FAQ & Info For New Runners

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Adam Connor

I’m not shy about telling people that I run, and this gets me a lot of questions from friends about running. It seems this is common for all runners, so I’ve compiled a list of some common questions, and my answers. If my advice is wrong, it’s totally my fault. Or possibly yours for listening to me.

Why do you run?
I run because it’s the LEAST efficient way for me to move. I can use more energy in a shorter period of time than doing just about anything else. Think about it- it would take a lot longer to use the same amount of kilojoules by cycling, driving or batting your eyelids. I kind of hate running, but I’m kind of used to it. And I love the people I’ve met- interesting and DEDICATED. I get a lot of strength from these people- much more than I put in. I get a lot out of running and the community. There, I said it again.

What shoes should I buy?
Hang on- you’re asking someone who’s run (slowly) for 3 years when you can get expert advice from a trained professional? Seriously, go to a specialist running shop and ask them. A place like FootPoint Shoe Clinic in Mosman will even have a someone video and check your gait (make an appointment). Don’t go to Athlete’s Foot or Rebel. Really

Should I buy those Vibram Five Fingers things?
No

But I’m a dreadful heel striker!!
Yeah me too. Modern shoes have plenty of cushioning- get the right ones and go for it. If you want to teach yourself to forefoot strike, just run barefoot. That’ll teach your nasty feet. Or do your body a favour and buy some Hokas

But I need to wait for summer/ winter/ my pet lichen/ the rapture
No you don’t. There will never be a perfect time to start. The closest to perfect is NOW.

Do you run every day?
Hell no. My days off are like brilliant pearls of cool nothingness in the brutal fire of training. I mean I really enjoy my days off.

But won’t you stuff up your knees?
Short answer- no. Longer answer- not yet. Pat Farmer’s knees are ok, and he ran more than 2 marathons a day over 10 months from the North Pole to The South Pole. Strangely enough, we seem to have evolved to be able to run. If you don’t run you are ignoring one of the key things you are built for. Yes you.

But I’m too unfit!
Yep, so was I. Make a plan, execute it. Don’t delay any more. Do it while you still can. Don’t end up like the next person-

I can’t walk up stairs without an oxygen mask!
See a Doctor, you really need more help than I can give.

But Don’t runners get injured all the time?
I read a statistic that says that 60% of runners will get injured in any single year. That could well be true. You could get run over by a bus- does that stop you going to work? Let’s call this one out- it’s an excuse that has a basis in truth. I can say this- if you run, you won’t care much about this statistic. I don’t.

But won’t your body wear out?
Will your brain wear out from all that high level thinking? No. In fact if you start now, you might reverse some of the damage caused by NOT moving your arse.

Don’t you have a certain number of heartbeats in your life? You’re using them all up by running……
This is unscientific garbage. You will live longer if you exercise

Isn’t it hard?
So what? Shake your life up. If you’re my age, you’re probably not going to get any better looking, unless you get fitter. Worth a try? You bet.

Don’t you freaks live on mung beans and air?
I really like air. I also really like foods with lots of fat, salt and sugar. I can’t control those cravings well enough to diet my way to thinness, so I eat and run. My diet has become slightly better because of running, but boy do I earn a lot of beer points.

Is pain just weakness leaving the body?
No, that’s just some dumbarse saying that gym rats use to make them seem tough. Pain is a useful message that your muscles are breaking down, or building up, or it could be your body telling you to stop. Learn to ignore it. Unless you really are injured.

Do I have to give up things I love?
Do you like living or watching TV more? I’m not going to live for ever, but running has improved my quality of life. I’m prepared to give up a bit of TV for that.

But I prefer 40 minutes of running and 4 hours of drinking!
Join the Hash House Harriers.

I have a problem with motivation
Join a running club, you’ll have a great time and will look forward to training. Also- sign up for a race, that’ll scare you enough to train!

I have a problem with motivation, but I’m rich
Get a personal trainer

I have a problem with motivation, but I’ve just signed up for this ridiculously hard race
Get a coach

I Don’t have time
Here’s a confession- I have the same number of hours in the day that you do. I have a supportive wife and together we’ve set up our lives so that we can both train. Not easy, but we’ve done it. Here’s a typical Saturday for me- get up at 4:40am, breakfast. Run from 5:30am-9:30am, have a nap. Take son to a birthday party, take son to grandparents. Go out to dinner, midnight home and tucked into bed. Does it sound like I missed out on anything? Nope. Runners fit more in to their day.

I can’t change everything at once!
Don’t. Even trying to do that is a sure way to failure. Change one or two things at a time. Turning up is half the battle, the other half is well, turning up regularly. Amongst my running friends there aren’t many smokers, but there are a lot of past or present booze hounds, gamblers and a few drug pigs. Don’t be surprised if a few of us take to running like a new addiction, because it is. Sorry if we sound like we’ve got religion, but if you start running, some of those high fives will be aimed at you.

Why do you run such long events?
Well, I can’t run very fast. And I’m like a kid with a new toy- I want to see what my body can do. Does this mean I will poke it until it breaks? Probably, but you shouldn’t be worried because we have an amazing capacity to heal. My VO2 Max is probably quite low from childhood asthma, I can’t ascend hills very well. I’m a middle of the pack runner and will probably never get much better. But that’s no reason not to try.

I like cycling better
So do I. But I like runners better, and I’ve recognised that I’m a social animal. I’m more likely to go out on a cold night for a run. So I run. You should do whatever gets you going, it doesn’t have to be running. But do it.

Are you one of those crazy people who run in the rain?
Ohhh yesssss. It’s stupid, and painful for a short time. But you know what? One of my most memorable runs was with a bunch of people I didn’t know very well through a major storm. We were screaming with laughter and splashing through puddles for joy. It was awesome. You feel a bit like King Canute screaming at the implacable rain ‘come at me bro!’ Don’t ever feel sorry for people running in the rain…….

But I get shin splints/ stitches/ knee pain/ groin pain etc
If it’s really bad, see a Sports Doctor. Otherwise it will probably go away if you keep going. I had bad shin splints for several months, but it was just my body adjusting. It’s also very common for new runners to get stitches and other pains. These will usually go away when your body realises that you aren’t simply going to stop when it gives you the signal.

I’d love to come for a run with you- when I’m fit enough!
Discard the bit about ‘when I’m fit enough’. We don’t care how fit you are, we just want to share a bit of outside time with you. If we go and do the Bay Run and you run 100m and walk 200m, we’re going to love it so much more than if you pounded out those 7km by yourself. And you might too. Get someone else involved. Don’t be shy about your abilities, everyone starts from nothing (well not everyone, but I sure did). You want to go for a slow run? I LOVE a slow run!

Join a club-
Northside Running Group
Sydney Striders
Sydney Front Runners

Join a FaceBook Group-
Northern Beaches Trail Runners
Hunter Valley trail Runners

Get a Coach-
Andy DuBois
Dominic Cadden
Anthony Traynor

Clayton Crabtree- Sydney Trailwalker 2013

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Adam Connor

(Adam Connor) This is actually the second guest post here, I’m still working on the first! We often say the true heroes of our events are the ones who spend those extra hours on the course. It’s very apparent here that Clayton and his team show an unusual amount of grit and determination. An amazing story…….

Disclaimer: You know how it all ends, it takes a while to tell the story of a 45hr trek, so feel free to jump to the end (at times we all wished we could have), or trudge to the end and re-live the adventure with me…

Well, just what is it like to go on a non-stop 45hr trek through the Australian bush with a bunch of strangers and no sleep (for 50+hrs)? Especially when it was only planned to be 32hrs, with no specific Oxfam
training (i.e. long walks) at all, no special planning or preparation for 45hrs on the go, I was entering off the back of fitness from TNF100, some speedy training for the City to Surf, and two successful cracks at Oxfam 2 years earlier. Nothing can really prepare you for 45+hrs straight, except just
jumping in and doing it.

So, let’s start with the late last minute ring in request via Wilson from the NRG committee. Not yet met this famous NRG runner, but will be hunting him down on my next club run.

Earlier on in the year I had considered doing Oxfam again, I began sniffing around the singles board, kept an eye on what teams were looking
for who, and who was looking for teams, what pace teams were aiming for that had lost team members. I was thinking 24hrs being a suitable goal.

But I was also battling sore ankles (& eventually black toe nails) that came and went mysteriously. I wasn’t prepared to commit to an Oxfam team
until I had worked out what was wrong and resolved it. Turns out my new shoes I wore on the TNF were half a size smaller than expected. Ankle and
other injuries now resolved I went for the bait on the NRG Facebook page and jumped into a team at the last minute (with my old shoes).

Met my new team mates (actually two teams) at a restaurant in Crowsnest on
the Wednesday evening, less than 36 hours before the start. So no time to train with them, it was straight into taper, rest and carbo loading. They were the Adventure Angels Teams 1 & 2. Hailing from the personal fitness company “Fitness Angles” (clients, friends & other ring-ins), run by Laura.

