Tough Mudder Adelaide 2014

Finally Tough Mudder made the trip to Adelaide to host an event and they couldn’t have picked a better weekend if they tried! a balmy 34degs on the Saturday and 27 on the Sunday. Perfect conditions for a cracking OCR event!

Treating this as my final event of the year and the midpoint of my offseason I was happy to enlist in an event that is promoted as finishing with your team and forgetting about your time. It allowed me a little more freedom to “enjoy” the event without the added pressure of an overall time goal or placing.

This event had an added layer for me as it allowed me to connect with some old high school friends that I hadn’t seen in almost 15 years along with making some new friends. The journey began thanks to FaceBook where we managed to reconnect and through some posts, likes and comments the invite was thrown out to have a go at Tough Mudder. Being that I have fallen in love with OCR’s in 2014 I jumped on it, volunteered my wife to compete then saw that my friend Kevin from high school wanted to have a crack too! Paul who led the charge being that he had completed Tough Mudder in Sydney 12months ago set up a team and recruited another couple, Nathan and Jo. We quickly had a team of 7 with myself, Asha, Paul, Belinda, Nathan, Jo and Kevin. Kevins’ wife Carlee who also went to high school with us had recently given birth so was offered a reprieve for this one, she won’t be so lucky next time!

With regular dinner meetings and constant facebook banter we quickly discovered that we had a strong and supportive team, key to overcoming this event and course!

As the day approached the witty banter turned in to asking and offering advice and last minute hints and tips, the nerves were on the up!

Finally Saturday the 14^th of December arrived and a 5:30am alarm (mind you I was up at 5am, this alarm was for Asha). So excited! The ping of messages on my phone started as we were all checking to make sure we were on target and ready to go!

The drive from home to the course at Langhorne creek was about 70kms through stunning scenery so the drive was very stress free.  Once we arrived there was a buzz around, even in the car park area!

Perfect conditions! Stunning location

Unpack the car, the kids and the babysitter (aka Mum) and we set off on the 750m walk to the start area.

Someone's excited!

S&@T getting real now!!!

  

The obligatory village selfie!

The registration/Check in area of the village was really well set up and the processing was easy. There was quite a bank up right inside the gates as the toilet block was right inside so trying to get through the other side of the rego tent to a spare patch of grass was a little difficult.

The mandatory pre event photos were taken, complete with face paint and our event numbers written on various body parts we dropped our kit bags off at the tent, said a goodbye loved ones and headed to the holding pen.

Paul knowing what was coming was clearly excited, the others however show nervous smiles in anticipation and fear of what is to come!

  

This was the staging area for each of the starting waves to gather. There was also an obstacle BEFORE the official start line. Great initiative.  Just a 7ft straight wall which you needed to scale to get to the start line holding area is a brilliant idea. Revved up by the MC we were then let lose.  A gentle 2km run to start. I needed to get my HR up a little so I jogged off from the team and just kept a steady pace and we all met up at obstacle 1 which was aptly titled “HAHA Ditch”. There was an element of HAHA to this.

The following is a list of the obstacles in order

1. HAHA Ditch

A climb up a dirt mound, maybe 6ft, then over the other side in to chest deep water/mud. There is no avoiding getting wet in this one. Suck it up, jump in, climb out, keep running. If you thought you could go a while without getting wet, muddy and heavy, then think again! Least we got it out of the way early!

2. Glory Blades

A series of 2 walls slanted back towards you. No run up opportunity. Taller people could jump and pull themselves over. Most people took the opportunity for a boost, hand up. Got through this one with limited difficulty.

3. Hold your wood

Nothing to this one. Grab a log/stump/branch and walk around a 400m trail, drop the wood and move on. Wood cut to all different sizes and weights.

4. Pole Dancer

This was one that I was 50/50 on. Kinda looking forward to it but a little apprehensive at the possible deceptiveness of it. Personally I got over this one really well! My upper body held up well and I felt great on this. Each of our team got through this which was brilliant.

5. Listed as “Cliffhanger” on the map but replaced with “Mud Pit”

This was one where you needed a team or to rely on the assistance of others. 2 mud mounds which offered bugger all grip or footing. Paul suffered a decent calf cramp on this one and was lucky to make it out! A bit of muddy fun in this one!

6. Leap of Faith

This is one I was really looking forward too but with a sense of apprehension after seeing the clip of the course testers earlier in the week. A 5-6 foot jump to a cargo net vertically suspended above a body of water. Upper body strength at its finest until you can get a foot hold. I made the jump and got a good purchase on the net. Managed to pull myself up with little difficulty and made it to the top of the tower. Great obstacle. 4 out of our 7 completed this one. Big failure rate on this one. One of the highlights for me. So proud of Asha having failed on her 1^st attempt went back around and gave it another shot and did it. Kevin also went back and conquered this one too! hard man!

7. Berlin Walls

A series of 2, or was it 3, high walls around 10ft high. The small ledge about a 3^rd of the way up made this possible for the vertically challenged. With a decent run up and solid leap I managed to scale these without too much difficulty. Team work once again is key to this one. One of our team mates had a shoulder issue for the whole day so we all pitched in to make sure she got over these ones.

8. Bale Bonds

This was an obstacle placed, in my opinion, for the sake of it. a couple of big hay bales with some smaller ones used for a step up. An annoyance more than an obstacle.

9. Soldier Sling

The girls loved this one! This obstacle essentially entailed the guys piggy backing the girls 50m up the track. Kevin who was running it without a partner managed to find a mate (guy) to do this obstacle with. They swapped places half way so they both had a turn being the “man”. I have it on good authority they exchanged number and promised to call in the morning =)

10. Mud Mile

This is one of the headline acts for Tough Mudder. 4 Mud hills which are impossible to solo up. Team work and the assistance of strangers is a minimum to get through this. No technique, no class just push, pull whatever is needed to get to the top.

This is a good obstacle but completely unrealistic to ever contemplate doing solo.

Mud Mile

10. Quagmire

Honestly don’t remember this one. Must have been a highlight.  =/

11. Hangin Tough

What would traditionally be the monkey bars has been replaced with a 5 ring swing across a body of water. Massive failure rate on this. only 2 of our team completed (yes me being one!). This one is all about momentum. If you stop, you get wet. Get a good swing at the start and it is easy picking. Did see a girl slip on the 1^st ring, fall backwards and hit her hear hard on the platform. Hope she is ok.

