Post 6 Foot 2014

6 Foot Track Marathon 2014

NSWIB team photo.

Yesterday was my 2^nd outing in Australia’s biggest and most prestigious trail marathon the 6 Foot Track Marathon.  In 2014 I felt I was ready on many different levels that I had not been in 2013.  I had experienced it all before, the atmosphere, the build up, the track, the ups and downs and this had given me an idea of how I would stack up based on my training and form leading into the event.  I had set a goal of 3:55-59, originally I was thinking low 3:50’s even sub 3:50 but I needed to change that based on where my fitness was at, I am a believer in setting tough yet achievable goals, rather than hopes or dreams.

Just before the start, plenty of quick guys there!

And we are off and away, careful does it this year for me.

I had a plan, not to stress or worry, I didn’t even do a race plan, no elevation review, course notes or mental prep, just turn up on race day run to how I felt and how I wanted to perform.  I have rules in long races over 30km, don’t race until the end, run to my ability, finish and back myself in tough times as they will pass.  This was applied in 6 Foot by taking it easy down to river, building into the climbs and pushing on when I felt good in the closing stages.  I tried not to race early, letting people go and avoiding the serious race mindset by trying to chat to those around me and taking in the race, as the views and trails are awesome and the support on the course is excellent.

The trip to the top of Pluvio was uneventful.  I ran within myself, I did lead with my right leg too much and had to nurse it a little as some pain developed in the hip, but mostly I was trying to be sociable and enjoy the run.  I hit the river in 70 and the King of the Mountain split was 68 so I was doing well and feeling strong.  I only walked maybe 500-700m all up on the climb and this was fairly quick as I have been training my hike in prep for The Buffalo Stampede next month. I was happy that I didn’t post an 8min km split all run!

When I hit the timing mat at Pluvio I was 2:18 into the run with 19km to go, I knew a 1:42 would see me into goal time, I also knew how tough I had done it at this point last year.  I ran off strongly early on the “Black Range”, then I slowed and had a moment, this passed and I was feeling ok coming into the Deviation.  From here I went away from the guys I had been running around on the Range, Chris Turnbull had got out of sight just after Pluvio but I was now bringing him back and when I hit the road crossing I was ready get going.

Megalong Rd - feeling good enjoying the run.

It was here that I saw my bright orange X-Talon 190’s flash in front of my face! Yes I was horizontal about a metre in the air about to come crashing down on the slippery wooden bridge I foolishly had just tried to run across.  Ouch, I got up and had a laugh and took off after Chris once again.  I closed in on Chris and passed him with a sense that I was going to be able to bomb into the Caves in around 3:58/9.  I just felt good so I let loose with about 5km to run, I opened my stride up and lent into the descent coming into the final few turns at 100 mile and hour.

The finish, PB and 26th.

When I could see the finish I knew I had my “A” goal and really enjoyed the moment.  I hit the line in 3:56:14, 26^th male home and 27^th overall.  I was greeted by Kel, who had missed this year due to injury.  It was a rewarding feeling to finish off a race as planned and a real confidence (and hopefully fitness) boost before Buffalo in April.

The time was a nice reward.

The atmosphere at the end is amazing, all the runners get a mighty cheer on their journey to the finish and it was great to share stories and times with all those around.  The NSWIB crew had a top day out, both men’s and women’s wins, all team prizes and a podium to boot.  There were pb’s everywhere and it was great to see good mate Mark Lee run an elite level 3:37. As it turned out I came second in the Platinum Beer Bet Group, Kyle Hendry ran a super quick 3:59 to smash his 4:10 handicap and previous pb by a mile.  Other runs that stood out were Amadaus Gladback in 3:41, Paul Twohill who ran 4:20, Alex Matthews who after a typicl slow start ran home so so fast in 3:28 for 3rd and obviously Dave winning in 3:25, not bad for a bloke who only decided to run mid last week!

Post race with Mark Lee, he ran 3:37!

Anyway it is now 4 weeks and counting till the big one.  I am going to have a big 10 days from Tuesday and then it will be taper time.  I am nervously awaiting this one, but my confidence is high that my plan to peak will come off over the April/May period, only time will tell.

Gear/Nutrition

- Inov8 X-Talon 190 Orange

- Hammer Nutrition Race Ready Singlet

- NSWIB Headsweats Visor

- Ultra Aspire Spry Pack- best thing I did all day, organised and hydrated the entire race, as well as good practice with a pack for Buffalo/TNF.  I was also first home with a pack ;)

- Garmin Forerunner 610

- Hammer Nutrition - Gels: 2.5 espresso in flask and 2 raspberry packets (rubbish stored in pocket of spry) Endrolytes 1 x 40min for first 2.5hrs and then 1 x 20min afterwards (to avoid cramp)

- Water between 900 - 1200ml for the race plus 2/3 cups of coke.

