Thursday, October 22, 2009

Alpine Summer

wednesday: 7km 38ish and pilates and massage
thursday: off
friday: 14km flat 75ish
saturday: mt coot-tha trail loop 10km 64.00 (and had a little fall!)
sunday: off
monday: off
tuesday: 14km flat 70.20
wednesday: 14km flat 69.40

cruising 5min/kms now - probably can even back off a little.
need to just tick over some cruisy miles for the next week or so.
will have a nice gentle trot around coot-tha/gap creek tomorrow.

unfortunately am bailing on lamington this year.
its supposed to be o'reillys-binna burra 22km on the saturday then return sunday.
2 years ago i did it as a nice out and back which does seem a little better for the DTI.
just not good timing this year - too close to GOW recovery.

so its going to be an alpine summer.

posted by undercover brother at 9:50 AM 0 comments Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Ultrarunners run a fucking long way

Great Ocean Walk 100km 10.10.09 16.21

this thought occured to me going up a steep hill in the 'tough' section from milanesia beach to moonlight head.
it was about 11hrs into the run and i was with CR hermie.
we paused to look back at the coastline, and take a little breather ;)
he said 'hey look over there thats the cape otway lighthouse'.
and fuck me it was.
i was going to take a photo but it would have never done it justice.
it was so so so fucking far away.
i had been there at the 5hr mark it was now 6hrs later and i had another 5-6hrs to go. just a fantastically scenic run.
brutal yet beautiful coastline.
plush green grazing land.
endless soft sand - nice to see crap to 'run' on (maybe 8-9km of it) ;)

arrived a day early to scope out the course.
splits (17-18hrs) were based on a 18hr+ finish at the prom 2 years back - i was told this was tougher and had a 19 hour cut-off! bugger! hoped i could run faster.
kept ahead of my splits all day to finish in 16.21.

shelley beach 1.10
blanket bay 3.26
cape otway (lighthouse) 5.00 then lots++ of sand
aire river 6.36
(caught a few of the 100milers here after doing the extra 5km loop)
johanna beach 8.45
milanesia ?10.45
moonlight head 12.45

started eyeing off a sub 16hr finish when i ran into dog along old coach rd and he said i had 10.4km to go.
even thought about a sub glasshouse (15.53) finish.
just couldnt quite run enough and lost a valuable 10mins or so missing the 'clifton beach' turn!?!
by my own admission i am a very good walker (and shit runner) just get too comfy walking the business end of these ultras.

did see a light behind me on old coach rd and hoped it wasnt greenhill (didnt want to lose that dollar back).
though thought he would be struggling with the backend of his first ultra in 3 years.
still not sure who it was but they wouldve finished in front of me due to a nav error with about 5km to go.
saw a clifton beach sign and admittedly did see a 'GOW stepover' and just didnt think and went straight instead.
quick phonecall to whippet and it was all sorted.
funny how i can get lost with a mapping gps and 180 lumen headlamp!
first time 'lost' since 2004 - tired brain.

felt like i have got back some of my 'zip' on the hills.
few problems except a chuck or 2 just after moonlight head - mustve been the sight of spoonie in mals car.
and a bit of gagging on a dry throat/something stuck up the back which started things off.
and i was pretty buggered after that hard section.
settled reasonably quickly.
did have a baddish patch 7.30-8.15 approx much better after a few mins at johanna.

note for next year: little fork ?1km after aire river the right path is correct.
dont make the same mistake after princetown again.

very pleased to see sean at the finish a few hrs later.
big big effort to finish a tough 100kmer as his first in 3 years.
onya mate.

not convinced its tougher than the prom.
dunno maybe i am just faster now.
will be back next year.
'2 peaks' (feathertop & hotham) in 3 weeks.

posted by undercover brother at 4:21 PM 5 comments Planning & Building

have done a bit more earlier than planned because of a busy end of work week.
will take it easy from now until GOW race day in 8 days time.
have done most of the usual prep - maps are a bit of an issue but have some coming up from victoria and not too worried anyway.
lots of freaking out about maps and creek crossings and nav etc.. etc... on the CR thread admittedly and understandably by those doing 'the big one'.
less of a worry for us 100kmers.
looking forward to the adventure.

went quicker than 5min/kms for the first time in a while this week - felt good.
and managed a sub 2.15 mr g's torture test at coot-tha on a coolish day.

friday: 14km flat 68.50 massage
saturday: off
sunday: 2.13 MGTT
monday: pilates/core
tuesday: 14km flat 74.40
thursday: 30mins easy bike, massage and impromptu trip to dentist!
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