Survey Results

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I’ll report here the results of the survey we ran for people using the North Face 100 Training course, and a little analysis……. final column is how many responses for each category (we had exactly 30 responses in total, most popular answers are bold)

1. Which category below includes your age?

21-29
6.7% 2
30-39
50.0% 15
40-49
33.3% 10
50-59
6.7% 2
60 or older
3.3% 1

Not much to draw from this, except it looks like young people have too much sense to enter this event…….

2. Are you male or female?

Male
66.7% 20
Female
33.3% 10

….and women are smarter than men

 

3. How many years have you been running?

Less than 1 year
10.0% 3
1-2 Years
26.7% 8
3-4 Years
20.0% 6
5 or more years
43.3% 13

A good spread of experience here, with about half of people with 1-4 years of running, and lots with 5 or more years. 3 People with less than 1 year of running and doing the North Face 100- I admire your guts, please don’t die.

 

4. How many Half Marathons have you completed?

None
23.3% 7
1
20.0% 6
2-3
23.3% 7
3-5
10.0% 3
More than 5
23.3% 7

Wow, a really even spread here. I’m hoping that the 3 people with less than a year running experience don’t also feature in the ‘no half marathons’ category. Or if they do, it’s because they’ve been doing Maras and Ultras. I’ve only done one proper half, so I shouldn’t worry too much!

5. How many Marathons have you completed?

None
36.7% 11
1
16.7% 5
2-3
26.7% 8
3-5
3.3% 1
More than 5
16.7% 5

OK, so 36% of us have never done a marathon. Well, a 100km race is very different to a marathon- you don’t have to try as hard, you just have to try for longer………. I’ve done 3 road marathons and one bush, so middle of the road for me here.

6. How many short Ultra Marathons have you completed (43-99km)?

None
53.3% 16
1
13.3% 4
2-3
26.7% 8
3-5 0.0% 0
More than 5
6.7% 2

My Answer here would be 3. This question isn’t as interesting because there aren’t a lot of races in this category. I’ll just say that 10 of you are pretty hardcore.

7. How many long Ultra Marathons have you completed (100km+)?

None
70.0% 21
1
16.7% 5
2-3
6.7% 2
3-5 0.0% 0
More than 5
6.7% 2

Looks like there’s 2 people we need to help with training! A full 70% of us have never undertaken a task like TNF100. You’re about to have some amazing experiences, and loads of people will be happy to help. You will be bowled over by the support some people will give you, and welcome to our special club of nutbags. My answer here would be 1- I’ve also done Trailwalker, but not as a runner.

8. How about your trail running experience?

None
3.3% 1
I’ve done a couple of events
46.7% 14
I’m fairly experienced on the trails
43.3% 13
I’m the running version of Bear Grylls- I only come out of the bush when I’m sick of eating bark
6.7% 2

Nothing beats getting out there and gaining experience, and it looks like a couple of these people can show you how to make a cubby house inside a horse. Nice.

9. What is your goal time for completing the North Face 100?

Just to finish
13.3% 4
Under 24 hours
6.7% 2
Under 20 hours
30.0% 9
Under 18 hours
10.0% 3
Under 16 hours
6.7% 2
Under 15 hours
10.0% 3
Under 14 hours
23.3% 7
I heard Killian is coming back. He’d better watch out for me 0.0% 0

 

Looks like everyone has pretty attainable goals. If you get to a reasonable level of fitness and don’t spend too much time in checkpoints you should beat 20 hours. You should be able to walk the course and beat the cutoff. But don’t be fooled- each hour towards a sub 14 is going to cost you dearly. It’s going to cost you many extra hours training and planning. Let’s see how close we can get together.

Based on these answers I’ve asked a couple of people who are currently trying for a sub 14 hour result to come on board and help out- I can’t help with this as I’m unlikely to make that time this year. Any comments you have are welcome either here or on the FaceBook page HERE

 

Notes for North Face Training

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This is a fuller explanation of what is in the training program, and a few things that aren’t included at

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Unofficial-North-Face-100-Training/315837878435094

Please keep in mind that I’m an amateur like you- this gives you an excuse to ignore or change any of this advice you don’t like…..

Monday Nights

This intervals session changes every week and typically goes like this-

2km warm up

6-15x hard effort runs up a hill or around a circuit that includes a hill, i.e.. do 3 sides of the circuit at 85-90% effort, then one side at a cool down pace

2km back to start

Have a look here for a session that will give you an idea of what to do

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/110275223

-don’t wear your pack to this session

Wednesday Morning

flat, easy 10km- this is an easy version of the back-to-back run that a lot of the more experienced competitors do. Its designed to get your legs used to working when a bit tired, and people using this strategy report that it helps their fitness a lot. Wear your pack

Wednesday Nights

This is a tough session where your effort is in going up the hills, concentrating on keeping your rhythm and not stopping. Small steps, moving your arms, keep your heart rate under control. One of these courses took me 6 weeks before I could do the whole thing without stopping. Wear your pack, over the weeks steadily increase the weight so that you’ll be used to running with it. I guarantee after a while you’ll hardly notice it.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/131832281

Thursday Nights

This is a middle distance run that you do at a slightly faster pace. Hopefully you will find someone to run with that can push you along a bit. If you run with a club, you might step up to a faster group and see how far you can stay with them. Wear your pack.

