tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59944467660102578582024-02-08T13:46:07.465+11:00Race Mike RaceMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.comBlogger308125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-2920768729288186862011-11-05T12:53:00.001+11:002011-11-05T12:57:19.285+11:00South AmericaThis last year has been a shocker for blogging. <br /><br />Screw it, I'm starting afresh with a new blog for my three months in South America. Starting last weekend. <br /><br />www.racemikerace.posterous.comMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-91737527474975517632010-11-30T17:05:00.002+11:002010-12-01T11:45:15.512+11:00Racing 2010Bloody hell it's been a long year of racing. I was just thinking about what I've done and decided to jot it all down on paper. I'm actually surprised about how much I've done this year, but the nice thing is that I've really enjoyed all the racing and been so excited to be doing it all. Even better is the fact that the consistent training has started to pay off in terms of my times.<br /><br />The only question is how do I top it in 2011?<br /><br /><strong>January</strong><br />Beyond the Black Stump (Berowra) – 30km bush run<br />Audax Big Ride (Sydney to Goulburn) – 300km cycle<br />Audax Alpine Classic (Victorian Alps) – 200km cycle<br /><br /><strong>February</strong><br />Boundary Riders Thredbo long weekend – 3 days of mountain riding<br />Huskisson Long Course Triathlon (Jervis Bay) – 2km swim / 80km bike / 20km run<br /><br /><strong>March</strong><br />Ironman Australia (Port Macquarie) – 3.8km swim / 180km bike / 42.2km run<br /><br /><strong>May</strong><br />Wild Endurance (Blue Mountains) – 50km bush run (100km relay)<br />The North Face 100 (Blue Mountains) – 100km bush run<br /><br /><strong>June</strong><br />Striders 10km (North Head) – 10km run<br /><br /><strong>July</strong><br />Striders 10km (Homebush) – 10km run<br />M7 Cities Marathon (Blacktown) - 42.2km run<br /><br /><strong>August</strong><br />City to Surf - 14km run<br />Mt Wilson to Bilpin - 35km bush run<br /><br /><strong>September</strong><br />Striders 10km (North Head) – 10km run<br />Sydney Marathon (Sydney) – 42.2km run<br /><br /><strong>October</strong><br />Sydney Striders Internal Half Marathon (Lane Cove) – 21.1km run<br />Port Macquarie Half Ironman – 1.9km swim / 90km bike / 21.1km run<br /><br /><strong>November</strong><br />Run4Fun (Homebush) – 10km run<br />JP Morgan Corporate Challenge (Centennial Park) – 5.6km run<br />Nepean Triathlon (Penrith) – 1km swim / 30km bike / 10km run<br />Central Coast Half Marathon – 21.1km runMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-42968170452513801502010-11-28T14:24:00.005+11:002010-12-01T20:06:13.797+11:00Central Coast Half MartathonWell with my running in good form lately off the back of the Sydney Marathon, then a nice Run4Fun 10km PB, I figured it would be a good idea to have a crack at the Half Marathon and see if I could grab myself another PB before the end of the year. My previous best HM time had been 83:15 at the SMH Half in May 2008, a couple of months before I had my stress fracture. I was in good form at the time, but I’ve definitely got back there and bettered my form in the last couple of months, so now is as good a time as any to give it a go!
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<br />There are not a lot of races at this time of year, but looking at the calendar I managed to find the Central Coast Half Marathon, which has an officially measured and accredited course for the first time this year.
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<br />The lead-up wasn’t ideal as I had a pretty hard week of training and then on Saturday, the day before the race, did a solid 110km ride (5 laps of West Head) on the time trial bike, with a 30 min run off the bike. But I figured that I should be able to manage some sort of PB anyway on form, and I’d rather not sacrifice another longish ride because I don’t have too many weeks left until Taupo Ironman.
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<br />The alarm at 4am was not appreciated, and driving up bleary-eyed in the pitch black pre dawn I was not feeling like having a race. However I had time by myself in the car to settle on a plan of sorts. Try for somewhere between 80 and 81 minutes. Take a gel 10 minutes before the start and then eat nothing through the race, just water. Simple.
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<br />Getting out of the car at The Entrance, the day seemed perfect. Slightly overcast and coolish at dawn. Although reading on CoolRunning later I noticed a lot of people saying the humidity had slowed them down. Steve Jackson made the comment "at 8am it was 19.3C, 89% and a 23kph headwind for the last 5k or so. It certainly made the return trip in the half hard work for me, but it seemed to slow everyone around me as well, so we were all in it together"
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<br />Anyway I ran into John Bartlett from Hurts shortly before the start and he said he was planning to do around 80 minutes so I said perfect, let’s just run together and see how we do. John was doing the race as the last chance to qualify for the New York marathon, he said he needed a time sub 83mins.
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<br />So we lined up underneath the bridge, I had a chat to a couple of nearby Striders - Nick and Dave - and soon enough they were counting down for the start. I’m always apprehensive in the first few minutes as to how my body will react. Thankfully I managed to go off fairly swiftly and just kept my eye on John, trying to stick with him. Within a few hundred metres we were in a little group of about 10, with a couple of super quick guys up ahead. The group stayed together for the first kilometer or two, when another 3 blokes (including Steve Jackson) broke away up front and stayed a few hundred metres ahead.
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<br />The course itself is lovely - a concrete bike path along the shore of the lake, winding through a shady casuarina grove – and is almost completely flat. Apart from a couple of bridge humps, it’s a pancake. Straight out and back.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt96GoW0SX4ssMhOCw5QKQsvwctnHKXXTlg46roIbk1rKiuYLXH0fSOgpZRCaxZ9ArZr6Q-oVzn5DAI-VY01sHhbGaSeJTxyPA7zdkKaHyf7k0i8kxi0Wo4mKZPMpUo_2gHnxoUftMALfu/s1600/Central+Coast+Half+2.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 253px; height: 380px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt96GoW0SX4ssMhOCw5QKQsvwctnHKXXTlg46roIbk1rKiuYLXH0fSOgpZRCaxZ9ArZr6Q-oVzn5DAI-VY01sHhbGaSeJTxyPA7zdkKaHyf7k0i8kxi0Wo4mKZPMpUo_2gHnxoUftMALfu/s400/Central+Coast+Half+2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544897242023789762" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxWholYHcEMb8-eWkR_1Xzwhrj-2oG_PZK0eLQOVQyWvJq-VFCaL7Ms-om_Q8JraPP3S3EX6UrHNRKUV1RCmwm21KUL9H6L6SiHK5R-8SxlSWvpCO05A0HkMSW0-vogf0r-wRMiiw0On4/s1600/Central+Coast+Half+3.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 253px; height: 380px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxWholYHcEMb8-eWkR_1Xzwhrj-2oG_PZK0eLQOVQyWvJq-VFCaL7Ms-om_Q8JraPP3S3EX6UrHNRKUV1RCmwm21KUL9H6L6SiHK5R-8SxlSWvpCO05A0HkMSW0-vogf0r-wRMiiw0On4/s400/Central+Coast+Half+3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544897230373672866" /></a>
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<br />So there were 6 of us at this stage, the third group back. We seemed to be running about 3.45min/km pace (I have to check the garmin, it’s been having trouble downloading) and just took turns leading. John took a turn at the front, then I felt strong so led out for a while, then other guys pushed ahead. It worked well without any discussion, and it made the first half seem almost too easy. I felt that we were putting in a good time without too much effort, but I wasn’t keen to go too much faster because I wasn’t sure how long I could hold the pace for.
<br />
<br />Went through 10km at 37.38 I believe (will check) and then hit the turnaround point at almost spot on 39 minutes. At this point my brain said “Well you can drop 59 seconds in the second half and still go sub 80! Tremendous.” Sadly I didn’t factor in that the finish line was 500m beyond the start line, so the turnaround point must have been a few hundred metres short of the actual halfway point of the race.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS_i4MUWOYTZMHBHwYZFrmwxe2rh7PYJXsfZvAe20k3zuVSwNslgtcotM3XNyBHZpRlv9Ua6NqXb0rZ89WZiZ-uGgkfWwp0MFxhpuzCZ5_Rzk16sqTNpEwMsgzOZir4bOfJpDz8Gom6Uf8/s1600/Central+Coast+Half+1.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 351px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS_i4MUWOYTZMHBHwYZFrmwxe2rh7PYJXsfZvAe20k3zuVSwNslgtcotM3XNyBHZpRlv9Ua6NqXb0rZ89WZiZ-uGgkfWwp0MFxhpuzCZ5_Rzk16sqTNpEwMsgzOZir4bOfJpDz8Gom6Uf8/s400/Central+Coast+Half+1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544897225797287538" /></a>
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<br />Anyway 6 of us turned, and almost immediately the group splintered. A guy in a yellow singlet (Ian Dias?) took off like he had a rocket up him and we never saw him again! Some other bloke dropped off the back shortly afterwards. So it was myself and John, next to Richard Palmer and one of his mates. The four of us did the next couple of kms together, then John had a word to them and said to me something about them pacing a certain time to 16kms. I didn’t catch the details, but the upshot seemed to be that they were going faster than John wanted to go, so to ease back and let them go ahead. So we did.
<br />
<br />The garmin is fairly unreliable at telling instantaneous pace moment-to-moment, and although we seemed to be slower than the first half (pushing out over 3.50s), it wasn’t markedly so. John and I ran well together and at 15km he grabbed a gel from his wife Sam cheering on the sidelines with there little boy. Shortly after, John seemed to struggle with the pace a little. I started looking at my heartrate and notice that I was holding about 161bpm, which seemed a little low, so I figured I had more left in me and began to speed up a bit.
<br />
<br />Unfortunately John dropped back slightly at this point and I was on my own. I was feeling terrific and thought I needed to speed up, so cranked out a couple of fast kilometers. Then suddenly at about 18kms I went over the other side of the wave and felt terrible! But I pushed along all the same and just tried not to slow down. I passed Richard Palmer (who must have been taking it easy, he is so much faster than me) and tried to do the last couple of kms hard.
<br />
<br />Peeked at my watch at 20km and realized that unless I ran a sub 3minute km I wouldn’t make it sub 80minutes. I was a bit perplexed as I must have done my maths wrong (confused about the turnaround), but thought I might as well smash out the last km as fast as I could anyway. Good call, because I ended up passing the other guy who’d been running with Richard, a couple of hundred metres before the bridge. Crossed the line in 80.42 and felt pretty good.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9zAlxfiyZPfq-tzzbwUtneZxscDMQMqmwms8XazPRXau4lxk8U-9nzg8cxWu8qNIpbAR1ANO9QuONpAjSSxudUN0Q-vs3NmKwcApXG-qKB7tA6m16XF5Y61K_uCBnmNSl2VkGkMhPqUm8/s1600/Central+Coast+Half+4.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 253px; height: 380px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9zAlxfiyZPfq-tzzbwUtneZxscDMQMqmwms8XazPRXau4lxk8U-9nzg8cxWu8qNIpbAR1ANO9QuONpAjSSxudUN0Q-vs3NmKwcApXG-qKB7tA6m16XF5Y61K_uCBnmNSl2VkGkMhPqUm8/s400/Central+Coast+Half+4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544897224064754002" /></a>
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<br />Then I thought I'd do a little cool down and try to get some extra kms in, so ran out another 4km and jogged back in with the tailenders for a 29km morning.
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<br />I was totally stoked with my time, but still on the drive home something in the back of my head was saying "Only 43 seconds off doing a sub 80minute run. What if I'd actually rested the day before, checked out the correct pacing for every kilometer and gone for it properly?" Ah well, it's good to have a goal for next time!
<br />
<br /><meta charset="utf-8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, verdana; font-size: 11px; border-collapse: collapse; "><table class="vresTable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width: 645px; height: 200px; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; background-image: url(http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgViewResult.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "><tbody><tr><td class="vresTable-timeT" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 11pt; width: 360px; height: 30px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 10px; ">OFFICIAL TIME</td><td class="vresTable-placeT" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 11pt; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: right; ">OFFICIAL PLACE</td></tr><tr><td class="vresTable-time" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11pt; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><table class="vrespaceTable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width: 370px; height: 171px; border-collapse: collapse; "><tbody><tr><td class="vrespaceTable-top" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11px; background-image: url(http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgClock.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-align: center; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "><img height="60" width="45" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digitB.gif" /><img height="60" width="45" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digit1.gif" /><img height="60" width="1" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digitB.gif" /><img height="60" width="45" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digit2.gif" /><img height="60" width="45" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digit0.gif" /><img height="60" width="1" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digitB.gif" /><img height="60" width="45" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digit4.gif" /><img height="60" width="45" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digit2.gif" /></td></tr><tr><td class="vrespaceTable-bottom" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 11pt; height: 35px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top; ">AVERAGE PACE: <b>03:49</b></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td class="vresTable-place" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11pt; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: top; "><table class="vplaceTable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width: 275px; height: 56px; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-left: 0px; "><tbody><tr><td class="vplaceTable-place" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 9pt; width: 180px; text-align: center; "><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flap1.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flap1.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " />
<br />of 493 <u>TOTAL</u> finishers.</td><td class="vplaceTable-pct" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; ">97.77%</td><td class="vplaceTable-meter" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11pt; width: 41px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom; background-image: url(http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgPlaceMeter.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "><img width="25" height="49" class="vplaceLine" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgPlaceMeterLineE.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 1px; " /></td></tr></tbody></table><table class="vplaceTable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width: 275px; height: 56px; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-left: 0px; "><tbody><tr><td class="vplaceTable-place" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 9pt; width: 180px; text-align: center; "><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flap1.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flap1.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " />
<br />of 297 <u>MALE </u>finishers.</td><td class="vplaceTable-pct" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; ">96.30%</td><td class="vplaceTable-meter" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11pt; width: 41px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom; background-image: url(http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgPlaceMeter.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "><img width="25" height="48" class="vplaceLine" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgPlaceMeterLineG.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 1px; " /></td></tr></tbody></table><table class="vplaceTable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width: 275px; height: 56px; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-left: 0px; "><tbody><tr><td class="vplaceTable-place" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 9pt; width: 180px; text-align: center; "><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flap6.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " />
<br />of 116 <u>M30-39</u> finishers.</td><td class="vplaceTable-pct" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; ">94.83%</td><td class="vplaceTable-meter" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11pt; width: 41px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom; background-image: url(http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgPlaceMeter.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "><img width="25" height="48" class="vplaceLine" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgPlaceMeterLineD.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 1px; " /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table class="vresTable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width: 645px; height: 200px; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; background-image: url(http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgViewResult.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "><tbody><tr><td class="vresTable-timeT" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 11pt; width: 360px; height: 30px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 10px; ">NET TIME</td><td class="vresTable-placeT" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 11pt; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: right; ">NET PLACE</td></tr><tr><td class="vresTable-time" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11pt; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><table class="vrespaceTable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width: 370px; height: 171px; border-collapse: collapse; "><tbody><tr><td class="vrespaceTable-top" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11px; background-image: url(http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgClock.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-align: center; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "><img height="60" width="45" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digitB.gif" /><img height="60" width="45" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digit1.gif" /><img height="60" width="1" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digitB.gif" /><img height="60" width="45" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digit2.gif" /><img height="60" width="45" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digit0.gif" /><img height="60" width="1" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digitB.gif" /><img height="60" width="45" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digit4.gif" /><img height="60" width="45" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digit0.gif" /></td></tr><tr><td class="vrespaceTable-bottom" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 11pt; height: 35px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top; ">AVERAGE PACE: <b>03:49</b></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td class="vresTable-place" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11pt; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: top; "><table class="vplaceTable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width: 275px; height: 56px; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-left: 0px; "><tbody><tr><td class="vplaceTable-place" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 9pt; width: 180px; text-align: center; "><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flap1.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flap1.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " />
<br />of 493 <u>TOTAL</u> finishers.</td><td class="vplaceTable-pct" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; ">97.77%</td><td class="vplaceTable-meter" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11pt; width: 41px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom; background-image: url(http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgPlaceMeter.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "><img width="25" height="49" class="vplaceLine" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgPlaceMeterLineE.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 1px; " /></td></tr></tbody></table><table class="vplaceTable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width: 275px; height: 56px; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-left: 0px; "><tbody><tr><td class="vplaceTable-place" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 9pt; width: 180px; text-align: center; "><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flap1.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flap1.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " />
<br />of 297 <u>MALE </u>finishers.</td><td class="vplaceTable-pct" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; ">96.30%</td><td class="vplaceTable-meter" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11pt; width: 41px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom; background-image: url(http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgPlaceMeter.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "><img width="25" height="48" class="vplaceLine" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgPlaceMeterLineG.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 1px; " /></td></tr></tbody></table><table class="vplaceTable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width: 275px; height: 56px; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-left: 0px; "><tbody><tr><td class="vplaceTable-place" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 9pt; width: 180px; text-align: center; "><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flap6.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " />
<br />of 116 <u>M30-39</u> finishers.</td><td class="vplaceTable-pct" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; ">94.83%</td><td class="vplaceTable-meter" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11pt; width: 41px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom; background-image: url(http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgPlaceMeter.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "><img width="25" height="48" class="vplaceLine" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgPlaceMeterLineD.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 1px; " /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></span>
<br />
