Staged Race training program for the 8-day, 400km Cape Wrath Ultra

I've been thinking hard about what to do for my training over the next 4 months to get ready for the CWU in May 2018. With 10 years of ultra running under my belt, I've done my fair share of training and racing, here is a list of what I've done to date:

• Three Marathons in Three Days Ultra (126.6km, Cairns Tablelands, 2012-2017), 
• UTA100 (100km, Blue Mountains, 2016), 
• Blackall 100 (100km, Sunshine Coast Hinterland, 2015), 
• Kokoda Challenge (96km, PNG, 2007) - my first ultra race
• Comrades Marathon (89km, South Africa, 2013, 2014, 2017), 
• Kuranda to Port Douglas Ultra (64km, 2011-2017), 
• Australia Running Festival Ultra (50km, Canberra, 2017), 
• Surfcoast Century (50km, Anglesea, 2015), 
• Inca Trail (45km, Peru, 2008), 
• Great Ocean Road Marathon (45km, 2015), 
• Melbourne Marathon (2012-2014), 
• Gold Coast Marathon (2006, 2007, 2009, 2017), 
• Townsville Marathon (2012, 2016, 2017), 
• Sydney Marathon (2014), 
• Hobart Marathon (2009), 
• Xiamen Marathon (2015) - although you'll not find my name on the results for this race as I ran using someone else's bib!
• and numerous half marathons and other shorter races over the past 11 years.

For the CWU, I'm changing my focus a bit from pure endurance training to the following:

1. run on the trails as frequently possible 
2. run hills - up and down
3. do two 'Shock weeks', including back to back runs, gear check & nutrition check
4. do strength training, mobility training and balance training
5. know how to look after my own feet
6. know how to do some basic maintenance on my own body

To this end, I've put the following in place:

Run on the trails as frequently possible.

Fortunately for me, we have a network of trails that start about 2km from my front door! It's called the Arrows, and there are endless combinations to choose from. I'll be doing an Arrows run at least once a week, probably during the week, after work.

We also have wonderful trails all around us, in the tropical rainforest and in the more open Sclerophyll (Eucalypt) forests on the Tablelands. At this stage I'm looking at doing the following:

Wks to go	Saturday		Sunday
17	26/01/2018	WEIPA	27/01/2018	WEIPA
16	3/02/2018	Smithfield Trails, map	4/02/2018	Misty Mountains, map
15	10/02/2018	Goldfield Trail, Babinda, map	11/02/2018	Mt Bartle Frere PM, map (Clifton Beach Race am)
14	17/02/2018	Smithfield Trails, map	18/02/2018	To be decided
13	24/02/2018	Glacier Rock, map	25/02/2018	Saddle Mountain & Red Peak, map
12	3/03/2018	3M3D, map	4/03/2018	3M3D, map
11	10/03/2018	Trail RACE: Motatapu Ultra, NZ 51km TBC, map	11/03/2018	To be decided
10	17/03/2018	Clohesy River, map	18/03/2018	Mt Baldy x2 PM (Paws on the Path am), map
9	24/03/2018	Thorsborne Trail, map	25/03/2018	Thorsborne Trail, map
8	31/03/2018	EASTER	1/04/2018	EASTER
7	7/04/2018	Mt Haig, map	8/04/2018	To be decided PM (Dynamic in a Dress am)
6	14/04/2018	To be decided	15/04/2018	Road RACE: Canberra Ulta, map
5	21/04/2018	To be decided	22/04/2018	64km K2PD, map

Most of the trails I know like the back of my hand as I've been running and hiking on them for the past 17 years. The distances are not yet decided, but I have ball park figures in mind for my weekly mileage. I'm going to approach a running coach to have a look at that to see if I'm on the right track. The 4-week training blocks are not quite working out for the last 9 weeks due to racing and travel. I'm off to Tasmania and the Mornington Peninsula for the next couple of weeks, so that's not included here.

