Race Report - The Dual Off Road Half Marathon

Last weekend I ran in the Dual - it was an awesome day out running around a couple of islands in the Hauraki Gulf.  I ran the 21km event which took you through tons of differing terrain and it was really challenging!

There wasn't much chance to look at those views!

The morning is so relaxing when races start at 11am - no early alarms and the usual morning routine applies.  I turned up to the ferry terminal around 8:30 for the 9:00 sailing over to Motutapu Island, and it wasn't long until we boarded, landing at Home Bay about half an hour later.

Home Bay is a beautiful setting and it was a short walk from the wharf around to event base.  One of the mountain bike races was about to start and I noticed the toilet queue was short, so I took advantage of this. Shortly afterwards the queue was really long so I'm glad I did!  I hung around the start area and visited the stands - ate some watermelon at Partner's Life, booked a massage at Bodyneed, watched the first triathlete's navigate T2, dropped off my gear bag, then finally watched the triathlon winners come in just before our 21km race briefing.

After the race briefing we headed towards the start line, where I noticed a short toilet queue at the edge of the camping ground so I joined it.  By the time the starting horn went off I was first in the queue and decided it was worth waiting and starting the race a couple of minutes late.  I don't think I will do this again as it is amazing how much this puts you behind!  I caught up to the tail-enders and wound my way up through the field, trying not to overdo it and begin too fast.  The first portion of the race was uphill, and I ran most of it until near the top where it got steeper.

Which bring us to the elevation profile of this course, but first some geography for those not familiar with my city and surrounds:

Hauraki Gulf with Rangitoto Island and Motutapu Island (they are linked by a short causeway)

21km course marked in blue, the start/finish is in Home Bay (top right)

At the first descent I took off in an effort to gain some ground, but the gravel road but soon turned into a paddock that was pitted with potholes.  I tried to go as fast as I could without rolling an ankle - a couple of times it was close but I reached Rangitoto in one piece!  

Rangitoto is actually a volcano formed by an eruption 600 years ago and the island is comprised of lava fields with regenerating forest.  Upon crossing the causeway to Rangitoto it was noticeably hotter as the black rock heats up in the sun.

I struggled here, 5km into the race!  Even though the incline was slight to begin with my heart rate shot up at the slightest exertion.  I ran/walked and managed to keep most of the group in sight.  

Struggle Street

As we ascended and the trail got steeper it became a walk for most of us, which made it easier for me to keep in touch, and I passed a few people who looked like they had started too fast - well, faster than me anyway!

Most of the trail so far was rocky 4WD track, but near the top of the volcano we veered off into a narrow bush trail that I never knew existed.  We were winding, climbing, descending - over tree roots and plush leaf-laden forest floor one minute, then over rocks and open lava fields the next.  It was slow going, and if it weren't for the other runners I would have wondered if I was still on course!

I tripped several times here.  In the contrasty light of the bush it was difficult to see rocks and roots, plus I was probably following too close behind the runner in front of me as I was itching for an opportunity to pass.  The chance never arose, and I didn't push it anyway as I appeared to be stuck behind quite a queue.  After an age of slow running we finally came out into the open where my impatience got the better of me and I hightailed it down to Rangitoto wharf.  I passed several runners on this downhill, but none passed me - net gain!

The easy part!

The next stage was around the Rangitoto coast towards the causeway.  This was one of the rockiest and most technical trails I have run on - and had injury written all over it.  I essentially I ran 10 steps/walked 10 steps the whole way!  I just found it too hard to concentrate on more than that at one time, but even this way I was slowly gaining on people and overtaking them.  I guess I passed 20 runners along this stage, unfortunately two of them were taking it easy because they had turned their ankle :(

The volunteers out on the course were plenty - and were so supportive!  I had to giggle at a couple though - when the girl in front of me stopped and asked how much further it was to go - they replied "about 5 mins more of this knarly track that you're on, and then another 3km to finish".  I looked at my watch which said we were only about 13km into the race, but she had ran ahead and didn't hear me, and the volunteer gave me a sneaky wink!  Moral of the story - never believe a volunteer when it comes to distance!

At Islington Bay the trail became easier and you could actually run - yeeha!  I settled into a groove and tried to make the most of this flat section before the causeway, because after that was a loooong uphill.

