Prelude to an injury

My stupid ankle injury happened in New Zealand.

The day before I stupidly fell over nothing and moderately sprained my ankle, I spent a few hours running and trekking through the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park. 

I'm glad I took the time to do so - the place is breathtaking. Keep reading for a glimpse of the beauty and adventure.

Chewed up and spat out

In the week leading up to the Great North Walk 100s I read this race preview that served as a warning of how this run wanted to treat me.

From the time that I entered, every time I told someone who knew of this event of my goal to conquer the GNW100 miler, they looked impressed. I can see now that they were impressed because they knew that the marketing of "Australia's toughest trail races" isn't just marketing. It's fact, evidenced by the imposing the drop out rate.

This year, by my calculations*, only 53% of the field finished the distance they entered. I am beyond disappointed that I was not one of this 53%.

I'm not known for my DNFs... so what happened this time?

MacGyver was an ultra runner

Well, if he wasn't, he should have been.

I've discovered that MacGyver's ability to turn a piece of chewing gum and a match into a battery charger would come in handy in solving some last minute logistical challenges with my equipment.

This is how I've been MacGyvering the Great North Walk 100s.

Lunch and dinner, ultramarathon style

How does this look for a nutritious and tasty day's worth of food?

I have diverted from primarily sports nutrition and been eating more real food while training for this race. This seems to be how ultrarunners roll, so when in Rome...

So the full repertoire of energy replacements is:

• fruit cake
• cookies
• rice with custard
• rice with cream cheese
• Sustagen poppers
• Mars bars
• boiled eggs
• potato chips
• energy gels and gel chews
• coke
• coconut water with electrolyte powder.
• cup a soups in case of emergency (can't run any more and I start getting cold)
• bananas 

I've spent today cutting and wrapping many of these things into small portions I can easily carry between checkpoints, and eat quickly on the go.

I feel confident from the training I've done with these foods that I can handle running on solid food and eating real food seems to have helped with the tummy issues I've previously had.

(I am also packing some gastro stop and nurofen, just in case.)

I'm finishing this post off on the way home from the race briefing and pasta dinner at Beerburrum State School. An early night now before a day of adventure.