Fragged

RDO today, so I got out just before lunch to do a lap of the Pinnacles course around Gold Creek Reservoir. Well, that was the plan.

I hadn't done anything on the weekend. It was too wet and rain affected to ride on Saturday, and my back/hip were still pretty angry after Tuesday and Thursday's run, plus three straight days on my feet. Interesting how the back flares up if I'm just standing around - jumping in and out of cars, up and down ladders and general movement doesn't seem to worry it, improves it if anything.

The day was quite cool, and underfoot was still damp with the terrain showing signs of high volumes of flowing water having been through and quite a bit of land slip on the edges of the trail. I'd be very wary of going through there after high winds as it's more than likely a few gums are going to come down.

So, headed out, thinking maybe 2 hours would be okay. That was of course until I went straight on instead of left at about 2.25k, and didn't realise the error until I was almost at Mount Nebo Road. I had a couple of goes at trying to find the correct place to turn which generally involved side tracks down to piles of gravel under the two high voltage lines that run through the area. My little transgression ended up adding another eight kilometres to my hike.

Of course, since I'd planned to be out for two hours, I only had a 750ml bottle of sports drink (which in hindsight I mixed a bit rich) and a muesli bar with me, so things started to get a bit grim over the last hour or so and it went from a pleasant hike/jog to a seemingly endless death march, where every turn revealed yet another impossibly steep climb.

It was with more than a little relief I finally staggered to the gate, covering 26.64k in a bit over three and a quarter hours averaging around 8km/h. I was utterly spent, my legs quite painful, which made for an unpleasant drive back through Kenmore to the freeway and home (especially with wretched Moggill Road traffic and the kids coming home from school). I'm guessing I'm not quite as recovered from the two 50km's in two weeks as I thought I might have been last week.

I did console myself with the thought that this was one of those days you remember during the event you were training for, so that you can convince yourself you deserve a good result. It's worked before, it can work again.

Grinder

With Brisbane having been inundated this week, and the area I would normally go trail running particularly affected, I haven't had a chance to hit the trails. I had visions of getting out for an hour last (Thu) night, but after being on my feet all day (which usually doesn't help the ol' back/nerve compression/hip thing, and yesterday was no exception) I really felt flat, disinterested and my legs felt lifeless and grindy. Turned around early to just do around 4k in a bit under 20 minutes - effort was fine, just felt like I was damaging myself.

Pretty much recovered

I had vague aspirations of a short spin session on the indoor trainer on Monday as some sort of recovery, but was pretty much exhausted during the day, to the extent that I was using the drives between jobs to snatch little 10 minute naps. Fortunately I wasn't driving. So I opted for a 45 minute nap instead. Slept like the dead Monday night.

Which reminds me of an old joke - I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming in terror like his passengers. Badoom tish.

I digress.

I was pretty stiff in the legs during Monday, but had no soreness, and my feet, which were a bit blistered up on Sunday afternoon, actually came up pretty well and indeed today didn't really need the tape I put on them.

Felt pretty good today. Work involved a pretty big job plodding around a muddy construction site (kudos to the inventor of gumboots) but wasn't too strenuous. Felt pretty good on returning home and decided to bolt on the ol' Brooks Infinitis (in case anyone is wondering what road shoes I'm using at the moment) and do the "run for an hour but actually it's out for half an hour and see if I can negative split it home and usually I do so it isn't really" thing.

My usual route out from home to the Centenary Bike path is straight out the door and into an immediate 300 metre drag up a fairly steep climb (probably explains the negative split home). Felt pretty good on the climb and pushed reasonably hard to cover a bit over 6.4k in the first 30 minutes, turning around just after Counihan Road in Sinnamon Park (basically follow the bike path to the Brisbane River, then follow the river east). Pushed hard along the river and the bike path to Sinnamon Road to put some time in the bank before the tough climbs to Dandenong Road and Sumner Road. Managed to knock over 12.87k in 58:47, 4:34 pace according to the Garmin.

Pretty hard work coming home but just kept pushing. Funny how old memories return. Had some level of low grade pain in the hip on the way out, but it seemed to abate going up the hill. Bit hobbly now, but nothing unusual.

