BMMC Dinner

Clockwise starting at the bottom left of the photo we have Mister G, his Majesty King Donges, Prince Donges heir to the throne, Scam Bullant and his lovely wife (Mrs Scam?) whom must be obeyed by all, Mrs DrPhil, DrPhil, Animal's head is poking just above Shogun's back, (not so) Fat Kiwi, Shogun and Mrs Shogun, and Sleep Train.

IT Consultant to the Stars: Sleep Train and Mister G getting set up for the photo presentation.

L-R: Scam, Fat Kiwi and Animal.

Photos were taken on the Sunday night after The North Face 100. As mentioned earlier the food and fantastic restaurant provided by Mister G at his Italian Restaurant in Warrimoo, in the lower Blue Mountains.

Here it is. DrPhils claim to swimming fame!

Check out the link above.

Look at the 9 years male section.
I think it is safe to say I may have peaked a little early in my swimming career.

NF100 Photos - on facebook.

Feel free to check the photos out on Facebook. Select the link in the title above. Blogspot was far too slow to upload these.
Video is proving more difficult as my camera records in HD and so the file extension isn't recognised by facebook or youtube. I'll get something sorted.

I'm going to throw some suggestions out into the ether about BMMC.
As BMMC is building a fair bit of momentum in terms of recognition amongst the local and wider running community and with the fantastic results of a few key members (whether they were aware they were members or not is beside the point) in recent races, some thought needs to go into the future direction of the group.

Following the fantastic night of pizza, beer and a film presentation from North Face 100 that was held at Victoria's Italian Restaurant in celebration of the phenomenal results achieved by BMMC members, Andrew Lee and Branden Haywood, some suggestions have been made that these sorts of nights could become somewhat of a regular event. It may even be adopted as the BMMC clubhouse if Sean is OK with that. Thanks again to Sean Greenhill and his generosity in opening up his Restaurant to the BMMC crew.

This got me thinking about getting some shirts screen printed, and looking forward to future races where we can get involved and either compete or support those guys who are competing. A lot has to be said about the kindness and generosity of the BMMC support crew at NF100 who were patient enough to wait for the stragglers to waddle on in at the end of their race. Heads up to Sleep Train and Scam for getting out there.
I have been approached by a local media outlet to perhaps do a feature article on the BMMC and its successes on the Australian Trail Running Calendar.

So, to those silent supporters of BMMC, remain silent no longer. Raise your voices and declare yourself a BMMC member (pending approval). I know that on paper, the BMMC looks a lot like an elite society of established runners, and whilst this is indeed the case it is also much more. For me, the group is about friends and training partners enjoying the satisfaction that comes from being able to run the best trails in Australia just outside our back doors. There is a wide range of ability represented by the BMMCs membership, yet an acceptance of each other for where they are in their running journey (pardon the cliche) , which makes for an incredibly positive and encouraging atmosphere on the regular runs.

So far, the group has expanded simply by word of mouth alone. Where different circles of friends and training partners have merged into one loose association of runners from the same geographical location. I am conscious that this can sometimes appear to be exclusive for those people who just may not know someone in the group. The question is how do we open the BMMC up for anyone and everyone who would benefit from joining? How do we promote the group?

Scams challenge laid down following the Wild Endurance title being claimed by the Sydney Striders, to take out the trifecta in 2010 has provided some long-term goals for BMMC. The plan is to have as many members as we can compete in the Six Foot Track (we would have to get 1, 2 and 3 to improve on 2009); to follow it up with a relay team in the Wild Endurance and smash the course record and reclaim the title from the low-landers and then back it up 2 weeks later with as many entrants in the NF100 and improve upon this years 1st and 3rd. As for the rest of the year, we have the Woodford to Glenbrook, the Hunter Valley Marathon, the M7 Marathon, Fitzroy Falls Marathon just to name a few.

But, the BMMC isn't just about running (a little misleading, we apologise). Quite a few members (in fact almost all) are into multisport, including Triathlons and Adventure Racing. With success at the last National Geographic event, the skinny-Kiwi is looking to put in a good performance at this years GeoQuest in under two weeks time. Animal has his sights set on Port Maquarie Ironman 2010, and may manage to drag a few other BMMC members along with him. Aside from recognised events, there has also been talk of a 12hour attack on Kedumba. Adapting the very popular endurance moutainbike concept to the trail running domain. This could become a BMMC-sponsored low-key fatass-esque event where other running clubs are invited to come and train and test themselves on the premiere trails of the Blue Mountains.

