Okay, so it was just about running! I'll start with Sunday. An early start - I left home at 6:30am for the 30 minute drive to meet Flashduck at the Shell servo. Unfortunately Flash thinks she's a real duck and played too much in the rain the previous day, catching a cold, so she wouldn't be joining us on the Mittagong adventure. She lent me a lock for my Apollo and also had a packet of Gels for Luckylegs.
The roads were still wet but the fog lifted to reveal a welcoming blue sky. I found Luckylegs and Tim waiting patiently at the Mittagong railway station. I was 10 minutes late. We drove up to the Sturt Galleries and the two marathoners ran away up the road while I assembled the mountain bike. I rode off in pursuit but had neglected to pump up the tires so I returned to the car. What a forgetful wombat!
Eventually I was on my way but the road went up and up. I dismounted and walked at some points as the Sunday traffic was pretty scary. I didn't want end up in the ditch by the road with my feet in the air.
I caught Luckylegs and Tim just after 4k and we found an abandoned shed right at the 5k mark where I locked my bike. The rest of the run was very enjoyable. Fantastic highland scenery and great conversation. We chatted about training, ultras, various CoolRunners, messageboard controversies, KT26's, clothing and getting lost.
At about 10km we stopped at the church on the corner for a quick prayer and a drink from the rainwater tank. Then it was off down the winding Macquarie Pass Rd and past the Polo Fields. When the GPS said 17k (12 for me) we reluctantly turned back. I was a very weary wombat on the return journey and walked some of the hills but Luckylegs was having none of that, powering up in top gear!
Before long we were back at church (for Sunday school) and then off up the steep pinch of Range Road. I was very glad to retrieve my bike for the final 5 kilometres. I'd been running for over 3 hours. Tim could smell lunch cooking so he put in an impressive surge on the final section. I coasted along and talked to the cows.
Us at the Sturt Galleries Cafe
Back at the Sturt Cafe we were ravenous and so looking forward to lunch, but, it was off! We had to make do with cake, ice cream and coffee. The waitress was apologetic and offered to take our photo. We then went our separate ways but we'll meet up again for a three course meal at the Gold Coast.
On Saturday morning I ran part of the Bush Capital Marathon course with the 'Cotter group'. We had two newcomers on the run - Andrew and Bronwyn. The first part of the run was a bit 'all over the place' but once into Goorooyarroo Nature Park we were on a fantastic smooth gravel road.
Andrew and Bronwyn turned back early and I continued on with Steve, Elizabeth, Carol, Chris and Cathy. I was feeling good and ran this 10k in 51 minutes, which is pretty quick for me, especially as the course was undulating as can be seen from my GPS profile. At the turnaround point it started to rain and we all headed back except for ultra-man Steve.
It was raining quite steadily by the time we reached the cars. The GPS said 20.97 so I felt compelled to run an extra 30 metres! It had been a good workout - 21k in 1:58:01 with a solid middle 10k. Maybe the Gold Coast half marathon will be a good one.
The roads were still wet but the fog lifted to reveal a welcoming blue sky. I found Luckylegs and Tim waiting patiently at the Mittagong railway station. I was 10 minutes late. We drove up to the Sturt Galleries and the two marathoners ran away up the road while I assembled the mountain bike. I rode off in pursuit but had neglected to pump up the tires so I returned to the car. What a forgetful wombat!
Eventually I was on my way but the road went up and up. I dismounted and walked at some points as the Sunday traffic was pretty scary. I didn't want end up in the ditch by the road with my feet in the air.
I caught Luckylegs and Tim just after 4k and we found an abandoned shed right at the 5k mark where I locked my bike. The rest of the run was very enjoyable. Fantastic highland scenery and great conversation. We chatted about training, ultras, various CoolRunners, messageboard controversies, KT26's, clothing and getting lost.
At about 10km we stopped at the church on the corner for a quick prayer and a drink from the rainwater tank. Then it was off down the winding Macquarie Pass Rd and past the Polo Fields. When the GPS said 17k (12 for me) we reluctantly turned back. I was a very weary wombat on the return journey and walked some of the hills but Luckylegs was having none of that, powering up in top gear!
Before long we were back at church (for Sunday school) and then off up the steep pinch of Range Road. I was very glad to retrieve my bike for the final 5 kilometres. I'd been running for over 3 hours. Tim could smell lunch cooking so he put in an impressive surge on the final section. I coasted along and talked to the cows.
Us at the Sturt Galleries Cafe
Back at the Sturt Cafe we were ravenous and so looking forward to lunch, but, it was off! We had to make do with cake, ice cream and coffee. The waitress was apologetic and offered to take our photo. We then went our separate ways but we'll meet up again for a three course meal at the Gold Coast.
On Saturday morning I ran part of the Bush Capital Marathon course with the 'Cotter group'. We had two newcomers on the run - Andrew and Bronwyn. The first part of the run was a bit 'all over the place' but once into Goorooyarroo Nature Park we were on a fantastic smooth gravel road.
Andrew and Bronwyn turned back early and I continued on with Steve, Elizabeth, Carol, Chris and Cathy. I was feeling good and ran this 10k in 51 minutes, which is pretty quick for me, especially as the course was undulating as can be seen from my GPS profile. At the turnaround point it started to rain and we all headed back except for ultra-man Steve.
It was raining quite steadily by the time we reached the cars. The GPS said 20.97 so I felt compelled to run an extra 30 metres! It had been a good workout - 21k in 1:58:01 with a solid middle 10k. Maybe the Gold Coast half marathon will be a good one.
5 comments:
Good one, Wombat! Loved your write up...so much more detail & far better than mine. Also very kind of you to describe my way back up the Pass as "powering"!
Come to think of it now, I was trying bloody hard to catch you both! A day to remember.
Ah, I've been looking forward to this training report. Great recount Ewan - will have to join one of these Mittagong long runs one day
Your runs sounds so much more interesting than mine. Might be tempted to join you one day!
It must have been a real pleasure to run with Queen Lucky Legs ! Great report.
Icecream and cake sounds like a great lunch to me *LOL* great account of your run... looking forward to meeting you at the GC!
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