It is nice to have weeks with just 50km in the legs, especially as the weather is not at all inviting to go out and run. Today I covered just under 20km in 105min and got miserably wet in the process. The Nike shoes are holding up fine - one small pressure point on the right foot but I am sure I can sort that one out too. I am doing 5km runs now in 4'20" pace, so next step is to get the distance up over the next few weeks.
It is great to not spend hours after hours out running for once and spend some more time at home. Tomorrow, if the weather holds up I try to join up with some runners in the Botanical Garden for a round or two.
Have also signed up for another 1/2 marathon in August - Mudgee Running Festival. Seems like a nice race through wine yards. Just hope it is not going to be too cold then.
Happy running and save training.
19 June 2009
13 June 2009
Mini-Mos - 10km Race
First test completed. I was getting some new shoes yesterday, Gary at Kenso recommended Nike Air Zoom Triax 11 over my usual Asics DT2130 and they felt great on my feet, so I went along with it and got myself 2 new pairs.
Went for a short speed session that same day to test them out and I have to say they feel great and offer some bounce on the road.
Anyway - Marathon Man and Susie picked me up early today and we drove north over that bridge to Mosman to run the MiniMos Marathon - a 10km race through the neighbour hood of that suburb.
A fair number of keen runners of all ages waited at the starting line and for once the weather was friendly and not too cold. We met some old faces from Morocco as well as 'famous' ones (Tony Abbott). The course was fairly hilly and it was good that I had no clue where the course went. I just put down my head and off I went. I had to find my benchmark for the 10 km - a distance I probably raced 12 years ago the last time.
The first 5 km where hilly and I went through that first leg in 22 min - left Marathon Man behind and attacked the second half of the race. There were a few out and back section, so you got a good glance of who was ahead and who behind you. With an average of 4.33 per km I found enough to sprint the last few 100 meters and managed to finish just a bit over 45 min for the distance. So I know it will be a hard uphill battle if I say that 40 min is the goal for the World Masters Games, but if that course is a flat one and on a good day you never know.
A few minutes later Marathon Man sprinted down Tony A. and finished in less than 50 min - well done! Congratulations to Susie too, who is on track to become MarathonGirl - a mere minute over the hour mark, means that mark can be broken at the Gold Coast in a couple of weeks. We all have signed up for the Gold Coast Marathon. A Marathon des Sables reunion for Josh, Keith, Trent and myself for the big one and another go for Suzie to beat the 60 min for the 10km race.
3 weeks to the Marathon plus another 7 days for the next race - a ½ marathon test – it is all happening. 17 weeks to the Games….
19 May 2009
Following the steps of Dean Karnazes...
It is fitting that this is my 100th post on my blog - as it is about my 100 km race in the Blue Mountains last Saturday!
Arriving in Katoomba on Friday around lunch time with Ann from Queensland, we used the free time to drive to the various look-out along the cliffs, so Ann (her first visit) could get a feel of what lays ahead of us the next day.
It was a gorgeous day and the view was magnificent - only those cliffs looked daunting and almost unsurmountable! Where and how the hell are we going to get up and down those cliffs?!
At 5 pm we arrived at the infamous Fairmount Resort in Leura to register for the race and have all our mandatory gear checked. During the registration Ann and I pumped into DK - the one and only Ultra Marathon Man! http://www.ultramarathonman.com/flash/
Dean Karnazes is the host of the race - The North Face 100. He flew in this morning having raced and finished a 345 km race the previous weekend. Looks like a 100 km here will be a walk in the park for him.
He is such a great guy - we had a short chat, took some photos and he was more then happy to sign his books at the same time. Looks like he was in for a long night as more and more runners lined up behind us to see him too.
After the obligate pasta dinner, I went back to the hostel to arrange my final pack and get some sleep. Even so I prepared drop bags for Checkpoint 3, 4 and 5, I made the decision in the morning to try and spend as little time as possible on each CP and not waste time changing shoes or gear. I also did not carry any extra food for the first 3 legs and relied on the provided food on CP 1 and 2 (which were excellent and plenty full). So my final pack was as light as possible.