<br /><iframe width="465" height="548" frameborder="0" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/58135430"></iframe>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-81027442510624487752010-11-26T11:51:00.000+11:002010-12-01T11:52:18.594+11:00Christmas PartiesHurts Christmas drinks / Awards night at the Tilbury on Wednesday. It was really good to catch up with everyone for a yarn. It’s quite amazing how different we all look in suits instead of running singlets! <br /><br />JB got the award for Best Performance (Gold Coast Half, and Sydney Marathon) with Andy Heyden runner up (for his Comrades and 100km World Championships runs). <br /><br />Mike Conway grabbed the Serge award (I don’t think there was anyone close).<br /><br />I picked up the most improved award! Laura was runner-up. That was nice, I do feel that I have improved significantly over the course of this year. Both in the Hurts sessions themselves, and in my race results. Massive PBs in the marathon, 10km and run leg of the half ironman in just the last two months.<br /><br />Then Thursday night was the Boundary Riders Chrissy Party. Barefoot lawn bowls in Longueville, lots of fun. A good week for Christmas drinks!Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-76688530504167511072010-11-14T17:37:00.003+11:002010-11-17T20:45:39.035+11:00Nepean Triathlon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWP6SVHVtNCLAewYRn1z5b-hwVBjSK6sQIU46TqcWodE3MWBdLTqaNUt1B288_hgLBf8EI2pbSLdzH7XBEDPjYHurMFgV3a7A9QEqXWiTnCO_Nz7leswKKUwJ_ndmjw-nsk3TRByWOkJHE/s1600/Nep1.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWP6SVHVtNCLAewYRn1z5b-hwVBjSK6sQIU46TqcWodE3MWBdLTqaNUt1B288_hgLBf8EI2pbSLdzH7XBEDPjYHurMFgV3a7A9QEqXWiTnCO_Nz7leswKKUwJ_ndmjw-nsk3TRByWOkJHE/s400/Nep1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540452405679517330" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6kGot02ZwVYZQZgwvRoRpc2Y7v7OU4tWnxU7T5CBZgJHfMGc1uU5BUcQsF1GLvPPbb9JjZz8Xts6mOf1uVhVCF7wIiree2dflTh1FWqn1J8KHTjWOxqjqZmUgk2LNTnP2mke992NMbC3X/s1600/NEp2.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6kGot02ZwVYZQZgwvRoRpc2Y7v7OU4tWnxU7T5CBZgJHfMGc1uU5BUcQsF1GLvPPbb9JjZz8Xts6mOf1uVhVCF7wIiree2dflTh1FWqn1J8KHTjWOxqjqZmUgk2LNTnP2mke992NMbC3X/s400/NEp2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540452401409738642" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEHSGCvnLf4CxCaoHh4WrJgt2ap11Rr6wzSyNFfHqSQxFr5T-HXPXZHa4CRBb5IdY2hcGMjctHwER56VLZRFId9kq7Kj-IX_1A_Kr6qjb_GfRN6SkHRFkyz1z8yAagg6q9AiT2ePA9SLlw/s1600/Nep3.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEHSGCvnLf4CxCaoHh4WrJgt2ap11Rr6wzSyNFfHqSQxFr5T-HXPXZHa4CRBb5IdY2hcGMjctHwER56VLZRFId9kq7Kj-IX_1A_Kr6qjb_GfRN6SkHRFkyz1z8yAagg6q9AiT2ePA9SLlw/s400/Nep3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540452398166959154" /></a><br /><strong>Sunday 14 November 2010</strong><br /><br />A comedy of errors. It’s the only way to describe my performance at this race.<br /><br />I last raced Nepean in 2007 and was quite looking forward to doing it again. It’s a short fast race around a nice flat course, with a good field. It was the 3rd race in a week – Run 4 Fun last Sunday, JP Morgan on Wednesday night and now Nepean.<br /><br />My Saturday preparation wasn’t ideal, mainly because I put a new cassette on my training wheel at 10pm Friday night and screwed up the spacing. So riding on Saturday morning only a few gears were useable, I fiddled with the cable tension and generally mucked it up until I looked at the cassette and realised the problem. Back at home I spent a frustrating few hours meddling with the gears and trying to get the damn thing to work, before I finally called in the big guns and got Matt over to sort the whole thing out – which to his credit he did fairly easily. But it was a long day of rage and frustration, then a late night out, a disturbed sleep with the heat and over-active cats jumping all over me, and a 4am wake-up (half an hour before the alarm). I was shattered.<br /><br />But it was a short race, I’d be right. Picked up Christian and we headed out on the long drive west. Racked up the bikes without incident and then waited by the swim start for our wave to come around (the last one). It was only 7am at this stage, but the sun was already like a furnace, so it was clearly going to be a bloody hot race.<br /><br />The swim wasn’t great for me. My swimming has been feeling really good lately, but somehow I just couldn’t get my speed up during the race. Wetsuits were disallowed because the water was too warm, but that doesn’t bother me. The wave was small enough that there was nobody near me to impede my progress and it was a completely straight course, so no sighting problems. I just couldn’t put my foot on the gas. But it was only 1km and was over quickly enough. I didn’t have a watch on, but afterwards saw my time as 19:13.<br /><br />Transition was fast. I had my shoes attached to the bike and went sockless and even though I haven’t tried this for a couple of years, it wasn’t that difficult. After a couple of minutes I got up to speed and my legs felt great, I thought this is going to be a good bike leg. Out of the Regatta centre, down the road and about 8 minutes in we started the twists and turns of the industrial area. Second bend and I heard a loud “PFFFFFT!” followed by a staccato outrush of air as my rear tyre rapidly deflated. Bugger.<br /><br />I pulled around the corner, jumped onto the grass and turned the bike upside down to get the wheel off. At which point the entire contents of the profile bottle between on the bars emptied out instantly. That meant no water for the entire ride. This wasn’t looking good.<br /><br />Thankfully the tyre change was no problem and only took a couple of minutes. As I was putting the wheel back on, a girl came around the same corner and jumped off her bike swearing. There must have been some glass on the road if we both flatted at exactly the same spot. I called out “Are you ok?” expecting a yes, but she countered with a vehement NO! So I got my wheel back on and walked over to find her pumping madly with the hand pump. I asked if I could have a quick look, and the tube was completely flat.<br /><br />Taking the pump from her I mentioned, “Hmmm there’s a couple of reasons you’re having a problem. One is that the tube valve needs to be open in order to get air into it. Two is that the pump lever needs to be flicked up. And three, seeing that the tube is totally deflated, it’s probably punctured so you’ll need to replace it first. Do you know how to do that?” No.<br /><br />So I whipped off the wheel and changed the tube. Fortuitously at this point a mate of hers came by and stopped to hand over a CO2 canister, so I got the wheel back up to full pressure, slapped it back on the bike and said good luck as I took off.<br /><br />It wasn’t until later that I worked out I had been off the bike for about 11 minutes. As this point – since I was in the final wave – the only people still on their first lap of the course were grandmothers on mountain bikes. I rode pretty much alone for the rest of the way, trying to push, but when there is nobody fast around you, it’s super hot and you’ve got no water, and you realise you’ve already blown your race, it’s really difficult to motivate yourself enough to get into the hurt box.<br /><br />So I rode comfortably hard and finished the bike leg, then came into transition almost delirious for fluid. Racking my bike I saw the guy next to me had half a bottle in his cage, so I threw that down my parched throat and ran off. Getting out of transition I looked to my Garmin and realised that it was still attached to the bike! I considered running back for a second, but thought bugger it, I’ll just run by feel.<br /><br />Let me tell you, it is very difficult to run by feel when the only people around you are essentially walking and it’s about 35 degrees in full sun. So you have no idea of your pace, no idea of your effort level (it all feels hard) and very little incentive to kill yourself. Again I managed to fall into a comfortably hard pace and just tried to keep that going. It’s a flat, featureless, roasting hot run course and a lot of people appeared to be suffering. There was plenty of walking going on due to the conditions.<br /><br />I came over the line with no idea of what I’d done, and while it was a fairly enjoyable race, it certainly wasn’t a highlight for me. I would have preferred to have been in the thick of it with people to chase down or try to stick with. Having said that, the flat wouldn’t have made a huge difference. My slow swim in the final wave really put me too far at the back to have had a proper crack at it.<br /><br />Christian, Pete, Richard, Clyde, Chris Eagar and Tim Lindop all seemed to have very good races. Christian really smashed it. It was too hot to consider hanging around for the second race with teh fastest finishers squaring off. To be honest I'd sort of had enough, so Christian and I went home. I spent the rest of the day in the sun at the Newtown festival and I think I gave myself heatstroke!<br /><br /><br /><span style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse;font-size:12;" class="Apple-style-span"><table style="WIDTH: 1002px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse"><tbody><tr mapid="473"><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" width="1%"><table style="WIDTH: 150px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; HEIGHT: 60px" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg1" class="dxrpControl_Office2003Blue" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><table style="WIDTH: 150px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="WIDTH: 9px; HEIGHT: 9px"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 9px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 9px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/App_Themes/Office2003Blue/Web/rpTopLeftCorner.png" /></td><td style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/DXR.axd?r=0_1338); BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(123,164,224); BORDER-TOP: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td><td style="WIDTH: 9px; HEIGHT: 9px"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 9px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 9px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/App_Themes/Office2003Blue/Web/rpTopRightCorner.png" /></td></tr><tr><td style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/DXR.axd?r=0_1339); BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(123,164,224)"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td><td style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/DXR.axd?r=0_1339); BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; PADDING-BOTTOM: 7px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(123,164,224); PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; WHITE-SPACE: nowrap; HEIGHT: 24px; FONT-SIZE: small; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-TOP: 0px" class="dxrpControl_Office2003Blue dxrpHeader_Office2003Blue"><table style="WIDTH: 128px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; WHITE-SPACE: nowrap; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" class="dxrp" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/Images/swim.png" /></td><td style="WIDTH: 83px; FONT: bold small Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; WHITE-SPACE: nowrap; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); VERTICAL-ALIGN: top" class="dxrp"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-size:small;" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg1_RPHT">Swim</span></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/DXR.axd?r=0_1339); BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(123,164,224); BORDER-RIGHT: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td></tr><tr><td style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: white"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td><td style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: white; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; WIDTH: 128px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT: bold small Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); VERTICAL-ALIGN: top; PADDING-TOP: 10px" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg1_RPC" class="dxrp"><table style="WIDTH: 128px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse"><tbody><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="style9" colspan="2"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:Arial;font-size:x-large;" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg1_lblResTime1">00:19:13</span></td></tr><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" colspan="2"><span style="COLOR: rgb(153,153,153)" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg1_Label10">HH : MM : SS</span></td></tr><tr style="BORDER-BOTTOM-STYLE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none; BORDER-LEFT-STYLE: none; BORDER-TOP: rgb(255,0,0) thin solid"><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: right; BORDER-TOP: rgb(255,0,0) thin solid" class="style9" width="50%"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg1_Labelx4" class="dxeBase">Overall :</label></td><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BORDER-TOP: rgb(255,0,0) thin solid"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 9pt" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg1_lblResOPos1" class="dxeBase">284</label></td></tr><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: right" class="style9"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg1_Labelx5" class="dxeBase">Gender :</label></td><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 9pt" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg1_lblResGPos1" class="dxeBase">230</label></td></tr><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: right" class="style9"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg1_Labelx6" class="dxeBase">Category :</label></td><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 9pt" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg1_lblResCPos1" class="dxeBase">54</label></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: white; BORDER-RIGHT: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td></tr><tr><td style="WIDTH: 9px; HEIGHT: 9px"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 9px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 9px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/App_Themes/Office2003Blue/Web/rpBottomLeftCorner.png" /></td><td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: white"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td><td style="WIDTH: 9px; HEIGHT: 9px"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 9px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 9px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/App_Themes/Office2003Blue/Web/rpBottomRightCorner.png" /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" width="1%"><table style="WIDTH: 150px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; HEIGHT: 60px" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg2" class="dxrpControl_Office2003Blue" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><table style="WIDTH: 150px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="WIDTH: 9px; HEIGHT: 9px"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 9px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 9px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/App_Themes/Office2003Blue/Web/rpTopLeftCorner.png" /></td><td style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/DXR.axd?r=0_1338); BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(123,164,224); BORDER-TOP: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td><td style="WIDTH: 9px; HEIGHT: 9px"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 9px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 9px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/App_Themes/Office2003Blue/Web/rpTopRightCorner.png" /></td></tr><tr><td style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/DXR.axd?r=0_1339); BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(123,164,224)"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td><td style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/DXR.axd?r=0_1339); BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; PADDING-BOTTOM: 7px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(123,164,224); PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; WHITE-SPACE: nowrap; HEIGHT: 24px; FONT-SIZE: small; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-TOP: 0px" class="dxrpControl_Office2003Blue dxrpHeader_Office2003Blue"><table style="WIDTH: 128px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; WHITE-SPACE: nowrap; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" class="dxrp" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/Images/cycle.png" /></td><td style="WIDTH: 98px; FONT: bold small Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; WHITE-SPACE: nowrap; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); VERTICAL-ALIGN: top" class="dxrp"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-size:small;" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg2_RPHT">Cycle</span></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/DXR.axd?r=0_1339); BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(123,164,224); BORDER-RIGHT: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td></tr><tr><td style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: white"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td><td style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: white; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; WIDTH: 128px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT: bold small Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); VERTICAL-ALIGN: top; PADDING-TOP: 10px" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg2_RPC" class="dxrp"><table style="WIDTH: 128px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse"><tbody><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="style9" colspan="2"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:Arial;font-size:x-large;" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg2_lblResTime2">01:04:01</span></td></tr><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" colspan="2"><span style="COLOR: rgb(153,153,153)" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg2_Label14">HH : MM : SS</span></td></tr><tr style="BORDER-BOTTOM-STYLE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none; BORDER-LEFT-STYLE: none; BORDER-TOP: rgb(255,0,0) thin solid"><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: right; BORDER-TOP: rgb(255,0,0) thin solid" class="style9" width="50%"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg2_Labelx10" class="dxeBase">Overall :</label></td><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BORDER-TOP: rgb(255,0,0) thin solid"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: bold" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg2_lblResOPos2" class="dxeBase">595</label></td></tr><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: right" class="style9"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg2_Labelx11" class="dxeBase">Gender :</label></td><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: bold" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg2_lblResGPos2" class="dxeBase">472</label></td></tr><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: right" class="style9"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg2_Labelx12" class="dxeBase">Category :</label></td><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 9pt" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg2_lblResCPos2" class="dxeBase">83</label></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: white; BORDER-RIGHT: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td></tr><tr><td style="WIDTH: 9px; HEIGHT: 9px"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 9px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 9px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/App_Themes/Office2003Blue/Web/rpBottomLeftCorner.png" /></td><td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: white"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td><td style="WIDTH: 9px; HEIGHT: 9px"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 9px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 9px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/App_Themes/Office2003Blue/Web/rpBottomRightCorner.png" /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" width="1%"><table style="WIDTH: 150px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; HEIGHT: 60px" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg3" class="dxrpControl_Office2003Blue" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><table style="WIDTH: 150px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="WIDTH: 9px; HEIGHT: 9px"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 9px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 9px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/App_Themes/Office2003Blue/Web/rpTopLeftCorner.png" /></td><td style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/DXR.axd?r=0_1338); BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(123,164,224); BORDER-TOP: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td><td style="WIDTH: 9px; HEIGHT: 9px"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 9px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 9px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/App_Themes/Office2003Blue/Web/rpTopRightCorner.png" /></td></tr><tr><td style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/DXR.axd?r=0_1339); BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(123,164,224)"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td><td style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/DXR.axd?r=0_1339); BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; PADDING-BOTTOM: 7px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(123,164,224); PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; WHITE-SPACE: nowrap; HEIGHT: 24px; FONT-SIZE: small; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-TOP: 0px" class="dxrpControl_Office2003Blue dxrpHeader_Office2003Blue"><table style="WIDTH: 128px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; WHITE-SPACE: nowrap; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" class="dxrp" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/Images/run.png" /></td><td style="WIDTH: 98px; FONT: bold small Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; WHITE-SPACE: nowrap; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); VERTICAL-ALIGN: top" class="dxrp"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-size:small;" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg3_RPHT">Run</span></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/DXR.axd?r=0_1339); BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(123,164,224); BORDER-RIGHT: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td></tr><tr><td style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: white"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td><td style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: white; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; WIDTH: 128px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT: bold small Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); VERTICAL-ALIGN: top; PADDING-TOP: 10px" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg3_RPC" class="dxrp"><table style="WIDTH: 128px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse"><tbody><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="style9" colspan="2"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:Arial;font-size:x-large;" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg3_lblResTime3">00:38:21</span></td></tr><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" colspan="2"><span style="COLOR: rgb(153,153,153)" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg3_Label12">HH : MM : SS</span></td></tr><tr style="BORDER-BOTTOM-STYLE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none; BORDER-LEFT-STYLE: none; BORDER-TOP: rgb(255,0,0) thin solid"><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: right; BORDER-TOP: rgb(255,0,0) thin solid" class="style9" width="70%"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg3_Labelx7" class="dxeBase">Overall :</label></td><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BORDER-TOP: rgb(255,0,0) thin solid"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 9pt" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg3_lblResOPos3" class="dxeBase">25</label></td></tr><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: right" class="style9"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg3_Labelx8" class="dxeBase">Gender :</label></td><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 9pt" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg3_lblResGPos3" class="dxeBase">22</label></td></tr><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: right" class="style9"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg3_Labelx9" class="dxeBase">Category :</label></td><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: bold" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResLeg3_lblResCPos3" class="dxeBase">5</label></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: white; BORDER-RIGHT: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td></tr><tr><td style="WIDTH: 9px; HEIGHT: 9px"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 9px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 9px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/App_Themes/Office2003Blue/Web/rpBottomLeftCorner.png" /></td><td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: white"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td><td style="WIDTH: 9px; HEIGHT: 9px"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 9px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 9px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/App_Themes/Office2003Blue/Web/rpBottomRightCorner.png" /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td style="PADDING-LEFT: 20px"></td><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" width="1%"><table style="WIDTH: 150px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; HEIGHT: 60px" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResFinish" class="dxrpControl_Office2003Blue" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><table style="WIDTH: 150px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="WIDTH: 9px; HEIGHT: 9px"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 9px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 