Training Log Archive: nmulder

Participated in my first ever Skyrun. I've done the first 60km of the route in the past as part of the Wartrail, but the final 40km+ would be new ground.

Started off at what seemed a slow pace. With over 200 people on the startline there was a bit of a backlog on the hiking trail out of Lady Grey. Thought this would slow my time down (which I though a good thing in respect of pacing), but in the end ended up at the Microwave tower (CP1) about 4 mins ahead of my PB. It got light going over the saddle which made it a lot faster compared to Wartrail.

Things had formed into a large group with Landie and Susan as well as Nathan, other 2 or so others. We slowly caught 2 other groups and one or two of those individuals joined us (including Geoff and Bennie). We also had a 3rd lady, Robyn in our area. Group eventually got as big as 7, but then whittled down to 5 at Balloch.

All went well early on. Had a good section to Olympus, putting me there 10 mins ahead of my PB. Aced all the route choices into here. Really helps to run in a bunch as well. There was a good strong icy wind blowing, but at least it was a little bit from behind of our left. Section on the jeep track to Snowdon also fine, but a little bit slower. I could feel that I didn't have as much pace. Landie went ahead here when Robyn put in an interval.

After Snowdon we had good terrain to Avoca. Grass is a lot shorter and the paths more visible at this time of year. Caught all the visible people ahead of us except for Landie and another guy. They went high early into Avoca, whilst we climbed late. Pretty much equal splits, but I think we had it easier by running on the contour for longer. We caught them just after Avoca.

Wind had died down a bit for the Dragons Back, so it wasn't dangerous. Then had a good section down to Skiddaw, where Nathan and another fell off the bunch. Found out later that Nathan got wind blindness in one eye and was pulled off by the marshals. I got it later right before the finish, but not so bad.

Got into Balloch after a good run down into the valley. Had thought that I was going slower than usual, but good runability and a great line into the valley took quite a bit of time off my best split.

Spent 15 minutes in Balloch. 5 for a medical, 5 for eating and 5 for refilling. That last 5 shouldn't be there.

Left together with Landie and Bennie (continuing unofficially after winning the 'Skyrun Lite'). We effectively were 6 and 7th, which was a surprise as I was only hoping for a Top 10. It pretty bad climbing out of Balloch. The steep ups were really hurting. Need to focus training on this. Also probably ate a wee bit too much food in Balloch.

Both up and down the Balloch Wall was terrible. Nice shortcut through the farm and then onto the Edgehill dirt road. Still felt bad, probably a result of dehydration and subsequent overheating, and ended up walking and jogging most of it. Told the other to go ahead and leave me, but they stuck with me to the climb up the Bridle Pass when we started sighting others behind (Geoff & another).

Eventually stopped on the pass switchback and sat down to eat and drink properly. This helped and 10 mins later I was running again trying to recatch Landie and Bennie. Things got better towards the evening as well and after the Turn CP, I was running at close to 6's again. At least managed to get to the Turn at last light (7pm) exactly, so put on my headlamp whilst I downed some soup.

Nav in the dark was awful. I'd given up my GPS to someone else and taken theirs as it didn't have the route on it, only CPs. Struggled to work out where I was on the jeep track, so couldn't cut corners. Then also struggled for direction after the track ended. Lost about 15-20 mins to Halseton, where I was caught by Isaac Mazibuko.

We came down the cliff together but I pullled away quickly in the 1st gully, easily opening about 4-5 mins. Made another nav error though by descending off the wrong slope and had to contour back where I met up with him again. In hindsight, I should just have tucked in behind him (he was running on a GPS) and tried to outsprint down the last hill. However, I didn't trust his flat speed so I tried to outrun him. Screwed it up twice more and ended up finishing 15 mins behind him. :-(

Ended up in 8th overall (7th male, with Landie about 55 mins ahead). Overall am very happy with the result and time, but in dissecting my splits, I should easily be 1 hour faster on the 2nd half. Some proper training and maybe even an other hour on top of that, which would put me in striking distance of any top athletes who have a bad day. No problems from the ankle injury, although range of movement isn't 100% as yet.

The course was decimated by Ryan Sandes. 12h36. Took 2 hours off the men's record, as did Landie in the women's. Bruce 2nd, Ryno a superb 3rd (what else is he capable of?), Dreyer 4th and Craig C-B 5th.


Results

CP	Sky 2012	War 2012	War 2011	War 2007	War 2006	War 2005	Best Split
Microwave Tower	1h10	1h15	1h14	1h22	1h16	1h17	1h10 - Sky'12
Olympus Hut	2h51	3h11	3h01	3h37	3h14	3h16	1h41 - Sky'12
Mt Snowdon	4h23	4h54	4h31	5h43	4h51	4h55	1h29 - War'11
Avoca Peak	6h03	6h46	6h15	7h33	6h45	7h00	1h40 - Sky'12
Skiddaw	7h26	8h16	7h31	8h55	?	?	1h16 - War'11
Balloch	8h47	9h49	8h55	10h21	9h42	9h57	1h21 - Sky'12
Edgehill	11h06						2h19 - Sky '12
Bridle Pass	13h24						2h18 - Sky '12
The Turn	14h58						1h34 - Sky '12
Mt Halseton	17h25						2h27 - Sky'12
Wartrail	18h59						1h34 - Sky'12

C • Wow!! Well done!! 6

Drove down from Joburg to Lady Grey, with an overnight in Bloemfontein. So went out for a loosener in the afternoon and ran the first 2.5km of the Skyrun route. First time I've ever seen this section of the course in daylight. Beautiful.

Short run around Midstream/