The final uphill goes on forever - a gradual 2.5km climb to the trig station and I'm pleased to say I ran some of this!  Of course I chose to run the gentler portions, sometimes this meant run 30 secs/walk 30secs, but it is all progress and I had no-one pass me.  I made sure the walk portions were power-walking and even this allowed me to gain 3 places further up the field.  You can see a definite pattern here - my goal in the later stages of a race is clearly to pass people!

At the trig station the end was in sight, and I tried to make the most of the downhills.  By now we were running on 4WD track in paddocks, and parts of that were a sheep track, or quite rutted, so you still had to be careful with your footing.

Finally the last descent was upon us.  I love final descents!  I don't know where I got my energy from but I passed lots of people and two mountain bikers!  Closer to the finish I caught a glimpse of yellow t-shirt on my rear shoulder and I thought "no way" so I sped up and sprinted to the finish with this guy on my shoulder the last 100m.  I'm not sure where that energy came from either!

Before the race I checked out last year's results, and the middle finisher's time always gives me an indication of how long I'll take - it was about 3 hours.  I was pretty close at 2:58!  Overall I felt quite happy with my performance, but the midfield was slightly ahead of me today as I was 28/52 in my age group, and 92/165 overall women - room for improvement.  Next year - I will be back!

I must be a runner because...

Have you ever had one of those days where you are continually reminded of something, where things uncannily pop out of the blue, and it just doesn't want to go away?  Well yesterday I was continually was reminded that I was a runner.

When I woke up I had a message reminding me to pick up my race number for The Dual after work:

But first some shopping was in order.  At the shopping centre we happened to park next to a car with the number plate RUNN3R - can you believe that?  All I knew is that I liked that person.  Unfortunately this running blogger had no camera to capture this significant event!

I was supposed to be shopping for shoes to wear to a wedding, but the only ones that caught my eye were running shoes - sigh, not the best match for my dress.

We proceeded to race registration, where I picked up my number.  I purchased a Marmot tank top which was calling my name, and among the goodies in the race bag was a Total Sport flyer - with my running quote on the back!

Proof they use quotes from real people!

Back home I flicked through an Outdoor Fitness magazine, and tried their quiz on how to find your perfect match sporting-wise:

It was trail running!
But I kinda knew that ;)

And trail running is exactly what I am doing tomorrow  - which may explain why I am so excited and  have running continually on the mind.  In the morning I'll be boarding the ferry out to some islands in the gulf for a half marathon up, down and around them!

Plus it is Friday night and I'm going to bed early - now that is a sure sign of a runner!

Sometimes you can't do it all

There hasn't been much to report lately about my running because I haven't been doing that much.  And what I have been doing felt like real hard work, and disillusioned would be a good word to describe how I felt about that.

I guess the reason is that I have had a lot on lately.  At work I have been superbusy, quite literally working at breakneck pace with long hours - that's the fashion industry for you.  I have also been teaching sewing at night school, as well as making a friend's wedding dress.  I'm not complaining about any of this, but it does zap energy from other sources - and that source is running.  And housework.  And I guess, because of my absence here, that includes blog writing too.

The worst part was missing one of my favourite races of the year, the Coastal Challenge.  I really wanted to do the 11km and beat my time from last year.  Now that made me cranky!

The fact is, sometimes life gets in the way of running.  Sometimes running comes further down the list of things to do.  Sometimes as much as you want to, you can't do it all.

But you can still do a lot!  The Dual is this weekend and I'm all signed up and getting excited about another adventure.  The 21km event (there are other distances too) runs up, down and around Motutapu and Rangitoto Islands out in the Gulf.  Just to give you an idea, here's Rangitoto, Motutapu lies just behind:

As long as I don't miss my ferry it should be fun!  In my current state I guess I'll be taking it easy (except on my beloved downhills :) but it will be good to establish a base time to beat next year.

Happy running!

Highlight of My Weekend

I went to Bivouac and found something I'd been wanting for ages:

 They come in a box:

And they're my size!

I've oogled Inov8's shoes at every Total Sport event I've been to, but never seemed to have the time to try them on.  And I'd rather not buy my shoes online.  So when I discovered that Bivouac were now selling the whole range I headed straight downtown and snapped up some RocLite 268's.

