Kangaroo Hoppet

Haven't blogged in quite a while, mainly because I've had a stack of uni work piling up and I've been trying to cut back on the amount of time I spend on running forums (which is sometimes more than I spend actually running:P). Running's going very well, but more about that later.

First, I've got a race report for the Kangaroo Hoppet to write:
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Last Thursday, I headed off with my dad and brother on the long drive to Falls Creek. We stopped for dinner at this atrocious place in Seymour, which looked promising from the outside considering the number of people inside, but after waiting an hour for overpriced food that looked like it'd come straight out of a freezer bag, we were beginning to doubt their judgement. Still had a fair way to go, so we stayed at a motel in Beechworth.

After a very relaxed breakfast, we drove down to Mt Beauty, and took care of a few errands (picked up a set of skis for my bro, got my skis waxed, got our race packs, hired some chains). A relaxed lunch sounded like a good way to kill some time until 2pm, when they stop charging for entry into Falls. We ended up getting up to the mountain at 4ish, sucked in the fresh mountain air and admired the beautiful views, before lugging our stuff up the 500m to our lodge (felt like a lot further in deep snow with 30kg strapped round my body!).

The lodge (icicles) turned out to be great. We'd never stayed there before, but a guy we once met at Lake Mountain recommended it, and it was pretty cheap, so we made a booking way back at the start of the season. Spacious rooms and most importantly: a pool table! While the others went for a light ski, I enjoyed my first complete rest day (didn't want to erode the wax off my skis:P) in four months and played about five games by myself in preparation for the annual pool challenge with my dad. Didn't help though, he beat me the first game and ended up winning the series 4-2:( Had a good chat with a few guys staying at the lodge RE waxing.

Dinner that night was at our restaurant of choice on the mountain: the man hotel. Discovered that they put milk in the pizza dough, so I had to settle with a roast vegie salad. Not quite the carbo load I was aiming for, but still pretty yum:) Went to bed pretty early, but couldn't sleep for a while due to pre-race nerves.

We all woke up at a good time, had a decent breakfast (including two NoDoz tablets) and then headed off to the start line. It ended up being pretty close to the start of the race, so I was in a bit of a rush and forgot to leave my bag at the check in point. Only realised about a minute before the gun went off and embarrassedly chucked it over the side:P Would've made me a tad less aerodynamic on the downhills, I suspect:P

Without much ado, the gun went off and we were racing! It wasn't quite as frenzied as the Bullfight Charge was two weeks before, and I was able to start skating almost straight away. The snow was nice and firm and I soon got into a good rhythm. I was quite amazed to see how fast I was going. The first k went by in something like 3:08! I'd never gone anywhere near that quickly before, yet I was finding it incredibly easy. The $35 wax job I had done must've really helped, because I was just gliding away with no effort at all.

At about the 3k mark, Chris, my old ski instructor from school passed me, looking very comfortable. I slowed a bit after that due to a slight uphill, but it was more than compensated for by the downhill that followed, and as I went past the 5k mark, I was astounded to see 15:03! My garmin was reading in the mid 4s, so I wasn't entirely convinced, but still, I was going fast! Thoughts of breaking 1:20 began to make themselves heard, and I was feeling good!

Over the next four km, I kept up a good pace, pulling in behind a guy who must've been in his 50s. I was still feeling very comfortable, but the whole time, I was quietly thinking about how much time I was going to lose up 'The Paralyser' - a 2.5k steep uphill. Shortly after the 9k mark it made itself felt. Immediately I went anaerobic and my legs felt very heavy. Everyone else seemed to be feeling the same because the old guy wasn't putting any ground on me. After a short flat section that provided an all too brief respite, I started feeling good again and picked up a few places. As we went up and up and up, I just kept grinding away, staring at my boots to avoid seeing how much further I had to go, until finally it was over:)

I'd been looking forward to the back section because it's relatively flat/downhill, so I started pushing some big strides and making up a lot of ground on the skiiers in front of me. I might've lost some time up paralyser, but it would still be possible to make up for it over the next 9k. What I hadn't anticipated was the wind... Without any trees to provide shelter, I was getting pushed all over the place and I just couldn't go fast. I tried draughting off someone in front, but it seemed to come from all directions, and I wasn't able to go any faster than before. Going down the long downhill that I'd screamed down last year, I felt like screaming because the wind was like a giant parachute on my back and I was bleeding time. Ended up double poling to try and keep my surface area as low as possible, but that meant that by the time I got to the last big hill, my upper body was stuffed! Struggled up it, and then just tried to push as hard as possible for the last 5k.

I did make up some time on the next flat bit, which was a little more sheltered, but when I got to the top of 'bladerunner' - a 2k downhill - and saw 1:18 on my Forerunner, I realised my sub 80 minute ambitions were out the window and just decided to try and enjoy it. It was a lot of fun gunning it down the bends and I overtook a few people, one of which yelled out "He must have fast skis!" (maybe I did but I think it was just because I hadn't snow ploughed round the previous few turns like he had:P). Didn't crash at all unlike last year, which I was happy about, because my hips were cramping up so I couldn't have really slowed myself down if I'd wanted to.

