Going to the Prom

Earlier in the year when I signed up for Razorback, I also put myself down for the Wilson's Promontory 100km. It came strongly recommended by a number of people who had run it and was another distinct part of Australia I'd yet to explore. Seeing the photos and footage from the event completely sold me on the idea so I decided it was a must. Strangely enough, the whole event largely slipped from my mind and I wasn't too fussed by the time it rolled around. I had quite a bit going on at the time, so was more focused on spending time with some great people I was running with than what my training was doing. The SCTR events were ticking along nicely and I did manage a 5km PB and a new 10km PB as I'd pulled up pretty well after Razorback. Even managed to get in a nice 14km along the Yarra Trails which I had only run on once before a few years earlier.

Event day rolled around again (as they do), and I headed off on a 4 and a quarter hour journey from home in Leopold to Wilson's Promontory. The drive was fairly easy and while I knew the place would look pretty nice, I was blown away from the moment I could see it in the distance. This really looked to be something unique. After a rego and a reasonable night's sleep, I geared up for the run, carrying enough to be fully self supported excepting a stop at the light house for water.

The initial climb was nice enough, but after clearing that first main section, we were spoiled by a long gradual descent and flats through boardwalks and ferns. It was incredible, and owing to unusual weather for the day with high humidity, it looked and smelled just like the rain-forests I'd visited in Queensland on childhood holidays. I had teamed up with Midsy, a fellow SCTR, by this stage and we were running well along the course. As an added bonus he had hiked every section of the course before and knew it well, making navigation much simpler. Hitting the first beach was one of those rare moments when you have to stop just to take it in. Each cove we passed through was even more beautiful than the last and to say I was thoroughly enjoying it would be a considerable understatement. We kept up a steady pace along the trail until about 19km where Midsy rolled his ankle a little and had to drop back the pace. We stuck together for another 9km or so, but further problems with his feet and he urged me to push on ahead so we could run our own paces. 

By now I was heading inland, turning at the junction up a long gradual climb to Roaring Meg before beginning the 3km each way out and back to South Point (the southern most point of the Australian mainland). I was going through water steadily owing to the relatively warm day and high humidity, but starting out with 3.8 litres total meant I certainly wasn't yet running out and had enough to help a few other runners who had gone completely dry. Taking in water (usually face first into the stream) where I could helped.

South Point had been quite a reasonable descent and climb back out, but starting back from Roaring Meg, it was a small climb then steady descent to the Lighthouse. The actual climb to the lighthouse was reasonable, but short, and it wasn't until the resuming after the little out and back to it that the real climbing began again. The next climb continued for the better part of the next 6km, before suddenly dropping over 2km to the beach, taking me back to the junction point I had passed earlier before heading inland.

Over this section I was really starting to feel the heat and cumulative toll and was practically falling asleep on my feet. I had brought No Doz along again as a safety and decided to try one when I hit the beach at 58km to see if it helped. Within about 15 minutes I wasn't feeling sleepy any more and over the next 16km of fairly flat running I managed to maintain a steady pace around 5 min/km, the legs feeling great. If not before I was now completely sold on caffeine in ultras.

Not knowing what distance I'd complete on the day (as there were many options and you could simply vary your route if you needed and report it), I had been contemplating the 80km as an option - at least once I'd passed the 44 and 60km turn offs feeling okay. I decided at about 50km in that 80km was no longer an option and I had to complete the 100km I set out for. I rang up the Beyer's, the ever present and amazing volunteers and support and asked if they could line up some Coke for the finish where I would have to head out for the final 20km. Anthony had offered to pace me from that point so I locked that in. Having asked for their help I no longer had the option of bailing out and letting them down and this kept my head in the space I needed to focus on the goal of finishing the full 100km.

After topping up my bladder and pouring the coke into a bottle as my fueling source for the final leg, I headed off with Anthony towards the last main climb and return via the beaches. I was well ahead of my intended time to make 14 hours and managed to see this last view as the daylight faded, providing spectacular photos. The Coke, now flat and warm but still entirely awesome, kept me going with its wondrous caffeine and I kept moving fairly well until about 94km where there was a short 1.6km out and back but I was over it.