- Recoverite after, then a beer or two!

- Race Splits 

Finish        River        Pluvio     Black Range

3:56:14

1:10:13

1:08:06

1:37:55

School is Back - Summer Training Block Review

Count:	55 Activities
Distance:	637.14 km
Time:	56:58:50 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:	13,486 m
Calories:	42,862 C
Avg Speed:	11.2 km/h
Avg HR:	144 bpm
Avg Distance:	11.58 km
Avg Time:	1:02:10 h:m:s
Avg Elevation Gain:	254 m

I went into the Summer holidays freshly cleared to return to training, all be it a gradual return to trail, but I could follow my normal program so to speak.  I had to be mindful of technical trail and monitor my ankle and how it responded to an increased training load.

I went into the period not trying to catch up on lost ground, I was still in position to build for April/May I just had to sacrifice a few races due to my lack of conditioning.  So the focus was to be on endurance, building my strength and development of technique. I was going to include lots of doubles as this would allow me to ease back into training and to focus on the family as well.

Another lap down

Training was good, I had only a few bad sessions and my last couple of weeks were good quality, I was happy with my legs progress and I was starting to run a little quicker, not super fast but there was noticeable improvement.  I have really been focusing on my pace control and the 2 races I contested were purely about finding a comfortable pace and holding it.  

The STS was a good test and I stayed at it throughout the race, sitting just below threshold finishing off well and sneaking onto the podium. This course was certainly a challenge and went a long way to building my confidence on technical trail at pace, particularly on descents.  All in all it was a positive trip to Manly and a race I took a bit out of to put into my training.

Sitting in behind Az (2nd overall) early days

About 3hrs in the middle was my best period

The hard rocky ground required loads
of concentration

Knapsack was a whole new beast, a 5k loop for 6 hours, in what could have been a stinking hot day.  It wasn't hot, rather cool, but still muggy, the loop however was the same and I was aiming to run for the 6 hours.  I started ok, slower than the front runners and after 3 or 4 laps found myself in a comfy spot just ticking over the laps at around 27min a pop.  I had to stop too much, my socks were causing a hot spot, refilling my bottle, etc. I took way too much advantage of the transition area and after a toilet stop on lap 7 I think I had given 10min already.  Laps 8 and 9 were solid but from 45km it became a challenge, Laps 10,11 and 12 slowed somewhat and I was happy to finish the 6hrs completely oblivious to the race that was unfolding around me.  I knew Matty had pulled and Marcus dropped at 3hrs but I seriously had no idea of where I was placed, I had been passed by Az (2nd overall) but didn't see anyone else other than the odd 6S on the back of runners legs.  I was treating this as a long run and really I probably should had got a 13th lap in but I just couldn't shake it along to get there before the 6hrs were up.  In the end I ran 12 laps (13 for NSWIB's total) and came 4th male, with all my stopping I figured I probably gave up between 10-15min and learnt a fair bit about lap racing and not taking advantage of having a cool drink and chance to stop every lap.

Kel had teamed up with Andrew and Alix, to form AKA in the 6hrs Teams event.  Coming back from injury it was the best plan to ease a longer day of k's into her legs.  All up they totalled 12 laps and beat me by a few minutes, coming in 3rd team overall.  Kel ran 4 laps with a even spread of times and will take confidence and fitness from the run.  All is now progressing for her to run well at 6 Foot and perform strongly in Buffalo and TNF50, hopefully her injury woes are in the past now.

Sky Camp was awesome, I wrote a blog on my experience at Bright earlier in the year.  But just quickly I learnt so much that is being incorporated into my training in the lead up to this event, the Buffalo Stampede Ultra. Hopefully we are able to get back down there in February with a bit of luck to run the course again.

So there it is, a pretty solid little period with a few good results and some valuable sessions offering much in terms of feedback and progress. The next few weeks will be high km weeks with an introduction of a sub-treshold run and weekly interval session building towards the high end sharpening required in the lead up to Buffalo and TNF100.  6 Foot will be a big race but my best time won't be achieved, I haven't been able to knock out enough 30km runs at a good pace and have not done the work on my anaerobic fitness that is required. I will be happy with a PB and am aiming for a sub 4hr time getting as close to 3:50 as possible. 

Photo Credit - Jo Brischetto, Darren MeClennan & Stefica Key