I'm currently having a think about medium to long term goals, and putting together some ideas about a running regimen, and how to fit cycling in around it. I'm convinced the long cycling rides have helped me retain endurance and some leg speed, and during this seeming return phase I would definitely like to keep it in there as it helps with both fitness and weight loss, and, I think, some injury prevention as it provides those benefits whilst not impacting too severely on the running muscles and back. Not to mention the social aspects.

Insert pun about stones and Glasshouses here

Well, that was a lot of fun.

After arising at an obscene 1:15am, I headed over to meet my fellow team members a bit before 2, and then headed north for Woodford. We had one drop out after copping the flu during the week, so it was just the two girls and myself. Eh, could be worse.

We arrived wide-eyed (coffee is awesome when you don't drink it much) and nervous at the Woodford pool a bit after three, registered, weighed in and got ready. There was a bit of a chat about directions (most of which went in one ear and out the other), and just after 4 am, under half a moon, Mars, a very bright Venus and the Milky Way, we plunged into the forest. Conditions were still, clear and quite cool (around 8-9 degrees).

I won't go into too much detail about the course and the race, since it was a training run. It is quite flat and sandy initially, working its way through the Beerburrum West State Forest to Glasshouse Woodford Road where the road rolls up and down to the first checkpoint and turn around on Millwood Road. You then head back down Glasshouse Millwood Road and head on to the path under the high voltage lines, where it starts to get interesting - or 'shiatty technical' as trail runners would describe it.

You then head down to McConnell Road and down to the twin loops around checkpoint 8, where we inadvertantly reversed them, doing the short 8b loop (with the big climb) first, then the long, 'technical' loop 8a second. It was a popular error!

From there, back up McConnell Road heading north into the forest and east for home.

We just had two goals for the day - stick together as a team, and finish under 8 hours (7:47 for the record). I felt very strong throughout the day, all the work around Mt Coot-tha paying off, with just some soreness in the last 7 or 8km (the sand not helping!). Of the two girls (Kokoda Challenge veterans) one finished very strongly, the second had to work hard in the last 20k but did a great job and finished well - she will take a lot mentally and physically from the event. I'll put it this way - she'll probably be back in September.

As, indeed, will I. I really enjoyed it. A great, well run event.

Early or late?

This brings back memories...

Is 1:40am early or late? I am insane.

So, uh yeah....a 50k 'race' in the morning

Well, it's pretty much public knowledge that I make my long delayed return to racing with the Glasshouse 50k event tomorrow morning. It all began so innocently....(cue flashback sequence)

Background summary - joined gym in Brisbane, joined cycling group through invite of gym owner. Left gym but remained friends with gym owner through cycling. Gym owner's wife bit of a runner and knows of my running background (also works at gym), did Kokoda Challenge in 2008 in 29 hours, targetting 24 hours in 2009. Team member drops out in late March due to injury, I get a call from said gym owner asking if I'd be interested in joining the team. I say I'll try a couple of walks and hikes and see how it goes. Walks and hikes go okay, I accept. Subsequent training draws me in like a moth to a flame.

So, as part of training, she suggests doing the Glasshouse 50k as a team. I'm of course suffering delusions of potentially taking up ultra-marathoning, and think 'hey, this could be a great way to ease my way in' and approve.

So, there we go.

Much of my training has been focussed around Mt Coot-tha and the Gold Creek Reservoir. A visual summary would look like this:

So far so good. Highlights so far have included a 51k hike in about 7 1/2 hours, a 33k effort in 5:20 that finished in darkness, and a tour of the Pinnacles course. I hadn't done a lot of running, just some downhills and flats during hikes, but as part of 'sharpening' this week managed to push out a 10k in just under 50 minutes from home along the Centenary bike path to Jindalee and back, negative splitting up the hill, which was pleasing. The hip didn't really play up, I was kind of just aware of it. Seem to be reasonably strong at the moment, just need to lose some weight and work on the abs and lower back.

I think I had some good endurance and strength from the bike - I'd been average around 100-140k a week, including a 80-110k effort on Saturdays (although somewhat broken up) - so that's probably provided a good lead-in.

On the Kokoda Challenge: this event is coming up in mid-July, and is a 4 person 96k hike/run/whatever, Queensland's equivalent to the Oxfam Trailwalker I guess. The team's name is 16 Feet (I believe a reference to last year's 8 Feet team name).

