The Pulsettes go AROC

I have done triathlons, multisport races, mountain biking, rogaining and even recently some paddling but I had never done an adventure race. My long-awaited debut in the sport at the AROC Paddy Pallin race could not have been more perfect - a lovely all-girl team, an inordinate amount of mud, navigation challenges and a podium finish!

The race was held in the Wallarah Peninsula National Park on Lake Macquarie. I drove up to Newcastle on the Friday night in torrential rain and stayed at casa pug with my team-mates. In the morning after dropping our bikes off and lining up to get our maps and instructions, we had less than an hour to plan, which was a bit rushed. We just had enough to time to mark a suggested route in highlighter, waterproof the map and control card and get ready to start.

Leg 1 was an foot orienteer to about a dozen checkpoints within a small area with a detailed map, and at each CP you had to solve a crossword clue. We moved around pretty quickly finding them and solving the clues, which was fun and soon we had a completed crossword. I couldn’t help letting out a "woo hoo" as we sped to the first transition.

Leg 2 was another orienteer but the CPs were further afield and the map much less detailed. We came a bit unstuck in this section and spent a lot of time trying to find the CPs. At this point we didn't have a clear plan for who was navigating and I didn't have my bearings at all. After what seemed like ages we finally got the 3 CPs and headed to transition to the paddle.

Leg 3 was a simple paddle down the lake, with a stop-over to collect one CP up a rocky scramble. For the first few minutes the conditions were calm and we got a good rhythm going. But soon we were out in the wind and it became extremely arduous! I was literally paddling as hard as I possibly could trying to keep us straight, but it was never hard enough. The other girls were brilliant at staying cheerful but I was struggling to remember that we were having fun and I was very glad when the paddle was over.

Leg 4 was another foot orienteer on suburban streets, so the navigation was simple and we found the CPs easily. I was feeling a little spent at this point and not keen to run very quickly. Without a sense of how long we had been going and not knowing how long we had to go, it was hard to measure how much energy to spend and how much to keep in the bank.

Leg 5 was onto the bikes (yay!) and within meters we were knee-deep in the first of many huge mud puddles. I had a mapboard (home-made with clipboard, cable-ties and bulldog clips) on my bike so I took possession of the map. It took awhile to adjust to being on the bikes, moving more quickly and working out how that translated to where we were on the map. But we managed to find the first CP fairly easily and just keep picking them up from there. The trail was very muddy which slowed things down a lot, but it was good fun, with some nice single track thrown in.

Leg 6 was a short out-and-back foot orienteer section collecting 3 CPs. On the map it looked hard because the terrain was hilly and the CPs were not right on a track, but we seemed to find these ones quickly and I think we made up some time on other teams here.

Leg 7 was the home stretch on the bikes to the finish. We had problems finding one of the CPs in this section. The track we were supposed to turn off on was half-way up a rather large hill and I think we missed it in our struggle. After standing around shrugging our shoulders with some other teams we back-tracked and eventually we found it. It might have helped to look at the contours on the map and pay much closer attention to how far we had travelled - a bike computer would help with this. With around an hour to go until the cut-off of 5.5 hours and still 6 CPs collect, we started thinking that we might have to sacrifice some of the CPs. We picked up our pace and kept passing other teams on the nasty hills. I felt a bit guilty about hogging the map, but I really enjoyed navigating, it adds a whole new dimension to racing. I just need to get a lot better at it.

With less than 20 minutes to go we still had 2 CPs to get and so we had to decide whether to go for it and risk getting a time penalty. We decided we would prefer to complete the course so we pushed onwards. The very last section back to the finish looked simple on the map - a nice straight line along the water. In reality it was a muddy, slippery, hilly and technical single-track, but we fanged it as fast as we possibly could and then cruised into the finish about 3 minutes late. We were shocked to hear from our support crew that we were the second all-girl team to finish. This was the icing on the cake as we had heaps of fun together and learned a lot for next time.

2 hours later after the BBQ and presentation I was driving home and it had started raining heavily and there were still teams out on the course. I felt so sorry for them - that would have been super-tough.

The next day I had a sore neck (from the paddling I think) and I was too tired to do the run I had planned, but apart from that I pulled up well and am keen for the next adventure, whatever that may be.

SMH Half Marathon training Week 1

So my next goal event is the SMH Half marathon. I am not feeling all that enthusiastic about it, I would rather be doing something longer or more interesting, but seeing as I am entered I figure that doing some solid focused training might help get me keen.