This second delay put me back over an hour on my schedule and I submitted to the fact that 15 hour finish is now out of reach. Nevertheless I kept going hard and after an interesting out and back section on the course – meeting the runners who were roughly 20-30 min ahead of me, I arrived at CP 3 and grabed my first drop-bag. After a random gear check by the organisers, I quickly took my own gels and drink powder, refill the bottles and eat some nuts before heading out within 15 minutes.
The next section was well known to me - Denis and I spent a weekend with family and friends in the Megalong Valley training on the 6 ft track section a few months earlier. This time however we ran the other direction back to Katoomba and for me it was the hard part of the race, felling sluggish and tired, I had a very hard time to even run along the flat part and struggled even more up the steep and endless steps up Nellies Glen.
My goal was reached, when I arrived at CP 4 with the last daylight! 67km into the race I enjoyed a warm soup and some raisin buns before setting myself up for the reminder of the race in the dark. Rain Jacket on, Headlight and a hand held backup light plus the reflective jacket on top.
Arriving in Katoomba on Friday around lunch time with Ann from Queensland, we used the free time to drive to the various look-out along the cliffs, so Ann (her first visit) could get a feel of what lays ahead of us the next day.It was a gorgeous day and the view was magnificent - only those cliffs looked daunting and almost unsurmountable! Where and how the hell are we going to get up and down those cliffs?!
At 5 pm we arrived at the infamous Fairmount Resort in Leura to register for the race and have all our mandatory gear checked. During the registration Ann and I pumped into DK - the one and only Ultra Marathon Man! http://www.ultramarathonman.com/flash/
Dean Karnazes is the host of the race - The North Face 100. He flew in this morning having raced and finished a 345 km race the previous weekend. Looks like a 100 km here will be a walk in the park for him.He is such a great guy - we had a short chat, took some photos and he was more then happy to sign his books at the same time. Looks like he was in for a long night as more and more runners lined up behind us to see him too.
After the obligate pasta dinner, I went back to the hostel to arrange my final pack and get some sleep. Even so I prepared drop bags for Checkpoint 3, 4 and 5, I made the decision in the morning to try and spend as little time as possible on each CP and not waste time changing shoes or gear. I also did not carry any extra food for the first 3 legs and relied on the provided food on CP 1 and 2 (which were excellent and plenty full). So my final pack was as light as possible.
Saturday morning 5 am breakfast and final gear 
check - we (Ann, Denis and I) drove to the Resort for a last cup of tea, before we had to line-up in the start area for the final safety and race briefing and then finally the gun went off shortly after 7am.
check - we (Ann, Denis and I) drove to the Resort for a last cup of tea, before we had to line-up in the start area for the final safety and race briefing and then finally the gun went off shortly after 7am. 
It was a relief to start running since the temperature and wind chill made it a very cold morning in the mountains…we had to do a loop around the hotels golf course, which allowed the field to spread out a bit and after a short stretch through Leura’s road we soon settled into a conga line along the cliff walk towards the famous 3 Sisters.
The first 17 km to Checkpoint 1 were uneventful apart from the steep decent into the valley and an even steeper climb out on the other side up to Narrow Neck. 
The line of runners along this first leg made it almost impossible to overtake and I kind of settled into a slow jog through the cool and damp forest. It was a good thing as it allowed me to keep some strength for later in the day.
Arriving at CP1 after 2hrs28min and 28min behind my schedule I did not have to convince myself to quickly fill-up my bottles, grab some food and head out straight away – the next bit was quite exposed to the freezing cold wind along the top of the cliff and running was a good way of keeping warm and making up some time. The section on Narrow Neck Road allowed for great view over the Blue Mountains and smooth running until the end of the cliff – where we had only one option to get down – using the famous Tarros Ladders.