12. Marked as “Tyred Yet” but replaced with “Devils Beard”

Another annoyance. A lightweight cargo net strapped to the ground about 20meters long. Easy enough to walk through forwards or backwards with little to no difficulty. meh

13. Kiss of mud

Get on your stomach and crawl under barbed wire for 20m. The barbed wire was strung far too high and not challenging at all. You would have to have a fair sized behind to get caught on this.

14. Arctic Enema

Another of the headline challenges on course.  A shipping container constantly filled with ice and water. A board is placed half way through which is too high to go over, must go under. Only trouble is that it’s submerged about 1ft under the water level. Pitch black in the water so you have to feel your way out. The ice water does take your breath away but if you keep moving this one is quickly ticked off. More mind over matter. A few star jumps and push ups after I got out and I was fine.

15. Everest

One of the bigger and most daunting obstacles at TM. A quarter pipe rising 30ft up. Muddy, slippery and high. My first attempt was as spectacular failure! Got a decent run up but my right foot found a pot hole in the mud, hyper extended my knee and essentially went face first into the wall. Being that I carried a knee injury in to this event following a Cyclocross bike race mishap this bloody hurt! After a few mins of gathering my thoughts and seeing a few of our team go over I picked a section of wall and lead up that looked good. Got a good run up and got great purchase on my first 3 steps on the wall. Before I knew it I was heaving myself up, unassisted to the top of Everest! I look down to mum and the kids and a big fist pump I was stoked! I then spotted Asha. She had an awesome run and grabbed my outstretched hand and got up too. 6 out of 7 of us go this done. I stayed at the top of the wall helping people get up and got many thanks and pats on the back from thankful Mudders. A nice feel good moment. Heard some stories after this of a few injuries come from Everest.

16. Electroshock Therapy

The final obstacle. The big one! 10,000 volts in random wires hanging down across a 20m dash. MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT. No shocks, not people dropping, no screams. I have heard rumours that this was dialled down. I don’t get it. You sign a waiver, you hear the stories, you know what you are signing up for! Leave the bloody obstacle alone!

Being that this was my first TM I was not permitted to take on the “legionnaires loop” which is an obstacle for Multi Mudders. This one was titled “Fire in your hole” a steep slide down and exiting over a 2ft flame at the bottom of the slide then a 6ft drop in to water. Looked like fun. Next time!

There was another obstacle in there called “Jesus walk”. A 30m mud walk with randomly placed holes/drop outs. Easily navigated on hands and knees. Walking was a bad idea in this one.

Pretty sure I have forgotten one or two obstacles which means they didn’t exactly rate a mention!

So my overall thoughts.

A really enjoyable, team event. I loved the aspect of doing this with a bloody brilliant group and the peripheral joy of reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. Seeing people that didn’t think they could, overcome that and do it was sensational. Helping strangers over walls, through mud etc was rewarding.

Annnnnd After! Mud, Beer, Mates....Orange headbands!

For me, I treated this, as I said earlier, an offseason training/maintenance event which is OK. I’m OK with that....seriously! 

The course

The route was spectacular through vineyards, open paths, creeks, uneven trails and dry dams. My kinda course! Loved the terrain.

The obstacles

 I walked away from the obstacle portion of this feeling like I was missing something, a little...meh. There were some in there just for the sake of it (Bale bonds, Devils beard, Kiss of Mud) which is an annoyance of mine. I know it breaks up the monotony of the running aspect of it which can be a nice reprieve.

Mud mile. Although epic in it’s design is completely ridiculous. I understand that TM promote team work and helping each other out but this one is just OTT. It is near impossible to complete this as a pair. 3 would be minimum in my opinion.

Electroshock. The BIG letdown. I was expecting to be dropped into a slobbering mess and have welts. I didn’t even get tickled. As I said earlier I have no idea why this was dialled down. 10,000 my a$$. All the warnings, war stories, waivers whatever ended up being irrelevant. I saw people strolling through grabbing wires by the handful with no reaction. Disappointing.

The Village

Overall a good solid set up. The kids course was a stunning idea. My 2 ran themselves ragged and loved showing off to everyone.

The Garmin tent was a good sponsor initiative.

Merchandise was massively over priced (However I did partake in some after race purchases)

Lack of food outlets and a surprising lack of locations to purchase a COLD soft drink!

The first wave started at 8am with the last being 12pm. The 12pm anticipated finish would be 4-5pm yet the after race festivities (I.e concert etc) didn’t start until 8pm! I would love to know how many hang around being that there was no on course camping. I know we didn’t!

The proprietors of Brothers in Arms winery who graciously allowed use of their land to host the event were great to talk to in their tent after the event. Giving samples of Langhorne Creeks finest reds and red blends. Their No6 was also a fundraiser for “Soldier on” the TM charity of choice, so yes I did make a donation!

The rinse station was a muddy mess by the time we got there. Good fun in a hedonistic kinda way.

We managed a smooth escape from the village after we prized the kids away from their course, brought some mercho, a bottle of wine, got out finishers t-shirts and picked the 3 corner jacks from our feet.

I have rated this a 6.5/10 for an OCR in my limited experience.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. I hope they run the Adelaide event at around the same time next year. Personally I feel that True Grit is an overall better event in Adelaide from a course, location and general feel perspective.

For a first timer event in Adelaide I think they did a great job and will only improve should they come back next year, which I hope they do. As OCR’s become more and more popular in little ol’ South Oz there will be a greater level of competition for market share which will force organisers to ensure a quality event, not just rely on the “name” or previous success. They will have to continually lift the bar!

A big AROO and OOO RAH from me!

Course map

2 Thumbs up!

Need to work a bit on the guns...

So proud of this one! Absolute superstar! x

Longest run to date - A recap

Well a week has gone by so I thought I would take some time to reflect on a personal achievement. Last Friday I completed my longest run to date being 27kms.

The first question is “WHY”? well my response to that is typically WHY NOT!? Achievements are there to be outdone, records to be broken and limits to be pushed!

Previously my PR for a run was the 2 half marathons I had done being 21kms each. I had coped with both runs pretty well and pulled up after in decent shape apart from the usual soreness and a bit of tightness. I swore on both occasions that I would never complete or compete in a full marathon (42kms). My how things and thought patterns can change!