I headed out and back along that stretch, albeit very displeased with this part of the course (and pretty much everything in general at this point) and finally began the descent back down to the bridge back to Tidal River and the finish line. I managed to pick up to a decent pace and even sprint the finish, collapsing in an exhausted mess, but I'd even managed to beat my best case time of 13 hours by 5 minutes and also picking up 4th place. It was an 8 min/km average, but I was incredibly happy with how I'd ran the course, and was amazed to later find out it was around 3400m elevation gain. It certainly felt like there was plenty of climbing, but it was never as harsh as Razorback so it surprised me that even with the extra 36km it had more elevation in it. This really was one of the most spectacular, quite likely the most, out of everything I had run to this point and I would even consider breaking my informal rule of not repeating a race to return if it doesn't conflict with my other planned events.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/762656793
https://www.strava.com/activities/296511965

More Friends, More Trails, More Mountains

After learning so much over the past few years and seeing there was still a lot in store, I wanted to start 2015 focusing on seeing new places, but enjoying the entire experience and trying to get every opportunity to run with the great people I'd met through SCTR. I'd started running 10km time trials on Thursdays at lunch, making use of the showers and the awesome water front course I could cover in the hour break. My speed work was coming along well and on my first 10km tempo for 2015 I managed to finally break the 40 minute barrier. I think I owe a lot of this to the Bulletproof legs program I'd been following since December which gave me a lot of additional strength and agility through advanced plyometrics. I wanted to keep pushing these tempo sessions out each week and see where it took me, with a long run on the weekend and maybe a weekly night run thrown in for good measure.

I was lucky to have met some incredible people and run with them and I was determined to make sure I made the most of that by incorporating more social runs into my training. I hit up Werribee Gorge for the Wild Wombat Fat Ass and managed to get in 3 laps out there, which is a lot tougher than I expected. Each lap was about 13km with around 700m elevation gain and the third lap I cut out the extension to drop it back to 7km with around 300m. Great to be out there again with friends and smashing some big hills, especially with my running buddy back from her NZ success (very jealous of how awesome those trails looked over there!)

I was also keen to keep getting out to some of the trails I'd ventured to less and getting some friends down on my local trails. Ran an awesome flat-ish 50km with Erin on the local rail trail, helping her hit a sub 5 hour 50, smashed some more hills in Lerderderg and more trails out in the Brisbane Ranges - one of my favourite places to run for something different, like a blend between Lerderderg and the You Yangs. The SCTR night runs kicked off again (such an awesome event every month with great people) and the inaugural SCTR Top Gun Run (in the You Yangs, synchronised with the big jets flying over for the Air Show at Avalon) was great fun as well. Even managed a little very early morning excursion to take a bunch of friends out to show them the Wonderland course in the Grampians which was an incredible experience for us all.

I'd signed up for the Razorback Run 64km Skyrun in March and while I hadn't been following any strict training program, the weekly routine of a solid tempo (or faster) with a night run and a solid long run seemed to be working well for me. The new style of training was also keeping me in a good head space, particularly with great company out on the trails and so many amazing places to explore with them. After another decent 5 hour drive. car pooling with Chris (the Surf Goat) again, we reached rego, had a meal and signed up, just like GOW but even more casual.

Everything felt good and came together nicely, including a decent night's sleep. I'd remembered to cut the caffeine and had No Doz in my pack just in case I started to get sleepy again. I paced myself well from the start, taking it nice and easy, content to just finish it feeling good (and certainly not after a repeat of my GOW effort). I had a great chat to a woman on the way up to Feathertop who had done the climb quite a few times. She pointed out a usual spot where there is often a snake but assured me that you can just throw rocks at them or jump over them - I hoped she'd be there on the way back!

After reaching Feathertop at the end of the first main 11km climb, I had two main climbs left of roughly 5km and 2km each. From then on it was undulating hills and gentler climbs before the final descent back into Harrietsville. The race went really well fully self supported. I stopped to drink from every mountain stream (because it's a freaking mountain stream!) and enjoyed the incredibly unique landscape that this area of the Victorian Alps had to offer.

By the first and only aid station at 43km, I'd been out running (well, mostly walking) for 7 hours and 20 minutes and had 21km to cover in 2 hours and 40 minutes if I was to hit my goal of a 10 hour time - seemed unlikely. I wasn't too fussed about time though, and after a cup and a half of Pepsi to pick me up (yay caffeine!) I was off along the Razorback then to the final descent. I had two good spills along that stretch, the first a fortunate stumble and roll, but the second gave me some nice cuts but nothing worth stopping for.

