Trail Tips

I'm adding another section here for helpful information on different things I've picked up over the years that are helpful when I'm out running. These solutions work well for me, but of course, test them out yourself and never try anything new on race day! Please feel free to leave comments as I've changed these all myself quite a bit over time, so I expect them to continue to do so as I learn more from all the great runners out there. Since navigation when training and even in some events can be quite challenging if you haven't been on the course before, first I'm covering Navigation - Using Avenza PDF Maps.

You Yangs Hardcore 100 Event Guide Up!

Another event guide written up, just in time for the second running of the You Yangs Hardcore 100 event this Saturday. Quite a few having a crack at this awesome event this year. Hopefully this helps some of them along or at least gives them some insight into what they're up against.

You Yangs Hardcore 100 Event Guide

Gear Reviews

Over the few years I've been running trails I've been through a few different types of shoes and packs, and seen a bit out there. One of the most exciting things as a beginner runner for me was every time something was due for replacement you got to look for the next awesome bit of gear to replace it. The only problem is, eventually you find something that you just can't beat. But hey, if it's good enough to stop looking around, I figure it's definitely worth writing a review about. :)

First up is the Inov-8 Roclite 243 Trail Shoes. I intend to add most of my shoes and packs over the next few days or weeks.

Event Guides

With a lot of people out there looking for information on what a course is like, what conditions they can expect and what kind of training might be needed, I've decided to put together some event guides, focusing on the course, stats, strategies, helpful resources (like course routes / maps, etc.) and anything else that I thought was unique to the run. I'll slowly add to these over time. First up is the Great Ocean Walk (2014).

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. :)