I'll be wearing these on the Coastal Challenge in two weeks, so took them out for a long run to make sure they worked for me.  I am happy to report that they felt great and gave me no problems - I love the grip, the laces that stay tied, and the roomy as toe box - hopefully this means no more bruised toenails*.

There is something far more exciting about buying trail shoes than road shoes don't you think?  These shoes are going to take me to places and fuel experiences that I'll never forget, unlike the mostly unmemorable pavement pounding that my road shoes do.  I'm looking forward to lots of exciting adventures in these!

Do you get excited when you invest in new running shoes too?  Yip
How many pairs do you have in rotation?  3 road, 2 trail

*update for those interested - I think it's going to stay put!

One Disadvantage of Running

I have officially entered the realms of hard-core trail runners with my latest accessory, the to-die-for must have in the trendiest shade of bilirubin for running fashion victims around the world.  You guessed it, a black toenail.

I felt nothing during the Tussock Traverse 26km run, it felt a little bruised a couple of days later, and when I saw a tinge of purple peeking out from under my toenail polish, I removed it to reveal this shiner.  Jealous, no?

What to do?  My internet research (btw don't google black toenail images...) says either leave things to nature, or lance it.  I feel mine is bad enough that the toenail will eventually fall off, so in a vain effort to prevent this I had a stiff Chardonnay and lanced it with a sterilised needle.  This only involved 2mm of poking from the top end and I didn't feel a thing, but lots of serum flowed out and relieved the pressure.  I'll keep you updated ;)

Googling also reveals that black toenails are quite common among long distance runners, especially trail runners.  Here are some of the causes so you don't get one too.  After all, I don't want any of you turning up to the party with the same shade on your toenails ;)

• Close fitting toe-box.  In your long distance/trail shoes allow plenty of room in the toe box for forward slipping when running downhill, and for swelling of the feet in the heat and over long distances.  Some people recommend buying a shoe 1/2 a size larger, I'm not sure I agree with this as it creates other issues (heel fit, flex , etc), I think buying a shoe that encompasses your toe spread is key.  I wore my Mizuno Wave Riders which are quite close in the toe box, although I have never had issues with them before.  My mission now is to seek out some dedicated trail shoes.
• Tying laces too loosely.  Use a lacing technique to prevent forward slide on the downhills.  Again this is related to room in the toe box of your shoe, but I will experiment with this.
• Untrimmed toenails.  Keep them short!  (I cut mine especially for the race a couple of days before.)  

More on topic links I found:

Yo Mamma runs' experience:  http://www.yomommaruns.com/2013/08/how-i-drill-toenails-and-other.html

http://www.jeffgalloway.com/learn/black-toenail/

http://runnersconnect.net/running-injury-prevention/toenail-injury-from-running/
http://www.lazyrunner.com/black-toenails

OK, that's probably enough.....
How was your weekend?
Have you ever had a black toenail?

Race Report:Tussock Traverse 26km

I did it!  I ran the Tussock Traverse 26km -  traversing east to west between Mt Nguaruhoe and Mt Ruapehu - my longest run ever!

By the way, this photo was taken the evening before the race when I was excited.  I am not sure I was capable of jumping at all the evening of the race!

But let's start at the very beginning...

We drove down to the Chateau Tongariro on Friday afternoon, in time for the evening registration.  Registration involved a gear check (jacket, hat, thermals, emergency blanket) and a clean shoe check (to prevent Didymo spreading into Tongariro National Park), before picking up our bib, transponder, and goodies*.  I bought some more GU products and admired the (weightless) Marmot jackets (maybe next year!).

I didn't sleep that well, and woke before my alarm - plenty of time for some Weetbix and blueberries, and some last minute organisation (got in a little tizz about closing the bladder on my hydration pack until I realised I had folded it wrong...!)  and I made it to the 26km runner's bus in plenty of time.

The bus journey took us right around the mountains to the start - well almost.  We had to transfer to a smaller shuttle to the actual start line, which was up a 4WD road towards Tukino ski field.  It was a bumpy will-we-get-stuck-in-the-sand lunar alpine experience unlike anything else in NZ, that transported my mind back to my backpacking-around-the-world days.   Here's a quick snap out the shuttlebus's back window...

The first thing to do at events like this - even if you don't want to go - is join the toilet queue. You can guarantee by the time it is your turn you will need to!

