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Monday, August 27, 2012

Kauri Ultra Marathon

Kauri Ultra you say?

So I've been training well since early 2012 and since T42 I've been spit-balling the idea of another good long trail run.  Well, I confirmed my entry today for the Kauri 70km.
I've run the last 32km of this course a few times now and never managed to do it quicker than everyone else on the day which is unfortunate because I've always turned up in good shape and given it everything I had.
Me 'giving it everything I had' in 2009. Punked once again by Sjors.
I have a lot of love for the ARC Kauri run not only for it's breathtaking coastal and ridge running but for the fact they plant one Kauri tree for every entry.  This year my 3rd sapling will be released into the wild with the hope that one day it will be a 1000 year old forest god.  I find that thought humbling.  Grow you good thing!
Ask anyone who's run it previously, you'll not hear a bad word.  For the sake of not setting my keyboard on fire I'll spare the details but there is just way too many great things about this run to list.  Suffice to say, ENTER. THIS. RACE.

There are plenty of quality runners already entered so I'm not expecting a huge result for my 1st foray back into Ultra distance in a few years.  I'm in fairly good shape so the best I can hope for is to get another good couple of months injury-free training done, show up on the day and do my level best.

So what else?

Well it's been a long while since the T42 and much has happened.
I'll try and run through the briefest of recaps for those that are still awake.
shit XC is shit
Camo skirt and Lederhosen?
I had a good weekend over in Tauranga late Autumn.  4th at the Tauranga Open Cross Country after a tough 8km of boring ass grass. The highlight of the day was to follow where I drank and burped my way to a my 1st 'national title' (and mile PB).  Good times.  Horrid beer.

The following day I chucked what legs I had remaining at one of the local trails used by some of the better runners in the region to hone their skills.  I managed to shave a few seconds off their 90 minute course record only to have my time thumped a few days later.  We'll meet again Kaimai's, oh yes we will.

Notably that was the 1st outing for my Talon 212's which performed admirably.  More grip than a school boy holding an underwear catalog.

Other running highlights from recent weeks include a 15:32 5km (I'm thinking 4.95km), a 10:00 3.3km and a fairly respectable 72:09 for the Cambridge Half Marathon.

So all things considered it's not been a terrible come back to date.  I figure I'm within a few percent of my best from a few years ago and not training nearly as hard.  Around half of the weekly mileage I used to run in training.

To what do I owe this re-found form?  It's hard to say, I guess I have had another year or two of bedding down aerobic base.  I'm doing more hill work than before and certainly more intervals and reps.  Not without mention is time in Vibram Fives at the track which have certainly made a difference to my calf muscles.

What next?

I want to have a good run at National Road Relays in early Oct then get as much long running done ahead of Kauri Ultra.  Outside of that I've not made any plans but I probably should get down to a track and hit out some races with 'thousand' in the title while I'm still running well.  the next big injury is usually just around the corner.

Thanks as always to the continued support of my friends and family and the good people at BarefootInc.