I was looking forward to a quick trek with some fellow fitness fanatics and was happy to
offer my 2 x experience with various nebulous and random tips.

The day came, we had a civilised start at 10am. I caught the bus to Chatswood, train to Hornsby (was intending Berowra), another train to
Hawkesbury (that did not stop at Berowra), I arrived nice and early to enjoy some bacon and egg rolls, a good coffee, bit of a stretch, and a short wait for my 2 teams.

Off we went, start pace was relaxed, no fear of sweating too early on the first climb for me. Heading up the hill was the first of numerous amazing sights – another teams walker carry a back-pack hanging from neck height to less than a few inches off the ground & wider than he was; guess they did not meet their support crew first, they must have had the entire teams
support gear in the suitcase with shoulder harness (or he was a Ghurka).

Suspecting the latter there was no good natured ribbing as we trudged past, and then they trudged past us, and so it was until Bobbin Head with
these guys (we’ll meet up with them again later in the story).

A relaxed easy pace saw us arrive at CP1 around 2:30pm. Burgers all round; Elisha nailed two of them, just in-time as they then ran out of burger
buns. Hence an insentive to climb that first hill slightly quicker if you want more burgers. We left CP1 after half an hour; a quick turn-around from my previous two CP1
trips; time to make up time.

I made a de-ja-vue prediction earlier in the week: helicopters in the air halfway to Berowra waters. I’d been on that section of track 3 x and we’d heard noisey choppers all 3 x; so a fourth? Yes, another noisey chopper, just one, but bang on schedule & location.

CP1 to CP2 continued slow and easy, it’s the toughest stage of all. Ben and his sore knees were holding up well, playing it slow and careful on the downhills, a raging bull on the up-hills. We were treated to a
beautiful sun-set heading down into Berowra waters, it was going to be head-torch time by the time we got to the Berowra Waters road & ferry crossing. Much earlier on the trail than the last 2 x. But I figured that
the night would last just as long whether you walked it, ran it, or no matter how early it started. I was covered with head torches. I’ve done it twice and we were going with head torches this time much earlier, so the
suspicion of two full nights on the trail was beginning to dawn on me.

Arrived at CP2 at 8pm to a near empty carpark. Less frantic than I recalled, more relaxed, much warmer, no change of clothes required for me
(wasn’t sweating at all), and they still had sausages this time (thanks for leaving some Adam but I was well fed by my support crew)! The Oxfam
volunteer lamented to us she had cooked over 2000~ sausage sammies that
day, and there was still plenty left over, but she was finished!

CP2 closed at 10pm, we left at 9:30pm, the first hint of the trail sweep monster closing in on us was becoming apparent.

CP2 to CP3 was dark and late. Tide was in and we had to take our shoes off to cross one section, brrrr. Woke the feet up anyway! Laura was playing tunes from her iPhone via a beat-box attached to her back-pack as we skirted around the swampy bits. Theme song for the trek (for me) was “Wake
Me Up” by Avicii. It’s still stuck in my head, I downloaded it from iTunes, sad I know!

We soon encountered our friends with the TMNT back-pack; only this time they had 2 torches between 4 of them, one torch was attached to a walking
stick (sharp pointy end almost getting me several times), the other was grabbed from the counter of a BP petrol station (or 2$ shop). But hey, they were ahead of us and (for some reason) not really wanting us to pass. The ultraristic side of me wanted to part with one of my spare torches and give them a boost, normally I would; but we’d be in for the long hall for
two nights ourselves and I hadn’t tested my Nao over one night let alone 2 so decided to keep my spare for my spare to myself or my team mates. In
the end they kept close by and sauntered into CP3 not far behind us. It was also a full-moon and plenty of ambient light.

Approaching Bobbin Head, we got to the bottom of the hill into Apple Tree bay. Was cold down at water level, I stopped on a flat top table and snacked on some chippies. My first mistake of the trip. Seems starch and
simple carbo-hydrates get snapped up and amplified by the melitonin the body uses to generate sleepiness. within 15 minutes I had gone from wide
awake to the “fog of dispair”, I was walking asleep. Kept awake by nailing the downhill into Bobbin Head, sat on some cold concrete steps to wait for
my team mates – who I could see at the top of the hill. I blinked and there they were, right beside me. Feigning the lack of suprise (as I tried
to work out how they got to me so quickly), we trudged into CP3 for a mighty fine dish of chicken soup and bread. It was 3:30am, only 6hrs to get here.

A good strong mocha from a sachet (sorry Paul, sacrilige I know, but it worked, blame Da) cleared my head for the new section of track for me, the
Gibberong trail. The team was holding up well, Ben hobbling along on sore knees still, Elisha making steady progress, our endurance cyclist hanging
with the peleton; and the rest of the crew, tired but still cheerful.

We headed off from CP3 at 5am (closing time was 7am), about 4-5 hours behind schedule now; but two hours ahead of my first Oxfam. Sun-rise somewhere along Gibberong; a climb up into Nth Turramarra; along to the
Sphinx where we were met by some fancy dressed Oxfam helpers with yummy dark chocolate, and then on down into Warrimoo creek. Tom, Meg and I took the quick / fast option up Warrimoo hill climb and then practiced our “bush hollahs” to communicate to our team taking the more leisurely pace. Dust and lack of air in the lungs made for a tortuous attempt at bush communication; more like a stuffed bush turkey than anything useful.

The constant “are we there yet”, or “we are halfway, aren’t we!” to CP4 were getting less easy to fend off with double-speak – “yes, only 4km to
go – and 3 hills”. Tom and Meg had gone ahead to stretch their legs again, I – with short legs and (normally) tight hamstrings can’t walk all that quick (which is why I run nowdays) – so gave them a head start and then
jogged to catch up, and onto CP4 where we waited for the rest of the crew to arrive “imminently”.

Somehow Oxfam Control decided to call me and ask where our team was on the
trail; “At CP4 waiting for the rest to arrive and we’ll check in”. He didn’t know there were two teams walking together; they had only noticed 3
of 4 people arrive at the CP but not check-in straight away, leaving, in their mind, one person alone on the trail. I was quick to add we were two
teams. Seemed to work, but either way these guys are great and onto it with looking out for the teams. Team note: stick together, we had only split on this end section to have a stretch and free the mind.

Time for a team talk. The trail sweep monster had been spotted earlier, St Ives was closing at 2pm, it was 1pm. We might be in danger of both teams DNF’ing. Elisha & Tom bundled themselves off to the first aid tent for a check and pit-stop repair job. I had to do my part to convince everyone to
delay any thoughts of dropping out with the promise that the next stage was 80% downhill… It worked.

We past the sweepers (they heading into CP4, us to CP5). The team with the two torches and the TMNT back-pack (shed earlier) cruised by, but were not
likely to beat the closing time, but hats off to their effort! We made CP5 just in-time to enjoy the warmth of the late setting sun. Trent and Ryan &
Annemarie arrived to cheer me on. Trent and Ryan did their reliable “don’t let daddy sit, sleep or eat” routine. Meg had decided to pull the pin, but
then I saw her putting her warm trail walking vest back on, so decided I did not need to try and convince her to stay with it. You tricked me & escaped!

CP5 to CP6 was a classic “death march”. Nite-time, familiar trails to me that just dragged on and on. A quick yell to Ben – “you have a ration of
12 strides before stopping again” – worked, we were off with big long walking sections between rests or stoppages. Arriving at the flat firetrail along Middle Harour creek before CP6 the dreaded “fog of
dispair” hit me again, this time it was un-shakeable, in-penetrable, caused probably by the chippies at CP5, no-doz had no effect. The only cure – which randomly entered my head (never encountered this ever, so had no set strategy) – was to run, fast, cold air-flow over my face, all the
way to CP6 with Tom. Was either that or fall to the side of the track (which might have been into the water) and sleep. The team was not too far
behind.

Again we were treated like kings at a banquet by our totally amazing support crew of Kate and co. We consistently gave them plenty of time to
setup, cook, layout the cutlery, wine glasses, pluck & bbq the chickens. Thank you guys for your patience!

“Fog of dispair” cure was still desparetly needed. If it returned my ability to finish the event was going to be in serious question. Physically I was solid. No blisters, no joint, ligament, muscle pains, nada. This time it was 2 x no-doz, a full cup of full strength sachet mocha, pieces of dark chocolate, held back on the amount of food eaten,
avoided simple carbs, dropped a layer to feel colder. But was thinking “was that enough”? Then I remembered one of my nebulous tips to the others
earlier in the week: when you cross a creek you might need to dip your head in to wake up. I looked around and saw a cold tap over in the distance. It was mid-night, 6deg, water was freezing, but never felt so
good! Wide awake, just like an eskimo after rolling in a glacial fed river. But I wasn’t convinced, so I drank lots of cold GU re-hydration
water. There ain’t going to be any sleeping with constant stops to water the trees every 12 strides, so I hung at the back on our trek to CP7. The
end was in sight, downhill from here.

Arrived CP7 around 2am after enjoying the Natural Bridge track and gloriously last single track uphill, we had a good 1hr rest and small feed, and we were off at 3am heading to the finish.