Finally reaching the descent back to Harrietsville I decided to approach it carefully as it was fairly steep. I ran well, focusing on lifting my feet and holding a good pace under 5 min/kms, then stopping for a quick break every 2km or so. I hit the bottom just as the bladder in my pack ran out of water and I shuffled back in to the caravan park. I finished in 9 hours and 54 minutes, ahead of goal time - the final 21km contained no major climbs and with reasonable legs it is practically all runnable. It had been an awesome race with some tough climbs, but they weren't as crazy as Buffalo and pacing them well meant you could moving through without hurting too much.

I was surprised by how different it was from my previous venture up this way to Mount Buffalo, but both were incredibly beautiful in their own right and amazing experiences to have had. Finishing this race I felt I'd hit my sweet spot for training, pacing and getting the most out of a tough run without putting myself in a bad way. Now if I could take that and build on it, that could open up a lot of bigger, tougher runs, hopefully without killing my passion for trail running. Definitely keeping out there with great people is key and in SCTR we are incredibly lucky to have so many to join us out there.

Running for Fun

After Great Ocean Walk I had nothing in mind. After 4 events, 2014 was done and I knew I'd run an event early 2015, but had no intention of locking anything in yet. We had a family holiday booked for mid November and it was going to be a great opportunity to finally run the trails and relive the experiences I'd had as a kid hiking with the family so often up there. I think it's these memories of those trails that really got me hooked on trail running, trying to find that same freedom and inherent beauty in as many places as I could. The running worked out really well, with most days short runs with two bigger runs thrown in, meaning I'd usually be back for breakfast or worst case lunch on the long days, and then I could take the kids in the afternoon to the pool or for a walk. Made it the holiday we all needed. And those trails... if you haven't already signed up for the Wonderland Run, you should. If you can't, just get out there. It's a truly amazing place (although I may be biased).

Over the week I ran 111.1km with 5,142m elevation gain and yet still felt great. I think my recovery had a bit to do with the wood heated pool that I spent so much time in with the kids (a pleasant 30 something degrees). I managed to run pretty much everything in the Wonderland walking trails (as shown above). Each run was pretty spectacular, but also a way of reconnecting with some of my favourite memories, and nothing about those trails disappointed. There were amazing views, beautiful glens and waterfalls, rocky outcrops, predominantly technical trail every where, and all of it within not much over 15km to see it all.


The Wonderland course itself is quite amazing, taking in the trail to Splitters Falls, then up through the Wonderland car park along the Grand Canyon (seen right) to the Pinnacle. From there you head across some (comparably) flat trail past Sundial car park, through Rosea car park, then begin the 4km grueling climb to the top of Mount Rosea (above). I had never been to that point before and the climb itself was beautiful, but finally reaching that was incredible. A nice flowing descent from there and you are down at Borough huts and then heading back along the trails to the east around the lake and back into Halls Gap. Overall it has a decent amount of elevation (about 1600m over 37km by my records), but the toughest part is the terrain which is often not overly runnable for long stretches unless you are pretty good on technical.
Throughout the rest of the week I hit all the old spots we would hike to, including Chatauqua Peak and Boronia Peak, the latter which you may recognise by the marker from my original post when I hiked it with my brother quite a few years back. I remember a lot of them being tough walks, particularly Boronia, as it tooks us hours in the heat, but early morning running a large part of it made for a moderate hour and a half of awesome trails. I finished up the week by taking the alternate route to the Pinnacle (over hundreds of steel grate steps) and across to and down from Sundial - what a rough descent! Towards the start I detoured up to Boroka Lookout. Simply the most spectacular view I've seen up there yet, but it certainly makes you work for it up a rough and steep goat track that threatens to constantly throw you over the edge.

Prior to all of this, my new-found running buddy was still training her arse off for her 80km back near her home town in Taranaki. She had put in literally thousands of kilometres and had the most consistent training block of anyone I was following on Strava. I knew she would be able to finish and that she would do pretty well. When the day finally came for her event I was out running Currawong Falls with a few other SCTRs and I was checking Facebook for updates at every stop, even while running. She started out at 6 min/kms and was holding on strong. Every update she was still keeping pace. By this point I was freaking out that she was going to over-do it, but I had to trust that she knew what she was doing - not that I could change anything! She finished the race in 8 hours and 12 minutes with slightly over a 6 min/km average for 80km, and not entirely flat. I was completely amazed by her effort, and learned later that never once did she stop moving for that entire duration. Of all the highlights I've had running, this will always be one of the best moments for me. I obviously can't take any of the credit for her effort, but to be a part of someone not only achieving, but completely smashing something they previously thought may have been impossible doesn't compare to anything else.

