Mt Solitary 25km

http://runkeeper.com/user/adrianmiles/activity/33022060

3:05:25

4th male finisher (from 44 starters)
6th overall (from 63 starters)

Easter Sunday, the 24th, was a beautiful sunny autumn day. When I went out for a run I thought to myself - if the weather stays like this tomorrow will be a great day. Later that night I saw that the forecast for the Blue Mountains was to be 10-15 degrees with showers. This threw me a little. It meant that I would have to have some wet weather gear and something to carry it in. I have had a North Face backpack for a few years but don't think I have ever used it running. Originally I was hoping just to use my imitation camelbak and stuff my phone, bandage and gels into the two minute pockets. That weighs about 2kg. Once I sorted my back pack with bladder, gels, phone and jacket it weighed in closer to 5kg. Well, maybe it wouldn't rain and I could stick to the plan.

Start at Old Queen Victoria Hospital, Wentworth Falls

I woke at 4am Anzac Day to the sound of torrential rain. Guess I'll be running with jacket and pack. Left around five and listened to the dawn services on the radio whilst driving through the rain up the highway. Arrived at Wentworth Falls around 6:15. I've been reading 'Fixing your feet' and its primary message is to not let your feet get wet. So as soon as I stepped out on to the wet grass I could feel the water through my shoes immediately. I had packed a spare pair of Injinji toe socks to change into if needed during the run and hoped I wouldn't blister too quickly.

Got registered and got my nifty Mt Solitary Ultra shirt and then stood in the rain and fog for 40mins waiting for the start. The organisation at the Running Wild events has been great, really quick to get registered and sorted out. They've put on a great series of races and deserve to be congratulated. At 7am the last post was played by a bugler and after a minutes silence we set off down the road.

At first I was running in my gore-tex North Face jacket and within 20mins I was starting to feel really warm. I stupidly had attached my race number to the front of my jacket which meant that when I wanted to take it off I had to undo the safety pins and then re-attach it. Rookie error. The first 8km or so of the 25km course was all pretty much downhill until we hit a creek. Along the way I had passed a few people going downhill which I found unusual because the last race everyone was passing me on the downhills. I was trying to be much more controlled in my descents. Then a quick pee stop and those same people caught up. Got away from them and stopped at the creek as I needed to get a gel out (so it must have been about 40min in) and I was thinking this was the worst scenario because there was no way of getting through the water without getting soaked feet. Oh well, see how we go. If I start hurting I'll change my socks. Surprisingly, I had no issues with my feet the entire race.

Fire Trail I had just come up

I think we must have started the uphill part of the course. I was power walking but also trying to run sections where I could. I felt quite good and had a gel at about 50min mark and was still passing people occasionally. Came down to another creek crossing and someone had caught up to me we started having a bit of a chat which not only slowed me, but my body temperature started to drop as well. Had a talk with a couple of guys about the Six Foot Track and then we hit the 13km aid station. (Around 1:25 I think) Had a glass of coke and some lollies, but didn't think it was that necessary as I felt pretty good. At this point I ditched the guys I was talking with and caught up to a few more people. Saw a girl duck behind a big rock, when I looked down there I saw her peeing.... standing up!!

Was pretty much on my own after that for a while. As I had the phone I took a few photos. It was a shame it was so foggy because every now and then I could get a glimpse of some enormous mountains and valleys.

For a while I thought we must have just been going to follow fire trails but then we came to this clearing where the wide track ended and a single, technical and muddy trail began. This was where it started getting fun. Caught and passed another runner along here. It was nice to see someone because it had been a while. Quite often had to slow to a walk along here.

Single Trail

My memory is a bit hazy but it felt like I was on this bit of trail for a while. Eventually I caught up to another runner whom I tailed for a while as he was travelling at pretty much the same pace. Around the Scenic Railway I passed him and hit more single trail madness before hitting a section of track which was complete mountain goat territory. Had to use hands to manoeuvre. I stopped here to take a quick photo, which meant taking my bag off to get my phone out. the runner behind caught me here and, despite taking a picture of me (which didn't turn out), scurried off quickly and it was a while before I saw him again.

