Jamison Valley

Sunday April 24, 2011 (135 km - 4 weeks to TNF)

Easter is a time of rebirth and renewal which in the northern hemisphere heralds the beginning of spring. For us it heralds the start of autumn, lots of rain and the  arrival of cool weather. Easter week was the last big week of training before the start of the taper for The North Face 100k in 3 weeks. I am a little bit more confident that I will be at the start line after finishing my biggest mileage week and coupled with some improvement in the achilles towards the end of the week.

Mt Solitary - we were heading down into the misted in valley.

Last Tuesday Hammer and I headed back to the Mountains to complete the back end of the TNF course. Starting at the Fairmont Resort in Leura we followed the course to Leura Falls and from there headed south into the Jamison Valley via the old Katoomba treatment plant site, over Leura and Jamison Creeks then up Kedumba Road and then back to the finish at Fairmont. Brutal, long climb from Jamison Creek to the old Queen Victoria Hospital site which in the TNF race will be at 80kms. Hammer swore he would never, ever consider an event like the TNF,  he was not having a good day. I felt bad for dragging him along but we were rewarded with glorious weather, sunny with great views of Mt Solitary from many vantage points. Once we got to the hospital site the last 10km of the course just goes on and on. I had expected the last 20k to be hard regardless but this course is dastardly in the second half. I can see that in the event it will be an absolute challenge of will, as it will be cold and dark.  A total of around 38kms which took us 7hrs 40 min to complete. Achilles pain was unbearable for the last 5hours of the run - but we walked the hills anyway so not sure it slowed us down all that much.  Icing and Voltaren gel seem to settle the worst of the pain. 

The following day, Wednesday I ran 11kms on the St Ives course, to see if taping the foot and inserting orthotics made any difference.  A pain free 65 min jog. Yippeee.
Thursday was another long run, approx 45 kms on the Trailwalker course from Brooklyn to Bobbin Head. Ran with Sharon, who is also doing TNF and Andre joined us for the first leg to Cowan. Another glorious warm day. An absolute highlight of this run was reaching Jerusalem Bay in the early morning mist and stillness. 

Morning stillness at Jerusalem Bay

Two cruisers lay at anchor  in the protected waters - it looked so peaceful. But we did not have  much time to linger lots of ground still to cover.  We finished the run in 7hrs40min and largely pain free thanks to the taping and orthotics. A great confidence boost after Tuesdays slow and very painful run in the mountains.  And just in time for the Easter weekend, the rain arrived. I finished the week with a 20km local Church Point run  taking in lots of hills. And more hills on the 20km Bobbin Head Revisited STaR on Sunday. Legs felt tired and lethargic both days. Now it is time for renewal and recovery during the 3 week taper.   

Megalong Valley

Sunday April 17, 2011 (83 km - 5 weeks to TNF)

How lovely to get away from the suburbs and spend a few nights in the wilds of the Blue Mountains. Hammer and I planned four nights camping at Dunphys Camp in the Megalong Valley with a few days of trail running to get familiar with the TNF 100k course. Glorious weather when we arrived late Thursday and only two  other tents at the campground. We set up a camp and enjoyed the sunset in the peace and quite of the valley with a majestic moon shining over the ridge to the north of the campground.

View north from Dunphys campground

Friday was another fantastic day with a very cold morning followed by glorious sunny weather for the most part before the clouds started to build later in the day.  Late Friday evening we were awakened in our tent by noise of hordes of school kids setting up camp. It was well after 11pm before they settled down and it finally got quite again. Then the drizzle started which turned into solid rain just before dawn. We woke to find our tent surrounded by the new arrivals - the suburbs have followed us. The rain was getting heavier and the Jamison Valley where we planned to run on Saturday was covered in heavy fog. We decided to cut our camping trip short and return home on Saturday. 

Rain and mist at Leura on Saturday

We managed one great training run on Friday starting from Dunphys camp along Megalong Rd, up the Six Foot Track, Nellies Glen and across to Narrowneck, down Taros Ladder across Mt Debert to Medlow Gap then back to Dunphys Camp. A total of 42 km which we did in just over 7hrs – lots of walking and a very slow descent off Narrowneck. Descending Taros Ladder still leaves me a dry mouth, sweaty palms and jelly legs. But there was no going back so I had to face the fear and do it anyway.    

Almost at the end of Narrowneck.

In order to get on top of the Achilles pain in my right foot, I dropped speed and hills this week and ran 3 times for a total of 83km: 12km on Wednesday, 42km on Friday and 29km on Sunday. Fridays long trail run was painful towards the end – every step on the right heel felt like a fire cracker going off. Icing and Voltaren gel  settled most of the pain on Saturday and I was able to get out on Sunday for a  29km around Church Point with only minimal pain in the heel towards the end of the run. The main difference being the surface I ran on, a change in running shoes, fewer hills and less time on my feet.  

Sunshine on My Shoulder

Sunday April 10, 2011 (80 km - 6 weeks to TNF)
The light of the sun rays glistened off my sweaty shoulder as I was finishing the last of the hill repeats on Friday and it reminded me of why I love to run  -  it makes me happy. The morning was glorious - the quite, the crispy air and the brilliant sunrise over the ocean made me feel grateful for the priviledge of being fit, healthy and alive.

Bobbin Head Marina in the early morning mist

The North Face 100k race is fast approaching and I have another two weeks to get a few more distance runs in before I start the taper. This week I ran a total of 80ks including a hilly 11k on Wednesday, a 2*2k interval on Thursday,  15*200m hill repeats on Friday, 30k in 4hrs45 min on the Great North Walk trail on Saturday and 20k in 2hr10min on the Striders STaR on Sunday.  The Harbourside Hike is a fantastic run around the harbour front of Sydney's lower north shore. Lots of hills from start to finish which did not seem so bad in Sundays brilliant sunshine and the cool air temperature. Perfect running conditions.

Sunshine reflected off the Hawkesbury sandstone on the Great North Walk trail.

Right achilles is still very painful after each run so a few days rest,  icing and stretching will hopefully settle the pain.  Spent the rest of Sunday watching the ITU World Championship Triathalon in the city. Amazing to see the speed of the bike leg as the competitors descended down Macquarie St towards the Opera House. We left just as the clouds descended and the rain, which was predicted for earlier in the day, finally arrived.

Autumn is Here

Sunday April 3, 2011 (70 km - 7 weeks to  TNF)
My running mojo is still AWOL but I keep plugging away waiting for it to return. It just means that running at the moment brings me little joy, but I know I will get over it. Daylight saving finished on the weekend  and my lack of enthusiasms could just be the normal feeling at the end of summer as we descent into autumn.  

  

This is 7 weeks out from The North Face 100k, I ran a total of 70km over 4 days including  a hilly 10k  on Wednesday, 10 k including 4*1k intervals on Thursday, 25km over 4 hours on the Great North Walk Trail on Saturday and 25km in 2hrs 30min on the Lap of the Lake STaR on Sunday.  

I finished the trail run on Saturday feeling lethargic, lightheaded and nauseous - everything hurt. I could not contemplate eating anything for some time after I stopped. 

Sunrise on Bobbin Head Track

I recovered well enough to run an easy 25k on Sunday. A  glorious trot in my backyard finishing with a lovely breakfast by the beach.   

Glorious autumn sunrise

I do not ever want to take for granted the fact that I can run, as I know how easily it can disappear.  My calves are paying me back for pushing through cramps on the 6 Foot Track. Tightness in the calves I think is causing achilles pain in my right foot after every run. So time to get back to regular routine of stretching and hope it does not develop any further.