9px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/App_Themes/Office2003Blue/Web/rpTopLeftCorner.png" /></td><td style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/DXR.axd?r=0_1338); BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(123,164,224); BORDER-TOP: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td><td style="WIDTH: 9px; HEIGHT: 9px"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 9px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 9px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/App_Themes/Office2003Blue/Web/rpTopRightCorner.png" /></td></tr><tr><td style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/DXR.axd?r=0_1339); BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(123,164,224)"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td><td style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/DXR.axd?r=0_1339); BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; PADDING-BOTTOM: 7px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(123,164,224); PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; WHITE-SPACE: nowrap; HEIGHT: 25px; FONT-SIZE: small; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-TOP: 0px" class="dxrpControl_Office2003Blue dxrpHeader_Office2003Blue"><table style="WIDTH: 128px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; WHITE-SPACE: nowrap; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" class="dxrp" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/Images/Finish.png" /></td><td style="WIDTH: 104px; FONT: bold small Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; WHITE-SPACE: nowrap; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); VERTICAL-ALIGN: top" class="dxrp"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-size:small;" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResFinish_RPHT">Finish Time</span></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/DXR.axd?r=0_1339); BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(123,164,224); BORDER-RIGHT: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td></tr><tr><td style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: white"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td><td style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: white; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; WIDTH: 128px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT: bold small Tahoma, Verdana, Arial; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); VERTICAL-ALIGN: top; PADDING-TOP: 10px" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResFinish_RPC" class="dxrp"><table style="WIDTH: 128px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse"><tbody><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="style9" colspan="2"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:Arial;font-size:x-large;" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResFinish_lblResFinishTime">02:01:37</span></td></tr><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" colspan="2"><span style="COLOR: rgb(153,153,153)" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResFinish_Label1">HH : MM : SS</span></td></tr><tr style="BORDER-BOTTOM-STYLE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none; BORDER-LEFT-STYLE: none; BORDER-TOP: rgb(255,0,0) thin solid"><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: right; BORDER-TOP: rgb(255,0,0) thin solid" class="style9" width="50%"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResFinish_Labelx1" class="dxeBase">Overall :</label></td><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; BORDER-TOP: rgb(255,0,0) thin solid"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: bold" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResFinish_lblResOPos" class="dxeBase">218</label></td></tr><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: right" class="style9"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResFinish_Labelx2" class="dxeBase">Gender :</label></td><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: bold" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResFinish_lblResGPos" class="dxeBase">191</label></td></tr><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: right" class="style9"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResFinish_Labelx14" class="dxeBase">Category :</label></td><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><label style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: bold" id="ctl00_RacePanel_Content_Main_pnlResFinish_lblResCPos" class="dxeBase">47</label></td></tr><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: right" class="style9"></td><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: white; BORDER-RIGHT: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td></tr><tr><td style="WIDTH: 9px; HEIGHT: 9px"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 9px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 9px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/App_Themes/Office2003Blue/Web/rpBottomLeftCorner.png" /></td><td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(0,45,150) 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: white"><div style="OVERFLOW-X: hidden; OVERFLOW-Y: hidden; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 1px"></div></td><td style="WIDTH: 9px; HEIGHT: 9px"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; WIDTH: 9px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 9px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px" alt="" src="http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/App_Themes/Office2003Blue/Web/rpBottomRightCorner.png" /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td width="50%"></td></tr></tbody></table></span>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-49376636826726415692010-11-10T21:21:00.002+11:002010-11-11T11:30:41.413+11:00JP Morgan Corporate ChallengeMy JP Morgan debut. What a great event! I can't believe I've never done this race before. And as a lot of the boys pointed out, it's the unofficial HuRTs championship. It really was yesterday, Ben St Lawrence 1st, followed by Tom Crasti, Tom Highnam, Tucks and Charlie Low.<br /><br />I had Mike Conway's number and managed to get up near the front of the blue section start with most of the HuRTs boys around me - Todd, Charlie D, Christian, Brendan, Pete Walker, Eamo, Enda, Perso, Dr Skins, Tim Lindop. Laura and Anna were directly in front of me and when the start gun went they took off like they'd been stung!<br /><br />The pace was quick on the first couple of hundred metres of flat and I struggled badly. My legs felt sore and heavy and it appeared that I was moving backwards as the field surged around me. I've never done a running race less than 10km before and I was struck with the terrible thought "I'm not fast enough for this distance and my legs are shot. I'm just going to cruise this one around because there's no way I can race it."<br /><br />Not a great mindset, but it was dispelled a few seconds later when we hit the hill and my legs and lungs started to warm up. I quickened and shortened my stride and started to actually pass people, weaving around them and trying to find gaps. I passed Pete, and finally managed to catch Anna and Laura at the top of the hill near the gates. Rounding the hairpin right turn my legs were back in form and my mind was back where it should have been too. "I'm ok, I'm feeling good, I can run this hard."<br /><br />The field immediately started to thin and I began picking people to pass as we tended upwards towards the Woollara gates. I was gaining on Perso, but as soon as we turned back downhill he was off like a shot. The down was great to get the breath back, but I knew the hurt would kick in again once we hit the flat on Grand Drive. I started wondering where people were, I couldn't see Christian in front, I spotted Todd miles away - he must have taken off at a ridiculous speed - and a bit closer were Perso and Tim Lindop in front of him. I locked onto them on grand drive and tried my darndest to reel them in.<br /><br />I caught Perso, then Timmy and set my sights on Todd who was still some way off. I dug deep and made it up to him, then found something else to keep pushing on up the little incline before the Fox Studio gates. Once around that corner I thought there wasn't much left in my legs. I felt like I slowed considerably, but the tight group of 4 or ahead of me (including Andrea from KPMG - the lead girl) seemed to be slowing at a higher rate because I was somehow catching up. Past 5km and I was praying for the finish line, I tried to keep the pace high but just couldn't go much harder. It was too early to kick so I tried to keep the pace just high enough to keep catching that group.<br /><br />A hundred metres before the grass turnoff I was among them, I went by the Xstrata singlet guy and another bloke in an aqua singlet, then turning the corner onto the grass I passed Andrea. Just before the line I caught up with Steve (a bloke I met at the start line) and felt like a dick sprinting past him on the line when he'd led the whole way, so I slowed down a couple of steps, put a hand on his back and made sure he crossed the timing mate a second before me. Of course Xstrata guy shot past while I was doing that and aqua singlet caught up on the line, so I finished behind all three of them. I did manage to make it in from of Andrea as first female, and it was cool seeing the finish tape still up on the girl's side.<br /><br />Stoked to be under 20 minutes, I was very happy with that run.<br />24th Place out of almost 3,000 men<br /><strong>Finish time: 19:45</strong><br /><br /><iframe height="548" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/56183565" frameborder="0" width="465"></iframe>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-11455423625454563892010-11-07T07:25:00.002+11:002010-11-17T20:46:42.215+11:00New 10km PB - Run 4 Fun<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtFFwceLPi0PaLE4YIeRfn4KDPN2IKRIkdzPoBBiL_Dnb3u4Hg0mjJL9MzYWoMyCAj0b9IrQuVlCmETcOREiFFW51Ds4XZRd1LC-x9c_XKfYifjOGSmLVDrf9FZGTNLg2hqYr6Sjh9mbqz/s1600/Run4Life3.jpeg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 179px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtFFwceLPi0PaLE4YIeRfn4KDPN2IKRIkdzPoBBiL_Dnb3u4Hg0mjJL9MzYWoMyCAj0b9IrQuVlCmETcOREiFFW51Ds4XZRd1LC-x9c_XKfYifjOGSmLVDrf9FZGTNLg2hqYr6Sjh9mbqz/s400/Run4Life3.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540451998357486962" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3qYMiXmpbEfJk1bt72yfI39oRwzT8OABB6z2b_JP7jQHVUI_5xA0q08FKaHhMYAN6aAh7zN9pQo1VdcLWT7uKADupcWIWto6EuVPfJNGkkg23HQi-DsIzzCqkmDkqkKv7Cw9ijlmnkcO/s1600/Run4Life4.jpeg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 179px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3qYMiXmpbEfJk1bt72yfI39oRwzT8OABB6z2b_JP7jQHVUI_5xA0q08FKaHhMYAN6aAh7zN9pQo1VdcLWT7uKADupcWIWto6EuVPfJNGkkg23HQi-DsIzzCqkmDkqkKv7Cw9ijlmnkcO/s400/Run4Life4.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540451991233363474" /></a><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3qYMiXmpbEfJk1bt72yfI39oRwzT8OABB6z2b_JP7jQHVUI_5xA0q08FKaHhMYAN6aAh7zN9pQo1VdcLWT7uKADupcWIWto6EuVPfJNGkkg23HQi-DsIzzCqkmDkqkKv7Cw9ijlmnkcO/s1600/Run4Life4.jpeg"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkb82gr63xgRMK6wJ5rZ8rES6PClV-Af_FYOZf_2LYbz2C9pGrbwBb5j33I6jjbMtlY1jRE-ucTDOCk8zoaYzsV6R8um-GRc84sjrl1adATGK6AscclRZixNFyMBzRkZa1jwoXGn0MRKl/s1600/Run4Life2.jpeg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 179px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkb82gr63xgRMK6wJ5rZ8rES6PClV-Af_FYOZf_2LYbz2C9pGrbwBb5j33I6jjbMtlY1jRE-ucTDOCk8zoaYzsV6R8um-GRc84sjrl1adATGK6AscclRZixNFyMBzRkZa1jwoXGn0MRKl/s400/Run4Life2.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540451987248316850" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7yLgF_PFyflj_Z55dylOJAvVpt-FcjyVvQxvGMVvX7nYRTeQRzWMP2Prwa7vG3_oEDtN5GrWogvqQjQdoziJTrq3qB-gKGoB_nyp9yUod4I4_fkMbaabmICeRuSYQKJt8A7tj6FbNb-TK/s1600/Run4Life1.jpeg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 179px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7yLgF_PFyflj_Z55dylOJAvVpt-FcjyVvQxvGMVvX7nYRTeQRzWMP2Prwa7vG3_oEDtN5GrWogvqQjQdoziJTrq3qB-gKGoB_nyp9yUod4I4_fkMbaabmICeRuSYQKJt8A7tj6FbNb-TK/s400/Run4Life1.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540451984181720050" /></a><br />I've been hoping to set a new 10km PB for some time now. The last one was at the Striders North Head race in July 2008 where I did 37:11. I got injured a month later and have never managed to make it back to that form since, running in the 38s for the last couple of years.<br /><br />However I did the Striders North Head a couple of months ago on a very windy day as a warm up for the Sydney marathon, and I managed 37:25 without pushing to my limit, so I thought that now is as good a time as any to pick a race and push for a sub 37 PB. A lot of the HuRTS boys were talking about the Run 4 Fun being a flat and fast course out at Sydney Olympic Park, so I decided to skip the Striders Lane Cove run the day before and lock this one in.<br /><br />Saturday absolutely bucketed with rain all day, but by Sunday morning it was blue skies, warm and not too breezy. Got a lift with Clem and Christian and was feeling really positive about the race. I had planned a long ride the day before, but because of the weather only managed a couple of hours on the indoor trainer spinning pretty lightly, which meant my legs felt in good shape.<br /><br />We had a little warm up, said high to the massive Hurts contingent and positioned ourselves a couple of rows of people back before the line. Christian said he'd try to do about 3.39 min/kms and I thought that sounded like a good plan, so when the gun went I took off. I pushed hard the first couple of kms (as usual everyone goes mental at the start, before they all start dropping back). So after spending a couple of kms passing people the race seemed to settle down. I was running faster than I’d planned to run, but it was feeling good, my legs and lungs were handling it well and I thought I could keep it going, so I did. There were a few odd people to pass here and there, but in the main I found myself at the front of a little group, hearing a bunch of people breathing down my neck, but obviously not quite able to pass me. Then there was a few seconds gap to the group in front of me, which included John from Hurts, which try as I might I just couldn’t close down. A couple of times they looked like they were slowing and the gap was closing, but just as quickly they’d pull away again.<br /><br />Most of the race passed uneventfully like this, running by myself trying to keep ahead of the chasers and trying to close the gap. It finished much the same way, into the stadium and onto the grass track to cross the line in exactly 36:30. I was utterly stoked by that result. A perfect race and a big 41 second PB!<br /><br />I had wanted to get a long run in so had planned to run home afterwards. Christian was keep to join and I was very glad to have the company, so the two of us did another 20km afterwards back to McMahons Point. Top day all round really!<br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, verdana; font-size: 11px; border-collapse: collapse; "><table class="vlayTable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width: 970px; border-collapse: collapse; "><tbody><tr><td class="vlayTable-Main" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11px; vertical-align: top; padding-top: 4px; padding-right: 25px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; "><table class="vresTable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width: 645px; height: 200px; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; background-image: url(http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgViewResult.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "><tbody><tr><td class="vresTable-timeT" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 11pt; width: 360px; height: 30px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 10px; ">OFFICIAL TIME</td><td class="vresTable-placeT" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 11pt; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: right; ">OFFICIAL PLACE</td></tr><tr><td class="vresTable-time" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11pt; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><table class="vrespaceTable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width: 370px; height: 171px; border-collapse: collapse; "><tbody><tr><td class="vrespaceTable-top" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11px; background-image: url(http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgClock.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-align: center; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "><img height="60" width="45" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digitB.gif" /><img height="60" width="45" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digit0.gif" /><img height="60" width="1" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digitB.gif" /><img height="60" width="45" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digit3.gif" /><img height="60" width="45" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digit6.gif" /><img height="60" width="1" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digitB.gif" /><img height="60" width="45" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digit3.gif" /><img height="60" width="45" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/digit0.gif" /></td></tr><tr><td class="vrespaceTable-bottom" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 11pt; height: 35px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top; ">AVERAGE PACE: <b>03:39</b></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td class="vresTable-place" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11pt; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: top; "><table class="vplaceTable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width: 275px; height: 56px; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-left: 0px; "><tbody><tr><td class="vplaceTable-place" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 9pt; width: 180px; text-align: center; "><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flap6.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flap0.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><br />of 6,761 <u>TOTAL</u> finishers.</td><td class="vplaceTable-pct" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; ">99.11%</td><td class="vplaceTable-meter" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11pt; width: 41px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom; background-image: url(http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgPlaceMeter.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "><img width="25" height="50" class="vplaceLine" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgPlaceMeterLineE.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 1px; " /></td></tr></tbody></table><table class="vplaceTable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width: 275px; height: 56px; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-left: 0px; "><tbody><tr><td class="vplaceTable-place" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 9pt; width: 180px; text-align: center; "><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flap5.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flap7.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><br />of 3,386 <u>MALE </u>finishers.</td><td class="vplaceTable-pct" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; ">98.32%</td><td class="vplaceTable-meter" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11pt; width: 41px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom; background-image: url(http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgPlaceMeter.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "><img width="25" height="49" class="vplaceLine" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgPlaceMeterLineG.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 1px; " /></td></tr></tbody></table><table class="vplaceTable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width: 275px; height: 56px; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-left: 0px; "><tbody><tr><td class="vplaceTable-place" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 9pt; width: 180px; text-align: center; "><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flapB.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flap3.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><img height="30" width="22" class="vplaceFlap" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/flap0.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 1px; " /><br />of 1,074 <u>M30-39</u> finishers.</td><td class="vplaceTable-pct" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; ">97.21%</td><td class="vplaceTable-meter" style="font-family: arial, verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11pt; width: 41px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom; background-image: url(http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgPlaceMeter.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "><img width="25" height="49" class="vplaceLine" src="http://results.au.eventdirector.net/IMG/bgPlaceMeterLineD.gif" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 1px; " /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>First Half - 18.08 (3.37 pace)<br />Second Half - 18.21 (3.40 pace)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span><br /><iframe width="465" height="548" frameborder="0" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/55754122"></iframe></div>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-25139903192073348872010-11-02T18:43:00.002+11:002010-11-02T18:49:40.266+11:00Port Mac photos<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ7Fe3-3vCxNLOtWtFfWPkY_t4YWE0G2W367kZyLZOeG4gCsuB6Y1KCgSMNJHISKQBI4RQnSitbZ1-kkMWMzuDwHCnMctJOX24xRPREF-VD4cEQD1RN_0m965ORnSSCSSmx4RpG84yGCBa/s1600/MYSA0225.jpeg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 179px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ7Fe3-3vCxNLOtWtFfWPkY_t4YWE0G2W367kZyLZOeG4gCsuB6Y1KCgSMNJHISKQBI4RQnSitbZ1-kkMWMzuDwHCnMctJOX24xRPREF-VD4cEQD1RN_0m965ORnSSCSSmx4RpG84yGCBa/s400/MYSA0225.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534855667477082466" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1dhZhH9ltGnF_2o7nMQVZwB4evvKwszaE-d5cm7b5QaxG6FTVeesR1ihk7gWmppJWQmsAKFBavGKHyuiQfIEd1-bHGTEPvHf6_-Yjuaa9RiPmKSf5tSyuMon3Tu5a1yCh49u92fSqVy-6/s1600/MIRB0077.jpeg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 179px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1dhZhH9ltGnF_2o7nMQVZwB4evvKwszaE-d5cm7b5QaxG6FTVeesR1ihk7gWmppJWQmsAKFBavGKHyuiQfIEd1-bHGTEPvHf6_-Yjuaa9RiPmKSf5tSyuMon3Tu5a1yCh49u92fSqVy-6/s400/MIRB0077.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534855660680862082" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2mR2JIWnNJ-iqnXwcs2bg87vHxcPvVtrw3igR4su2SogWvKKQ9DSXNejwg7OCvLTIlIykp_3IL_RonIS5HJ0Y9LlhGmwwHRHy6qn61ymr6wCwuw_SW87SCmOmII_mD-aK2P9lfRdMOJT5/s1600/MYRA0913.jpeg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 179px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2mR2JIWnNJ-iqnXwcs2bg87vHxcPvVtrw3igR4su2SogWvKKQ9DSXNejwg7OCvLTIlIykp_3IL_RonIS5HJ0Y9LlhGmwwHRHy6qn61ymr6wCwuw_SW87SCmOmII_mD-aK2P9lfRdMOJT5/s400/MYRA0913.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534855661769571058" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQ8dNO9m3WEz76nl9qxdK4h3Y1FxgZj4gzsShmFY42vqG9PKg5TntFODqymh9ji_QnLggDT0rJz8ukBwyMwIwR814GhXltLvtQIX2IHhFIYIuJMcH9CIWoT_A75XNz_uq_LQj4eydYh_E/s1600/MYRA0914.jpeg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 179px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQ8dNO9m3WEz76nl9qxdK4h3Y1FxgZj4gzsShmFY42vqG9PKg5TntFODqymh9ji_QnLggDT0rJz8ukBwyMwIwR814GhXltLvtQIX2IHhFIYIuJMcH9CIWoT_A75XNz_uq_LQj4eydYh_E/s400/MYRA0914.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534855364281700546" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvDyI4Or1PqL8jgJ3W_cbvpp2i-yno-u23gM-3JEsHxa_P94sIGHkHsN82vtI6-EF34Ncus5cVEopJgVsm-lF0iF0-FH-TxuKPb5btt10R59cCoyfh8oFA3mCxrbxYlA-otXsbvg7MBPKn/s1600/MJRA0181.jpeg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 178px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvDyI4Or1PqL8jgJ3W_cbvpp2i-yno-u23gM-3JEsHxa_P94sIGHkHsN82vtI6-EF34Ncus5cVEopJgVsm-lF0iF0-FH-TxuKPb5btt10R59cCoyfh8oFA3mCxrbxYlA-otXsbvg7MBPKn/s400/MJRA0181.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534855352984572578" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip80UR_6k-mdlZ22OJL9TBzATSUWvXb0nPrnfRTUerhJRIZF4oEAVvqZS22cGRo2zTjW08Ms3iypEA2JEqnLdXRm5-v4pj-6mYE6kTpbAExN5vSnaDaID3ICGDqX32kZRDR9CR3wW4vArQ/s1600/MJRA0182.jpeg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 178px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip80UR_6k-mdlZ22OJL9TBzATSUWvXb0nPrnfRTUerhJRIZF4oEAVvqZS22cGRo2zTjW08Ms3iypEA2JEqnLdXRm5-v4pj-6mYE6kTpbAExN5vSnaDaID3ICGDqX32kZRDR9CR3wW4vArQ/s400/MJRA0182.