Monday
12k run at Port Macquarie on the Ironman run course. Nothing like running on the IM course to make you keen. There were lots of other people with the same idea, it was almost like a fun run. I felt pretty good and maintained a good tempo-ish pace.

Tuesday
My return to Pain in the the Domain. Its been a long time, but it felt better than I expected. I went with the 32 minute group, but we finished in 30:40 and I was happy with my effort in each interval. (Except the damn 3rd last one where I always seem to struggle.) Jogged to and fro from work, so a total of about 10k.

Wednesday
My birthday so I gave myself a birthday treat of a 14k run around the Bay. I always love a longish midweek run. I felt good the whole way.
After work I did a quick 1.5k swim before we went out for an 8 course degustation dinner.

Thursday
No running but I had a wonderful massage. As always I felt much better afterwards and ready to take on the world.

Friday
Made it to squad in the morning for 3.5k in the pool - I always love Friday morning squad, its such a good way to start the end of the week. After work I did my 6 x Lilyfield Rd reps. I struggled a bit mentally but kept each one under 1:30. Total of about 11k running.

Saturday
Nothing. Went to see Lars and The Real Girl - wonderful movie.

Sunday
Did about 22k from home, around the Bay and into the City. I have only done one long run since 6ft and I really felt it. The first 10k were okay, the last 10 were pretty ugly. I really need to run long every week now.

All in all a good solid week, and if I can do another 4 or so like that I think I will be in good shape. At the moment my goal for the SMH is to beat last years time - 99 mins.

Kayak for Kids

On Sunday I participated in the Lifestart Kayak for Kids, a 20k paddle

from Manly to Blues Point. A friend from Canberra Steve was in Sydney for the weekend, has a double sea kayak and needed a partner. Having not paddled much, I was a little nervous about how my arms would hold up and how long it would take, but I knew was in good hands with Steve.

This was the first year so there was a small field of around 60 teams, about half corporate teams paddling 3 person sit-on-tops (described as like paddling a fridge) and the other half in single and double sea kayaks and surf skis. Steve had borrowed a fancy PFD for me, complete with its own bladder which you could drink from hands-free, and a super fancy carbon fibre paddle, so I was very well equipped.

It was an incredibly gorgeous, calm and sunny morning as we set off from Manly wharf. Sitting in the front Steve was responsible for steering and setting a good paddling rate, so all I had to do was try to match it. I was surprised how easy and good it felt to paddle. I think it was a combination of a lovely boat, a super light paddle and a strong paddler in front of me.

The first leg took us straight across Manly Cove and around to CP1 at Clontarf Beach. We cruised along at a good pace, enjoying a perfect day on the world's most beautiful harbour. Steve called out a friendly greeting to each boat and every one agreed what a sensational day it was and how great to be there.

From Clontarf was a short leg to CP2 at the end of Balmoral Beach and we started passing the floating fridges who had a half hour start on us. From Balmoral we paddled around Middle Head and into Obelisk Bay, where the marker buoy was close enough to shore for us to identify that it was a nudist beach. I wondered what they thought of the parade of passing boats but we didn't hang around long enough to find out and paddled on to CP3 at Chowder Bay.

Around this point we must have slowed down a bit and two other double sea kayaks caught up to us. We said our friendly greetings but simultaneously picked up the pace, and by the time Steve had expertly steered us through the moored boats at Little Sirus Cove to CP4 we had lost them.

From there we were on the home stretch and as we came around Cremorne Point the Harbour Bridge came into view. I remarked to Steve that I have ridden over it, climbed to the top of it and run across it in a marathon, but I had never paddled underneath it. Just like the other 3
things it was fun and a bit scary to do so. The conditions were rougher with some swell and we took on a bit of water, but I felt very safe with Steve in control. We cruised across the finish line at Blue's Point in 2 hours 6 mins, which I believe is respectable. We were the second double sea kayak to finish and first in the mixed category so we even got prizes which was cool.

I am very keen to do this again next year (hopefully with some more paddling in my arms) and encourage others to do it too, because it was a beautiful way to spend a Sunday morning. I pulled up a little sore in my wrists and shoulders but nothing dramatic.

Here is a link to Steve's report with photos and GPS maps.

Wisemans Ferry Run and Blue Mtns Bike

Like a good little endurance athlete I made the most of the *long* weekend with a *long* run yesterday and a *long* ride today. (My concession to Easter was baking and eating hot cross buns. Yum. And eating lots of chocolate.)

