Mummy, my legs hurt

Pretty excited to announce that not only have I registered for my first 100 km trail race (which also happens to be my first interstate race), I've also scored the wonderful honour of being the 2018 rookie ambassador for Rapid Ascent's Surf Coast Century! Held in Anglesea during September, this race looks just amazing and has secretly been on my radar for a few years now. Even though I have one of Australia's best 100km ultras only an hour from my place, UTA100 is a bit much for my capabilities right now. So, I've stepped up to the SCC instead; a race that will be far from 'easy' but with less than half the elevation of UTA ('only' 1800m, rather than 4400), I hope it will be tough but not a miserable sufferfest! So, as part of my rookie ambassador role, I'll be sharing a bit of my training and preparation leading up to the race. Here's the first journal entry, reproduced from the original post on the Surf Coast Century website. *** ...

Distance: 13km Duration: 5 frustratingly slow hours Over the Easter long weekend, we stayed in Jindabyne for a few nights with two other families; our good friends from Tyler's soccer team. With kids and adults of varying abilities and interest in long walks, we decided we'd all give Mount Kosciuszko a crack and see how it went. Everyone loves a chairlift ride anyway, right? We had attempted this walk ourselves a year and a half ago, in high summer but with completely opposite weather to what we had recently. Last time we had played on big chunks of ice on the ground, surrounded by grey swirling clouds that would only part for seconds at a time to give us a glimpse of the view, and braved winds that were gusting up to 80kmph. In January! So this time, we were blessed with bright sunshine the whole way and it was a completely different experience. On our previous trip, Holly who had then barely turned seven, was getting blown off the path, to the exten...

Distance: 12km  Duration: 2 1/2 hours including plenty of photo stops and a snack break Everyone has seen photos of this iconic spot - the ubiquitous wide shots featuring the token silhouetted adventure seeker out on the precipice.  But I'm embarrassed to say, I wasn't even 100% sure where hanging rock was . 'Top of the mountains?' was as close as I could guess without checking Google maps. So on one warm kid free day, Richie and I decided to explore Burramoko trail (the 10km return walk to the cliff edge), and hanging rock itself, an additional short but very steep and hairy downward scramble along the top of a sheer cliff face, with bugger all in between you and the bottom of the Grose valley. The walk itself is easy with only a few smallish hills. It's long and exposed to the sun though, so slip slop slap if you don't get out there nice and early. The main fire trail walk is pretty and relatively easy going, but it's...

Now that I've had a nap I can write this race report!  A marathon sandwiched between two 40+ degree days was never going be cool and pleasant, but what a top event it was - Narrabeen Allnighter had such a great laid back vibe and that special camaraderie amongst the marathoners and ultrarunners was there in droves.  My alarm was set for 12.30am(!) to allow for the hour and 20 drive to the northern beaches for rego at 2am and then a 3am start.  We'd come here as a family the week prior so I knew roughly where I was going but I always allow some 'getting lost' time just in case. Arriving alone, I wandered around a little, trying with my crappy night vision to spot anyone I knew, particularly any RMAs or Summit Sisters, but couldn't see anyone familiar in the dark apart from the Up Coaching team who were focussed on the job at hand. Another girl who'd arrived solo introduced herself as Ali (Martinez, who I later found out was very speedy!) and we h...

Near Glenbrook Distance: 3ish km... my Garmin tracked it as 5.4 as I left it on whilst swimming Duration: We took 2.5 hours but that included over an hour mucking around in the water, and breaks on the way back. This waterhole is a hidden gem!  A relatively short but steep track winds down from a nondescript dirt side track off Red Hands fire trail in Glenbrook National Park. The Kanuka Brook Gully track is clearly marked on maps but blink and you'll miss it when driving along the fire trail! There is a very small clearing opposite the trailhead where you can park, and from there it is about 1km down to the edge of the pool. The track is enjoyable on the way down with a few steep scrambles that were tricky for short legs. But it's all downhill.  :) Although Holly chose to wear her long socks, 'in case of leeches', there weren't any. :) First we skirted the edge of the pool around to the left, alongside a sheer wall that shaded the...