Saturday Run

If you’re training for an endurance event, this is the most important run of the week. This is known as LSD (Long, Slow Distance) so just concentrate on getting to the end- your other runs will help your speed. It’s not a race, don’t chastise yourself about how long it takes, don’t worry if you have to stop for a drink or snack, but do take it seriously! This is getting you used to being on your feet for hours. Always take water, food, enough clothing, some money, sunglasses and a cap. Yes, you’ll need to wear your pack!

Sunday Run

Some people swear by active recovery, where you go for a shortish run the day after and event. As we get closer to the North Face 100, you’ll be doing major distances every weekend. If you go for an easy trot around your suburb on Sundays, your legs may not feel like they’re made of cement. Don’t forget your pack!

Tapering

Some people recommend a 2 week taper, I feel better with 1 week. You should figure out what is best for you. Taper doesn’t mean stop all activity. You should go for a couple of runs during your taper to keep your muscles awake! But nothing that’s going to require recovery time. For 2010 I did about 16km the Saturday before the TNF100 and 7km on the Wednesday before. This was just about perfect- I was full of energy and bouncing off the walls by the weekend- it really is quite a scary effect!

Diet

I’ve just had a look at some of my results from last year and realised I was in better condition then. I’m a better runner now, however I’ll have to lose a couple of kilos if I wish to beat last years times. (Update, only a week later and I feel great, much more like a runner! Must be those extra km’s)

If you’re like me, your diet will take care of itself. I’m not a dieter, and I eat a lot of junk food. But the closer I get to an important event, the easier it is to say no to chips, pies etc. Especially after Christmas!

Weight Training

As much as you might like running- to become a better runner you’ll have to strengthen other bits of you. When you run on trails, you’ll need good core strength to help you move your legs into position and to stabilise your stride on uneven surfaces. I’ll seek more info from someone who knows what they are talking about to explain more about what’s required.

Cross Training

What a great idea, I’ll take cycling thanks! To be honest, I’ll be struggling to do what’s already been proposed, however it would be nice to add some cycling or swimming. But if I take any more time out from family duties I may be murdered in my sleep. And rightly so.

Running at Night

Unless you’re a tiny Spanish bloke called Killian you’ll probably be doing some of the course at night. You really, really need a good light. Best get a headlamp so you can keep your hands free, make sure you have spare batteries- and for the event use Lithium batteries even though they are eye-wateringly expensive. You really need some night running experience. In 2011 one of our first training runs was through the bush in the dark with bucketing down rain. It was fantastic, and we made some great friends that night.

Suck it up Princess

You need to learn the difference between ‘I can’t’ and ‘I can’t be bothered’. Sometimes running hurts. You get sick of it. It’s raining, cold, hot, overcast or too sunny. Missing a session isn’t going to make any difference to your results, but missing a few might. You need to be able to get to the start line even if it’s blowing a gale, and say ‘I can do this. I’ve run in much worse’. However-

Injuries

Don’t get injured, it sucks. If you have a choice between not completing your training or doing it and getting injured, bypass the training. As they say ‘you have to make it to the start line to have any possibility of finishing’ Actually it’s ‘to finish first, first you have to finish’ but I don’t think many of us are going for the win in a 100km race!

Race Results 2011

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Beyond the Black Stump 35km (fatass)

Six Foot Track 6:15

Canberra Marathon 3:55:00

Mt Solitary 45km 8:37

The North Face 100km 18:39

Gold Coast Marathon 4:08

Willy to Billy 34km 3:42

Coastal Classic 30km 3:39

Trek for Timor 50km 6:25

Fitzroy Falls Marathon 4:50:00

FFFTM- Fitzroy Falls Fire Trails Marathon

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We turned up nice and early for this, my wife intending to do the 10km race and me fearfully contemplating the marathon. After my success of 2 weeks ago, I was underdone, with a poor diet, too much booze, mentally unfit and had a touch of man flu. I said to my wife ‘look at all the old buggers’ and there were lots- I didn’t realise they’d all come for the early start- this race has a fairly tough cutoff of 5:30, so if you didn’t think you could make that you could do the early start. That’s a term of affection by the way- I can only hope to have the kind of energy at that age that these people have.

