My first longer distance hitout for some time and wow what a tough run. A socialgaine is essentially a Rogaine based in more of an urban setting with some fun stuff added in. There were four different options to also be able to acrue bonus points by selecting one of four categories. We of course went for the "extreme" option! My partner Warwick and I nutted out a rough plan of action, which involved climbing up the escarpment from the north Wollongong suburbs and then sweeping back through along the flatter coast.
Up the hill with a slight hiccup on the first control. We finally made it up and starting accumulating points well. A bit of a stuff up at the first bonus control but it was pretty tough going through some heavy scrub (and without leg protection which I thought would not be required. A few more good controls and then a massive stuff up which had us wandering around for quite a while in totally the wrong area...
Finally managed to relocate (with red faces) and try and recover. Picked up the next bonus control and then it was time to head back down the slopes. Another stuff up, missing a very discrete trail, but this time we were not alone with many other groups also having to back track. By now we were considerably off target and opted to miss a couple of controls in order to get down to the flatter sections. By now my legs were also starting to complain. Around here in talking with Warwick, discovered that he has finished 11 6ft tracks and has never run slower than 4:30 so I was doing quite a bit of brain picking!
The more flat running and the more the legs started to tighten up. We stopped for a coke to try and top up the sugar levels but with about 1:30 to go the inevitable cramps started to appear. We kept on pushing on but gradually slowed as my cramps spread to different muscles on different legs. We ended up getting back a few minutes late after pushing hard for some extra points.
Some analysis tonight and worked out that with the 2 major navigation slip ups we lost close to an hour, not to mention the energy expended on the tougher terrain. Tonight I am knackered, the legs have lots of cuts/grazes from all the scrub and I am getting still getting cramps (especially in the foot). Have doned the skins and also just stuffed my face with some chips to try and top up the salt levels. A good hit out but I will be sore tomorrow, a great way way to formally kick off my Six Foot campaign, 16 weeks to go!!!!
2 comments:
Great race report Dave - would have been great having that knowledge to sponge off while you were out there too!
Great to hear you had a good time up north too mate - I hope by "Griswalds", that you went to all of the wallyworlds up there too?
Well you won't be bored over the next week Dave - you will get to pick out all those little splinters and thorns in your legs that you don't know are there till they start to fester :-)
Not too sure about the "social" part, but it sounds like a great day out.
109 sleeps to go :-)
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