That ended 2014 on a very positive note and I was very happy with the balance I'd struck between training and enjoying the events, although to be honest it was less formal training and more about smashing out a great run every now and then with a lot of nice social runs thrown in. A nice way to do it though if you can make it work. :)

The Great Ocean Walk

I had always heard overwhelmingly positive reviews about the Great Ocean Walk 100km event, and was determined to be a part of it in 2014. After the night of my 30th birthday, I had an alarm set for quarter to six to get up and register as soon as entries opened - it had sold out every year, some times within days and I wasn't leaving it to chance that I would miss it this year. I managed to get in and accepted that day and was set to target that as my "A race" for the year. That was, until the miler came up. After the miler I had achieved what I wanted for a while, and was more than happy to just run for the enjoyment of it and not push any new limits. SCTR night runs were a brilliant social catch up, many members were also jumping on on other ad-hoc runs I was doing and having an enthusiastic and determined runner to coach was very inspiring. I drifted, albeit quite happily, through August and September with some decent long runs, but not a great deal of training for GOW. I was quite casual in my lead up to the event as it was "another 100" - I should have realised this was quite familiar...

I was lucky enough to car pool to accommodation in Apollo Bay the night before with my Anglesea running buddy, Chris and got a nice meal at rego, all checked off and a reasonable night's sleep. The morning came around and everything was looking pretty good. A nice start onto easy urban trail for the first few kms, then hitting up some beaches and then the real heart of the trail. It was a beautiful place to run in and I thoroughly enjoyed the views of the amazing coastline. I was lucky enough to run with Lucy Bartholomew for a bit again as she was running this one pretty easy. I smashed out the downhills and eventually pulled ahead, not competing but just enjoying smashing downhills way too much. My head was definitely in the right space as I was just out to enjoy the run and experience of running with other like minded people, but I think I was enjoying it a little too much.

I made it through to the end of Johanna beach feeling okay, but starting to get pretty warm and really feeling the effect on my legs from all those downhills I'd been a little too enthusiastic on. I was still in good spirits, but unfortunately that didn't last too long. After the highlights of the early parts of the course I was starting to struggle to keep moving and see the rest. All I wanted was to see what it was like and in my mind, I already had. Four big issues were coming together to derail my run: lack of sleep, failure to cut out caffeine, no desire to finish and insufficient training. Any one or two of those would have been reasonably manageable, but when all you want is a coffee and your staggering after each hill climb in the heat, you have no clear reason in your head why the run is still important and your body isn't handling the demands of the course, you start to hit a wall.

That wall was nothing like I had expected. I had been targeting bigger and bigger events to see what it was like when my body wanted to give out and to know whether I could beat it by throwing every ounce of determination at it. This was different. This was me losing sight of what I wanted and letting everything haunt me because I could see no reason in finishing. I literally lay down to rest 3 or 4 times before finally staggering in to the 80km aid station. I was done. I felt I had no energy left to continue and could see no reason to do it. The first half of the course was quite reasonable with longer climbs and descents but not too steep. After Johanna beach it was a series of rough short and steep climbs and descents, constantly taunting you. I remember thinking so many times "why the hell did I need to climb that if it's just descending immediately" and on it went, again and again. The support at the aid station was brilliant. They would not let me quit and despite remaining there for half an hour, after a coffee, some soft drink and refilling one of my bottles with cola, they sent me out of there to finish what I'd started. Less than a kilometre along I found fellow SCTR, Siqi, looking just like I felt. At that moment I'd found exactly what I needed to finish the race. We were going to finish it together if it killed us.

I made a pact with Siqi that we were going to run to the 12km mark and then stop and drink that flat cola with all the awesome caffeine it had to offer. No thinking about the 20km left, it was just 12km till our stop, with a nice little checkpoint 8km along. With small achievable goals set ahead of us we trudged along and eventually did make that 12km point and had that cola and it was incredible. Generic, flat, warm cola. There wasn't anywhere to really sit there, so we just sat on the side of the road and enjoyed it. Feeling finally within reach of our goal, we stood up and made our way along the final trails to the finish at the twelve apostles. I had just wanted to the make that point in the daylight so I could have seen them and we were within reach of that goal. Despite Siqi having a nasty spill, he got up, kept moving and we finished it together in 13 hours and 32 minutes, 3 full hours longer than my Surf Coast Century time, but having learned so much to take away with me. The post race atmosphere was incredible back at the hostel, with many competitors, including the elites, sitting around chatting. This continued as we all had breakfast together before the race presentations the next morning and was a real highlight of the event.