Yesterday was up to Wiseman's Ferry for a Fat Ass run. I have never been there before and it was a lovely spot for a run. After taking Monday to Friday last week completely off training (nothing!!) I figured I would either feel fast and fresh or really flat and slow. Sadly it was the latter. But it was still very enjoyable as it was all offroad, lovely and quiet in the trees and I had great company from another woman runner. We took the "short" 27k option and finished in 3 hours. I was very glad I did not take the 34k option as I would have really suffered. 61k was not an option. ;)


Today Tom and I took the train up to the Blue Mountains for a long day in the saddle. We started from Wentworth Falls and rode Anderson's firetrail to Woodfood. I have not ridden this before and I was a little disappointed. It was fine but nothing special. There was a long rocky steep descent which is just not my kind of riding - I ended up with sore hands from gripping the brakes too hard. Then there was a nasty long climb back out. I had been looking forward to this as I usually like climbing more than descending, but it was really hard! I said the f-word several times. We got to Woodford where we planned to have lunch, only to remember that there is nowhere there to eat, so instead we had a banana and a hot-cross bun and pushed on towards Glenbrook on the Oaks firetrail. This was much more fun. There's lots of downhill but mostly not steep, there's lovely open sections, a very long and fast single track section, some good technical stuff at the end and then a nice hard climb out (on bituman). All together we covered around 60k in 5 hours and we finally got our lunch at Glenbrook.

Six Foot Track 2008

This is the unedited, uncensored and loooong version of my race report...

The Six Foot Track Marathon is a bit like a trail running equivalent of Ironman. There is a lot of hype and excitement, you have to qualify by first completing other events within a cut-off time, the finish line has an incredible atmosphere with plenty of emotion and the finishers t-shirts are worn with great pride.

The trail is 45 kilometres off-road from Katoomba to Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains. As it’s longer than a traditional marathon (42.2k) it is technically considered an ultra marathon. But the hard part is the hills – there’s over 1500m of climbing and 1700m of descending, which is apparently more than you do going down and back up in the Grand Canyon.

An oft-cited rule of thumb is 1.5 x your marathon time, but due to the big hills and varying terrain it’s hard to predict and a lot depends on what happens on the day. I had a secret goal of finishing under 5 hours, but I wouldn’t have admitted this to anyone beforehand, and if I had, they may have thought I was being a bit optimistic.

I started in Wave 3 and had a nervous chat to friends Bruce and Brian before the gun went. I was shocked at how steep, rocky and narrow the start is. I didn’t jostle for a position, but just ran comfortably until the start of the stairs. The stairs go for about a kilometre and were wet, slippery and uneven, but fun. It was a walking pace conga line here, but I wouldn’t have felt safe going much faster.

Bruce got in front of some slower runners and he disappeared from sight but a few ks later on the firetrail Brian and I saw him again. We had a nice chat but they were running a little bit fast for me at just under 5min k pace.

My right leg started hurting very early on in the run. This had come up on an easy run Tuesday before the race and I hadn’t run since then, hoping it would settle down. It was sore but not slowing me down, and I was just worried about it getting worse.

After climbing the stile and crossing the Megalong rd (8k) I slowed down and was soon enjoying the beautiful single track descent to Cox’s River. I really loved this section, it feels like mountain biking and I enjoyed every step. There was no conga line and I had no trouble passing people when I needed to. I had a good chat to a lady in groovy red shoes and started passing some of the very senior runners from the early wave.

I reached the river (15.5k) in 1.29 which was on pace for sub-5 hours. I didn’t feel exactly fresh, but I was glad to be at the first milestone and one third through the distance. I had planned to take off my shoes to cross the river, but at the last minute I didn’t want to risk hurting my feet so I kept them on. I crossed the waist-deep river quickly using a high knees technique. I didn’t pick up too much sand and decided I could stop later, but I never needed to. (At this point I have to say thanks to my socks. They are sports wool and were brilliant for this race, my feet never felt wet despite numerous creek crossing and I got no blisters. Love em!)

From the river its up up up up to the Mini Mini saddle, down down down to the Alum River, then up up up up up up up up to the Pluviometer. Climbing up the big hills I walked more than I had planned, but I really power walked and I was quick, passing lots of people. All but the top runners walk parts of this race and at times it felt like being on a bizarre bushwalk with a bunch of people in skimpy outfits, rather than a running race. I tried to really use my bum and thighs (my biggest assets!) and stuck my bum right out. This must have looked a bit strange but it seemed to work and I never felt like the hills were that bad. I took it pretty easy on the descents and was caught by Bruce who is a good downhill runner.

