Swimming across that river, walking up that hill, with no problems.

I walked from down in the valley

“Would you like a piece of water melon?” said the old veteran Strider. “Sure, thanks!” I replied as we hiked ever upwards to the Pluviometer. We continued chatting. Other 6-footers were walking ahead of us in ones and twos.

“Have you done this before?” I asked. “Yes.” He replied. “Last year I started with the 7am group for runners over 60 but it was lonely until the leaders came past on the Mini Mini hill. I couldn’t believe it – they were sprinting up that hill. It was amazing. This year I wanted company so I started with group three.” “How have you trained for it?” I asked. “Well, I’ve had a number of runs over this section of the course. I start at the top and it takes me an hour to run down and an hour forty-five to walk back up.”

As we marched towards the summit we continued talking. ‘Veteran Strider’ said there was about a kilometre to go. My mind drifted thinking what had brought me to this place in the middle of the glorious Blue Mountains wilderness. I was having a battle with my conscience. I couldn’t help feeling I’d done the wrong thing by leaving Jennifer back on the climb up to the Mini Mini saddle. After all, she was the one who talked me into running this brilliant event for the first time in 2004. That year her training had been interrupted by a hamstring injury and she’d been forced to retire at the last Aid Station before the Pluviometer.

Riding in my brother’s car

Yesterday after driving up from Canberra I collected Jennifer and Kikoe from Linda’s place at Bella Vista. I’d only got bushed once finding my way over to the Windsor Road. After a pleasant drive up the mountain we arrived at Katoomba, unpacked and went straight out for a meal at the Indian restaurant. Then it was back down to the Edge Theatre to collect our race packages. It was after 9pm and I was amazed to see Plu there helping Kevin. I recognised Plu from the photos on his blog. We had a short chat. He said “Run with Horrie and you’ll catch me at the Pluviometer”. I had a laugh replying “I don’t think so!” Jennifer and I checked our timing chips on the lap-top then headed ‘home’ for an early night.

I woke at 6am and before organising my race gear and preparing breakfast I walked outside to check conditions. I was quite comfortable in a T-shirt and shorts which was slightly worrying. I immediately started drinking! I was nervously anticipating what would unfold over the next eight hours. I was more excited than last year. Then it was just a feeling of blind ignorance – I had no idea what I was in for. This year I knew all too well what lay ahead. The most difficult course for a race I’d ever experienced in my life.

This year I’d trained more seriously with some good long runs over the half decent hills of Mt. Majura and Mt. Ainslie. Some of these were with experienced ultra runners Steve Appleby and Carol Baird. I felt good and confident. After a breakfast of toast, honey and coffee we jumped in the car for the short drive to Catalina Park. I parked on the actual abandoned race track along with a few other late comers. It was hard to believe I used to watch televised ‘Rallycross’ from this venue when I was a kid! We had arrived about 7.20am and joined the end of a very long bus queue.

Mister G (Sean Greenhill) was near the front of the queue and I just had time to shake hands and wish him well. I said “I hope I don’t catch you”. I knew there was no way that was going to happen! He was strong in the head having run from the Coast to Mt. Kosciuszko and had been doing some serious speedwork in recent months. I was surprised to see Mick Charlton in the queue. Mick runs with Geoff’s group on Monday nights but he hadn’t mentioned anything about running the Six Foot!

We ran out of that valley down to where the fields were green

Jennifer was worried but hopeful about how the day would go. Last year she’d slipped on the steps and jarred her back which, along with the dodgy hamstring, caused her eventual retirement. This time she’d run well in December and early January but had done little since then because of a busy work schedule at Stanford. I just said “think positive”.

We caught the last shuttle bus to the start arriving about 8.17am. Three minutes before the Wave 3 start! There was no time for me to get nervous or look for runners I knew, just enough for a quick dash to a nearby Porta-tree. Race director Kevin kept us calm and thoughtful by warning about the broken bones, twisted ankles and lost skin that results every year at the Six Foot. The gun was fired and we were off into the known and unknown.