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534855346275573058" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiodPu1x0bRXzQCW5Fg86qRyRE3OKApuztwKFqY-2kjHLj4Gww8nRMmHD6Bsr4il7jZhT-rTLb5i93V44qpwRyjslqOhvX-_cH4RPlBI_89gjuZ8JrGg_JUP8bC7Qih1E2eaW14LHBS5vfj/s1600/MYRA0915.jpeg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 179px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiodPu1x0bRXzQCW5Fg86qRyRE3OKApuztwKFqY-2kjHLj4Gww8nRMmHD6Bsr4il7jZhT-rTLb5i93V44qpwRyjslqOhvX-_cH4RPlBI_89gjuZ8JrGg_JUP8bC7Qih1E2eaW14LHBS5vfj/s400/MYRA0915.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534855344929714610" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY_FrC1_F6za4AFp_rgIHDbyKQ6uwi47maVpjF_c6ni0A60VNmULd7CNJN6tEfbAp7xyLe2CFI7k9cxBk_GgyQYkZZQ-Cf4UL01vHlJjFBgSx5jqDo-P4hHtMawCiRQBP_iIlel8SCnLC4/s1600/ZZZY0168.jpeg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 179px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY_FrC1_F6za4AFp_rgIHDbyKQ6uwi47maVpjF_c6ni0A60VNmULd7CNJN6tEfbAp7xyLe2CFI7k9cxBk_GgyQYkZZQ-Cf4UL01vHlJjFBgSx5jqDo-P4hHtMawCiRQBP_iIlel8SCnLC4/s400/ZZZY0168.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534855339004323698" /></a>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-3552530401641029332010-11-01T18:01:00.010+11:002010-11-02T10:13:29.414+11:00Port Macquarie Half Ironman 2010<strong>31 October 2010</strong><br /><br />Expectations were low.<br /><br />I entered this race for a bit of fun and to hang out with Tab doing her first ever Half Ironman. Going under 3 hours at the Sydney Marathon was my main focus for the 2nd half of the year, so I focussed almost entirely on running the last few months at the expense of any real bike work. I knew that with only 4 weeks to 'cram' in between I was unlikely to do very well, but hopefully have a good tune up race to kick off my training for Taupo ironman next March.<br /><br /><ul><li>This was only my 2nd time riding the new bike (the first was a ride at West Head last weekend).</li><li>The first time ever riding deep dish wheels (Flashpoints I borrowed from Wes on Thursday night)</li><li>I didn't bother tapering at all, apart from cutting 10 mins off my Tuesday Hurts run session.</li><li>I also decided to try a bit of new stuff in the race - Torq bars on the ride which I'd never tasted before (they're fairly new and the only vegan powerbar I've seen), and a caffeinated gel on the run. I don't do caffeine in real life or racing, but thought I might give it a try.</li></ul><p><b>The result?</b><br />I think it was as much luck as anything else that I had a good day out there, but I was astonished.<br /><br />56th overall, out of almost a thousand competitors (including 21 elites)<br />12th in my age category<br />I was only beaten by 3 girls!<br /><br />Even better, my run leg was the 11th fastest of the day. Including the pros.<br />3rd in my age group.<br /><br /><b>SWIM</b><br /><b></b>For some reason I was in the orange caps - seeded second slowest. I didn't think that could be accurate, so I put myself near the front of that group, but still behind all the white caps and blue caps, so quite far from the starting line.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPdEvj8t1SG5hyphenhyphengCy208jYY_0aFVoXreRbd0Hkm0AbYt7xZbGxt7Sf0mC0jKiK4JUvLFeQdfkm7QfcqphiN1v7Jw3FvKAxWmf88dfbQEhHUUDxqY65Y8aKi5Z1KMXL_n3co2lszDVrCkpv/s1600/P1030739.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534519482037138674" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPdEvj8t1SG5hyphenhyphengCy208jYY_0aFVoXreRbd0Hkm0AbYt7xZbGxt7Sf0mC0jKiK4JUvLFeQdfkm7QfcqphiN1v7Jw3FvKAxWmf88dfbQEhHUUDxqY65Y8aKi5Z1KMXL_n3co2lszDVrCkpv/s400/P1030739.JPG" /></a><br /><br />I've been really enjoying my swimming lately so was hoping my technique had improved, but it's hard to know whether that translates into a faster time. Certainly I am now more comfortable in the water than I've ever been, so I was pretty confident that I'd have a good swim at least.<br /><br />From the gun I was passing white and blue caps. My stroke felt good, I was comfortable and relaxed and I didn't get passed once (probably because most of the field was ahead of me!) There were only three or four times throughout the whole swim that I had to mosey along slowly because I had an unbreakable phalanx of swimmers locked together impeding my progress. That's pretty good for a thousand starters in the water. Even then I only had to paddle for a short while before I found a gap each time.<br /><br />My sighting was spot on and I managed to swim the straightest open water swim I think I've ever done. After the turnaround I knew I had a lot more, so I figured I might as well pick up the speed on the way back. I had stuck my garmin 310XT in my swim cap (another first) to see if I could record the swim and it worked great. So it actually looks like my feeling was correct, I swam a very straight line and my first km was 16:44 while my second km was 14:04<br /><br /><b>Swim 0:30:59</b><span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><br /><br />Overall :<span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>170<br />Category : 39<br /><iframe height="548" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/55096556" frameborder="0" width="465"></iframe><br /></p><b>TRANSITION 1</b><br /><iframe height="548" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/55096558" frameborder="0" width="465"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><b>BIKE</b><br />The new bike felt good from the start. Thankfully I'd had it fitted properly by Blair, because even with only my second ever time riding in a TT position, it was really comfortable.<br /><br />I had my garmin as my bike computer and didn't have speed displayed at all. Only Cadence, HR and ride time. So the plan was to try to keep my cadence around the 90 mark as much as possible, while keeping the HR aerobic and my body position down on the bars as much as I could.<br /><br />This seemed to work well, I found a gear which allowed me to pedal comfortably hard at a heart rate between 145 and 155. Basically I worked out that one gear harder my cadence dropped dramatically and I couldn't hold over 85 without burning my legs up. So I guess that was my limit and I just worked it, focusing on complete revolutions.<br /><br />Ate one third of a bar every 25 to 30 mins. I drank only out of my profile bottle which was in a really good position for me to take regular small sips without moving my arms.<br /><br />Finished the first of two laps in 1:20, feeling pretty good, but not sure what to expect. Riding has always been my weakest leg and to be honest I was concerned that I'd maybe pushed a bit too hard already and would die in the arse in the second half (as I tend to do).<br /><br />Going out of town I felt my legs heavy on the hills, but once I hit the flat section after the golf course the tailwind was pushing me along and I thought "this is going to really suck coming back, so I might as well work a bit harder and try to make the best of it while it's working for me". I kept a good rhythm and seemed to be passed by only the odd person, not the legions that normally blow by me at this end of the bike leg.<br /><br />The "race-ready" bike with Wes's wheels:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYCnRw6UyjvplizMYa6ddBq7ldjQIIdqMkRkUIdLXmidcLA-voZFkOYK9xH8rBqJLESRcLYtoAXPMZZ5N1kdIsnMpzMSLeNggGIVBqUjNR1i-lRgXtdhX3d_-e3bZxW_kJojwHG0Imr-Oz/s1600/P1030747.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534519486056752626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYCnRw6UyjvplizMYa6ddBq7ldjQIIdqMkRkUIdLXmidcLA-voZFkOYK9xH8rBqJLESRcLYtoAXPMZZ5N1kdIsnMpzMSLeNggGIVBqUjNR1i-lRgXtdhX3d_-e3bZxW_kJojwHG0Imr-Oz/s400/P1030747.JPG" /></a><br /><br />My theory was correct. At the turnaround it was clear that the wind had picked up markedly and the last quarter back into town was going to hurt a lot. Wind typically kills me. As a light rider with very little leg strength I find it hard to push through.<br /><br /><br />Oddly though, after the first five minutes of whining to myself, once I stopped fighting myself I suddenly realised that I was doing ok. I managed to find a gearing (small chainring, 14 or 15 on the back) which let me do my 90rpm at 150 HR and felt good. I guess the TT position, the tri-specific bike and the aero wheels let me cut through the wind a lot better than usual as I amazing started to pass people.<br /><br /><br />I had a moment of interesting triathlon psychology. I was just trying to ride as steady as possible, but every time I would pass someone, they'd turn themselves inside out to pass me back within a couple of minutes. They clearly couldn't stand being passed and were over-exerting to get in front again. I just kept doing my thing and would go round them again shortly. It was a nice feeling, I'm not used to overtaking people on the bike.<br /><br /><br />Second half of the ride was 5 mins slower at 1:25, which wasn't a bad effort considering the wind.<br /><br />Looking at my results today I noticed that everyone who was ahead of me in my category had a bike split between 10 and 15 minutes faster than mine. So there's a still a lot of work to do there, my bike time is much slower than it should be.<br /><br /><b>Bike 2:47:56</b><span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><br />Overall :<span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>191<br />Category : 45<br />That's official time including transition. I had it at <b>2:44:53</b><br /><iframe height="548" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/55096559" frameborder="0" width="465"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><b>TRANSITION 2</b><br />The only thing to say here is that I needed to pee, so diverted to the portaloos. They were locked, I had a brief conversation with a woman standing outside (with a yellow "team" number on, so she wasn't even on the clock yet) who haughtily informed me that the 5 or 6 team competitors milling around near the loos were actually waiting.<br /><br /><br />Bah, no time. I figured I'd do it later. In the end I didn't go at all, I just sweated it out I guess.<br /><iframe height="548" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/55096560" frameborder="0" width="465"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><b>RUN</b><br />I started the run feeling dreadful. No power at all in the legs. I thought "Oh no, I had a great ride at the expense of my run!" However I figured it might just be my legs getting used to changing from bike to run (esp on a TT position), so I quickened my cadence and tried to get the feeling into them. I saw Mark Fiore just ahead of me at the Panthers turnaround and thought if I can just catch him I can pace off him. Sadly Mark pulled up short with a cramp about 3km in, although I saw him later on and he managed to keep running quite well afterwards.<br /><br /><br />But speeding up to catch him seemed to set my tempo and my pace was around 4.05min/km in the first 4 km - right where I wanted it to be.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTbiQtfyHvs1Hw_ZRdIO6_0MnQMjWH45zaHsHFgXFc_a1frBJiNkfMnTPp_ADe_mr1KUKPp3-HBvzm6J26ml60aEL_R-O-cGqPxSxHW554UXpW6wsXtDW_8nNbL8Xt3yNZSb2cJVSnRCIy/s1600/IMG_0134.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 300px; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534519479393862626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTbiQtfyHvs1Hw_ZRdIO6_0MnQMjWH45zaHsHFgXFc_a1frBJiNkfMnTPp_ADe_mr1KUKPp3-HBvzm6J26ml60aEL_R-O-cGqPxSxHW554UXpW6wsXtDW_8nNbL8Xt3yNZSb2cJVSnRCIy/s400/IMG_0134.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />15 minutes in I took a torq gel, the banoffee flavour with something like 89g of caffeine. I wasn't sure how I'd react as I'm not a caffeine taker, but I guess it went well. By the second of three laps I was speeding up. In fact I knocked over the second lap so quickly that I was concerned I was perhaps pushing a little too hard and may cark it on the last lap.<br /><br /><br />45mins in I took my 2nd and final (non-caffeinated) gel and in between it was just a sip of water at each aid station and the rest over my head. No sports drink all day.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbowbh71f57MFLRL4cqemBC9JkvNa4_v2ZudoH4Z65lMQ_wY5LADqzHo32a6u_9BiCb8HmnAapAekrY7kwUbCkQWlPbtTystl7lqLOl5sKxCw9RniHiC0MZuQwc7zFsgFUamq9ihyphenhyphenkJx7X/s1600/IMG_0135.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 299px; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534518744661102498" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbowbh71f57MFLRL4cqemBC9JkvNa4_v2ZudoH4Z65lMQ_wY5LADqzHo32a6u_9BiCb8HmnAapAekrY7kwUbCkQWlPbtTystl7lqLOl5sKxCw9RniHiC0MZuQwc7zFsgFUamq9ihyphenhyphenkJx7X/s400/IMG_0135.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />Last lap. I was still feeling strong, but didn't want to flog myself, so I thought I'll try to keep a steady even pace on the way out and then if I'm still feeling good at the turnaround I can smash myself. Passed Tab on the waterfront with a pat on the arse, she looked like she was running well - really upright with good form.<br /><br /><br />This was the point where I really started passing people. The great thing was that the more people I passed, the stronger and faster I felt. Purely psychological I'm sure, but it was a great boost. At the final turnaround I saw Nerissa and gave her a push up the hill for a couple of metres, then decided to take off and knock out the last 3km as hard as I could.<br /><br /><br />This was probably the best feeling I've ever had in a triathlon. I felt like I was flying, passed loads of people and knew I would finish strongly. So exciting to have such a good race!<br /><br />Finish chute:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7VsX-DAra8juLf2g5UYCIHu9hDDhEc8udKzMd6aMoU_MjgNxiWkV_lhm_W_c9FHI9eBxmCcwSdh7Q-0ZtU0lDA9K_2EsnYWVbeiI2pcFcql5TpGfT92LRRX9uIoX8bMuhGDTHgkADbFo/s1600/IMG_0138.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 299px; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534518730428751154" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7VsX-DAra8juLf2g5UYCIHu9hDDhEc8udKzMd6aMoU_MjgNxiWkV_lhm_W_c9FHI9eBxmCcwSdh7Q-0ZtU0lDA9K_2EsnYWVbeiI2pcFcql5TpGfT92LRRX9uIoX8bMuhGDTHgkADbFo/s400/IMG_0138.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7qM0dkjmLwK_VOY1Z0u6kXU_iYWMEWXR9TO1Y0rbjot1mpcDj-ZIusv7r7Y6y0IiTzmmcPgbDledg1xaDe7RbOMRVZBfniOmDFGX49wOdLANSiRAvcH79ddhW10ZJbJx3ur6JJOIftKbH/s1600/IMG_0139.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 300px; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534518738993216466" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7qM0dkjmLwK_VOY1Z0u6kXU_iYWMEWXR9TO1Y0rbjot1mpcDj-ZIusv7r7Y6y0IiTzmmcPgbDledg1xaDe7RbOMRVZBfniOmDFGX49wOdLANSiRAvcH79ddhW10ZJbJx3ur6JJOIftKbH/s400/IMG_0139.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><b>Run 1:28:07<span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></b><br />Overall :<span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>11<br />Category : 3<br /><br /><br />Once again, take away the transition time and according to my watch: <b>1:26:28</b><br /><iframe height="548" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/55096561" frameborder="0" width="465"></iframe><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvHg9SYcDUr19c5Q-goS86tANQoxh96-U2ZFDRprXeWdygHSeboiePtFst4HmXvpOZu1w8ZuBUfCtpiZe0rjeAfvyikJDU4DUet8qt4tpSbIpT9Znvhz4ZxtY2tHOPVf2h2tlL3i4TAW7_/s1600/IMG_0140.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 299px; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534518727313415778" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvHg9SYcDUr19c5Q-goS86tANQoxh96-U2ZFDRprXeWdygHSeboiePtFst4HmXvpOZu1w8ZuBUfCtpiZe0rjeAfvyikJDU4DUet8qt4tpSbIpT9Znvhz4ZxtY2tHOPVf2h2tlL3i4TAW7_/s400/IMG_0140.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><b>Official Race Time 4:47:03<span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></b><br />Overall :<span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>56 /<span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>928<br />Gender :<span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>53 / 723<br />Category : 12 / 176<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMwyMkcrOSkHC7SJK9sEc5B84T9dcjEdDyCjWI8KttuivhCLZSjG2EYUByrhbP_NlZ_S8fUOmLcDSrZj5QNAaY_i6-SsNwvASsryWpV2IGqLDrSZK92LOSmCgKZcAdmh8-uh3QXGJUmh4M/s1600/IMG_0142.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 301px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534518710974865474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMwyMkcrOSkHC7SJK9sEc5B84T9dcjEdDyCjWI8KttuivhCLZSjG2EYUByrhbP_NlZ_S8fUOmLcDSrZj5QNAaY_i6-SsNwvASsryWpV2IGqLDrSZK92LOSmCgKZcAdmh8-uh3QXGJUmh4M/s400/IMG_0142.jpg" /></a>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-29218188618958112652010-10-05T21:15:00.002+11:002010-10-05T21:18:44.958+11:00The new machine<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjODyZvEg3dvB9aWZh1BX7alUmOzxCe-0J1iCuMUxbjUebR4-WuPzkJbOc4RiSO1dLSqFsI7fCw-B1VGjykMlvOlAZuon-Y1ZsimP-pJ_C6Cqsf4uMOfKVR0Md4X8UVfJ24laNuJ6hT8FDg/s1600/P1030645.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjODyZvEg3dvB9aWZh1BX7alUmOzxCe-0J1iCuMUxbjUebR4-WuPzkJbOc4RiSO1dLSqFsI7fCw-B1VGjykMlvOlAZuon-Y1ZsimP-pJ_C6Cqsf4uMOfKVR0Md4X8UVfJ24laNuJ6hT8FDg/s400/P1030645.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524504345559002482" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCw_Fm-CUdS7Nu3ZJMCr6VX7UhIzIQ-IK1phmIx4NOK8djkzJEwomMi4Okmra7EpVndix6uWmXTYPA0DNFAPFToSGn3UzDSCe44JuRM0_yujL9zd8ARK5OG6Rp2d99xOcD-hPbsu1agVO/s1600/P1030642.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCw_Fm-CUdS7Nu3ZJMCr6VX7UhIzIQ-IK1phmIx4NOK8djkzJEwomMi4Okmra7EpVndix6uWmXTYPA0DNFAPFToSGn3UzDSCe44JuRM0_yujL9zd8ARK5OG6Rp2d99xOcD-hPbsu1agVO/s400/P1030642.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524504336559546738" /></a>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-10610507725238173142010-09-19T14:42:00.006+10:002010-11-02T10:03:29.384+11:00Sydney Marathon 2010 - sub 3 hours!What a day. I've just finished an ice bath and shower and m feeling ready to relate the days events while it's all still fresh in my mind.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp781EDfiGzdQOVLRRLiiS-0VIb-X4V4kZcJ1huZvtGWl5UfirF70rKetEDdh9OzuGlM1EJd09CuEIah-0SFkKSaGC05HVf8H95lD9i0PItKA5vTRet0e2w4CnPCNtZJx8q7VyRB-Y2LuI/s1600/BSCS0792.jpeg"><img style="WIDTH: 179px; HEIGHT: 269px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518952249060132306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp781EDfiGzdQOVLRRLiiS-0VIb-X4V4kZcJ1huZvtGWl5UfirF70rKetEDdh9OzuGlM1EJd09CuEIah-0SFkKSaGC05HVf8H95lD9i0PItKA5vTRet0e2w4CnPCNtZJx8q7VyRB-Y2LuI/s400/BSCS0792.jpeg" /></a><br /><br />My marathon preparation has been outstanding, I won't go into any detail (maybe in another post) but I've had plenty of moments reflecting on it all in the awful final week before the race. You know, that week where you barely do any exercise, and slip into some sort of existential crisis. A constant low-grade murmur in the back of your mind that you should, you really should, be doing something. Running, riding, swimming yoga. Just a few minutes. Really I'm doing NOTHING, this is intolerable, I'm losing all my fitness, I'm going to go into the race totally underdone... that kind of thing.<br /><br />Well through all of that I was able to console myself that when I reflected back on my training I had loads of long hard runs over 35km with heaps more around the 30km mark over the last few months. Plus what really made me feel ready, was that I've already run over 42.4kms four times this year. Ironman marathon, WildEndurance 50km, North Face 100km and M7 Cities Marathon. So really I know I'm good for the distance, now shut up doubting mind!<br /><br />Even though I told myself I was totally calm and relaxed about it yesterday, when I went to bed the mind started spinning and I was clearly nervous. The usual disjointed sleep with anxiety dreams about missing the start of the race, and then getting up 2 hours before the race to go to the toilet about a dozen times as it seemed even my internal organs were contracting from nerves. And I was desperate to avoid having to stop for a toilet break during the race.<br /><br />Happily, this race is incredibly convenient to our apartment and I sauntered over to the start across the Lavender Bay boardwalk half an hour before the start, arriving 25 minutes before the start... Cloudy morning, cool but not freezing, no wind. Perfect conditions. Lining up in front of the 3 hour pacers with Matt Hook, Andy Heyden and Terence Bell I knew I was in good company and started to feel relatively calm and even relaxed and excited for the race.<br /><br />The start was easy, there weren't too many people around and I was able to take off at a reasonable pace up the hill, wth Matt up ahead and Andy and Terence just behind. Onto the bridge deck the first couple of kms at 4.10 pace seemed pretty easy and I felt like I settled into race pace virtually from the gun. Maybe it was all those race-pace intervals I'd been doing, but it felt natural and I was able to hold it without thinking.<br /><br />Now I guess I should explain "the plan". It was always just to get 2:xx:xx. Anything under 3 hours is what I wanted. But after the last few weeks of all the HuRTs guys telling me "Aw you'll smash 3 hours, you should set yourself a better target than that!", I started to believe the hype and thought I might as well give myself a solid margin as I feel my training is good for it. So on Friday I printed out a pace band for 2:56. For no other reason than it meant running 4.10min/km pace which is a nice round number. Plus I figured it's not too much of stretch from 3 hours and I'd want to get to halfway around 88 mins anyway to give myself a buffer for the second half, so it made sense to run the first half at that pace and see if I could hang on.<br /><br />The first few kms were uneventful. It was kind of cool running down the corkscrew and out onto the Cahill Expressway. Art Gallery Road was just like a HuRTs session. Hyde Park was fun gong over the little traffic bridge, then Oxford Street was a bit of a grind, not a steep hill but a long, slight uphill. I was anywhere from 20-30s ahead of my km splits for 2.56 so I felt happy to just keep sticking with that. The odd person passed every now and then, and very occasionally I passed someone, but otherwise I was all by myself and right in my own head.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53AlgJC6w4NmGme6-FK_OujVD2MerAvIXeT8KNmq_rcT91JeB2Po8g2HbRVpw5cststj1dJSEP8LFJcYlVYKuGILzEqDjBM28yN0mgAoyKrCerOzVlBeUdZwbM41U2qKC9hdNTyKLmyvl/s1600/BSCM0287.jpeg"><img style="WIDTH: 179px; HEIGHT: 269px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518952258023067042" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53AlgJC6w4NmGme6-FK_OujVD2MerAvIXeT8KNmq_rcT91JeB2Po8g2HbRVpw5cststj1dJSEP8LFJcYlVYKuGILzEqDjBM28yN0mgAoyKrCerOzVlBeUdZwbM41U2qKC9hdNTyKLmyvl/s400/BSCM0287.jpeg" /></a><br /><br />I enjoyed Centennial Park, even with all the convoluted loops, sharp dog-leg turns and numerous out-and-back u-turns. As annoying as it is to have to u-turn a dozen times in the race, at least it meant that you got to see everyone in front of and behind you, which was really fun and kept the race interesting (it sort of made up for the lack of any other human contact, except the random one or two people every 10km or so clapping away). I loved seeing the guys in front and judging where they were and how they were going, and the friends I knew behind, seeing where they were relative to the pacer and working out how their race was going by the looks on their faces and their running styles.<br /><br />I had been thinking I'd take a gel if there was one available, and at about 19km one aid station had them, so I grabbed a vanilla and forced down about 3/4 of it. I'd been basically having just a sip of water at every second aid station so far, and figured I should probably get some nutrition in.<br /><br />I did start to lose some time in the park. I've never been one to keep an even pace and I tend to drop off without people around me to shoot for, so I started to fall a bit behind the schedule and was happy to see halfway at 88.18. Around this stage there was a bloke in a white shirt who snuck up on me and went past, so I thought "Perfect, I'll see if I can stick to him and make up some time". We never really spoke apart from a few comments here and there, but we took turns leading and dragged each other quite a few kilometres. Managed closer to 4:05min/kms and started picking up a bit of time, and the pace - which had been starting to feel like a struggle - seemed ok again. I caught Matt at the final Anzac parade turnaround and we ran together for a bit, then I felt like I needed to be pushing a bit quicker so picked it up again to try to get my splits back on track.<br /><br />In fact that final turnaround was a real psychological boost, just knowing that we were heading straight back to the city without any more diversions, and I flew down Anzac feeling strong again. Passed Clyde and a couple of his mates just out for a jog, and managed to drop old mate in the white shirt slightly. At Taylor Square I was treated to the sight of a 6 foot drag queen with big hair and even bigger stilettos, wearing nothing but a g-string and crop top, doing a little sprint around the corner from Oxford street in the other direction and playing it up for her crowd of a few dozen drink-and-drug addled nightclubbers who were watching the race, and the occasional passing runner like myself. As I approached she stopped her sprint, did a little twirl and dropped into a full split in the middle of the street. Incredibly impressive, the crowd went wild and I plus the couple of runners ahead of me applauded appreciatively.