At 8am we were off, and within the first km had waded through 2 creeks, eliminating my carefully applied leech repellent. But my mind was on something else- survival. I felt like rubbish, and within the first 4km I was reduced to walking. Should I have started with the coffin dodgers? All sorts of bad thoughts going around in my head, but I remembered the talk from Amelia Burton last week- ‘find 3 or 4 words to keep you going, and repeat them as a mantra until you either believe it, or you’re so bored you forget about the pain’ -That’s what she said, isn’t it? Anyway, my mind came up with ‘strong, talented and perseverance’ Where did the ‘talent’ come from? Or was it my subconscious having a laugh at me, subconsciously? I repeated those words to myself for a while, and bloody hell, it worked! Although I’ll have to admit it was probably seeing Michael McGrath and having a long chat with him that also got me out of the slump. He’s great to talk to, but I had to have a ‘bush stop’ and he carried on, looking strong.
Next thing some fairly serious looking campaigners came along and I introduced myself to Jeff and Martin. They were looking for a Six Foot Track qualifier and thus needed to beat 5 hours. I figured I could do a lot worse than stick with them for a while, and we had a good chat about the worlds problems. Just after an out and back section I started to feel better, and ran from about 22-28km by myself. At this point the lack of preparation started to show, and the marathon madness settled in a bit early, I normally get it between 32-35km. Although for some reason at the 30km mark I chose to push a ute out of the mud and up a fire trail by myself. I should have used the energy to run, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. At about 32km I had a lovely chat to Geoff and Jocie Evison, sorry for not remembering our talk after the Coastal Classic, I’m lucky I remembered my name after that one. I had to let them go at about 36km as they were pumping out the km’s and making it look easy, but not for me! From there on it was just a matter of counting down the km markers until we ran through those creek crossings again, then a sharp incredibly muddy uphill to the finish. My time of 4:50:00 was better than expected for a bad day, my only hope if conditions had been good was sub 4:30 and I definitely think that is achievable so I’m quite happy with the result. Also I knew I couldn’t completely trash myself as I needed to drive home, shower and go to Parramatta to DJ at a mate’s fight night. It wouldn’t look good to fall asleep drooling while guys were punching the stuffing out of each other. By the way Jeff and Martin finished in 4:57 and got their qualifier. I saw them later at McDonalds…….then about 60km from home I thought ‘what on earth is that disgusting smell?’ Yes readers, it was me. Luckily my wife was in a different car, she’d been on holidays and met me at the race. And to those who were surprised that I turned up to training on Monday night- I’d forgotten to stretch after the race and was quite sore. An easy 5km on Monday night actually made me feel a lot better!
Should you consider doing this run? It’s pretty flat for a bush run- the Sydney Marathon is about 200m of elevation, FFFTM is 800m, Six Foot Track is 1600m, and it’s a recognised marathon distance. So yes, it’s beautiful, challenging and small which are all things I like. And as you cross the finish line you get a token for a burger which I’m told are awesome- I couldn’t stay for mine unfortunately.
And compared to this lady I didn’t have such a difficult day, however she got something better than a T-shirt to take home-
http://www.smh.com.au/world/the-longest-day-of-my-life-runner-gives-birth-just-hours-after-marathon-20111011-1li18.html
This was a great example of the running talent in the club, with a couple of our guys in the top 10!

Position	 Name 		Time
6	Ian Gallagher             3:02:45
10 	Martin Pengilly           3:11:59
21      Nick Wienholt             3:30:04
34 	Keith Hong                3:42:12
42 	Kieron Blackmore          3:50:18
98	Michael McGrath           4:31:23
107	Jocie Evison              4:43:50
108	Geoff Evison              4:43:51
117	Adam Connor               4:50:00
118   Ray Goddard                 4:50:48
126   Jefferson Taylor            4:57:34
127   Martin Newcombe             4:57:34
132   Jane Trumper                5:09:04

Trek For Timor 2011

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Trek For Timor is a 50km event put on every 2 years in Kangaroo Valley to raise funds for the Remexio area south of Dili in East Timor. They raise funds to provide solar powered lighting to houses, which improves local life as it means not all tasks need to be completed during daylight, and helps save money on fossil fuels. Each unit to provide light to one house costs $160 and every cent goes to the lights. Staff even pay their own airfares to Timor, and top up the commission that Paypal removes with their own money.

