Six Foot Track Sat March 14th 2009

I had been away in Fremantle for work all week, which included a cramped night at sea on a tug boat. But I also had some very pleasant runs including one around Fremantle cemetery (Final home of Bon Scott and Heath Ledger). The week wasn’t hectic but I ended up getting into Sydney airport at 7.15pm after a 4 1/2 hour flight and then to Blackheath at 10pm. So I was a bit tired. Pre race dinner of chocolate ice cream and chocolate. Mmmm.
In the morning I travelled with Mike and Stef to the start. It was ideal conditions. 13 degrees, light breeze and damp ground. I had an overwhelming feeling of sleepiness.
I joined the wave 2 start about three or four rows back. There was a big rush to the stairs. I had already made up my mind that I would run steadily to the river to save energy. Even so I managed to have my first of two race falls on the treacherous path down to the stairs. It was nothing, I rolled and bounced back onto my feet fortunately without a scratch.
At the top of the stairs the flying pack came to a sudden halt. Then it was a single file plod to the bottom. Why so slow? The stairs were wet and slippery, but I think it was mainly one woman who must be a good sprinter and made it to the stairs early, but who I later saw hobbling down the path like a fledgling chook, her arms out wide and tottering all over the place.
The trip down Nellie’s Glen was pleasant, except for a long toilet stop in the bushes. Across the road I still had a great feeling of sleepiness, and I kept thinking how will I ever make 45k’s.
Past the road we arrived at the first hill before the bush. A single file grassy knoll which brought many runners to a sudden walk after the easy downhill of Nellie’s Glen. The hill woke me up, and I quite enjoyed it. Into the bush on the way down to the river I fell in behind a very fit looking woman and decided to stay behind her. Several times she offered for me to overtake, but she was an excellent pacer and I refused. Conditions were excellent, with low fog banks in the river valley keeping conditions cool and moist.
We arrived at the river in 1h 25m. The river level was low, and as I waded through the cold water it felt great on my legs. All sleepiness was now gone and I was feeling good. So up the Mini Mini Saddle I went. I knew it was a long haul so I adopted the little engine approach “I think I can…” and just tried to hold a run which I felt comfortable with. I assumed at some point I would have to walk. After all, everyone else was walking! But I kept going, and going. I overtook ten runners, then twenty, then thirty. All of them wished me well as I overtook them. Finally I got to the cattle yards and the downhill section before the saddle. That was a nice break before going up again. But I was able to keep it going. The last pinch was hard but I knew I would make it by then. Once on top I coasted down to Alum creek and a few runners flew past me. “Let em go” I thought, there is only one person I am running against in this race, and that is me.
I still felt strong as I ran through the creeks in the valley passing the halfway mark and onto the Pluviometer hill. I knew this would be tough, and I was already planning a walk run strategy. And that’s how it was. I ran about two thirds of it, and walked the steeper pinches. Again I passed a lot of people including all those that passed me after the Mini Mini. I never saw those runners again.
I arrived at the top of the Pluvi at 2h.43min, and it was satisfying to reach it running. This is a false summit because the next 12k of the Black Range is uphill almost to the campground. I had hoped that I would be able to run the whole Black Range, but I wasn’t sure. It is a tree lined corridor of pain and disappointment In my previous two runs this is where cramping had stopped me in my tracks.
So off I went along the Black Range. The weather remained perfect, cool with light northerly breezes. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could still run quite well and that the hills were no obstacle. I was overtaking many people, and during the whole Black Range just two people passed me, who I would later reel in. Some Wave 1 runners now started appearing. On and on the Black range continued, winding through the bush like a road to now where.
Finally I started to glimpse pine trees and I knew that I was nearing the campground. 10k to go. Still I was feeling strong.
Onto the Deviation and I knew the bastard rock strewn hills awaited me. It was on the first of these that trouble struck when my right quad suddenly cramped. I had to walk and massage it at the same time and after five minutes it had passed, but I could feel it lurking, so I slowed down a little to keep it under control. Still I was passing people and not being overtaken. I had to walk up the steepest of the deviation hills and arrived at the road at 12pm, or 3h 55m from the start. 7.1k to go. Here fortunately I was able to get some salt, as I could feel my calves starting to cramp.
Two year ago cramps had caused me to walk most of the Black Range, so I was determined to run at a pace that didn’t bring them on. Strider Andrew fell in behind me as we ran down to the cottages. Along here I had my second fall, which fortunately again left me unscathed, and I bounced back on to my feet. When I arrived at the cabins with 4 k to go I was no longer strong, but just hanging in there. I was balancing fatigue, cramping and pain with my desire to get to the finish line.
Three people overtook me in the last 4 k. One was a fresh looking young man in a yellow shirt, the other a solid 30 year old who was walking the hills and then sprinting the flats, and the other was the woman who paced me to the river. She had run a great race and in the end beat me by 30secs.
Finally I arrived at the long downhill two 2k from the finish. A sharp pain had developed in my right side which was agony on the downhill but I knew there was just 10 minutes of pain left, so I told myself to suck it up.
In previous years, I had become very emotional as I caught my first glimpse of Caves House through the trees, but this year I simply had a quiet feeling of satisfaction, which came from doing something better than I had before. I crossed the line in 4h 39 m 08s which is 21m 10s improvement on last time and I felt far better afterwards then last time.
Mike also ran an excellent race to get a 15 minute PB of 5hr 58min.
I know I will go another 20min faster next time. The key things I did right this time were:
-Consistent long runs with lots of hills
-Good carbo loading before hand
-A reasonable taper
-Kept a steady pace early
-Kept sucking Minties all the way

To go faster I will need to run all the Pluviometer. Train longer to avoid fading in the final 10k.