Training Log Archive: Craney

Thanks to Rohan, got back to Canberra at a reasonable time so spent the afternoon catching up with Gracie and Florence, including a nice short walk in the sun on Farrer Ridge.

Spring 12hr Rogaine at Bournda NP on the NSW south coast. Rob and I thought it was about time we had a crack at a 12hr one and in such a beautiful spot this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I felt a bit nervous about doing the longest run of my life, but at the same time Rob and I were joking (semi-seriously) about clearing the course before it got dark.

Had a bit of a scare in the mad scramble between picking up maps and starting the race as I realised I'd brought Grace's x-talons with me. The thought did cross my mind to try and squeeze into them, but I'm pretty sure that would've broken some of my toes. Fortunately Ben happened to bring with him a pair of trail shoes he'd hardly used that he wasn't planning on using today that happened to be exactly the right size for me. Jackpot!

Started off reasonably sedately around a flat bit of marshy paddocks, although our nav was pretty pants. We passed Lizzie a number of times, each time cringing in advance at the sledging we were in store for, which never disappointed. Saw a snake after about 45mins which kind of put the willies up us for the rest of the rogaine. Hours 1-4 were through some quite thick scrub, albeit more fallen timber than nasty scratchy. Sunny and quite warm, so drank a lot and well fuelled by Rob's magic brew (perpetuem). Did the sneaky on Lizzie at one control which felt good at the time because of the number of times she'd got past us, but was a little childish in hindsight.

Hours 5-6 were back along a lovely winding coastal trail taking in some speccy steep inlets and picturesque beaches. Felt ok along here - heavy legged, but no probs shuffling along. Didn't spend long looking for 58 as we'd already heard it was misplaced. Got back to the HH for a refuel of chips and powerade before heading out for the southern loop - supposedly nice bush, but probably not as nice as staying at the HH, quaffing curry and getting an early night.

Hours 7-8 were pretty flat along beaches, but did involve a bit of bush-bashing in a weird bermuda triangle. As we ran along one beach, I was sure I was seeing a whale splashing about in the distance, but given that there were 2 of most things I was looking at, I couldn't be sure. Rob was noticeably starting to pull away from me in this section, although we were still running. Perpetuem ran out here: it had done a great job though.

Hours 8-10 were pitch black dark and quite hilly. Fortunately the bush wasn't too thick. Unfortunately, Rob got his adrenaline rush at exactly the same time as I got my sleepy/emotional/boo rush. So I went very quiet and grumpy and basically contributed nothing except punching the controls to maintain the possibility of clearing the course. I achieved this by following Rob's light beam wherever he went, albeit at a walk for almost the whole time whilst quitely chewing slowly on my honey sandwiches. My legs weren't too bad, but I just had a overarching sleepy kind of tiredness. Rob, on the other hand, was a legend. Chatting away, counting down controls (although I nearly hit him when he said there were still 15 to go: hmm 3 per hour will leave this pretty tight, and won't mean an early night at all!) and, most importantly, nailing the navigation, which was pretty tricky in some vague spur gully stuff. I enjoyed his regular exclamations of 'yes' whenever he glimpsed the next control.

Hour 11 was much better - it finally felt like we were nearly finished. We still mainly walked while in the terrain, but at a better pace and with a little bit of jogging, and we were able to run the final 20mins or so on the trails, clearing the course in 11.15hrs.

The subsequent shower, curry, sleep and egg and bacon roll for breakfast were all up there in terms of being the best I'd ever had within their relevant categories.

Overall I'm indebted to Rob for dragging me along, a bit disappointed that I was so mentally tired and slow over the second half, but pretty pleased that I seem to have got through it fine with no aches or pains to speak of. I'd envisaged throwing a sickie on Monday and vowing to never do anything over 6hrs again, but now I'm not so sure.

Ended up buying Ben's shoes off him.

C • Awesome work! 7

I will have to make up for this with a long run tomorrow.

IW at a more orthodox morning pace.

HFW at a steady pace

HFW at a reasonable lick.

C • sounds like an honest pace 7

In Melbourne so did my usual run from the CBD around the botanic gardens area. Cold and windy. Then had a nice catch up with Rob and Clare.