Crackneck

Six Foot Track was shaping up to be a big race this year, and there was a lot of added pressure to do well after the result at Tarawera and the Ultra168 pre-race article. I’m pretty sure I was recovered and was also trained up, but for some reason I always find Six Foot Track a challenge, it's just that bit too short and fast for me. Although I had every intention of giving this race my all and seeing what happened. The race weekend started off with a leisurely trip up to the mountains with mum (support crew), Katy & Kirsten (two fellow Trotters & friends who I was hoping would do really well). A nice stop for lunch at Leura, picking up race packs & supplies, my afternoon jog around Katoomba and pre-race Pasta. All went to plan. The day of the race arrived and lacking a toaster, I had half a hot cross bun with peanut butter & banana and then it was off to pick up Kirsten before mum dropped us at the not so secret drop off spot, while she continued on to Blackheath t...

The 19km Tongariro Crossing which passes over an active volcano in the Alpine region of the North Island was always going to be part of the holiday. Originally mum and I were going to hike it, but then when she fractured her knee at the gym, the hike turned into me running the Crossing and mum doing a couple of short walks nearby. I’d done a fair amount of research into how to run it and the risks involved, there was NOT going to be another Kosciuszko incident! The track was also meant to be crazy busy so an early start was recommended. This was easily achieved by starting pre-dawn, and at 6:10am in the dark and with the track lit by headlamp I set off (1100m). The track was very easy to follow and nice to run without being too technical but with enough features to make it interesting and with duck boards thrown it at different times to mix up the surface. It starts out with only a slight uphill on the way to Mangatepopo Hut (1190m). But what was really surprising were the number of pe...

After scoping out the course on the Thursday and attending the race briefing and rego on the Friday the support crew plan was set, the temporary tattoo was on my arm, the splits on my other arm and the seam sealed jacket packed. It was race day! The race started at 6am in the rain and dark amongst the giant sequoias. There are no waves in this race, it’s a straight pack start with a very narrow starting chute, so I was there nice and early and after a brief interview with Ultra-Trail World Tour, not because they thought I’d go well, but because I was wandering around wearing a garbage bag. I merged into the chute and waited as everyone got ready. A Haka was performed in front of the start line, the final words were said and then we were off! I started in about the 6th row which was fine. The race started with a steady, but not too hard, climb on a fairly wide track before narrowing into single trail. I was in a good position with everyone around me moving at a similar pace. It was...

If you’ve ever seen me before a race then you know that I have terrible pre-race nerves. It pretty much starts during the taper process where I question everything. Have I trained enough? Can I still run? Am I too fat to run up the hills? Am I injured? Do I have everything? Will I get lost?…. The list goes on… And the nerves just build up. The day before the race all I can think about is the race itself and the morning of the race I’m pretty much a wreck and can’t be around people. But when the time comes and I’m on the start line and the starter gun goes off it’s like I forget all the worries and now all I have to do is run, run really hard and really fast and not stop running. So to help with some of those pre-race nerves, specifically the “Do I have everything?” one I’ve built myself a travelling running kit. I got the idea from an article in the November 2015 edition Runners World magazine which featured a “Racer’s Repair Kit” and as I currently have an entire cupboard of race gear...

Each year I like to try some sort of challenge over the summertime when the days are at their longest and I have a few days off over the Christmas break to recover. This year just to see if it was possible I gave myself the challenge of running from my place at Shelly Beach on the Central Coast to the Telligence office at East Mayfield in Newcastle in time to start work on Christmas Eve. And just to make it a bit harder (and also a bit safer) I was going to try and stay off the main roads as much as possible, utilising bike tracks, fire trails, bush trails and the beaches as I plot my way north. After a couple of hours sleep (I was out the night before) I got up just before midnight, grabbed my pre-packed running pack and headed out the door. Clean clothes and breakfast were waiting for me in the office, so I was travelling pretty light: running pack, 2ltr bladder (carrying 1.5ltr at this stage), 2 Nutella & 1 jam sandwich, a handful of gels, a spare running headlamp + a heap of ba...

This week has been dedicated to recovery. Lots and lots of recovery.... The first couple of days all I did was walk at lunchtime, just stretching out the legs and drinking copious amounts of water. Particularly on Sunday I just couldn't get enough water. It was also a good opportunity to catch up on everything else in my life that has been getting ignored because all my time has been spent training (I still need to organise a new downpipe and side fence, it's just fortunate that the chooks aren't particularly adventurous when it comes to escaping the yard). I got a massage on Tuesday night and while my muscles were "well-used" everything seemed to be fine which is very reassuring. I got back into exercise on Thursday with an easy 1km swim followed by a core session. Then had my first run on Friday morning along my favourite running track which as it turns out was an awesome day for a run. It was the day after the Bateau Bay hailstorm and the track was still all c...

Going into GNW I honestly didn’t know how far I’d make it. I’d ended up limping after 2 training runs a couple of weeks before the race and my right leg still wasn’t feeling 100%. So my race plan was “Do or Die”. If my niggles were going to flair up, it would happen before Checkpoint 1 (28kms). The start of the race was a nervous affair with lots of runners disguised as workmen huddled on the oval at Teralba as Dave counted down to the start of the race and with perfect timing we headed off across the oval at 6am, out the gate and onto the GNW as crossed the railway bridge. The entire way to Heatons Gap I could feel niggles in my leg, but with only having run twice in the last few weeks I couldn’t tell if it was injury or my legs warming up. It was consuming a lot of my thoughts so I didn’t talk to people as much as I normally do that early in a race. We reached Heatons Gap and dad was there directing people across the road, I crossed the road and started powering up the hill, this is ...