Reading all of this you might think it's quite a hellish event and only for extreme competitors, but I would say this certainly isn't true. It's a tough course, but I made a lot of mistakes that I paid for. This is the advice I would give to entrants: the first half is easier, save yourself for the second half; don't underestimate the impact the heat will have on your day and train in the heat if possible; get plenty of sleep in the week leading up and quit caffeine - you can't afford to be falling asleep on your feet; use caffeine to pick you up when you are flat, it really is a wonder drug for trail runners; and finally, have a compelling reason why the run is important. For me the run became important when I realised that despite it being my run, it could mean a lot to other people as well and if I am to enter a race, who does it help to if I fail? At the very least seeing me DNF might put them off entering.

Now I have no delusions of grandeur or self-importance, but we are all part of a community and I believe that finishing that run was in some way a small part of my contribution to that community. I know that reading about others that have completed runs, particularly in tough situations, has inspired me and some times people need that as the kick to set their own ambitious goals so that made it worth trying. And to have some company for that final 20km and finish it together turned the whole race around and gave it a very special way to finish. I highly recommend the event to anyone considering entering, but respect the event, pace yourself and be prepared. These may all sound obvious but it is so easy to miss some of that without really thinking about what you'll need to finish the event. Above all, find what you need to finish the event and keep it with you until the end - no matter what the race, you're definitely going to need it.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/617723775
https://www.strava.com/activities/210306808

Enjoying the Accomplishment While Moving Forward

After Surf Coast Century the previous year, I knew a little of what I would be in for after the miler. The loss of direction and emptiness that follows and practically non-existent interest in running. This time I didn't fight it. I enjoyed what I had done, and just sat contented with that for a while, not running until two weeks later. This worked out well with my body, especially as I had picked up top of foot pain in the left foot from running 160km in 3mm drop shoes I was only just getting accustomed to. I ran a beautiful 34km with two great people, not worrying about where my running was at or what that fit into. All I wanted at this stage was to focus on the people around me as I wanted them to find what I had out there, and that seemed far more important than trying to find any new goal. I ran the Bellarine Rail Trail Run, but in reverse, lining up my second half, with their first and tagging along with a relatively new SCTR and enjoying keeping him moving along for the 17km we ran together.

I had been looking to try and lend help to anyone that could use it, be it with my experiences in a run, or nutrition, or whatever made them feel a little better about trying to do this crazy stuff we call fun. A fairly new but determined SCTR, Erin, was asking for advice on training for an 80km road event, having never run 50km and not knowing whether it would be feasible to train for something like that by November. I jumped at the chance to help somebody do something they thought impossible. It quickly became obvious she was more than capable of running anything she set her mind to and the week after the BRT run, we set out on her first 50km run, comprised of a whole collection of Anglesea trails before meeting up with an SCTR group run. It was an amazing experience to help someone achieve something like that, and if you ever have the chance to be involved in somebody's training like that you really should. We ran quite a few long runs together as my next run I'd locked in back in May, Great Ocean Walk drew nearer.

In September I was crewing for Dion at Surf Coast Century and really didn't have much idea of what it would involve other than a 15 hour+ day. Dion's training had been going really well, so I had no doubt he had what he needed to bring in the 100km, but I knew that pushing to this distance his state of mind would be crucial so I tried to run through as many different scenarios in my head as possible and be prepared for anything. The day started out really well and brought back many familiar memories of my run the previous year. He started out really well and nailed the first leg along the beach in good form and spirits. He was a little ahead of schedule so I cautioned him to dial it back a little for the second leg, especially as the sun picked up on those exposed trails around Eumerella many people get dehydrated and have a pretty tough time. It was so great to see many other SCTRs and familiar faces coming through at each checkpoint and help them out where I could.

By the end of the second leg many people were having a pretty rough day. There were a few with stomach issues, some feeling the impact of perhaps getting carried away and others that were struggling mentally to find the reason to continue. I was fortunate enough to help a few through before Dion came in. He had a fairly rough patch for a while and was feeling it, unsure of how the rest of the race was going to pan out. Being well over 6 foot, the thought of having to clamber under the tiny bridge just out of Anglesea was fairly daunting, particularly if you're already cramping. Fortunately he managed to crab crawl his way through problem free which immediately lifted his spirits and he set off onto the second half looking great.

