Adelaide 100 kilometre Track Championship, January 26

To be honest I did not expect to enjoy this race, 100 kilometres on a 400 metre track starting at 7pm. Why would anyone do this? I saw some benefits in terms of gaining mental toughness so I signed up. It didn’t go any better than I had anticipated but I learnt some lessons.

The best thing I did before the race was to download eight episodes of a podcast called “The Teachers Pet” about an unresolved murder investigation; I would have downloaded all 15 eps but I used up my motel internet allowance. Anyway, I had about 10 hours of audio and I listened to every last minute, credits, ads and all. I have never listened to a podcast while running before and while loading the episodes I was not too sure I would use them but I am so glad I took them with me. Music was not going to do it for me this time. The podcast was repetitive and easy listening, while harrowing, and I will be on the lookout for similar, but possibly happier, material next time I have a boring task to complete.

My other main takeaway from the race is that I still have work to do on my race nutrition strategy. I relied completely on the food provided, and while I felt critical of what was there I am not quite sure what I would rather have been offered (or brought myself). Over the twelve plus hours I ate some lollies (ok), two pieces of banana (ok), some watermelon (made me feel sick), a slice of pizza (man, I had been looking forward to this once I heard there would be pizza at 11pm but when it came I didn’t like it at all and nor did anyone else because they had a pile of pizzas sitting at the aid station all night!), crisps (made me gag). I’m thinking I would have liked sandwiches and chocolate (the mini Snickers at Narrabeen went down well). I’m still not sure how often I should have been eating, but I don’t think I ate often enough.

I was amazingly thirsty all through the night. I was prepared to drink to thirst but then I worried I was drinking too much. Impossible, I’m sure. Every time I had a drink I downed a large cup and always wanted more. It was a problem passing the aid station every 400 metres because I was never sure how long it was since my last drink/food. They handed out zooper doopers from time to time but ironically these just made me more thirsty.

And then weeing. I’ve had a problem of too many toilet visits in previous long races but this time I took any excuse to visit the portaloo. You see, there was nowhere else I could sit down. I wanted to rest a bit and my only option was the toilet! Many runners had brought a chair. Many spectators had brought a chair. Good idea; I had thought of this at home but not packed one.

The main event of the race for me was that I tripped over in lap 51. I know this from the results rather than from counting. There were sections of the metal rail that marks the inner boundary of the running track that were missing, but in some places the large metal clips that the rail attaches to were in position, and I had been noticing these thinking it would be a shame to trip on one of them. And then I did so. 

I fell flat on my face very fast and very hard. Someone helped me up and after about ten seconds I resumed running. I felt ok apart from a bruised left knee. I could see grazing but I thought this was still from my adventure on the overgrown trail last weekend at Healesville. One of the race crew said the nurse was just coming and would look at me, so on the next lap, my knee bleeding a bit, I  let her clean it up, while I declined to sit down for the treatment. This was lap 53 and only took me two minutes longer than other laps around this time.

Fast forward about fifty laps and I noticed my right thigh felt numb to the touch and rock hard. That’s the part I had really hurt, but I had to ignore this for a while.

As for the running. Well, the first half hour went by really slowly. I’m not used to seeing a clock so often. Time was standing still. I’d run for two minutes, then another two minutes, then another. How could this possibly become twelve hours? Or fifteen? The temperature was ok, 22 degrees at the start falling to 19 in the night and then to 18 in the early morning.

I had made a plan to run six laps then walk 200 paces until 50 km, then run three laps and walk 200 paces to 70 km then walk 200 paces every lap. But I didn’t do this after the first 20 laps. On those first 20 laps I only walked 100 paces when required. After a while I just ran, and walked when I felt like it, basically when I needed to manually move onto the next episode of the podcast. There was a screen showing how many laps we had done but it was hard to read while running by (not because I was moving fast but because the writing was hard to make out) so I chose not to think about what I’d done; I knew they would tell me when I could stop.