You can always leave the queue if you want, but here there wasn't much else to do!  That is the start line down there, with Mt Ruapehu still shrouded in morning cloud.

If you are a runner you will naturally have noticed that uphill gradient.  This race starts with a 2km climb, probably to spread out the field for what is to come.  Here we are at the race briefing ready to face the challenge:

By the start Mt Ruapehu had cleared, and the initial uphill grind began.  It was actually good to get moving as it was quite cold and windy, and I had made the decision to strip down to my T-shirt for the race.  The climb soon warmed me up, and I passed a lot of runners later stopping to undo their packs and remove their layers so was glad of my decision.  I could have done with a buff to cover my ears in that wind though!

At the crest the views were awe-inspiring, and I had to stop and take a photo even though it cost me my age group win ha ha;)

As you can see by that line of runners we descended steeply into a rocky valley, and from there it was a gradual descent for the next 8km, bar a couple of uphill/downhill sections (those hills in the middle distance).  I may have run a bit harder than I should have here. I felt good and wanted to take advantage of the downhill, but possibly paid for it later.

By that, I mean I hit a bad spot.  By the 12 km mark I was jog/walking, and not just the uphill portions either.  I began to think that I was not even halfway, yet physically done.  I had gone out too fast. All those people I had passed were now passing me.  I took a second gel and jog/walked the next couple of kilometres.  I fell behind the group I had been running with.  Can I tell you that I actually started crying here?

I wimpered feeling sorry for myself for a hundred metres or so until I heard someone run up behind me, which prompted me to get my act together. "Suck it up, Buttercup" suddenly popped into my head and seemed to jolt me back into a better space.  I know this saying came from reading Christy's blog, so I've gotta give you a big thanks Christy!

I nibbled on some dates and pecans while I struggled onwards and upwards, walking the hills, jogging the flats, taking a tumble (grazed knee), and running the descents as fast as I could.  Eventually the kilometre markers started popping up with more regularity.  The course headed west between the mountains following a relatively dry river bed, sometimes crossing its tributaries, sometimes serpentining through knee-high scrub, but mostly across gravelly tussock-strewn desert.

I forgot to charge my watch fully and it died somewhere around the 21km mark!

At one stage I looked up to Ruapehu and suddenly realised we had almost made our way to the other side of the mountain.  Soon we came to the Tama Lakes (which were dry) and I knew we would soon be joining the 13km course that I ran last year.  Something about being familiar with the course gives you a new confidence, or maybe it was the end in sight, but I felt a lot better by now.  My hips were stiff but my legs still managed to shuffle along on auto mode.  I even found myself running some little uphill sections!

Finally we reached the long descent into the bush.  My legs were a bit shaky on the downhills by now so I had to be a bit careful.  Last year I skipped happily past the Taranaki Falls like mountain goat, but this year I felt like an ultramarathoner just trying to make it to the finish in one piece!  The bush provided welcome shade, and I concentrated on lifting my feet here as this is where I tripped on a root last year.  I did come across a runner who had fallen, she looked pretty shaken but was OK and being assisted by others.  

The last kilometre of this course is an uphill climb out of the bush and towards the Chateau - which I mostly walked.  I managed to put on a running performance for the photographer though!

Thank you photos4sale for the awesome shots and cheery face out on the field!

 Boy, was I glad to see the course marshalls directing us into the downhill track about a hundred metres to the finish!  With newfound energy I ran as fast as I could, passing a couple of runners, through the puddle, over the bridge to the green lawn and the finish line.

Whew!  I sat down to take off my transponder and didn't want to get up!  My hips felt really tight, but a lot better after a few stretches.  My finish time was 3:37:59 - that's 12/29 in my age group, and 49/103 women overall.  It was a great feeling to lie down and relax at the event base with some GU recovery drink and a Speight's Cider (probably counter-productive, I know!)

Thanks to Total Sport and the awesome sponsors - Marmot, GU, Rocktape, Inov8, Speights, Jack's Links, Blackmores and the Chateau Tongariro :)

 My husband had a good day too, running the 13km and finishing second in his age group!  He asked me yesterday if I would do the 26km again next year or stick to the 13km.  I hesitated, but said 26km.  Today I know I wouldn't hesitate - it is such an amazing experience I couldn't let another opportunity to run it pass.