I was keen to move closer to the middle of the pack before the steps but Jen was quite tentative on this section so I eased back a tad. It seemed there were only a dozen or so behind us at the start of the steps. Two that stood out were Ski-man who was running with two ski poles and Knee-man who had both knees heavily bandaged – in anticipation or prevention I wondered. While we carefully negotiated the steps I had a chat with a bloke who also wore a Forerunner 201 GPS. My Forerunner-man wasn’t working too well in the cool shaded darkness of Nellie’s Glen. He was like a blind man with a cane. We arrived at the bottom in 31 minutes.

The run to the Megalong Valley Road is on a beautiful sandy fire trail and predominantly flat to downhill. Running a few 5:25 kilometres we caught small groups of other stragglers on this section including NRG-couple. I’d been drinking continuously mouthfuls of ‘Thorpedo advanced hydration ultra low GI energy water’! I also wore a ‘Fuel Belt’ which carried four small bottles and a couple of Gu gels. As it was going to be a long day I also carried a vegemite sandwich in a plastic bag and some jelly beans in my pocket. My hydration was good as I stopped at two Porta-trees during the 2 hours 10 minutes it took to run to the Cox’s River.

The 5 kilometres or so of single track running down to the river is one of my favourite parts of the Six Foot. We were running with small groups who were gradually catching us from behind. NRG-couple went ahead as did a couple from Vancouver. She wore a ‘Kneeknacker 30 mile’ shirt which had a course profile showing two massive snow-capped mountains. I ran sections of the single track then walked the uphill bits while Jen caught up. She wasn’t great with this sort of ‘technical’ running. I was feeling pretty clever on one section when I put my right foot too close to the edge of the track. Bad move! The edge crumbled and I was tumbling off the track. I grabbed some shrubbery in the nick of time and scrambled embarrassedly back up. Luckily no damage – just skin off my left knee, small cuts on my hands, a red face and covered in dust.

And into the river I dive

At the Cox’s River I decided to wade through in order to cool off. I knew about the stepping stones upstream as I used these last year. I decided this route was for wimps and wanted the full Cox’s River experience. I took off my shoes and held them above my head. I guessed what might be the best (shallow) way across and, feeling clever again, kicked a boulder with my right shin, tripped over, dropped my shoes in the water and went swimming! Jen crossed with poise and ran on while I sat on a chair at the Rural Fire Service Aid Station and sorted myself out.

I caught Jennifer on the way up to the Mini Mini Saddle. I said “Keep walking, I’ll wait at the next Aid Station”. I walked this entire 4 kilometre hill but at a ‘decent’ pace passing quite a few other walkers including Ski-man. I was worried about our schedule. This year we were six minutes slower to the Cox’s River and right on the advertised cut-off. While waiting for Jen at the Cattle-yards Aid Station I ate my vegemite sandwich and topped up my Thorpedo Bottle with High5 which had a similar taste to red cordial. Very thirst quenching!

I got a shock when Cam Arnold rounded the corner carrying Action’s 7-hour broom. He asked how I was doing and I said “fine, no problems”. Soon Jennifer arrived and we set off walking slowly up the nasty steep pinch to the top of Mini Mini. Cam had disappeared into the distance and I was seriously getting worried about our chances of being caught by the ‘Grim Reapers’. These are the two guys who mercifully tell runners who won’t make it to the finish to ‘sit down and have a rest’ (they actually thrash you to a pulp for being ambitiously silly and drag you off the course to bury you under a Banksia bush). I discussed our dire situation and Jen said “you go on”. Reluctantly I did and soon was 100 metres ahead. I immediately felt regretful and selfish. I knew she could finish but not inside the 7 hour time limit.