The ladders proved to be a bigger obstacle then thought and unfortunately we runners started piling up waiting to get down as only on runner at the time was allowed on the ladder. Very quickly the ice cold wind cooled us down even with wearing the rain jackets and hat. At least I used the 35min waiting time to take in some needed food and fluid.
After I finally climbed down the ladders I forced myself to walk first for a km or so to simply warm up all muscle again…a good move as I soon after overtook two runners who pulled their hamstrings and had to give up soon after….the organisers seemed to be overwhelmed by the strong increase of runners this year and clearly did not expect the field to be so evened out in quality, causing this kind of delays and they promised to look into the issue to improve it for next year.
The line of runners along this first leg made it almost impossible to overtake and I kind of settled into a slow jog through the cool and damp forest. It was a good thing as it allowed me to keep some strength for later in the day.
Arriving at CP1 after 2hrs28min and 28min behind my schedule I did not have to convince myself to quickly fill-up my bottles, grab some food and head out straight away – the next bit was quite exposed to the freezing cold wind along the top of the cliff and running was a good way of keeping warm and making up some time. The section on Narrow Neck Road allowed for great view over the Blue Mountains and smooth running until the end of the cliff – where we had only one option to get down – using the famous Tarros Ladders.
The ladders proved to be a bigger obstacle then thought and unfortunately we runners started piling up waiting to get down as only on runner at the time was allowed on the ladder. Very quickly the ice cold wind cooled us down even with wearing the rain jackets and hat. At least I used the 35min waiting time to take in some needed food and fluid.
After I finally climbed down the ladders I forced myself to walk first for a km or so to simply warm up all muscle again…a good move as I soon after overtook two runners who pulled their hamstrings and had to give up soon after….the organisers seemed to be overwhelmed by the strong increase of runners this year and clearly did not expect the field to be so evened out in quality, causing this kind of delays and they promised to look into the issue to improve it for next year.
This second delay put me back over an hour on my schedule and I submitted to the fact that 15 hour finish is now out of reach. Nevertheless I kept going hard and after an interesting out and back section on the course – meeting the runners who were roughly 20-30 min ahead of me, I arrived at CP 3 and grabed my first drop-bag. After a random gear check by the organisers, I quickly took my own gels and drink powder, refill the bottles and eat some nuts before heading out within 15 minutes. 
The next section was well known to me - Denis and I spent a weekend with family and friends in the Megalong Valley training on the 6 ft track section a few months earlier. This time however we ran the other direction back to Katoomba and for me it was the hard part of the race, felling sluggish and tired, I had a very hard time to even run along the flat part and struggled even more up the steep and endless steps up Nellies Glen.My goal was reached, when I arrived at CP 4 with the last daylight! 67km into the race I enjoyed a warm soup and some raisin buns before setting myself up for the reminder of the race in the dark. Rain Jacket on, Headlight and a hand held backup light plus the reflective jacket on top.
Off I went again only 15 min after arriving at this CP.
The final section of the course I trained on twice on, so it was well known to me and with the help of one ‘No Doz’ my feet and brain were awake again and I enjoyed a real great first 15 km of the section – mostly downhill across two rivers and then steep up to Queen Victoria Hospital on the other side of Jamison Valley – the good thing about the dark night was that one could not really see too far ahead and therefore the very steep climb was actually reduced to a few meters of trail in front of ones feet and it was half as bad as during daylight.
At CP 5 again I grabbed my gels, drinks and another soup and was out of there as quick as possible. I just wanted to get this done now and finish before midnight. Looking at my splits and times between CP's, it seems that I made up 20 position between CP 4 and the finish – but I would have only overtaken a handful of runners on the trail, so it was my short pit stops where I left the other runners behind.
The last 11 km were a very long 11 km and the 2hrs+ are prove of it. It was demoralising on the last few km, where we all had to climb down into the valley only to crawl out of it on the other side, a mere 1 km from the finish line.
Once I could see the end I managed to get my last 'second wind' and sprinted down 2 runners in the last 500m. I was very happy to get into the warms of the Fairmount Resort, but did not linger too long and after checking how far behind Denis and Ann were, I hopped into the car and drove to the hostel.