<br /><br />Round onto Oxford St and tried to pick up some speed barrelling straight down the hill. Finally passed a couple of guys on the way down, then tried to keep the pace high through Hyde Park and down Elizabeth Street. As it was close to 30km I thought it might be time for a second gel, and round here I saw another aid station, so necked another 3/4.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV0tOgtLgB_5KQDn9RWEmGvf9E0yLwxB_NKi0dv58u4KloCTdDqw9Ad4028VHAaQ6vJjmklZaXLr95XGBNXZ7fBG_9wKPbryLxODhps8amxa8GYJegifl5-DHQ-x1ZRuSF66w5UmE_z4Ra/s1600/BSCI2275.jpeg"><img style="WIDTH: 179px; HEIGHT: 269px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518952252390393010" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV0tOgtLgB_5KQDn9RWEmGvf9E0yLwxB_NKi0dv58u4KloCTdDqw9Ad4028VHAaQ6vJjmklZaXLr95XGBNXZ7fBG_9wKPbryLxODhps8amxa8GYJegifl5-DHQ-x1ZRuSF66w5UmE_z4Ra/s400/BSCI2275.jpeg" /></a><br /><br />Now I was feeling pretty good. I'd managed to keep the pace so far, and while it was getting more and more difficult to maintain, I was still fairly comfortable and had experienced no gut issues, toilet urges or cramps, my HR was still low and my form was good, so I felt in good shape to keep it up. In fact when I saw the 33km marker coming round the Park Hyatt under the Harbour Bridge, I thought "Only 9km to go! I'm going to do this!" I made a decision then and there to not bother looking at my pace band again (and I didn't for the rest of the race) but just try to push it a bit and see how I could go.<br /><br />Hickson Road wasn't easy. It's a long and fairly desolate section (made better briefly when I saw Rob Costello on his bike), which then only gets worse once you start climbing up the freeway over Darling Harbour. In fact that was a bloody tough final 9km in general - no spectators and all the toughest hills of the race (although admittedly they were pretty short and not too steep). Still any rise in elevation at that point is not what you're looking for. I kept trying to push the pace around Pyrmont, but the legs didn't fancy going any faster. There was a short sharp rise to the final u-turn, then straight afterwards another rise onto the freeway, which I didn't mind because I knew it was the last hill. At the u-turn I saw that Andy and Terence had gained and was expecting them to catch me shortly.<br /><br />Tried to fly down the other side of the freeway as it was a long downhill, but somehow my pace didn't seem to get much faster. At least the guys in front of me were doing the same. Saw Gerry marshalling near the Amex building and he said I still had a spring in his step, so I chose to believe him and give into the delusion that I was still feeling fresh. In fact I must admit I did feel fairly good at this stage. Knowing there was only 3 km to go I knew I would do it, the only question was whether I would be able to push some more and coax a few more seconds out of my legs to finish under 2.56. It seemed unlikely, but I was in a buoyant mood and very ready to give it a try.<br /><br />Round Hickson we went, sadly not getting any faster at all (not for lack of trying), until we went back underneath the Harbour Bridge when Andy and Terence (who had been cruising and chatting all race on a training run for the upcoming 100km) caught me easily and started to blow past. I was incredibly thankful to see them, the chance to pace off them right when I needed a bit of help was perfect timing.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsBV6f0gwkHgeZRXPW2jXVT9R-zPg9hEluQBSOSltN3TIxPFsOQ4mqYMJPA5mHOpUMzNqbmWD3pSFKeZDosv01zmkaAxXFnASZVnyEGwWRqRsbawhxt5Ru8QxJb-G5D1wgmzoDzoVzaGP6/s1600/BSCS0912.jpeg"><img style="WIDTH: 269px; HEIGHT: 179px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518952242378551730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsBV6f0gwkHgeZRXPW2jXVT9R-zPg9hEluQBSOSltN3TIxPFsOQ4mqYMJPA5mHOpUMzNqbmWD3pSFKeZDosv01zmkaAxXFnASZVnyEGwWRqRsbawhxt5Ru8QxJb-G5D1wgmzoDzoVzaGP6/s400/BSCS0912.jpeg" /></a><br />I tried my darndest to stay with them and managed all the way past the Hyatt and up to the MCA, when I just couldn't do it and had to let them go. By now it was so close I could taste it and it looked unlikely (but still vaguely possible) to sneak under 2.56, so I just put the head down and gave everything I had. High fived all the kids with hands out past East Circular Quay and waved at all the cheerers, including my darling wife who'd just finished the Bridge Run. Suddenly it was Opera House forecourt and sprinting for the line to make 2.56.17 gun time.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">The finishing sprint:</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5vYtCjYiP1R5od7DnJASp1Rk2ueR-VGdf02wFSQ1WnCpNnHh6oZcH1G7jlObdZUKIFobXPmZtSlVjGBIMxSsacDLVvYd35TZRurIVdQdt3WoULs6Wjmi9SGcs8-HUBAoNmzx8MzEIA16/s1600/BSBW0365.jpeg"><img style="WIDTH: 179px; HEIGHT: 269px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518951677234901330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5vYtCjYiP1R5od7DnJASp1Rk2ueR-VGdf02wFSQ1WnCpNnHh6oZcH1G7jlObdZUKIFobXPmZtSlVjGBIMxSsacDLVvYd35TZRurIVdQdt3WoULs6Wjmi9SGcs8-HUBAoNmzx8MzEIA16/s400/BSBW0365.jpeg" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqeUmsgTvTFxH3McKpzlyfBnOLZByy17N8YzhONrrVh2Nw5WY9R7JQ_znzea3GfYhhT5gl9g_mqrdyu_5g74OUB-_nvRk5OdPUb7vY2ouTeyw-DZiKWXlcEzZ6xiq7bbQM0u7Jz4SxaPY1/s1600/BSBO0267.jpeg"><img style="WIDTH: 179px; HEIGHT: 269px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518951674782963714" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqeUmsgTvTFxH3McKpzlyfBnOLZByy17N8YzhONrrVh2Nw5WY9R7JQ_znzea3GfYhhT5gl9g_mqrdyu_5g74OUB-_nvRk5OdPUb7vY2ouTeyw-DZiKWXlcEzZ6xiq7bbQM0u7Jz4SxaPY1/s400/BSBO0267.jpeg" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Jg2RQRTi150q5JErXg0iuEYs23Otv1lLqME_re2cZrhWnHkyIqFQqKIQnOgKlQyDjmTwVNP2ZpDPfeDF9yQqN5o_7FcP0n1_0-x3PSoMTd1NvimKNXrs3Fw92KRawXtNjVlQxAM3oAlD/s1600/BSCB1529.jpeg"><img style="WIDTH: 179px; HEIGHT: 269px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518951670622670978" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Jg2RQRTi150q5JErXg0iuEYs23Otv1lLqME_re2cZrhWnHkyIqFQqKIQnOgKlQyDjmTwVNP2ZpDPfeDF9yQqN5o_7FcP0n1_0-x3PSoMTd1NvimKNXrs3Fw92KRawXtNjVlQxAM3oAlD/s400/BSCB1529.jpeg" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQk5UPz1sLcFd9N3si0sFKos4g3Ie15J6p512sRGgCxccYxG4yg_E1KoLklaK8XY5CkaV87_9V0HTJmNYQDwskSINbbeWTwlyDs58yQg80-NAShrSzjTPc6UKApJSVK7TYCKgoM4Zc2vu/s1600/BSCB1530.jpeg"><img style="WIDTH: 179px; HEIGHT: 269px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518951664707212738" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQk5UPz1sLcFd9N3si0sFKos4g3Ie15J6p512sRGgCxccYxG4yg_E1KoLklaK8XY5CkaV87_9V0HTJmNYQDwskSINbbeWTwlyDs58yQg80-NAShrSzjTPc6UKApJSVK7TYCKgoM4Zc2vu/s400/BSCB1530.jpeg" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggHVV6_CTz8qe_jAVpavZRnVh9-cZW9cCnsdWGGN1SoNCbybCwHe5cGdQO9r_GZ0tD1_ZK8PsYtdNDDv3JEn_MFfAQSXQGPv_ifs0XYOMdUZedwrmWTXHhmN8ibsA6TP8KaAe5usMj3JlX/s1600/BSEA0464.jpeg"><img style="WIDTH: 179px; HEIGHT: 269px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518951658455645410" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggHVV6_CTz8qe_jAVpavZRnVh9-cZW9cCnsdWGGN1SoNCbybCwHe5cGdQO9r_GZ0tD1_ZK8PsYtdNDDv3JEn_MFfAQSXQGPv_ifs0XYOMdUZedwrmWTXHhmN8ibsA6TP8KaAe5usMj3JlX/s400/BSEA0464.jpeg" /></a><br /><br />Totally stoked! I was shattered crossing the line after the last 2 kms of putting in, but feeling great. I saw basically everyone I know after the race and it was fabulous catching up with so many great people (and that wasn't just the endorphins talking). The ferry home, a slap up lunch and a bag of ice from the bottlo for my legs and here I am at 3.30pm on Sunday, happy as a little clam. <div><br /></div><div><b><i>Official Results:</i></b></div><div>Gun time - <b>2:56:17</b></div><div>Net time - <b>2:56:04</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Place 45 out of 2,821 finishers</div><div>41st Male</div><div>19th in my Category (M30-34)</div><br /><iframe height="548" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/49573066" frameborder="0" width="465"></iframe>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-5009520796494622392010-09-09T20:06:00.005+10:002010-11-02T10:17:48.047+11:00City to Surf 2010<strong>Sunday 8 August 2010</strong><br /><br />The last time I ran a City to Surf was three years ago, way back in 2007. At the time I had an SH1 start and hammered myself to a 57:06 finish which was all I had.<br /><br />I entered the following year (2008), and had trained the house down. I’d been in Canada all July for a wedding and had been flogging myself to pieces doing hill reps at my in-laws house – they live on a fabulous country road, at the top of a steep 2km hill. Then about 10 days before the race pulled up sore after a HuRTS hills session in Rushcutters Bay and an hour later could barely walk. Stress fracture of the pelvis, 6 months off running.<br /><br />I entered again last year (2009) and once again had been training solidly, this time for the Oxfam Trailwalker, my first ultra. Then a few days before City to Surf managed to do some quite acute damage to my Achilles tendon with all the bush running, and had to stop running for a few weeks altogether. Missed it again.<br /><br />So I’ve been dying to get back out there and give C2S another go. It’s the biggest footrace in the world and one of the best events the city of Sydney has to offer. This year I had no idea how I would do timewise. Also very little clue as to how to pace it, I couldn’t really remember the route very well. I managed to get a preferred start this year, it’s been under 55mins at City to Surf to get a preferred start in recent years, so my only goal was to go sub 55 and properly earn the place.<br /><br />On possibly the most beautiful sunny winter day of the year, I met Wes at the top of my driveway and we jogged over the Harbour Bridge together to the start. First time ever in the preferred start and I like the VIP treatment of being able to push through the masses - 80 thousand entrants this year – and warm up on William Street in front of the start line with what looked like a very select bunch. Soon they closed things off and had us line up and I shuffled into position near Wes and Reid, as well as a bloke dressed as Superman and a guy wearing nothing but speedos and bright pink paint over his entire body.<br /><br />At this point I’m thinking that my only tactic is to not get caught up in the crazy rush of blood to the head that infuses everyone at the start of this race. Barrelling the first 500 metres slightly downhill at 3minute pace to keep up with the crowd is a sure way to blow the heart rate and legs before the race has really even started, so the idea was to keep things easy and run within myself for the first 6 odd km until heartbreak hill. After the hill I could start to wind things up a bit, while still leaving something in the tank, then at 10km just go hard, knowing that it’s mostly downhill or flat from 12km onward.<br /><br />Of course the gun went off and everyone barrelled down William Street like they had the hounds of hell on their tails! I tried to just relax and run at a comfortably hard pace and once we got onto New South Head Road I was passing the people who’d blown themselves from the get-go. It was good to see an Elvis impersonator in a white spangled bodysuit on the back of a flatbed ute singing Credence Clearwater Revival. Fairly typical sight for a Sunday morning...<br /><br />Up the next hill from Rushcutters into Edgecliffe I kept it easy and started methodically passing the second wave of people who’d fired off like a rocket at the start. Down the other side I focused on letting my legs go and using the free speed (I’m still not great at the downhills, but all the bush running over the last year or so has made me immeasurably better than I was) and I did pass a lot of people that way. On it went in much the same way, I has a comfortably hard pace and just remembered Reid’s words that if you wanted to break 55 mins you had to hit 10km at 39mins or under.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYZ9e8CdEgH88YmqELZylNegenEaklmIWYWX90lkBQQBRv60rakQb9TEkhpPocPa5aOsrLOak71Qyc9ZjabjEobssF4XUXTzbntKcsSmKm-v7n9cNPjH68Zi1BAZ8OnJz8YAtUHfITCGc9/s1600/SHBM0311.jpeg"><img style="WIDTH: 179px; HEIGHT: 269px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514855369469767730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYZ9e8CdEgH88YmqELZylNegenEaklmIWYWX90lkBQQBRv60rakQb9TEkhpPocPa5aOsrLOak71Qyc9ZjabjEobssF4XUXTzbntKcsSmKm-v7n9cNPjH68Zi1BAZ8OnJz8YAtUHfITCGc9/s400/SHBM0311.jpeg" /></a><br /><br />Heartbreak Hill came and went. I tried to strike a balance so that I wasn’t dropping my pace too much, but also not blowing my heart rate too high. I didn’t see the halfway clock for some reason, so no idea of my time at the top of the hill. I had the new Garmin on, but pacing meant nothing for me in this race. With so many ups and downs, it’s impossible to maintain any consistant pace. I was feeling pretty strong over the back half and flowed over the hills without smashing myself until I came through the 10km clock at spot-on 38:30. Good news by Reidy’s “rule of thumb”! Time to pick things up.<br /><br />><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGPqnWDK-v6fvnI1arQzNZHiR9ii3h6r9Hp7zNaisM8DTAISy7YXfRco6O5jtgU2Y6f0uWoe0B-dsaTBynYwHOnQgALpSWToqCc_N89m9ZEcaUzHBc_ii34Sy53WaNfpqH-sJNGlnBKd1W/s1600/SHAH0259.jpeg"><img style="WIDTH: 178px; HEIGHT: 269px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514855364714096194" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGPqnWDK-v6fvnI1arQzNZHiR9ii3h6r9Hp7zNaisM8DTAISy7YXfRco6O5jtgU2Y6f0uWoe0B-dsaTBynYwHOnQgALpSWToqCc_N89m9ZEcaUzHBc_ii34Sy53WaNfpqH-sJNGlnBKd1W/s400/SHAH0259.jpeg" /></a><br /><br />I pushed a bit harder for the next km, then tried to gain some more time flying down the long hill into North Bondi. At the bottom of the hill (with still about 1.5km to go) everyone around me took off like it was a sprint finish. I knew I didn’t have the legs to kick for that long, so I didn’t try to go with them, but did pick up the pace to as hard as I thought I could reasonably hold. Was now hurting. <div><br /></div><div>Clearly the other half dozen guys near me didn’t have the legs to kick for that long either, as I passed most of them by the roundabout turnaround, they'd sprinted way too early and paid the price. Then it was a case of seeing how fast I could manage for the last 400m or so along the beachfront to the finish line. Mike Conway screaming from the sideline certainly helped me pick it up a notch, as did noticing that the clock was still in the 52 minute zone, but advancing fast towards 53. I never dreamed that I’d be anywhere near the 52s, but now that I was so close I was damn sure going to try to nail it.<br /><br />Crossed the line for a Gun time of <b>52.54</b><br />Net time <b>52.42</b><br />Place 265 out of 67,979 official finishers<br />Which apparently put me at 99.61%<br /><br />After kicking around for 20 minutes or so chatting to all the HuRTS boys (they were all there, it was like a Tuesday session with 80 thousand extras) and throwing back a few Gatorades (I didn’t drink at all on the run), I realised that I must have missed Wes for the run back. I wanted to get an extra 20km in for a 34km day in total, so started to jog away from the finish line when I ran into Pete and Smolly who were running back into the city themselves. Perfect! Good company, and they were guaranteed to keep me honest - Smolly was only a few weeks away from flying to Canada and the US for two Ironmans, two weeks apart. We had a really enjoyable run and chat back into town, then the boys took off and I went solo over the bridge and out to Cremorne Point and back to finish my 20km. Slowed down markedly by the last few km, but was happy to just get it done. I even ran into our marriage celebrant from almost 5 years ago who was conducting a ceremony down at Kirribilli! </div><div><br /></div><div>Staggered through the door just in time to get Sarah’s phone call to drive back to Bondi and pick her and Michelle up after they’d finished. It was quite cool to drive back there and see the swaths of people milling around Bondi. Most importantly I managed to get Sarah to buy me a vegan “meat” pie from Funky Pies, perfect recovery food for the long sit in traffic home...</div><br /><br /><iframe width='465' height='548' frameborder='0' src='http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/43573743'></iframe>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-36518766592806259392010-09-04T16:14:00.006+10:002010-11-02T10:11:03.428+11:00Mt Wilson to Bilpin<b>Saturday 21 August 2010</b> <div><br /></div><div>I've been hearing about the Mt Wilson to Bilpin run for a couple of years now. How much fun it is, what a nice country feel the race has, the beautiful course, the 7km hill at the end, the free scones at the start - all of it. It's been recommended to me by more people than I can remember, but I'd never had the chance to give it a crack before. <div><br /></div><div>This year at Easter, Sarah and I camped at Mt Wilson on the way to Mudgee and I ran the trails early morning before we hit the road. It's such a spectacular part of the Blue Mountains, and so different to the more southern parts around Katoomba, that I thought "This is the year, I have to give this race a go"</div><div><br /></div><div>Perfect training for the Sydney marathon, a hard 35km bush run about 5 weeks out, so I signed up and found myself sharing a ride out along Bells line of Road on Saturday morning with Christian Ellis, his girlfriend Nikki and his Irish mate Dave. I have to say that the drive itself was the highlight of the day, getting to know those guys better and having a good old chat on the drive. We flexed our democratic muscles at the Mt Wilson hall, voting for the Federal Election in an area which only has 90 registered voters (as the pamphlet-slinging volunteers wondered aloud to each other, "I've never seen so many people here!") and then headed to the starting oval for a very urbane 10am kickoff.</div><div><br /></div><div>It pushed out to 10.30 to allow the last shuttle bus to arrive and we stood around hopping from one foot to another, shivering (I looked at the weather before leaving home and it was 2 degrees and overcast at Mt Wilson) and cramming in a few last minute homemade scones with jam. Then they marshalled the fairly small field of 300 people and the local fire chief started us off with the atomic timing device of his mobile phone.</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1SvxshxlLdx8EKfc7HEOk4W7Fl2AUypuvV7J1r6KVlhT5j-1-ng8d7Zfw5VPAnLzQu6l-_8AkYhsE8aYZqUDLmPCJA69ecIYD2ikiwn3-taaqsGHoQvACMbCEIzQF15rNZ7y_pStOuizi/s1600/BSH1016.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512947923826650674" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1SvxshxlLdx8EKfc7HEOk4W7Fl2AUypuvV7J1r6KVlhT5j-1-ng8d7Zfw5VPAnLzQu6l-_8AkYhsE8aYZqUDLmPCJA69ecIYD2ikiwn3-taaqsGHoQvACMbCEIzQF15rNZ7y_pStOuizi/s400/BSH1016.jpg" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha4Ect4pmK5KQoDPo7DWKGpvj_H4PFI6sY3d3M7izRP9vn9HntlgPXqBKTK2JGJcLlr55w5Hbf_89shiFF2hww-VT861a7cwpu1xS4ucjaXU1ZUae8-zZoPWPdZYbUFEOFfmkOWb0I_KX1/s1600/BSH1020.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512947934227240802" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha4Ect4pmK5KQoDPo7DWKGpvj_H4PFI6sY3d3M7izRP9vn9HntlgPXqBKTK2JGJcLlr55w5Hbf_89shiFF2hww-VT861a7cwpu1xS4ucjaXU1ZUae8-zZoPWPdZYbUFEOFfmkOWb0I_KX1/s400/BSH1020.jpg" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd1FM1gaC_Jg_V8F7pMAJ3tu9bK4hETVjcQZMFdD823NA3v1xuMO0H5TeMCcyAzxD205NwmpCMkOqAbhCmcXKkapJyQFoaVRFsi-9h1V7MQ4u8DUUxG8CJwJ-0w0afSh9trb_6ReuFVAVo/s1600/BSH1023.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512947936670805922" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd1FM1gaC_Jg_V8F7pMAJ3tu9bK4hETVjcQZMFdD823NA3v1xuMO0H5TeMCcyAzxD205NwmpCMkOqAbhCmcXKkapJyQFoaVRFsi-9h1V7MQ4u8DUUxG8CJwJ-0w0afSh9trb_6ReuFVAVo/s400/BSH1023.jpg" /></a></div><div>I had planned to run with Christian and Dave and we stuck together and cruised over the first km of road and the next km of firetrail. By the time we got to the trail Dave Criniti was already a blur in the distance but most of the second group was around and slightly ahead of us. Steve Hume stormed off. Then on the first few short and sharp hills Dave took off as well. </div><div><br /></div><div>I was conscious of trying to conserve my heart rate and my legs because I had no idea what the trail was going to be like (and to be honest I was more than a little nervous of the famed 7km final hill), so I didn't attempt to stick with Dave. Shortly afterwards Christian caught up with me, and then shortly after that he started pulling away himself. Let him go I thought, it's not worth blowing up. Thank god I did, as I realised when I saw his finishing time. It would have ruined me keeping that pace even halfway.</div><div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPgv74Fc4ZZJxr4DXAT-ePUTYn-LRTs8qf8KyWMlom3W7TICZZJkmIGo64JHnFhfQMW4Au0RzakAcCpBRmgtc4aEV9Fu0akBZ0WoDTL5_pQPUnm4foRd4FfBV-Ek9g7ogu6c5XINSzid3J/s1600/BSH1027.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 266px; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512947941861586466" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPgv74Fc4ZZJxr4DXAT-ePUTYn-LRTs8qf8KyWMlom3W7TICZZJkmIGo64JHnFhfQMW4Au0RzakAcCpBRmgtc4aEV9Fu0akBZ0WoDTL5_pQPUnm4foRd4FfBV-Ek9g7ogu6c5XINSzid3J/s400/BSH1027.jpg" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>So on it went. I wasn't feeling fantastic I have to say. My heartrate felt high from the start and my legs weren't able to get into any rhythm. I usually love bush running and the trails here were absolutely beautiful, but I was struggling to enjoy the race. It just felt hard.</div><div><br /></div><div>It felt long too. By the time I got to the section around halfway I was thinking, "Wait a minute. I haven't been running particularly fast but I feel as if there's no way I'll be able to keep this up for another 17km. It feels like I've been running for ever, and there's so much more to go." What's worse, this section was a couple of kilometres of flat asphalt road. The easiest part of the whole race, surely? But I was feeling the worst. I was passed by 3 or 4 people and tried in vain to stick with them, but after a few metres would end up just dropped the pace and watching them disappear into the distance around the next bend. Morale was low.</div><div><br /></div><div>Back into the bush and after a short while the trail turned downhill and kept going down. There was nobody around at this point. I couldn't see anyone ahead or hear anyone behind. I was apprehensive that I've somehow taken a wrong turn and was headed off randomly into the bush, but didn't know what to do about it. The trail just went down and down and down, steeper and steeper and I was trying by best to let go and cruise without smashing my quads, but it took a lot of concentration over the loose rock and washed out trail to keep my footing.</div><div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwpaqMOkhz-TeY99CdaPJEhDOIfxVELS6D55O06FhMZmGGmptjIROb3DnE-V-Tz8q-nHg72E8_qmuekclTVloMSeN6uCu38NLO8iX-X1KcV4GrUnJakMstCmENXBrAVaL9blIEnWqHHVvV/s1600/BSH1029.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 266px; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512947946974268306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwpaqMOkhz-TeY99CdaPJEhDOIfxVELS6D55O06FhMZmGGmptjIROb3DnE-V-Tz8q-nHg72E8_qmuekclTVloMSeN6uCu38NLO8iX-X1KcV4GrUnJakMstCmENXBrAVaL9blIEnWqHHVvV/s400/BSH1029.jpg" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>Finally there were footsteps pounding behind me, which offered a relief of sorts to know I was on track, but also that primal dread of being chased down! Enough to make my lose my footing and roll my right ankle as the guy passed me. It's always a horrible moment of self-checking as you hop a few steps and then gingerly try it out again, but thankfully the ankle was intact and I continued downwards with renewed vigilance.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's shortly after this point that you start to think, "Look I don't want to be ungrateful here. It's really nice to be running downhill and getting all this free speed, but I'm ready for it to stop now. In fact, I wouldn't even mind running back uphill for a while now". There was more to come however, but eventually it ended and it was over the river and straight back up.</div><div><br /></div><div>This was the 7km hill I'd been hearing so much about and amazingly, rather than dying on it, I felt the strongest I had been all race. God knows why I was feeling rubbish at 17km on the flat road, but at 28km on a gnarly washed out trail tending upwards I was feeling terrific! I was able to push a bit and the hill wasn't nearly as steep as I thought, so I held around 5min/kms and actually picked up and passed a few people for the first time in hours. I felt stronger and stronger going up the hill and by the time I hit the last 2km of flat along Bells Line of Road I was flying, doing just over 4 minute/kms and passing runners one after another. I had one guy in my sights when suddenly there was the finish line and I crossed with a big smile on my face, both happy for the race to be over and even happier that I'd finally come good in what had been a bit of a mental struggle for most of the day.