Moving on to the end of leg 3 was great, based in Moggs Creek picnic ground. So many familiar faces and so many people that had found their way again since early issues in the race. By this stage many really didn't need much help and knew exactly what they wanted and what their plan for the race was, but it was nice to try to lend a hand and see them in the middle of something I'd only ever been a participant in before. Dion came through looking fantastic. He had hit another major slump, but managed to pull through and was feeling great, especially once he met up with his wonderful family again (who aren't as short as they look). Erin was volunteering at this check point and had finished her stint, so we headed out after Dion to see how he was feeling in the run and spur some other runners on (okay, there was definitely a little "really need to run!" in there too). Dion was doing great, and team McHen were looking good as well - a husband, wife and friend team who had the insane idea of running their first 100km all together. What is even more crazy is that they did it and nobody was killed! So many things you get to see when you're on the side lines that you miss in the event itself and I was enjoying the day far more than a lot of events I'd been in.

After our run we hung around for a bit to check on the other runners before moving to the finish line. We were fortunate to see a lot of friends who had already finished and some as they came over the line. I waited until roughly when I expected him to be on the 4km beach stretch, then got dropped off (in jeans and t-shirt but at least with trail shoes) at the end of it, planning to run back and team up with him if he wanted. Some how I managed to miss him and ran 7km before getting picked up and brought back to the finish, but he had finished the race and nailed his goal of almost 2 years in the making. It had been an incredible day and there is no way you could pick a single aspect of all of that which made it what it is, but I now understand how so many volunteers keep coming back to be a part of it all, and what an amazing experience it can be. It certainly is a long day though, and all those committed volunteers have my utmost thanks for the sacrifices the make and effort they put in to make our runs so great. I had learned so much about running from this day, and that the head space I needed to run in these events continues well beyond and from well before the day. Having the right focus before and after an event helped me to have the right perspective and get so much more from all the fantastic people involved and hopefully give something back as well.

Becoming "Hardcore"

After Buffalo Stampede I was feeling great about what I'd achieved and was wanting to find the next big thing after completing a 100km and a Skyrun ultra. It was announced that a 100 mile event would be added to the You Yangs Trail Running Festival line up (the "hardcore 100") and I was instantly sold. I signed up and received confirmation a few days later that I was in. Now that the deed was done I had to come up with a real training plan. Marysville was almost a disaster without training sufficiently. Buffalo felt like it was almost a fluke off what I had put in for it (although there were some tough long runs in there), so this needed some real commitment. I planned out just over 1000km of mileage throughout May and June and tapering back in July. This would see me ideally hit a few 120km weeks and even a 160, to prepare my body better for what was to come.

May training actually went quite well, with an 80, 100, 100, 120, then a cut back to 50km week. June started out well, but I was rapidly losing motivation to run the 15km+ of every run, especially as many were early morning or at night (as night running experience is crucial to any miler). Seeing the wheels about to fall off I went with another crazy strategy, leverage off the success I'd had for Buffalo - run mostly only long runs, but this time, make them all 42km+. Four marathons in a month. A good mate I run with in Anglesea a bit, Chris, suggested that for the SCTR Surf Coast Trail Marathon training event that we run from the finish point and rack up 70km, so I figured what better way to kick off the June long runs? That run went surprisingly well, averaging a moving pace of 6:05 min/km and feeling pretty okay afterwards. The next weekend I followed it up with 2 loops plus an extra Flinders Peak of the miler course at the You Yangs to get a feel for what I'd be running around 8 times! It felt okay, but I could already tell that the runnable would be the problem for me, not the hills. I finished up June with the second half of the Surf Coast Century course for 51km and fore running the Surf Coast Trail Marathon for 45km.

I had achieved my goal of four marathon (or longer) long runs in one month. I wasn't feeeling too terrible and all of them had been run reasonably well, so I was feeling fairly good as the final two weeks rolled around. In that time I only ran twice again for 15km (of hill repeats) and 31km with the SCTR You Yangs training run, but it kept my legs fresh and with everything else going on at the time, it seemed alright. The day finally rolled around and conveniently it was only a 30 minute drive and a "late" start of 9am. I was quite happy with my gear selection, this time opting for the lighter Salomon pack (as I would pass an aid station every 10km, and every lap of 20km I would have my own bag drop at the start / finish. Having run my previous Roclites past 1000km, I opted for the lighter and racier model, the 243s to succeed them, which had less cushioning and a 3mm drop. I adapted to these over a month or so, and loved them so I chose to run them on the day, especially as the tread was newer and they weren't so worn out. Fueling would be identical to Buffalo and I a whole pile of backup gear in a waterproof bag for any conditions, as well as a portable charger to make sure my watch went the distance.

