Training Log Archive: nmulder

Kinetic 120km Race in the Parys Domeland from Hadeda Camp. Raced as Cyanosis DSV with Mac, Tracey and Ruan. Hot competition from Team Songlines, Jabberwock, Red Ants, Pinegold, A2A, Balega, etc. Probably one of the strongest fields over a short distance ever in SA adventure racing history? Had a not-early start at 08:30, a relief given that it was -3'C overnight and the 8:30 start was still in the single digits.

Leg 1 Trekking - Fast race from the start gun, with us and Team Songlines setting the pace. Songlines pulled about 30s ahead but didn't open the gap any further. A bit of an up and down in the nearby nature reserve. Got into the river put-in with Songlines in sight ahead and Balega right behind us. A small gap then over Jabberwock, Pinegold, A2A and the other strong teams.

Super-quick transition. Literally threw on a lifejacket and helmet and carried the boats down to the water. Onto the water about 30s behind Songlines and 30s ahead of Balega.

Leg 2 - 20km kayak down the Vaal River. The head wind down the river was still icy and we were just on the edge of hypothermia despite it being close to midday. Got a lot of the lines right, except maybe going wrong side of the big island approaching the only big rapid of the day. Almost got thrown out of the boat here, but recovered well. We had had Songlines in sight until this stage, but the gap got a bit too big from here on. Saw them once more and pulled out of the water about 12 mins behind them. Overall, very happy that it was only 12 mins over 20km of paddling, as we had lost 30 mins over 12km at Bronkies just a couple of months ago to them. We had changed our parings since then, and the me and Mac combination in the same boat worked better allround.

Another quick transition. Had to keep helmet and PFD for a forthcoming swim, but had to also plot maps.

Leg 3 - Trekking (and 2 swims). Started with a run down the side of the Vaal River to a marshalled swimming / crossing point. Took 8 mins to swim across, slightly upstream (10 mins behind Songlines). Then a loop of the koppies on the other side before returning. The return swim was only 6 mins (12 mins behind). From there a sequence of ancient hiking trails through the bush, including a nasty section between 2 electric fences about 1m apart. Got into transition only about 5 mins behind Songlines after they didn't have the best nav over the last couple of kms.

Change of clothing and map plotting. 4 new map sections, so took a while. Left about 4-5 mins behind Songlines. No other teams in sight behind us.

Leg 4 - MTB. Only about 1km out of transition we saw Songlines a couple hundred metres ahead of us on the track and we had caught them after about 5kms. Not much nav here, basically following district roads the whole way, but they decided to stick behind us from then on. We tried to break away a few times, but they slowly reeled us in each time, biding their time. We held back a few times as well, but they never took the bait, and they just waited for us at a few points. Extremely fast average speed despite the tactical racing. Almost got lucky at the last CP when they cycled past it when they were just ahead, but Andrew H. was keeping an eye on us and saw us stop to get it under a bridge. Annoying.... At about 5km to go before the finish they surged on the final big hill and put in a 1 min gap from there to the finish.

So got 2nd place, 1 min behind 1st and over an hour ahead of Jabberwock in 3rd. Pinegold had a nav hiccup on the final leg, otherwise they'd have had a chance for 3rd as well. We're still leading the series after 1 win and 2 x second places to Songlines.

Testing out that the bike still worked before the AR this weekend.

Went to run TT, but forgot that it started 15 earlier in winter, so just did my own thing.

Mac Mac 200 Miler Ultra

Mac Mac introduced a new 200 miler to the event this year, essentially starting at the finish point of the 100 miler (Sabie), then running to the 100 miler start point (Pilgrims Rest) and back. There were about 15 entrants, 9 people on the start line and 5 finishers.

Ruan vd Merwe went out hard from the start, pulling out his trekking poles right at the bottom of the first incline. I settled down and had a good chat with Guy McKechnie before he pulled away after about 3-4kms.