The walk along the tarseal streets was hard on the feet. A stop at Chinamans beach facilities was very timely, and then the stroll along Balmoral beach as the sun rose was simply amazing. The smoke filled haze provided amazing colours for lots of photos.

On my first Oxfam I ran to the top of Middle Harbour steps; this time I wanted to catch the actual sun-rise. Tom was with me, video in hand to capture the craziness, I turned by GPS / Strava app on for the first time,
and off we went for a quick & fast run up the 194 steps.

Snapped the stopped button on the GPS just as the sun-rose and my iPhone went flat
before I could take the photo! Never mind, Tom and Chris had cameras to catch the majic moment. The team quickly joined us and the support crew
(who were not there really) for the team photo against the warm glow of sun-rise. Truely a magic moment.

All that was required was a short stroll basking in the warmth and glory of a well earned finish to the finish. Even with the clock counter ticking
toward 45hrs, the team held form and sauntered over the finish line in 45hrs and 5 mins.

Bloody awesome team and support crew, and well done to all!

& Yes, I’ll be back again.

Oxfam Trailwalker Sydney 2013

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Adam Connor

I’d lightened the training load since The North Face 100, took lots of days off for no reason and generally didn’t take this race seriously. Big mistake. In my defence I suspect a few others had done the same……….

There was a great amount of sledging between me, Martyn Dawson, Adam Darwin, Paul Blamire, Joe Hedges, Michael McGrath and others a couple of months ago. Then it all went suspiciously quiet. None of us were putting in the hard yards, and we all started to worry that we hadn’t done enough. Some of us hadn’t! However we all made it to the finish, and here’s what happened.

Anyone running the course needs to put together a very strong team- it’s all about arriving at the finish with all 4 team members. This year the top spots were wide open, with Quality Meats not entering (they won 3 years running) and Shona doing UTMB instead of fronting a female team. The night before we discovered that Mountain Sports were fielding a mixed team comprising Beth Cardelli, Ewan Horsburgh and a couple of others, they would be tough to beat. I’d decided that we should field a mixed gender team in an attempt to place a bit higher in that category. We’ll see how that worked out later shall we?

I got in initially because one of Robyn Bruins friends posted for team members on Facebook. He then picked up a random from the singles board (Christopher Beavon), and I was in charge of finding female talent. Note to wife- I mean running talent Sarah! On the basis that you should always choose someone better than you we drafted Gillian Russell and Kate McElligott as our reserve. With the difficulty of this event you tend to go through a few people so reserves are important- and so it proved. Both of our ladies were out injured well before the event. Apparently Kate has filled in her time spilling blood on the streets of Mosman, but Gillian decided she wanted to crew for us. So I drafted Jane Trumper, Queen of the Desert into our team. She spent a lot of time telling me she wasn’t interested, but I wore her down. There simply wasn’t anyone more perfect for the role.

On race morning I found out that I was the least experienced team member- Jane was about to start her 12th, Aaron his 5th, Chris 4th and me just 2. But I knew that if any of us had issues we were likely to be able to carry on simply because of experience. the gun went off and we all had a little 300m run to the first hill. And it’s a beauty. The kind of hill that truly takes your breath away. I knew the first 2 sections were the most brutal and difficult so I resolved to just hang on until they were over. We had a plan of finishing in 19 hours (which I thought would be easy!). Arrival at CP1 at 9:27am was 10 minutes in front of our timetable so very happy. On our way to CP2 I started fantasising about Coca Cola and our fearless team leader went ahead and got us each a can. This pointed out a major flaw in our plans- I had Pepsi in my drop bag, but we weren’t due to see our crew (Peter Trumper, Jane’s husband) until CP4 St Ives sometime around dusk. To make matters worse, there were sausage sizzles, coffee trucks etc at each checkpoint but NO ONE selling soft drinks. The event itself provided some lollies, tea, instant coffee and water, but no fruit, sports drink or other food (to be fair we were given 2 tubes of Gu Brew at the start, but I had obviously mis read the instructions and thought that sports drink would be provided. I left the Gu Brew in my drop bag, D’oh!). At CP2 we saw Steve Bruggeman (in work clothes!) and Lise Lafferty taking pics. By CP3 we were 30 minutes ahead of schedule and looking like we would A) get to St Ives in daylight and B) finish an hour ahead of schedule. Unfortunately I had been suffering all day and everything was taking a toll. I was getting slower and I’m sure at some points the only thing keeping me going was the caffeine. Up to this point we had been dicing back and forwards with Martyn, Adam, Joe, Paul and Michael. Guys I’m not sure a tap on the bum or a loud fart as you go past is appropriate, but neither made me go faster. Thanks anyway, I think.

We arrived at St Ives to see our crew at 5:40pm, just 10 minutes after official sundown. We hadn’t need our torches, but got them out for the death march to Davidson Park, CP6. At Davidson there’s still a few climbs but you know you’re going to finish- it’s only 20km to the end. By this stage I was grumpy but off my head on coffee and Pepsi, Jane was baiting me by asking us to go faster, we had some instant noodles and headed off into the night. I felt like I wasn’t far from my limits and we weren’t going very fast, but every time someone talked to me I was surprised when my voice sounded happy and intelligible.

At Ararat we could smell the finish- had a quick stop and slipped out to slay the dragon. We were dicing with 2 teams now- Mike McGrath was pushing his lot along but at Ararat one of them was covered in a space blanket and looking green. We figured that would be the last we saw of that team as a complete set of four- we were wrong! The other team was one with Alison Lilley- you might notice that I have a lot of female runners as heroes, well she is another one! She’d been making noises that we were going to catch her but I think natural justice prevailed when she got her team home a bit over 30 minutes in front of us.

Martyns Team

Down at the Spit my guts started to go liquid, and not in a ‘you’ll be fine’ kind of way, more of a ‘if you don’t find a toilet in the next few minutes this suburb is going to be a different colour’ kind of way. So up Parriwi Rd I walked with my butt cheecks clenched and ran down to Chinamans Beach where there was a structure I first mistook for a house. But no, it was a new toilet block, open at 1am, and with clean, gleaming fittings and GASP- actual toilet paper! It was like getting entry into Valhalla and finding a comfortable, ceramic throne. The team were waiting for me at the exit to the park, but there was too many lights- Michaels team had just gone through. Bugger.

Jane wanted to chase them, and I was feeling a bit better, but not good enough to chase. Not far on, they took a wrong turn and we got back in front. Why? Well it seems that Mosman Council won’t let Oxfam put up any directional signs. That’s just plain stupid for the last 3km of a 100km race. A race that involves 2000 people and raises $3million for charity. Mosman Council- get a better grip on reality you idiots.

Things pretty much unfolded as I expected from there- Michaels team stuck behind us until the stairs then blasted past to take glory 800m from the finish. We managed a little run for the last 300m but they weren’t to be denied and used a last burst to have us cross about 20 seconds after them. So we all had a bit of back slapping, taking photos and a quiet little cry inside.

BUT- there’s no electronic timing on Trailwalker. Your check ins determine your time, and Michaels team had forgotten to check in so when Jane checked us in she put us in front of his team that had finished before us!

Analysis- I finished Trailwalker 2010 in a walking team in 29hr 36 minutes. This time was 19hr 26 minutes, so a full 10hr 10 minute pb for me! We were 24th ‘team’ across the line, but when you look at the results, a different picture emerges- many of those 23 other teams were missing 1, 2 or even 3 members. (Please note all results mentioned from here in are 4 team members only). Only counting ‘full’ teams we were 11th! What an outstanding result. Less outstanding was the fact that me trying to ‘game’ the results had backfired. We were 6th mixed gender team, but if we’d been all boys we would have been 4th in that category. We were 4th in the ‘Family & Friends’ industry category, but if we’d chosen to start as part of the ‘Advertising, Media, Marketing & Sales’ industry we would have smoked all of those long lunchers and come first (they were all over 30 hour finishers). Kicking Aaron and Chris out of the team and filling it with fast old farts would have bagged us second in the over 40 category.

Results

But if I’ve given you the impression that I’m competitive or ruthless I’m sorry. I would not have changed a single thing about the way we worked together that day. I have the hugest respect for my fellow team members, and thanks for dragging me home!

There were some epically tough people out there- Paul Blamire who struggled home with a bad hip, others with sore feet, knees etc. Any one of those other teams could have creamed us to the finish- all it would have taken was a bit worse luck for us and a bit better luck for them.

What would I change? I would do more training. Not taking this event seriously enough was a big mistake. I would read the documentation more carefully so I wouldn’t expect things to be provided that weren’t. The stuff not provided this year was in stark contrast to 2010- now they provide almost nothing that we get in most races. I would have crew a bit earlier. I would lobby the organisers to have a bit of fruit and some sports drink. I would tell Mosman Council to pull their heads out of their collective arses and support the event better.