One of the highlights was the two bouts of Australia Day fireworks that we could see and hear. Those were pleasant interludes, as was the occasional plane - the track was near the airport. It was a cloudy night so there weren’t many stars and the moon was small. We changed direction every three hours, adding immense excitement into proceedings. I calculated, and hoped, that I would almost be finished by the 7am change of direction.

After a long long time, and seeing I had been running for over four hours, I peeked at the clock and saw I had done 36 km. That felt good, and I made it to 50 km not too shabbily. At that time I rued my decision to go for the 100 km rather than the 50 km. At least 50 km in under six hours was in my plan and achieved.

From then on I tried to stick to my pre race plan. But I was running too slowly, and I decided to walk more but run faster when I ran. This worked well for a while. And then I just seemed to be walking more, I don’t know how this happened. 

I didn’t look at the clock for ages. Then I looked and I thought I read I had done 187 laps. The next lap I looked again and read that I had done 204, so I had misread the previous time. I felt so buoyed by the bonus laps that I ran nine laps without walking. Wow! Then I was just chipping away. Lots of people were finishing, counting down their final laps and this provided some entertainment.

I had decided I could allow myself to walk the last ten laps but when it came to that time I tried to run half of each lap. I tried to be running as I passed the race crew standing by the clock and to only walk on the far side of the track. But I didn’t always succeed. As I approached the clock, walking, and started my last lap they told me to run; I barely could run but I made a feeble effort. It was beyond wonderful to cross the finish line, in 12 hours 34 minutes and not long after the 7am change of direction. Although I was almost last of the runners who managed to finish within the fifteen hour time limit this was well within the goal I had set myself and a big 100 km PB.

As soon as I finished I wanted to relax and I flopped onto the grass (there was nowhere to sit, remember). The nurse wandered over and I told her how my leg was numb and sore. She touched my thigh and I winced. She was not impressed by my having run 80 km with a hurting leg but she was nice while being unimpressed. I’m sure she’s seen this before. She strapped some ice to my leg and said I should put on compression tights. (I don’t own any, and I certainly didn’t feel like driving around shopping after this ordeal.) When I tried to stand up I almost couldn’t; I limped to the car and drove back to the motel very painfully. Getting in and out of the car was tricky, and so was removing my calf sleeves, not easy even when my leg isn’t sore. I wrapped a bandage from the car first aid kit around my leg and went to bed. Then I continued listening to the podcast until I fell asleep.

Healesville to Warburton hike, January 19-20

At the end of last year I hiked a popular trail in the Yarra Ranges which included part of Monda Road, starting from Dom Dom Saddle car park. Near the end of the hike I saw a sign which made me realise that this was the same Monda Road that goes close to the summit of Mt St Leonard, which I’ve climbed many times from Healesville. I also saw a sign where I had parked that said Mt  Donna Buang 21km - interesting to me because I’ve climbed Donna many times from the other side, from Warburton. I had an idea: why not hike from Healesville to Warburton via Mts St Leonard and Donna Buang?

So I set out, after plenty of research and downloading several maps, and carefully choosing the two coolest days during a patch of hot weather. It looked too much for one day and I wasn’t game to camp alone there, and then I remembered the motel in Narbethong I used to stay at for the  Marysville Marathon, conveniently close to my planned route.

I took trains (3) and bus to Healesville and set out at 10am. I was soon walking out of town and into the forest, starting my climb to Mt St Leonard from Donnelly’s Weir. This was a good gravel road for a long time and then I followed a trail between the trees which became much steeper. I’ve been up here before on the Maroondah Dam races. I surprised a deer, which barked and ran off. It was going to be a hot day and I found the climb fairly hard. At the top I found some shade for a rest and didn’t bother going up the lookout tower.

Initially I had trouble finding Monda Road for my onward travel but some trail runners sent me off the right way; I’ve never been down the road in that direction, usually running down the grass, which is what I could have done this time. At Monda Road the car park was busy; someone told me he had seen me in Healesville, and had I walked here?