After a nice, long hot shower and a shocking cold ice bath for my leg, I drifted into a restless sleep till 6am when the sun and birds woke me up. Off I went back to the finish line – I missed Denis by 2 ½ hours but Ann was due to come in anytime. I enjoyed some nice café and buns waiting for her and finally after just over 24 long hours she arrived, still ahead of 11 other battlers.
We all were happy with our result – as usual in such long races – it is not the ranking at the end which counts but the voyage to the startline and the journey to the finish, which marks each and every one of us.
Dean Karanzes confirm to us at the ceremony, that this was indeed his hardest 100 km race he has done (and he has certainly done some in his life). He told us, that we should be very proud of ourselves to not only have made it to the start but finished this great race! We are now part of an elite group of people, which call themselves Ultra Marathoner - having followed in the steps of DK!
Happy and save running
At CP 5 again I grabbed my gels, drinks and another soup and was out of there as quick as possible. I just wanted to get this done now and finish before midnight. Looking at my splits and times between CP's, it seems that I made up 20 position between CP 4 and the finish – but I would have only overtaken a handful of runners on the trail, so it was my short pit stops where I left the other runners behind.
The last 11 km were a very long 11 km and the 2hrs+ are prove of it. It was demoralising on the last few km, where we all had to climb down into the valley only to crawl out of it on the other side, a mere 1 km from the finish line.
Once I could see the end I managed to get my last 'second wind' and sprinted down 2 runners in the last 500m. I was very happy to get into the warms of the Fairmount Resort, but did not linger too long and after checking how far behind Denis and Ann were, I hopped into the car and drove to the hostel.
After a nice, long hot shower and a shocking cold ice bath for my leg, I drifted into a restless sleep till 6am when the sun and birds woke me up. Off I went back to the finish line – I missed Denis by 2 ½ hours but Ann was due to come in anytime. I enjoyed some nice café and buns waiting for her and finally after just over 24 long hours she arrived, still ahead of 11 other battlers.
We all were happy with our result – as usual in such long races – it is not the ranking at the end which counts but the voyage to the startline and the journey to the finish, which marks each and every one of us.
Dean Karanzes confirm to us at the ceremony, that this was indeed his hardest 100 km race he has done (and he has certainly done some in his life). He told us, that we should be very proud of ourselves to not only have made it to the start but finished this great race! We are now part of an elite group of people, which call themselves Ultra Marathoner - having followed in the steps of DK!
Happy and save running
11 May 2009
Off to the mountains
In case you bored and sit on the computer on Saturday, you can follow my progress on the website - look for the 'Live Site' link on www.thenorthface.com.au/100
Can't wait now to get up to Katoomba after all those weeks of hard training. Fingers cross the weather holds and then I am sure I will enjoy the race.
Happy running for the guys down in Sydney for the Halfmarathon on Sunday morning...I will have a nice massage by then and recover from my 100km :-)
Can't wait now to get up to Katoomba after all those weeks of hard training. Fingers cross the weather holds and then I am sure I will enjoy the race.
Happy running for the guys down in Sydney for the Halfmarathon on Sunday morning...I will have a nice massage by then and recover from my 100km :-)
09 May 2009
1 week to go
After a few 100+ km weeks including last weeks night run, it was nice to temper down. I survived a 'heavy' bucks weekend in the middle of all these and today, after a very long night into the early morning hours (on light beer and water), I still managed to head out for a 10km jog this morning.
Looking all good for next weekend - hopefully the weather stays as it was this Saturday. It would be great to run in sunshine and enjoy the stunning scenery up in the mountains.
Since January I put down a good 1'200km in training runs, lost 6 kg and feel almost as fit as prior Morocco. So bring it on - The North Face 100 - we are ready! Finalised the last gear for the race this week and sorted out my 3 drop bags - since I am without a support crew (Uli very sensibly decided to stay at home rather then spend a freezing night waiting for me in the mountains) so I had to organise 3 bags with change of clothes, food, drinks - to make my race as smooth as possible. Of course the organiser have the check points filled with food, drinks and other goodies but I prefer to have my own with me - just in case I don't like what's on offer.