I finally arrived at the Pluviometer (26k) at 2:55 and thought okay Zoe, sub-5 is a real possibility now, so go for it. For the first 5 kilometres of the (relatively) flat Black Range firetrail I didn’t feel very good. My leg was still hurting and I was running, but not very quickly. Brian was alternating running and walking here as he was cramping so we kept passing each other and he gave me lots of encouragement. Bruce kept catching me but then stopping to empty his shoes again.

From the end of the Black Range there was 10k to go and I had X minutes to do it. It was hard and I was hurting but I was on a bit of a roll. I walked some of the nastier hills, one nicknamed Insult Hill which I actually laughed out loud in disbelief when I saw. I was starting to feel very slight twinges in my calves like I could cramp at any minute so I was running gingerly and trying to keep a steady pace. I knew it was going to very close to 5 hours but was sure if I ran too fast I would blow it. With just under 5k to go another runner asked if I thought we could get under 5. I replied loudly and firmly that Yes we could and we would.

Bruce and I were running together on and off now and encouraging each other. At one point I remember I tried a deep and meaningful spiel about how lucky we were to be able to run and in such beautiful surrounds. Bruce is usually a talkative guy, but all he said in response was “Does not compute”.

The last 2 kilometres are insane. You’ve already run 43 kilometres and its very steep, narrow and rocky straight downhill. Who’s idea was this? I kept thinking that my body was never going to forgive me. A lot of passing happened here with a mixture of walking wounded and flying desperados. At one point a lady fell sprawled onto the track right in front of us. Bruce and I both stopped to help her up but she had a severe cramp in her leg and could hardly stand. We were both torn between wanting to stay and see that she was okay and the urgent desire to get off the side of this mountain as soon as humanly possible.

The finish of the race at Jenolan Caves is amazing. The bottom of the narrow and steep valley is a natural amphitheatre and as you descend you can hear the cheering crowd coming up to greet you. Once I hit the concrete path with 500m to go I starting grinning and shouting with excitement. Just before I could see the finish I heard the announcer say over the loudspeaker “Here comes Zoe Cameron from Dulwich Hill, and she is going to break 5 hours”. From there I relaxed and enjoyed the finish line, got my medal and gave Tom a sweaty kiss.

I finished in 4:58:05, 18^th woman and 8^th in my age group. I was thrilled with this because I think its exactly what I was capable of. I also think I can improve in the future with more training. I definitely want to do this race again. I was also part of the Sydney Striders team that won the Female Teams trophy, which made me very proud. I am only new to Striders but I have already made some really good friends.

Nutrition wise it was all good. I carried my own gels (I only like Gu) and had one every 45 mins, six in total. I drank at least a cup of water or sports drink at every aid station and had Coke in the last 2 hours. I tried to eat half a lolly snake at one point but almost choked on it – I have never been able to run and chew at the same time. I needed to pee for the first 2 hours, but I never did and then I didn’t need to go until an hour after the finish, so I was probably a little dehydrated. If it had been hotter I would have needed a lot more to drink.

y recovery has been fine. I felt sore for a couple of days and just did a few gentle runs and some swimming. One week later I did a team multisport race where I paddled, biked and swum. total of about 5 hours. I felt strong but not fast. After that I decided to have a complete rest week which has been good, but I am looking forward to getting back into things now.

2 runs worth blogging

I am pretty slack with blogging and my last few posts have just been race reports. But I had 2 runs this weekend that are blog-worthy I think.

The first was Friday night at the CoolRunning Summer Twilight race at Silverwater. This is a very low-key casual chance for a good hitout at 7pm on a Friday night. I got lost on the way there and so didn't arrive at the start until 15 minutes after the start. But the host kindly let me head out then and said he would wait for me. There was a choice between 5k and 10k. I had planned to do the 10 but thought maybe I should do the 5 as I was late. But when I got the 5k turn-around I was feeling so good I really wanted to keep going. So I did. It was warm and very humid with a strong headwind from 1 - 2.25 and 5 - 7.5 and a good tailwind on the rest. I just concentrated on working hard and trying to go fast and it worked pretty well. I was really happy to finish in 47.38 or thereabouts. There were cold drinks and lots of friendly CRs at the finish, so it was a most enjoyable evening. And I am motivated now to try and improve my 10k time at the Striders series next year. And that leads to my other good run...

