Yes ok so it turned to shit and I didn't finish my race. I think everyone got that memo. And yes I've also reached the anger stage of the 5 Stages of Grief so bare with me here. In sorting through the emotions of falling short on such a big goal, I've been reflecting on … Continue reading Lessons from my first attempt at the Tarawera 100 miler
It's 7 am here in Rotorua and if everything had gone to plan, I'd still be running. I'd hopefully be leaving the Redwoods aid station and completing the last 6 km of my first 100 mile race. But instead, I'm here, drinking coffee in my pjs on the back deck of an Air Bnb analysing … Continue reading Time to call it: another DNF Tarawera 100 mile
With five weeks to go until my first 100 mile race and the panic and paranoia is starting to set in. It’s the prequel to the ultimate taper tantrum that often includes buying shit you don’t need, over analysing your training, foam rolling (because you literally have never used the thing) and research into all … Continue reading The prequel to the taper tantrum- 35 days to go!
“Not all crazy idea are great, but all great ideas are crazy” I’m not sure where I heard that, maybe the Free Trail podcast, I know Elon Musk has said something similar, but it really applies to ultra running. The Tarawera 100 mile race has been my A race for two years now, but a … Continue reading My 2022 (and 23) running goals
Control. How much control can you have in 2021? A lot in some areas, not a lot in others. It seems crazy to be planning races and adventures and travel. It feels more exciting than it has in the past, more risky, more privileged. Maybe it’s because I couldn’t travel 5km last year, or because … Continue reading Training update
Yes it's true. I'm biting the bullet. It's only taken about 56 days and this bullet has been a hard pill to swallow. It's weird, I thought I had come through all that 2020 was rather well. It's all relative of course, but I considered myself one of the lucky ones. I mean if running … Continue reading My 2021 Running goals
There are five stages of grief. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. I call bullshit. It's mostly anger and depression. Over and over again. There may have been fleeting moments of denial and bargaining but they happened so quickly my anger and depression barely skipped a beat. There are moments of "it could be worse", … Continue reading Where to now? Tales of an injured runner
I stopped running for a week and I didn't die! I had to go back into the archives of Strava all the way back to June 2015 to find a week without running. I had a run a 50k the week before and I guess I took a week off. I don't remember it. Honestly … Continue reading I stopped running and I didn’t die
There are some races that people just bleat about. Oh the course is so amazing, the views are epic, the volunteers are incredible, the medals are the best ever, I’m sure you’ve heard it all before. The Two Bays Trail run, comprising of a 28K one way and a 56 K round trip option on … Continue reading Two Bays 56k Trail Ultra- race recap
There is nothing worse than someone telling you “I told you so”. It’s infuriating, frustrating and generally speaking quite annoying and a little patronizing. So two weeks ago when things started to fall off the wagon and I felt tired and a little run down, I chalked it up to what it feels like … Continue reading Tarawera Miler Training Diary-Week 8- Ouch and Oops