I have committed myself to completing 2 long distance challenges next year with the 1^st being the True Grit Enduro which is a 24 hour obstacle course where the goal is to complete as many laps of the 10.3km circuit as possible. I am aiming for between 6-9 laps (so 60-90ishkms!!!) and the 2^nd target being the Yurrebilla Ultra Trail run which is a 56km run takes in a number of national parks and conservation reserves with a total of 1865 vertical metres!

So yeah I need to start trying to become somewhat of a distance runner!

Back to last week. I had ZERO preparation for this and only came up with the idea on the Thursday night! I was just sitting down after completing some stretches and said to my wife “hunny I think I will run home from the office tomorrow” and in a normal voice (I don’t think she was actually paying attention) said “yep no worries”. I packed my running gear and turned in for the night. I started negotiating with myself as I went to sleep, “its not about the time/pace, its about KM’s in the legs” or “its ok if I have to walk for a bit, I haven’t run since the city-bay” etc etc. All of which I knew was the truth but it was unlikely any of those would sit well with me!

At work the next day I tried to get some carbs in and had my usual 3L of water, usually this is a process that I do over a full week in the lead up to an event, so I was already behind the 8-ball. I stretched when I could and tried to walk around at every opportunity. Being in a sedentary job working in an office I am, most of the time, careful about what I eat and mindful of trying to stretch my legs as often as possible.

When I said to AB that I was going to get changed and grabbed my running gear she said “are you seriously running home”?? Told you she didn’t hear me the day before. With a curt reply of “yes, I told you that yesterday” and her response of “yeah but I didn’t think you were serious” I was ready to go!

I left the office just on 3pm and headed off. The day was perfect for it. Sun was out and there was little to no wind. The 1^st 10kms went through pretty smoothly and I found myself in a really good rhythm. The only issue was that at about km 8ish my left knee started to get some pain in it intermittently. Luckily I had packed some ibuprofen and some cash (which I wouldn’t normally do) so I decided as I approached Glenelg that I would take a quick rest stop at the service station just opposite the Glenelg Oval. I rushed in, grabbed a 450ml bottle of full strength coke, paid and started walking at a quick pace while I downed the 2 tabs and chugged the coke so I didn’t have to carry it. After 3-4mins of fast paced walking I started in to my manageable pace again.

As I continued the next 3-4kms my hip flexors and both groins started causing some real discomfort, especially and rises in the road, stepping up curbing or starting again stopping at the lights. Each restart got harder and harder and took longer to subside when I got in to my stride pattern. I was not looking forward to the accent of Ocean Boulevard....

Ocean Boulevard is approximately 2km long with about a 6-7% gradient and came at about the 20km mark so I was starting to get to my limit of where I had been and had never tackled a hill like this while running before.

The first portion of this climb is the worst as it kicks quite hard. I started setting road markers to make sure I ran to that, then set the next point and run to that. Then my phone rang! DAMN! it was the wife, better answer this. She was just checking to see how I was but it threw me right out as I lost focus looking to see who it was and then to answer it. I had stalled and was now walking. After a quick phone call I got back into a run, ok more of a jog, fine it was a shuffle! I was feeling it at this point. 2hrs in and I had covered more than I had done before. My lack of training and shit presentation was coming back to bite me in the ass big time. Funny enough I was really enjoying it! Something clearly wrong with me.

It was a great sense of exhilaration when I made it to the top! It was something that 12-18 months ago I would never have considered doing. It was here that I thought it was over with. The final 6kms downhill to home. Ohhhhhh how wrong I was. These 6kms hurt! Because most of the 2^nd half of Brighton road and then Ocean Boulevard is uphill I hadn’t really engaged particularly my quads.

I was now running at a pretty average pace, and by average I mean crap! Once I hit some marker points that I was familiar with which were on my usual running loops I could begin to feel a little more comfortable. By this stage I was feeling pretty dehydrated and my mind started to wander, I was not focussing on my stride nor form, I just wanted it to be over.

1km from home and I tried to stretch out my strides a little and increase my pace which funnily enough brought a little more feeling (of the good variety) to my legs. When I turned the corner and in view of my house I spotted mum and the kids franticly waving for me. I had done it. 27kms in the bank. Somehow I managed to stop my strava tracker and walk inside. Mum immediately poured a cold glass of water for me which I skulled then proceeded to make another glass up but this time with some powerade. Actually I was feeling much better that I had anticipated. Then it hit me. “oh shit, the wife is out at a work dinner tonight”! I had to prepare dinner and manage the 2 kids!

I am really fortunate that they have joined me on this journey of adventure and have actually developed a level of understanding that when daddy finishes an event they need to help out. They were the ones actually looking after me that night, grabbing an ice pack or a drink for me. It is special being able to share these things with them. It is for them that I do this for.

That night consisted of rehydrating and trying to get some food in. One side effect that I hadn’t encountered in any post event before was a lack of appetite. I struggled to finish my dinner that night which only consisted of 2 medium home made chicken burger patties and a side salad.

The nights sleep was pretty poor aswell. I found it difficult to go to sleep as AB wasn’t there (yeah soppy I know) and also because I was starting to get really achy. My knees were giving me grief which I expected as it usually happens so just had a couple of anti-inflammatories. Saturday morning woke up and that is when the pain hit! it is safe to say I was walking around the next 2 days looking a little suss!

Overall I recovered relatively well.

At the end of it this adventure was a mixed bag. I really enjoyed the run and am so stoked that I ran 98% of it. I am cursing myself that I didn’t prepare better for it! This is one of those “ad-hoc” adventures I mentioned in a previous post! The pain in my lower body was to be expected considering my running training had decreased in the last 2 or so months.

What I have been focussing on in my training lately has been “Searching for the hurt”. I want to push myself in every session that I do. Yes I run the risk of injury, yes I run the risk of burning out but I don’t want to run the risk of “what if”. what if I pushed that little bit harder, would I have got a PR, what if I did that one extra set. I don’t want to have those thoughts.

I found the hurt on this run. Lucky I love the hurt. 

Stats from this run

Total kms 27

Ave pace 6:09min per km

Elevation gain 194m

Calories burnt 2,838

Total moving time 2:45

Will I do the same run again? Absolutely! I have set another marker now so I have something to aim for! There is a personal record there to be broken! Next time though I will add an additional 3kms on to hit that 30km mark!

