TrailRunning race (Ultra) 11:07:58 78.3 km (8:32 / km) +2215m7:28 / km ahr:147 max:171 shoes: Inov8 Roclites
Cradle mountain run 2017 After missing out on so many races in the last year - coastal classic (rain), cradle 2016 (bushfires), gow100 (bike accident), I was over the moon excited to be at the start line for this one and loving being amongst it. Although I knew my training had been interrupted by our little arrival 12 weeks ago, I felt the raw miles I'd been putting in would make up for the trail time that we put so much emphasis on last year. Wrong. The first 35k or so went very well, moving better than most on the flats and not dropping time on the tech... I let Ondrej go around 15k and ran with a Canadian guy for a while, but eventually ditched him because he was a bit slow on flats and actually caught back up to Ondrej! Ran wth him until a very muddy technical descent to froggy flats which he could manage a lot better technically than me, so I stopped to refill water and fix up my shoes, planning on settling in to my own rhythm from there. Travelled very slow in this technical, downhill, muddy section but eventually got to Pelion hut with another Sydney runner, a little tired, but ready to crack on. Then about 200m later for the first time really in my running life I experienced what it was like to cramp mid race. I immediately looked at my splits table and adjusted my estimate from 10hr to 11hr and started getting stuck into some electrolytes and salty pretzels which helped, but I continued to cramp in my R abductor whenever I had to step up over a foot or so, or whenever I had to pull my leg out of mud, so ended up walking, assisting with my arms whenever that happened. Managed to get to Narcicuss running anything flat and walkstepping anything too technical/muddy/up. Looking around I saw another runner (Allan) waiting for the ferry. We started chatting (because I was considering it too) and we eventually convinced each other we should finish, even if it meant walking the entire way. So off we went, shuffling anything flat/non-technical, but there were long periods of walking/cramping over logs/roots. I was constantly on the verge of cramping again, but to be honest it was mainly muscle fatigue which slowed me down on this section. By the time the track cleared up 6k from the finish we were still able to run non-stop the rest of the way, and we even had Allan's 10 yr old daughter pacing is the last 5k and over the line. A very fun way to finish a race, and great to have anne and Oscar at the finish line. Not completely happy with the time, but in hindsight was fair enough, and I learnt just how important race specific training is, and also that I just need to force myself to eat, right from the begininning of the race (5hours in I think I had only eaten a banana, a bar, half a Powerade and a gel) Beautiful race, can't wait to do it again.
For next race - Lots more time on bewowra-type tracks - Lots more leg-strength, specifically deep step-ups, deep stairs. I always find deep step ups to show a weakness. - Change double-short commute days to longer/more intense single commute days. - Change to a shoe with a bit more stiffness/cushioning in the sole for this course. several times the flexibility of the shoes meant i copped a rock in the foot. salomon sense probably would have been better if i had been wearing them for longer
Things that worked - nutrition before the race. Did my carb loading from 3 days out and eased off in the last day to allow things to move. Ondrej's couscous the day before was, honestly, amazing. - my form/speed on the flats was very good, and felt very easy to keep a good pace going. Probably wouldn't do too bad at a marathon at the moment, and proves the double-commute days would work as prep when i do my next road mara - No stomach problems through the day. i occassionally felt some warning twinges, but just kept taking plain gels and seemed ok. Mostly only happened after a banana. - Watered down powerade on the run seemed to work well - long compression socks, and compression shorts. another run with NO calf or achilles problems despite concerns coming into it.
Running39:00 [2] 6.82 km (5:43 / km) +73m5:26 / km shoes: Kayano Gold
into work, checking out suunto's navigation functions. Hips still a little tight, L achilles still a bit tender. Legs feeling very heavy, but i know that's expected in taper.
Taper review [Week -2] 82k (a bit more than planned), with 2 long runs. probably too much concrete. [Week -1] Again, 2 long runs, and closer to 70k (10k more than planned). probably not as structured as i'd like. reasonable trail time %.
Body feeling good 5 days out from cradle, a bit tight in the hips and L glute, very minor achilles fatigue, all of which i think i can shake out before Friday. Let the eating commence!
For next taper time - I think i should remove SSS + to/from sessions in taper week. It's pretty brutal on the joints pounding 10km of pavement after a tempo session. Maybe also remove all commute running during this period to maintain a bit more structure and mental alertness.