From the landslide

Eventually got past the rocks and onto more single, easier, trail. A hiker coming the opposite way told me it was about 4km to go. Watch said 2:25 I think and I ran easily along some trails until catching up with the runner who passed me back on the rocks. I ran behind him until we hit the bottom of the golden stairs where he allowed me to pass. This was nightmarish. After running probably 24km we hit these crazy steep stairs that absolutely burned my muscles. Once or twice I felt like I was going to go down backwards as I had jelly legs. I had to let the runner behind pass me. Kept climbing for what seemed a long time before hitting a semi flat and jogging on to the finish.

Running Wild hospitality

800m is an estimated 30min walk

Awesome little post which was serving as an aid station for the ultra runners where I was given some baked potato, orange drink and quiche. Turns out I was the 4th male finisher as well, which might reflect that the quality was mostly concentrated in the 45km race. But I'll still take it! I felt much, much better than any of the previous trail races I've done. Hopefully the fitness levels are starting to get better.

This is a really great course and I'm looking forward to doing it when its dry and clear.

Elevation profile

Check out these fantastic shots taken by coolrunner sammo72. They tell you why I love running up there far more than my words can express.

Bedford Creek 18km

http://runkeeper.com/user/adrianmiles/activity/27005830

2:09:45
Avg Pace: 7:05min/km

Fairly early on and still happy. 

What a day out up the Blue Mountains. Woke up at 4:45am to leave Ashfield at 5:30am and arrived at Ingar Camp, Wentworth Falls around 7am. Its pretty much all highway up to the Falls, but then a 10km fire trail down to the camp ground which was slow going. I was surprised when some light rain started falling. The views from Tablelands Rd were amazing. Got sorted and the race kicked off at 7:45am. The race director in describing the course for those of who hadn't been there before said, "It's not flat."

Bedford Creek Elevation

And 'not flat' was right. We started on a 500m ascent so I was already hammered in the first few minutes. By the time I got to the first descent I would have had my heart rate up around 85-90%. That was followed by a steep 1.8km downhill which was smashing my quads, I found the downhills quite difficult, people were scooting past me while I was trying not to fall on my ass. We soon hit Bedford Creek where there was a few rocks to step on and get across - I saw someone put their foot in the water and I thought how much I did not want to do that, running with a wet shoe would suck. Then uphill, I must have started power walking the hills around here pretty much straight away. There's no point in trying to run up them (for me) because its just going to destroy me - my heart rate was high enough just walking. I don't know if the winners run the hills, but it seems insane if they do.

Coming back. Those two guys behind me caught and passed me on the downhills.

I lost a lot of pace on the downhills. I could feel my shins, quads and ITB just burning. Its something I need to work on a lot, I felt like I was going to fall over so felt like I was braking too much which was putting all the extra pressure on my legs. I mostly got passed (mostly) on the downhills.

Around the 5km mark we hit some beautiful, but slow going single trail stuff. I really like the single trail, (Turpentine walking track) but its quite slow for me. A lot of the time I couldn't see where my feet were landing and it got pretty steep in one section. Coming back down through there was tough and the guy in front of me who'd I just spent the last 15mins trying to catch up to disappeared through here and was not to be seen until the finish.

It was a tough, very hilly run. Towards the end I was doing the 'run to this marker, rest, run to the next point' strategy. Beautiful part of the world and would love to get up there to train more often. Some great views down into the valley, although its hard to enjoy when you feel like you're lungs are on fire. It rained on and off throughout the morning, quite a bit towards the end - but I barely even noticed or cared!

Running Wild have put on a great series of races, I just wish I could have gotten into a few more. The Mt Solitary 25km in April is my next trail run, so I'm really going to need to find some big hills before then.

Blue Mountains National Park. Awesome.

Google earth. You can see the track we followed.

