Another weekend, another long run – and this one hurt a bit

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NOTE: this is not me!

If you recall last week, I went and checked out the infamous Tip Track to see what it was like to run up and down it. That went reasonably well, so this week I decided to push things a little further and explore some more of the course for the up-coming ultra marathon.

I decided to run from my place. Up to the Windmill, hook up with the Tip Track and then head down to Red Rocks. For those not familiar with Wellington – the Windmill is a windmill (we are a quite logical people really) perched high up on a ridge overlooking the city. (about 360 meters above sea level)

I ran from my place in Newtown down to the Basin Reserve – a well-known cricket ground in Wellington that is about 15 meters above sea level. From there it was all uphill for the next hour and a half as I shuffled along (the little old man shuffle) at a reasonably slow pace – around 8 minutes per kilometre. Given that I was running uphill the entire time, I was quite happy with that.

I figured that on the track leading down to Red Rocks I could pick up the pace and make some good time, so this pace was pretty good for me. It was also quite sustainable, given that I kept up this pace for an hour and a half.

I was glad to reach the top however and stop for a snack at the Windmill. I knew that from here the route goes off road, but I had neglected to check which track to take, and the one I took just seemed wrong to me, so I headed back to the Windmill and headed along the road to where I knew it would hook up with the Tip Track and then the track down to Red Rocks – a well known spot for watching seals as they relax on the red stained rocks.

Proof of Windmill

Up until how I had been running with overcast skies and light northerly winds. Now the wind picked up and the clouds came down, and I found myself immersed in a thick mist – still going uphill.

That’s right – the Windmill was not the top! I still had another 90 meters to climb!

This is what I ran into

I found the Tip Track and headed down pretty quickly, wanting to get out of the wind, which was pretty cold. I was looking forward to getting onto the track down to Red Rocks and put in some speed work. I’d never been on this track before, so this run was about investigating what the track was like and making sure I knew where to go on race day.

The track was really rough. I mean really rough! I ended up running slower downhill than I had been running uphill. So I actually lost time on the downhill leg!

I’m glad I found out about that today and not on race day. I probably could have done the section fast in trail shoes, but in my Vibrim Five Fingers (with no padding on the sole) there was no chance of letting loose and just running fast.

Eventually it turned into quite a nice little track that wound its way down to the sea. Then it was a comparatively pleasant and easy run along the beach to the end of the road.

Then I had a choice to make. Carry on and run up the Tip Track (40 minutes of brutal uphill slog) – which is what I’ll need to do on race day, or follow the road back home and leave the Tip Track for another day.

I elected to head for home. Having run this far in my Fives, with really sore knees and ankles from my workout a couple of days ago, I decided that pushing it too hard is just going to get me injured. It was still 5kms to my place and I ran the rest of the way, trying to pick up the pace a little.

Running on pavement in Fives with no padding on the sole is not a lot of fun. But I did it and it didn’t hurt too much. After the beating my feet took on the trails it was actually quite pleasant.

As it works out, today I did at least 15km of road running in my Fives with no injury, no really sore soles or any real problems. I’ve still only had one random blister this year, so I’m actually quite happy with that.

The total distance today was about 25kms, so not even halfway for the ultra marathon. But the ultra doesn’t have an hour and a half of solid uphill at the start. (at least I hope it doesn’t!) so I think I’m in good shape so far. I still have a couple of months left to train for it (and don’t forget the Wellington Marathon in June!) and plenty of motivation to get me back out on the trails again – just not today ;-)

Garmin stats