I'm going to throw it out there to see if people are interested in perhaps setting up a website. Somewhere to post photos, put up course descriptions for popular runs, notify the wider community about planned runs, brag about past achievements, taunt other "marathon clinics" about who is better, etc, etc. I do have some webspace available through my ISP. I'm not all that crash hot with html, but there are some easy programs that you dont need to know html for. I also probably dont have much time to give to the idea but thought I would offer it if anyone else did and felt like they wanted to do it.

NF100 - tick (well 54km anyway)

After receiving the new Asics Trail Sensor's wed am I managed to pop up to Katoomba and go for a run from Narrowneck Rd down Nelly's Glen part of the way to Ford Reserve and back. I needed to see what I was up against if I were to do the second leg. Shoes felt OK. Decision was made that evening for me to run the first leg and Wayne (Patron King) Donges would run the second.
Thursday and Friday were rest days. As I hadn't run any section of the first leg of the NF100 course I was having difficulty preparing mentally for the run. Relying on the elevation map I made note of the hills and tried to give them some reference to the hills I had run.
Race day arrived and with it the culmination of a few weeks of reasonable preparation. What would happen after the 35km mark was the big question for me, and how would I deal with it over the remaining 20km. Leaving Mick (Prince) Donges to go out hard with the front runners I made an easy pace for the first leg, feeling frustrated mostly for the amount of stopping and starting in the middle of a big line of people. Just when the space opened up to stretch the legs a moment of distraction to either blow my nose or grab the mouthpiece to my water was enough to see me twist my ankle twice. The first not so bad, easing up as I continued to run. The second was a lot worse, causing me to eat dirt and clutch my ankle like a baby for a few seconds. My ensuing thought processes went something like this: Ouch!; Oh @#&*!; Well atleast I don't have to keep running now!; well how am I going to get out of here, there is still the Rock Slide and Golden Staircase to go before I can get out; Damn It! Wayne is going to be waiting for me down in Megalong, I cant let him down!; Im going to have to finish, but I still have a marathon to run! These thoughts went through my brain in the space of 10 seconds. Leaving me to get up and start walking to ease the pain. After about 50 metres of walking I managed an easy jog, making every effort to scan the ground for even ground. My pace was considerably slower after this point, realising that it would only take one more roll and I would be out of the race. Making it to CP1 after 2:07:37, I decided not to waste much time and keep the ankle warm so I took in some endura, grabbed some lollies and off I went.
Putting in some time on most of the others on the uphill sections I knew I had to keep my momentum going. The wind was distracting and I was getting quite cold despite having my thermal shirt on. Caught up with Dean going up one climb, decided to stick with him and make some conversation, see what all the hype was about. To say nothing of his running, his physique is phenomenal. Hopefully got a cheap shot in as I passed him as we were filmed climbing one of the hills along narrowneck . He caught me on the downhills and I never saw him again. Made it to the water tower and decided to check my phone which had been beeping for the last 20km. Sent a message to the wife and changed my shirt and headed off for the last section down to the ladders. The climb down to the firetrail hurt my knees and feet. Made some good time along the bottom and slowly climbed up to Dumphy's.
Getting to CP2 at 4:34:45 (2:26:58 split) I was feeling a little apprehensive about the third leg. The hills were hard after here, as my right groin was giving me some trouble. Couldn't seem to get the power out of the right leg, not sure if the groin is related to the foot drop on the right side - I'd say it probably didn't help matters. The out and back section along ironpot ridge gave some spectacular views. Took the opportunity to get some photos. The climb down from Ironpot was pretty hard on the knees and toes. After crossing the creeks and making my way past the Ranch I realised I had no water left. I estimated I had about 8-10km to go and that included a reasonable climb. Grabbed a moutful from a runner who was cramping up and stopped to walk. Paced it out with him for a few minutes and then started moving again. I could only run for a few hundred metres before I would get a stitch. The easy downhill sections always tend to give me problems. I suspect it has to do with core strength perhaps as your abdominal muscles get a work out running downhill. Took another phone call to explain why I was running late, estimated I was 2km out so gave myself 10 minutes.
The last km I felt fantastic. Got some momentum going down the hill and didn't seem to get any cramps. Probably the only time I got to stretch out the entire run. Don't get me wrong, had I not been finishing it would have been a different story. Ran in at 7:02:57, about 45 minutes off where I hoped I would be. But finished nonetheless.
Photos and movies need to be sorted out before I upload them.