Can't wait now - 6 sleeps and off we go!
Looking all good for next weekend - hopefully the weather stays as it was this Saturday. It would be great to run in sunshine and enjoy the stunning scenery up in the mountains.
Since January I put down a good 1'200km in training runs, lost 6 kg and feel almost as fit as prior Morocco. So bring it on - The North Face 100 - we are ready! Finalised the last gear for the race this week and sorted out my 3 drop bags - since I am without a support crew (Uli very sensibly decided to stay at home rather then spend a freezing night waiting for me in the mountains) so I had to organise 3 bags with change of clothes, food, drinks - to make my race as smooth as possible. Of course the organiser have the check points filled with food, drinks and other goodies but I prefer to have my own with me - just in case I don't like what's on offer.
Can't wait now - 6 sleeps and off we go!
30 April 2009
Night Training
Last night - after the heavy rain, Denis and I went for a 15 km night run along the cliffs on the Golf Courses and then into Botany Bay NP. It was good to be out there and test the torches and the equipment at night. This will help for the big run in 2 weeks time. For Denis it was a first and he enjoyed it quite a lot - so much that he started heading off on the last 5 km so fast that I never saw him again. One thing is sure - he won't be able to keep up that speed in the Blue Mountains for long.
All the gear is now tested and ready and after this weekend I will start tempering down. Weekend before the race I am organising a bucks night - it is going to be a tough one - light beer and water for me, I guess.
Save and happy running
All the gear is now tested and ready and after this weekend I will start tempering down. Weekend before the race I am organising a bucks night - it is going to be a tough one - light beer and water for me, I guess.
Save and happy running
25 April 2009
Back to the mountains once more...
After an uneventful week running wise - sore legs on Monday and Tuesday, days I covered with cycling and stepper sessions in the gym followed by a great massage on Wednesday, then a rest on Thursday. Friday a short 10km on the treadmill. Today I was lucky to get a lift with Steph and Lena back to the mountains. We did once more CP4 to the Finish and back to the car at parked at the Oval. Just short of 40km and 6hrs later, we were glad the kiosk was open and able to serve us a nice, warm soup. It was cooler then last week and I can only imagine the temperature we will have in another 3 weeks time up there. The wind was freezing at some places and if one stopped, the legs started seizing up immediately...guess, that means to simply keep going on race day :-)
Lead our small group of 5 onto a little de-tour on the way to Wentworth Falls - it was a nice track to start with leading to a great look-out, but soon it kind of turned into a jungle track were one needed a big knife to cut ones way trough - we almost decided to turn around (after 1 km into the Underwood) only to thanksfully discover a mere 10 m later, that we are back on the main track! It was also much softer and wet with the rain we had last week. Fingers crossed it will be dry on 16 May - would hate to run 100km in rain and cold wind....bring back the Sahara and sand dunes, I would say.
Glad that I did this last section of the race once more - it just will help to move a bit easier at night during the race, knowing what's ahead of you.
Two more weeks of hard training ahead and then we will temper down to get ready for the big day. Safe training and happy running
Lead our small group of 5 onto a little de-tour on the way to Wentworth Falls - it was a nice track to start with leading to a great look-out, but soon it kind of turned into a jungle track were one needed a big knife to cut ones way trough - we almost decided to turn around (after 1 km into the Underwood) only to thanksfully discover a mere 10 m later, that we are back on the main track! It was also much softer and wet with the rain we had last week. Fingers crossed it will be dry on 16 May - would hate to run 100km in rain and cold wind....bring back the Sahara and sand dunes, I would say.
Glad that I did this last section of the race once more - it just will help to move a bit easier at night during the race, knowing what's ahead of you.
Two more weeks of hard training ahead and then we will temper down to get ready for the big day. Safe training and happy running
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