My painful right calf muscle finally disappeared on the penultimate training run before Mac Mac, about 4 days before. But I wasn't going to stress it, so the plan was for a very easy pace until 100 or 160km. Changing shoes definitely seemed to have done the trick, but I didn't have a 2nd pair of the new Sense Rides, so I was hoping I could run the whole race in just the one pair. I had back-up options in my bag drop points (Mac Mac hut and Pilgrims Rest).

I was pretty much on-pace up the first big climbs up the escarpment above Sabie. Got to Mt Anderson just as it was getting dark after, having gone faster than expected up the trail through Maritzbos. Refilled with water for the first time at Stables, and on through the dark to Mac Mac Hut at about 55km. Got in about an hour behind Ruan. Guy had just arrived and was about to take a sleep.

Headed out on the Graskop and Mac Mac Falls loop in 2nd place as a result. Felt decent around the whole loop, but pace generally off from what I wanted.

Got back to Mac Mac Hut a short time before dawn, had a quick refill from my race bag and left at first light. Lots of frost on the ground in the valley going down to Pilgrims Rest. Started walking a lot as well as I got really despondent. I was way off my original, conservative pace. I knew realistically I couldn't beat Ruan unless he had a major blowout, but I still wanted to get through the race in about 58-60 hours and that was obviously becoming impossible. I was not as fit as I had hoped, the reality was that I'd only done 420km of training since the beginning of the year due to the recurring injuries, and little of that was quality.

I'd pretty much decided I was pulling out when I got to Pilgrims, but a quick chat with Stephanie and a very pleasant stop at the restaurant that doubled as the 3rd assistance point of the race gave me time to reassess my goals. I decided to keep going, with the goal of enjoying myself, finishing and holding onto the 2nd place. Time goals themselves went out the window.

Pilgrims were dishing out very good vegetarian lasagnas, so I started the loop on the Prospectors trail much refreshed. I left at about 9am. At the bottom of the indigenous bush going from Black Hill hut to Morgenzon I met Ruan going backwards on the return trip. This was a lot later than I had expected to see him, so it was good to see other people also suffering... :-p

Got back to Pilgrims and the 160km turnaround point some time in the night. I decided to take my first sleep here as it offered a stretcher bed inside the restaurant. Ended up sleeping for 90 minutes before heading back up the hill through the zama-zama mines out onto the Prospectors trail again (same steep hill for the 3rd time, 1 to go!).

The return leg in the Prospectors loop dawned very different as there was a serious cold front about to pump through. The wind was howling on top of Black Hill which was well above 2000m altitude. It was cold to start with but it soon developed into a proper Berg Wind and the rest of the loop was spent in very hot and dry temperatures. The good news was that the smaller aid stations had started to open up for the 160km athletes, so I had a few more refreshment stops along the way. I started the Morgenzon-Pilgrims section for the 4th and final time just after midday, and thus encountered all the 160km competitors on their first section of their course, the vast majority of them going way too fast for their own good up this first hill, especially given the almost 30'C temperatures.

I was back in Pilgrims for a late lunch (mushroom lasagna this time) and then on my way back to Mac Mac hut which I reached just after last light.

I started the Graskop loop after a short stay, but added a bit more kit as I knew the cold front was about to arrive. About 1 hour after leaving the hut it got cloudy and another 1-2 hours it started drizzling. I had hoped to get to Graskop hut before it started and have a good 90 min sleep there, but I came short by about 1.5km, so spent about 15 minutes in the heavy drizzle, but not long enough to get cold and properly wet.

I had a good sleep on a nice mattress. I had also taken my AR bivvy for this leg so had been quite warm when sleeping. Not much in the way of interesting food at this waterpoint, so left almost immediately. The drizzle continued for most of the way to Mac Mac Pools. Whist asleep, the first 3 guys in the 160km had come past, so I was very surprised to see one coming back just after I had crossed the Mac Mac river and was climbing out of the gorge. I had a fleeting chat with him where I informed him he was going the wrong way. He was insistent that he was going the right way and that I was going the wrong way around the course. Despite me being on my 3rd night and he on his first, I was very confident that I was correct and he was wrong, but he was in a hurry, so he was going to have to hear the same comments again from the next 160km competitor coming up a few kilometers behind me.

