Trail Running the Prom

I still can't get over this sight!

I mean - I expected nice beaches & waters... but not pristine white sand & really blue waters! this wasn't even a remote island in the middle of the pacific. This was not even secluded bay, this was in fact just a local national park.. granted it'd be a bit of hike to get to this particular spot but still ~ point being, the sight was quite unexpected for a popular NP..  I guess that explains why my colleagues all said they loved Wilsons Prom.

Missing the wife as I type this entry up! Anyway behind us you can see the shorter route from Telegraph Saddle towards Sealers Cove was closed due to flood damage in 2011.

In fact the Prom 100 organized by RunningWild is taking place this weekend - it was my intention for us to do our first ultra together during this event but due to planned burning at the park (to minimize bush fire risk) it was subsequently postponed to this 18 May weekend. In fact most of the tracks were closed except for the one we intended to run... lucky us.

THe plan was to run from Telegraph Saddle car park to Telegraph Junction, head east towards Little Waterloo Bay & Refuge Cove until it's time to turn back.

It was mainly this kinda open vehicle track all the way towards Telegraph Junction. Wasn't exactly stimulating but we could at least move fast, plus good hill training on the return route.

Vonsy models the entrance into the sandy tracks towards Little Waterloo Bay from Telegraph Junction.

A beautiful stretch.. 

Panaroma version.. doesn't quite capture the beauty!

Medical time-out.. both of us had existing blisters that needed some TLC

The Sea! from this point it was another 20mins or so before reaching Little Waterloo Bay

Board walk over watery lands.. we were very close now

The beautiful single-track that finally led us to the blue waters & white sands

Well impressed by the sight... but we didn't linger that long

Leaving the bay, we made way towards Refuge Cove. Some jumping over rocks needed!

Well, we didn't last long after leaving the bay - decided to stop when this huge rock overlooking the bay (in bg) presented itself. We stretched, had a quick bite & took photos before finally U-turning.... 

The doings of my litter bug wife.. 

Evidence of big foot!

Captured some videos of the missus in action on the return leg... and the winds were picking up too

SNAKE! my first sighting. gave me a bladdy fright too, coz with tired legs & blurry vision.. I didn't quite see it until I was almost right next to it... 

Spent more time doing modelling shots for imaginary trail magazine covers.. 

Vonsy teo has potential to be trail mag photographer huh? 

This particular woodland just needed a few leprechauns

Chocolate break as we sought refuge in the Leprechaun Forest...
watching the eerie branches sway to the high winds.. a bit boliao video this :D

Finallllllllly. Back. Exhausted. Happy.

The girl had plenty left!

I was totally knackered after the run - was doing my best at the final trudge uphill at a decent pace.. the wife was also going strong.

I hope we will be back one day to run as far as Sealers Cove - our adventure brought us as far as Little Waterloo Bay which I think is a good first stab into our appreciation of Wilsons Prom & what it has to offer in terms of trail running.

Thanks for reading folks!

Run the Rock 2013

SO.. the wife dropped by Melb for a week & that could only mean one thing to us (these days).. WHAT RUN SHALL WE SIGN UP FOR!

The only run event that could fit her schedule was 'Run the Rock' and so well.. we ran the Rock! Well it was for charity & the fact that the wife was arriving the very night before meant we couldn't possibly impose any pressure on ourselves :P, we were just gonna have fun. But of course we always say that - and in actuality - the wife ended up running at a half-marathon PB pace... thanks to me of coz and I was actually the only one truly running for fun (ie. could've gone faster :P) but ya know *pfftt..* whatever.. :D

The last 1km or so we were running on grass and it kinda reminded me of the old cross country we use to do in school.. and this promptly takes me down memory lane where back in Secondary 1 we had our first cross country during the orientation (where the PE teacher sussed out potential school runners).. and the top 10 runners got chosen (traditionally) to be in the school team. Guess who came in 10th?? :D

And guess who was subsequently rejected coz 'this boy's bit big' and 11th place got chosen instead??? :(

Yep. I could've tapped into my inner runner aggggeeess ago but no.. I was made to wait 20 years.

Anyway enough about memories, sharing some pics:

Was a chilly morning when we arrived.. 

Hanging Rock of Macedon in the bg..  

A scenic part of the route.. 

This was our 2nd loop.. some roos were actually hopping along with us!

Detoured for 1min to get our jackets! 

Best moment - pulling into the final 1km, we were behind an elderly 19k runner, and in the mix there were runners from other categories, 10k, 5k - and well, in front of us were some 'bigger' ladies who were just walking... and we had to manoeuvre around them etc. the elderly man turned round to me & said 'It's like running past cattles!'

Run impression - I would say it was a good flat simple no fuss route - minimal real 'trail' trail.. all pretty civilised. Well organised of coz. Fruit bars + water as we crossed the finishing.. spot prizes & stalls were set up. Nice day. Was a tiring drive back to Melb plus the heavy fish & chippy lunch we had.. & the glaring sun.

