Training Log Archive: Clara

Bright 4 Peaks, Buffalo.

Set off in a better position than last year, although possibly rated myself a bit high as a few people ducked past me on the singletrack. It seemed to be easier to pass anyway this year. Managed to go steady on the gradual climb after the first road crossing, mixing up the running and walking. Found the rocks after Mackeys harder going than usual, but still passed a few people tiptoeing along. Saw Belinda gaining on me through the switchbacks.

Thought I wasn't going to be anywhere my PB, but then the track turned for home sooner than I expected, and was able to smash out the last bit. Love the finish (apart from the steps right at the end!).

Beat stair climbing champion Alice McNamara today, which bodes well for Eureka in 2 weeks (although she beat me all the other days... :) )

Back into Bright for a celebratory 3/4 creamy cauliflower.

C • Speed demon! 5

Pretty stoked to do 4 x PBs (and claim 2 x virtual CB1 scalps). My previous bests were in 2014 when I was the fittest I've been. Now I'm considering taking up mountain running (but the kind where you only run up, because I lose too much time on the descents). I was pushing, and found running against my Garmin and virtual CB1 very motivating.

Nice to finally run the full course of each of the mountains too!

Lovely weekend away with good people and good races :)

Bright 4 Peaks, Hotham.

After a wee break near the start, found the first 6km easier than I remembered (it was a struggle last year). Passed lots of people on the wall (I don't think anyone passed me at all after the creek crossing, although my memory is a little hazy). Spent about 10' eating a race biscuit - I need to make them smaller or enter the world of gels (although I am opposed to people who take gels and drop the tops on the ground - picked up about 10 over the weekend...grrrr).

Stopped to put on warm clothes before leaving the trees and was super happy I did - enjoyed the run to the finish more than last year when I had icy hands. Such a nice run to the end :)

According to Strava (once Jayne set up my account for me and downloaded my tracks) I smashed the final steep bit :) 7/67 (and 10/66 for the Bon Accord vertical k). Got me 3rd in the green jersey competition for the day :)

Another PB, although not directly comparable as the last one finished further away (but I'm claiming it because I don't think I would take 3 mins to cross the road).

Back to the creamy cauliflower.

C • Gel tops 1

Bright 4 Peaks, Feathertop.

First time racing up Bungalow to the top. Absolutely stellar day for it :) Settled in to it and just cruised up at my own pace. Stomach wasn't super happy, but not too bad. Went past someone I dubbed 'the polish guy' (because he was carrying poles) - he was a bit chatty and without me even mentioning it he said he has a Polish passport. He pushed me harder than I probably would have gone otherwise, and I paid in the last 1.5km or so to the hut. Hard to keep on going, given I've always stopped at the hut before, but it was nice to get out above the treeline. There was a huge number of people camped at the hut. Didn't realise quite how big the rise is before the summit, which was a bit of a struggle, but passed a few people because that's what I do on the uphill.

So nice to see the view from Feathertop for the first time :)

And back down. As usual, it just went on and on and on. Got some nice pics from the top though :)

Took so long my watch ran out of battery.

Penang vegetable curry pie, which was good but a little spicy for my wimpy tastebuds.

Bright 4 Peaks - Mystic Hill.

Drew blood within about 50m of the start line - overtaking people through what looked like a normal friendly tree but turned out to be well defended with thorns. Thought I might be in for a long, tough day when I got stomach cramps after 10 mins, but they went away after a large gas expulsion. Also banged my knee and hand at one stage, but not too badly.

Theme for the day was overtaking people on the uphill and being overtaken on the downhill. Almost ran off the course at one stage when I tried to overtake off the track, and found what looked like trail markings on another track while the track I was meant to be on curved off in the distance. Even though I'm better at descending than I used to be, there were some people absolutely flying past me on the steep downhill - something to practise. Running back through the logging made for a change - while I missed the trees, it was kind of cool to see the track below and see a view of the valley. The last stretch on the fire trail seemed to drag on forever (especially given I thought the race was only 9km, not 11).

Got a 3'30 PB, but couldn't crack virtual CB1 from 2013. Happy :) And I think the best weather I've run Mystic in. My leg was doing some nasty goopy bleeding afterwards, but wasn't sore.

Creamy cauliflower pie afterwards.

Running club easy run. Probably went a bit long for me, but at least it was nice and slow with lots of stops :)