To my team- sorry, I probably could have run 5 minutes faster to get those bastards from the NRMA, next time. Next time? No, I don’t think I can. I think. I think I can, I think I can, I……

Joe Ward 276km Great North Walk- Pacing

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Adam Connor

Joe doing his best impression of the GNW Logo

I woke up at 12:30am to the sound of David Brown’s alarm. Three seconds later I hear him say ‘Hello? Where are we?’

My first thought was why is he talking to his phone? My second thought was ‘oh no, we’ve just committed the ultimate sin. We weren’t at the changeover point for our duties as pacers.’
Sure enough, it was Ronald Stevens calling us to let us know that Joey, who has started in Newcastle at 4am on Friday, the day before. He was making an attempt on the record for a complete traverse of the Great North Walk, a 276km trail from Newcastle to Sydney opened in our bicentennial year 1988. One of the records was 54 hours, set by Meredith Quinlan and Jess Baker. Kirrily Dear and Alison Lilley had previously set the record at 81 hours by simply completing it! There had also been a group including Andrew Vize in about 66 hours. Get the picture? All Joey had to do was to FINISH, and he would take the record for the first SOLO traverse of the complete GNW. And be only the 11th recorded non stop run of the course.

Ron, always unflappable made some arrangements for the current pacer to continue and for us to be inserted part way through the section we were meant to be pacing. We were meant to start at Yarramalong and go to Patonga, a couple of sections of the Terrigal Trotters GNW100s course that I knew fairly well from pacing Jane Trumper last year. This meant that we had to rely on the current pacer to get Joey through the infamous ‘dead horse creek’ section where someone got so lost last year she was timed out of the race. I felt like I’d really let him down because I was the one who had the course loaded on 2 different GPS devices, including maps, course descriptions etc. I take the job of pacer very seriously and was gutted to let Joe down.

We got to the intersection of Ourimbah Creek Rd and Forty Acre Farm at 2:30am. Then waited, and waited. Sitting in the ute in the dark with the apparent temp below zero was a surreal experience. We took bets about when they would turn up, and I sat there and worried about them getting lost. At 5am I said ‘I’m going to get them’ and we saddled up our gear and headed up the trail. Luckily about 600m up we discovered 2 happy chirpy lads coming towards us.

Only 7km to go until the Somersby checkpoint, but Joey was moving strongly at ~150km and 25 hours. At Somersby we were met by Emma (Joe’s fiancé) and the irrepressible Sarah Jane Marshal in a hilarious disco outfit. A quick fuel up, then we were off into the early morning sunshine towards Mooney Mooney. It was lovely being alone on the trails, having a chat and making sure Joe was eating and drinking to a schedule.

Mooney Mooney welcome committee, Saturday afternoon. Helping Joe stay grounded in reality

At Mooney Mooney we arrived to a thunderous reception with Alison Thomas in a onesie and some very confused cyclists going past. One cyclist who did stop was Andrew Vize! He’s come down to see how Joe was going- I’m constantly humbled by the willingness of heroes of the sport to help other. Well, it kind of went the other way this time- we filled Andrews bidon with water, gave him some snakes and he wished us well! After a massage and fill up we were off again- this time with Tanya Carrol as an addition to the pacing team. It was great adding Tanya- I think Joe was thankful that my jokes became a bit cleaner.

Bananaman getting more value from his sponsors

Next stop was Patonga, where Ben Pearce and girlfriend Jen were waiting to take Joe across the bay to Brooklyn, where Ben Blackshaw and Alison Lilley would continue for his last 76km. This was a difficult section, and one that Joe was dreading, but I know that worse was to come! We arrived at 6pm Saturday night to another great reception including my wife Sarah and son Alex. Joe spent a few moments staring at the post which marks the end of the GNW100s Miler (on this occasion it marked the 200km mark of his journey).

Joe contemplates the achievement and tries to ignore what is still to come

I insisted on a beer at the Patonga pub and retired to our lodgings to sleep. I hadn’t slept since Friday morning and was really feeling it. I could only imagine what Joe was going through.

So what next? I slept for nearly 12 hours, helped clean the house, drove back to Sydney, showered, changed, had a big boozy lunch and…… well I couldn’t just leave it there.

Lane Cove National Park welcome committee, Sunday night

I went home, got into my running gear and went out to Lane Cove National Park to do the last section. Joe by this time had been travelling for over 60 hours with no real rest. He arrived with Ben Blackshaw and Alison Lilley after 8pm and just before 9pm we were on the trail again. There was a huge welcome committee from his Manly Beach Running Club! Ben was continuing however Alison was nursing a knee injury and had to go home. During the day on Sunday some of the terrain was so tough they were averaging only 2-3km per hour. The call had gone out for more pacers as some had needed to pull out because of work the next morning, others were injured, it was all looking a bit dodgy. I was happy to step up, also Sebastian Warmerdam and Gillian Russell joined up too. Matt McCarron, who had spent most of the day Saturday helping and then ran the M7 Marathon on Sunday came back out and ran the last section several times just to make sure we wouldn’t get lost. What an incredible team.

We spent the last few hours joking and having light hearted conversation. But we had a problem. The last section of the course ends at Woolwich Pier, and then you have to go across the water to Circular Quay, and from there it is only 300 metres to the ends- an obelisk in Macquarie Place. The plan was to take a ferry from Woolwich to Circular Quay, but its was too late on Sunday night for a ferry. The backup plan was to get a water taxi – guess what? Too late! In desperation the wonderful Sally Dean ( grand organiser extraordinaire) rang the Water Police. The first time her reception was predictably brusque, but as time went on golden tongued Sally managed to convince them that it was not only a good idea, but needed to be done.

Ben had been waiting at Patonga since midday Saturday, and pacing since the 6pm trip across to Brooklyn. It was no surprise that he was a bit quiet, but I had to press on being lively and encouraging, telling bad jokes and generally getting in peoples faces to try to keep Joe going. I’d apologise for being annoying, but I do feel it’s kind of my job as pacer to be inexhaustible and positive. Ben you did an incredible job, you can decide if I’m truly a d!ckhead next time we meet!

I gave Joe a mini Mars bar and some Coke, ten minutes later he breaks out into a run. That’s right- he ran his 270th km, breaking Gillian in the process. This brings to well, uncountable numbers of pacers who lay figuratively broken in his wake. Three km later we see the high wear off and he’s asking ‘where’s the @##$%^ boat? I can’t see the wharf!’ A second application of Mars bar and Coke did not work, remember refined sugars are baaaad kids.

The water police were awesome, picking us up right on time and taking half a dozen of us across the harbour, well fast! Check out the Garmin…….

At Circular Quay we were met by Ngaire Anna and a whole bunch of people, Joe was able to speak to his fiancé via Facetime back to Boston. She had hopped on a plane after supporting him to Somersby. Did I mention they got married a week after this little adventure? Yes, Joe just had to finish by Wednesday, get on a plane and get hitched in the US. Tex Whitney Productions whom I’d been having the big boozy lunch with were there to film the finish.

Bizarre- a little over 24 hours earlier Emma was helping Joe, here he is at the end talking to her in Boston!

Joe removed the course marking tape he’d been carrying with him for 276km and laid it on the fence around the obelisk. We cheered, hugged and shed a little tear for his incredible achievement. It had taken 69.5 hours, and even though I’d only seen a small part of it I’d witnessed an amazing feat of human endurance, with a great bunch of people who all donated their time and effort for a great cause. I’m very humbled to be a small part of a community like this.

I can’t believe that it’s actually possible to run/ walk from 4am Friday morning until 1:30am on the Monday, but I saw it happen!

You- I’m talking to you. Think about crewing or pacing someone on a ridiculously long run. I’ve done it several times now and it’s very rewarding. Now, who needs crew for Coast to Kosci?

Poor Mans Comrades 2013

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Adam Connor

I’ve wanted to do this run since I first found out about it several years ago. I mean, can you think of anything quite so preposterous as running from the Sydney Opera House to Gosford train station with no support? Awesome!

So let me just start by saying this one didn’t go quite as planned. A lot of people have a problem with a DNF, for me I’m not so concerned. I could easily have made the last 24km – the problem was I was getting slower and slower. Put simply- my family were right there, and it would be selfish of me to ask them to come back and get me in 4-5 hours time, hours after I had promised them. BUT- not my wife’s fault, completely my decision. Next time I’ll ask her not to come visit me on the course!

Anyway, read on if you want to hear more excuses, but I’m writing this mainly so that I don’t make the same mistakes in future. Here they come-

I was Over Confident
Yes it was only 3 weeks since TNf100, and last year doing the Glow Worm marathon 3 weeks after nearly killed me, but I’ve been recovering faster recently and well- I had a great TNF and just expected that my performance had gone up a notch. Consequently I didn’t do much training and got smacked in the face by this run. That’s healthy- if you don’t fail once in a while, you’re not trying hard enough. I can learn a lot from this.

I was Under Prepared
The few runs I’d had since TNF had mostly gone really well. However I hadn’t done much work on pace or any stairs, and pretty much expected to breeze through a 90km road run. I also hadn’t done any of my core exercises for 3 weeks- and I’ve found the core strength to be really key in taking stress off the legs on long runs. Bahaha, who’s feeling dumb now?

