The "consolation" prize

My goal for the last couple of years has been to qualify for the UTMB.

It took me a while to out myself on this goal and when I did, I admitted to being fairly fearful about it. There was a good reason for that. It was a lofty one and in the end, it turned out I'd bitten off more than I could chew. I failed to finish my final qualifying race, so came up short.

I've been awarded a consolation prize though.

How to crew like a boss

My race report from GNW100s was long enough without going into details of how awesome my support crew were. Besides, SEG and JQ deserve a post all of their own.

Digesting GNW100

If you want a blow by blow of how my attempt at the Great North Walk 100s (GNW100s) went down, read my previous blog post. It's long but worth it (I might be biased).

This post is a little more reflective, but most importantly answers questions I've been most frequently asked about my experience at the Great North Walk 100s.

"Normal people are in bed"

I completed 87ks in training last weekend - just two runs, 37ks Saturday and 50ks on Sunday.

I only have one weekend of hard training left before the Great North Walk 100 - today I'll run 24ks home, tomorrow I'll run 40ks (via the new Chermside parkrun), then on Sunday I'll run 50ks on trails.

I am trying to remind myself that this has become a new normal for me... but I keep thinking about the dude that passed me on the trail early on Saturday morning, and grinned back at me over his shoulder, and said, "normal people are in bed you know."

Why am I still running?

So I haven't blogged much since TNF100, but I have been posting photos on Facebook and Instagram. I've been busy. I've been running like crazy, all over the place.

Last week on Instagram I got this response from a friend.

I feel like I need to explain that what's driving me to keep running isn't determination. Largely, it's fear.

Wild Horse Criterium - a good hard training session

In my last blog post I hinted at what the next few weeks of training looked like for me. Right there, at the very end, after all my feeling sorry for myself, it's there.

I wrote that I still need a few good hard training sessions before The North Face 100.

I can now say that I've got one of these under my belt. Over the weekend I completed the 55k event at the Wild Horse Criterium.

Ask me: what's it really like to run 100 ks

I have answered so many questions about running 100ks at the Glasshouse 100 last weekend that I decided to write them up into a blog post.

Some of them even have interesting answers.

Glasshouse 100: I'm an ultramarathon finisher

There's always a first time for everything. Last weekend I did my first real ultramarathon.

Technically, my 50ks at Kurrawa 2 Duranbah last December counts as my first ultramarathon, a term which describes any foot race of over 42 kilometres. But when you up the stakes to 100ks on trails, somehow 50ks of road running seems remarkably different. I felt like what I had ahead of me was more significant.

I didn't know what to expect but as the event approached I was hopeful that I had trained enough to be physically and mentally able to get through 16 or so hours on the trails.

Inspirational or insane? Decide and donate.

My 100k event draws ever nearer. I've done the physical training and now it's all about mental preparation.

Part of that preparation is talking about what I'm about to do. It might seem strange but saying the words, "I'm going to run 100 kilometres" really helps.

When I say these words, the reactions I get basically follow two themes.
1. "Wow, that's amazing, you're an inspiration!"
2. "You're doing what? That's insane!"

I've also had a few people ask whether I'm doing it for charity. So I figured, why not.

Now it's over to you. What do you think? Inspirational or Insane?  I'm asking you to decide, and on the basis of your decision, make a small donation to one of the charities I support on an ongoing basis.

"I'm basically going to run a lot."

This was the answer I gave a work colleague last Friday when she asked what I was doing on the weekend. "I'm basically going to run a lot."

As I heard the words come out of my mouth, I wondered whether I should be admired for being so committed to my goals, or whether my plans to basically devote my whole weekend to running 67ks made me the most boring person in the world.

I'm still not sure. Maybe it's a bit of both.

Optimistic / Pessimistic

It sounds a bit pessimistic, but in preparing for my first trail ultramarathon I've focused a lot on my frailties, my limitations, and the unknown.

I've never attempted to cover 100kms on foot before. Preparation has been drilled into me by all the coaches, so I've tried to visualise all the things that the event might throw at me, and incorporate a bit of all of these things into my training.

It's my experience that preparation brings optimism - and that's my natural outlook.

In the dark

My next race, the Glasshouse 100, starts at 5.30am in the morning.

(Not tomorrow morning. On race morning.)

I don't know how long it's going to take me to run 100ks, but it's pretty likely I'll still be running when it gets dark. So last weekend I did my first night run in preparation.

Something old, something new

I don't know whether you've noticed, but I've been a bit quiet on the blog front lately.

Part of it is that I've been a bit short on time. But mainly, I've been telling myself I don't have anything interesting to say. But this isn't true. After all, I'm preparing for my first 100k trail ultramarathon in eight weeks time.

Which is why I'm a bit short on time. But mainly, it's the reason why I've been quiet. I'm scared.

I hardly know you, and this is Crazy. But here's my number. Call me maybe?

A few blog posts ago I alluded to seeking some help with preparing for my next major goal for 2014, the 100k Glasshouse Mountains trail run.

When I was down in Melbourne conquering Mt Baw Baw I took the opportunity to pick the brains of Tristan "T-Bone" Miller, the man behind Run Like Crazy. This guy ran 52 marathons in 52 weeks, all around the world, including a couple of ultramarathons and some offroad events.

He's a cut (or two, actually probably three) above me in terms of speed but with the advent of his new Run Club, I figured he might be in the business of handing out some advice.

Five oh...Oh!

I've signed up for the Kurrawa - Duranbah 50k road race this December.

It's something I've wanted to do for a few years now. Last year I decided it was too much to hope for in the leadup to the two Ironman races I'd ended up in this year. The year before I chose a Foo Fighters gig over the 50k run.

(Theoretically I could have done both; the Foo Fighters gig was on the Gold Coast the night before the run. But, like last year, I thought it was too much to hope for.)

I've bitten the bullet now and here's what's going through my mind.

Athletic Powerhouse 2.0

There have been some significant mental and physical changes taking place in me lately. Some of you who know me well may have noticed some of these changes, even if I haven't been all that forthcoming in talking about them.

But despite not having known what to say until now, I've been reflecting on these changes for a while... certainly since before Ironman Cairns.

I've decided that there is a new me, I've decided to own this new me, and now I'm going public. I'm launching Athletic Powerhouse 2.0. Here's why and what it all means.