, a wonderful trail. I managed to pass a couple of runners here and once back on the open fire trail, I saw the second placed girl (Sarah Carpenter – who happens to podium in many trail races) about 200m ahead.

The race position for me stayed that way for some time, running solo, for a good 5km, as we went past two water points at 14km and 17km. Sadly there was a table set up at each station, but no water containers. The 14km I could cop as I still had some rations left and one gel to take in a few more kms time. The lack of water however at 17km annoyed me, as I had no water left, I had just consumed a gel some 100m before (expecting water to be there). So at this point the course turned back into single trail switch backs and I had to get through the last 8km on no water. Now I was sort of regretting the night before! But perhaps the gel worked as energy levels picked up and I kept forging ahead.

It was solo running again for some 3km before I spotted Sarah in pain and she had rolled her ankle and was sitting down on the trail. I stopped to assist and gave her a hand lifting her up. She asked for painkillers but I didn’t have any and she said she would try to walk it off and insisted that I keep going, so off I did.

About another 1km further on, the single track continued upward climbing switchbacks and I spotted the bright top of Mark up ahead, but he seemed to be coming my way. I was thinking, “I don’t remember an out and back on this last year”. He was with two other runners and it turned out they had taken the wrong course and so were heading back. He gave good encouragement though saying I was in 5^th position and Tim and Luke were ahead. I wasn’t sure if he meant 5^th overall or 5^th male, but I decided to up the ante with some 3km-4km to go trying to push my limits.

The single track finally finished with a decent climb and I moved into 4^th. Having knowledge of what was to remain on the last section I pushed even harder on the open forest fire trail now. The wind was at our backs on the first straight but uphill section. I managed to move into 3^rd by passing the leading female as we turned left with the wind now a strong cold cross chill. Then I saw Chantelle up ahead and she looked back and said she must have missed out on a couple of kms so she was heading back via the final section. (Turns out it was about 2km short but she had run a good time regardless).

So the last section I was burning all the fuel in hope of seeing Tim or Luke in the distance, but was not to be. I crossed the line in 3^rd (first ever podium finish and beat last years time by 21 seconds) but I was still not completely sure what had happened, but the lads confirmed it that NRG had gotten 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd via Luke, Tim and I. Awesome work team! Ian was there at the finish, a little disappointed having taken the wrong course and he was in such good form that a podium finish was on the cards for him. Mark too, would have given a good account of himself.

Robyn continues to rack up the silverware and scored 3^rd position in the ladies. Great result again.

Thanks for everyone who turned up from NRG battling the absolutely freezing conditions. I hope you enjoyed the course (well some of us anyway). Don’t think I have experienced a colder race than that (pre, during and post race).

Thanks to Lucinda and Ruby too for supporting. Photos courtesy of Lu, Chantelle, Robyn and Mark.

FULL RESULTS here:

http://www.wingellotrailclassic.com.au/document_uploads/Wingello Trail Classic 2014 25km Results.pdf