Went out Way Too Hard
I had a loose agreement with Annabel Hepworth to run together. There’s not too many people who do this run, and Annabel was the only one I knew who was about my pace! I’m normally pretty happy to run on the road at a steady 5:20 min/km, (5:41 is a 4 hour marathon), so I figured that I could aim for 12 hours, which is an average of 7:12. Another key statistic is that to finish a 100km run in 14 hours (a TNF100 silver buckle) you need to average under 8:24 over the whole run. I wanted to stick under this pace for psychological reasons- so I could prove to myself it is possible to do that distance in that time. Then I could focus on doing that distance in that time on the North Face 100 course- for next year! Annabel was having a great day to my poor, and shot off from the start. In any normal ultra I’d be trying hard to keep my heart rate down, but I found myself going way too hard many times in the first 30km. Once I looked down to see 158bpm, way above the sub 145bpm I would normally see as my limit in a long race.

Had Tired Legs
I’d been hoping that I wouldn’t feel too much left over from TNF100, but I do think it hampered my speed and my endurance. This has less effect every year perhaps by the time I’m 80 I’ll be able to back up more effectively.

Was Over Provisioned
I left the Opera House with 1.5 litres of water on board. I’d had 600ml of sports drink before we started, and drank 2x 600ml coke, 1x 375ml can of Fanta and 1x 600ml Powerade during my run. All of these drinks were purchased on the run. Amazingly I still had 250ml of water left after 68km. So, too much fluid.
I was also carrying-
3x chocolate bars
3x cliff bars
1x Growling Dog protein/ amino acid bar
4 or 5 assorted gels
assorted other food
6 flasks of home made gel- each flask containing equiv. 4x gels

What did I actually eat?
1x chocolate bar
1.5 flasks of gel
1x steak & kidney pie, purchased from Pie in the Sky
1x Growling Dog bar

Must have been about a kilogram of excess nutrition!

That’s a pic of the food I carried but DIDN’T eat!

The Run
Starters were, in no particular order
Annabel Hepworth
Geoff Evison
Adam Connor
Roger Hanney
Grahame Wye
RunMikeyRun (CR name)
BalmainMike (CR name)

We decided on a start line just in front of the Opera House steps, had a couple of photos and then Geoff Russell who had come along to support gave us the signal to go. We very quickly broke into 2 groups- Geoff, Roger and Grahame in front and Annabel, BalmainMike and myself sweeping. At 6am it was still half an hour to the official sunrise, so we ran past a few drunks in doorways around Circular Quay and then up the stairs next to Bel Mondo and up to the bridge. Already I was trying to slow Annabel down to try to keep the band together, mostly out of self interest – I’m a social runner, not a loner! And I was worried about being able to keep concentrating on running past my house! Soon after the Harbour Bridge we were joined by RunMikeyRun who had started a bit late. He stayed with us for a couple of minutes then blasted ahead to catch the others.

I had studied the maps the night before, so I knew the path through St Leonards and Artarmon to Roseville. The three of us had a toilet stop at a service station, and then down Bobbin Head Road towards the campground another 10km away. It was clear that Annabel was gagging to take her foot off the brake, and I stuck about 75m behind her for most of this time. That was the last time we saw BalmainMike. I caught Annabel as we started to descend, and when we arrived at Bobbin Head we went straight for the kiosk where I got a Coke, and Annabel got a Coke and a coffee- like she needed an extra boost!

As we headed out of Bobbin Head the class difference between us became apparent. Or maybe the weight difference. I wasn’t comfortable running at the same speed uphill as she was, so I let her go, and she was out of sight by the time we hit Mt Colah. I was by myself for the rest of the day. A couple of times I struck construction crews who said ‘she’s 20 minutes in front’ to which I replied ‘Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty of time to catch her, we’re running to Gosford’ But I never really intended to try. It was all about dealing with my own issues. Running along the Pacific Highway got a bit boring to be honest, but at least it was a nice cool day with little bits of sun. I stopped and got another Coke at Berowra, then it was off for the next 9km stretch to Pie in the Sky. I finally got there in 6:18, it’s 52km by Garmin or 54.5km by the maps. My breathing was a bit uncontrollable- I think I scared a couple of road workers in the pie queue.

I posted my ‘over half way’ message to Facebook and sat quietly having a pie and some Fanta, thinking that maybe I’d had too much Coke! When I got up, I discovered that I could barely walk- my legs were in much worse shape than expected. But luckily I was able to turn that shuffle into a very basic run, but it wasn’t pretty. In a normal long run I’d be happy to walk any steep hills if I could keep up a good pace on the flats and downhills, but here I was struggling to make 7-8min/km on the flats. I forced myself to run down to Brooklyn, then just out of sight of the freeway I stopped to find my Growling Dog bar. These things have some aminos which sometimes give me a bit of a boost, but they’re kind of hard to eat, I had chopped it up into squares beforehand. Of course while I was busy violating my ‘never stop’ rule, I was sprung! Alison Lilley turned up on a bicycle and asked me if I needed anything. It was a huge surprise to see her out on the course, what a nice gesture from such a legendary ultra runner. She rode up to try to find Annabel, while I tried to not find similarities between myself and the wildlife pizza smeared on the road.

I was now slowing so much that there was a very real prospect of walking the last 24km. That’s about 5km per hour or 4-5 hours. I knew that I always speed up a bit at the end, but the boost was taking it’s sweet time to appear. I planned to stop at the Road Warrior Cafe at Mt White, fill my bladder, have another Coke and get out for a finish. This would put me at Gosford station around 8pm. I was running some calculations and trying to figure out what I needed to do to improve my condition. Then there was some frenzied beeping behind me- I was 3km away from the last water stop when my wife came along in our car, and I told her I was done. I made her go to the cafe and wait for me so I could think about the decision. In the end it was just bad timing- if she’d found me 3km past the cafe I would probably have kept going. I was barely running any more, getting slower which wasn’t really the point of the event. Here’s the Garmin-

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/326153310

You can see from the average heart rate that things weren’t going smoothly- compare with this Six Foot Track run last year, much hillier but much lower heart rate.

Five minutes later Geoff Russel appeared and asked if I was ok. It’s possible that I would have jumped in his car too, but I said the same thing- I was pulling out at the cafe ahead. By the time I got there, Geoff and Alison were there with my wife and son Alex. We had a quick chat then took off to Woy Woy to do some shopping. Down at the intersection of Central Coast Highway and Brisbane Water Drive we saw tall Geoff Evison running easily toward the finish, about 1.2km away. Amazingly he was only a few minutes outside his own predictions. So the finishers were

Geoff Evison 9:47
RunMikeyRun 9:47+
Roger Hanney 10:05
Annabel Hepworth 10:30

That brought to a close my adventure, but I’m still keen to have another go, and probably this winter season. The number of shops along the route is good enough to do it unsupported, navigation isn’t bad and it’s not completely boring. And what fun to be able to say you’ve run from Sydney to Gosford. Come with me?

The North Face 100 – 2013 Race Report

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Adam Connor

Thanks to Michael Leadbetter/ Ultra Training Australia for this pic

Lead Up
My preparation for the race was not what I wanted. To get a sub 14 hour time and a silver buckle, I knew I had to be able to run with the ‘fast middies’ at my running club. I only have a short window of opportunity to do this, around September when racing season slows down a bit. But I got lazy and didn’t step up and keep up the pressure. I tried to join them several times over the next few months but always failed because I was trying to build endurance and speed at the same time- it just doesn’t work for me! At Six Foot Track I managed a 5:41 while a bit sick, but Canberra Marathon I had an attack of not caring and instead of a PB, came away with a time 2 minutes off my best. In addition to this, all of our training runs had been about the same speed as last year, in a nutshell I was staring down the barrel of running 100km and not being any faster than the year before! I knew I could make small improvements to checkpoint times and 2 weeks before the race had my first ever sub 4 minute km, so my goal became sub 16 hours (from 16:34 in 2012). I was pretty sure I could make that as long as I didn’t suffer from a big attack of ‘don’t cares’ again!

The big difference in training is that I recognised the need to do more hills/stairs. Well, I couldn’t really do ‘more’ hills so I settled for a tough stair session down the back of North Sydney. This one was inspired by Jodie Cook and I call it ‘Mistress Jodie’s Ascent to Hell’. it did make me a stronger climber.

In the last 2 weeks I became familiar with that vile word ‘diet’ again. Nothing fancy, just trying to avoid sugar, space my meals out correctly and not eat too much dinner. I don’t know how people are able to deny themselves things when food is so readily available, it’s just not for me. And it didn’t work very well, at least on the surface. The last 2 years, I’ve been able to get down to under 73kg before the race, this time it didn’t happen. However I did find that I got slightly more energy, felt a bit lighter and got a bit faster, so let’s say I improved my power to weight ratio. So losing weight wasn’t the answer- losing fat was!

