Training Log Archive: robw

6ft track 45k 3.38.35, 3rd place behind Andrew Lee and Brendan Davies.

Two weeks ago i was pumped for this race and confident of running sub 3.40 but after the last week of being super busy, stressed and a bit sick i wasn't so confident and started the race pretty apprehensive.

Did a 2 min jog for a warm up and lined up on the front line with the rest of gramps army and started pretty fast to get a good spot for the stairs. I was a bit shocked how fast some other started and 7 or 8 where out of sight by the first few stairs. I tried to take them smoothly but still running and once onto the singletrack tried to get into a groove at about 4min/k.

I didnt feel good at all at this stage with very heavy quads and wondered if i had started too hard already. I did my best to put this out of my mind and just run smoothly. A guy from boston came past me at the road crossing and i tucked in behind him on the singletrack through to coxs river which i reckon is the best part of this race. Running along here i was really enjoying the running and starting to feel a bit better.

We got to the river at 66min (14min faster than last time i had run) and this was pretty spot on what i had hoped for. Ploughed through the river and ended up with some sand in my shoes which i was a bit worried about but it turned out not to be a problem.

As we started the climb to mini mini we passed a guy walking who told me i was in 7th, shortly after alex mathews came past but i let him and brenton from boston go as my plan was to run well within my comfort zone up the two steep climbs. Towards the top we went through a drinks station were i had my second gel. It was really humid and my plan was to drink two cups at every aid station and take a gel every 30min and this seemed to be working well. Just before the saddle i caught two others and also had brenton in sight who i knew was in 5th.

I tried to run smoothly on the downhill to save my legs before pluviometer and was pleased that i was still feeling ok, probably better than in the first few km actually.

Just before the pluvi climb i fell in a creek crossing which gave me a bit of a shock but no damage. Shortly into the climb i passed brenton after a bit of a chat and knew i was in fifth. I was getting a bit more confident that i was going well by this stage and concentrated on getting into a good rythm and running nice and upright on my toes. Near the pluviometer I caught and passed 4th. This was 2.08 which was now 22min ahead of my previous time but this was also the point where i started to run hard last time and i knew i would have to run hard to do 2.38 (22min better than the 4hrs i did 2 years ago).

For some reason i had remembered the black range as flat. I dont know why because it isnt. My plan was to really push hard in this section but it was a battle to accelerate. I really worked hard on the flat sections through here and to my surprise just before the pines i saw alex mathews who had won last year. I caught him pretty quickly and we ran together for a while but i got away on some of the rough downhills and knew i had him when he didnt come back on the steep climb shorty before the road crossing.

I still felt pretty strong here and started to push to try and catch the others who i had heard were a few min ahead, this is also where i started to get some bad cramps in my quads. I had my last gel here and hoped the legs would hold out for the last undulating section before the final downhill. This section was a bit of a battle against the cramps and hoping for a sight of someone in front.

I had been looking forward to the last descent so that i didnt have to run up any more hills. I knew this was my last chance to catch anyone and i tried to let go a bit here but definately didnt do it as fast as last time. Again it was a great feeling to run down to the crowd at the caves especially knowing i was in 3rd place and very happy with the time, 3.38.35.

Scotty came across the line shortly after which was a great run to get 4th, we had a bit of a joke about how we would never get that close to winning 6ft again. I'm not sure why the winning time was so slow this year, (3.35), the track was a bit rougher but that shouldnt make much difference. It was pretty humid but again i doubt that would make a huge difference. Quads and calves were super sore but my feet felt totally fine which was amazing after running 45k on such rough terrain in lunar racers.

C • awesome 8

Easy jog to pickup the race number from the rego in katoomba. Hopefully will magically feel good tomorrow.

C • 3rd? 5

Easy lunchtime jog. Not really feeling great but hopefully it was the post lunch job interview stress.

C • cave? 4

Summer series XC at acton ferry terminal 16.28
Rolled by Eon today, played my own tactics that worked against grant 2 weeks on me perfectly by sitting and then surging away with a km to go. Will have to plot my revenge carefully;)
Entered tnf100 today - will be an epic battle of survival v grant.

Morning run up black mtn. Feeling better than last week but not too sprightly. Hopefully on the improve.