After a terrifyingly warm day on Friday, a cool change came through and set us up for a 14-18 degree run through Kangaroo Valley. Perfect running weather, a little cool, no hot sun, and it was only raining a little bit. My team mate and I, Jeff Duncan, stayed at a friends pub in Sutton Forest, waking up at 4.30am -only a few hours after the pub had shut.
A quick breakfast and it’s in the car to the start, at McPhails Trail. There’s no starting gun, you turn up, register and when you’re ready to leave your time is recorded and off you go! We were told that due to National Parks burning off, the event had been reduced by about 4km to around 46km from the original 50km. When we left, our vollie (Volunteer) asked us what time to record, and Jeff said 6:18am, he was out by 2 minutes but I figured if it was important that I could bring up the fact that I was wearing a Garmin that gets its time from a satellite.
….And then 100m from the start is the first major climb. It’s very steep, and according to the map only flattens out after about 6.5km. However we did get to run some flats and it wasn’t as bad as it first looked. A couple of stinging nettles in the legs reminded me I was alive, and some beautiful views including an abandoned farmhouse  Checkpoint 1 @ 13km was at Fitzroy Falls visitors centre, we had passed all of the walkers in the first hour, so I was very curious to hear about who was in front of us. We were told there was a team about 10 minutes in front, which raised my long dormant (previously non existent) competitive instinct. I knew they had to have started before us as no one had passed us, and I also knew they couldn’t have started before 6am, so we were either faster than them, or marginally slower. The trails around here are full of leaf litter and sticks and not well travelled, unlike other trails where the ground is packed hard and you just have to deal with rocks. I mention this because just after CP1 I managed to shoot a large stick into my leg, slashing it open nicely. Jeff said I was just opening up a vein to attract the leeches, which wasn’t very funny as I have a thing about leeches…….. I also seemed to have an uncanny ability to kick up small rocks directly into my ankles, which hurts more than childbirth. I should know, I’m a man. An interesting diversion about halfway to Checkpoint 2 we came across some signs asking us to guess song names, and sure enough every couple of hundred meters was a display relating to a well known song. it was kind of nice to realise my brain was still working. This is where we came upon the team in front- they had 2 female runners and a guy who was carrying a pack big enough for a tent, bbq, and provisions for the night. I had a bit of a look and decided that if we got in front, we probably didn’t need to worry about them catching up. I know, famous last words…….
(that’s mist, not smoke- although we did have some smoke and flames later, left over from the burn off)
I was silent for the next few hundred metres (unusual, I know) and then blurted out ‘I don’t care what happens from here on in, but I will go to my grave knowing that I’ve  been in 1st place in an ultra marathon. Once.’
When we arrived at Checkpoint 2 @27km, they offered us soup, but I figured that this was going to mean boiling the water, getting the soup, waiting for the noodles to soften, waiting for it to cool enough to eat etc. And I knew we weren’t that far ahead of the other team, so we couldn’t relax. Lucky, as we heard the vollies clapping them in just as we headed off!
We arrived at the last checkpoint (Jack’s Corner at 37km) to be told that Parks had given the go ahead for us to use the full course, so we were back up to a 50km event. They had home made muffins! I snarfed down a chocolate and raspberry one which made my day. I was a little fearful here, as the extra distance could allow the others to grind us down, and as we were in front we had no idea how far back they were, but they knew approximately where we were. As usual, the marathon madness settled in- that point about 34-36km where you just don’t want to go on. Your body screams at you to stop, and instead of yelling out ‘victory or death!’ your body would happily settle for death. With only 12km to go it became an internal battle rather than one with another team. For the last 10km there were markers each km, and at 42.2km I pointed to a white road marker and said ‘there you go Jeff, that’s the marathon done!’ I swear I saw him kissing the ‘5km to go’ marker- I would have done it too if I’d had the energy. It’s surprising how long you can go with a little marathon shuffle, the hills don’t look so bad, and I only had to stop when my heart rate got a bit high. The final k’s were made a little easier by seeing so many kangaroos- inquisitive creatures, and by then I could have really used some of their leg strength! I told Jeff not to get too close to the roos as they can eviscerate you quite easily and he turned to me, looked exasperated and said ‘is there anything in the Australian bush that WON’T kill you?’. He has a point. Jeff was the most brilliant team mate during this time, he walked when I walked, ran when I ran and didn’t scream ‘Schnell Schnell!’ even once. No matter, I couldn’t have replied ‘jawohl, herr kommissar‘ anyway.
Yes, mixing my Russian and German, you don’t think anybody will notice, do you? A bit confused at the end, we went through a gate and up towards a school at Glengarry where there were huge banners for a mountain bike race. Were we in the right place? Yes, but the finish was up another mild rise (see, I didn’t say the ‘Hill’ word). Shouts of ‘Go Adam!’ from down the hill (I mean rise) and it turns out there is (I think) Ann Powell off on another crazy mountain bike adventure. Ann, you know those things are dangerous don’t you? Actually I’m pretty sure that’s why she does it…..
So we finished in 6:21 by my Garmin, official time 6:25, but because of the staggered start didn’t know whether we would get handicap honours as well as line honours. The other team, Zahra & Laura (their porter was not an official runner) came in about 15 minutes later and revealed that one of them had sprained an ankle in the first 100m, so if they’d been healthy they probably could have knocked us off! That’s a stunning achievement with an injured team mate. Their total time of 6:43 made us the overall winners! I almost cried with happiness, it was a very emotional moment for me.
Now let me be brutally honest here- I reckon way more than 50% of the club members are faster than me, and only 16 runners were registered. So we only had to beat 5 or 6 teams, it doesn’t make me the next Killian Jornet. But it does make me a very happy old bloke.
Jeff asked me how I would feel on Sunday and I replied ‘I’ll probably have trouble walking, but every time I get a muscle twinge I’m going to remember we won, and laugh my arse off’. I posted on Facebook that I felt like Charlie Sheen as I was ‘winning’ and ‘full of win’ and my kind friends reminded me that I didn’t have a house full of rented ladies, briefcase full of cocaine and a multi million dollar salary. Or tigers blood. Pretty sure I’m not going to get those things running, but I feel like I got a much better deal than Charlie. Now I’m off to write an ebook to make my fortune. It’s called ‘How to go from the bottom 50% of the running pack (Coastal Classic) to winning an ultra marathon in 2 weeks’ So far it’s not a very long book, it just says ‘make sure nobody faster than you signs up’.
Thank you NRG for helping me to achieve something I never thought was possible. Particularly Steve Bruggeman, who puts up with the groans every time he tells us what tonights special torture has in store. Honestly Steve, those swear words come out all by themselves. Every one of you helps me every week, whether you’re out in front making me want to do better, or up the back with me trying to do better! Well, that was my moment of glory, and I enjoyed it a lot, thanks  NRG!
*And special thanks to photographer Ian Watson, who provided these photos*

Coastal Classic 2011- Otford to Bundeena

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Well, I think that one was harder than Willy to Billy- and it was 4km shorter! This is seriously off road trail running, and I believe a bunch of you have done it in training for 6ft. You truly are a tough bunch. Well the contrasts were exceptional- amazing picture postcard views offset by gnarly roots, head hunting tree limbs, sharp drops, black foot sucking mud, brutal climbs and grass that rips your skin. I felt like I’d been out for a big night with Max Mosley (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8305628/Max-Mosley-speaks-about-his-interest-in-sado-masochism.html) after that!
Have a look at the video done by runner Nick Wienholt and his wife Linda
http://youtu.be/DJDnLxhjkic
(Nick saw a snake out on the trail a couple of weeks before the race too)

As far as I know there were only 4 NRG’ers at this race

Martin Pengilly (16th overall and 2:38)
Richard Bettles (29th overall in 2:50)
Nick Lledo 3:33
Adam Connor 3:39

And David Brown, who took a novel approach and ran with the sweep. At least he would have had a little extra time to absorb those gorgeous views.