Wks to go	Week starting Monday	Intensity	Weekly total	Training block total
17	22/01/2018	Medium	93
16	29/01/2018	Hard	103
15	5/02/2018	Harder	100
14	12/02/2018	Recovery	105	401
13	19/02/2018	Medium	107
12	26/02/2018	Hard	115
11	5/03/2018	Harder	127
10	12/03/2018	Recovery	73	422
9	19/03/2018	Hard	132
8	26/03/2018	Recovery	65
7	2/04/2018	Medium	99	296
6	9/04/2018	Medium	102
5	16/04/2018	Medium	108
4	23/04/2018	Recovery	26	236

Do two 'Shock weeks', including

• back to back runs
• gear check
• nutrition check

Back to back runs

'Shock week' is an extension of the term from the book 'How to succeed at UTMB' by Guillaume Millet and Francois Nicot (2017) where they talk about 'Weekend Shocks'. For me the 'shock weeks' are going to be training blocks of 5-6 days where I'll imitate what I plan to do at the race aka get some time on my feet by doing back to back runs, test my gear and test my nutrition, including the food I'll be eating at camp and for breakfast each day. Due to work commitments I don't have much choice in the terrain I run on and I am mostly limited to training in the tropics while my race is in the Scottish Highlands.

I'll do three shock weeks, although for the first there will be less mileage and I'll probably spend some time in Hobart (I've not decided exactly what I'll do while in Tasmania yet).

Shock 1, 20 weeks out from race week: 3 January to 15 January - hoping for some cold weather to try out my gear for the race (GPS, jacket, gloves, etc).

Shock 2, 15 weeks out from race week: Babinda area

Shock 3, 9 weeks out from race week: Thorsborne Trail, Hinchinbrook Island

Gear check

I have most of the gear I need for my race. But I've not tried some of it. The only chance I'm getting to do this is over the next couple of weeks while I'm in Tasmania. And then again the three weeks prior to the race once I arrive in the UK. I'm doing the GL3D ultra from 5-7 May, and the aim is to test my gear there and buy or replace anything I need after that race.

Here is a list of my gear. This is a bit of a headache as I'm travelling to the race and don't have a base. I'm spending some time and energy trying to ensure that my packing lists are done well. For the GL3D ultra I need a tent and cooking gear too. And I'm going to South Africa after my trip to the UK, so I will have some presents for family. I promised my sister a quilt. At this stage I'm thinking it's going to be easier to just make the quilt cover without the batting and then finish it off when I'm in South Africa!

Nutrition check

I've not done much about this yet. I'm using Tailwind Nutrition and will try the Bertrand meals when they arrive. I did visit local dietitian, Mitch Smith, at Health Management and he is helping me to get something sorted. I need to loose about 5kg too.

In my next post I'll elaborate on my preparation with regards to the following:

• do strength training, mobility training and balance training
• know how to look after my own feet
• know how to do some basic maintenance on my own body

Use the Ultra Code: Just get to the next checkpoint

One of the first things you learn when you run ultra marathons is that thinking of the whole race quickly becomes overwhelming. So the trick is (and I figured this one out all on my own pretty early in my ultra running career) to just think about how far it is to the next checkpoint and aim for that. Of course, if things are going bad, you are just aiming to get to the next tree! Once there, you reset the goal to the next checkpoint/marker and off you go again.

Photo by Chris O'Brien, 3 Marathons in 3 Days, July 2012

With the advent of parkrun, many runners these days count their distances as 'just another parkrun'. In 2016 I had a good chuckle imagining the shirt I wanted to get made up for the UTA100 with the slogan 'I did 20 parkruns in one day'. Maybe I'll get organised and get one for CWU that will read 'I did 80 parkruns in 8 days'. That sound do-able, right?

I'm still trying to get my head around the training. Just can't find any good stuff out there (for FREE) to help me. So I'm figuring it out on my own. Off to Tasmania in January to try out my gear and run on some rougher terrain. March will be my biggest training month, but I may not be able to sort out time off work, so I have to try and fit all the running in around that. Not too bad, as my workday is from 8.30am to 2.30pm. I'll post my training program in the near future. I've got something, but it's time to adjust it a bit based on some of the reading I've been doing.

Booked a couple of nights on the Thorsborne Trail on Hinchinbrook Island to run there on Saturday 24 March and Sunday 25 March. I would love to do the Motatapu Ultra Marathon (51km) in New Zealand on 10 March, but I have to first beg for time off work, so that may not be possible. I'm in for the Canberra Ultra (50km) on 15 April. I ran it this year and really enjoyed it - mostly because every other runner was there in training for Comrades and the roads are closed for you to race. But in 2018 the Canberra Ultra is a bit close to the CWU which starts on 20 May, and being on the road is not the best terrain for what I'm doing.

