Go Hard

The second race in Salomon Trail Series varied a bit from expected. First up I had been looking forward to the two river crossing across Plenty River. However, the water level had been rising pretty much weekly for the last couple of months. Changing from some simple rock hopping where you could keep your feet dry to thigh deep last Saturday as in the video below. Plenty of rain this week saw the water level rise to chest deep with a strong fast flow. Too dangerous to send 1100 runners of various abilities across. So the coursefile://localhost/Applications/Utilities/DigitalColor%20Meter.app/ had to change. A description of the change is best quoted from the Rapid Ascent site: The new courses will still start and finish at the Yellow Gum Park with short course runners completing a single, 6.9km lap through the park, and long course runners completing 2 laps (minus a bit) to end up with a 13.4km course. We believe the new courses are of a similar quality and style to the orig...

First race since I started the program for the 100km. So I've had 5x8-day weeks of base training. The training has been going well, and I know my general fitness is good. Yet there is a big difference between training fitness versus racing fitness. I was curious to see what I could pull off for a 10.8km trail event. Details here . The weather was perfect. Cool and sunny. With all the recent wet weather there was a lot more mud on the course this year. Enough to add time on the clock. How much is up for argument, but I'll suggest between 30-60 seconds depending on technical running skill. Last year I wore my Brooks T7 Racers which always feel fast, but they were destroyed by the terrain. Clearly made for the bitumen. This time around I opted for my Brooks Cascadia which don't have that go fast feel, but are built to withstand the course and have that extra grip for the mud. The plan was to not go out ridiculously fast like last time. Just run out at what feels like ...

Felt good right at the start of week. Typically the 1st day involves running to and from work, but the plans changed this week. Other commitments meant I couldn't run home so I fitted all the running in before my 0630 work start. An aerobic run with a few strides and sprints at the track had me firing for the rest of the day. In contrast to the very early start, the second day had me running late in the evening. Back into the hill springing. By far my best session. The exaggerated range of motion felt natural. I had good power each stride. The combination made for some relatively quick ascending. Maybe it was difference of running in the evening instead of the morning, but I do think I am just getting better on the hills. And on the third day I was up early in the morning to get my mid-long run in. The legs were tired and fairly sore throughout the run, and to be honest I just didn't want to be out there. However, I forced back all the excuses and kept the legs moving. Tha...