I woke up this morning unsure of how to feel about the race, it was the inaugural Yarrabilba Trail Fest and I hadn’t been able to find any information on the elevation profile so I wasn’t sure how to approach it. Should I use it as purely a training run, cruising along, practising my nutrition and taking my time? Or should I practice a bit of race day energy and see if I can try and work towards a specific goal. My husband was also racing, and this was his first official trail race. He “jokingly” said that he would get top 10. I say “jokingly” as I’m sure there’s an element of truth in these statements beyond just trying to get a rise from me lol
When we arrived it was a fresh 7 degrees and the sun was just rising. If you’re not familiar with the area, Yarrabilba is a relatively new designed village and is a beautiful location. I had a quick chat with Matt, one of the race directors, and asked him about the course. He said the first 8km or so was pretty flat and would be good to give it a go on before hitting the first of 3 pretty tough hills that would be perfect for hiking. So I decided to go strong until I got to the first big hill. I had set myself an unofficial goal of sub 3 hours. After a quick briefing we were off. Like a lot of the races run by Those Guys Events, this started off with a bit of road running. I don’t know what it is about Those Guys and roads in their trails, but it never ceases to knock me around. My shins started to ache slightly but I wasn’t too worried as this seems to be the norm for me at the moment for about the first 2-2.5km. I was more concerned about once we got off the road and it was sand, sand, mud and then more sand. I had my cadence app in my ear and was sticking to the beat but still I was struggling to find any kind of rhythm in my running. I’m happy to say that I only hiked 2 hills in the first 8km. I looked at my watch and it showed me that I was doing a considerably fast pace and I have to say I was pretty impressed. I should have been less impressed and more concerned with that pace. My body seems to have a set comfortable pace in mind, one where we can run and run and run without stopping. Anything outside of that pace and it seems to take exception to it. Today was no different. About 6km along I felt a slight twinge in my Achilles, nothing serious and I couldn’t think of anything specific I had done to cause it to hurt, so I put it down to the copious amounts of sand we were running on. Seriously, does this sand ever end??? I got to 8km, and then I started to feel a very familiar ache on the right side of my right knee. What the hell was going on?? I had been keeping my cadence spot on and I hadn’t come down badly that I could remember, so why was it starting to hurt like a few months ago? I reached the one and only checkpoint right at the base of the first big hill bang on 1hr. I had my first bit of food, half a honey sandwich, and hiked up the massive sandstone boulders to the top. I started to jog again and about 20m down the track, it started to head down again and my knee started up again. I took some Nurofen and decided to hike down the hill. I got to the bottom and there was a bit more flat track, but when I started running again the pain started up too. It didn’t hurt at all to walk, just anytime I tried to run or jog. As there were no more check points and I had no idea of where I actually was on track to try and attempt a short cut, I had no option but to continue on. That probably sounds more heroic then it was, believe me I would have DNF in a heart beat if I could lol but instead I strapped up my knee (thank god for carrying my first aid at all times!) to minimise the bending and set about hiking the remaining 13km. I messaged my crew who were back home, and told them of my plan to hike the rest of the way. I also messaged my physio and my husband to let them know what had happened. As I passed some gorgeous looking trails and tracks, I was disappointed to not be able to run them but kept focusing on the bigger picture. There was absolutely no need for me to push myself out there today when I have Coastal High in less than a month, followed by Blackall 6 weeks later. If at any time it had started hurting while I was walking then I would have stopped. Somewhere along the way, I had my second bit of food, half a banana. About 2.5km to go, I ran into another person who was also walking due to an ITB recurrence, so we kept each other company for the last few kms. It was nice to have someone to chat to out there, but I was sad for him as he said that meant he was out for Coastal. I ended up finishing in 3:11, which considering my original goal was sub 3hrs and I walked 13/21km, I’m pretty happy with my result. I went back and checked my run on Strava and it turns out I ran my fastest 10km in a very long time, with 3x sub 6 min kms. That’s not a good thing – I went out way too hard at the beginning, and I believe that combined with the 8km on sand is what stuffed up my knee. I finished the last drop of Tailwind in my hydration pack just after I crossed the line, though I don't think that's a true indication of how much I do/should consume on a 21km run. At this point in time, I am strangely calm about it all and about Coastal coming up. I have complete trust and faith in my physio so I will wait and see what he says before I start to stress. Right now, I don’t feel like it’s anything serious or permanent, however that could just be me being in denial lol I did manage to get an awesome post race rub down from the fantastic guys at Pogo Physio, who were one of the sponsors of the event. Words can’t describe how good that pain of getting knots and crap worked out feels! So, whilst today didn’t pan out as planned, I’ve come away with some big lessons learned:
27 sleeps till #WECH50 baby! PS, my husband completed his first trail run in 2:05. Well done babe! But not in the top 10 like you said you would. Just saying lol All the specifics for those who want/like them: Shoes - Inov8 TerraClaw 250 Hydration Pack - Salomon S-Lab Adv Skin3 5 set (blue) Watch - Suunto Ambit3 Peak Socks - Injinji trail socks Tights - Pink Punk Hat - Run Goat Run Nutrition - Tailwind, half a honey sandwich, half a banana Stats: 21.2km, 3:11, avg pace 8:50/km, 633m elevation gain, 175 max elevation.
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RhiannonMy Race Reports Archives
May 2017
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REAL GIRL RUNNER | Race Reports |