Hot Weekend

Whooo - 35 degrees and rising. A couple of buddies and I spent a weekend in the Blue Mountains preparing for the 100km North Face. What a hot weekend it was - on Saturday we decided to pre-run the Megalong Mega, a 36km race which is a part of the hard 6ft track. We started at 6 am with 4.5 l per person from our house and cruised comfortably to Cox river crossing - by 7 o'clock we reached the very low river where we left a few bottles of water in the water for the way back. The sun was already getting high and my estimate of 2 hours to the top of Pulviometer was spot on as we arrived exhausted at 9am at the turn-around point. A good sip out of the bottle, a few gels and off we went speeding downhill. By the time we were back at the river crossing - with shaking legs - I kind of had it. The heat was pounding down and I knew that it was now another 10km mostly uphill to get back to the lodge. The last 6 km I walked and it took me a full 6.5 hrs to finish 40km - happy I did it and very glad I just had enough water to make it all the way home. First thing I did was to start up the car's air-condition and then I went back to the road intersection to wait for my buddies - I knew they were short of water and would love a short drive back. However it took them for ever to come so I went home for my shower and sent my friend Denis to pick them up. Marathon Man and Michael arrived exhausted and on their knees after 7.5 hrs in the heat. It seemed worse then in the desert in Morocco. Too humid in those forests. We enjoyed a great, long shower and a healthy meal that night. Sunday morning it was up again at 6am for another leg of the race - this time going East towards Katoomba. It was a killer with the pain in the legs and going up those 100's of steps up the cliffs towards the Explorer Tree (start of the 6ft track). We made it and then turned around for a sprint downhill and home - 15km and 2 hours more in the bag.
I feel good and on track with my training and look forward this time to an exciting 6ft track race mid-March. Not sure yet if I can convince my friends to join me - probably have to give them a few days to recover before pushing the subject again :-)
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