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Christian doing it easy:</div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBfoiHb7W6BSuifCfoofL6Gpe2VqbaDZ5FFWACG_d4Z_85T8aoMLups3nbj2vxYvqT4G0bzoQqT3mst-aeRtb1frWVquf557cltMAx7ooYhFiTMX7wDm2NPYee0d8cZyAnJ4y3Hmz72yU/s1600/BSH1042.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 267px; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512948202030798322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBfoiHb7W6BSuifCfoofL6Gpe2VqbaDZ5FFWACG_d4Z_85T8aoMLups3nbj2vxYvqT4G0bzoQqT3mst-aeRtb1frWVquf557cltMAx7ooYhFiTMX7wDm2NPYee0d8cZyAnJ4y3Hmz72yU/s400/BSH1042.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBfoiHb7W6BSuifCfoofL6Gpe2VqbaDZ5FFWACG_d4Z_85T8aoMLups3nbj2vxYvqT4G0bzoQqT3mst-aeRtb1frWVquf557cltMAx7ooYhFiTMX7wDm2NPYee0d8cZyAnJ4y3Hmz72yU/s1600/BSH1042.jpg"></a>Dave looking slightly less relaxed:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJY_sf-8WlNtBgJRiaSWGzA-0XJL1S1zoVm8BQXKLje_lyyTJF6oZ_N-ypZmIdeAgmd7BhzxMWUfIufQU6fIxRZ543X1Jk_RJyptUt_U98pfYNvRsXCmf7FN1UKNY3DvpW7NCDtTd26Dm/s1600/BSH1047.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 267px; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512948196444605538" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJY_sf-8WlNtBgJRiaSWGzA-0XJL1S1zoVm8BQXKLje_lyyTJF6oZ_N-ypZmIdeAgmd7BhzxMWUfIufQU6fIxRZ543X1Jk_RJyptUt_U98pfYNvRsXCmf7FN1UKNY3DvpW7NCDtTd26Dm/s400/BSH1047.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJY_sf-8WlNtBgJRiaSWGzA-0XJL1S1zoVm8BQXKLje_lyyTJF6oZ_N-ypZmIdeAgmd7BhzxMWUfIufQU6fIxRZ543X1Jk_RJyptUt_U98pfYNvRsXCmf7FN1UKNY3DvpW7NCDtTd26Dm/s1600/BSH1047.jpg"></a>Myself happy to be finally feeling good:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjipcsUTp4xzMcBhfgqPDWkogBFK2H478llZNODuwX42SAQ6mvc0yl_-9z38lZRct6Dfw2cOyqXjXNZLQmfsK__IbQWpYiVW1ImhBYHBErrqhk2iitJJGH3fUEFW5chC_Fb4vPsNoKuX9G-/s1600/BSH1051.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 267px; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512948199835046290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjipcsUTp4xzMcBhfgqPDWkogBFK2H478llZNODuwX42SAQ6mvc0yl_-9z38lZRct6Dfw2cOyqXjXNZLQmfsK__IbQWpYiVW1ImhBYHBErrqhk2iitJJGH3fUEFW5chC_Fb4vPsNoKuX9G-/s400/BSH1051.jpg" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>A hot shower in a nearby spider filled shed was a nice touch, then it was good to be in dry warm clothes back by the finishing line and debriefing about the race with Christian and Dave who had smashed it, Christian coming 10th and Dave 15th! I also had the chance to chat to a lot of familiar folks and just enjoy the finish line atmosphere for a while, until we went off to eat the saltiest, most feral apple pie I've ever had the misfortune to bite into, and an easy drive back into Sydney. Top race, I'll be back.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the end I got <b>2:42:19</b> and came in <b>19th place</b> (about 3 mins behind Dave and 9 behind Christian).</div></div><br /><iframe height="548" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/45542169" frameborder="0" width="465"></iframe>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-15095940216122983692010-09-04T15:45:00.003+10:002010-11-02T10:21:49.901+11:00Striders North Head 10km<strong>5 September 2010</strong><br /><br />Ah I've been blogless for so long. Sheer laziness. And lack of motivation to spend more time in front of a computer screen.<br /><br />I do have much to say. Training hard for the Sydney marathon, had a few fun event lately including the M7 Cities marathon, City to Surf, Mt Wilson to Bilpin, not to mention some fantastic HuRTS sessions lately.<br /><br />But today it was all about the Sydney Striders North Head 10km. I was not feeling keen when I woke up after a horrendous sleep. I'd gorged on Thai takeaway last night and had wild dreams and a horrendous gut pain at 4am that I thought may signify the start of a bout of food poisoning.<br /><br />Instead I believe it was simply the labour pains of my "Pad Thai baby"<br />So Matt Hook, my new training buddy from across the road, picked me up on the corner in the drizzling rain and we headed out to North Head saying "Hey at least it's not windy!", until we arrived and discovered that it was, in fact, horrendously windy out there.<br /><br />I'd also expected it to be a tiny field because of the weather, but was pleasantly surprised to see almost 300 people including pretty much every runner I have ever met. I tell you what the Friday night pub is no longer much of a social event for me, when most of the people I know and like are the ones I hang out with at 6am on a dark, rainy, windy morning, shivering in singlets in the middle of nowhere...<br /><br />The plan was to stick with Mike Conway and run an average of 3.45min/kms for a time of 37.30. Now I haven't run in the 37s since North Head about 2 years and 3 months ago, but training has been feeling good lately so thought I'd at least have a crack. Also I like running with Mike, he's a very even runner (whereas I surge and drop back constantly), and I've only got a short window before his return from injury is complete and he leaves me in his dust again!<br /><br />Off we went and I stuck next to Mike. We did a good first km, a little fast, under 3.30. Eased up and passed through 2 km in 7:30, so spot on for 3:45/km pace. The little group around us was shifting and settling. Steve Hume took off, as did Mark Fiore. Matt flew past me at one stage. Then we hit the flat(ish) section out to the roundabout and there was a brutal headwind which left everyone trying to duck behind everyone else for cover.<br /><br />Turning at the arch I was feeling really good and tried to push it a little bit. I found myself at the front of our little group and stayed that way for a while. I heard all the boys right behind me, but nobody seemed willing to take a turn at the front so I was more than happy to set the pace. Went through 5km in 18:33 and thought, crikey if I can hold this or go slightly quicker there may be a PB in it for me!<br /><br />The second lap was uneventful, still that smack-in-the-face wind on the long flat and this time there was nobody to hide behind. I picked up a couple of runners and had nobody pass me, but I must have had a bit of mental drift after the stone arch turnaround the second time, because my pace for the next 2 km dropped back to over 3.50s. I didn't really notice either - one of the problems of not having someone either right in front of me or close enough to chase down.<br /><br />What saved me was Terrence Bell easing up alongside like he was going for a walk to get the paper, just before 8km. I was still feeling good at this stage so tried to lift a bit and stick by his side until the end. I managed to stay close right up until the last 200 metres when he flicked it up a notch and pulled effortlessly away towards the line. I gave what I had at this point and crossed gasping in 37.26, but still feeling very good.<br /><br /><iframe width='465' height='548' frameborder='0' src='http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/47437615'></iframe><br /><br />Anyway I was stoked with the result, the closest I've ever been to my PB, with no help from the dreaded headwind and I heard that the course was around 100m (or 20s) too long (garmin agreed) because of the first turnaround point. I take it as a moral victory - I probably ran the fastest I've ever run for a 10km and I felt relatively comfortable (more comfortable than I've ever felt in a 10km before).<br /><br />Two good takeaways for me - (1) I reckon on the right day and with the right course I could sneak in 36.xx for a 10km. I feel it is possible now. And (2) it's heartening to feel that the training has been working so I might have a crack at sub 3 at the Sydney Marathon in 3 weeks.<br /><br />Even better, after inhaling a number of baked treats and chatting to people, Matt and I trotted off with Terrence, Rob, Eamo, Owen, Andy and Dave Kane for a few extra kms along the Spit to Manly track. The boys were heading back to the Eastern Suburbs, however Matt and I turned after an hour and came back to the car at North Head for a solid extra 20km. With Matt busting out 3:40 pace the last few hundred metres!<br /><br /><iframe width='465' height='548' frameborder='0' src='http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/47437620'></iframe>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-76126838303775801462010-09-03T18:30:00.001+10:002010-11-02T10:13:10.250+11:00M7 Cities Marathon<b>25 July 2010</b><br /><br />The harebrained scheme was hatched a few months ago.<br /><br />I had so much fun pacing the Sydney marathon last year that I wanted to do some more pacing this year, but having decided to race Sydney, I needed another marathon. The M7 Cities Marathon appeared to be perfect, it was at a good time of year (July) when I'd be ramping up my marathon training but with still plenty of time to recover from Sydney, and I wouldn't have to travel for it.<br /><br />I applied for a pacer job a couple of weeks before the run, but Brick told me that all the spots had been filled except for the 3 hour pacer. Never having come close to running 3 hours this was never going to be an option, but as he had trouble finding anyone to do the job, he later suggested I run a 90 minute half and he'd find another runner to do the same, we could hand over the pacer flag at halfway.<br />Top idea and I was in. I asked to run the first half so that I could keep going and make a long run out of the day. So on the appointed Sunday I turned up to the start on an unseasonably warm July morning and was pleasantly surprised by all the people I knew doing the race. Hamburglar was pacing 3.15, Nicholas I think 4 hours, and Walshy was to be my partner in crime for the 3 hour job.<br /><br />I felt a bit of a fraud walking around with the 3 hour flag, and was quick to point out to anyone who asked that I had absolutely no credentials to pace a 3 hour marathon, but with a half PB in the 83 minute range I felt comfortable pacing 90minutes. It was an incredibly small field for a well organised Sydney based marathon, we lined up at the start and off I went, attempting to hold about 4:10-4:15min/kms. Thankfully I had the recently bought Garmin to keep me honest, as the pace band I printed out I had forgotten to put stickytape on, so it crumpled and fell into tatters within a couple of kms.<br /><br />The going was not easy. For some reason the pace felt a little hard, I was constantly pushing myself, while trying to maintain a cool calm exterior, and battling with the damn belt which kept riding up and the flag which kept flying off to one side or smacking me in the head! We had a small group with us to start with, a couple of guys felt they wanted to stay ahead of the pacer so ran up ahead, but I had 4 or 5 with me and managed to maintain fairly even splits as the km markers ticked over. The inclines weren't easy, but what we lost on them we made back quickly down the other sides.<br /><br />15 or 16 km in I was slightly concerned that I'd have the legs to keep running even kms and get the guys to halfway on time. I was still constantly pushing just a little bit out of my comfort zone. Maybe it was expectation-based and I'd expected it to be easier than it was. Either way, we cruised along, people dropping back on the hills and then picking us up again, until soon we hit 20 and a bit kms and there was Walshy was on the side of the path to run alongside me and pick up the pacing flag, which I was more than happy to be finally rid of, as it had been a pain in the ass.<br /><br />Tremendous relief. Now the pressure was off. Although feeling fairly rubbish the last few kms had meant that I was questioning my strategy of completing the run. I had been thinking about ditching at halfway, but now without the mental burden of pacing I thought I'll just go a bit further and can pull out at anytime.<br /><br />I wasn't comfortable at my pace, so immediately dropped back to 4.30 pace and let the group take off. Soon I was running solo. Such a small field, I thought I'd be passed immediately by a number of people but even though my pace went down to 4.45 and at one point 5minute/kms, it took a long time of running all by myself with no spectators down some fairly uninspiring bike paths for anyone to go by me.<br /><br />Every km I thought, ok I'll just go a little further. You actually run right past the finish area at something like 24 or 25 km and then out and back another way, so I knew that I could just dip out at any time and that every further km out was another km I'd have to run back in. But I cruised along at an easier pace and it wasn't feeling too bad so I continued. About this time I thought I should probably eat something. I reached for my dates in my back pocket (the pacer top was a cycling shirt), but sadly they had fallen out somewhere along the road. This was a bit of a concern, I had grave doubts that I'd be able to run the full marathon without some sort of nutrition. I realised then that the fatigue and thoughts of quitting that I'd been experiencing were probably very much related to a sugar low and that without fuel soon, I would bonk.<br /><br />No worries, I thought, the website had mentioned gels at aid stations. So I got to the next aid station and... no gels. Then the following one... hmmm I don't see any gels. Somewhat concerned I asked the boys volunteering, "Are there any gels?" More of a concern was the response of looking at me like I was crazy and one guy saying to the other as I passed "What's a gel?". This wasn't looking good. I decided then and there that if there was no nutrition at the next aid station (I think this was around 30km or so) I would have to pull out and go back, anything else would be just silliness.<br /><br />Thankfully there they were, I downed one and grabbed another for the road and pressed on, feeling a psychological boost which I was hoping would shortly be followed by a carbohydrate boost. It did kick in around this time, and it all got a lot easier. The sun broke through the clouds too and the day began heating up. The km markers ticked by a little more easily, but suddenly I had some urgent gut cramping issues and had an uncomfortable few minutes searching for a portaloo, which magically appeared on the side of the path like a mirage, at around 33km. A couple of minutes lost in there, but I felt a million times better rejoining the race. Shortly afterwards (and not long before the turnaround) I was picked up by Hamburglar and the 3:15 group. Had a chat and upped my pace a little to hang on for a couple of kms, but a few minutes after the turnaround it all seemed a bit quick and I let them go and went back to doing my own thing.<br /><br />Not much to say about the rest of the race, by this time my blood sugar was back up, I was feeling good and although my legs weren't going very fast, I was able to cruise along at a comfortable pace. I tried to put on a spurt to lead Sharpie up the final freeway exit hill, then off he went with a surge of speed on the final flat into the oval. It was a three quarter lap around the running track to the finish and I was happy to be done in 3:17:52<br /><br />Amazingly, Walshy and I had run exactly evenly paced halves at 1:29:27 apiece!<br />I wasn't listed on the full marathon results, as I was registered for the half, but would have come 45th out of 220 finishers. Legs were sore for days, but I managed to get back to the Tuesday HuRTS session, and a fairly solid 19km run on Wednesday. Legs were shattered come the end of the week, but a hard massage from Ross on Friday sorted me out to be back on for my Sunday Striders long run.<br /><iframe height="548" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/41689858" frameborder="0" width="465"></iframe>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-27876750471922207922010-06-07T09:54:00.001+10:002010-06-07T10:26:29.448+10:00Goals and plansI’ve had a cracker of a year in terms of events and have spent the last three weeks enjoying a well - earned rest.<br /><br />As you’d expect I’m now feeling recovered, strong and excited about getting my plans together for the next 12 months of events.<br /><br />My goals at the beginning of the year were for a lot of longer events, but I have to say that after TNF 100, I’m changing my ideas about what I want to focus on. I’ve spent all year doing the long stuff and while I really enjoy it, I do miss pushing myself a bit harder at the shorter events. 10km runs, Half Marathons, Half Ironmans, even Marathons (if you can call marathons “shorter”). I also think that going long and slow is something I can do for a long time. However I’m only going to be able to go faster for a few more years before I start to slow down.<br /><br />So for the remainder of this year I’m going to have a crack at breaking all my PBs! I’m throwing out the idea of Glasshouse 100 miler. As much as I want to do it, this is not the year.<br /><br />My goals the rest of 2010 are now:<br />1) Sub 55 minutes City to Surf<br />2) Sub 37 minute 10km run<br />3) Sub 3 hour Marathon<br /><br />With that in mind, the events are as follows:<br /><br />3 July - Striders Homebush - 10km run<br />18 July - Hunter Valley Half Marathon - 21km run<br />31 July - Striders Lane Cove - 10km run<br />8 Aug - City to Surf - 14km run<br />21 Aug - Mt Wilson to Bilpin - 35km bush run<br />4 Sept - Striders North Head - 10km run<br />20 Sept - Sydney Marathon - 42km run<br />11 Oct - Fitzroy Falls Marathon - 42km bush run (in vibrams?)<br />6 Nov - Striders Lane Cove - 10km run<br />31 Oct - Port Macquarie Half Ironman - Triathlon<br />12 Dec - Canberra Half Ironman - Triathlon<br />5 Mar 2011 - Ironman New Zealand (Taupo) - Triathlon<br /><br />Oh did I mention that I’ve entered Ironman NZ? I’m committed now!Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-34327180334360290842010-06-05T14:28:00.004+10:002010-06-07T09:54:38.721+10:00Striders 10km North HeadThe first Striders 10km I've managed to get to in 2010. And in fact the first one in about 9 months. <div><br /></div><div>I wasn't going to do it at all, thinking I was still in recovery from the North Face (this is exactly 3 weeks since the race), plus I haven't raced a 10km in so long, the last thing I wanted to do was go out too hard and injure myself or just feel like crap during the race. But it's such a fun race and so many great people I know were doing it, it seemed foolish not to at least turn up and have a crack.</div><div><br /></div><div>So I decided if the monsoons of Friday night had eased by the next morning I would give it a solid tempo run and just have fun. In fact I applied to be the 45 minute pacer yesterday, but Jo got back saying that someone had just taken the job.</div><div><br /></div><div>The conditions were perfect morning for running - cool without being freezing, not windy, fairly dry road, no sun. I nabbed a lift in with Andrew and as I chatted with everyone around me at the start (Andrew, Dog, Chris O, Tim, Reid, Todd, John Binfield, Mike Conway, Tom Highnam, Jeff, Horrie, Georgie etc) I just felt so happy to be part of the running community in Sydney!</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course as soon as the gun went, everyone went mental, taking off at a pace they would never be able to hold. Seems to happen everytime at these races. My only plan was to find a pace that seemed comfortably hard and sustainable, stay ahead of the 45 minute pacer, and just monitor my legs and lungs to see if I needed to ease up.</div><div><br /></div><div>The first couple of kms passed easily, I was chatting with those around me, waved at Charlie and his little boy spectating, and just enjoying the run. I saw the 2km marker at just over 8 minutes and thought "Well this feels ok, I'll just try to maintain this pace". The next marker I saw was another 2km on and it was under 8minutes for that stretch. Ok the legs still feel light, I'm breathing easily, and I'm almost halfway. Maybe I'll go around 40mins?</div><div><br /></div><div>I then kept the pace even and ticked off the kms at just under 4 minutes each, passing more and more people as I went. At 9km I knew it was easily going to be 39.xx and with 100m to go I saw Dog in front of me and put on a spurt to catch him. It felt great to still have some pace in the legs and finish strong. </div><div><br /></div><div>Over the line and chatting after the race I thought "Why have I left it so long between 10kers?" but of course my training schedule just didn't allow it for the longest time. But I'm totally going to try to make as many as I can for the rest of the year, so much fun!</div><div><br /></div><div>2km - 8:05 </div><div>4km - 7:56</div><div>6km - 8:03</div><div>7km - 3:51</div><div>8km - 3:54</div><div>9km - 3:56</div><div>10km - 3:42</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Total: 39:28</b></div>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-68940188804935400352010-06-04T08:48:00.000+10:002010-06-04T08:50:21.309+10:00Vegan?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-mRwVi5txp8h_WbdBZI1TPceyR3zWYY-mekaO2rYba_zG65pQB4Nh1YWWj2KNyWDKx0wSRP-st6ZJh3czcQaqowhweb4q5x2i_CFgf52HJH0ifBrbRBBMG1r8EKMWYaDwszZLMSxF3PtO/s1600/vegan.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478683464730456850" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 299px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-mRwVi5txp8h_WbdBZI1TPceyR3zWYY-mekaO2rYba_zG65pQB4Nh1YWWj2KNyWDKx0wSRP-st6ZJh3czcQaqowhweb4q5x2i_CFgf52HJH0ifBrbRBBMG1r8EKMWYaDwszZLMSxF3PtO/s400/vegan.bmp" border="0" /></a>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-54024338251643573602010-05-30T18:28:00.004+10:002010-06-07T09:54:21.736+10:00Recovery timeI did promise myself during the North Face 100, "Mike, if you finish this race and drag your arse to the end, you have earned some time off." It's been a pretty solid 12 months - from my first Ironman, to Oxfam Trailwalker, Sydney Marathon, Canberra Half Ironman, Sydney to Goulburn 300km ride, Audax Alpine Classic, Husky long course tri, Ironman again, Wild Endurance 50km run and North Face 100km run.<br /><br />A lot of firsts. One year ago I'd never run any longer than 42kms at a time, never ridden over 200km and certainly never done an event which took longer than about 6 or 7 hours.<br /><br />The upshot is, I'm knackered. No mojo, no motivation. Thank god for the last two weeks of rain which has just made it psychologically so much easier to feel completely guilt-free when I sleep in every day and skip all my lunchtime workouts!<br /><br />I need to re-evaluate my goals for the rest of the year, but right now I'm happy spending more time hanging out with my wife, sleeping and essentially not thinking about training. That way, I only go for a ride, swim or run when I really feel like doing so. <br /><br />This won't last, I'll be obsessive again in a few weeks. But so far I like it!Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-27920691082170681392010-05-28T09:42:00.001+10:002010-05-28T09:43:49.530+10:00Mike Race ... God Scandal<em>From</em>: Nathan Siedman<br /><em>Subject</em>: Mike Race ... God Scandal<br /><em>Date</em>: Wednesday, May 26, 2010, 9:51 PM<br /><br />Say it aint so, Mike. Say it aint so.<br /> <br />This just in:<br /> <br />Reuters, the Times and the Post have all reported that Mike Race was implicated in the steroid scandal that is rocking the cycling world. According to Floyd Landis and verified by an anonymous source close to Mike (We'll call her S. Race - no, too obvious - Sarah R.), "the cartel," as they called themselves, included sports superstars that say Race forced the performance enhancing drugs on them. <br /><br />Roger Clemens and Jose Canseco each issued press releases that Mike held them down and injected them with human growth hormone saying "you'll thank me later." Lance Armstrong testified before the Grand Jury that Mike intimidated him into sharing his blood before long races - a procedure that some say cost Armstrong a testicle. <br /><br />This bad publicity comes at a particularly bad time considering that Mike just ordered 500,000 "Mike Race is God" bumper stickers. Mike was not reached for comment on this story. Rumor has it that more details will be released throughout the week.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-64389110965553963162010-05-20T07:42:00.007+10:002010-05-23T07:59:14.480+10:00TNF 100 Photos<div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCf6pNG7-Xki_l0Esc5MvVS_yrsgVhb9IvaM2vCrtonrpWEsfF5M9HMv7Pgj7V-hto8tKkOy69LiwDWpUHFlsXyACdiWnk9ViXQjaTmOx4bzwDdIZRARZA6ppbza-6KaJ2enXgv42WN8zJ/s1600/TNF10E_0500.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473101238466198114" style="WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCf6pNG7-Xki_l0Esc5MvVS_yrsgVhb9IvaM2vCrtonrpWEsfF5M9HMv7Pgj7V-hto8tKkOy69LiwDWpUHFlsXyACdiWnk9ViXQjaTmOx4bzwDdIZRARZA6ppbza-6KaJ2enXgv42WN8zJ/s400/TNF10E_0500.JPG" border="0" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidA6lQc3Gm-eY06EAR85XK-cNOQDJkqZbDCNPoPwq_tTgfgCw5sZNRI1XgHq_eCS3QCehPUuh931jO4kV_GiULGspidOJmqkrfTD8eEQyERocXUM3Bzgw8kJAVD_q_XvOswC9gnICos3G-/s1600/TNF10E_0502.