Stay tuned peeps!

T 

2015- The Plan

One thing I may have been guilty of before is being a little too “ad-hoc” in my event planning and not giving an appropriate amount of lead in time with both my physical training (gym, cardio etc) and also my nutrition. Don't get me wrong though, ad-hoc activities add an element of excitement, desperation and enthusiasm which is handy at times.

For 2015 I have decided to do things a little more structured. I have printed out a month by month calendar and planned out my A and B events for the entire year. What I am hoping is that this will do a number of things. Firstly it will allow me to structure my training in a suitable way, especially considering I have a vast range of events. Secondly it will keep my motivation levels sustainable which should in turn keep my nutrition and d...d....d....diet on track. Hate that word but it is an unfortunate bi product of trying to keep a full calendar.

Below is a month by month breakdown of the remainder of 2014 and all of 2015. What I have done is left some spaces for some last minute C class events which will not require much lead in work but will keep the competitive juices flowing.

December 2014

9^th – PACC CX event #2 (B)

13^th – Tough Mudder (A+)

21^st – PACC Criterium race (B-)

January 2015

17^th – Dirt Wars (A)

17^th – 25^th – Tour Down Under (100km+ ride each day – A+)

February 2015

10^th – PACC CX event #3 (B)

24^th – PACC CX event #4 (B)

March 2015

17^th – PACC CX event #5 (B)

22^nd – Bike SA Coast to Coast ride (C)

April 2015

19^th – inaugural Bay – City fun run (B)

May 2015

2^nd – True Grit (A++) 

June 2015

6^th – True Grit Enduro (A++)

July 2015

Nothing at this stage

August 2015

Nothing at this stage

September 2015

20^th – Yurrebilla 56k Ultra train run (A)

October 2015

Nothing at this stage

November 2015

Nothing at this stage

December 2015

Nothing at this stage

As you can see this is something that is a work in progress and will continue to evolve as the year progresses and dates are released for additional events such as the City to Bay and the Cycling SA winter road race season.  I am needing to fill in something for October, November and December! Honestly I am not even sure what sort of event I want to look for. The positive is that it is at the end of the year so I can see what takes my fancy a little closer. The other side of that is we usually aim for a family holiday in the 2^nd half of the year. Not sure how travelling around with me while I do crazy things isn’t a holiday though but that is a different conversation all together.

I do however see the last quarter of 2015 being heavily geared to my already set goal in 2016 of The North Face 100! Not going to go in to that now as it already scares me!

So what’s next? TOUGH MUDDER!!!! I will be dedicating a total post to this event including my lead up, the event and the aftermath!

Stay tuned!

Till next time.....T 

A new name and a new focus

SOOOOOOOOOOOO it's once again been a while since i have checked in! (Lazy so and so). 

Couple of reasons (aka excuses) for this. I haven't been riding my bike in any serious fashion for a while now so my race reports, thoughts and musings have been somewhat limited. Secondly, after reviewing a number of my previous blogs I noticed that they weren't really "Bike centric" and the page title of "Adelaide Rider" seemed a little inept. 

Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE my bike, riding my bike, racing my bike and everything that a being a cyclist encompasses (after forking out $5,500 on a new on this year my wife would kill me is a said anything different) but it just isn't my be all-end all anymore. I still love the social aspect of it such as riding with my bike partner in crime CW, also the training and the pushing myself. My 2015 plans still have a number of cycling events in there, I have just found new joys and outlets such as running either on the road through such events as the City to Bay, Barossa Marathon and the Adelaide Running Fesitval, or Trail/off road runs and my new found passion of Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) like True Grit, Tough Mudder etc. 

I am changing the focus of my blogs. I will now be writing about not only cycling by my life as an adventure athlete! I have teamed with an OCR business as a contributor/reviewer and am waiting to hear back from another to be a guest contributor there. I'll be able to reveal more soon!

One great thing has also been connecting with like minded folk via Facebook and the pages and groups that are available on there. Most impressively for me has been the SA Obs Racers group which has been founded by the previous OCRA SA rep. She is a wealth of knowledge and has some fantastic connections and most importantly is passionate about establishing an OCR footprint here in South Australia as previously we have been (and somewhat continue to be) overlooked for the headline events such as Spartan Race. This group works hard to share knowledge, thoughts, hints and tips! I'm really looking forward to getting out there any meeting, and training with, this group. 

For me I have been spending some time finalising my 2015 activity calendar which I will detail in a future post. It is looking busy already! 

In BIKE related news i do have something to share! I competed in my first ever Cyclocross race this week as part of Port Adelaide Cycling Clubs Twilight schedule. Having purchased a cheaper, 2nd hand, CX Bike and only riding it once (and crashing once) I didnt hold out any hope for this as my bike handling skills have always been a little sketchy! I entered the 5 race series in C grade just to gain some experience and not cause carnage to any other riders in the larger B grade field. 
Despite me telling everyone, and myself, that this was just a practice event and with Tough Mudder in 4 weeks i would be taking it VERY carefully by the first half of the lap I found myself in the top 4. What am i meant to do? Sit up? Drop back? Not F'ing likely! I moved up to 2nd wheel for the 2nd lap and the start of the 3rd then i let that baby rip! By the end of the 3rd lap and going in to the last i had a small lead but after coming out of the technical section which included some lush grass which was heavy my legs started to give out a little. Once i hit the harder stuff and gravel I moved up a couple of gears and gave it some jandel! Coming in to the "Forest of Doom" for the final time i went in a little hot and almost lost it but with a decent enough gap it didn't cause much concern. BOOM out of the forest and on to the gravel for the finishing straight for the WIN! After seeing the results last night i won by 21 secs. Fingers crossed I get to stay in this grade for a few more rounds as this wasn't an overly technical course and didn't include any barriers to dismount over. Still undefeated in my bike racing career! (3 races in) :)

Till next time, which i assure you will NOT be as long as THIS time....

T

Elbows out! Gotta learn that one!

Preparing to enter the Forest of DOOOOM

Hunting em down. Look out CWL!

Barossa Running Fesitval - My First Half Marathon

Prior to taking up riding I was a larger guy. Peaking at 101kgs only 2 1/2 years ago I set myself a cycling challenge 6 months out which was completing the community stage of the Tour Down Under. I completed that goal and have set and achieved many other cycling goals in the last 2 or so years which I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy (most of the time). 