Monda Road is a lovely road - well, more of a trail really as there are several gates meaning it is closed to most vehicles - among the high mountain ash. Sometimes walkers are encouraged by signs to detour over hillsides and through clearings. It was hot (mid thirties) and the colours were all vivid in the sunshine. I barely stopped as it was dawning on me that the day's walking was further than I had calculated, and I worried about running out of water so I only drank when I became completely parched. 

Eventually I crested Mt Monda and then reached the point where I had joined Monda Road on my previous hike. I was glad I had been here before because a sign I saw appeared to be sending me the wrong way. There weren’t many signs in general. Near here I was on a piece of trail with high grass and an echidna crossed the trail in front of me with a high stepping gait due to the grass. It looked so funny.

The trail undulated along (I saw another deer and a few wallabies) with the high point literally and figuratively being Mt Archer. I loved the occasional breezes that came through. When I got down to the main road I realised I had misread the sign pointing to Mt St Leonard on my previous hike and it was actually five km further than I thought, which accounted for my having miscalculated my total distance before setting out.

From Dom Dom Saddle I followed Dom Dom Creek Road (which had been graded since my last visit) to the motel at Narbethong. I got there just before 7pm and I was very tired, with 36km under my belt. In the past I haven’t liked the decrepit motel rooms but this time my room looked like luxury.

The next morning I had coffee and a supermarket croissant in my room and headed off back to Dom Dom Saddle at 7.30am. It was cool and clear. From Dom Dom I took the trail towards Donna Buang. I had been reading up about this trail and I knew that there were several side trails that become dead ends and that part of the trail is completely overgrown. 

The first part was on a good gravel/dirt road, then a marker pointed walkers onto a side trail over a hill. This side trail led to a point further along the road. So far so good. Then I saw a marker showing I should turn up another side trail over a hill and I duly followed; at the top were written signs (as opposed to the little markers) that were confusing, but after consulting my two maps I followed the sign that pointed to my destination even though I thought the direction was incorrect. Within minutes I was back at my starting point at the base of the hill! I had just gone in a circle. So I stayed on the road. 

Pretty soon there was a locked gate across the road and after this the road became more of a grassy trail. It was lovely. I climbed up the flank of Mt Fernshaw and on over Mt Vinegar with many openings in the forest giving great views over the forested ranges. I also saw my first snake, a very long black snake lying right across the path, and it took its time slithering away. I ate morning tea, another croissant, in the shade and saw I was approaching the difficult part of the trail.

I reached the critical turnoff, where walkers are not permitted to remain on the 'road' and headed uphill. At first the going was easy on a wide strip of dirt with markers on trees showing the route. Then suddenly the trail disappeared. The markers on trees? Disappeared. This is what is meant by 'overgrown' in the official park notes I guess. A non-maintained section of a signposted trail, huh. You could see where other walkers had flattened the grass or trampled the dirt but higher up at elbow or shoulder level the branches of foliage completely obliterated any sign of a path. Worse still there was an abundance of nasty grass with sticky sharp bits trailing across the path. I could see a few pink ribbons tied to branches to show the way but they were infrequent to say the least. 

This first part was awful. I was scraped all over my arms and upper legs by the grasses and branches that I failed to flick out of the way. After a while the path became more obvious and I hoped the worst was over, but it wasn’t. Sometimes the going was easier but then I would come to a small clearing and the direction to leave the clearing was anyone's guess. I stumbled around and was glad to have two maps on my phone plus the map on my watch; between using all these I managed to stay headed in the right direction and always came back to the pink ribbons, but I had some anxious moments. This was all entirely in dense forest and looking upward gave no indication of where to go.

When the foliage was lower it wasn’t so bad, but this section of the trail was much longer than I had anticipated, and more wearing. But the time I was out of it I was tired, and I still had to get up Donna. I had not even noticed The Nobs, marked on my map, en route.

