All of us recovered quite well after last week's 51km effort but we have all become quite aware of the little things - where the blisters occur, which muscles ache or niggle - as well as the bigger things, like where we can push ourselves harder and exactly how capable we are both mentally and physically. Now we've pushed ourselves in the endurance stakes, it's time to maintain our levels and continue building our fitness along the track with shorter, more intense sessions on the weekends. Also, we're starting to get very friendly with our physios and massage therapists as the big day draws closer - we must be their bread and butter right now!
Date: Sunday, 29 July
Walkers: David, Kerrie, Ruth. Absent - Ian
Track: CP5: Mt Ku-ring-gai Creative Arts High to CP7: Berowra
Distance: 21.5kms total
Estimated Time: CP5-6: 1hr 40mins and CP6-7: 3hrs 10 mins
Actual Time: CP5-6: 1hr 34mins (8km) and CP6-7: 3hrs 28mins (13.5km)
CP5 - 6
With our time goals in mind, we set out running this leg and had established a steady pace of alternating running and fast walking until we reached the section commonly known in the team as the 'Blair Witch Trail' which links the fire trail to the Gibberagong Track. This tricky, windy and steep descent is covered in pine-needles that mask unstable rocks and tree roots - scary stuff when you're zipping down the hill! It was on this section of track that Kerrie managed to roll her ankle for the first time of the day and although not too bad at this point, it was to mark the start of a disasterous day for her injury-wise.
Pushing on, we flew through the Giberagong track in our shuffling / walking manner and had overtaken another two teams by the time we emerged at the picnic grounds. Up and over Birrewanna Track and we ran into Apple Tree Bay in a remarkable (for us) 1 hour and 34 minutes for 8kms. We were really happy with that time seeing as our previous attempt on it was a very slow 2 hours and 20 minutes!
C6 - 7
After a very brief pit-stop at Apple Tree Bay, we crossed the bridge and set off along the foreshore to the Mount Ku-ring-gai track ascent. We ascended the hill at a good pace and towards the top, David took off at a run and set the pace leading the team for a while. We emerged at the top of the track feeling pretty good at this point and on track with our time targets.
So - into Mount Ku-ring-gai and down the backs of the houses we went, crossed over the freeway and entered the steep descent down Lyrebird Gully. In the past, we took this descent at a slow shuffle but today, we actually ran it given we saw a dog on the trail and then looking up at the back of one of the houses was a man hanging over the fence calling the dog in a Daniel Boone-style raccoon hat, dressing gown and something in his hand that was looking a little scary. After covering more than 12kms, our legs felt like brand-new again and we whizzed past the back fence!
We were able to maintain a reasonable pace through this section as the trail tracked alongside the creek and then crossed it a few times. The teams' communications levels have been improving over recent weeks' and Ruth was doing a great job ensuring the team stayed within distance of each other. The big highlight of this section was seeing all the different birds along the trail including a lyrebird, a scrub turkey, ducks and some water birds.
We reached the end of the track and ran across the boardwalk all the while pointing another team heading off to Crosslands in the right direction and before we knew it, we were facing the first section of the climb to Berowra. This is the first time Ruth has tackled the hill and even with her superb ascending ability, she agreed that it was a tough one.
Unfortunately, injury struck Kerrie halfway up when she couldn't lift her right leg any more thanks to a dodgy hip joint and then a little further up the trail, she rolled her ankle for the third time that day - talk about a walking disaster! This slowed the team right down and the last 2.5km into Berowra were taken at a snail's pace all the while being accompanied by a booming megaphone instructing an army of Duke of Edinburgh candidates and one lovestruck couple who would scoot up in front of us to a cosy spot and smooch for a while until we were nearly upon them, only for them to scoot off again in front of us to find another rock to pose on! We ended this session slower than anticipated however, we did complete it one minute faster than the last time we did it (injury free) which in itself, is a good thing.
Donations
Just want to give a shout out to our wonderful donors! We are edging closer and closer to our $5 000 target and we're on track to achieve this by the time we start the Trailwalker event. While we try to thank all our donors personally, we have had some anonymous donors recently. We hope you read this and know how much we appreciate your donations and thoughts!
Next Week...
Busy week ahead with a team meeting to go over strategy and discuss how we're going to handle situations that might arise on the day. We've also got two members' overseas between now and the actual day which adds to the drama! More work to be done during the week with training and we're gearing up for the night walk next Saturday night. I mean, what better things have we got to do on a Saturday night than to do a walk in the cold and dark with each other? :-)
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