So it has been a while since my last post, lots has happened since then and no blogging was actually deliberately part of that. I kept on building up for GNW, mixing in travel for work.
I'm not going to go into a blow by blow account of GNW 2009, the summary is that I made it a lot further than my first attempt but had massive problems with heat/dehydration and nausea which saw me have to withdraw at 82km.
To be honest in retrospect this knocked me around badly from a mental and confidence point of view. I resumed training in December with the goal of Six Foot with a good plan in regards to a program, but with always the doubt now of the seemingly recurring hydration and nausea/vomitting problems from last year at 6 ft reinforced by the horrendous GNW experience. To this end I visited a natropath/dietician and commenced a program of experiments to try and identify cause/effect and how to deal with or avoid the situation from a more structured approach.
This actually went through most of January with a series of longer runs scheduled on top of the normal Striders STaR diet. By the end of January I was even more depressed....
Each event/experiment that I conducted actually seemed the same/worse. Back to Black Stump followed by Narabeen All Nighter followed by the Oz Day fatathon all saw me experience the problems to varying degrees. My fellow runners were however more supportive and provided great input from their experiences that I took on board.
Finally in February, for the 6 hour Metrogaine I had one last go at another diet/hydration schedule. This was a brutally humid and warm day, but for the first time in a long time I experienced no nausea for an effort that went beyond around 30km. It was so successful in fact that the last hour of our run was our best and we won the overall event! The main key/change was the addition of salt tablets and gels with a reduction/watering down of electrolyte for fluid. I also ran with a waterbottle enabling sipping rather than gulping and also better monitoring of electrolyte concentration.
So it was with a cautious sense of confidence that I lined up at the top of Nellies Glen on Saturday morning. I had somewhat been involved in the banter of the Beer Bet on Cool Running and was viewed as a middle of the pack runner in the silver stubbie field. I knew I had some good distance/endurance in the legs compared to some previous attempts and it seemed that my nausea issue was now under management. Also I was about 5-6kg lighter than last year. However the confidence level was not high, I have spectatularly crashed and burned on this race at every serious attempt. In my heart I believed that I could perform a lot better than my PB of 5:52 and the goal was to try and break 5 hours as part of the beer bet. The race plan was centred around using my downhill running ability to get a decent position for the descent of the stairs and then moderate my pace based upon heart rate with a goal of being able to get to the top of Pluvi in decent shape/time and then deal with Black Range and the run down to Caves House.
Some joking around with fellow beer betters helped ease the nerves and then we were off! I deliberately did not sprint as hard as last year but still found myself mostly clear at the top of the stairs with about 10-15 people in front. I had no delay at all going down, did manage to slip at one point but no real damage and by the bottom I actually had no one close behind at all and a few in sight ahead as we already started passing the slower wave 1 runners. I immediately switched into running based upon heart rate, aiming for low to mid 160's a a guide and felt very comfortable. Very few people came past through here, and by my calculation I had about 3-4 beer betters in front, probably all gold but not sure. Around Megalong Rd Tallgeoff and Terry caught me and I let them ease forward, focussing on my own pace but seemed to keep them in sight. Just after Pinnacle I was surprised to see Hamburglar just ahead, he had accidentally run off at the back of wave 1 but to have put five minutes into him was a surprise. This combined with no silver runners at all in sight caused some worry that I had gone out too fast. Anyway we had a quick chat and he confirmed 5 runners in front, as I went past on the descent to the river. Along here I caught up to Tallgeoff but no Terry in sight. I was happy just to cruise behind him but at one point he mentioned we were on 4:25 pace which again caused some concern...
Just before the river I went past him and at the river crossing I was suprised to catch another beer bet runner. I did not know him but found out later it was Cedric. The official river split for going through here for me was 1:22:02. Immediately I began the climb up Mini Mini, steady walking for any steep uphills but running where it made sense for most of this keeping Tallgeoff in sight. JohnBo came through shortly and we had a quick chat and he looked strong as we approached the cattleyards Milov also caught me. The descent down to Alum was less painful than previous experiences and I was surprised to see Blue Dog and Sailaway at the aid station, again actually causing me some concern that despite my caution I was still out too fast.
Just at the bottom of the Pluvi climb Hamburglar caught up to me and we had another quick chat, he told me that Dan was not far behind and sure enough a few minutes later Dan caught me and went past. About halfway up Exe also caught me and we talked for a little while before he powered away and caught Dan. At each of the aid stations where I had my previous "episodes" I drank a little coke and was glad I felt so much better this year! Finally got to the top, just passing Barry and Kevin the 7 hour pacers for the early wave and recorded my split at the top of 2:49:53. Very pleased with this and I felt quite fresh and ready to tackle Black Range, knowing from previous discussion on cool running that 2 hours from pluvi to finish was a benchmark and so I was on track for sub 5 if I did not fade.
For the first couple of km I still had Dan and Exe in sight but they slowly drifted out of sight, Walshy must have passed me here but I cant remember it and Run2work also came by.In hindsight I was probably too conservative through here, lacking confidence and watching out for the piano and cramp bears. Just before deviation I caught another early start Strider, Dale and gave some encouragement. My spirits were lifted coming through Deviation and the first downhill running for a while, I was catching quite a few people through here but still restrained myself with a few little twinges emerging, especially on the steep climb in this section.
Was very pleased to see Caves Road and started to open up a little more, knowing the distance to finish and feeling quite good. I was very surprised that I had not seen any more beer betters through here and was confident that once I made it to the firetrail descent anyone would have a hard time going past. Was very surprised at the condition of the firetail section, much more technical than previous year memories and was glad to turn onto the singletrack. About 50 along I just about had a huge stack, catching my right foot on a stone and went for probably 50m totally out of control lucky not to fall before the legs got back under the body properly which caused a few cramps. Passed a few more people through here and saw Buzz right near the bottom as he urged me on to break 5 hours. By here I knew it was in the bag and so I yelled back, bugger breaking 5 hours, I'm going to smash it!
Finally hit the path down to caves house and I kept up my momentum, passing a few more people and turned at the end of the stairs sprinting for the line to make sure I broke 4:50 and thus passed a few more!
I crossed the line and the reality hit me that I had finally run 6 ft to my potential and had carved off over 1 hour off my previous PB with a finish time of 4:49:47. It was such a relief that I became a bit emotional, not knowing to laugh or cry, especially given the trials and disappointments of racing over the last 12 or so months...
I am confident based upon this experience and knowing how I could improve my training, quantity mainly, for next year that I could reduce this further for my buckle year attempt on 6 foot!
So despite the last 12 months being somewhat disappointing from a results perspective on reflection they have been invaluable for my progression as a runner, building a good injury free base, learning more about becoming mentally stronger and also seemingly finally sorting out how to balance my sweat loss to fluid and electrolyte intake.
Now to build further upon this base and tackle some of my other long standing PB's across a variety of distances as well as finishing my first 100km in May with TNF100. I'll re-start blogging but more likely on a weekly basis as it will keep me more honest as I work towards my goals for the rest of 2010.