I followed a narrow trail up to Mt Boobyalla, steep at first and then a leisuly stroll across a saddle and flat topped mountain. However the bushes along the narrow trail brushed painfully on my scraped legs and arms. Here I passed the first person I had seen all day. The last part of the climb up Donna, after the descent from Boobyalla, was not too bad, and at the top there were masses of sightseers. Since I hadn’t been up the lookout tower at Mt St Leonard I didn’t go up this one either. 

After a brief rest I started down the Mt Victoria trail. The trail was flanked all along by yellow flowers. I saw a snake as it darted off the trail, and soon after a couple of women hikers coming towards me asked if I had seen any snakes; they clearly were not expecting me to say yes. I know this trail in both directions well but in my tired state it seemed very long. And that was only going downhill. Luckily the steep sections on the lower slopes were dry and not slippery, but it was the hottest I’d been all day due to the enclosed nature of the mountainside.

I had forgotten that the last part to the Martyrs Road trailhead is actually uphill, and I thought I had taken a wrong turn, but at last I was on very steep Martyrs Road and then by the Yarra River in Warburton, again 36km for the day, and almost 6pm. It was a great feeling to have done the hike and for it all to have worked out well. I stepped into the pub for a beer and then got the bus and train home.

Narrabeen Allnighter 12 Hour race

Going into the Narrabeen Allnighter I was mainly worried about the anticipated heat and humidity of a Sydney summer night. I didn’t expect a thunderstorm and persistent rain. I didn’t expect the chafing this would cause. I didn’t expect serious stomach issues. I didn’t expect lighting issues. Curiously enough I never once felt sleepy, which had been another of my fears.

I went along wanting to run 50 miles before the 12 hours was up as part of my training for my next hundred miler. I’m trialling a new strategy of doing longer distances earlier in my build up.

The morning of the race was very hot, like mid thirties. I went for a short walk around the headland at Long Reef and then had brunch around 11am. I called in at the supermarket to top up my race food supplies (ants in my hotel room had got into some of my food) and then went and rested. I managed a nap. Mid afternoon the thunderstorm started and there was intermittent rain. It would seem like the storm was receding and then it would all come back again, thunder, lightning and heavy rain. At 7pm when I left for the race it was raining hard. The temperature had fallen to around 20 degrees.

I got the last spot in the car park at Narrabeen Lake and I was drenched by the time I walked to the race registration because I just wore a hoodie, wanting to save my proper rain jacket for the race. I set out my plastic basket with my food and drink, and by the time the race started the basket had an inch of water in it. Luckily I had ensured my food was well wrapped (against the ants in my room rather than the rain). I had no option but to put on my rain jacket.

It was raining fairly hard as we started out at 8.30pm. It was almost completely dark so head torches were straight on. I saw very little during that first lap; the lap was measured to be an 1/8th of a marathon. I know we started in some bush, then were running alongside the lake, crossed a few bridges, passed some houses, took in a bit of roadside and reached a turnaround cone. Then we came back the same way. The main thing I saw were the mud and puddles on the trail. People were trying to avoid the puddles but that soon became a waste of effort. I wore my rain jacket for that first lap but I was far too warm so I discarded it at the aid station. I unintentionally discarded it into a big puddle so there was no way I would be using it again.

There were lots of aspects of the race that were unusual. For one thing you couldn’t see people’s faces because of the head lights. But you could see their race bibs, which had names. So I knew exactly who was out there running without having the slightest idea what they looked like. It was odd to run without seeing any scenery; I didn’t know if we were in thick bush, if there were beaches by the lake, what the vegetation actually was.

But I certainly got to know the course very well. I was able to predict each landmark. The course went like this (in my head on the way out): run in the bush, run by the lake, round a bend, reach some lit houses and make a sharp turn, long bridge, bit of roadside, parkland, turnaround. Coming back I had more landmarks in my mind: get back to the lit houses (mostly downhill), short bridge which was there for no apparent reason, funny detour around the tree where one side was all water, lakeside, ‘1km to the park’ sign, glow sticks warning of a rock on the trail, wooden railing by the trail, place where you could go on a timber ramp or stay on the trail, open space with route coned, race HQ and start/finish area with timing mats, aid station and toilets. 