We all know the golden race rule: Stick with what you know

I've figured out a few things about my own personality over the years. One is that I'm a stickler for the rules. So when I read and hear from other runners that you NEVER change something on race day, I'm all over it.

That is causing me a bit of grief at the moment, because my CWU race is so different from what I normally do. The terrain, the weather, the food...

The mandatory equipment list actually states that you must have fell or mountain running shoes (road trainers are NOT acceptable). I'm a minimalist when it comes to shoes and run all my events, including my ultras (trail and road) in ALTRA Delilahs, and in the past I also used Merrill Trail Gloves! So I've had to go out of my way to find another shoe to do the race in: The ALTRA Lone Peak 3.5. I'm very happy with it and I'm getting used to the more spongy feel and I'm not tripping over things as much anymore. Ha, ha. But it still doesn't help with me getting used to the terrain! I live and train in the tropical rainforests of Far North Queensland in Australia. There are some open Sclerophyll forests (aka Eucalypt/gum trees) up on the Tablelands (about 1 1/2 hour drive from home), but the terrain is sill nothing like what I'll experience in the Scottish Highlands. I'm going to Tasmania in January to do some running there and will arrive in the UK a couple of weeks before the CWU, so will go for a few hikes to see what it's like.


Not sure if you will be able to view this video as it's on my Facebook page. I'll add it to YouTube and update this link later. It shows the type of terrain I'm training in.

The trip to Tassie is also to test my gear out in colder weather. Although it is in the peak of summer in the southern hemisphere, Tasmania can get cold even then. It's only a stone's throw from Antarctica. No chance of testing any of my gear here in Cairns, as the average temperature is about 22-32 degrees Celsius during our 'wet season'. We only have two seasons: Wet and Dry. During our dry season we may have the odd day where the temperature drops to about 16 degrees and we all get our jumpers out and turn off the fans.

But what this post is about today (just took a while to get to it!) is the clothes I'm doing to wear on the run. Yes, I'll be carrying a waterproof jacket and pants, and some cold weather gear like gloves and beanie, but what I'll run in day in and day out will be gear I already use. For our Tailwind Nutrition 3 Marathons in 3 Days we get 'ultra shirts' made for the race (I just coined the term as there is no a term for this type of shirt). It has a full zip at the front and pockets at the back. It's really a cycling shirt, but without the elastic around the bottom of the shirt. The plan is to get two short sleeve and two long sleeve ultra shirts. I wear these shirts on long runs despite the fact that they are a bit hot for our climate. But the back pockets are very handy for Tailwind, ziplock bags with snacks and compression (snake) bandages.

Furthermore I'm going to stick to my Skirt Sports too. I've been wearing this for the past 10 years or so, and I'm very comfortable with it. I may also add in some tights that I can take off if it gets hot, or put on when it gets cold. Narelle Ash from Skirt Sports has been generous and is sponsoring me a few items to use during the event. That is fantastic! I'm going to try the Lotta Breeze Capri skirt, but I'll mostly stick to what I'm used to: the Gym Girl Ultras. I love the Skirt Sports. The pockets on the sides of the thighs come in very handy for small items like lip balm and toilet paper. On my training runs during the week, that's where I keep my car key.

Go now and have a look at Skirt Sports and treat yourself to something comfy, flattering and long-lasting.
Website: www.skirtsports.com.au

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SkirtSportsAUS 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skirtsportsaus/ 

I just run. Who can help me with the other stuff?

As a running coach, people often ask me for advice on other issues such as diet, stretching, strength training, injury and the like. 'I just run' is the answer they get from me. I don't think you need to be an expert in everything you do. Enlist the help of others and use their year's of experience in a particular field. So if you want advice on diet, go to a dietitian; for stretching go to the physio, for strength training find a personal trainer and for injury go to you local sports doctor.

In my journey to reach 50 I've realised that I already know most of these experts, and others. And I'm taking advantage of people I know and trust (some of them I've known for years) and their expertise.

On the weekend I did an 8-hour EMM-Tech course with Gemma Dustin from Gemstone Natural Therapies. The EMM-Tech short course was derived from the Emmett Technique Practitioner Course for therapists. The moves were designed as a First Aid kit of muscle releases for people in remote areas in Australia.
EMM-Tech teaches participants how to effectively produce visible body changes and experience great results.