It was quite a cold start, but fairly good conditions for running a miler. We all started off at 9am on the dot up our first of eight Flinders Peaks and then down and around the perimeter of the You Yangs to the entrance and back up along the 87 walk (via Big Rock to Turntable). The first lap ended up a little quicker than expected, clocking in at 2:05. The next three laps I held together pretty well, only dropping back 5 minutes per lap to 2:10, 2:15 and 2:20. I'd hit half way by 6pm and was feeling pretty good. I was enjoying most of the course and was sticking to a strict rule of running everything from the top of Flinders Peak to the start of the 87 climb. My heart rate was looking good, body was feeling great, and I had developed some great strategies throughout my training for zoning out by humming tunes, counting, etc. As the night settled in things got a bit tougher, particularly the 5km horse track loop which is three long stretches of very straight, very flat open trail. I was still managing the descents quite well, averaging 5 min/km or better down most of it.

On my fifth lap, I'd just struggled through the horse track section and came out to hear two guys saying they couldn't find anyone to pace. I had no plans for a pacer but joked "you can pace me if you like!" As it turned out it was two good friends from SCTR and that's what they did. It was great to finally have some company and they ran with me back to the end of the lap. At that stage one stuck with me to the entrance again, and the other headed down to the horse track to get me through the second last round of what was becoming a recurring nightmare. At turntable at the end of lap 6 a friend had mentioned that I wasn't far off the podium. This wasn't something I'd even considered as it just didn't occur to me that I would be anywhere near the pointy end of an event like this. After my third last Flinders Peak I passed the guy in 3rd place as he was coming down. I'd now moved into 3rd place and the pressure was really on.

As I came to the eastern boundary, about 6km into the last lap I could see a light moving up on me. Chris and I picked up the pace and even changed my head torch battery on the run to save time to try to keep the position. We "charged" down the eastern edge at just over 5 minute kms before I dropped it back for the new undulating mountain bike track at the southern edge. Finally I figured "well, this guy is really going for it and he deserves it" so I eased off to let him over take and have it. As it turned out it was Kathy Macmillan, who had stopped for food at the end of the last lap so I wasn't aware she was then behind me. Knowing that the pressure was back on, I ran with Kathy most of the way to the horse track where she stopped to change her head torch battery. I managed to keep a decent pace up the hill and run most of the final lap solo to meet my wife in the last few hundred metres. I managed to pick up to a decent run with her and finished my first miler in 19 hours and 2 minutes.

This run will remain a benchmark for me for a long time of what it's like to have everything come together in a run. The gear, fueling, my mind, body, even surprise support from friends all came together perfectly for me to complete 160km at a 7:11 min/km average pace, never once hitting a real low where I wanted out. It's a run that I always think back to and it is difficult to compare it to any other and gave me an experience that I didn't expect, but one that I will always be grateful for. None of these experiences would be possible without the support I've had from friends and family, particularly my wife, and the incredible running buddies I've developed through this amazing sport.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/545209923
https://www.strava.com/activities/168241522

Pushing S##t Up-Hill

With renewed enthusiasm for trail running, I wanted to tackle something big. Having already ran 100km I knew this would be something which had to be a personal thing to me, not just something that looked good on paper. Up to this point I'd always hated hills and walked pretty much everything, saving the extra effort for a solid downhill run. So what better way to get on top of that than to sign up for an ultra Skyrun with just over 4500m elevation gain using the nastiest hills available from Bright to the top of Mount Buffalo and back? It was the inaugural Buffalo Stampede and the added appeal was that it gave you foundation member status with priority entry in the future if you wanted to run it again, so it seemed like the right choice, especially since I'd never ventured further than Lake Mountain into the Vic Alps, and never for running.

I had changed jobs in early Jan that year (just after Two Bays), so my daily 1.5km dashes in and out of work were out. I had grand plans for racking up some decent mileage for the event, but I didn't have the drive or motivation to pull it off. Instead I ran long runs fairly exclusively, usually 32km+ but at a solid pace that took a bit of recovery after. I focused on getting in as many hills as possible, forcing me to improve my hills strategy and adjust to spending a lot of time walking them. I "ran" the Wild Wombat Crossing Fat Ass event in early Feb in high 30s heat and while I started well, I pulled out and walked it in for the final 10km after 20km of smashing goat tracks. I think the cold can of coke I chugged (courtesy of the amazing Beyer support crew) was my undoing, but I don't think I was prepared in any way for those hills or heat, let alone both.

