Megalong Mega

Well, I've been dreading writing this post, but here it is.

On Thursday I went to see Tiger and what was another painful session, he confirmed what I thought and my glutes are absolutely piss weak. I have no strength in them at the moment. Great!! On Friday and Saturday I went to the gym and done some cross training and weights in anticipation of heading to the track for the first time for the Megalong Mega. My entire Saturday was mostly spent preparing for the run on Sunday as there are so many extra things that need to be done when running on the trail. Food, drinks, camelbak, maps, directions, full tank of gas....

Running Angel from SWEAT had decided that although she wasnt training for 6 ft she would like to get out and do some trail running. After checking on whereis and leaving some extra time (after missing the train last weekend) I was up at 3.30 am again.

I found my way all the way through to Megalong Rd easily, but we had a bit of a giggle after I ended up pulling in to check the map. I pulled out and literally drove 50m and found Megalong Cemetary and were greeted by Kevin. We were quite a bit early arriving at 6.15 but with all the toilet stops we needed before hand, buying the dirt cheap 6 ft gear and fixing up our equipment time went by quickly.

We all headed off a bit later (around 7.10) and RA and I settled into a nice slow pace while some of the others charged off. It was a nice jog down to Cox's and I noticed that it was a bit more technical than any of the other trails I had been on. When we got to Cox's river I was deciding whether to go through the water, but chickened out and hopped across the rocks. I remember being surprised at the size of the animal crap I saw until I saw all the cows near the river (wasnt expecting that). We then hit the climb up to Mini Mini. I had no idea how steep it was going to be. I kept trying to remember to climb up and not get on my toes so I didnt blow my calves. Some parts were just so steep I was forgetting. I couldnt believe how drenched I was with sweat. Kevin soon caught us after fixing up some of the stragglers. He joined us on the way to the top of Mini Mini and diverted our attention by answering loads of questions I had and chatting about the run in general.

When we were at the top of Mini Mini RA decided that she might turn around here as we had been going for around 2 hours. Kevin and I headed down to Alum river and got ready for the climb up Pluvi. To cut a long story short, lets just say that I found it extremely overwhelming. My garmin died the other day so I was relying on Kevin to let me know when it might finish. He kept telling me he thought it was around the corner but it seemed to go on forever. I reached the top of Pluvi and had been running for around 2hrs 50. I couldnt believe how slow this run is. We had a fair bit of a stop at the top, bumping into some dirt bikers who we offered the water to as we were the last runners. I think we were stopped there for around 15 min before we headed off again for the return trip. I couldnt believe how quick I managed to reach the bottom of Pluvi compared to how long it took to get up there. I was having quite a bit of trouble with my stomach. I was getting lots of cramps. I think it was from the powerade as I was OK when I switched to water. I was trying to put up with it on the downs so that I could let it ease on the ups when I would be walking.

On the run back down to Cox's river I noticed that my last check of the BOM website of 24 degrees and cloudy was slightly inacurate at this point. There was not a cloud in the sky and the temperature seemed to be soaring. I dont handle well in the heat so it was really starting to hit me. When we got to Cox's river I filled up my bladder again and we were on our way again.

All I can remeber of the climb back up to Megalong was that I hated it. I dont remember running at all, I just had nothing in the tank. It didnt seem like that many steps on the way down but seemed like they went on forever on the way back. All I could think of when I was on the return was one of the girls from work who was having a nice champagne brunch at Potts Point at that moment, why cant I choose more leisurely hobbies. It also seemed like yesterday that I was running with RA, it felt like ages since I'd seen her. It took me way too long to get out from that creek. I kept asking Kevin, please tell me your honest opinion of whether I should be running 6 ft, almost looking for him to say I shouldnt, but he didnt....

I was extremely happy to start seeing the gates and ladders as I knew these meant I was near the end. I was extremely happy when I finished and saw RA at the end of the track and apologised for taking so long. As soon as I started to get some extra fluids into me and a bit of food I actually started to feel OK. I made sure I quickly freshened up and put my skins on. Its amazing how bad my short-term memory is as I was completely hating the run but as soon as I finished all I could remember was the good parts. Very wierd...

We later headed into Blackheath and had a nice chicken schnity and chips. Great recovery food. I struggled not to fall asleep on the trip home. By the time I got home and took off my skins and had another good feed I noticed that I was feeling quite good. Dean had organised for us to play ten pin bowling with another couple so I amazed myself that I didnt get to bed by 11pm. (BTW come second in first game and last in the last 2 games - fatigue was definately setting in).

Lessons learnt from my first visit to the track
- I really need to strengthen my glutes they were quite weak and frankly I need them on the hills
- It was overwhelming but from now on I need to toughen up. I was stopping sometimes when I clearly should have pushed on
- I need to eat more. This is one I am constantly trying to learn. I was out there for a bloody long time and had a total of 2 gels.