I've enlisted Elaine Strachan (Train with Elaine) as my personal trainer to help me with strength training. I'm picking up two sessions in the gym (from next week onward) to work on core strength, stability, balance and some isometric moves to improve my mobility. Elaine works out of Active Health Club on Peace Street around the corner from where I live, so it's very convenient. I've know Adam and Sally for years and periodically end up doing a stint at the gym, depending on my training volume and training program leading into my big races.

My Studio Pilates November Challenge is nearly over. It's been a tough 5-days per week regime added to my increased mileage in training for the CWU. I will more than likely continue with the Pilates beyond the challenge. But I have to drive all the way into town (15 minutes is a LONG WAY for those of us who live in a small town!). Not many people know what Pilates is, and Studio Pilates is a bit of step up from a more gentle 'stretching' you may associate with Pilates. Studio Pilates workouts incorporate the Pilates reformer, a spring loaded machine which was designed over 90 years ago by Joseph Pilates. The reformer machines specifically target not only the larger muscle groups, but also the smaller accessory muscles. The sessions aim to target and isolate specific deep core muscles. The sessions are choreographed and you follow the moves of an instructor on a TV screen. There is a new workout each day. I'm probably going to pick up 2 sessions per week for the next 5 months. It's pretty expensive (about $26/session), so I'm hoping to get Kim Weaver from Studio Pilates Cairns to support me in my journey by providing an extra session each week. I do think that 3 sessions per week is ideal for what I'm trying to do. One can just ask... For a brief history on Pilates and how it came about, watch this animated video.

With regards to nutrition, I've been using Tailwind Nutrition for the past three years or so. This works well for me and I don't get hungry (even in ultras I've done that was over 20 hours in length), and I don't get GI issues (that is gastro-intestinal/tummy upsets). I'm keen to use Tailwind on the CWU, but I'll need to supplement it with some other foods as 8 days is a long time! At this stage I'm considering skipping breakfast (bar maybe a coffee and a couple of slices of toast). I don't tend to eat before I go out for my runs, so I'm keen to keep things the same as what I normally do. It will mean that I'll need to carry a bit more food with me during the day, so I'm still pondering this option. I'm going to give Gavin Markey a ring to see what he recommends. He is the supplier of Tailwind Nutrition in Australia, but it's not easy to catch him on the phone!

I've already mentioned Jeremy Hawke from Hip2Toe. He's been great in getting me sorted with some stretches for my back and in my last visit he removed the calluses from my big toes and the ball of my foot. I don't have too much trouble with this, but having nice, baby-soft feet does seem to be the best way to prevent blisters.

Occasionally I have a bright spark idea - here are two. What do you think?

Okay, Bright Spark Idea #1 is not unique. But I am very good at looking at what others do, and then copying them. This is one of those times.

For the Tailwind Nutrition 3 Marathons in 3 Days I'm going to introduce a 'Mini-Race' on Day 2. I don't really know what people call this, so we need to find a name for it! Competitors will be timed from the Bridle Creek Checkpoint for the 3km loop until they get back onto Bridle Creek Road. The fastest male and female over that section of the course will win a prize each.

Bright Spark Idea #2 is not unique either. Ha! Maybe I didn't quite get the title of this blog post correct today.

Start up a fundraising page with all the money raised to be donated to the Ovarian Cancer Australia. The reason I'm picking them is that my mum had ovarian cancer and died less than three years after her diagnosis. She was 48 years old. I may end up with ovarian cancer myself. Who knows. But apart from the money going to a good cause, I'm also doing it to keep myself motivated with my training. Ovarian Cancer Australia have their main fundraising in March each year, which is also going to be my highest mileage month prior to me doing the CWU.

The fundraising page is here.

Time to get my feet out on the trails

I've read a great review about the ALTRA Lone Peak from fellow Austrralian and CWU competitor, Andy Hewat: "They (Lone Peak) perform well on any trail, the rougher the better and the refreshingly roomy toe-box coupled with the zero-drop makes them attractive to the barefoot brigade looking for a shoe to wear in ultras."