But it was nice to run with the missus again. always nice to be the man behind a woman slowly breaking all her PBs.. :)

For Boston..

As a runner.. it's impossible not to be affected by the Boston Marathon bombings.. just felt like doing something & standing behind people with a common cause, this bib was created by some folks on FB & I thought I'd join & do my bit too.. world's gone mad these days & folks who still have a sense of what's right & what's wrong must come together to show condemnation & solidarity.

The Ultra Dandenong Project - Olinda 2

No I haven't forgotten about this project!

I've been putting off running in Mt Dandenong again for a while & really had no reason not to, today. So packed all the running gear into the car & off I went. I had no clue which part of Mt Dandenong I wanted to run until late this morning.. I've already covered Sherbrooke previously, Dongolla during the Rollercoaster run, did a run up the Kokoda 1000 steps up to One Tree Hill so pretty much covered that area too, and really needed to discover more of Olinda given the previous trips I only went as far as the RJ Arborterum, and another trip I visited the Silvan Reservoir thinking I could actually explore around it - only to find out the entire reservoir is fenced up and was at a higher ground from the Silvan picnic grounds (ie. no view). In summary, a missing gap in Olinda that needed filling up.

And so - today's route was like this... 13k, 646m elevation gain

Started at Olinda Falls Picnic Ground -> Cascade -> VW ->Barges -> Barlett ->Rifle Range Gully -> KC -> Vally Picnic Ground -> Boundary -> Eagle Nest -> Hermons -> Rifle Range Gully -> Barlett -> Olinda Falls Picnic Ground (13km)

Gorgeous trees awaited me along VW Track.. 

A captivating section of Bartlett Track

While the run along Rifle Range Gully Track was a damp soggy one..  I really didn't expect to pick up a leech along the way. Makes me curious now how big the local breeds are, coz this lil friend is puny compared to its counterparts in the tropics.

And the name of this log is JV.. this was shortly after the climb along KC track.

The scenery is not to be missed (Valley picnic ground), a very serene place for picnic, even if its just banana & nut bars :)

This was a beautiful section along Hermons Track

Back along Rifle Range Gully Track, the sun made beautiful silhouettes of the tall commanding trees

Couldn't resist snapping a few more rays of light.. 

The thing about Oz is you see these beautifully colored birds/parakeets and its almost like you're running in some exotic amazonian jungle paradise. 

So what did we establish today?

1) This section can be linked via Kalorama Picnic ground -> Olinda Creek Rd from the north.
2)  Route should def include Valley Picnic ground, it will make a good link towards south Olinda (RJ area) anyway

And as a little side-note, I also learnt 2 things:

1) I should not take Malaysia's waterfalls for granted (wasn't impressed by Olinda Falls!)
2) Malaysians really shouldn't take them for granted either (was impressed how clean the area was - and sad  coz we treat ours like a rubbish dumping ground)

So anyway.. that ends today's adventure & adds a little progression to this project of mine, thanks for reading folks.

Rollercoaster Run 2013 - Job Done!

Much pain? You betcha.
Made the cut-off? You BETCHA!

Proud of my run? Well...... :) the only reason why I'm not exactly jumping with joy is only coz 1. I really can't - legs are bladdy sore & 2. I had hoped for a sub-6 hours finish :) but in all honesty yesterday could've easily been a very different story if it wasn't for the weather & all the adjustments I made following my route survey on Monday. So really I have no grounds for complaints doing the official time of 6:07 (having said that Garmin clocked a sub-6 for 43k! :P). I'm especially proud that my 21.5k was sub-3 (2:47)... I felt good throughout & started the 2nd loop being in the best possible form I could be in. So that much deserves a personal pat on the back :)

The scene at 7am.. everyone's pumped & ready to go! 

0-20k. I was part of 2nd wave, & started at the back of the pack. No rush really. The weather was fantastic. Cloudy & cool at around 16 degrees with hints of drizzle. Flag off for us was around 0720 & it was all good for the first 20k. Paced myself accordingly, stuck to the plan - run the flats & downhills, fast walking for the ups & marching small steps for the steeps. Might have pushed a bit too hard on the uphills (15k onwards), but was pre-occupied with making the 21.5k cut-off with a decent time - wasn't even thinking much about 2nd loop at this stage.

2nd wave.. off we go! courtesy of Dandyrunner

Kalorama Bend

20-21.5k. The Kalorama bend & the final 1.5k turned out to be very technical trail for 0.5k & just pure steep uphill slog back up to the starting point at Skyhigh. Legs were doing good (I love technical trails! as opposed to a runner who gave way saying he 'hates all these technical shit' :D). It rejuvenated the legs too for the last 1k uphill where I was still able to run small sections of it. In the end I clocked in at 2:47 for 21.5k, not too shabby compared to the tormenting 3:15 on the Monday before.