One thing that I NEVER enjoyed was running. Mostly due to my lack if cardio fitness and just the negative thoughts that I couldn't do it or looked stupid trying to do it. I viewed it as such an achievement when I could actually run from one set of traffic lights to the other down King William Street! When my fitness started to get a little better I started running (trying to) home from the gym, the whole 2kms! At the beginning I couldn't even make the whole distance! I used to set myself a challenge to run from the first street light on the path to the other end. This was about 500-600m in length! Gradually I managed to extend my distance and soon enough i was making it the whole way from the gym to home! 

In the past 10-12 months I have found myself becoming more and more comfortable running and was regularly doing 5-8km runs relatively comfortably, coupled with consistent gym work and pushing myself a little more on my bike my next, and first "official" running goal was the 2013 City to Bay fun run. With a couple of training runs I finished in just a smidge over 1hr (see My City to Bay 2013) . After that run I thought this was my maximum distance! Although i finished pretty well and not overly sore i couldnt see myself going any further than that!

Fast forward 6 months and i am in the rhythm of doing approx 10-12km runs consistently and feeling good. I was now in serious training for True Grit Adelaide 2014!  

One night after a tough few days at work and a fair bit of pent up general life stress and the battle of the black dog I went out for a run in anger and before I knew it I found myself at Brighton after running the Hallett cove/Marion board walk to Brighton and across 6kms of soft sand. when i stopped and checked my strava i had come 18kms! This has been the first (and thankfully so far last)Hmm good True Grit training at least I thought! 

After completing the True Grit race I felt like i was in decent nick. As i was scrolling through my FaceBook feed i came across the Barossa Running festival which incorporated a  half marathon. Bugger it I'll give it a crack! why not! I had just over 3 weeks to get run ready! Considering my longest run thus far had been my 18km angry run i was going to have to cram hard to get through 21kms! 

2 weeks out from the event i was doing a planned 6km run from a drop off point on my back from the office to home when suddenly i got pain and tightness in my left achilles tendon and up through my calf! 2kms out from home i had no other option than to hobble through. When i got home and stopped my left leg from my knee down was in intense pain and seized up. Straight on with the ice pack, voltaren and deep heat but this did little over the next 2 days. Somehow i managed, ok my wife managed, to find a physio that i could get into immediately for an assessment. After some exercises along with some poking and prodding on my leg he put it down to achiles tendinitis which usually required 2-3 weeks of rest and no high impact exercise other than a short walk here and there. After explaining that had registered for the Barossa Half he said, unexpectedly, that he would do his best to get me right(ish) for it! 8 sessions over the next 10 days with some deep tissue massage and a range of exercises and i was feeling good. The only down side was that i was only able to do a short, 3km, run in 10 days! Luckily i got no pain during or after that but after 3kms I was hardly warmed up so how would my leg react after 10 or 15kms?

Run day! 
The moment of truth! 
I was up and early for the 90min drive from my place to Tanunda in the Barossa Valley. I was lucky that mum volunteered to come that early and that a good friend of mine was completing the half as well as part of her preparation to complete her 2nd full marathon in August! We got there with about 25mins to spare and after a short warm up and some stretches we were ready to go! The mass start provided a bit of congestion but at the 3km mark i had found some clear air but had lost Kathy! We had promised each other that if either of us felt strong to just keep going so I kept my pace up and got in to a good space mentally and physically. I managed to find 3-4 runners that i could pace myself with which was helpful. The course itself was spectacularly beautiful but i caught out and lulled in to a false sense of security with the course map! The straights were a lot longer and lumpier than the map detailed! A rookie mistake i made was thinking that the half marathon looped past the start twice so i took on board 1 gel and left one with mum at the start/finish line thinking that i would grab the 2nd one on the way past. 2 mins out from the start and Kathy informs me that no it is an out and back one loop. damn. Gonna pay for that one! I wore skins so not even any pockets to stash the gel in!

I made it to the 10km mark and the first turn around point pretty comfortably and even managed to see Kathy on the way back, she was only about 5 mins behind so doing a great job herself considering she had been ill all week! Km's 10-14 were reasonably straightforward but just as i went past the 15km mark my hips and groins started to get really stiff and sore and my little toe which i slightly injured at True Grit started rubbing on my shoe and becoming quite painful. The people i had paced myself against the whole way started pulling away from me and i lost contact by 17km. Just before the 18km marker my worst fear came to fruition. My achilles and calf started to ache and strain with each stride. Thankfully it didn't get worse but certainly inhibited my last 4 or so. This was just a big of a mental challenge as physical at this point because stopping and/or walking was NOT an option for me. My kids had made support signs for me the night before and one of them said "go dad, No Stopping, No walking!" so i couldn't bare the thought of them seeing me walking across the line. Once i made it to the 20km mark i knew i would make it and i had a moment where i felt the emotions well up inside. I managed to suppress this as the job was still not done! 

When I entered the finishing straight the crowd would have been 3-4 deep for the last 200meters. It was a beautiful sight and my pace increased slightly and i drew next to another runner. She saw this and lifted her pace as well. Before i knew it the 2 of us were sprinting the last 150 meters into the last corner. 50 Meters to go and i had pulled a decent gap on her and powered to the line, I knew my wife, kids and mum were on the sidelines and i could hear them but i barely saw them, i was so focused on getting to the end, sprinting, i nearly took out one of the marshals at the end who were swiping our numbers to get our finish times. As i was walking out the lady who i had sprinted with thanked me for the race and said she needed that last little push! 

As i was making my way back to where my family was my mum came running up in tears and shaking telling me how proud she was. With her arm around me we walked back to my wife and kids. My son came sprinting up and jumped in to me nearly knocking me over and gave me the biggest hug. My daughter squeezed me so tight and a lovely kiss and hug from my wife almost broke down. 

My focus now turned to cheering Kathy on as she crossed. After 10 or so mins he husband Michael said he could see her coming. As she rounded the corner we could see she was in the zone. More yelling and screaming and she acknowledged us and powered home! 

A good hour of stretching, relaxing and chatting and we made our way to Tanunda for a well earned feed and a sneaky cider! Re hydrating is important!