Go on - put it on your bucket list!

Summer Running

I officially declare it too hot to run in Auckland.  Every run lately has been a suffer-fest, so I advise that everyone stay at home in air conditioned comfort rather than attempt feats of endurance outside.  

running skirt, knobbly knees, and Mizuno WR16's #2

Today I wore my HRM to make sure I took it easy on my long run (short 12-13k taper version), and I can assure you that my HR was about 10bpm higher than usual. Especially when I saw all these people lazing around doing things like this:

Pt Chevalier Beach

Do they not have anything better to do?  I briefly considered what their heart rates might be but that only made me feel hotter, and look at the blatant cheek of this person:

...So you get the picture - today's run wasn't great.  I'm starting to think I've over committed myself with next weekend's 26km off-road run.

Full of negative vibes and convinced I would be walking most of the Tussock Traverse, I turned down a road for home and saw this sign speaking to me:

 Race mantra sorted :)

Tussock Traverse Training

Training lately has been aimed at the Tussock Traverse 26km mountain run which is coming up on January 25th.  Last year I ran the 13km event and had such a great time that I have decided to step up to the 26km - the true 'traverse' that crosses the volcanic plateau between Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe.  Exciting, no?  It will be my longest distance so far, and I'm starting to feel slightly err, intimidated.

I've found running lately really hard, I think due to the humidity we've been having here in Auckland, so hopefully running will feel a lot easier down in the central plateau. I've been following a half marathon training plan that I found in an old Runner's World magazine, but it has been interrupted a few times.  After the Speight's West Coaster my quads took almost a week to recover, and what I thought was an easy jog/walk up and down Baldwin Street in Dunedin, which just happens to be the steepest street in the world, also took a few days to get over.  Moral of that story - never cool down with a 4 hour car journey!

I'm pleased to report that I did run regularly on my holiday (which was mainly driving around the South Island visiting family).  The most memorable run was an awesome 9km trail from Queenstown to Sunshine Bay around the edge of Lake Wakatipu - while the sun rose over the Remarkables (heartjumps!) (I wish I took my phone and some photos to show you!) (better still, come and run it yourself!)

Just to give you an idea, here are a couple of shots from the next day as we drove up the lake to Glenorchy:

Back home in Auckland I have done a long 17km run, and hope to get an even longer one in next week before I start to taper for race day.  The 17km was a struggle - it was 28C, 95% humidity and I decided to run up Mt Eden first.  At the top I felt so bad I considered turning for home, but the descent was kinda fun so I stuck to my original plan and continued on to One Tree Hill.  At this time of year my small water bottle is my friend on runs around town as I stop to refill it at water fountains as needed, but I struggled to find water on the route home - and silly me had no money!  Eventually I ran past a cafe with a beautiful looking jug of iced water sitting tantalisingly close to the entrance, and they didn't mind a hot, sweaty, salt encrusted runner quenching her thirst and appreciating a moment of air-conditioning.

(PS: I've since got another 17km run in.  It was slightly cooler and I felt a lot better for it!  I planned on 20km but my route worked out shorter than expected, and my knee started to get sore towards the end so maybe that was a good thing.)

Because the Tussock Traverse is in a mountain environment there is some compulsory gear for the race, like a jacket, thermals and stuff.  I just need to get an emergency blanket, and maybe another small water bottle to carry if it is going to be warm - my hydration pack carries 2L which is the minimum recommended, and there are no aid stations out on the course.

As far as shoes go, I'll wear my oldest pair of Wave Riders.  I've tried, but I don't feel comfortable running in my current trail shoes, so it is now official that they are retired to hiking duty.  Maybe one day they will be hiking here:

At the (eastern) start of the Routeburn Track

Do you have an event coming up that is exciting you? Yes!
Did you do any awesome holiday running? Yes!
What is next on your running wish-list? Trail shoes, Wave Rider 17's, sunglasses, a better sunblock!

My Year of Running

Happy New Year everyone!  

Now that it is 2014 it is time to look back at last year in running - overall it looked like this:

You can see when I was injured in May/Jun, and in July my half marathon training built up until October's taper, and a subsequent recovery period in Nov.