In brief, thinking through these landmarks kept me going all night. I wanted to do 16 laps but that idea was quite terrifying, the number was too big.

By the second lap I was having stomach problems. There was only one toilet on the course, by the lap changeover, and I didn’t think I could risk going into the bush as I didn’t know if it was penetrable, swampy etc. I hoped the unpleasant sensations would go away. As my third lap came to an end I knew I had no choice but to get to the toilet asap. I made a dash for it, fearing I wouldn’t get there in time, and wondered why there was a man lurking (actually he was sheltering) outside the ladies toilets; turned out I knew him but there was no way I could stop and chat. After this I felt great and it lasted for two laps. Then I had to do the same again. Only this time, after I had already been to the toilet and was setting out on my next lap I suddenly had to double back to the toilet! 

Next problem on the list was my head torch. I had thought I had fresh batteries in this one but it was not giving much light. When other runners came towards me I was temporarily blinded and couldn’t see the trail at all. When I was alone on the trail I could see almost nothing and had to rely on there being no obstacles. Also, because my hair was wet, my ponytail was not holding the strap in place properly like it usually does. I wanted to use that light as long as I could because I thought I didn’t have much battery in my other light but after five laps I had to make a change.

This was the high point of my night. Suddenly I could see. Not much because there wasn’t much to see, but I could see the trail a few metres ahead and that made a huge difference. I was no longer being blinded by the others and the moments of total darkness were banished. I got past the marathon distance feeling good.

My tenth lap I was able to run with a friend, Kaz, which was great. She was doing the midnight marathon. I really liked it when that marathon started because there were more runners on the trail, and I recognised quite a few names which was fun. Kaz was running a bit faster than I had been going but I made myself speed up for that lap. That got ten laps done. 

After that I was just counting down the laps. I told myself I could stop at 15 as that would be pretty darn close to 50 miles, but secretly I knew I would keep going. I had not been walking much at all except through the aid station, which was probably a mistake. Eventually I had to walk. But somehow I managed to persuade myself to run as much as I could and promised myself I would walk the entire final 16th lap.

The rain came and went all night. Once I was wet through nothing changed much. My shirt was pasted onto my torso. My wet shorts started to chafe on my legs mid thigh, a new experience for me, and I felt some blisters coming on my feet, also unusual for me. From time to time I would think: oh it’s not raining, and then I would forget about it for hours.

I’m not sure if I was eating and drinking enough. Apart from the major toilet escapades I never had to wee. I had two cups of sports drink at the start of each lap and ate some lollies, some watermelon and banana, some pieces of bread with nutella and some chocolate. 

It was wonderful when daylight came, during my 13th lap. I coulhttps://i.imgur.com/uyahpXG.jpgd see around me. The bush was such a surprise: huge ferns, palms, bright green everywhere and then beaches by the lake. There was some birdsong. It was still completely overcast but I hoped the rain would now stay away.

I walked a fair bit of lap 15 with someone I knew, then I started running again, apologising for leaving him, but pretty soon he ran past me. Lap 16 was great. I worked out that I definitely had time to complete it. I wanted to walk the outward stretch then run back but I ended up running bits on the way out. At the turnaround I told the marshals I wouldn’t be seeing them again and they said I would have time for one more lap, but I was sure in my own mind I was finishing. All us runners were cheering each other on now as most of us were finishing. I walked almost the whole way back as I just could not run, only running the final 200 metres to the finish mat.

I was so pleased to have made my goal, and gone a bit further, to do 84.39 kilometres, a double marathon. I could have gone on as the clock only showed a bit over 11 hours, as in I had permission to continue, but there was no way I was going an inch more.