21.5k. Spent a bit too long prepping for 2nd loop before setting off again. Chatted happily to the volunteers who were very helpful & friendly. Refilled the hydration bag, electrolyte drink, prepped the headphones for some music & grabbed a gel on the way out again. With Foo Fighters pumping in my ear, it felt like I was in best possible shape to tackle the 2nd loop!

21.5-28k. Legs were coping well with the downhill up to 26k when I felt the inner front quads pinching just a bit.. signs of things to come I knew. Came across a handful of some of the 43k front runners returning to Dongolla after Golf Course Track.. I applauded them & now having seen the results the top spot female runner Isobel Bespalov was definitely amongst this bunch of runners.. they were just happily blazing along. how cool.

This was at Burkes Lookout (2nd Loop). Courtesy of Dandy Runner

28-35k. I trudged along for all the uphills, trying my best to keep up with the group of runners I was with.. many exchange of positioning took place along Golf Course Track & the runners were also slowly spreading out. My legs started showing some signs of cramping & I decided to walk a fair bit of it. I kept sipping on the electrolyte drink & hoping it would slowly go away. Pulling into Dongolla water station finally I quickly prepped a fresh bottle of electrolytes.. grabbed a gel, downed a cup of coke & I was off again.. tried not to stop too long.

Approaching Dongolla for the final 7k! Courtesy of Dandyrunner

35k-40k. The climb at 37k was torturous. A stark contrast to how I felt during the first loop. I was just glad the legs were still able to jog ever so slowly on the flats & downhills. On the uphills I had to stop many times to prevent the accumulation of lactic & took in smaller portions of gel & smaller sips of electrolytes more regularly. I took time to soak in the views (eg. along Old Mountain Road & Kyeema Track leading back to Skyhigh) & it was here I remember laughing to myself becoz James Brown started singing 'shake your money maker' on the iPod.. I found it funny coz I really was in no physical state to do that :D.. it was nonetheless a very welcomed distraction :)

The climb towards Kalorama along Old Mountain Rd.. 

40-43k. Just as the Garmin watch lapped at 40k, it beeped 'Low Battery'. I was like 'seriously??'. Of all times. But having reached Kalorama the end was near. It started to drizzle quite heavily too. It was nice to have rain waking me up but the technical 0.5k wasn't as fun anymore. In my crawling speed I noticed mist had formed near the tree tops & it was a truly beautiful sight. What a shame I didn't bring my camera with me (I left it coz I knew I'd be distracted from the run!).

At the final 300m, Rohan the organizer was out to greet runners, he offered gums & sweets & asked me to cartwheel over the finishing line. I told him I will try if I don't end up cramping instead. :) The crowd had thinned significantly by now. The MC called out my name as he saw me running slowly round the bend & with the small crowd cheering I did a pathethic flying side-kick over the line.. hopefully no photographer took me doing that :P

And so. 6 hours 7 minutes of mental & physical anguish later, the race was finally over. I guess I can take pride that I had stretched just outside of my target 6 hours, & well within the cut-off of 7 hours. I certainly gave it all I have (& good on the old Garmin watch staying alive to the very end too).

A runner pulls into the finishing area.. sky cleared up a bit too by then

Standard of Run by the other runners was very high (for me). Average for the 43k was 5:30hours (holy crap!). And seeing the 43k folks out there pushing their bodies to the max & chugging up the hills non-stop was just remarkable.. I did not see any of the folks I ran with stop for one-second, at most just slowing down at certain stretches & of course at the aid/water station (& all just very briefly too). So yea. Hats off to all of them.. all were hard-core folks in my books.

and yea.. there were a few

Event Organization was commendable. Free parking at Skyhigh. Sun protection-lotions for runners. Volunteers were dressed up as clowns, helpful & always cheering.. the main drink stations were a-plenty with water + sports drinks + coke + gels.. Dongolla even had cake. There were a few photographers busy snapping away (yet to see any of their posting tho) so if I'm lucky might even get a nice photo of myself. So yea.. for route support, double thumbs up!

The clowns manning the water station at Kalorama.. :) was i glad to see them on the 2nd loop

My fav 3 volunteers! water, smiling faces & words of encouragement when i needed them most :)

The atmosphere for the 43k finishers was naturally less fantastic compared to when the 21.5k folks finished. We were only a 100+ strong contingent unlike the masses for the 21.5k. Also it did start to rain at some stage. Only regret if I had to be picky is that I didn't manage to explore Mizuno / any other sponsors - by the time I changed up, the party's kinda over & organizers were all packing up for the day. But no biggie really.

Would I do it again? Probably....... and that's a big probably. It's a tough trail to train for & it was good to be able to pit myself against some seasoned pros. I know now I'm 30mins off the average time & a good 1:30 to 2 hours behind the top boys. Long way more my friend. For now - I'll just take pride with my result & wished I had 1 more day to lie in before hobbling into the working week.. bleh.

Thanks for reading folks! Time to plan for the next run :)

Love the medal!

And some elevation info.. nasty piece of work eh? Gotta love it!