Huge relief at the bottom of bladerunner, because I discovered the course went over the dam wall:) Last year, there hadn't been enough snow there, so we'd had to drop down into this valley next to the dam and then climb up this really nasty uphill. I'd been dreading it all the way down, so for the last 1k or so to the finish line I had a big smile on my face:) Felt great to cross the line (and I did a little victory jump to celebrate:P), and I was very happy to see my time - 1:25:03. Before the race, I'd decided that my earlier goal to go for 80 mins was unfeasible and I'd be happy to just beat my running PB. On such a hard course, that is a big achievement, so I was very satisfied with that:) Plus it's a 15 minute PB:D Ended up coming 5th in my age group - one better than last year:).

Caught up with Chris after the race and was slightly bemused to hear him say he finished in 1:24. He was way ahead of me, so I didn't believe it at all, and told him so, but he seemed happy with it anyway. He must've been over the moon when he saw the results and saw 1:16 next to his name!

We watched the flower ceremony afterwards and were awed by the winners' times - how do they ski that fast!? Then it was back to the lodge (and I took a secret pleasure in overtaking one of the place getters in the hoppet:P It may have helped a little that he didn't realise we were racing and that he was carrying another set of skis and not poling, but still, that's one on the board for me:P), where still full of energy from the caffeine, I played a game of table tennis and pool with my brother and then suddenly spent, collapsed on the bed, ready to spend the rest of the afternoon there.

Dad wasn't having any of it, and he dragged us off to get some downhill skis/snowboards (telemarks for me, snowboard for my bro - traitor). We were slightly put off by reports of lightning on the summit, which had meant that the lifts had stopped operating, but by the time we had all our gear organised, they were running again, so we paid our $400 (for one day:| Jesus!) and hit the slopes. It's kind of amusing that downhill skiing is like riding a bike. I hadn't done it for a good year, and yet I was tucking into the telemark turns more confidently than ever. This has only confirmed my opinion that downhill skiing is not actually a real sport. That and the people we saw stopped halfway down the run, having a cigarette:S

We did about six runs before the lifts shut down. I was very glad about this as I hadn't worn proper clothes (still in xc mode) and my hands were so cold it hurt. I calculated that of the 90 minutes we had spent 'skiing', we had had our skis on the snow for about 13 of them:| That's what I hate about downhill. It's fun for 2 and a half minutes but then you have to spend 6 minutes on the chairlift, getting colder each time.

An early dinner and a few games of pool later, and I hit the sack, utterly exhausted. The rain pummeling our lodge was very soporific, and I entertained thoughts about what would happen if the bricks and mortar around me were suddenly to be removed by some malicious higher being, along with the clothes from my back. The idea that this would lead to a swift death was kind of exciting. I think that's one of the things I like about skiing. Up in the mountains, the force of nature seems infinitely more powerful. One feels a concrete sense of frontierism. Perhaps this is what makes everyone so friendly on the slopes, away from their usual environment.

The next morning, the rain still hadn't let up, but having spent $400 on lift tickets, we were rather anxious to take full advantage of them. I wrapped up far more warmly than the day before, but by the time we got to the start of the decent runs, I was already shivering. The wind and rain went straight through my many layers and I was already voicing a desire to wait in the cafe before we'd even done one run. Dad convinced me to do a few with him, but after the second, I realised I wasn't enjoying it and dragged my frigid body over to the cafe. It wasn't as warm as I hoped, but after two hours, I was somewhat dry and no longer on the point of frostbite. Dad and I did another two runs, which I found a lot more enjoyable than the first two and then we skiied back down to the village, having had our fill of downhill for the year. My brother was enjoying boarding too much to stop and didn't seem to be affected by the cold at all, so we agreed to meet him back at the lodge in 3 hrs.

The funny thing is, if it had been cross country skiing, I wouldn't have minded the conditions at all. It would've been uncomfortable, but I would've felt a sense of satisfaction for braving the elements, and plus I wouldn't have gotten too cold either. Going downhill though, I was just getting colder each run, and I wasn't getting anything out of it, so I felt no desire to just suck it up and keep going. Another reason why I prefer cross country.

After doing our bit to clean up back at the lodge, we said our goodbyes and lugged our stuff back down to the carpark (it was a lot easier going down than up I have to say!). It was with a trace of melancholy that I watched the mountains recede into the background. I really enjoyed my time there and although it was only a short trip, it felt like much longer. Great father/brother bonding experience too.

We eventually got back home a little past midnight and after a quick workout on the cross trainer, I went to bed, wishing it could've lasted longer.

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I'm happy to say that my injury woes now seem to be over:) I'm not getting any pain or stiffness in my legs anymore, so perhaps it was all just the creatine. Before the trip to falls, I'd racked up a running streak of 13 days straight, which I was very pleased with. Have had a few good runs this week, including a 14ker on Wednesday with Stefan, which felt a lot slower than it was (4:35/k) due to some sore/tired legs.

Seem to be coming down with a cold or flu or something though:( Took yesterday off running to try and beat it, but I can still feel a heaviness in my chest. Hopefully I'll be allright by Sunday for the Advanced Freight Half Marathon.