At the top of Mini Mini I was surprised to see Cam was waiting and encouraging myself and other stragglers to get moving on the downhill. He said we were about 5 minutes behind 7-hour pace. On the run down to the Alum Creek Camping Ground I selected the ‘angel gear’ and passed quite a few runners including the Kneeknackers. A little later I spotted NRG-couple. She was standing in the middle of the track taking a photo of him next to a stray dairy cow! I thought ‘perhaps if I run the Kneeknacker 30 mile I’ll be photographing a Canadian black bear’. At the Alum Aid Station I asked for Vaseline. A kindly St John’s Ambulance officer obliged. I put it on my heels where I felt some blisters appearing.

I managed to negotiate the next two creeks on the stepping stones. Okay, so I was a bit of a girlie-wuss but I didn’t want to soak my almost dry shoes and socks. Soon it was the long hike up to the Pluviometer. I walked briskly and overtook quite a few people including Ski-man again who must have passed by when I was sitting at Alum Creek. After the last Aid Station before the summit I caught ‘Veteran Strider’ which is where this story started.

Is a dream a lie if it doesn’t come true?

I crossed the welcome timing mats at the Pluviometer in 4 hours 6 minutes – the same time as last year and 4 minutes ahead of ‘cut-off’. There was a fair crowd of runners at the Pluvi. Some were talking to the helpers and a few were sitting on chairs looking pretty knocked about and obviously waiting for the next meat wagon. My mate Bruce had ridden his mountain bike down from Caves Road to witness the drama. “Who’s winning” I said. “Dan Green by a mile with an unknown female coming about tenth – people can’t believe it!” I said “That would be Emma Murray from Canberra”. I had picked her to win with ‘daylight’ coming second. Emma would smash the race record finishing in an incredible 3 hours 44 minutes and 5 seconds to place eighth overall!

After a couple of cups of ‘Coke’ I set off in a similar fashion to last year to run as much of the next 19 kilometres to the finish as I could. I felt that I was running about 6:30 per kilometre pace but I still caught many runners – some walking, some jogging slowly. Not too many were ‘looking good’.

On the wonderfully shaded section called ‘The Deviation’ I walked the nasty steep bits and arrived at the Caves Road Aid Station feeling reasonably okay and in control. I spotted Mick Charlton up ahead which got the competitive juices flowing and I set about trying to catch him. He was looking good and running well. I caught him on the single track and we had a short chat. As he let me pass I said “only about 7 kilometres to go”.

I ran through the RTA dump site. This was good. It was here where I had to do some walking last year. At the Binda Flats Aid Station I had another two cups of warm Coke – it tasted so good! I saw a kangaroo next to the track near the oval observing proceedings. I hoped Skippy would still be there when the Kneeknackers arrived. The fire trail after the oval was nice and smooth this year which suited my Cliffy shuffle. I passed many more runners on this section including one groaning in pain and one walking backwards down the hill.

Down in the Valley

When I hit the single track I thought ‘bugger it’ and let fly. I overtook maybe another six or seven runners warning them “coming on your right” and trying not to upset their progress down the hill. All too soon the paved section arrived and Caves House was in full view. I can’t think of a more welcoming finish to a running event. I ran around the corner. A couple of people yelled out ‘go Ewen’ which I appreciated. Then the short straight and under the finish clock. It said 6:18:10. What a long day!

I found a place to sit down and had a chat to Mick when he arrived. Jennifer was waiting and she looked in good shape and not distressed at all. She’d had an ‘exciting’ trip to the finish in the 4WD including nearly slipping off the track on the Deviation. She was frustrated and disappointed at not being able to finish. Although I felt fine after finishing, pretty soon I needed to lie down. I found a rare vacant bench down near the tunnel. Very soon Linda arrived in the car and we were off back to Katoomba for a lovely meal that evening on the balcony of the Indian with a view watching a magnificent sunset.

I must say that I love this run. I haven’t had a bad experience yet so maybe that helps. I wish ’93 winner Malcolm Satchell had been successful in convincing me to run it while I was living in Sydney in the late eighties. Already I’m thinking about 2006. I can’t wait!

And if I only could...