Well I’m tantalisingly close to finishing in the top 50% of the field. In days gone by Nick and I have been very evenly matched, but lately he has gained some speed- or I’ve lost some. Great work Nick, it’s going to be fun trying to catch you in the future.

In a strange twist of fate, we got to spend some time with Margareta (Gretel) Fortmann. She mentioned that she wasn’t running as she had just done a hundred miler, but was going to do some interviews for the next issue of Trail Runner Mag. I didn’t ask her how she went as I thought it would be a bit rude if she’d had a bad experience. Turns out I shouldn’t have worried- it wasn’t just any hundred miler, it was the UTMB (Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc). And she finished 10th female, the first time an Australian female has ever placed top 10…….
http://margarethafortmann.blogspot.com/

Now about that name. Coastal Classic is nice, but it evokes thoughts of seagulls and waves. It goes from Otford to Bundeena, known as Bundy to the locals- how about  we add 100km to it and call it The Bundy Death Race?
http://youtu.be/VYNtFx391Gk

All the photos in this article were stolen from a Trail Runner Mag post. Please visit and support this new venture. You can download the first issue for free and it’s a great read (click on ‘E-Zine’ in the header)

http://trailrunnermag.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/smiling-faces-at-the-2011-inov8-coastal-classic-finish-line/

Willy to Billy (Mt Wilson to Bilpin or W2B)

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Extremely grateful to Randy who gave a lift there and back to myself, Adam Darwin and Paul Blamire. We managed to solve all of the worlds problems during our time in the car. What a fantastic turn out- heaps of NRG’ers and a wonderful atmosphere. The scones were pretty good however I saw a few people ‘recycling’ theirs early on in the race. Trying to keep a good even pace during the first 13km was impossible, with a few challenging hills, then a great mix of downhill, tarmac, and some of the prettiest bush scenes for the next 13km or so. Everyone had been warning me about the ‘big hill’ that goes from 26km to 32km, but really it wasn’t that bad (either that or I got my second wind). Then a bit of roadside running to the finish. My result of 3:42 was about where I’d expect to be, but I didn’t have any plans except to try to beat 4 hours as it was my first time. I think I may have to give up my fantasy of a sub 14 hour North Face though- that result isn’t really in the ballpark. Never mind, that was a fantastic day out, made even better because I was able to have a shower, steak sandwich and lots of beer afterwards. Congratulations to Sam who once again pulled out a stunning performance to finish in 2nd place, I simply can’t mention all those who turned up for lack of space, but thanks to Randy, Tanya, Rosie and Rodney and others who all came to support us! As I get to know everyone a little better I’m beginning to think you all aren’t so crazy, but there is that running thing you do……..

Here’s the results-
http://results.au.eventdirector.net/List.asp?a=1&EventID=4660&RaceID=RUN&nDBFirst=1

A Sub 14 Hour North Face 100?

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A lot has been written about the race we did a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve read every word- promise! A recurring theme has been people waking up the next day, or week and thinking ‘I could cut an hour/2 hours etc off my time’

(Just in case my wife reads this- it doesn’t mean I’m planning to do the event again next year, I’m doing this as a mental exercise -OK?)

So I got to thinking- what could I do to 5 hours off my time? And the answers came in a flash-

 

Run Faster

OK this is obvious, but no matter how much I change other stuff, some more effort is going to have to come out of me. I might have to get a Jens Voight ‘Shut up Legs‘ T-Shirt, but moving those pins faster will get you part way there. Let’s do the calculations below…..

Watch the Nutrition

For the time I did (18 hours 39 minutes) I think I pretty much nailed the nutrition. However the one time when I really crashed hard was EXACTLY the same place for lots of other people- during or just after Nellie’s Glen. Here’s what I found- using a carb calculator I figured I would need up to 40 gels during the race. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to work out that you’re going to be really sick of gels by then. In fact for about 40km the thought of having a gel made me feel sick. I had them anyway, and didn’t chuck. It was also really obvious that getting substantial protein onboard helped a lot. Boiled eggs (shelled) were really good for me, but I had more trouble eating protein bars. I tried 2 types- Musashi Growling Dog Bar- Berry flavour are pretty hard to chew on the go, and even harder to swallow with a dry mouth. I even cut up 2 of these before the event and put the pieces into sandwich bags, but never got a chance to eat them. I had a whole one at CP4, and it really helped. They have a whole bunch of amino acids that seem to give me a good buzz too. I also had a couple of Atkins Protein bars, mostly rice bubbles held together with flavouring. These were ok, managed to eat a couple, unfortunately hard to swallow when puffing hard uphill, and little bits kept escaping from my mouth, not pretty! So I need to find a small, protein rich product that can be eaten on the go…. any suggestions?

Also I think I’d be better off finding a caffeine free gel- the Endura ones are ok but I’m very sensitive to caffeine. I would prefer to be able to chug down a coke or a coffee at some point during the race and ride that for a while rather than get to the end of the race acting like a zombie with a finger in a light socket.

A Second bag o’ gear

I didn’t think of this until a running buddy told me about her cunning plan. If you have all of your mandatory gear in a dry sack, it can easily be transferred into another bag at CP3. You can have the bladder full, pockets full of snacks, and just transfer the dry sack as you come through the checkpoint. Support crew remove the rubbish from the old one, re fill the snacks and bladder and give it back to you at CP4 etc.