20km Trail Run

http://runkeeper.com/user/adrianmiles/activity/25211051

2:04:29
Avg Pace: 6:14km/min

Entry to Wollemi National Park, East Kurrajong

Run up the road from my parents in the Wollemi National Park. Run is downhill for about 25mins before having to cross Wheeny Creek and then about another 25mins of uphill running. I got a bit freaked out by the initial descent and misjudged how long it would take me to get back up the hill. I had planned to do an hour out and an hour back, but turned back at the 50min point. Came back down the hill about 5mins quicker than when I went up. Had a nice climb of about 150m over 2km coming back and took a little detour down a fire trail before getting myself scared that I'd get lost out in the bush! Got back to the car in about 1:40 so turned around and headed back for another 25minutes.

Good to hit some decent hills for a change. No traffic, no other runners! Ran in the Lunars which seemed fine mostly. Few blisters, but nothing major. Saw a nice burning, bright orange sunrise through the trees, but then the weather just settled into an overcast humid morning. Some nice views out over the National Park which stretches on and on.

View out over the valley

Glenbrook Trail 25km

2:41.30

15th out of 39, 11th male finisher.

Mentally challenging as much as anything else, today was a great experience and I've finished up the year on a reasonably high note. Was excited to be running with Big Robbie Downton, the biggest guy there, and dressed in pink too.

Big Pink

This was a great run, a good mix of fire trails and single track, and a run where I was able to actually keep running for the majority. There was one very steep "Woodford" type hill which was power walked up, and a couple of sections of single track that got congested and not great for running on anyway.

One of the guys behind me told us we hit 10km at 1:06 at which stage I was thinking I was doing ok, I felt pretty good. We were at the bottom of the valley at this point and I was thinking to myself about whether there was going to be any huge hills to come. Very shortly after we started climbing, and soon I was powerwalking, jogging, walking. I think i had a gel at about 1:15.

The HR just shoots up going uphill and it's really hard work. I passed a couple of people and they would then pass me. At the top of the single trail was an aid station that was really busy and I decided to keep going past, which may have been a bad idea because all those people who were getting drinks passed me not too long after.

I just remember this hill that went on and on, I really considered walking here - but the hill wasn't super steep, it just never seemed to end. Added to that I was getting passed continuously which was grinding me down. Eventually I got to another aid station where I sucked down one of the finest tasting gatorades I have ever had in my life, and thanked myself for not choosing to do the 34km. I took off downhill/flat whereas the 34km/42km guys had more of a hill to contend with.

200m climb from 11km to 14km

Again this was another grind where I just had to keep my legs turning over, my feet were really starting to feel hot, my big toes in particular. Another aid station and I asked how long I had to go; 4.5km, I said that that was about all I needed. At this stage I was running on my own, the guy in front had gotten away from me and I just had to keep the legs moving. About 35mins later I got to the clearing where we had started and had a huge feeling of relief. Coming down the hill there was a school/uni group tour thing who gave me a cheer as I came running past and I put my hands up all victorious. Crossed the finish line to a bit of a clap from the organisers and other people who were waiting. Looked at my watch and saw 2:41, grabbed a Fanta, looked up and saw Rob sitting there too! WTF? Turns out his calves were shot, damn Crossfitters think doing wod's the day before a long run is a good idea.

Good fun and will need to get up there for some training runs. Anyone else?

When I was still smiling

Woodford Dam 19km

Driving up at 6:30

Beautiful area to go running, mostly fire trails with a bit of single trail and some tarmac. Some of the most insane hills I've ever had to get up and down.

Woodford Elevation!

The climbs really worked the heart and the downhills felt a bit unsteady and put a fair bit of pressure on the ITB. Briskly walked up most of the hills, - if anyone ran the hills I'd be blown away. I just can't describe the hills until you see them!

I think a lot of the guys running this are ultra runners, people who put in 100km+ weeks without any dramas, whereas for me this was a long run, with the added bonus of super hills! Had to pee at about 20min in where I lost about 5 places, and on the way back missed a turn off which added about 4mins or so to the run I think. Sucked in a way because I had my eyes on trying to catch the guy in front, think I lost a few places as well. Not to worry.

Run Time: 2:04:29, 45th overall.

Great place to run, looking forward to Glenbrook now.

Running out there, somewhere.

If you look really hard that's Pukie on the back of that guys shirt.

Doin' it tough