26km Long Run

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/294214813

Distance:	26.00 km
Time:	2:14:05
Avg Pace:	5:10 min/km
Elevation Gain:	301 m

Strange run, about 55min drive from here. Started at the old Zig Zag railway. Was a bit concerned about possible 4WD and dirt bike traffic because there was just tonnes of tyre marks, and a fair bit of rubbish (the worst was at the camp site, which I'd heard about). Place just had a bit of a hillbilly 4WD'er vibe about it.

Had about 10km of dirt road, some of it a little too rough and uneven for what I'd hoped for, before finally coming across some nice pine forest. Once I hit the pines I felt much more relaxed - maybe a throwback to my european ancestry, but there's something about the pines.

Legs were bad from the start and now the calf/achilles is absolutely trashed. Got some pain in the hammie too which is a new one. Prob get some acupuncture again tomorrow. I think it might be a bit of a recovery week this week. Strange, because I felt really good yesterday morning but now have gone two steps back.

The bikes and 4WD'ers obviously don't like an early start because it wasn't until I was almost back at the car at 9am that they all started appearing. Only saw a couple of cars (and some massive trucks) for most of the run and then saw about 25 vehicles in the last 5k.

If I go back I'll try and do most of the run through the pines, but getting there is another 10-15mins. The advantage is that its all pretty much run above 1100m which is about 200m higher than Katoomba and its on dirt. Not sure if it has any effect (the dirt or the 'altitude'), even though this says the O2 would be about 88% of what would be available at sea level.

Newnes State Forest

Weekly Totals

Running: 86.07km (7:18:01) (884m elevation gain)