 

Better Foot Care

I had some pretty nasty blisters by CP2 in this race, and it was all because I hadn’t given enough thought to my feet. Over recent times we’d been doing marathon type distances every weekend and I had not been having foot trouble, so I was focussing on becoming leech proof, which was a mistake. I’m going to be trying Injinji socks, so I hope they will help. Trailrunning is pretty harsh on socks though, and good ones cost a bomb! I would put large Compeeds on the base of my foot, just below the toes to prevent this blistering in future.

Carry Less Stuff

I found out at the last minute that there was no bag drop for CP1 and CP2, so I carried the stuff I thought I would need. This included about 20 gels, which nearly lasted me the whole race! Plus some sandwich bags full of Endura powder, most of which were never opened. It turned out to be more difficult than I had anticipated to empty the  powder into the bladder mouth, so I think I would need to

1. Find a better way of storing and pouring or

2. Pre mix the drink or

3.  Just use water and get my nutrition from food

 

Weather

I’ve been told that the optimum temperature for running a marathon is 3 degrees Celsius. Temps hovered around this number during the race so I don’t think we can make any gains here, only losses!

 

Training

I figure I have to put more in to get more out- we maxed out at around 85km per week, and rarely did more than 65km per week. I figure a sub 14 hour time is going to have to include bumping up the km to a max of 120 in a week. Ouch.

My 2011 training was like this

Monday night- intervals 10km

Wednesday night- hills 12-16km

Saturday- LSD run 30-45km

 

I don’t really know how to deal with this- I don’t want to cancel Monday or Wednesday nights- I really believe they work well for me. I could potentially add 10km on to each of these runs before or after, but is that just adding ‘junk km?’ I can also add the Thursday night club run which is up to 16km, and I guess add a 20km ‘recovery run’ on Sunday to get used to running on blasted legs. Does anyone have any opinions on this?

Calculations

Most of this is pretty speculative, but I do have hard figures about how long I spent in each checkpoint so I’ll chuck some numbers around and see what happens.

How long at each checkpoint?

CP1- 10 minutes

CP2- 40 minutes

CP3- 23 minutes

CP4- 50 minutes

CP5- 14 minutes

Total 137 minutes, or 2 hours 17 minutes

 

Looking at my best stops, I actually had time for a wee at CP1, and time for food, a chat, and clothing adjustments at CP5, so I feel it’s perfectly reasonable to expect to cut down the other times. If well organised, a 10 minute transition is easily possible, giving me savings of (137-50= 87 minutes). Hmm, not as much as I thought, so now I still have to find another 3 hours 30 minutes of savings! Martyn Dawson, who had a very experienced triathlete as his crew, managed the supported stops in 8, 11 and 7 minutes respectively, which proves it can be done.

I’ll speculate that if I can find good non caffeine gels, easy to eat protein bars and pre peel my eggs, I might save 15-30 minutes. This isn’t because of efficient eating, but my hope that better nutrition will also help me to run faster, more consistently with less flat spots. Total savings 87+30= 117 minutes.

Second bag of gear- I’ve already taken nearly 90 minutes off my time for speeding up transitions. I know that experts (see below) can nearly halve the time taken again, but can I claim anything extra here? Probably not. No savings

I think the foot care is worth 30 minutes, simply because being able to put your foot firmly on the ground and not wince when you step has got to be worth a few seconds here and there, and over such a long distance….. total savings 117+30 = 147 minutes

If I carry less stuff I’ll run a bit faster, let’s say 15 minutes. Total savings 147+15= 162 minutes

Weather. No savings to be made here. Total savings 162 minutes

So in total I’ve made 162 minutes out of the 300 I needed. The rest is going to have to come from training. Can I get 140 minutes quicker in a year? Yes I bloody can! (Um, Sarah, I mean ‘yes I bloody could if I were to do it again!’)

 

Let’s try this another way. To aim for a sub 14 hour time, we should actually pick a number that is a bit lower to allow for things to go wrong, and a bit of slippage. The closest runner that I know of  would be Sebastian Perhauz, who finished in 13:36. Perfect! These front guys seem to be able to transition in about 4 minutes at the fastest, which would save another half hour if we were able to replicate it. Sebastian got to CP2 in just under 4:20 which is almost exactly 1.5 hours before me. It makes sense that about 40% of his time advantage comes in the first 40% of the race. Let’s look at his other stats.

start to CP2   6.8 min/km

start to CP3   7.27 min/km

Start to CP4   7.6 min/km

Start to CP5   7.97 min/km

Overall 8.16 min/km

So he slowed down by about 20% over 100km, a very impressive effort! My speed went from 9.2 min/km to 11.2 min/km or about 22% -perhaps this shows that I have the stamina but not the basic fitness- yet!

 

OK, forget the stats. If I’m going to finish in sub 14 hours, I guess I’ll need to be about a 3 hour 20 marathoner. We will see how close I can get in a few weeks when I do the Gold Coast Marathon, my current pb is 3:55 for Canberra, I believe another 6 months of hard training would get me close, but is it worth it?

Is it possible for a new runner to beat 14 hours? I’d say yes, but unlikely for me as I’d have to pick up about 250 places in the race to be sub 14 hours. But I also wouldn’t bet against me as in May last year I’d never done a half marathon…..