Of course the weather turned cold a bit later than usual this year, so I woke up the day before the race with a stuffy nose and I thought it was going to be a repeat of Six Foot, but I was determined not to let it get to me. It turned out to be nothing. The milk we had brought along for my breakfast had turned bad, and with no spare muesli, I had to pour the milk out and eat the muesli still coated in off milk. Oh well, worse things happen at sea I guess.

Race morning came and it was a cold but crisp and clear day. We were quite worried about the bitterly cold wind the day before but Saturday turned out to be perfect for running. I even ditched my long sleeved running top at the start when I realised I could cope with the cool air.

Hydration
I drank a litre of sports drink before the start and had 1.5l of water in my hydration pack. I also had 2x 750ml bottles in the front bottle holders, empty. My strategy was this- I would use the water in my bladder until CP1, have a few cups of Endura at the CP, then fill up the empty front bottles with Endura, and use those until CP2. This worked really well, but I found that I wasn’t drinking much fluid during this race, but still peeing a lot. My hydration was fine, so I didn’t actually run out of water in the bladder until after CP3. In later sections I swapped one of the bottles for Pepsi which I had in my drop bags. Closest I came to running out was CP4-5 which is the longest section at 25km, I had finished my Pepsi and had about half a bottle of Endura left. It worked pretty much perfectly.

Nutrition
In each checkpoint bag I had a selection of stuff including chips, lollies, soft drink, chocolate bars, fruit in syrup, etc. How much of it did I use? None. Well I had one chocolate bar out of the 24 I bought the previous week. It wasn’t really a wasted effort, but this year was my first without crew- I’ll know in future that I don’t need to make such elaborate preparations. I had about the equivalent of 10-13 gels, 2 mandarins, 1x boiled egg and 1x cup noodles as well as 4-5 pieces of watermelon (1 at each CP).

What Worked
The bottles in the front of the pack worked brilliantly, I won’t even need to take as much water next time- unless it is hotter. My decision to go ultra light weight was a big risk that paid off. Not having to carry lots of stuff around the course helped, I even ditched my hat at CP4 as the sun was going down (not the mandatory beanie).

What Didn’t
I’m a little bit surprised about my shoes. This year I ran in Hoka Bondi-B’s. I have very flat feet, so I modified the arch support by sticking some large Compeeds on the inside of the innersole arch. That worked well, but I still got more bruising than expected, and my little toes on each foot were quite bashed around- this is despite the fact I think I bought a size too big! I’m now thinking that it might not be the shoes, I was also wearing Injinji socks. I normally try to wear a new or newish pair for a big race, but forgot to buy them this year. Consequently I wore a pair that were a bit stiff from use and they may have contributed. The grip on these shoes wasn’t anywhere near what I get from the Salomon Speedcross, but to be fair the Bondi’s are not a specific trail shoe, I’ll need to try some Stinson Evo’s. The payoff from these ‘compromises’ was huge- being able to glide over rocks and keep my feet in relatively good shape was totally worth it. Minimalist runners- you’re missing out!

Despite the fact that I posted 2 different pace calculators on the web, I forgot to look at them myself so I had no idea how to pace myself during the race!

My Checkpoint Times from 2011

My Checkpoint Times from 2012

My Checkpoint Times from 2013

The Race
Now you probably already know my result so let me just say this- I really don’t think I can do much better than this. I had a great race, executed everything about as well as possible and finished strong. The only stats I could remember from 2012 were that I reached CP1 in apx 2:45 and CP3 in apx 8:10. I also knew that I spent 18 minutes in CP3, so my strategy went a bit like this. Take 10 minutes off each of your first 3 checkpoint times, then cruise to the finish without losing any time. That should give me just about a 16 hour finish.

So what actually happened? Well, I was only 6 minutes faster into CP1, but reasonably happy if a bit tired. I gained another 7 minutes to CP2, but was only 1 minute faster to CP3, so I arrived at CP3 apx 15 minutes faster than 2012- I was way behind my goal! But wait- I gained 9 minutes by not spending much time at CP3 (I thought I flew through CP3 but it was still nearly 10 minutes!). So I had 24 of the 35 minutes I needed, and expected to pick up some more before CP4 because I had a bad time on this section in 2012. But no, only 3 minutes. I also knew that I lost my concentration a bit in 2012 after CP4, so could I make any gains there? I was finding I could run OK down Federal Pass, but wasn’t breaking any speed records. At Jamison Creek I ran a few more calculations and figured that I had my 35 minutes, but none to spare! It was time to release the handbrake. I knew that although my legs were tired, I was in good condition, so I powered up Kedumba. Yes, those words do seem a little strange to me- ‘powered up Kedumba’ but it’s the only way I can express it. I was taking little steps, keeping my cadence up and swinging my arms- I passed heaps of people. I didn’t know it, but I gained HALF AN HOUR just on this section vs 2012. I knew I had to arrive at CP5 in 14 hours race time to be able to go sub 16 hours overall. Average time for this section is 2:15, last year I was flying and made 1:53. I got to CP5 in 13:39 race time and knew I pretty much had my goal in the bag. Just after leaving CP5 I said hello to another runner and found it was Michael Meryment. He is an outstanding runner, but having a bad day with gut issues. This was a very common problem this year, but luckily I never seem to get these problems. Anyway we got moving and he thankfully settled into a pace that I could keep up with. There wasn’t much talking, but we passed a lot of people in the last section. I was so grateful that he kept going past people so I could tag along! Then we saw the Fairmont and he seemed to slow down. We got on to the lush green grass and I wanted to run to the finish, but I said ‘Michael you’ve dragged me this far there’s no way I’m going to finish in front of you, just set the pace you like and I’ll be right behind’. It was agonising because I was literally watching the seconds count down on my Garmin hoping we would cross for a sub 15:30 race time. I needn’t have worried, we both did 15:28 officially. Thanks Michael!

A little note about CP4-5. This is where I made up a lot of time. From 2011 to 2012 I was about 7 minutes faster, but 31 minutes faster in 2013. In theory I can’t do that. I can’t go up hills that fast, and yet I was blazing past people like they were standing still. I normally have 2 puffs of Ventolin before a race, but didn’t get it until Tarro’s Ladders. For some reason my lungs were feeling good- no EIA (exercise induced asthma is common in cold weather), I was breathing well and running within my limits. I didn’t have any more Ventolin during the race (at Six Foot Track I needed more on Black Range Rd). For some reason everything clicked and I made 45 places on that one section! I was so mentally focussed at the checkpoint that I made up another 7 places just by leaving quickly. Have a look at the average pace- 8:37- That’s only a few seconds per km slower than you need to finish the race in sub 14- and it includes Kedumba! I really wish I knew how to recreate that feeling. Maybe now I’ve done it once I’ll be able to do it again, or maybe I’ll be searching for it for the rest of my life. But anyway, I wish I could tell you HOW the planets aligned that night, I just don’t know. Possibly the Sunday afternoon intervals is helping- I wasn’t breathing as much like a freight train as I normally do.

Also this year there was never any real thoughts about whether or not I would finish. This must be due to experience, I never felt like I was having a crappy time or entertained thoughts about quitting. And yes I do have those thoughts!

Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics
Have a look at those results above. You’ll see that although I’ve improved a lot each year, my finishing place hasn’t moved as much. It’s becoming a very competitive race. But luckily the number of starters and finishers is also going up, so my place in the field as a % is improving! After my first TNF100 I wrote a blog post about going sub 14 hours to get a silver buckle. That dream is just as far away now as it was then, but look at the results again. In 2011, only 99 people ran sub 14 hours. In 2012 it was 122, and this year they ran out of silver buckles when 171 people shot through the gates under the cut. Wow! My time from this year would have got me position 167 in 2011 with Neil Hawthorne- an ultra legend who has finished every TNF100. That’s 90 places difference.

The average finishing time has come down by 30 minutes in one year after rising a bit in 2012. Possibly the cold in 2011 made people run faster, or may have made slow people pull out?
2011 17:07
2012 17:16
2013 16:43

Analysis
So I gained an hour, and ran about 40s/km faster. I’ve gone from an average of 11min/km in 2011 to 9:56/km in 2012 to 9:16 in 2013. To make sub 14hours I need about 8:18, or 1 whole minute per km. I don’t see how that is possible for me, but I’ll have a think about whether I really want to chase it. If the answer is yes, I’ll need a coach, and more importantly, a lot of discipline! Let’s put it this way- I could easily make up 1 min/km for a few kilometres, maybe 20km, possibly 50km- but 100km? Hmm, not so sure about that!

Thanks
I’ve now been in wave 4, 3 and 2 all in subsequent years. This year my logic for going in wave 2 was based on some knowledge and some hope. I never felt entirely comfortable knowing I was several waves above better runners than me. I’ve never been held up badly in the race, and I didn’t let it get to me when others flew past during the race, but I felt like a it of a fraud, as wave 2 was supposed to be limited to finishers under 15:30. Several times during the race I mentally started drafting an email to Tom the Race Director with an apology about running too slow. Lucky I didn’t have to send it in the end! Thanks to all who came to the training runs, read the blog and helped out with comments. You’re awesome!