Their support both in the lead up and during means everything to me, without them this would have been impossible. 

I finished the 21kms in 1hr and 47 minutes clocking 4:59km spilts. I had set myself a goal of coming in under 2 hours so from that perspective yes i am happy and proud. I am however a little disappointed in the fact that my last 4-5kms were more about survival and getting to the end. I REALLY wanted to stick with the pace group i had for most of the day and would have come in around the 1hr 40 mark. 

Overall for my first half marathon i am pleased. Some more (uninterrupted) training and a new pair of running specific shoes and if i decide to do it again next year....who knows. 

Kathy was brilliant. She completed the same course in 1hr 58mins! under her goal of also sub 2hrs and for someone that was sick all week i couldnt be prouder. She was 2mins shy of her PB but this is also just a warm up/training event for her. Come the Adelaide Marathon in August she will be cherry ripe!

Big props to my physio Michael at Physio Direct on Greenhill road Adelaide! the guys is a genius (never letting him dry needle me again tho!)

So the day after and i have pulled up extremely sore through my hips and groins and am struggling to walk! My achilles is tight but not overly sore. I have planned to do a 5km trail race this coming Sunday with Athletics SA so recovery is the name of the game this week! 

Will i do another half marathon? Honestly after the race my initial response was "hell no!" i have done one, ticked that off the list, now what can i do? with 24 hours to think about it and reflect, will i do another half marathon? My response now...."whats the point in setting a time and not giving myself an opportunity to beat it? how quick CAN i go"??.......

I haven't got many medals in my time. This one is very special. It's only a participation award but a lot of blood, sweat and a few tears went into this

Before

After - Still Smilin!

Tour Down Under 2014 - A mixed bag

Well the 2014 TDU has been run, or ridden, and won. Congratulations to Simon Gerrans (Orica Greenedge) for his record breaking 3rd win in the race. Massive kudos to Cadel Evans who was in 2nd place by 1 second! So many brilliant points in the race by my 2 highlights were standing at the 100m to go mark on the Corkscrew Hill KOM and hearing the crowd errupt as Cadel flew up it taking the stage and secondly being with my family at the base of the Old Willunga Hill climb and seeing the excitement on the kids (and adults) faces as the race unfolded.

Day 1
Well the TDU week started off well enough. The group that i was preparing to ride with for the week, Cervo Rosso, was holding a dinner in the city prior to the traditional prologue stage on the sunday night. We got to the track early to claim a seat then headed for dinner which was great. Many laughs were had and a few sneaky ciders as Monday was a "rest day". After dinner we wandered down and some of us went our separate ways to get a good vantage point. We were lucky we left our chairs there as the crowd was 4-5 deep when we returned. To be so close and feel the rush of the wind as they stream past is amazing and this was just the entree to the week of racing action!

Kids are happy with their spot!

Teams on their warm up lap

Fast corner with not much room to move!

The man, The legend...CADEL

Day 2 (TDU Rest Day)

Not wanting to rest too much and rest seizing up i decided to ride ride from home to Glenelg to take part in the Team Sky "Twitter Ride". Huge turnout with at least 250-300 cyclists riding from The Buffalo to Outer Harbour and back. The whole Sky team turned up with support cars in tow (including their Jaguar!) When i got their i spotted A-Man and Boz. The three of us decided that we would turn off at Burbridge Road and head back to la Musette for a coffee (or 2). Unfortunately i got stuck on a work call and missed the roll out so ended up right at the back of the field and missed A-Man and Boz when they turned off. This kinda set the tone for my week but more of that soon enough. I looped back at the next round about and headed to the Cafe where we met AVO and Carlyle Ware. Carlyle is the  head of Cervo Rosso international and had made the trip to Adelaide to ride in the Grand Brevet so it was great to finally meet him in person. 2 hours later and 3 coffees in A-Man, AVO, Boz and Carlyle had decided that they were going to go to Waterfall Gully and I said i would head home. A good 55kms in the bank by the time i returned so i was happy

Day 3 (Nurioopta to Angsston)

Each of the Cervo Rosso Grand Brevet rides started at the Tour Village in Victoria Square and finished after 100kms at the end of the official TDU route. Day one of the race finished in the Barossa Valley town of Angaston. This was going to be one of the longest days of the week as from Angaston we had another 35kms back to Gawler to catch the train to the city. We all met a the designated 7am time and after AVO greeted and welcomed everyone the groups were formed (slow, medium and fast). Mistake number 2. Looking at the riders in the fast group i had ridden with them all before and manged to hold my own so i lined up with them. we rolled out of the city at a steady but comfortable pace. Once we hit the hills a however i found that i was getting towards the back of the pack and working hard to hang on. Something wasnt right. The pace was high so i dropped off the back and made my own way to the first stop where each of the groups met up. After this stop i jumped in with the "medium" speed group but heading to Nurioopta i got dropped again! FFS i was really bonking and thinking back to my food prep prior i didnt do enough carbing which i really felt on that first day. We all made our way to Angaston and enjoyed some well earnt lunch and sweet treats. This soon perked me up although my ride back to Gawler was, again, solo as the pace was hot with many people taking advantage of the brief stiff tail wind on the way back. Caught the train from Gawler not knowing that i had to buy a ticket for my bike so fixed this up at the Adelaide Station and we all spun back to the village for drinks and chats. Home for an ice bath, pasta and bread! 

Day 4 (Prospect to Sterling)