Ignoring the fact that there were a few runs not recorded on my watch during the year (especially in Apr/May when it was in for repair), I ran a total of 1231 kilometres for the year and spent 144 hours running.

I'm getting faster!  My pace trend is going up and my average pace is now 6:47/km (although that's a rough guide as I don't stop my watch at drink stops/traffic lights/intervals/etc).

Let's look at my 2013 goals and see how successful I was.

You know I love Total Sport and I did run as many of their races as I could, although my injury prevented me running as many as I wanted to, especially the winter Xterra series where I only completed race 1.  My Total Sport list for the year goes like this:

Tussock Traverse 13km 

Coastal Challenge 11km

Xterra Shakespear 10.7km

Speight's West Coaster 13km

All great memories, and I hope to do a lot more in 2014.

I also ran Round the Bays and race one of the Unitec run series.  I don't plan to do either again - Round the Bays is so crowded it is pointless, and the Unitec run series isn't my type of thing, especially if it clashes with my training plan.

The Auckland Half Marathon was my goal event for the year, and I ran a time of 2:10 which I am happy with for my first half.  Plus it gives me a new goal to beat next time!
  
That's a total of 7 events, not quite the 13 in 2013 that I planned for!  This goal expired when I became injured, but also because I realised that completing a set number of races didn't excite me. My motivation to run a race is the challenge, the experience, and the location, rather than the quantity.

This year I failed also in staying injury free.  My ITB flared up on a training run and took several months to settle down.  It still begins to niggle if I don't keep up my foam rolling and strengthening exercises, so I live in fear am pretty good at doing them (semi)regularly.  This year I also attended several free Yoga sessions at Lululemon, and Pilates for Runners at my local physio.  I enjoy the Yoga and intend to go more regularly, and I believe Pilates really helps me stay straight, balanced and hopefully injury-free as a consequence, so I'll definitely keep that up too!

I haven't done anything about joining a running group. I'm not sure I want that commitment now, part of what I like about running is you can do it anytime, anywhere, when you feel like it.  All independent like.

Personal Bests - wow, failure plus!  I set two really easily attainable 5 and 10 km goals and haven't even attained one - because I haven't run a proper race!  Actually I did run a 5km race but I was recovering from injury, and I wasn't too far off my 28min goal, finishing in 28:39.  I expect my goal of a 60min 10km should be attainable as I ran one in 63mins on a training run.  I'd like to make some personal bests a priority this year!

Purchases throughout the year went according to plan - and more!  I found a great running bra in the Under Armour Armour Bra.  I also bought some Salomon Crossmax trail shoes which are a great shoe but I'm not sure they are for me - my runs in them seem harder and I gravitate naturally to my Mizuno Wave Riders. Now they were a good buy - I now have two pairs!  I'm excited to try a pair of  Wave Rider 17's soon.  I'm turning into a real Mizuno girl with a pair of Sayonara's and eyeing their Ascend trail shoe too...

An additional purchase was a heart-rate monitor.  I wear this on my easy and long runs to make sure I run slow.  Another great purchase was my hydration pack - I love just looking at it because it oozes adventure, and I'm looking forward to putting it to good use next year - whoops, this year!

Have a good one!

Race Photos and DOMS

My quads were still ouchy-ouchy five days after my race last Saturday!  I have previously experienced DOMS for a couple of days, but never that long!  Consequently Tuesday's speedwork was abandoned, and I did an easy 5km on Wednesday to try and ease back into things.

I guess my quads took a bit of a hammering on the downhills.  In training I usually run downhills quite carefully as I'm a bit scared of stressing my ITB, so maybe I should try a bit harder in future so my muscles are better prepared.

This one makes my quads twinge just looking at it!

I bought some race photos - they were only $10 for the lot, and bloggers need photos!  Plus the photographer was friendly and fun and I felt like supporting him - even if he did capture me walking!

It is also really nice to look back on your photos later and remember the event, so you know not to enter again to enter the longer event next year.

While I was waiting in the portaloo queue on Saturday, I was approached by the lady behind me who was interested in my hydration pack.  I had fun showing her all the pockets and things and how it didn't jiggle or chafe - I hope I didn't sound like a sales rep!  Anyway it got me inspired so watch out for a review of it soon!

What is the longest time you've had Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness for?
Do you make friends in the portaloo queue too?!