The North Face 100 2013- The Actual Running Bit

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Adam Connor

All organised? Me too, sort of. However I’ve stolen a few more bits of running lore to share, and here they are-

I can run faster than Jane Trumper (sometimes), but why does she beat me in Ultras? Because she never stops! One thing I’ve learned very clearly is this- you can change your clothes, get food out, apply sunscreen, eat and vomit all while moving. Plenty of times I’ve been surveying all the great food at a checkpoint and Jane’s already gone. If you need an aspirin, get it out before you hit the CP, undo your pack as you cruise in, run through your mental checklist- but BE READY.

Clues you are about to hit a Check Point
CP1- at the top of the Golden Staircase you run down Narrowneck for a few hundred metres into the CP
CP2- There’s a gate across the fire trail a few hundred metres before the cruel descent into CP2
CP3- You climb over a stile off Megalong Valley Rd and run through a field for a bit before hitting CP3
CP4- You exit trail and run along the road before hitting CP4 (apx 2km?)
CP5- You’ll probably hit this at night, you’ll see it and hear it. It’s about 1500m from the gate with the big wooden uprights. Not the swine gate, that’s about 1500m further back down Kedumba

If you feel like stopping, run through your finger checklist- water, sugar, salt, caffeine. Usually having one or more of these will help you.

Walk the hills- you need to run/ walk at well below your threshold. If you’re gunning for a sub 14 hour time I can’t help you because I’ve never done it!

Concentrate on your speed while walking. Jane Trumper walked up Kedumba with me in 2011 Mt Solitary race. Or I should say we started at Jamison Creek together. She walked with a purpose, I walked while feeling sorry for myself. She beat me to the top by 22 minutes- this can make a HUGE difference to your race.

Talk to someone. If you can push each other along, there’s no reason not to have a chat- ultra runners are very friendly people. But the moment you think you can go a bit faster, make a move- stopping to chat is now costing you time. As Nick Weinholt puts it- ‘I came here to race, not to chat!’

Dead Eyes Opened – Another Nick tip is not to look into the eyes of those who have failed for too long for fear you will be brought into their world. You can’t help the people in Medical, leave them to the experts.

Conversely, if someone needs help on the course, give it! In 2011 a guy asked me for electrical tape coming up Kedumba. What he actually wanted was blister patches, and I had heaps. It was like the best Christmas ever…….. Oh, and if you need something, ask! I ran out of water up Kedumba last year and another runner donated a whole flask of sports drink. I’ll be forever grateful, and I still have no idea who that person was.

Are you injured? No? Keep going. ‘But I feel like shit’. Figure out what you need, have it and keep going. ‘My legs hurt’ Yes, well stopping now won’t make them hurt less, and they WILL carry you to the end if you ignore the pain. ‘But I still feel like shit’
Here’s a teaspoon of cement princess, now HTFU.

Repeat you mantra. You’ll see this one all over the internet, but mine is ‘relentless forward progress’. Just 3 words to keep you going. Repeat them, explore them, make them resonate, feel the power, keep going!

You need to run upright to make your breathing more efficient, so put your headlamp a bit further down your forehead so you don’t hunch over while running to watch the ground.

When you’re tired, concentrate on your running form. Work those arms back to front (not in front of you!) breathe a little deeper, head up, get your rhythm back.

I’ve talked a lot about how to go faster, but the key goal here is finishing. If you need to, take a break. You’ve got 28 hours to finish. Don’t stress about the time. If it will get you to the end, spend an hour or more in the checkpoint. Do what you need to do to finish.

That wasn’t a drop bear, you’re just hallucinating.

North Face 100 Tips 2013

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Adam Connor

Probably the thing I get asked most in person is ‘what tips do you have for me?’. Now truthfully I’m not a better runner than you. Anything I’ve got to share I’ve stolen from others or gained through studying the electrons on the internet. Terror will do that to you. Some of these things might work for you, some probably won’t. Be very careful about changing your race plan because of anything I write here- you need to be comfortable with your choices, and remember ‘nothing new on race day’!

I wear my sunglasses at night
This tip from Nick Weinholt was a big winner. I have 2 pairs of sunglasses, and at checkpoint 4 swapped my daytime pair for a pair from my checkpoint bag that had clear lenses. This worked really well for two reasons- in the cold it kept my eyes a bit warmer and stopped them streaming like a sad panda, and during leg 6 it meant I could run through the bush without worrying about getting hit in the face by branches. So in a way, it made me run faster! You’ll look like a bit of a wanker, but it’s night, hardly anyone will see you……

Papa’s got a brand new bag
You should buy a bunch of blue cool bags from a supermarket. You’ll need 3- one each for checkpoint 3, 4, and 5. Each will need to be labelled clearly with your race number so the race crews can put them in order (so you can find your bag when you hit the CP). You should also try to make it look a bit different from all the other blue bags- tie something on to the handle, like a piece of ribbon or even another plastic bag- but MAKE THEM ALL THE SAME so you can recognise them. Inside the lid of each CP bag have a list of stuff you need to do. If you have crew, MAKE SURE they go through the list before you leave the checkpoint- last year I forgot to fill my bladder before leaving CP4, meaning I ran out of water on the longest leg of the race. This was because my wife was there to help me and I hadn’t planned on her being there, so I forgot to ask her to check the list. Completely my fault and it could have been a disaster. My bag notes look something like this

Checkpoint 3
Garbage
Dump extra food
Pick up Gels
Pick up headlight
Macaroni Cheese
Eggs
Banana
Check bladder
Drink/ take Endura

The text is large so I can read in low light. I also have treats in each bag, so I’ll have a quick look inside to see if anything takes my fancy. Some of these items are just guides rather than instructions- for instance there is no way I could have eaten a banana going out of CP3, but at least I got to consider it because it was on the list. Also dumping your rubbish in your drop bag will save you having to find a bin. Not a big deal, but could save you some time when you’ve completely lost your mind later in the race.

Keep Warm
I thought I’d be really smart and use cycling style arm warmers for the early part of the race when it is often very cold. It’s a great theory, but didn’t work in practice because the arm warmers have some rubber at the top to keep them from slipping off, and this rubbed my arms raw. Might be worth considering if you are a bit chunkier than me (I have quite skinny arms) but I probably won’t use them again. Also the 2 bits of clothing you want to have in large sizes are your reflective vest, and your rain jacket. You don’t really want to have to take your pack off to put either of these on, and indeed the reflective vest MUST be visible over your pack, so make sure you haven’t got a midget version. I’m most comfortable running in a singlet, and can do this at temps down to about 10 degrees, but in 2011 the temp never got above 6 degrees even though the sun was shining. Have a plan, decide what you are going to do if it is cold and wet. My big problem is I hate having sweaty underarms, which means T- shirts are not ideal. Maybe I can wear a second singlet under my NRG top- I could use the 2010 Six Foot one, it’s about the size of a postage stamp! Test your clothing, you only need a tiny problem to make your clothes dig a hole into your flesh over 100km. Trust me, that’s not fun.

The Race
Buy a race number belt, or even better a SpiBelt with race number holders. you may need multiple clothing changes during the race and it is a requirement that your race number be visible at all times. Having to move all those pins with freezing or tired hands is not going to be fun

Energy 52
Eat early and often. Don’t let your energy levels drop. On a normal run I’ll probably have my first gel at 8-12km. Race day I will be eating at 5km and about every half hour after that. But don’t eat too much- in 2012 I ate quite a bit of macaroni and cheese at CP3, then couldn’t run some of the easiest bits up towards Nellie’s Glen- that mistake cost me up to 30 minutes.

Silence
Later in the race you’ll probably spend a bit of time on your own. There’s always plenty of people around, but perhaps all the people going up Kedumba are too slow for you. I will have my headphones around my neck and connected at the start of the race so I don’t have to fiddle around in the dark if I want some tunes. I’ll be listening to a few trance podcasts by John ‘OO’ Fleming. These can be downloaded for free from iTunes or choose something else that you might like more. One of the reasons to choose this style of music is because it has the right cadence to keep your legs moving a bit faster than normal. Warning- this year the RD has instituted new rules around the use of iPods, make sure you read them and comply. See point 4 in the event rules.

Fade to Grey
If you’re feeling like crap (and you will!) you need to have the presence of mind to recognise it and take action. This is the difference between a finish and a DNF. In my limited experience you need 4 things. Look at your fingers and repeat after me ‘sugar, water, salt, caffeine’. Attach those words to your fingers in your mind. Do not forget them. When you feel bad, look at your fingers and repeat ‘sugar, water, salt, caffeine’. You need at least one of these things. Have it and you WILL feel better. Usually for me it is sugar…….Last weekend at the Coastal run I had a coke at the halfway mark and immediately felt better and went on to finish a run that I didn’t think I could. Think about it- Coca Cola has 3 out of the 4 essential ingredients!