Felt great when i turned up this morning after a solid meal for dinner, a great sleep and awesome breakfast. I made the wise decision to ride with the medium group from the start today after seeing Dr Pain turn up but this all went downhill when both the medium and fast groups combined. This turned out to be my undoing as the pace got hotter and hotter as we hit Gorge Road. i managed to stay on (albeit at the back of the pack) until a group nature stop. After this the riders of the fast group lifted the pace too high for me and i made the decision, again, to drop off. I am not a 250km+ a week rider at the moment so knowing that this was going to be in excess of 500kms i wanted to preserve my legs. Made a couple of phonecalls and returned a few emails at the bottom of Gorge road and flicked a message to the group informing them not to wait for me at the top of Checker Hill which was the KOM for this stage. Knowing that i was off the back i decided not to do Checker which was a real shame as i was so looking forward to revisiting this climb but i also wanted to make sure i saw the race in Sterling. I ventured around Gumeracha then headed in to lobethal where i was going to have a break but seeing the bakery was full i pushed on to Hahndorf where the town was buzzing in anticipation of the peloton coming through. Great coffee, donut and a coke and i was on my way again. I rode my way through to Mylor then up to Aldgate where the CR group were meeting but i decided to push up the hill to Sterling as i remembered the chaos of trying to get out of the area last year. This was actually a good move as met up with one of my best mates who due to injury couldnt ride with me this year. His company would have made a great difference as when we ride together we always stay together and pace ourselves to how the slowest of us is feeling, we actually ride together,  but there is always next year. We hung out, chatted and watched the pro's loop through twice and enjoyed the race in warm but pleasant conditions. After the race i rolled out and actually managed to mingle with the pros on their warm down! The climb out of Sterling through "Bitch Hill" was much better managed this year by leaving earlier i avoided the crowds. Managed to get a great run down the South Eastern Freeway until the last hairpin before the Devil when i saw an ambulance attending to a fallen cyclist. Hope they are ok. Made my way, once again, to the village where i sat in the expo side and enjoyed a cold coke before heading home again and starting my nightly prep routine. Overall i actually enjoyed riding by myself today because i could do what i wanted and take in the sights and sounds of the TDU festival without smashing myself to hold on to a pack. 

Day 5 (Norwood to Campbelltown)

Today i didnt even worry about starting with the CR group as i was completely demoralized by my 2 previous efforts i decided to just cruise around by myself. I planned to follow the same route as them but my Garmin was on the fritz a little so i lost track of the route. i ended up venturing down Gorge road again and out to Gumeracha and a bit futher on from there. i looped back through Kersbrook and back on to Gorge road heading to the infamous Corkscrew Road! This is a brutal climb and coming at over the 90km mark of the race today it would prove decisive. I had no intentions of trying to get a PB on this climb as the crowds had already started to build and bike were going everywhere. I just cruised up but actually managed to shift in to the big ring with about 500m to go. Wasnt sure if my legs were good or i was just a bit dehydrated! Not being able to find a decent spot at the top of the hill i rolled a little way back down to the 100m to go marker, on a bend which gave a great view of the riders which would be coming up. I had a great vantage point to also watch the social riders coming up and also the CR team. Boz and Rubber werent keen on going to the bottom where they were basing themselves and having to climb up again with the crowds so stayed with me. The 3 of us had a great time although it was very hot there the CFS ended up filling out bidons of ice as the volunteers ran out of drinks. The ice did provide some respite. As the race approached you could feel the anticipation in the crowd and when they turned on to Corkscrew Road the crowd erupted as the commentator announced that Cadel had broken away at the front! the roar of the crowd up the hill as he made his way was like the roll of thunder and i will never forget seeing him round the corner dancing on the pedals on his way to a famous stage victory. Seeing a World Champion and TDF winner do his thing so sublimely is something i will never forget! As the rest of the peloton made their way through and the green light vehicle had passed i bid farewell to Boz and Rubber and made my way down Montecute hill to Gorge Road in to Campbell Town where the finish was staged. My day got even better from here as when i made my way past the stage area i found myself in the middle of some teams heading back to the city! Belkin, Europcar, FDJ and Garmin were all riding back. No other sport in the world would everyday folk have the opportunity of riding side by side with elite athletes like this with no protection, no security etc. This was a real buzz and the look of awe on some of the others riding with us was just priceless. 

Back to the village to my spot on the expo side for a rest then home again. 

Day 6 (Unley to Victor Harbor)

During yesterdays ride i started to develop quite a bit of pain in my right side Achilles tendon which got progressively worse to the point that i couldnt really stand when i got home that night. Straight in to damage control with Ice every 15mins and any ointment that i could find was lathered on. This morning i woke up and could certainly feel it and it was obviously swollen. Not knowing what i had done i decided, probably stupidly, that i would start my ride then just see how it went at the start. if i had to pull the pin then so be it. I set my Garmin course to follow the Cervo Rosso route which straight away went up the South Eastern Freeway so it would certainly be a good test. I managed to climb it without too much discomfort so i pushed on through Sturt Valley and on to Heather Road. This was an unexpected little pinch of a climb! got up it ok and cruised through Mylor on my way to Medows where i had planned my first rest stop which was 50kms in to the ride so was gradually consuming my food supplies knowing that i could top up there. The ride to medows was beautiful and took in Retort Hill! not overly steep or long but a pain with a sore leg and a couple of hundred kms in the bank for the week. Got over it with no major issues when cruised to Medows. Got to the lovely bakery, grabbed a coke and was waiting to order a pasty and donut when i looked in my zip lock bag. OH SHIT! no cash and i left my credit card in my wallet after going to the supermarket last night! i was LIVID! i found a seat outside and assessed the situation. i had 1 bidon of water, three lolly snakes and one cocaine bar to get me through the next 80odd kms! i decided to eat the cocaine bar and set off pretty quickly to take advantage of the energy boost. i made good time to the Myponga KOM and caught up with the last of the BUPA Challenge Tour riders. This was a great climb which i surprisingly managed quite easily. This was the end point of the route i had to follow so once up the top of the climb i assessed my map. I mapped out a course that was about 38kms to victor. The route was undulating and by the time i got to the 115km mark i was getting in to a bit of trouble physically as i had consumed all my food and had all my drink. I was empty. Physically i had very little left to give and was unsure if i would make it the last 20kms to Victor. I was peddling in to a head/side wind for the most part. I was lucky that i turned a corner to the left and managed to get a tail wind for the next 5 mins which helped me up a hill and on to a fast 3km descent. This allowed me to get my wits about me for the last 8kms to the finish. I saw a 4wd pull off to the side in front of me and a arm waving out the window, i came to a stop just next to it and saw a friendly face in Michelle. She had seen my earlier facebook post while in Medows and was worried so took the opportunity to check on me when she saw me. After a brief chat i was on my way when another car pulled in front and another arm waving. It was one of my best mates (the one who couldnt ride) and his wife and baby girl. They too had seen my post and were offering water and showing genuine concern, thanks guys! they were heading into Victor so we arranged a meet up and we were on our way. When i got over the last small hill and saw the round about which leads to Victor i had a tear or two in my eyes from hunger, thirst, and a sense of achievement. I found my wife and kids in among the crowd of people and they were eagerly anticipating the arrival of my Father in Law who had ridden the Bupa ride. It was a great thrill to see him cross the line with 152kms ridden and all climbs done. i am super proud of him. We all chatted and watched the finish of the stage. At this point i still had nothing to eat or drink so was keen to make a move. To cool down i rode back to my F.I.L's house at Pt Elliott where where we were staying. I smashed down 4 glasses of water and 3 slices of bread with Nutella. It was a good hour or so until i started to feel somewhat clearer, then the fun began. The Cider was opened and we stat around for a few hours and shared stories of our ride and spent time as a family. We then headed to dinner before i turned in early in anticipation of the willunga stage tomorrow. This marked the end of my riding adventures for the week!

