running long 3:25:00 [3] 33.0 km (6:13 / km) +1100m 5:19 / km
shoes: Asics Gel 2140
Today's trail run for those who are training to run Yurrebilla in 5 weeks' time was 22km from Norton Summit to Athelstone through Morialta and Black Hill, with a fair bit of up & down and a couple of creek crossings. The hard-core were running back as well for 44km, and some of them had done the Adelaide marathon only 2 weeks ago! I figured no way could I manage that, I haven't done any long runs for ages, so I parked my car at the bottom of Morialta and ran up to Norton Summit via Pretty Corner (5km, 36min, 320m climb). A couple of carloads of suspicious-looking hoons offered me a lift when I was halfway up, but the cars seemed to be rather full of gangly running types with their knees around each others' ears, so I declined.
Next section, 22km approx, maybe 800m climb, took 2:15ish but that doesn't include all the stops to answer phone calls and chat to people I passed (or vice versa). It's nice to see people I know at these runs but none of them run at the same pace as me so conversation is limited. I did get to ask Nicole Butterfield about running the Ayers Rock marathon, which is on desert tracks and took her 3:19, before she took off into the distance.
From Norton Summit it's down into the park and past the bottom of third falls, flowing impressively - there are only stepping stones at the creek crossings just below here, and last year they had a rope across on the day of the event (which was when we were getting soaked in a similar creek at Castlemaine) so I stopped to help a couple of people across. Yurrebilla trail goes past the top of second then first falls, which I would have loved to take a closer look at, then up to Deep View, and up/around the ridgeline to Moores Rd. I struggled most here but improved after stopping for a hamstring stretch and a drink. Down to Foxes Dam and then Montacute Rd was nice, but I had to stop to answer calls about nationals business (sigh) and a lot of people got past me here, who I eventually overtook again at the top of Black Hill, so then I was on my own going down the last singletrack into Ambers Gully. Feeling a bit sorry for myself because knees were quite unhappy with the descent then I saw someone struggling even to walk downhill (it was Nusha Lavender, who did 3:18 for the recent marathon but now her ITB is playing up) and I thought that I should be grateful to my physio!
After a bit of a stretch and chatting to a couple of people at the finish I headed back to my car via Gorge/Maryvale/Montacute/Stradbroke roads, 6km in 34min so I wasn't completely crawling. I think Sea to Summit in 2 weeks' time will seem easier; it would be nice to run it without a pack. I handled today better than I anticipated but can definitely tell that I'm not one of those types who can go out and do a 30 or 50km race without any long-run training.