Be running up that road. Be running up that hill. With no problems.

I’m getting slightly nervous about the Six Foot Track this coming Saturday. I should be fairly relaxed as my preparation has been better than it was in 2004. Last year I was continuing my training past Six Foot so that I could run the Canberra Marathon. This year I’ve decided to run the Marathon Eve 10k so I’ve done a two week taper for Saturday.

The strange thing about this taper is that during my training today I felt pretty ordinary. I should be starting to feel rested and energised. Today I felt flat and totally without energy in spite of doing a very easy session. Quite strange.

Yesterday I trained with Geoff Moore’s group at North Lyneham and we ran a 3 kilometre time trial. During my warm-up I was feeling flat and ordinary. I began the time trial conservatively and only picked up the pace in the second half. I felt reasonable and was holding the gap to Maria, Ken and Trevor. I ran 13:15 for the course which the Forerunner said was exactly 3.00 kilometres. Although I didn’t feel brilliant the time was pretty good – 4:25 per kilometre pace for an undulating dirt course.

My taper is having one good effect. Any niggling soreness has gone from my legs and joints. I have my fingers crossed that this flat lethargy I’m feeling goes by Saturday. I’m really looking forward to the run and catching up with other CoolRunners. In Kate’s words, I hope we’re all running up that hill with no problems!

Making molehills into mountains

By this time next week it will all be over for another year. How will I be feeling? Shattered? Satisfied? Thinking about next year’s run already? I’ll let you all know a few days later!

This morning we three 6-footers ran our last ‘long’ run together. It was a measly 16.3k lap around Mount Ainslie. Almost billiard table flat compared to previous Saturday morning runs. We just chatted all the way while running comfortably which turned out to be 5:55 per kilometre. Carol got a bit frisky one time when we were passed by a female runner – she is so competitive! It’s easy to see how she managed to run an incredible 189 kilometres in 24 hours. Steve’s achilles' were still playing up which he put down to recent unaccustomed speedwork and track racing.

The run was very enjoyable and for once when I got home I didn't want to crawl into my wombat hole and sleep for 2 hours – funny that. I was curious about comparing the run we did last Saturday with the 6 foot track and the famous Quarry Road course. I got the profile of the 6 foot from the website and overlayed my GPS data from last Saturday and Action’s 3 lap profile of Quarry Road. The same elevations are used on all three profiles and they are all at the same scale. This the result:



What it shows is that the hills at 6 foot are bloody long and bloody big! Our run up Mt Majura last Sunday was similar to the run up to the Mini-Mini Saddle on the 6 foot track. I’m thinking that next year we need to throw in another run over Mount Majura to get something vaguely similar to the difficulty of the 6 foot.

Anyway, it’s too late to do anything about it now! The training’s done and I can enjoy a guilty week of tapering.

Mark & Carol & Steve & Ewen

Yesterday I ran my last long run in preparation for the 2005 Six Foot Track Marathon (a 45 kilometre undulating trail run through beautiful bushland in the Blue Mountains of NSW, Australia).

We started as a large group leaving from Molonglo Reach at 7:08am. This group is the ‘Cotter Group’ which runs in the Mt Ainslie/Majura nature parks during summer as there is no shade at the Cotter following the bushfires of 2003.

After our lap of Duntroon we turned towards Campbell Park and were just climbing through the gate when a silver car screeches to a halt. It was Carol running late after sleeping in. After a quick shoe-lace and water-bottle adjustment we continued on into the bush.

Steve had planned our route and the first test was the ‘up’ version of the rollercoaster. Only five of us sat the examination while the rest of the group turned left to run around the base of Mt Ainslie. The gang of five ran up for quite a while then down, then up, then down, then up. After 32 minutes Chris turned back as he only had time for an hours’ run. We were down to the gang of four – Mark & Carol & Steve & Ewen.