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473100991467006162" style="WIDTH: 267px; 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CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfyVX9MSGHZ95KAjBbZn4JVH0ZcOYiTcjvC1O1fasMCWSscNfC8PRCWOjZ40a9Wa_pXMD_QNOJICgv0NhIvDADtkzgXhXul3mDN0-nSHhZHluzbv9RlJIwMi2zAeasO7C2NKyVrIwVAks1/s400/TNF10S_0359.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicCraeFQDAyMMyFPs0L6Kow0pc6imzQMArKfJJNg56_U-OVGKoavm056JkZsykVLsJcfNP5kPMfhD7GqxfPii7LzneqxC3__-iSrrY3Qu_kDmHSS7pv2oj-e9cHBUggJkOG1a1gxCUWv4m/s1600/TNF10Q_0223.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473100288445190866" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicCraeFQDAyMMyFPs0L6Kow0pc6imzQMArKfJJNg56_U-OVGKoavm056JkZsykVLsJcfNP5kPMfhD7GqxfPii7LzneqxC3__-iSrrY3Qu_kDmHSS7pv2oj-e9cHBUggJkOG1a1gxCUWv4m/s400/TNF10Q_0223.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKSLRxCHxCYOZnIxo29ArwOqtuX9MFqNihQUjiDA1wyt0CaYLtQn86cKgvt3bzy2vETdIisXKxtFf6PaTxW6kcm0i6OwFf-lOb4hwT-TpGqkouN84X41VOSaVBNY686RgX_ZLl2_bzkZCm/s1600/TNF10O_0917.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473100280845764146" style="WIDTH: 266px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKSLRxCHxCYOZnIxo29ArwOqtuX9MFqNihQUjiDA1wyt0CaYLtQn86cKgvt3bzy2vETdIisXKxtFf6PaTxW6kcm0i6OwFf-lOb4hwT-TpGqkouN84X41VOSaVBNY686RgX_ZLl2_bzkZCm/s400/TNF10O_0917.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAqRjOog6DGwxA3nvC-rnWlEiy4o1E2p6IuzoqwpNCibXNf_JPhsyvG1HjzV6RBD0ETL2o143-NMi2RyzWcj6uhXTBO6EOaSPcagy_7FVYB_C7RdvTEOr8IDmuzC_M53NbQPXTrVhvHWVp/s1600/TNF10P_0311.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473100269748086402" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 269px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAqRjOog6DGwxA3nvC-rnWlEiy4o1E2p6IuzoqwpNCibXNf_JPhsyvG1HjzV6RBD0ETL2o143-NMi2RyzWcj6uhXTBO6EOaSPcagy_7FVYB_C7RdvTEOr8IDmuzC_M53NbQPXTrVhvHWVp/s400/TNF10P_0311.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXoHZFxup3JzXfJti5Gw-ninLYBUflVO3ZMq7u0lw7QP9qrSxl4C1p1122rSP3v2W9vHqBIsjv2binxkxwAbqV7xoj7lkmZzrCemi0pUWNntAQ3ChXNjBOj60I3uV32a7bBbpJ3aPSQHYK/s1600/TNF10O_0242.JPG"></a><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473100655676943538" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHQtI4vGJ5SH9oSxgJs602WOMvc82jRWOWrWdnOqXzvCYeLbAT4_y2vAb2mJTfuc2C6GNo-ZcEP8iuLPwBXEue-XGtBIIbsVaGWnLGd0mT_GamDPAdoXgpXw_ul22US1s8ZsXX8tD8LnLA/s400/TNF10G_0560.JPG" border="0" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpSAsz3q31b20xWcRhR1fI2tbgzmZ9cyRT3FdEpVp4AtOXur-lbl5irjUl_2Nygxf7cbJa8SjvBIwEKQZtQHt7Rh695hmMn8R9VSyU3h7QpcG0mk-ZALDB2GS5qnzKZeSAt4HGzbyRnl-R/s1600/TNF10T_0125.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473100264647672290" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpSAsz3q31b20xWcRhR1fI2tbgzmZ9cyRT3FdEpVp4AtOXur-lbl5irjUl_2Nygxf7cbJa8SjvBIwEKQZtQHt7Rh695hmMn8R9VSyU3h7QpcG0mk-ZALDB2GS5qnzKZeSAt4HGzbyRnl-R/s400/TNF10T_0125.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div></div>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-79590527366662708072010-05-19T17:19:00.004+10:002010-05-21T16:35:47.987+10:00Family emails<strong>I love this email chain from my US / Canadian family this week:</strong><br /><br />From: natesiedman<br />Subject: Mike Race is God<br />Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 10:02:46 -0700<br /><br />Wow,<br /><br />Has everyone seen the blog? Mike is off the charts: ironman, marathoner, bushrunner ... Mike could eat 50 hardboiled eggs in an hour like cool hand Luke. After looking at the pictures and reading the description of the race I got inspired: so I did 3 sit-ups and a push-up. Thanks Mike, I couldn't have done it without you!<br /><br />-Nate<br /><br />------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />From: Joe Mols<br /><br />Mike's toughness IS DEFINITELY OFF THE CHARTS, but did you also know that..<br /><br />Mike Race jumped the grand canyon....longways?<br />Mike once broke the land bike speed record with a bike with a lost chain and a missing back wheel.<br />Mike doesn't travel at the speed of light, light travels at the speed of Mike Race.<br />Do you know why the Earth's spinning ? Because Mike Race Race is running on it.<br />Once a cobra bit Mike Race........ After 5 days of extreme pain........ the snake died.<br />Mike once beat the sun at a staring contest.<br />Mike's beard can shave a razor.<br />Mike once played Russian roulette with a fully loaded gun and won!!!<br />Mike Race has never blinked his entire life. NEVER I SAY!!!<br />Correction, Mike once ate an entire bottle of sleeping pills. They made him blink once.<br />When Mike works out at the gym, he doesn't sweat. The weights do.<br />Mike Race can piss into Gale force winds.<br /><br />For more info about Mike just ask me, he is too humble to put these facts on his blog.<br /><br />--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />From: Andrew Fraser<br /><br />When Mike Race watches football, The Buffalo Bills root for him!<br /><br />In Australia, you can order your chicken wings: Medium, Hot, Very Hot, or Mike Race.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-43087892179748170122010-05-17T22:00:00.003+10:002010-05-18T11:57:12.397+10:00The North Face 100I have just returned from the hardest event I have ever done.<br /><br />It was 100km running race on bush trails through the Blue Mountains.<br /><br />At 10km I thought my race was over<br /><br />At 25km I was seriously considering pulling out. This was not an idle speculation, but an honest assessment of the situation.<br /><br />At about 35km I had a vivid realisation. It's extremely foolish to enter an event with an aggressive finishing time as your goal when:<br />1) You've never run that distance before<br />2) You have no idea how difficult the course is<br />3) You are completely undertrained and underprepared<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqmuOi7Hlo4-HugvKjv1_pDcB-qpfZBgll435_kmcYwCrzd-EKmmdKRu3kdg-IGO2GjYmA92br62b5YJMzoAa47FiG_nBCUPMAColDOis-cM6eBColsuNjKM06NzeFeQcIBmXKFH1IyczI/s1600/we2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472183722760731570" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqmuOi7Hlo4-HugvKjv1_pDcB-qpfZBgll435_kmcYwCrzd-EKmmdKRu3kdg-IGO2GjYmA92br62b5YJMzoAa47FiG_nBCUPMAColDOis-cM6eBColsuNjKM06NzeFeQcIBmXKFH1IyczI/s400/we2.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqmuOi7Hlo4-HugvKjv1_pDcB-qpfZBgll435_kmcYwCrzd-EKmmdKRu3kdg-IGO2GjYmA92br62b5YJMzoAa47FiG_nBCUPMAColDOis-cM6eBColsuNjKM06NzeFeQcIBmXKFH1IyczI/s1600/we2.jpg"></a><br /><br />How the hell did I get here? Well last August I was booked in to do the 100km Oxfam Trailwalker with my mates, but an achilles injury 3 weeks out meant I couldn't compete. My leg ended up being fine (thanks to a brilliant recovery week in Hawaii for Jess and Mike's wedding) so I ran with my team on the day. However because of checkpoint logistics I had to drive the support car between 2 checkpoints early on, which meant skipping 12km. Of course I was stoked to be able to run 88km of the event, but to me that's unfinished business - I needed to run 100km.<br /><br />So I booked into The North Face 100km. The "Ultramarathon man" Dean Karnazes ran it last year and described it as "the toughest 100km I've ever done". But who believes the marketing hype, right? Oh why didn't I listen...<br /><br />The strategy was to train hard going into Ironman. And then switch my training to long bush runs for a few weeks before this race. In reality however the recovery from Ironman was longer than expected, which didn't really leave any time in between the events to train at all. So when I started suffering on Saturday I turned my mind back to my ... ahem ... "training" regime for TNF and realised that I'd basically run 3 long runs in the last 3 months. This included: no long runs in March as taper for Ironman. Then the Ironman marathon (1). A semi-bush run on the Spit to Manly Track a few weeks later for about 25kms (2) and the Wild Endurance 50km leg (3). Which I did two weeks before TNF and absolutely hammered. Exercise physiologists will tell you that endurance fitness takes around 3 weeks to kick in (hence tapering) and anything long and difficult you do any closer to your goal race will not help your fitness on race day, just make you more fatigued and unrecovered. Yeah yeah, the eggheads were right again.<br /><br />So Friday night Sarah and I drove up and did the whole registration and compulsory gear screening, checked into our dive motel (which I'd scrambled to book the week before) and I tried to get some sleep. Now the race day certainly could not have been any better weather-wise. Crystal blue cloudless sky, cool morning, completely windless. Glorious. Well weather wasn't going to be a complaint.<br /><br />At the start I hooked up with Irish Rob from HuRts and his mate Andy, who were all pumped up for sub 14 hours. I had been thinking about it previously and figured, "Sure. I'll be good for 14 hours. I'll just stick with these guys, that's perfect." And so at 7:13am they started the race and off we went, through the streets of Leura.<br /><br />Rob, Andy and I chatted away and jogged easily along, Rob pointing out on one occasion that we were doing 5 minute kilometres, but we all felt comfortable with that so continued with that pace. Very soon we hit the single track bush section and started to see these kinds of views. A damn fine way to start a race:<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiy5uO4g8stUtnrqFpIdkHCbbqSdtckXUXa1znaQcp-KYzDqJDZ8QYNl2deJK0qHlPjKET3xrm0Ym-OB1o-5hjLJxWQUCm-Rlo7crY5BlX9OlP6gYvTcIeoMW5UB1S9c30oLYKn1iWIK8p/s1600/WE1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472183717517972738" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiy5uO4g8stUtnrqFpIdkHCbbqSdtckXUXa1znaQcp-KYzDqJDZ8QYNl2deJK0qHlPjKET3xrm0Ym-OB1o-5hjLJxWQUCm-Rlo7crY5BlX9OlP6gYvTcIeoMW5UB1S9c30oLYKn1iWIK8p/s400/WE1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Up and down the hills we went, thousands of steep stairs too. It had been less than 10km and the terrain was already starting to bite. I thought "My thighs really shouldn't be feeling this fatigued already, but these damn stairs!". Suddenly along a rocky cliffside train my foot caught a root and down I went. Banged my knee a little, but nothing bad so I shook it off and ran on. A few minutes later I landed badly and my left ankle rolled with a sickening crack. Oh shit. I hobbled to the side of the path and let the guys behind me run through as I assessed the damage. It wasn't great, but the only way to know would be to keep running and one of two things would happen. I could shake it off, or it would be too painful to continue. With 90km of unknown terrain to go, this was the first time I thought "I may not make it to the end".<br /><br />I ran on, very gingerly favouring the ankle and fiercely concentrating on every single step to make sure I didn't do it again. It hurt. It wasn't a sprain, but there was definitely some damage there. It would remain to be seen how bad it would get, but for now I was continuing.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZG9Jf304ovweILM5Cmf1wCvuEr5NilRZM4IllajowUOJ6_9AjLPKeX-Oxrj6wz7WD9BTthG30YxU4CSwYK3sI4LHa_d8kwPZnRa6hVDmiptW7O5EhbAVpa5gGHJj6IK9P8N9OF-pWsu0n/s1600/stairs.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472357161567455554" style="WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZG9Jf304ovweILM5Cmf1wCvuEr5NilRZM4IllajowUOJ6_9AjLPKeX-Oxrj6wz7WD9BTthG30YxU4CSwYK3sI4LHa_d8kwPZnRa6hVDmiptW7O5EhbAVpa5gGHJj6IK9P8N9OF-pWsu0n/s400/stairs.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div><br /></div><div>So along we went, and up the "Golden Stairs" to CP1. The best call was halfway up this torture chamber when some bloke mumbled "I don't see what's so bloody golden about them...". CP1 was about 30 seconds, skulling two cups of Endura and eating a banana. When I checked my water bladder it was still almost full, which wasn't ideal, but meant I didn't need to top it up and so I just left the checkpoint and started running along the ridgeline with Andy (Rob was a minute or two ahead of us). This was a lovely section, along "Narrow Neck", a high and very thin ridge with incredible views of valleys on either side. Very runnable firetrail and Andy and I made good time. Andy was a demon on the downhills and I would struggle to catch up again when the gradient tilted upwards, but we stayed together for most of it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNFdBytwuLOeqAMHd8bwR124UdVIayxMIz_pvPP8wA61a8JDG_8yNhNzsuwTI9QWb9yzQqwiRzptKQN_W9w882lYfZD8dYgnHUt5Ko0fLrt0icpYKNaQFF2WbHSwRWz-HHAPwh6WQFn5Z/s1600/BlueMountainsNarrowneck_wideweb__470x312,0.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472355553969964690" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNFdBytwuLOeqAMHd8bwR124UdVIayxMIz_pvPP8wA61a8JDG_8yNhNzsuwTI9QWb9yzQqwiRzptKQN_W9w882lYfZD8dYgnHUt5Ko0fLrt0icpYKNaQFF2WbHSwRWz-HHAPwh6WQFn5Z/s400/BlueMountainsNarrowneck_wideweb__470x312,0.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Narrow Neck</span><br /><br />Some background on Andy. He'd told me that he'd run the Sydney Marathon in September and sprinted over the line in 2:59:51, at which point he was on the verge of collapsed and was carted off to medical where they stuck a drip in his arm, a thermometer up his bum, and told him that he had the highest body temperature they'd ever seen! A tough hombre and a fast runner, he told me at this point that he was looking to podium finish in the under 25 category, and the odd time that anyone came past us he would scrutinise their face to see how old they were. His theory was that anyone that young with a beard was someone to watch out for!<br /><br />Andy ended up finishing yesterday's race in second place in the under-25 age category. Is it just me, or does it seem foolish in retrospect that I was running alongside him?<br /><br />Anyway eventually I felt the pace was too fast to be sustainable for me, so I slowed up a notch and let him go. Shortly afterwards we had the downhill into Checkpoint 2 at Dunphys Camp. There were a lot of people hanging around, but I just moved straight through - filled the hydration bladder and grabbed more banana then took off down the road. I started running with a guy wearing a CoolRunning cap (Exe) and we jogged along together chatting about the race. He'd done the last two years as well (this is the third year it's been going) and explained a bit about what I'd be facing for the rest of the course. It sounded a bit grim. But for now things were looking good, it was a beautiful sunny morning and we were cruising through a pasture-filled valley of farmland along undulating firetrail that was largely runnable.<br /><br />Then we hit the hill he'd been telling me about. Straight up the steepest thing I've ever seen, narrow switchbacked dirt paths which are virtually hands and knees to get up. Then a long stretch of singletrack, some crazy temporary ladders in the rock to come down, then more singletrack out to the one and only "out-and-back" section, 1km along Ironpot Ridge to a stunning lookout at the end. It's the only chance on the course to see who is up to 10 minutes ahead of you (and 10 minutes behind you). Rob and Andy were both right there a few minutes in front of me, along with Marty and a few other blokes I know. After this section however there was a brutally steep dirt-track downhill which was one of those hills where if you run it you face the danger of tripping and rolling down the entire hill smashing into every tree on the way down, but you can't take it slow because you'll just slide down in the dirt. It was a very painful section, and I was happy to have it level out into pasture and another wide runnable firetrail, at which point I started running with another CoolRunner, Nick, wearing the Vibram FiveFingers shoes.<br /><br /><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYcrj8w7kcchyphenhyphenSlgB6f5Mv-qksb7oUfz-ORlczAexDN1qctBrC67AMs9QXGGj-m8LKuCmj4sm5y6ONNBoIoTc6DQbrzaWrAdqO_B4AAt64ozjRnOHM5IyIgjj5qeotMK7X_Qa3WBNkd2AR/s1600/tnf2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472183711237199666" style="WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYcrj8w7kcchyphenhyphenSlgB6f5Mv-qksb7oUfz-ORlczAexDN1qctBrC67AMs9QXGGj-m8LKuCmj4sm5y6ONNBoIoTc6DQbrzaWrAdqO_B4AAt64ozjRnOHM5IyIgjj5qeotMK7X_Qa3WBNkd2AR/s400/tnf2.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYcrj8w7kcchyphenhyphenSlgB6f5Mv-qksb7oUfz-ORlczAexDN1qctBrC67AMs9QXGGj-m8LKuCmj4sm5y6ONNBoIoTc6DQbrzaWrAdqO_B4AAt64ozjRnOHM5IyIgjj5qeotMK7X_Qa3WBNkd2AR/s1600/tnf2.jpg"></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd1vqJZHZr0bs-A2jWrByWM5Pp5n3VGpvjBROyaSGtz7dq1Fn0JtmM4fJLvBr1_zDlZqrSxCBXVjla8vHmJ9QBDvVAXMTlvkqzzz4yTSn4hTn26rORQGlMPIT4KRHw41MPrX-QjATMppQ5/s1600/tnf1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472183707664956258" style="WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd1vqJZHZr0bs-A2jWrByWM5Pp5n3VGpvjBROyaSGtz7dq1Fn0JtmM4fJLvBr1_zDlZqrSxCBXVjla8vHmJ9QBDvVAXMTlvkqzzz4yTSn4hTn26rORQGlMPIT4KRHw41MPrX-QjATMppQ5/s400/tnf1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div></div></div><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">The Tarros Ladders</span><br /><br />Of course it's never that far til you hit another hill and we sure did, going up and up and up for a very long time, but at least having some company. Nick took off on the flat section up top, but I needed a bit more walking time. My legs were shattered, my feet badly blistered, my ankle hurting and my body knackered. And I wasn't even at halfway yet. Checkpoint 3 was at 54km and I thought "If Sarah was at CP3 I would get in the car and go home". There was no way I could do another 50km when I could barely manage a slow shuffle now, and with the knowledge that the 2nd half of the course was the hard part.<br /><br />There were a good few hours around this time where I was constantly debating with myself about pulling out. Thoughts like: Why not just pull out? Where's the shame in that? The only person who cares is me. I've got nothing to prove, so what's the point of putting myself through hours and hours of pain for no reason? It would feel sooo good just to stop now.<br /><br />But then there was the stubborn side of me that said, you've never pulled out of a race yet and you're not going to do it now. So I cruised through Checkpoint 3 and picked up my drop bag of falafel and salad wraps with homemade baba ganoush, walking away from the checkpoint while munching and talking on the phone to Sarah for the first time that day. The good chat and good food cheered me up and I managed to run again for a while. However the horrendous climb of a billion stairs through the wet, cold rainforest that is Nellie's Glen quickly put paid to any enthusiasm. I heard one comment that summed it up, "I don't know who Nellie is, but if I ever find her I'll f**king kill her!"<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLOVzgP2zp3Pr7z_nspYolX4JJC-aGMsVqOZWGUEZcX7L6DPGtJJoik2ceUFS-rBGyE_zwbsn2Dl9j9OmfdccQBdjxdUaxZLxJFjZRwbBNBtp7fHqGdHHila9WJvbTv5LADG73mf3GX4Fo/s1600/Six_Foot_Track_Nellies_Glen.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472357152114582786" style="WIDTH: 266px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLOVzgP2zp3Pr7z_nspYolX4JJC-aGMsVqOZWGUEZcX7L6DPGtJJoik2ceUFS-rBGyE_zwbsn2Dl9j9OmfdccQBdjxdUaxZLxJFjZRwbBNBtp7fHqGdHHila9WJvbTv5LADG73mf3GX4Fo/s400/Six_Foot_Track_Nellies_Glen.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLOVzgP2zp3Pr7z_nspYolX4JJC-aGMsVqOZWGUEZcX7L6DPGtJJoik2ceUFS-rBGyE_zwbsn2Dl9j9OmfdccQBdjxdUaxZLxJFjZRwbBNBtp7fHqGdHHila9WJvbTv5LADG73mf3GX4Fo/s1600/Six_Foot_Track_Nellies_Glen.jpg"></a><i>Nellie's Glen</i></div><div><br />Fast forward to CP4. Katoomba Oval at 67km. It was 5pm and the light was almost completely gone from the day. Sarah was going to be there to meet me and I'd spent a lot of the last few hours seriously considering jumping into the old CRV and telling her to gun it! But it was such a lift to see her smiling face and get a hug that I had a renewed flow of energy and thought at least I'd go one more checkpoint (even if it was the longest leg, at 22km).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj941KNQC3vamMyDz-t0FWQye9EFaJmJA8ly5GdCqG_pmhaHE3a2D3b3_H3WFWOLxXrQQUZdT0kgdxJZXhzm_DNURZf2Wjy_ZJVzuiLYoDMh54632pr-chXyKBK5gv1Qvqom8OwGl76uGap/s1600/P1020877.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472363991536557826" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj941KNQC3vamMyDz-t0FWQye9EFaJmJA8ly5GdCqG_pmhaHE3a2D3b3_H3WFWOLxXrQQUZdT0kgdxJZXhzm_DNURZf2Wjy_ZJVzuiLYoDMh54632pr-chXyKBK5gv1Qvqom8OwGl76uGap/s400/P1020877.JPG" border="0" /></a> <div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj941KNQC3vamMyDz-t0FWQye9EFaJmJA8ly5GdCqG_pmhaHE3a2D3b3_H3WFWOLxXrQQUZdT0kgdxJZXhzm_DNURZf2Wjy_ZJVzuiLYoDMh54632pr-chXyKBK5gv1Qvqom8OwGl76uGap/s1600/P1020877.JPG"></a><i>Checkpoint 4 - Katoomba Oval 67km</i></div><div><i><br /></i><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu80VP8yTxpTX5JTm87aqXj9gbQqbcuicTC9YBhYIqoXPcOwjcREv7E2RVdCgLv3BmDFc18fgdYzAw4n35MskAN1b5MlRZQlPQPVGasMdnGlkCuEQXIde5Eh-CAyIUXY3ynUxwCdbOKJqm/s1600/P1020879.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472363982609328850" style="WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu80VP8yTxpTX5JTm87aqXj9gbQqbcuicTC9YBhYIqoXPcOwjcREv7E2RVdCgLv3BmDFc18fgdYzAw4n35MskAN1b5MlRZQlPQPVGasMdnGlkCuEQXIde5Eh-CAyIUXY3ynUxwCdbOKJqm/s400/P1020879.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu80VP8yTxpTX5JTm87aqXj9gbQqbcuicTC9YBhYIqoXPcOwjcREv7E2RVdCgLv3BmDFc18fgdYzAw4n35MskAN1b5MlRZQlPQPVGasMdnGlkCuEQXIde5Eh-CAyIUXY3ynUxwCdbOKJqm/s1600/P1020879.JPG"></a><i>Not happy</i></div><div><i><br /></i><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2eJs7rwpw32jjyCyYnqL-NN0w6TzWHMJqCHzPf6HIVSplx3kdAh0KM0UR5paVjpeW0F22gfKWEs8_RFzYbN7PopWqbDUSYb2zFem0FQAfzXoLZAmcZAr8rvYxbYu7hTpQrqJvQYm0Heyw/s1600/P1020881.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472363975697620370" style="WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2eJs7rwpw32jjyCyYnqL-NN0w6TzWHMJqCHzPf6HIVSplx3kdAh0KM0UR5paVjpeW0F22gfKWEs8_RFzYbN7PopWqbDUSYb2zFem0FQAfzXoLZAmcZAr8rvYxbYu7hTpQrqJvQYm0Heyw/s400/P1020881.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2eJs7rwpw32jjyCyYnqL-NN0w6TzWHMJqCHzPf6HIVSplx3kdAh0KM0UR5paVjpeW0F22gfKWEs8_RFzYbN7PopWqbDUSYb2zFem0FQAfzXoLZAmcZAr8rvYxbYu7hTpQrqJvQYm0Heyw/s1600/P1020881.JPG"></a><i>Ready to push on</i></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjngTjv7FM3MYBeIumra3dcTtroloHsTGKmZT-5xbHb_h6dMaErIHDsyX5SVx8ogRhg4QCvHKU6MitvWKmArB9eSPctbwQg38YevkGYUabiHJAvXzkRApGIgeKxbIKmnWfAVsULBNYbGAWd/s1600/P1020882.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472363964157937010" style="WIDTH: 301px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjngTjv7FM3MYBeIumra3dcTtroloHsTGKmZT-5xbHb_h6dMaErIHDsyX5SVx8ogRhg4QCvHKU6MitvWKmArB9eSPctbwQg38YevkGYUabiHJAvXzkRApGIgeKxbIKmnWfAVsULBNYbGAWd/s400/P1020882.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjngTjv7FM3MYBeIumra3dcTtroloHsTGKmZT-5xbHb_h6dMaErIHDsyX5SVx8ogRhg4QCvHKU6MitvWKmArB9eSPctbwQg38YevkGYUabiHJAvXzkRApGIgeKxbIKmnWfAVsULBNYbGAWd/s1600/P1020882.JPG"></a><i>Leaving CP4</i></div><div><br />Now it was absolutely bleeding baltic, the temperature had dropped considerably and stopping for a few minutes made you really feel it. I changed socks and put my road-running shoes on, then layered on the clothes, popped the headlamp on and scarpered away into the dark - straight to the thousand stairs down from the Three Sisters to the valley floor. At that stage of the game, descending a giant steep staircase was the very last thing my quads wanted to do. But amazingly, once at the bottom I realised that the last checkpoint had given me a new lease on life and I ran and ran and ran. I couldn't believe it myself, but I thought "I'll take this while I can" and just focused on the spot of light at my feet as I started passing people and feeling terrific.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbgMDCaiBYeQknstx7L7ZVDEZAgmUa_dYSS3BWGJjeOrz_uxxMB5W_HAAmXzE3yVHuvRYCNavUYkHIxb7HT12H7dbh5PlXBEgbxhMO6GnnV4HpjRuM2noXoCyNwGFG3uThy53O0xTRlcbR/s1600/three-sisters-blue-mountains.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472356603277951778" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbgMDCaiBYeQknstx7L7ZVDEZAgmUa_dYSS3BWGJjeOrz_uxxMB5W_HAAmXzE3yVHuvRYCNavUYkHIxb7HT12H7dbh5PlXBEgbxhMO6GnnV4HpjRuM2noXoCyNwGFG3uThy53O0xTRlcbR/s400/three-sisters-blue-mountains.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbgMDCaiBYeQknstx7L7ZVDEZAgmUa_dYSS3BWGJjeOrz_uxxMB5W_HAAmXzE3yVHuvRYCNavUYkHIxb7HT12H7dbh5PlXBEgbxhMO6GnnV4HpjRuM2noXoCyNwGFG3uThy53O0xTRlcbR/s1600/three-sisters-blue-mountains.jpg"></a><i>The Three Sisters - what they look like in daylight</i></div><div><br />Then the road started going down... and down.... and down. The pounding of running down steep slopes was making mincemeat of my legs, but I told myself that my legs were absolutely ruined anyway, I might as well run while they still allowed me to. Which - as it turned out - wasn't for much longer. In fact at about this time I was forced to stop running even downhill and from that point on, between 70 and 75km, I didn't run a single other step.