Training Log Archive: Craney

Most of a 3hr rogaine with Rob and Jim. Died a bit and had to walk back.

Big Hole and Marble Arch with Gracie. Lovely.

Pinnacle.

Gravel road race amongst a load of great big wind turbines near Bungendore, hence the name. A few of the big boys turned out with the allure of some $$$ on offer. Quite a fun course with 2 turnarounds and some fairly mean climbs. We all set off too fast, towed along by Marty. Sure enough on the long climb from 2.5-6km people cracked one by one, so I gradually pulled my way up to 4th by the finish.

Had to go into work in the morning and lacked motivation by the afternoon.

Ran with Lukas from Red Hill, under Hindmarsh, round the back of Mugga, through Callum Brae and back. Good to run with company and have a bit of a natter for a change.

Fairly gentle run around Red Hill and Davidson Trig area bumping into Gracie every so often. Saw a shining bronze-cuckoo, which was nice.

At Farrer Ridge. Nice area to run round pretty much completely unimpeded by nasty things like hills, vegetation, rocks, difficult controls etc. That, coupled with knowing I was up against Shep and Rob, meant that I ran like buggery and was completely rooted at the end. Fortunately no real need to pay too much heed to the map so I was able to run cleanly and was pleased with my time.

In Melbourne with work for the day (a long one).

Street-o in Hughes. Good to get the legs turning over a bit more for the first time since Bright. Fairly entertaining course, although the choice of which couple to leave out wasn't overly taxing this time.

Very rainy run along the new section of the centenary trail along the northern border of the ACT starting at Mulligans Flat. Didn't quite make it to one tree hill - something for another rainy day. Lovely single trail through some really pleasant bits of bush. Made me a bit sad how almost all of the lovely bits of bush like this are private in Australia.

Steady from Campbell Park, up Hackett Hill and round the back of Ainslie. Saw heaps of white-browed woodswallows.

Mt Buffalo - uphill only again, although it did finish with a fairly flat final couple of kms. Started off really steeply though. I set off at the back with the other guys in the top 4 and attacked the first hill, pulling away a bit. Tried to catch my breath a bit as we crossed the road a few times during a flatter section around half way. After that it got very zigzaggy through lots of big granite boulders, which was pretty cool. Started to get very heavy-legged through this section and a bit concerned the others might catch up to me. Finally caught Rob just before the end, so had a good battle with him to the finish - really good to see him back running well again. Hung around at the end with most of the other runners for BBQ and prize giving - a really great atmosphere and another beautiful sunny day. This is such an enjoyable event - although the marathon was satisfying, it really doesn't compare to running up massive mountains in scenery like this.

C • Well done! 4

Mt Bogong - all uphill again. Went to bed last night pretty daunted by this one, having nightmares of the 5km, 1300m stretch known as 'the staircase' and picturing Gollum leading Frodo and Sam the back way into Mordor. Blair's forecast of snow and -20 with windchill added to the trepidation. As it turned out, it was just another sunny day in Victoria. Legs felt very sore doing a pathetic excuse for a warm-up jog, although not too concerned as it would all be about getting into an uphill rhythm. First 2km of flat was fine before the right turn of doom... But it actually felt ok - legs felt pretty good, the path was more interesting than Feathertop and there were short flat sections to break up the climb. I guess it being steeper meant the pace was a bit less intensive too. I passed Kez then Rob then Gareth about half way up (I thought they only deserved a 4min headstart today). Started to get very heavy-legged once we popped out into the open Alpine stuff and the summit loomed above. Tried to tell myself there were only 2 Kinders left, but that didn't help too much. Just as it got really steep caught up to some guy who fancied a chat and before we knew it, 100m altitude below the summit, we bumped into a marshall who told us that this was the finish. Not complaining! Well I wasn't anyway. The other guy got in a right grump moaning about how it had ruined his pacing - like the rest of us weren't gauging it off the top too. Still, me, him and Timbercomp continued up to the top together to soak up more amazing views. Edged another couple of mins out of DaveO and Stu, so taking a 5min lead into the last day.

The powerwalk up the last bit to the top and a long mince down with Kez, Rob and Gareth.

Mt Feathertop - uphill only race. Great course with a relatively gradual, but relentless, climb zigzagging amongst burnt snow gums, before popping out into alpine terrain and finishing off with a struggle up the impressively pyramidal peak to one of the most amazing finish lines you'll get in a race in Australia. Set off at a good lick, but after about 15mins started to get a few bad feelings and couldn't help myself calculating proportions of the climb completed (which is never a good sign). Still, kept plugging away ok. Had to walk a bit (pie prize lost) just before the hut where I finally caught Kez - no sign of Gareth and Rob though. Struggled up the last bit to finish within a minute of my time from last year, which I was pleasantly surprised by. Hung around on the top for a wee bit lapping up the views. Turned out I'd just got the win again, but only leading by 3mins after 2 days and feeling seriously daunted by what was in store the next 2 days! Gareth in particular had a good run today.

Warm down, quite literally, with Kez, Gareth and Rob.

Event: Bright 4 Peaks
 

Back again in the Victorian Alps having loved the experience last year. Gonna have a bash at all 4 this time though. Although the smallest mountain, I have heard Day 1 referred to as 'the bastard', and for good reason. A great little fell race style course, with a big climb in a short space of time, including 2 brutally steep sections, an undulating ridge top, a crazy steep descent, then a couple of kms of gentle down to the finish. Tried to keep a bit in reserve today, but with tired legs from the off and the nature of the course, it was pretty hard work. I gave Rob, Gareth and Kez a bit of a headstart and finally caught them on the descent, which gave me a bit of a boost. Pleasantly surprised in the end to finish only 10secs slower than last year. More competition this year with 4 or 5 guys within a couple of minutes of me. Spent the afternoon tasting wine, cheese and mustard and the evening consuming beer and ice cream.

Drive to Bright after work.