Countdown to NF100. What have I got myself into?
Well, after falling victim to the hazards of purchasing shoes online, I have now only 2 days to wear my new trail running shoes in. They will hopefully arrive tomorrow express post. Which gives a small easy run on Wednesday and again on Friday just to keep the joints loose and give the shoes a few kms. Some discussion has been had about the merit of wearing my zoot triathlon racing flats on the NF course! Whilst far from perfect they may be the lesser of many evils when it comes to running on the day. We will see.
Not entirely sure whether my preparation has been sufficient for the NF100. Whilst I am only running half (as yet undecided about which half), it is the furthest I will have run in a race by between 24 and 32 km (and about 16-20km longer than I have ever run).

This week just gone:
Tuesday morning run with BMMC. Enjoyed pushing the last stretch from the top of Sun Valley with Animal.
Wednesday morning saw Mick and Me heading out on an attempt of Legs 5 and 6 of the NF track. From Katoomba Falls oval down into Jamison Valley, up Kedumba Pass and back around to Fairmont Resort via the under cliff track. Despite dropping behind Mick coming up Kedumba, I was impressed and just a little self-congratulatory over my effort to keep running the whole way up. Excluding a brief pause where I had to take a call on the mobile, but that doesn't count as it wasn't due to fatigue that I stopped. Heading back to Leura was a different story, but made it back in 3hr38min total time.

Wed night was a late affair in the city to watch the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Unfortunately the days efforts, left me in a sorry state come Thursday morning, leaving Scam and Animal to make conversation themselves.

Sat morning was the weekend "long" run with BMMC. Like how I used quotation marks around "long" as if to imply that 28km (generous estimate) isn't long? Well, I'm simply trying to prepare myself for Saturday, so if I convince myself that 28km isn't that long then maybe 54km wont feel so bad. I'm not becoming an endurance running snob who looks down his nose at anything under 50km. One day perhaps!

Sunday was a rest day, missing an opportunity to go for a swim due to Mother's Day commitments. Made it to the pool Monday night for an easy 2.75km swim. Definately felt slow next to the squad lane with young fit girls smashing me each lap.

Hopefully will inspect Nelly's Glen on Wednesday.

This week: Run 71km, Ride ~30km, Swim 2.75km

Monday 04/05/09 - Blog time is irrelevant.

Monday 27/04/09 saw me waking early to join Animal on a ride down to Yarramundi. He still leaves me for dead on the hill.

Thursday am run with BMMC. Scam put in an all-time record for turning up late, remarkable all the more as it was at his place. Made good time though getting back, a few short-cuts go a long way (there has to be a clever word for that little grammatical wizardry!).

Saturday was a big run joining up close to all the running trails available between glenbrook and warrimoo (excl. national park). Running late myself, I met the others at the top of 5-ways after running in from Spurwood. Decided to carry a camel-back laden with a few extras to add weight, so I could get used to carrying a 20L pack for NF100. 3hr47min later (and 4 different climbs up the Great Dividing Range - well some of it) saw us back at Scams. Thanks goes to she-who-must-be-obeyed-by-scam for the fruit platter. I hope scam has put the run up on his blog, it was an epic (would have to be the longest stretch of consistent running for me). I have to re-learn how to pace myself up hills, and take a leaf out of scams book.

Sunday was a sleep in, and midday 50km road ride up the mountains, followed by approx. 2km swim with sleep.

This morning was the weekly ride with animal. If I want to stay with him on the hills I will have to put in more time on the bike.

Plan for this week ahead, with only 11 days to go till NF, is to check out leg 5 of the NF track with Mick. Not confirmed but would like to head down into the Jamison Valley from Katoomba and up Kedumba Pass. May make a loop out of it from the Golf Course. Have a day off then get in Woodford to Glenbrook to smash the legs (this would only allow 7 days to recover so we will see).