I had to bounce back from that, though, and mapped out 42km in the You Yangs with 2000m ascent to test me in more favourable weather (as Buffalo Stampede April was likely to be fairly reasonable). Fortunately that run was much more successful, averaging just under 7 min/km and feeling pretty good. I think that run was the turning point in my training for Buffalo and from there I stuck to solid l ong runs and circuit training up until the day. Unsure of this strategy and not entirely convinced of my preparation overall the event day finally came around. I had decided to move away from Perpetuem over the summer due to the logistics of managing it in the heat, and how it would taste when it warmed up.
My new solution (which is essentially what I am currently using as of writing) is Science in Sport GO! Electrolyte with BCAAs. I was taking them in tablet form. I was fortunate enough to be sharing accommodation with Chris and Shaun from Brewster's Running and Chris recommended one tablet per hour instead of the two I was going to take. Feeling fairly good with my fueling solution and with my trusty Roclite 295s getting out for their last event I felt surprisingly good. The new fueling meant I could prep concentrate of all the liquid without worrying about it spoiling and logistics were easier than ever.

We started out in the dark, heading away from Bright up towards Mystic Hill. I had planned to run this one with a friend with a similar race strategy and style, but I wasn't keeping up on this first climb and knew we had to do our own thing, so dropped back to a more comfortable pace and slogged it out to the top of the first peak. The view from Mystic (right) was spectacular and I knew I was in for something special. I continued on up to Clear Spot, trudging up some of the most insane hills I've seen any where. I remember times shuffling a walk up a hill only to look at my watch and see my heart rate was in the 160s and need to slow down even further.

I finally reached the peak of Clear Spot feeling amazingly good considering the horror stories we'd been told at registration the night before. After this one we descended on down into a valley through to Eurobin (with a smaller climb and descent on the way through), then started the (very long) climb to the top of Mount Buffalo. I was loving every minute of it, so I'd been in great spirits as I'd come through the Eurobin aid station, especially seeing the Milne and Beyer support team. As a result, the climb itself went reasonably well. It was quite steep initially (something around 18% average) for a few km, then eased back to around 10% average to the chalet. It took quite some time, but I was moving well and still enjoying the race. The views were simply amazing and I recall at one point (see the view of the mountains below) thinking that it is just simply impossible and stupid to think that someone could go from the ground level to this point on foot, but yet we all had.


 I reached the chalet feeling quite good, and headed on out to the Chalwell Galleries, which were a big reason I'd signed up. The photos I'd seen of them looked great, and reminded me a lot of the Grampians hiking we'd done so much of as a family when I was younger. It turned out that there was certainly no running through them, but it added a great experience to the race, despite taking a much longer than expected chunk of time to complete - it was practically caving! Finally exiting the caves and running back up to the chalet, now the real challenge kicked in.

Every moment to this point had been simply amazing and an experience I would always remember. The scenery was stunning, the variation kept it interesting and I believe I was pacing myself well enough to still enjoy it. From here on out (the 42km mark) it was all about completing the course and finishing the 75km ultra. So with that thought in the back of my mind, I headed down one of the toughest descents I've faced in any run. By the bottom of Mount Buffalo my quads were aching and I had to walk the flat for a kilometre before feeling good again. But it was done - the biggest climb and descent of the race finished and three main climbs left.

I wasn't moving spectacularly well at this point, but I was determined to keep it going and in relatively good spirits. I got through to the Clear Spot climb before the rain started, but at least it wasn't too heavy then. Flashes of lightning were lighting up the horizon as I walked expose along the ridge to Clear Spot, spurring me to get through there and hit the final ascent up Mick's Track. There is practically nothing that can prepare you for this track. Averaging over 40% gradient and consisting of rocks, loose dirt, ants and millipedes it was incredibly slow going. My calves hurt too much trying to walk it, so it was hands and knees. To add insult to injury, there is a flat 2/3 of the way up that makes you think you are done, only to turn a corner and keep going. But eventually I did clear it and was on to the final descent back to Bright. By this stage I was jog / walking the flats and only really running the descents. Fortunately I held together until the bottom and managed to even sprint across the finish, only 15 minutes or so before the sky opened up and it poured!

Despite my ad-hoc and unusual training pattern, it had all come together and I'd finished in 12 hours and 19 minutes. And although it was at times incredibly tough, it felt good the whole way through, because it wasn't just about finishing. Having seen the amazing area and pacing it well meant that I had enjoyed the whole race thoroughly and would take that away, reinforcing my desire to keep pushing the limits and finding new places to explore on future runs.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/474276420
https://www.strava.com/activities/133616290