I had the Forerunner set to record altitude. We started at 580m above sea level at Molonglo and the high bits of the rollercoaster were about 700m so we’d climbed 120m since the start. We turned left and ran down towards Stu’s place in Hackett. Then after a flattish section we aimed skyward up the zigzag trail to the summit of Mt Majura.

At the start of this section the altitude was 636m and at the survey point on Majura 899m so we had climbed 263 metres. On the climb Mark ran all the way out in front followed by Carol and Steve with me observing proceedings from a safe distance. Carol did do some walking but not much. No wonder she is such an outstanding Ultra competitor with some great results at the Gosford 12 Hour. She climbed that mountain like it was a mere speed bump on the trail. I walked on the steeper bits and didn’t lose much distance (maybe 50 metres) to Steve who was running.

We ran down to the pine forest (632m altitude) then some rocky undulations before tackling Mt Ainslie from the reverse direction of the Two Peaks course. On this climb Carol was out in front, me following with Mark and Steve chatting at the back. Steve ran 4:27:19 in last year’s Six Foot but isn’t sure of his current form after a big Ultra racing year which included the 60km Kepler Challenge in New Zealand.

At the summit of Mt Ainslie we had a short stretch break and a drink from the tap. The Forerunner said the altitude of Ainslie was 849 metres. We then ran down the zigzag walking track with Carol practising her downhill technique which she sees as a weakness needing improving. We were overtaken by a flying Tim Sawkins who ran 4:23:34 in last year’s Six Foot.

Then it was just the easy run home. We ran a lap of Campbell Park so the time at the finish would be close to three hours. Back at the cars I ran another 2km on the bike path as I’m a pedantic bastard and wanted to see 30km in the diary. My slowest kilometre during the run was 8:48 and the fastest 4:57. I was out for a tad over 3 hours 8 minutes at an average speed of 6:16/km.

I was very pleased with how I handled this run. Especially running more or less ‘with’ such experienced Ultra runners as Steve and Carol. I tested my new four bottle Fuel Belt which was fantastic. I’ll definitely use it in the Six Foot.

I also carried in my hand a bottle of Thorpedo ‘Advanced Hydration Ultra Low GI Energy Water’. This I drank from the start to the summit of Majura and may be one reason why I felt so good for the rest of the run. I also carried a vegemite sandwich, jellybeans and a GU gel.

I’m very happy with my preparation and just hope that the pay-off is an enjoyable Six Foot on March 12 taking something less than six hours. See you at the Explorers’ Marked Tree!

One Perfect Day...

I'll be out running… Something is calling me…

As I was running last Wednesday I kept thinking to myself 'this is why I run'. I had started in the late afternoon to run with Graeme's group on their usual 9km loop out to Weston Park. There were only four of us ― Graeme, Chris, Elizabeth and myself as we started out on the lovely secluded bush run up over the ridge of Stirling Hills. We could have been on any bush track in Australia yet we were less than 5 kilometres from the city centre.

We arrived back at Lotus Bay and after a short chat I continued on alone as I’d planned to run 20 kilometres or more that day. I ran over Commonwealth Bridge then turned east on the gravel path by the lake’s edge. One or two people were still picnicking on the grass; some were walking and a few running.

I ran under Kings Avenue Bridge and suddenly found myself far away from the maddening crowds. The calm dry afternoon heat was an hour behind me, now replaced by a zephyr of a coolness which rippled the lake. A pair of black swans on the water seemed so content with life. The sun was setting low behind my right shoulder. The cool easterly breeze invited me to run on while the final warm rays of sunshine on the right side of my face bid me farewell.

I could have run on and on, past Duntroon and even to the Wetlands but eventually turned at the Boathouse and ran back into the twilight. Only a distance runner could enjoy this experience. It was a gorgeous, perfect day.

Risking a Landslide

On Saturday I had a feeling of trepidation on waking as I wanted to run for four hours. This would by two thirds of the time I’d need to complete the 6 foot track run.

The first 4.8 kilometres took the group to where the walking track comes up from the War Memorial. Some decided to do a shorter run while Steve, Mark, Chris, Carol Baird and I headed off up the zigzag track to the summit of Mount Ainslie.

