Running Notes: January 2012

Well, I just read over my last blog, and what seemed like a good plan didn't take into account Christmas and New Years and being away with the family. Doing a hard block through this period, then having a 1 week taper was really not realistic... when I look back at Garmin Connect, and see what I actually did, I can see that it was pretty inconsistent:
Week 1 - 12-18 Dec = 71km
Week 2 - 19-25 Dec = 108km (inc. 5 pretty solid days Monday 20k, Tuesday 15+7k, Wed rest, Thur 21k, Fri 25k and Sat 20k, Sun rest) - much better, but still not what I had in mind for my Hard weeks!
Week 3 - 26 Dec - 1 Jan = 79km terrible few days after Christmas but finished it with a 20k and 30k on the weekend...
Week 4 - 2-8 Jan = 73km inc. one hard 20km run - the rest easy and all about 1 hour...
Week 5 - 9-15 Jan - Final Week - Taper 95km inc. 56K race

Not having reviewed my training at all throughout this time, I didn't realise how little I had done compared to my plan, but I knew I was well below my target, and that I had missed some long runs and the days after Christmas in particular. I also lost my Mojo the week after New Years as well... I just decided that what I was trying to do was fairly pointless, it was at the expense of my family and wished I had not entered the Two Bays... Perhaps I need to revisit the question "Why am I doing this?"
I love to run... I think that is the reason I get out each day... Do I need to do Ultra marathons to fulfill this?? No. But, having raced yesterday, and done pretty well in spite of my lousy preparation since the You Yangs, I want to do better.

Anyway, the Two Bays Trail Run...
In the spirit of poor preparation I drank way too much beer and red wine on Friday night, ate too much food and went to bed too late... I began trying to carbo-load properly on Saturday, including eating 2 and a half doughnuts, as well as a late hydration push with a couple of bottles of Gatorade through the day.
Saturday night I got all my gear organised, putting most of it in the car ready for my 5am get-away, and laid the rest neatly in our walk-in robe. I did have a more sensible pre-race dinner - pasta with a light pasata and small tin of salmon and a beer. I finished the night with a small section of chocolate and went to bed early to watch videos on my ipad, but didn't fall asleep until about 11.30pm.
I woke at 4.29am - just beating my alarm... coffee, toast, dressed and into the car by 4.50am... I made it to Dromana by 6am... and got my numbers, did all my pre-race stuff... made the final decision on my shoes - I decided to go with my trusty Saucony Kinvaras instead of my New Balance Minimus - a sensible decision given that I have had ongoing achilles trouble for the past few months...
At 7.15 I jogged down to the start area with my hydration bum bag on, with honey and Vegemite sandwiches, 500ml of Gatorade, a map, 4 ibuprofen tablets and a compression bandage (for snake bite)... we were sent on our way at 7.22am - the third wave - behind the faster, then a slower of the 28km runners... who we began to catch quite quickly as we climbed Arthur's Seat. I settled into 5th or 6th position... and felt good... interestingly, quite a few guys passed me in the first 10-15km... but the 4 ahead were a long way in front, and I didn't see them again until the turn around... Magus (Michelsson) was true to his word - and his usual pattern of racing - and set a very brisk early tempo, leaving all others chasing.
The runners who passed me stayed quite close... I think I was maintaining a very consistent tempo, so I assume they were speeding up and slowing down. We chatted a bit at times... but mostly just ran, and kept up the chorus of "passing on your right" as we passed the hundreds of 28km runners - this continued all the way to the turn around, when we were running towards the slower of these runners - which was challenging, but also encouraging as we each cheered each other on.
I took another risk - I only brought the one bottle of Gatorade. The was to be drums of sports drink on the course that we could top up our bottles from... in turned out for the best, and the refill stops were very quick, and the drink was fine - no stomach cramps like in the Olympics when I drank a sports drink I wasn't used to!
I was feeling very strong from 20-30km, but had decided to just run relaxed until at least 40km and then put the hammer down... at half way though, I had another runner on my tail - quite a handy marathoner I was told - so really I just gradually applied more and more pressure from half way... in reality I didn't get any faster... in fact I still slowed down, but probably less than I would have otherwise.
Over the final 10km or so there 2 very steep climbs, and I threw my pride to the wind and walked these sections - convincing myself that this was in the best interests of the energy source I was utilising, and finishing strong, especially if I had to hold off any fast finishing runners. As I walked up the steepest section of the second and longer climb I looked back and to my dismay I saw another runner... it looked like the speedy marathoner I had been worried about... I ran off the top of the climb and just threw everything I had into the final 5km... hammering the downhills... pushing the undulating sections... and shuffling up the last few ups... I was in a world of hurt by now, and running scared... but just focussed on smashing myself as hard as I could until the finish - if he was to catch me, he would have to hurt himself to do it...
The final km on the road - downhill - I was flying (well it felt like it - probably didn't look pretty though!!) and I think I was making a whimpering sound... finally the finish line, which I stumbled across...
In the end, I was a long way ahead of the next runner, and I think a ran a pretty respectable race, particularly given the quality of the front runners. I don't know the guys who came third and fourth, but Magnus and Mick Donges are both very accomplished runners. Mag I know from my road running days - we have had many battles... Mick I have only read about in the AURA magazine... but he is obviously a very respected runner from what others say about him.

So, as I said after the You Yangs... what next? I'll let you know...

Garmin details from the race:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/142085093

Results:

Pos

Cat Pos

Race No

Name

Time

Running Notes

Sunday, 15 January 2012

Two Bays 56K Trail Race