 

Postscript: I didn’t really get to the point here which was this- If I can save half of the time I need by simply being smarter, then I have a much easier task in training- I now only have to get about 20% faster in my running rather than >30% faster if I assume the whole difference has to come from fitness. I also forgot to acknowledge some other inspirational runners whose writing I’ve relied on a lot for info about this crazy sport.

 

Have a read of Nick Wienholts Enduro Explorer website

http://www.enduroexplorer.com/

And Ian Gallagher, who I sometimes see at training as he breezes past

http://part-time-ultra-runner.blogspot.com/

Also Andy Bowen, who I met for the first time at TNF100 and is a great bloke

http://www.ultramarathonrunning.com.au/

The North Face 100 Race Report

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‘I am strong, I am invincible, I am wom..’ er, hang on a minute!

I started out thinking this was going to be a bit of a call to arms. A challenge to people to try something different. However during the race, and for some time afterwards all I could think of was why? There just didn’t seem to be any point to running 100km, especially in the dark, at freezing temperatures and up and down mountains. So it changed from ‘challenge yourself’ to ‘for goodness sake don’t do the North Face 100’.


I knew that some barrier would have to break for me to complete the race, either physical or mental. In the end it was mental. I’d come off Six Foot Track, Canberra Marathon and Mt Solitary with nothing left, and none of those events even reached 50km! I knew that it was theoretically possible for people to run 100km, but I didn’t really believe it. And I didn’t really believe I could do it. My race plan had estimates of 8.5 hours to checkpoint 3 (54km) then lots of walking from there. Nobody is more amazed than me that I was able to run a good part of the last 46km. But I can’t really tell you what I thought when Killian described the 100km course with 4500m of elevation ‘fast and flat’, but it’s a two word expression that starts with ‘pig’s’ and rhymes with ‘farce’.

So here was my race- Started in Wave 3 which turned out to be exactly right, and ran with Martyn Dawson and Michael Hahn for a while. Partway through, Martyn streaked ahead and I didn’t see him for the rest of the day. Maybe I’ll try a 3 week taper next time too, Martyn! Checkpoint 1 at 18km was a madhouse, trying to figure out whether to take some layers off, fill my bladder, empty the other one, eat something and get out. In at 2:55 race time and out at 3:01, pretty much on schedule. The next section was along the beautiful Narrowneck ridge, down some nice wide firetrail and a short bit of single track to Tarro’s ladders. Much nicer going down here with a safety setup, absolutely terrifying when you have to climb down the iron spikes in the rock, which we did in training. Down the ridge and follow some fire trail to checkpoint 2- 38km.

By this stage I was wishing I’d put a little more thought into foot care, I was getting big blisters on the balls of both feet, so I went to the medical tent when I got to the checkpoint. In at 5:48 race time (predicted 6:00) out at 6:33. Or to be more accurate, behind the food tent on the grass. There was a sorry assortment of blokes waiting, with a very harassed looking guy repeating ‘I’m not a doctor, but by the look of that, you should pull out now’. One of the guys who had trained with us, Jeff Duncan had turned his ankle and was leaving the course. I asked for some Compeeds, and 20 minutes later the guy came back and said ‘um, I don’t have any but we could strap you up’. Strapped I was, and after entering checkpoint 12 minutes early, I was now half an hour late!

The next section was one we were not allowed to train on. Ironpot Ridge is on private property, and when we got to the climb all I could say was ‘oh, you are f@cking kidding me!’ The climb was bad, the out and back along lichen covered rocks with sheer drops on either side was worse, but the climb down through slippery, talc like dust was just knee destroying. I was actually glad to see a hill ( a nice low hill) after that. Which took us back to some private dirt roads, a decent hill, then single track into checkpoint 3 (54km). In at 8:54 race time (predicted 9:00) out at 9:17. This was the first checkpoint that crew were allowed, and my long suffering wife was there with a cheer! A bit of macaroni and cheese, some delicious salty chips, a boiled egg, refill of bladder and salt tablets, and I was off a little after 4pm, getting back on schedule.

Checkpoint 4 is ‘only’ 16km away, but somehow, this is where the wheels fell of for me. Along Nellies Glen road I was jogging easily, picking off a lot of people who were now reduced to walking, but everybody was still in good spirits. A lot of experienced runners had advised getting up Nellie’s Glen during daylight, but I knew this wasn’t going to happen, so I strapped the head torch on and kept going. At 5.12pm it was still quite light and I commented to someone that we might have 30 minutes of light left. Wrong, at 5.22pm the headlamp went on. At some points up Nellie’s you can see a tiny patch of sky through the trees, the problem was that it wasn’t getting any bigger! At the top of the stairs, we head off onto another track which eventually leads us to some roads and the Katoomba Aquatic Centre, and checkpoint 4 (65km). I had glanced at my watch when I went in, and seeing that it was after 7pm, it looked like my hopes of a sub 20 hour finish were dashed. I was shaking from the cold, I hadn’t eaten enough, my water bladder was still full, and I needed help to get my pack off. I told my wife Sarah that I was ready to pull the pin and drop out. She asked me how the last section was and I tried to describe coming up Nellie’s Glen and just burst into tears. Some macaroni cheese, another boiled egg, water and a protein bar. I looked at my watch and discovered it was only 6.12pm, so I’d been delirious when I checked the time earlier. In at 11:14 race time, out at 12:04. Back on schedule, feeling stronger, I picked up a pot noodle on the way out and was out the door by 7pm. That checkpoint cost me nearly an hour, but I had missed all the signs of dehydration and the cost of not eating.