Then it was down the steep rocky track to the power lines where we chatted to Carol Harding who was walking (recovering from a nasty knee infection). Steve then took us over every possible hill for the rest of the run. Including the rocky Trent’s grave hill, the Mountain Champs monster where you risked causing a landslide if you disturbed the wrong rock, down the zigzag, up to the saddle then the undulating track high above Campbell Park.

We had covered 22 kilometres when we arrived back at Molonglo. The others decided to start their picnic as they were running Mount Tennant the next day. I had a major mental struggle deciding to continue with my planned run around the east and central basins of the lake.

After a few minutes shuffling I was OK and for this flat section ran about six minute per km pace until 30 kilometres ticked over on the Forerunner. It was now quite warm, probably 26 degrees and despite having drunk 3 water-bottles I wasn’t feeling that great. When we’d started at 7am it was 17 degrees and overcast. I decided to ‘race-walk’ the last 5km back to the car. This worked well although the pace per kilometre was only about 8:40. The average pace per kilometre was 6:46 for the 35.2 kilometres.

I was very happy to arrive back at the car feeling tired but otherwise OK. Took off the shoes and treated the legs to about 10 minutes of cool lake water. Beautiful!

I was a little confused by this training run. The 6 foot track is 45 kilometres with not so many uphills in the first 15k but a monster long hill in the middle. I felt like I could have walked another 10k over rough ground in 2 hours which would be 45k in less than 6 hours. I shouldn’t think about it too much! We’ll see on the day.

Like a river that don't know where it's flowing...

I took a wrong turn and I just kept going...
Distance running, like my mate Mal once said, 'is not meant to be easy'. To run personal bests and achieve goals requires hard work. You have to ‘just love running’ because you’ll do a lot of it. If you race and want to be ‘successful’ then distance running also requires a certain amount of selfishness.

For the last 12 years or so I’ve been less than self-obsessed with my own running. What happened? In brief, this is the story... I was running on the dirt around the back of Theodore one day and bumped into Mike. He was with a group of young runners who were stretching and getting ready to run a hill session. We chatted and Mike invited me to join them down at the Calwell track on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

For the first year or more I would join in with the kids and do the same drills, hill repeats and interval sessions. Gradually I became more interested in how the kids were running and the incredible success at both state and national level they were achieving. During the sessions I enjoyed just talking to Mike as well as listening to his jokes and providing feedback for his occasional sermons. I also loved holding a stop watch, supervising drills or taking some of the group for long runs on freezing, bleak, late-winter afternoons.

In recent years I’ve revived a little selfishness. I’m still at the track on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I still discuss training with Mike, run with the kids and help out but I’ve also been doing my own training, thinking about it more and working out what I need to do to achieve some modest goals. I started doing marathon-training long runs with Garry on Sundays and more recently, since Garry’s break from running, with Steve on Saturdays.

A big difference this year is my lack of racing. Since the year dot I’ve been a racer, for I love racing. I would race to the detriment of training, trying to have an easy or rest day on the Friday before a race on Saturday. I would run two or three events on the track at Interclub. I regularly ran two track sessions a week just because I loved the thrill of running fast.

Recently I’ve been reading Mister G’s blog and was impressed at how he’d identified a weakness in his running (lack of short distance speed) and had worked out a plan to remedy this weakness. My weakness is that I’ve forgotten how to run long distance.

For the first half of 2005 I’ve decided to do some serious distance runs ― especially the Wednesday and Saturday long runs. I want to do these without the distraction of racing. I don’t want to run a ‘dead-legged’ race the day after a long run. I’m hoping a side-effect of my serious long runs will be an easier day out at the Six Foot Track.