After some rain in Cairns I was keen to head out in my new ALTRA Lone Peak 3.5s to do the Crystal Cascades - Lake Morris - Redlynch circuit on Saturday. Didn't get as far as I would have liked for a number of reasons:
1. Tried to figure out how to put on a plaster on my foot. Yip, that was a new experience. I had no idea and it took like three plasters to get it right. Sounds ridiculous, but for someone who never wears the stuff, it was a bit of a learning curve for me. Will need get some more practice with this over the coming months.
2. Distance was further than what I remember. Once I got up to the top of the hill (a nice steep climb of about an hour), I discovered that it's another 9km on the road before the next trail to come back down and another 3km back to the car from there. Was already 5pm by the time I got to the top of the hill so decided to just head back down the way I came.
3. Forgot my poles.

I had a seriously informed visit with Dr Jeremy Hawke from Tip to Toe Podiatry Cairns on Thursday last week. I got so excited, I booked a second appointment and saw him again yesterday. WOW. What an eye opener that was. I just wanted to get a few minor calluses removed, but Jeremy is helping me with a bunch of other stuff, most of which I can't pronounce the names for! I've got a few stretches to do, some nice foot cream to moisturise my feet and a pair of toe separators to try out. Both my little toes do the 'bend under the fourth toe' thing, and that does sometimes result in blisters.

As soon as I step up my intensity of my running by just a very small margin, I get a sore back. Jeremy thinks he knows a possible reason for this and he's going to work with me to see if we can fix it. I'll have to update you on this later, as I don't know the names of the muscles involved - they are at the front, in the pelvic area.

My training was a bit hampered this week with other commitments. And as it turned out, I was tired so needed a few days rest.

• Sunday morning we have the Dynamic Running Clifton Beach Series #2, Race #2. 70-odd competitors. 
• Year 12 Graduation Dinner (5 or so of my students graduated) on Monday - normally I do the Arrows circuit, so I had to head out at 3pm and do the short Blue Arrow to get back in time for dinner. Forgot my poles AGAIN. What the?
• Tuesday I went out to dinner with the Zonta Club of Cairns and I'm looking to sign up as a member, so that will mean more volunteer work on top of everything I already do with Dynamic Running.
• Wednesday - gym session with 'Train with Elaine', followed by an easy run with a few ladies from the Beginner Runners' Clinics. We went to the Botanical Gardens to do a couple of mile repeats. Finally got the new charger for my Garmin GPS watch so recording my  runs on Strava again. For the past few weeks, I've just been running on time, not distance. May work out how  
• Thursday - ended up at the Botanical Gardens again, and a few other spots. 

The 5 sessions of Pilates is adding up and making me tired. Will settle into a routine soon enough.

I didn't run on Sunday or Tuesday and that was good. In my training cycle I'm on the lowest mileage week of the 4-week block, so it was good to have a bit of a rest.

Altra Lone Peak 3.5

I picked up my first pair of ALTRA Lone Peak 3.5s from Adventure Equipment yesterday. Great to have been sponosed by these guys for my big Cape Wrath Ultra in May 2018. Like them on facebook, and for those in the region, pop in and see the huge range of outdoor gear they have on offer. They also stock Tailwind Nutrition, another of my faviourates.

Preparations are going well as I continue to spend more money on getting prepared for the big race. Don't have my entry done yet, so hope to have that sorted by Saturday. Also looking at flights to Scotland and back to Australia via South Africa.

Spoke to my faviourate cousin in South Africa, Marius Kruger, and he has offered for me to have my 50th birthday party in his lapa on 2 June. NICE! Starting some planning on that too. I'll be on the trail in the race on my actual birthday.

A few things on my mind:
* Draw up a list of what is required each day on the race - start to pack this stuff in zip lock bags.
* Finalise my training program. I'm still not 100% sure just how many of the back-to-back-to-back runs to do. I think I'll just run all the time and try to sleep a lot? 

Mileage for the past two weeks (not so easy without my GPS! Still waiting for a new charger after I 'misplaced' the other one in our three-bedroom house).