After nearly 2 years living in Sydney and no plans to leave just yet, I decided it was time to join the Striders. They have a 6ft training group that runs on Saturday mornings and so I joined them for the first time yesterday. We started at Marsfield and I think we were in Lane Cove National Park. I have no idea where we went, but there was lots of up and down, heaps of splashing through flooding creeks and it was brilliant. It was only a very short run of about 11k but that was enough for me - sore calves, and I got a great taste for what the group was like, and I loved it. So some more motivation there, hopefully enough to keep me going through the next 2 weeks of eating and lazing and holidaying.
Merry Christmas to all and Happy running. :)

Canberra Half Ironman

I had been looking forward to this race for quite a while and it would be my first big triathlon since Ironman in April. Canberra is my home town and I have worked on the aid station at the Canberra Half since I was a novice 4 years ago, and now it was my turn to be on the other side. Unfortunately overseas work commitments meant that I did not have an ideal preparation. I didn't do much swimming or riding in the 6 weeks before the race, but I did lots of running. I was confident that I would be able to finish and was feeling quite fit considering, so hoping that I would be able to have a decent race.

It was a wetsuit optional swim with the water temp at 22.1. The ladies started at 6.38 in the 3rd wave. Before the start I moved towards the front of the group, not because I wanted to lead but because it would be less far to swim. I spotted a friend nearby me at the start and I know she is a better swimmer than me but not heaps better, so I thought I would try and stay on her feet. This worked really well for the first half - I followed her and was trying hard to keep up to her pace. This meant I swam harder than I normally would but I still felt I was within myself. But after awhile I noticed she was further and further in the distance and I gave up. For the last 300 meters it was so strange, there was no one around me at all - it was like I fell off the back of the fast-ish group and there was no one behind for ages. Anyway, I got out of the water and looked at my watch and I thought it said 35 minutes. I was happy with that especially as I felt that I had swam faster and harder than I usually would. It turned out that I looked wrong and it was probably more like 32.

There was a long jog to transition and by the time I got there my feet were numb from running on the concrete. (One day when I do Escape from Alcatraz I am going to wear sneakers). I did the usual struggle out of the wetsuit, put on my usual loose bike white jersey, socks and bike shoes and headed out onto the bike. It was drizzling but not cold so I did not bother with arm warmers. The bike was 3 laps of 31k, with 1 steep hill and quite a few moderate rises on each lap. I don't have that much to say about the bike as I didn't really enjoy it. I never found a rhythm and never felt comfortable. It was like I was working harder than I should be, but going slower. A few times girls passed me and I tried to keep them in sight but never could. I wasn't having fun like I usually do on the bike, but I was a good girl and concentrated on eating and drinking according to schedule, getting down on my tri bars as much as possible and not drafting. It rained on and off, sometimes quite heavily, but this didn't really bother me. One thing about the rain is that its good for peeing on the bike. I know this is too much information, but peeing on the bike saves a lot of time, and its not very nice to do when its hot and dry. I was happy when the bike was over and looking forward to seeing how I would go on the run.

In T2 I peeled off my soaking wet jersey and grabbed my soaking wet hat and shoes. I didn't have a second pair of socks and was a bit worried about my very wet feet, but they turned out to be fine. I started running and was feeling good. I had planned to try and "push it" on the run but instead I just ran "comfortable" and was happy with that. The first lap went by quickly. I some nice chats to fellow runners, got cheered by lots of friends spectating, said hi to other friends racing - yep, this is why we do it. :) After about 14k my legs started to reeeaaally hurt, and after about 18k I felt like I was very borderline crampy and not running very well any more. But I was still moving faster than plenty of other people and passed 1 or 2 girls in my age group. I finished in 5.36 and felt sore but still really good. I would have loved to finish in under 5.30 and it was my bike split of 3.14 that let me down. But I was happy to finish 7th in my age group out of 28. The 6th placed female was 10 minutes ahead of me so I figure I beat everyone I was going to beat. I was also lucky not to get any flats as there were plenty of them with the wet conditions.

I am happy and proud to be a Canberra Half Ironman finisher and feel that I had another good solid race. At the moment I am feeling like I want a break from triathlon for awhile, but I will wait and see how I go after Christmas.