Mac Mac Pools support station was the best one on the course. It was run by Grant and the other organizers of the Graskop Park Run, and they were were well sponsored by the Graskop Spar. I got cheered in from about 500m away, despite the heavy mist and drizzle I had to contain myself to 2 milk tart cakes, a chocolate muffin, and a few helpings of other stuff that I can't remember. The milk tarts won hands down. Just what you need at 2am in the morning (Day 4!). On the ascent back up to Mac Mac Hut I was caught by Rhys who was now in 3rd place on the 160km. We compared notes and agreed that we were both going in the right direction. ;-D

I was super keen to finish the race off before sundown on this day (Day 4 - Saturday). I thus didn't spent too long in Mac Mac Hut and left about 1/2 hour before dawn. I was about 1 hour behind where I was in the 160km race two years ago, so I got to see a little bit more of the climb out of there this time.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. I kept pushing the pace a bit, aiming for the pre-sundown finish. I knew I was fairly safe now for 2nd place and I had more or less stopped looking over my should for Nicky in 3rd place (the aid station marshals had been quite helpful showing my the GPS tracking on their phones so I knew she was about 6 hours behind). I had a bit of company around Stables Hut from both the 80km lead runners as well as the mid pack runners on the 40km. Mt Anderson felt like a bit of a slog again, but after getting back down to the top of Maritzbos I felt good again and tried to pick up the pace once more. I pushed a bit, and wasn't too far off my time from 2019 on this section, where I had flown.

From the bottom of Maritzbos to the finish it was quite lonely. There were a small handful of people making up the tail of the 40km race, but there was a gap and no runners from the 80 or 160 were catching me any longer. It made pushing a bit tougher, but I kept at it. The hardest bit mentally was the final 12km, where the course had been lengthened by about 4km from 2019. I kept going faster and faster here as the light started fading quickly. I finally got into Merry Pebbles at about 5.15pm, about 20 minutes before full dusk.

Overall I am very happy that I decided to continue and finish the race. Definitely felt the satisfaction of completing a 320km course and still felt good at the end of it. Ruan finished about 4am that Saturday morning and Nicky finished about 2am on Sunday morning. Five finishers in the end.

Shoes held out perfectly and I got my nutrition spot on. Slept 2 x 90 minutes plus a 5 min power nap between Mac Mac and Graskop Huts.

C • Insane 2

C • A journey 3

Garmin Watch battery failed about 25k from the finish. Attached is the full route from my GPS, but which wasn't as accurate as my Garmin watch.

Another easy run around the Estate. Got a nice 6km route now.

Last run before Mac Mac Ultra starts on Wednesday.

Easy lap of the estate.

Nice and easy. Calf strain is down to a shadowy 0.5 / 10 in painfulness.

Easy run around Cedar Lakes. Can comfortably get a 5km loop around here.

Easy running at Wolwespruit testing out a new pair of Salomon Sense Ride shoes that are replacing the Sense Pro. Felt good for first run.

Southdowns College
Urban Series # 7
1:4'000, 2m contours

New map from Ian and Craig. Nice enjoyable area of the school grounds, the arts college and some rough veld.

Still feeling rusty with the nav, and didn't have a smooth start, nor through the technical section 8-10. Lost time at 6 due to fence not being 100% accurate in relation the the nearby control, and then at 13 where the control description could have been better (I went to wrong side of fence).

Lost 45s in total, which wouldn't have moved me anywhere as I was a good 2.5 min behind Ryno, but still in 2nd. Matthew VC took a good 3rd against some solid competition.

Calf muscle still pulling a bit uncomfortably.

Men - Splits

Easy run at B'sorah Farm. Change of shoes, trying out suitability of XA Amphibs for general trail running. Worked okay, same outer sole as Sense Pro and I didn't notice the reduced cushioning, but the narrower toe box did cause some toes to dig into each other. Heard a couple of white-bellied korhaans calling out in the grasslands for the first time in a couple of years.