Day 7 (Mclaren Vale to Willunga)

The Queen stage of the Tour Down Under never fails to deliver. We left Pt Elliott at around 9am to make the quick trip to Willunga knowing where we wanted to sit we made the hurried trip up to the base of Old Willunga Hill, near St James Park. This is a great spot and one that we have frequented the last few years. Chairs in place and drinks in hand it was now just a 3 hr waiting game for the peloton to arrive which was made more enjoyable by Phil and Michelle along with their kids joining us which is always nice. I did enjoy yelling words of "encouragement" to riders i knew that were heading up the hill, although i dont know if many of them appreciated it ;-) A special mention has to go to A-Man who heard me yelling and made a loop back down just to ask me if i was ok. Thanks mate. The crowd continued to build and it got to fever pitch when the pros made their first pass up the hill. The kids with clappers in hand yelling at the tops of their voices was great to see, and hear. Being that they are another year older they seem more engaged in the race and had picked out their favorite riders and teams (Cadel and GreenEdge). It is certainly a sport that all ages, shapes and sizes can be involved in through one way or another. The race was brilliant to watch and to see Richie Porte's blistering attack at the base of the 2nd and final climb was amazing. I felt for Cadel though as it was plain to see how much he wanted this but ultimately he ended up losing the Ochre jersey by 1 second going into the final stage. 

Day 8 ( Adelaide Street Circuit)

The last day of the TDU always brings mixed emotions, this year probably more than previously. It culminates a week long festival and celebration of such a great sport and of many kms ridden, new friendships made, realizations gained and for some tough lessons learnt. 

This being a new circuit we had no real idea of where to sit to we assessed the map the night before and decided on a spot on the corner of Bartels road and Dequetiville terrace which worked out well because this was the first year that our eldest was able to ride in the Bupa Kids Mini Tour. This enables kids 6-12 the opportunity to ride a section of the track. I think that i was more nervous than Miss 6 as i hadnt had the chance to practice much with her but she did so brilliantly. I could tell that she was hesitant but she kept it upright the whole 20mins while others went for some pretty decent spills! 

The place we sat for the race was great but unfortunately it was in full sun for the whole day on the hottest day of the week! ahhhh well lather on the sunscreen and we were fine! We packed a great lunch for us to enjoy, as a family, and that we did. Being so close to the track and the team staging area our kids had the chance to wave and yell out to the riders as they went past. Highlight of this was them getting a smile and wave from Cadel and Jens Voight. The stage was taken out by German powerhouse Andre Greipel with Simon Gerrans taking the General Classification. That drew to a close one of the greatest sporting events of not only SA but Australia as a whole and the record crowd numbers reported are a testament to this. 

My week in review.

I dont get too hung up on numbers etc like most but my TDU stats for my rides are here...

KM's Ridden - 591.10

Meters Climbed - 5,782

Time riding - 23Hrs 2 min

Number of rides - 5

I loved spending time with my family the most this week. To be able to share this with my wife, 2 kids, mum and Father in law was very special and many fond memories have been made and plans are already in place for next year! Fingers crossed my Bro wont be injured as i could have used him this year. Fingers crossed!

What i learnt this week

This week was a real mixed bag for me. I was so excited to do the Cervo Rosso Grand Brevet as i enjoyed it so much last year but it was evident from the first day that either they all got better or i got worse or i just completely misunderstood this years ride and it was actually a training ride, not a social event. I was disappointed that the group fractured the way it did and i felt completely unsupported by the "team" which left me feeling quite despondent for much of the week. I am not a big personality and  find it hard to fit in to groups so in that sense this has put me back a few places as this group is a little "clicky" and if your not in the "inner circle" you can feel a little ostracized and that is the slight feeling i have been left with. Granted my day 1 prep wasnt good but i guess i just expected a little better. No one seem too fussed but like i said, i probably just gauged the event wrong. I dont go out for competitive rides very often, i am not driven by strava glory which is contrary to many others. 

I need to be better in my preparation for longer, multi day events. This put me on the back foot early this year and it is usually a point that i am VERY good at. I am attempting to stick to a clean eating diet but the negative to this is that it isnt very conducive to carb loading! i should have recognized this earlier but life just sometimes gets in the way

I actually enjoyed riding by myself more than i thought. Sure it would have been great to have the company and some people to chat to but the time to just be alone with my thoughts and know that i just had me to rely on was nice. 

I have enjoyed sharing a common interest more and more with my Father in Law. Seeing him become more and more involved with cycling and his times improved has been great. Coming back from a broken pelvis mid last year it would have been easy for him to not get back on or just do short rides but these last 6-9 months he has really pushed himself., a new Cervelo bike hasnt hurt his enthusiasm either!

Whats next?

Honestly i dont know. I miss the next sportif due to my wife being overseas for work but after this week i probably wouldnt have done it any way.

i need to work on my overall bike fitness and i plan to do this predominantly solo or with my friend, CW, once he is recovered from his injury. 

I want to improve my hill climbing and general performance.

Racing is not really on my radar at this stage. I may do 1 or 2 crit races before the summer finishes then see how i feel come the road season. I may seem a bit "nonchalant" but i just feel my competitive juices wavering at the moment and i guess i realised that the only person i am wanting to compete against on the bike at the moment is myself. 

True Grit is my next main event in April so a decent amount of training must be done for this.

I had been close to getting a power meter but have decided to put this off until i get a new bike this year, IF i get a new bike that is. 

My achillies is feeling better and a short spin this afternoon should work out any last niggles. 

Overall i give this week a 7/10.

Until we meet again, one pedal stroke at a time!