29 Oct - Home, Green-long Blue-Red arrow, Home. Approx. 2 1/2 hours
30 Oct - REST
31 Oct - Club run 13km
1 Nov - Beginners Clinics 7km
2 Nov - Pilates (am), Club run 12km
3 Nov - REST
4 Nov - 5km parkrun, Pilates, 2 hours on the trails at Atherton First try at using some poles
5 Nov - Atherton Forest Trail Race, 1 1/2 hours then backed it up with another 2 hours a bit later in the day. Not much running, but at least getting used to the poles just a little bit.
6 Nov - Pilates (am), Home, Red-hard side of Blue-Green Arros, Home. Approx. 3 hours
7 Nov - Pilates (am), Club run 10km
8 Nov - Pilates (am), Beginners Clinics 5km (Tired, so didn't run there)

You win some, you loose some

A big thank you to Trent Morrow from ALTRA shoes! He is sponsoring me two pairs of ALTRA Lone Peak 3.5 trail shoes! WOW, that is amazing. Also helping out with another two pairs of ALTRAs is local adventure store, Adventure Equipment. Thanks, Mark. Another WOW. I might try the new Torin. Now I need to find some trails to run on.

To that end, I've booked a spot in the 28km Two Bays Trail Race, Cape Schanck to Dromana on Mornington Peninsula in Victoria on 14 January 2018. I had put in for the 56km, but they dumped me from that because I am too slow. To make the trip from Cairns down south a bit more purposefull, I'll also go to Tasmania and run on the trails there prior to heading to Melbourne. Steve Appleby is going to help me out with some good trails to pick from around Hobart in Tassie. And I look forward to also catching up with Steve Lee while at the Two Bays Race. He is also doing the Cape Wrath Ultra. And as far as I know, we are the only Aussies going.

At this stage I've booked my flight to Hobart, but not home yet. I'm waiting to see what happens at work, as we will either be required to be there from Wednesday, the 17th of January, OR from the 22nd. A really stupid set up where we need to do some enormous amount of professional development. One option is to get it out of the way in three big days prior to students coming back at the start of the year (mostly a waste of time and not very productive), as we are all buggered from doing nothing in the holidays and can't cope with the 10 hour days, OR an option put to us for next year is to do 1 hour after school each Monday for a Semester. I picked the latter (and so did about 50% of the staff) as I need to write the Biology Year 11-12 units for the new National Curriculum that starts up in 2019. So depending on the outcome, I may be able to stay an extra week in the Melbourne area.

Looking forward to one activity I book while in Tassie: Wellington Park Thark Ridge Track - not running or hiking, but volunteering to help with maintenance on the track for one day.

Spend some more money buying the gear I need. And things are arriving already. I think the poles I got will be too short. I did measure it, as per the instructions, but I'm not sure. 110cm. I'll need to find some YouTube videos and quickly learn somthing about running with poles. Doing the Atherton Forest Trail Race on Sunday, so want to use them. But if I'm going to return them, I don't want to use them. AGGGHHHH.

I read Rebecca Rushton's book: The Blister Prone Athlete's Guide. So now I have some more things to add to my shopping list. Getting some silicon tubes to go over the toes. At least they are cheap.

Still in the process of getting my entry into the CWU. Trying to send money overseas is just a joke. At this stage, the money has been sent, but it could be up to 7 days before the guy actually receives it. I have to pay one of the competitors who has withdrawn, to get my entry into the event.

Entering the SILVA Great Lake 3 Day (GL3D for short) event is turning out to be more hassle than it's worth. That race is on 5-7 May. I've had to buy a tent and another dry bag to meet the mandatory gear for it. But at least the location is closer to a few of my mates in the UK, so I may actually be able to catch up with a couple of people.

Pet hate: Ultra Running shopping

Things are quickly coming together in the planning of my trip to Scotland for the Cape Wrath Ultra and also to South Africa for my 50th birthday and Comrades. It's not too hard - if you have the money to pay for everything! I googled 'Cape Wrath Ultra' and found a podcast by Ian Corless (also the photographer at the event). https://podtail.com/podcast/talk-ultra/episode-113-cape-wrath-ultra-and-northern-tra/. A bit scarry, but good to hear the experiences of various competitors. And to some extent I now have more quetions than answers...

David Elms and Peter Watson agreed to help me out and chat to me about their experiences. Dave did the ANZAC Ultra in April 2015. INSANE! He was the last competitor to make it in before the cut off. 450km over 7 days. Peter Watson transversed New Zealand's North and South Island in December/January 2016-2017. Crazy stuff. I'm also thinking of contacting Samantha Gash to see if she has some advice for me.

I've spent a bit of time this weekend looking for some of the gear I need for the race. One of the most frustrating things I find with this sport is that you spend ages searching, reading, researching, comparing, and when you FINALLY make a descision on what you want - wait for it - yes, it's SOLD OUT or your size is not available. How often does that happen? Like all the time?! I also can't find a race close to home (aka in AUSTRALIA) that I think will be a good training run around March next year.

