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.
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