Autumn Highlights

The last month has been busy. I have been adhering to a strict routine of pack-living: Organising my 75L trusted hiking pack for 2 weeks of work in Tasmania, flying/commuting, guiding, having a day off, churning through an endless mound of dirty laundry, desperately trying to dry out my boots, recharging and catching up on week-old emails and then guiding again. In between I am devouring anything fresh, green and crunchy to make up for a weeks worth of eating a carbohydrate-only diet on the trails (not so good for the immune system).

From Tasmania I flew to Melbourne and headed to the Victorian high country for a few days of running around Falls Creek. Although still living out of a pack, life slowed down, I was able to enjoy some beautiful running terrain around the Bogong High Plains, and to eat nutritious meal after meal (mostly hearty bean stews with quinoa or soba noodles). The area around Falls Creek is incredible training ground - great trails at higher elevation, mountain conditions and a good mix of both steep and flatter terrain. 

 Spion Kpoje Loop (35ish km)

This was a beautiful loop I started from the Rocky Valley Storage Dam. The trail was nice and clear, took in some beautiful alpine vegetation, had a gradual climb up onto the Spion ridge from where lovely undulating trail took me down almost all the way to Bogong village, where I took the Bogong Valley High Plains road back to Falls Creek resort. The weather was wild. Ferocious winds whipped at my clothing, mist narrowed the views right down to spooky gum skeletons and the trail in front of me. 

Recommended: at least 2L of water, all-weather gear (I had an awesome lightweight Salomon jacket), map or good sense of direction, and food. 

The storage dam at Falls Creek, the bank covered in skeleton trees:

Map of trails in the area:

Bogong High Plains:

Fighting the wind and mist:

Spooky:

River crossing before hitting the Bogong Valley High Plains road:

Blue Mountains Training weekend

The following weekend I was fortunate enough to join an amazing group of friends for a solid session of running. The weekend was organised by Rob Costello, a speedy Irish fellow with a great repertoire of crazy insights that he brings out on the trails. We took over the Fairmont resort at Leura (the race HQ for the North Face 100km), bringing new meaning to the phrase "lycra in the lobby." It was amazing to be sleeping in a real bed, no sleeping bag, tent or back of a car in sight! The first run on Saturday took in 60km of the race course. We had a crew out to support us, meeting us with water, icy cokes and food at the half way point (So incredible to have this kind of encouragement on a training run). It was great to run with different people with different strengths, and to figure out what still needs fine-tuning before race day. Like anything in life, training is so essential to build confidence, to try new strategies, to make mistakes, and to evaluate strengths and weaknesses. After the run we had an awesome soak in the icy outdoor pool and the hot tub.

Day 2 we woke up early at 4am and went for run on the last 10km of the course. It always blows me away to be awake at this time, to run in the dark in a landscape shaped by shadows, and to watch the day emerging. I always have the thought: How many people are lucky enough to experience this time of the day, and through the powerful force of running. After our run we had a huge buffet breakfast, a little bit of downtime, and then back out on the course to run another 21km through the Jameison Valley and Kedumba Pass. I was loving the long, slow grind back up from the valley to the plateau above. 

Fairmont Resort:

Mist in the valley:

The crew:

Narrowneck Road:

Day 2 - Jameison Valley (jumping for joy):

The 2012 Two Bays Trail Run

My first race for 2012 came around quickly, and took me to the town of Dromana on the Mornington Peninsula. The 56km Two Bays Trail Marathon would be a good opportunity to test where I was at in my fitness, and to get in a longer run pushed by a group of pretty awesome runners. In the womens field were some swift ladies, notably Kirstin Bull and Louise Sharp, the former part of the Australian team that raced at the Commonwealth Ultra Distance and Mountain Running championship in Wales. The challenge for me would be to run a fast, non-technical course that would force me to focus on speed and cadence, not my strengths!

The race was tough! I ran a fast 28km out to Cape Schank, most of the time in 3rd place until just before the turn around, at which point Louise Sharp passed me in fine form and looking solid. I remember thinking "this feels too good, it will catch up to me." The course itself included a mix of road, fire trail and single track (not too technical), allowing runners to really open up on the downhill. At certain points of the course beautiful views out to the water encouraged runners along.

During the second half of the race my pace slowed, I battled a few nasty stomach cramps (I think from using gels when I haven't trained with them) and had to rein in the negative wanderings of my mind to focus on my goals for this race. Before I knew it, 40km was done, then 50km (and a huge slog back up to Arthurs Seat) and then down to the finish line. I finished 7th female in 5:40. The race itself was fantastically organised: aid stations worthy of a heartfelt thanks, well signposted trails to help heat-befuddled runners, and volunteers who knew how to coax runners during their "why am I doing this to myself" meltdown.

Bushrangers Bay at 27km:

Powerhiking the last hill at the 50km mark:

The finish (obviously still something left in the tank):

Photographs thanks to: fstop5 Sports Photography