So far:
(All prices quoted below are in Australian dollars)

I got a quote for the air travel - about $3,000.

I bought the following and I'm waiting for it to arrive:

• Ultimate Direction AK Mountain Vest 3.0 - Canyon [Size: M] $174.34 (from Wild Earth)
• Black Diamond Distance Carbon Z-Pole Trekking Poles - 110cm - Medium $201.94 (from Wild Earth)
• gloves Outdoors Windproof pink gloves M, $14.82 
• 80L dry bag Red Caribee Expedition Wet Roll Bag $59.90 (from Snowys Outdoor) 
• Fixing your Feet: Injury prevention and Treatments for Athletes - book by John Vonhof $32.20 (from booktopia) 
• 2 pairs of socks Icebreaker hike+ light mini $60.15 (from Snowinn)
• Engo blister patches for shoes $74.60 (from Blister Prevention)
• The Blister Prone Athlete's Guide by Rebecca Rushton $26.65 (from Blister Prevention)

I'm still looking for:

• compass 
• coffee plunger
• thongs
• blister kit
• survival bag (not allowed to take a space blanket)
• skins/shorts to run in

I'm yet to decide what I need with regards to:

• GPS - I have a handheld one, and I'm thinking I may take that, and my Garmin Forerunner 920XT
• GPS charger (no mains power available for the 8 days)
• sleeping map/therma rest (I'm holding off on this one until I have my 80L dry bag to see how big it is!)
• sleeping bag - I have one, but as per the sleeping mat, I'll make a descision on this one later
• waterproof jacket - I have one, but I think I'm going to have to get something better!
• trail running shoes. I never use these as I don't need them here in Cairns. Must buy some and then train in them!
• altimeter

I've got the following gear already:

• warm jacket
• clothes in general
• headtorch
• pillow
• dry bags
• waterproof trousers
• beanie
• mug, spoon, fork
• Book: Walking the Cape Wrath Trail by Iain Harper $24.28 (Fishpond) 
• Book: Scotland Eveywitness Travel $24.99 (QBD bookshop in Cairns Central) 
• towel, toiletries
• first aid kit
• water bottles
• antichafe cream
• earplugs
• string to use as clothesline

Gear I have, but that I may leave and get something when over there:

• knife 
• washing powder
• midgee net

. 

200th parkrun

Plenty planning to do, including checking where there are parkruns while I'm overseas. There is one on Oban, 1hr10min drive from Fort William, the start of the Cape Wrath Ultra.

Did my 200th parkrun with Steve Betesta today. Wore shoes (just in case!) and one of the runners helped out and took Jack for a bit of the run. I was worried he may need to stop and then I would loose my momentum to finish my job as 30 minute pacer.

Steve surprised me with a great hand-made, tailor-made coffee cup. I made the flag ready for photos of any future 200th parkrunners in Cairns. I 'decorated' the cake. Not too flash, but it didn't take long to disappear.

Why a journey to 50?

Anyone that knows me, will no doubt be sick of my 'faviourate' story...

My mother died when she was 48 (ovarian cancer, stroke, dead) and my dad died when he was 52 (heart attack in the middle of the night, dead). So my basic maths, gives me an average age of 50. Hence my decision to celebrate my 50th in style - if I can make it that far - and then count each day after that as a bonus...

After a long, anxious 3-week wait, I finally find out today that my application for 7 weeks of unpaid leave has been approved.

My plan for my 50th birthday at this stage is to do the Cape Wrath Ultra in Scotland in May 2018. On the way back home to Australia, I'll stop in at my sister's place in South Africa, and if I'm still alive, and can still walk, I'll do Comrades. Comrades entries are sold out, but I'm hoping to get an entry.

Once home, I'll do the Three Marathons in Three Days and 64km Kuranda to Port Douglas. Because I always do those!

My training started this week, but my watch battery is flat and I can't find my charger. So roughly, my mileage is:

Monday - home - green arrow - short blue arrow - red arrow - home. Yip. Not too flash. Over 2 hours. Not much mileage!
Tuesday - club training, hills, 13km
Wednesday - runners' clinic, 8km
Thursday - club training, 800m intervals, 12km
Friday - rest

Tomorrow: 200th parkrun, 5km.