Today I ran my longest training run in ages. It was 34.5 kilometres which included running all the way to the summit of Mount Majura. Unlike last Saturday I didn’t get dehydrated. It was quite humid with a temperature of 16 degrees at the start rising to about 22 at the finish. I carried two 500ml water bottles (one containing ‘whatever-ade’), a Gu gel, some jelly beans and a vegemite sandwich.

Unfortunately Steve had been feeling off-colour this week and only wanted to run short so I ran the Mt Majura loop with Chris and Mark. We saw Carinna running with a friend near the grave of Trent North. At the summit of Majura I had my vegemite sandwich with some jelly beans for desert. What a view! We looked way down below at the miniscule hill of North Lyneham Ridge where I attend ‘run school’ on Mondays.

The rest of the run back to Molonglo went well except that Chris and Mark were getting away on the downhills. I was keen to run slowly thus extending the time on my feet. My fastest kilometre was a 5:31 following them down the hill off the Ainslie saddle. The slowest was earlier on ― an 8:19 running up through the bush past the Vineyards towards Majura.

After 25 kilometres I topped up my water bottles at Molonglo, bid farewell to the picnickers and trotted off on my solo lap of East Basin. I went through a ‘bad patch’ at 28 kilometres but then came good. For the last 3k I practised my ‘Cliffy-shuffle’ which the 201 said was 6:05-6:09/km pace.

Back at Molonglo after 3 hours 38 minutes I felt amazingly well and seriously thought about shuffling further, however the cool water of the river was beckoning. I took off my shoes and walked thigh-deep into the water. How good was that!

I thought to myself ― ‘This is one river that knows where it’s flowing’.

A bike passes our car on the way to Phillip Island - 2004

Yesterday was not easy!

I thought I'd expand a bit on what I said yesterday in my real blog. I ran alone as Steve was busy. I wanted to run for longer than 3 hours but also had to be out at the track at 2pm to help Gerard with the hurdles at the A-series. I got away a bit after 9.30 and it was pleasantly cool.

I ran up the dirt track by the highway towards Gilmore with the intention of running to Isaacs. Without company I started running too quickly - don't you hate that! When the track flattened out I ran a 4:56k which was a bit scarey as we usually start closer to 6:00's. I ran around the back of Macarthur wanting to pick up the Mt Wanniassa saddle track. I had to bush-bash a bit through long grass and over rocks (walking) and saw a fox and three kangaroos.

The run through the pines at the back of Isaacs was delightful. Yobes Ondieki used to run intervals on this lovely bit of flat shaded dirt. I ran a loop down through O'Malley after 90 minutes when the GPS said 16k. By about 19k I'd drunk 2/3 of my 500ml bottle of Gatorade. Running back up across Mt Wanniassa I stopped to admire the view down over Fadden towards the Brindy's, consumed a Gu and finished the water bottle as I only had about 9k to run.

Now, just the downhill run by the highway - 5k to go and I'd have run 31k. By the time I got to the outskirts of Theodore I was suddenly very tired. Walked a bit. The GPS said 29k so I decided to short-cut, stop at 30k and walk home. That last flat 1k took me 6:17. I was knackered. I stopped at the shop and bought a big bottle of Coke. Drank half of it and then took 8 minutes to walk the last 500m home!

I collapsed on the couch and slept for 40 minutes. Dragged myself into the shower and after drinking the rest of the Coke started to feel a little better. I wasn't sure what to make of the run - I felt better at the end of last year's 6 foot track. Finally arrived at the track 40 minutes late just as the Vets 800m was finishing.

I've found a use for this blog

I've figured out how it all works. This leaves a blog sitting here gathering dust. I've decided to use it to expand on the thoughts I have while running. I'll write without the constraint of fitting a training day on two lines.

Most of the time it will be about running which I know is boring to some people. My friend Joy says: "Why to you run? You're always falling asleep. You're not getting any younger." Perhaps my words here will eventually explain why I run. There may be a few non-running thoughts which some people like to read. Why they would, I don't know.

When I'm happy with the page layout I'll announce this blog on CoolRunning. Good afternoon! I've got to go out into the cold and run.