<br /><br />Of course once at the bottom of all those hills, it was time to go up. The longest hill I have ever been up in my entire life. Mentally I only barely held it together. I hated that hill with everything in me. It took me almost two hours of constant climbing, I think it was 8 or 10km straight up. Not too long after the top it was Checkpoint 5 at 89km, the final checkpoint and last chance to pull out. Of course as soon as I reached the actual checkpoint, all those fervent wishes of the last few hours to make it stop were instantly evaporated. I got more love from Sarah, sat in the car for 5 mins with the heater on, chowing down Lebanese take-out that she'd got for me, and then thought it's only 11km, time to finish this bitch of a race!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTEjQINPK5R1WekDuYdvTodPehwp7oeA6D5l8BGpvAmfmkiZGEZxLUn8vjPK1mjJSvRKVtVcryQEEd9MjQ3aBXYUxXuEajTMEaPy92_xtNni5nkkmRd1IknZc85dCbIEDLeuFV3mHwTJI-/s1600/P1020883.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472363961330740050" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTEjQINPK5R1WekDuYdvTodPehwp7oeA6D5l8BGpvAmfmkiZGEZxLUn8vjPK1mjJSvRKVtVcryQEEd9MjQ3aBXYUxXuEajTMEaPy92_xtNni5nkkmRd1IknZc85dCbIEDLeuFV3mHwTJI-/s400/P1020883.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTEjQINPK5R1WekDuYdvTodPehwp7oeA6D5l8BGpvAmfmkiZGEZxLUn8vjPK1mjJSvRKVtVcryQEEd9MjQ3aBXYUxXuEajTMEaPy92_xtNni5nkkmRd1IknZc85dCbIEDLeuFV3mHwTJI-/s1600/P1020883.JPG"></a><i>At Checkpoint 5 - Queen Victoria Hospital 89km</i></div><div><i>Pretending to feel strong</i></div><div><br />I'd dreamed about getting Sarah to bring me Red Bull and nurofen. Caffeine and painkillers, any drugs to make things easier. Of course I was so delirious that by the time I called her it was too late and she was already at the CP, so I went without. And in the end, happier to have just faced down the pain.<br /><br />There was no more running for me that day, try as I might my legs were having none of it. The ipod came out for the first time and I powerwalked along just repeating the mantra "I'll get to the end as quickly as this body will allow me to move. No faster and no slower." And that's what I did. That last 11km was unspeakably brutal. The race directors are true sadists. Tight, rocky, technical, wet, slippery paths in the pitch black moonless night, with a number of drops to the valley floor and climbs back out again. My thighs would no longer allow me to go down steps, so I had to stop dead at every stair, brace myself against any nearby rock or tree and hop down into a starburst of pain. A number of people around me were doing the same thing, swearing their heads off at the course organisers. I felt much the same way but didn't have the energy to be angry anymore. Even when, at 97km, the course took us from the top of the ridge down an endless set of stairs to the valley floor and then all the way back up top again. That 2km from 97km to 99km took me 40 minutes.<br /><br />At that stage I experienced a totally new feeling. My body was done, wrung out completely with nothing left at all. The only thing propelling me forward was pure will. I was like an animated corpse, just forcing one step after another up that bloody staircase. But the top came eventually and there was the finish line. Over I went at 12.58am and into Sarah's arms. 17 hours and 45 minutes.<br /><br />Incredibly I came 231st out of 600 entrants (not including 150 odd dropouts). I could not believe I had actually made it, it was inconceivable when I was cooked by 35km in.<br /><br />The scariest thing was that when Sarah drove us back to the motel, I had a long hot shower to erase the grime of the day and then when I got out, my body just shut down. I no longer had the ability to regulate my body temperature, and even though it was probably 25 degrees in the heated motel room, I was shivering uncontrollably. I was under the doona, wearing a t-shirt, two jumpers and a beanie and still couldn't stop the shaking. Sarah was close to taking me to hospital with hypothermia, when I finally managed to get myself warm and drift off to sleep.<br /><br />I spent a good 10 hours at least telling myself I would never put myself through that again. Why is it that just a day later I'm already thinking about next year?</div></div></div>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-61610666997778103272010-05-17T21:52:00.002+10:002010-05-17T22:07:13.986+10:00Article on TNF100Check out this <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/toughness-is-essential--madness-optional-20100516-v6fs.html">article on The North Face 100 in today's newspaper</a>. I particularly like this quote:<br /><br />"<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); font-style: italic;">At the finish of the North Face 100... Pale and shivering with dehydration and hypothermia, they trembled and shook beneath a mountain of blankets.</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><br />One man barely had the strength to roll over and vomit into a bowl.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); font-style: italic;"> More than 150 runners withdrew and at least a couple were taken to hospital.</span>"<p>How much fun does THAT sound?<br /></p>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994446766010257858.post-39116697429457349392010-05-17T06:24:00.009+10:002010-05-17T20:26:53.481+10:00Wild Endurance 100km bush runThe short version: first time I've ever won anything at a running event!<div><br /></div><div>The well-written version from one of my teammates:</div><div><a href="http://oldbuggercharlie.blogspot.com/2010/05/wildendurance-100k-15.html">Charlie's blog posting</a></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="margin-top: 6px; margin-right: 6px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 6px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); min-height: 1100px; counter-reset: __goog_page__ 0; line-height: normal; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">The long and tedious version from me:</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">It all started when Charlie came up to me months ago at a Warrior Swim session and said “Mike we’ve got a 6 person relay team for the Wild Endurance and one guy has dropped out. Do you fancy it?”</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">It’s a 100km run on very hilly (and stairey – if that’s a word) bush tracks through the Blue Mountains. The way the relay works is that 3 guys run the first 50km or so and then hand over to the other three who run the last 50km. Naturally I said yes right away, but then over the next few weeks there were two more dropouts and I filled the roles with Andrew and Mark so suddenly we had Team Alpha - Charlie, James (aka Dr Skins) and Colin (aka Tiger) and Team Zappa – myself, Andrew and Mark.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Team Alpha were ultra organised. They had training runs on bush tracks from months before the race. They (or more correctly – James) compiled a gear list gleaned from the adventure stores around town, listing the very lightest materials known to man in order to carry all the compulsory race gear in a package the size of a pea and the weight of a gnat’s left testicle. They surveyed key sections of the course, organised a support crew and provided team race apparel.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">On the other side there was Team Zappa. Clueless. About 4 days before the race Andrew sent me an email saying “Mate what’s going on? All I know is that we have to turn up and run 50km.” And I had no answers. None of us had seen a single step of the track. Both Andrew and I hadn’t really run for a month after Ironman for anything longer than 45 mins or so, due to recovery. Which left us time to do a grand total of 2 longish runs together, within the final two weeks before the event, where we did 25 odd kms on the Spit to Manly track for two Saturdays. Our gear consisted of giant thermals and beanies rescued from the back of the closet where they’d sat since the mid-80s.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU2cJtYUoF3Dgt7tlSuYOPhMFTWf_QmmErt1TgXfaWwe74F60WZO_FgNWgnyCMawkRLjjmYF3PLPUkKT2M8wgFVY3OhUNSNXShyqm0ftilAi7Lu_NKawt2f6jMLDx16hHfKYRKaskl2WQe/s1600/we12.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU2cJtYUoF3Dgt7tlSuYOPhMFTWf_QmmErt1TgXfaWwe74F60WZO_FgNWgnyCMawkRLjjmYF3PLPUkKT2M8wgFVY3OhUNSNXShyqm0ftilAi7Lu_NKawt2f6jMLDx16hHfKYRKaskl2WQe/s400/we12.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471971910496433762" /></a><br /><i><br /></i></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><i>Team Dinner two nights before to discuss what the hell we were doing</i></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Were we nervous? You bet we were. On the car ride up we consoled ourselves by saying to each other in quavering voices, “Well we’re never going to win the thing. We should be able to make it through 50km, it’s just an easy run through the bush. We’ll walk if we have to. We’ll be right…” </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">It wasn’t a great boost for our confidence in our own navigation skills when we completely missed the turnoff to Katoomba and almost ended up in Lithgow. But we made it to Checkpoint 1 at the 25km mark, caught up with Sarah and Alice the fantastic support crew and were relaxing in camp chairs, shooting the breeze, when suddenly – oh my god there they are. Yes Team Alpha came striding out of the bush and onto the oval at a cracking pace, and very much in first place! They caught us completely by surprise as they were a full 30 minutes faster than the fastest recorded time for that leg the previous year!</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCPMXSQv4akbuRWC9omS5GJa8saFdL2JvTIkWBXusl2-a8ZfupTidCR9q2BAGkE4ei4tGzWcPaBOO4eeCT77ztAiJxX0eEo48JypzHxXv2Qqj_Xobk_AVMo4aYaC5aSPoCcSAh2z2d-wFS/s1600/we3.jpg"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCKtObWl0tMObpc6hLu4OH8J3zLJ5eQ48rvp_5nv07RcHzVVFZ7QJHknY3gRINjsDH0Y-uhfhdopV1ivNAkqugK58fhOFp7-ZxXjEh2vObys-t9MU1T0-8GG4R2QYfJjPO3Aw-WPAv0EJU/s1600/we13.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCKtObWl0tMObpc6hLu4OH8J3zLJ5eQ48rvp_5nv07RcHzVVFZ7QJHknY3gRINjsDH0Y-uhfhdopV1ivNAkqugK58fhOFp7-ZxXjEh2vObys-t9MU1T0-8GG4R2QYfJjPO3Aw-WPAv0EJU/s400/we13.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471972657903452514" /></a><br /><i><br /></i></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><i>Team Alpha carving it up</i></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Andrew, Mark and I jumped up to help them through the transition and suddenly our hearts were beating out of our chests. The boys were focussed and running so fast, that meant that if they kept the lead for the next 25km leg, then all the pressure would be on the three of us to defend their lead. Oh boy...</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br /></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; ">They flew off after a 3 minute turnaround and we timed a full 10 minutes until the next teams came through. Quite a lead. We scrambled to get all our gear together, cram down some lunch in a cafe, frantically try to memorise the maps, buy bottles of gatorade and get ourselves across to the changeover point before the guys came storming in. Thankfully Sarah kicked our arses to get there, we had visions of pulling up in the car and the boys from Team Alpha already standing there looking at their watches and tapping their feet. But we made it, got our gear together and then Andrew and I ran to the toilet 4 times each in about 10 minutes as our bladders contracted with fear. You can see me here staring anxiously down the track at the point where the guys would soon appear:</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; "> </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCPMXSQv4akbuRWC9omS5GJa8saFdL2JvTIkWBXusl2-a8ZfupTidCR9q2BAGkE4ei4tGzWcPaBOO4eeCT77ztAiJxX0eEo48JypzHxXv2Qqj_Xobk_AVMo4aYaC5aSPoCcSAh2z2d-wFS/s1600/we3.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCPMXSQv4akbuRWC9omS5GJa8saFdL2JvTIkWBXusl2-a8ZfupTidCR9q2BAGkE4ei4tGzWcPaBOO4eeCT77ztAiJxX0eEo48JypzHxXv2Qqj_Xobk_AVMo4aYaC5aSPoCcSAh2z2d-wFS/s400/we3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471972659964344482" /></a></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; "> </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; ">Then they arrived. They'd completed the second leg another half an hour faster than last year's fastest team and were still very much in the lead. Surprisingly given the speed they'd been running over some pretty gnarly terrain, they looked fresh as could be! We did the quick handoff of compulsory gear and timing chip, a swift photo and then Team Zappa took to the trail at 2.15pm</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; "> </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8GM1SKqIA_lDNQLl_0kL4Wz8d2deiu0ajmEMYIMW5PIqeOghUnsdkOIt63uySZLDMuU2a5V1CWVnSN6LMLBgoEoy0QABWpyNNXlcjK7Eoy0kG0OWSn8sDqcS5iuY42WhuehhG2qxyVw3b/s1600/we5.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8GM1SKqIA_lDNQLl_0kL4Wz8d2deiu0ajmEMYIMW5PIqeOghUnsdkOIt63uySZLDMuU2a5V1CWVnSN6LMLBgoEoy0QABWpyNNXlcjK7Eoy0kG0OWSn8sDqcS5iuY42WhuehhG2qxyVw3b/s400/we5.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471973496909325362" /></a></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8GM1SKqIA_lDNQLl_0kL4Wz8d2deiu0ajmEMYIMW5PIqeOghUnsdkOIt63uySZLDMuU2a5V1CWVnSN6LMLBgoEoy0QABWpyNNXlcjK7Eoy0kG0OWSn8sDqcS5iuY42WhuehhG2qxyVw3b/s1600/we5.jpg"></a><i>Team Alpha checks into the changeover checkpoint</i></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfrlBeqnMkGvpUtwudP0oJhTnbcVEruIHgihTO3GX3z376TI598AdNLeKZ5Nhi3gfSKXjlDWTOvehpbOL-FlMHJ5QiIb7dKj965mCnsukd5gdn6eYT8bzTSuQfhNC4XWufxDW6ao8yVTSP/s1600/we6.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfrlBeqnMkGvpUtwudP0oJhTnbcVEruIHgihTO3GX3z376TI598AdNLeKZ5Nhi3gfSKXjlDWTOvehpbOL-FlMHJ5QiIb7dKj965mCnsukd5gdn6eYT8bzTSuQfhNC4XWufxDW6ao8yVTSP/s400/we6.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471973483739956722" /></a></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><i>Handing off the timing chip</i></div><br /><br /><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUuQ7ZcEytRkkRfJu0U7uyjNWkLpCW7NtVPYq3LuUq5uCIHTuKtdyV2iVzoTtuQ1bTfW4r133Du-YeiottgcTy8Vf2go_q3WtAT5QGtcBq1V18TI6yP5EIGXondcyIOm2c9v3KyVfOEUSE/s1600/we4.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUuQ7ZcEytRkkRfJu0U7uyjNWkLpCW7NtVPYq3LuUq5uCIHTuKtdyV2iVzoTtuQ1bTfW4r133Du-YeiottgcTy8Vf2go_q3WtAT5QGtcBq1V18TI6yP5EIGXondcyIOm2c9v3KyVfOEUSE/s400/we4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471973501088919810" /></a></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUuQ7ZcEytRkkRfJu0U7uyjNWkLpCW7NtVPYq3LuUq5uCIHTuKtdyV2iVzoTtuQ1bTfW4r133Du-YeiottgcTy8Vf2go_q3WtAT5QGtcBq1V18TI6yP5EIGXondcyIOm2c9v3KyVfOEUSE/s1600/we4.jpg"></a><i>Team photo</i></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">Our half of the race was 52km, involving first a 35km section along undulating, but pretty easy firetrail. Then the final checkpoint before 17km to the finish. We had no idea how far behind the other teams were, so we just gunned it. It was a delicate balance of trying to keep the fastest pace possible so as not to be caught by the teams behind, but also not run too fast and burn ourselves out before the end, because it was a good 6 to 8 hours of running ahead of us. I did get a text after 15 mins which I didn't check, but assumed it meant the next team was 15 mins behind us. Correctly, as it turned out, although that was the next relay team. The next 100km team was only 6 minutes behind. I'm glad we didn't know that! </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "> </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">Never having been the "hares" before, we were all feeling a bit odd being in that position. But the plan was simple - go a bit faster than we thought we could manage, because if we could get as much ground covered in daylight as possible we'd have a distinct advantage (everyone moves slower in the dark).</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "> </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">So we went hard. The first few km slipped by quickly. We knocked over 10km in about 46 minutes so we knew we were moving. The track was a wide firetrail with fairly minor gradients. At one point Andrew pointed out that this weather - warm sun directly after a foggy rainy morning - was prime time for snakes so to watch out. Five minutes later we all nearly had a heart attack when we flew past a 3 metre Diamond Python with a body as thick as my forearm, by far the largest snake I've seen outside of a zoo.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "> </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">After 15 km or so we started the longest, steepest descent I've ever run down. And down. And down. It seemed to go forever! At one stage we were just laughing as we barrelled down thinking we were going to he centre of the earth. Finally we crossed a river at the bottom and then the inevitable... Actually the up wasn't too bad. A steep bit at first so we did our first bit of walking. The trail seemed to flatten out after not too long, but it was a false flat, and in fact was a gradual uphill for the next 8km or so. This was my point of maximum suffering.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "> </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">Andrew was really pushing the pace just a little bit too fast for me to comfortably hold. Mark was close behind him and I kept dropping back then trying to surge ahead and hang on. I knew I'd come good eventually, but at the time I was dying. All I could think was, "Thank god these guys are running strong, we need to keep the pace up to stay ahead and I would totally slow down if it was just me." We were running directly into the setting sun which was utterly blinding and in my delirium I thought I could hear the voices of the other teams gaining on us, but I gamely hung on and when it finally flattened out a bit more I started to feel more comfortable.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "> </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">Then there was a long section around Wentworth Falls of a narrow singletrack along a cliff edge under a rocky overhang. Wet slippery track and the sun had gone down so there was just the last pink glow of the sky to see by. Amazing views into the valley when we could pause long enough to appreciate them. We figured by now the checkpoint must be just around the corner (I felt this was for almost an hour) and we tried to hang on for the whole way without headlamps, but one more turn deep into the forest and it was just too dangerous and almost pitch black. We had our headlamps on in a flash and busted the last set of stairs into Checkpoint 3.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB2sJ5NDrFhamM1XjFsjWGWKfpKelbc0mxLEhYu84IQNL22LDR42sdjHgLQ5RNTUvZc2gyG1Q1ed_n8MZtMsTqoT3_-A0sePvfS_i9BUa6emu51v8WKKnTUbZEjzP_H3VzNhhg5pkLbZ5w/s1600/we8.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB2sJ5NDrFhamM1XjFsjWGWKfpKelbc0mxLEhYu84IQNL22LDR42sdjHgLQ5RNTUvZc2gyG1Q1ed_n8MZtMsTqoT3_-A0sePvfS_i9BUa6emu51v8WKKnTUbZEjzP_H3VzNhhg5pkLbZ5w/s400/we8.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471974835265682578" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn69-eRAKM5fq1P-ngFjhPRk70e0FQA6lIne8IbC0rW-jwwoJCbxFBGzFRNjTkz9h_-6_NRw-YhpDMnsvl0AJSqPVVcNfpx6nGi3F7lg6kRA8zrzW7hfKAC4s8wUFSiAB7KcgFnJ7YzZdC/s1600/we7.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn69-eRAKM5fq1P-ngFjhPRk70e0FQA6lIne8IbC0rW-jwwoJCbxFBGzFRNjTkz9h_-6_NRw-YhpDMnsvl0AJSqPVVcNfpx6nGi3F7lg6kRA8zrzW7hfKAC4s8wUFSiAB7KcgFnJ7YzZdC/s400/we7.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471974830260147906" /></a></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "> </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">The other guys and girls were brilliant in getting us refilled and on our way in a couple of minutes and we sailed into the pitch black for the final push. We'd told them to call Andrew's phone twice when the next team came through so we knew our gap, and for the first few minutes did timechecks every couple of minutes. </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">After 10 mins Andrew got a text message. What did that mean? We weren't going to stop to dig out the phone so kept pushing hard, although it was up and down stairs almost the whole way so impossible to get a decent run on. Another half hour and we were concerned. That text message MUST have meant the next team was 10mins away, otherwise they would have called by now. My light started fading so when I stopped to change batteries, Andrew called Sarah and the news was good. </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "> </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">The text had been to say nobody had arrived yet. In fact we had stretched the gap out to 50 minutes! For the first time that day we breathed a collective sigh of relief that with only 10 or 12 km to go, if we remained uninjured and didn't get lost, we should win the thing.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">Unbelievable. So we dialled the pace back a bit and tried to just make it through. Suddenly it all became less of a chore and more of an enjoyable time. I felt a lot stronger and we were all in good spirits. The nature of the trail from here on was almost all stairs up and down, so there was no chance of really running, but we kept a solid pace. It did make the kilometres go past a lot more slowly. We spent over half an hour thinking we must have gone the wrong way or completely missed the 95km marker, until FINALLY we passed it. It was a mixed blessing - great to know we were on track, but rough to think there were still 5km left when we thought we were at 97 or 98km by then.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "> </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">But it was too close to the end to care. Up and down we went and finally burst out onto Katoomba oval at 8:10pm and crossed the finishing tape together with a huge crowd of 4 or 5 people cheering us on! Team Alpha (minus Charlie who had a mates 40th birthday that night so had to get back), the indefatiguable Sarah, plus three or four Wild Endurance Volunteers. It was a sweet sweet moment breaking that tape for the very first time in my life. I know it was a small field and the event has only been running 3 years, but that doesn't take away from the feeling of actually winning a proper organised event. I'm still on a high.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "> </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNnPlPcCvP8VPBYdGRWFamrrMQ0c8pNNEZY2jHX2ZJHT2sBJqsbGNzeWcnoP-ZMNr4p8EfJb0-tRpS384vQiEbxb4cZAiFNJ6O3NvUnR3qJfhKTNIOQVeXjqtrgSRaI01rKFvtlViPuImh/s1600/we14.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNnPlPcCvP8VPBYdGRWFamrrMQ0c8pNNEZY2jHX2ZJHT2sBJqsbGNzeWcnoP-ZMNr4p8EfJb0-tRpS384vQiEbxb4cZAiFNJ6O3NvUnR3qJfhKTNIOQVeXjqtrgSRaI01rKFvtlViPuImh/s400/we14.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472183152310430018" /></a></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNnPlPcCvP8VPBYdGRWFamrrMQ0c8pNNEZY2jHX2ZJHT2sBJqsbGNzeWcnoP-ZMNr4p8EfJb0-tRpS384vQiEbxb4cZAiFNJ6O3NvUnR3qJfhKTNIOQVeXjqtrgSRaI01rKFvtlViPuImh/s1600/we14.jpg"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIMtKkCnLncUi_-6l3wLpzWkN1FF8MUYuq4uKAQV_20VmPRykdmEB-P7gdI7vMajOReZ4trcTWbE7oWnfkc3Ws7tXlO2PGKpvWkQ__8YxOw-os1B2xdirD9wF1p5oXpm8O9xNkqti9ZobE/s1600/we15.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIMtKkCnLncUi_-6l3wLpzWkN1FF8MUYuq4uKAQV_20VmPRykdmEB-P7gdI7vMajOReZ4trcTWbE7oWnfkc3Ws7tXlO2PGKpvWkQ__8YxOw-os1B2xdirD9wF1p5oXpm8O9xNkqti9ZobE/s400/we15.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472183161075373090" /></a></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIMtKkCnLncUi_-6l3wLpzWkN1FF8MUYuq4uKAQV_20VmPRykdmEB-P7gdI7vMajOReZ4trcTWbE7oWnfkc3Ws7tXlO2PGKpvWkQ__8YxOw-os1B2xdirD9wF1p5oXpm8O9xNkqti9ZobE/s1600/we15.jpg"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinUtoggPOGbBCrQimy70DXUgyk6Cx4Eh5QbclHTGnw-Xu1a7JTp0O5ml7Mb_X_HuhNKImsNIjaX0jjS06NQ4KkT-ShGnh4RwT9BOXfQuMTyIotzCDUDk1osYcpei-O6g3dHx0deD05Udr6/s1600/we16.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinUtoggPOGbBCrQimy70DXUgyk6Cx4Eh5QbclHTGnw-Xu1a7JTp0O5ml7Mb_X_HuhNKImsNIjaX0jjS06NQ4KkT-ShGnh4RwT9BOXfQuMTyIotzCDUDk1osYcpei-O6g3dHx0deD05Udr6/s400/we16.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472183167032916642" /></a><br /><br />So in the washup it turns out that we ran <b>12 hours and 11 minutes</b>. We beat the second placed team by one hour and twenty three minutes! We also smashed the course record by 3 hours.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "> </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><br /></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">Our times were:</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><b>Start to CP 1</b> - 3:06</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">Transition - 0:05</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><b>CP1 to CP2 </b>- 3:02</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">Handover - 0:01</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><b>CP2 to CP 3 </b>- 3:31</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; ">Transition - 0:05</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><b>CP3 to Finish </b>- 2:21</div><div><br /></div></div></div><div><br /></div>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13436021838778482108noreply@blogger.com1