Relax
Spend as much time as you need in checkpoints, but no more. In 2011 I got into CP4 and told my wife I was quitting. She told me not to quit straight away. After spending nearly an hour in that CP, I felt better, got up and went out and finished. The key thing here is that I would not have finished if I’d gone straight over to the desk and quit. I wasn’t really injured, and taking that time allowed me to get back some energy. But the biggest tip I can give is GET OUT OF CP4. That’s right- if you can get out of the aquatic centre you’ve just committed to the longest leg of the race, once you get down the Giant Staircase there is no turning back until you get to CP5, Queen Victoria Hospital. And of course once you get to CP5 you’ve only got 11km to go… go on, do it!

Welcome to the Pleasure Dome
When you get back to the Fairmont, get some warm clothes on and EAT SOMETHING. I forgot in 2012 and my wife woke up to me looking for food in my drop bags in the dark. Congratulations, you’ve just completed the North Face 100, you awesome person you!

North Face 100 Nutrition Plan & Drop Bags 2013

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Adam Connor

This post had 40 likes last year so I think it’s worthwhile updating with what worked and what didn’t. As you can see, it’s an eating competition with a bit of running thrown in. This year I’ve been making my own gels, so where I write ‘flask of gel’ I actually mean apx 4x commercial gels, because each flask holds about 4. I’ll probably carry a few commercial gels as well, this will help fight flavour fatigue. Let’s go……

If anyone knows of an easy way to carry and eat chia seeds, please let me know, I’ll add them back in for Start to CP1 and CP3. Maybe I’ll need more flasks to carry them. Also, this is a work in progress and could change, so check back if interested…..

Provided at Checkpoints

Endura sports drink (pre mixed)
Water to fill bladders
Fruit
Bread/buns
Gels are available at some checkpoints, but you can’t depend on them, and if you do, you might have to take grape flavour, which is quite vile tasting. Other items I will have to carry.

Running Start to Checkpoint 1
Drink 600ml sports drink at the start, discard bottle
1x Banana
2x Gel
At CP1- Drink 500ml Endura at checkpoint, take another 500ml with me when leaving.
Chia seeds
Do not fill bladder at CP1

Running Checkpoint 1 to Checkpoint 2
2x Gel
1x packet Gu chomps
1x Salt tablet

At CP2
Drink 500ml Endura at checkpoint, take 500ml with me plus 1x Growling Dog bar. Take a piece of fruit to eat while waiting at Tarro’s ladder
Fill up bladder

Running Checkpoint 2 to Checkpoint 3
3x Gel
1x packet Gu chomps

At CP3
Eat Macaroni and cheese 2-300g. Chia seeds, drink 500ml Endura, take 500ml with me when leaving plus 2 boiled eggs and possibly a banana
Check bladder, don’t fill up too much- only 11km to CP4!

Running Checkpoint 3 to Checkpoint 4
2x Gels
1x Banana
1x Gu chomps
1x Salt tablet
Important- must eat at bottom and part way up Nellie’s Glen!

At CP4
drink 500ml Endura, fill bottle to take with me
check bladder, fill up to 1.5l! <<25km to next checkpoint
Take a cup noodle with me, drink Coca cola from drop bag

Running Checkpoint 4 to Checkpoint 5
Important- eat 1-3 gels going up Kedumba!
4x Gels
1x Gu chomps
1x Growling Dog bar
1x Salt tablet

At CP5
check to make sure you aren’t carrying too much water. Drink 500ml Endura, take a 500ml bottle with me. Eat a piece of fruit if you can. Piss off and finish the race.

At the Finish
Need to make sure you eat something or you’ll be ridiculously hungry when you get back to your hotel room!

Contents of Checkpoint Bags

This means I’ll need to carry from the start of the race to checkpoint 3-
8x Gel (2 flasks)
3x Gu Chomps (1 spare)
small flask with chia seeds
1x banana

And I’ll need to pack the following

Checkpoint 3 bag
3x Gels (1 flask)
Macaroni Cheese
Chia seeds
2x boiled eggs (peeled, in a sandwich bag)
Banana
Gu Chomps

Checkpoint 4 bag
4x Gels (1 flask)
Gu Chomps
Growling Dog bar
Chips
Proper headlights (will be carrying low weight versions during the day)
Clothing for night time
Leave sunglasses in bag here
Pick up sunglasses with clear lenses for night running

extra mandatory gear if required

Checkpoint 5 bag
Lemonade/ Coke
Gels (1 flask)
Gu Chomps
Chips

Discussion
Where it says ‘Drink 500ml Endura’ that is about 3x 150ml cups. I can usually drink that much at once without bad effects, you may find otherwise. The instructions to eat more up Nellie’s and Kedumba are because these have been where I’ve had low points, and more food usually helps. The Growling Dog bars are hard to eat, and need to be cut into squares and put into a sandwich bag in prep. I probably can’t eat that many bananas, but not a bad idea to have them available.

North Face Non Mandatory gear 2013

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Adam Connor

Here’s a list of a few things I’ll be carrying in the 2013 version of The North Face 100. They’re not on the mandatory gear list, but don’t make life hard for yourself- if it will make your race easier, take it!

Sunglasses- I’ll be wearing Serfas Portal sunnies, thanks to the local importer VeloVita for getting them in on time! Why wear sunglasses all day? Lots of reasons- you won’t get a headache from the sun, if you get hit in the face with a branch on the single track you won’t get an eye injury, and if you get photo chromatic lenses they’ll adjust to the available light.

Garmin 910XT– how else will I know how slowly I’m running?

Nipple tape– You may not need it, I do.

Spibelt– I’ll most likely have my 2 pieces of spare food in the pocket, and hang my race number on the front using the optional elastic toggle thingys. You can put your race number on to your shirt, but if you put a jumper on, you’ll need to move it. The race number belt is great because you can have as many costume changes as you like and not have to deal with pins……

Socks- I’ll be wearing Injinji socks. The higher versions because I’ll put anti leech stuff under the socks so the little blighters can’t get inside- this really works. If I have time I’ll also try out the new Injinji socks

Before a bush run I always apply a wide area of this from below the sock line to halfway up my calves. Since starting this I have not had an uninvited guest suck my blood, but they could be just biding their time for a mass attack

Skins- Depends on the weather. I wear compression tights when it’s really cold or if I’ll be running through a lot of single track- it’s a small amount of protection. I’m not really an athlete that can tell the difference in performance from compression. Most likely I’ll wear a long version of the Linebreak compression tights, or short ones if it’s good weather. The short ones are good for preventing chaffing when my fat legs rub together.

Shorts with a pocket- I love the Patagonia Ultra shorts. Sadly unavailable now, however they are great because they have nice big pockets on each side. I reserve one pocket for rubbish and clean out at each checkpoint, the other pocket for stuff I need close to hand.

iPod- I’ll use my iPhone 4S with Lifeproof case. I’m going to do a review soon, but let’s just say this case is great for protection, not so great if you like talking to people on the phone. Anybody who knows me understands that my first priority is chatting to other runners, but in both 2011 and 2012 when leaving checkpoint 4 I was alone and loved putting on some choons as I descended the Giant Staircase.

Headphones- the Sennheiser PMX-680i are very comfortable and pretty easy to route the cables. I’ve destroyed one set of these by using accidental violence, so I bought a second set. These have been replaced with the PMX-685i but I purchased the 680i cheaply from MWave

Bodyglide– it’s not fun to put lube where the sun doesn’t shine- but if you don’t, it’s going to hurt bad. Insert prison joke here.

Gloves- for me, something like these is ideal, they have a mesh back so my hands don’t get too sweaty but they give some protection. Yes I know they’re ugly.

Salt Stick capsules– this is very much a personal ‘feel’ thing. In a road marathon I’d have one at 20km and one at 30km to stave off cramps. During TNF I’ll probably have a couple more but can’t really predict how many I’ll need. I always take a few extra, because I ALWAYS see someone on the course who needs them. You should consider what you’ll be taking for cramps! By the way- the super huge ‘this will last me for 10 years’ bottle was only slightly more expensive than the ‘3 marathon’ bottle. Colin Jeftha- Six Foot Track Race Director, says ‘there is no proven link between salts (electrolytes) and cramping. He’s right, but in my experience if I have salt capsules they do relieve the cramps

Aspirin- I’m a simple bloke so a simple solution for headaches seems in order. Might be some Panadol in the first aid kit too but I’m mostly looking to follow Jane Trumpers advice and steer clear of drugs. Unless someone lights a joint up Kedumba, then I’ll try to warm my hands on it.

Compeeds– These things are like magic on blisters and hot spots. If you get a hot spot, stop immediately and slap one of these super sticky things on, the pain will go away and you can carry on- an absolute must in your kit. I gave one to a guy on Kedumba in 2011 and I think he would’ve named his children after me. Poor kids.

Ventolin inhaler – I would never have survived childhood if it wasn’t for Ventolin, and while I’ve only had one asthma attack in recent memory, cold weather can cause EIA- Exercise Induced Asthma. I’d be silly not to carry it.

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