Glasshouse 24K

Week - 48k
Month - 130k
YTD - 753k

After Friday's rare downpour it wasn't looking good nor did I believe the weather lady that the weekend was going to be clear, bright blue skies. When Saturday morning arrived they were spot on, the day was great and I ws pretty excited about the prospect of doing this race.

We left home about 6 am for a 8 am start thinking that it would take around an hour to get there, we arrived 35 mins later and then realised that the directions on the entry form stated 1-1.5 hrs from Brisbane. We already live 30 mins from the city, Ahhh well, at least we weren't late.

Before the race, I was chatting with Hannah, Clairie, Tesso, Vegie-Girl and met Davo for the first time which was nice. He live close to me however we have never bumped into to each other whilst training. Apart from that I was preoccupied playing with Sam amd talking to Cas and her friend that I lost track of time. So much so that I didn't go for a warm up and was even strapping on my 1001 gadgets that I decided to run with when everyone was walking to the start line.

I made it and was straight into it not long after lining up. I felt relaxed but obviously subconciously I was nervous as passing the 3k mark in 12.43. I made myself slow down to around 4.30 pace for the next few k's which saw me go through 5k in 21.55.

By this stage the sun was out and mixed with the wet ground made it that fairly humid, I was beginning to feel a little fatigued. I decided to have my first gel around the 7k mark which seemed to help. It was also a good time to visit the bush for a minute or so as the line up for the toilets before the run was quite big.

The terrain at this stage was fairly good, apart from one section of single trails it was very wide dirt roads with a good mix of flat and hills. The gel had kicked in and I was feeling fairly good again although it was or it felt warmer than usual I was maintaining a good pace. I passed through 10k in 46.43 and from this stage on the tracks became quite abit harder.

Some of the climbs were very difficult and the fact that they didn't really begin until the 12-13k mark probably made it seem that much more difficult. For the next 14k the pace really slowed and out of those only two k's were clocked under 5 mins.

The scenery was great I had really forgotten how good it is to get out in the bush and get dirty. This was my first trail run but I done alot of mountian bike riding in the Blue Mountains before which I really enjoyed.

I really paid attention to my fluid and food intake and sacrificed some positions and time just to get through it. I actually stopped to walked while eating which I am glad I did. The last 4k of the run was the hardest, cardio wise I felt good but the legs aren't used to the distance and I began to fatigue quite quickly. Small hills felt like mountains and almost broke me, I was lessened to a walk around a section that I later found out was called Hamburger Hill. I can't remember why but the first section of this climb is pretty steep. It was wet and the rocks were slippery, I had trouble keeping grip while I walked up it and if I tried to run I dont think I would have been able to stop myself from face planting if I did slip.

I had no energy and went through this km nudging 7 mins. It probably wasn't a bad decision to walk, the scenery at this point is awesome the view of the mountain is amazing. I got to the top of the hill and continued on through the downhill section. I was unsure how far I had to go and was begging the line to be close, I was going sooooo slow but I do anything about it I had nothing left. Rounding a corner I saw a row of parked cars with the school that we began at through the trees. I tried to picked up the pace but the legs got angry and repaid me with a small cramp. A warning I guess so I remain the pace my legs agreed with.

Hearing the small crowd gave me a second wind, I didn't really speed up but it just made the pace I was running much easier. I entered the school and saw Cass and Sam with Cass's friend sitting next to finish line.

Sam is usually sleeping everytime I finish an event so I think he knew that this race was going to be a tough one for his dad and stayed awake just to see him finish :) I am pleased that I got through it one piece, a little bit of muscle tightness but nothing major. This is my greatest distance I have ran in one go and I am pretty chuffed. I completed the 24k course in 1.55.13.

Bring on GH 30, Sep 06.