We do need to raise some money, and I could really do with a hand here - just go here to donate. We'd really appreciate it - it is a very good cause. From their website:

Our Mission:

To promote the Kokoda Spirit, especially to the benefit of the youth of Australia.

Our Major Goals:

Raise public awareness of the importance of the 1942 Kokoda campaign to the Australian people.

Identify young Australians at a crossroads in their life and provide support to help them reach their potential.

Support the Kokoda community and the descendants of the Fuzzy Wuzzy angels.

Our Values:

Endurance: We believe that tests of endurance are a way to promote personal growth.

Courage: We support and encourage our people to stay the course even when times are tough.

Sacrifice: We are an organisation that is built on the sacrifice of volunteers and the community spirit this inspires.

Mateship: We believe in the value of teamwork and of providing support for each other.

Environment: We value the natural environment and aim for all our activities to have a minimal environmental impact.

Youth: We believe in the potential of our youth to create a positive future.

Our background

The Kokoda Challenge Association is a not for profit organisation that was formed by founder and Chairman, Doug Henderson in January 2005.

In July 2004, Doug was at an RSL conference when a guest speaker spoke of Australia's military history, in particular the battle of the Kokoda Track and the Pacific Campaign.

Doug, who has been at the forefront of Veterans issues for the past decade, was profoundly affected by what he heard and overcome by shame about the fact that so few Australians knew the real story of how significant the Kokoda military campaign was to Australia's history.

Doug was compelled to be involved in promoting awareness of the Kokoda Track and believed that incorporating young Australians was the key to raising the profile of the history of Kokoda.

The Kokoda Challenge Association was established in January 2005 with two main aims;

1. To educate youth and raise general public awareness of the gallant victory by Australian soldiers in 1942 on the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea – a victory which undoubtedly saved Australia from Japanese occupation.

2. To identify young Australians who are at a crossroad and support them through a 12 month community counsel – The Kokoda Challenge Youth Program. This requires the participants selected to undertake a 12 month commitment to a community program, designed and supported by the Kokoda Challenge Association, which encourages participants to develop self-awareness within the wider community and prepare them for the challenges of life. The Kokoda Challenge Youth Program culminates in the participants using the skills and training to undertake the challenge of walking the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea.

To enable to Kokoda Challenge Association to achieve these main aims it was decided that funds would be raised by conducting a yearly Queensland Kokoda Challenge Event – to be held in the Gold Coast Hinterland.

Funds raised from this event finance the cost of the Kokoda Challenge Youth Program, which includes training and bush camps and the associated costs of travel to Papuan New Guinea to walk the Kokoda Track.

Working in collaboration with

The Kokoda Challenge Association developed early ties with the Gold Coast Bushwalking Club to design the route for the Kokoda Challenge Event and gather volunteer support. The Kokoda Challenge Association support and endorse the Bushwalkers Code of Conduct and the protection of the environment for the enjoyment of future generations.

The Gold Coast State Emergency Services work closely with the Kokoda Challenge Association and indeed provide upwards of 100 volunteers on the weekend of the Kokoda Challenge.

The Gold Coast City Council, the Department of Main Roads and the State Parks and Wildlife Services all provide the vital support necessary for the success of to the Kokoda Challenge.

The RSL’s, Police Citizen Youth Centres and High Schools and a number of youth support organizations contribute to identifying young people to be participants of the Kokoda Challenge Youth Program.

Wesley Mission Brisbane has also provided vtial support to the Kokoda Challenge Youth Program and have assisted the Kokoda Challenge Association to develop best practices for managing the youth program.

Whilst the Kokoda Challenge is currently managed entirely by volunteers and accordingly the operational cost are able to be kept to a minimum, however this will not always be the case. As the Challenge grows and demand is placed for access to the Kokoda Challenge Youth Program the administrative and management needs will of course grow. Like any professional organisation professional staff will need to be engaged.

The Kokoda Challenge Association however is working towards establishing strong corporate partnerships which will eventually cover the operational and management costs of the Kokoda Challenge and the Kokoda Challenge Youth Program.

Once these goals have been achieved the Kokoda Challenge Association will be able to allocate all of the funds raised through the Kokoda Challenge directly to youth orientated programs.

I'll let you know how it goes and provide updates (for real this time) on how training progresses.