At this stage if you’re in ok condition you know you’ll finish. A kind of calm settles in and you just want to get the last 35km over with. The stage from checkpoint 4 to 5 is the longest in the race at 26km and also one of the most feared, because it takes in a climb up Kedumba Pass, an 850m climb in 8km. Not steep, but relentless. I’d never been down the Giant Staircase either, so it was a bit of a shock to go down more than 800 stairs in the pitch black, it felt like journey to the centre of the earth! Federal pass had some good runnable sections, and finally hitting Kedumba was a bit of a relief. Not that I enjoy an 8km hill, but there was no pressure to run it, and I knew that checkpoint 5 was at the top. I got to the checkpoint a bit after 11pm (89km), and knew that I was in good shape to finish sub 20 hours. In at 16:12 race time, out at 16:25. Why was this important? You get a bronze buckle for a sub 20 hour finish…….

This was my 2nd quickest checkpoint, my wonderful wife had bought some lemonade to put in the bladder (have you ever tasted Endura Optimiser? It tastes like recycled bile. Unfortunately my body likes it). A bit of food, a quick pep talk from Keith Hong  and off we go. A nice little trot up Tablelands Road into a bunch of houses, then off into the bush again. By this stage I was getting tired, and my feet weren’t reacting quickly enough, leading to some stumbles over rocks and I was forced to slow down a bit. But I knew from the stats that if I just ran a bit more than other people, I’d beat 2:40 for the stage (2:40 is average for that stage for sub 20 hour finishers) and beat 19 hours for the race. I started counting the number of people I passed. By the end I had passed 26 people and even people who got past me (a couple of guys doing marathon pairs -where you run half the race as a tag team) eventually succumbed to my grim determination to get home! I reckon I picked up 40 places in the last 2 stages, I have no explanation for how it was possible after feeling so bad at cp4. My last stage time of apx 2:15 put me through the gates at 1:40am, exhausted and happy. I was still buzzing from the caffeine in the gels, so I had a shower and asked Sarah to put out some clothes for me (if I’d dressed myself it could have been an epic fashion fail). After the shower I bypassed the clothes and went straight to bed. My final time of 18:39 was everything I had hoped for.

It turns out I was kidding myself a bit about the number of people I passed. When looking at the stats I spent so much time at the checkpoints that I needed to pass those people to keep my place! In reality I lost 47 places between checkpoint 2 and leaving checkpoint 4, then made up 56 places between cp4 to finish, giving an overall advantage of only 9 spots. Martyn Dawson had a very experienced triathlete crewing for him, and got him in and out quickly. Martyn lost 13 places between checkpoint 3 and 4 (the only time he lost any places), but overall made up 63 places to get 16th in his age category. Congratulations Martyn!

A few things I learned about Ultra Runners-
1. there are noises in the bush that you can’t explain by ‘squeaky gravel’
2. Nobody cares if you have squeaky gravel
3. Ultra runners want to help you, sprinters want to beat you
4. Normal people don’t understand. My mum asked me if I felt like I was going to die!
5. Ultra runners have an opposite relationship to food than dieters- ‘which one of these has more kilojoules? OK, give me that one’

Quote of the day was from Pat, who I met halfway up Kedumba- ‘I’m going to bloody finish this even if it puts me in hospital again’. Um, ok……. second place goes to Tom Landon-Smith, the Race Director commenting about the amount of blood left on the course- ‘it’s not a mountain bike race people!’

Now I don’t ride my road bike much, and it’s considered a bit dangerous around Sydney, but if running isn’t dangerous- why does my mandatory equipment include a snake bite bandage, first aid kit, space blanket, whistle, compass, extra food and 2 lights?

OK, I promised my wife I’d never do the whole thing again, but who wants to do marathon pairs relay next year?

Finally, a salute to my fellow runners. I met a lot of people that day and night, swapped a lot of stories and took my mind off the pain. NRG had quite a few entrants and I’m ecstatic to say we all finished. Special mention to Sebastian Perhauz who beat 14 hours and received a silver buckle, and Ian Gallagher who has a freakish running talent and came 15th! And apologies to the ladies who I didn’t put on the list before the race, I went a bit cross eyed when scanning the 700 entrants. Here’s a few you may know, not all are NRG members-

367 Ian Gallagher11:32 and 15th overall!
205Sebastian Perhaus 13:36
396Rob Mattingly16:50
780Martyn Dawson16:59
577Michael McGrath17:01
95Helen Macdonald17:24
833Michael Hahn18:20
27Adam Connor18:39
648Margaret Krempff21:20

To all of you, I’m in awe of your achievement. And special thanks to those who donated time, maps, advice and so on for the training. Especially Steve Bruggeman who put the training course together.

If you need some motivation to do something crazy like The North Face 100 next year, consider this- as of May last year I had never run a half marathon distance. Ian also claims to be a new runner but I think it’s more likely that he has been cloned from the sweat glands of Haile Gebrselassie and Paula Radcliffe. And he takes my ribbing with surprisingly good humour so I’m hoping to get away with it one more time.

Maybe I have an unhealthy attraction to things with ‘Ultra’ in the name. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m off to Google ‘Ultra Drinking Championships’

cheers

Adam