Walsh's Pyramid - Cairns, always a challenge

Walsh's Pyramid here in Cairns. 922 m high.

For the past 7 years, Euan and I have run the Pyramid Race, which involves a 3 km run to the mountain from the town of Gordonvale, a climb up the mountain, race down, then run back to Gordonvale.

We often train on the mountain, but it never gets any easier.

Although over the years my race times have improved as you can see below - there are still good and bad days where I go faster or much slower.  Today was one of those much slower days!



Pyramid Race Times over 7 Years

2009   3 hrs 15 mins 19 secs          135th place

2010   2 hrs 39 mins 32 secs          86th place

2011   2 hrs 36 mins 35 secs         103rd place

2012   2 hrs 37 mins 0 secs           102nd place

2013   2 hrs 28 mins  58 secs          93rd place

2014   2 hrs 31 mins   42 secs        112th place

2015   2 hrs  9 mins    45 secs          64th place   2nd in age category

2016   2 hrs 16 mins   19 secs         64th place   3rd in age category

In the 2 hours 40 minutes it took me today to run from Gordonvale, go up and down the mountain and run back today - I had plenty of time to think.

At the start

On the run to the mountain we took it easy and I felt good. Then came the first 5 minutes of climbing (which is just non-stop steep climbing from the word go).  Every time I climb this mountain, the first five minutes is spent thinking - 'this is hard', 'I'm not getting any stronger'  'what made me think I could do this faster'..... and other such things.  I'm generally a very positive thinker, but haven't managed to conquer the negative effects of the first five minutes of climbing this mountain yet.  Maybe when I conquer that and turn it around to positive, I'll make more progress!

Uphill slog

A slog is what it felt like today. Sometimes I feel strong, but not today. It was hot, humid and I felt old and unfit.  I spent my time thinking about the exercise and training I want to do so that I can feel strong on my trail runs and so enjoy them more.

Generally I do enjoy my runs, even slower ones, but I know that the stronger, fitter and more prepared I am, the more I will enjoy them!

I thought about how I'm going to be more consistent in my training and more careful about what I eat - to get better nutrition into my body and fewer over indulgences!

It's like the hangover where you say I'm never going to drink again!  This was my time to feel the pain and figure out how to not feel like this again!  

The Top

Reaching the top is always an achievement and worth it every time for the view out over Cairns and out to sea.

I don't always stop at the top - sometimes it's just a turn around and straight into the downhill.  Today I needed to stop and remind myself why I was doing this!

Downhill

Coming down is such a relief after an hour of constant uphill strain on the leg muscles and my breathing.  That's what I most look forward to about going down - having my breath back.

Over the years I've gotten much better at the downhill - more confident to run more and more of it as I get to know the course more and feel more sure of my legs and footing. On a good day - I love the downhill, feeling strong and flying down, plenty of (small) jumps and leaps.  

Passing people walking up the mountain as I fly down is a great confidence boost. Seeing them at the tough uphill stage, I'm reminded again that I've completed that part and that makes me feel good.  It also makes me feel good when I hear people saying, "here comes a runner" and I think..that's me!   One of the relatively few people that 'run' the Pyramid!

The run back to Gordonvale

The run back after climbing up and down the mountain is always tough.  When I'm nearing the end of the downhill - I always think that I'm looking forward to just being able to run on the flat and give my downhill muscles a break, but then when I actually reach the flat part at the base, I realise quite how tired ALL of my leg muscles are and it's not really much of a relief to run on the flat.

Today I could have run all the way back (I can't always) but it was honestly just too hard and my head was in the wrong place to push myself to do it.  Everything hurt, I was hot and tired, so I ran and walked back. I couldn't find the motivation to push on and keep running.

Now

A few hours later, I've had a nap, and some food and am feeling much better.  The motivation is still there and I'm determined to make it last and get stronger and fitter.

The weather up here in Cairns has really turned hot and humid over the past couple of weeks, which makes long runs that little bit extra tiring, but that's not going to go away, so I just have to deal with it and let my body adapt to that heat and humidity.

Running the Pyramid is one of my favourite runs to do - although today you wouldn't think so!  It's never easy, always a challenge, but there's always that great sense of achievement from having done it!  

And that's what I'm focusing on today.

Let's try to run a marathon!

A while ago, my husband Euan suggested we try to run a marathon. We've done a few half marathons, and I finally cracked the 2 hour mark (just) earlier this year. Last year I also did my longest ever run - at 24km. However - a marathon, at 42km is much much further and did seem rather a crazy step up.

However, when we first started out running a few years ago, we started out with the Pyramid Race which is a tough race up a mountain. We didn't do a lot of training for it, and at the time it was one of the hardest things we'd ever done - but we had so much support from friends who came to watch, and we completed the race - exhausted but victorious!

So run a marathon? Why not!

We figured we're pretty fit, and could always just walk when we needed to. It would be an adventure and as always nice to be able to run together.

We started out at 6am up at Palm Cove. A friend drove us up there, which was great as it meant we wouldn't have to drive back up there later in the day to collect a car!

It was a beautiful morning and we set off from the end of the pier in good spirits, with our plan to just jog at a slow sustainable pace.  

Euan had worked out the route which would be around 42km, but I had my phone with Runkeeper on to track and check our distance to make sure we ran the full marathon.

Most of our run was alongside the highway. For a lot of it there were paths off the road, with trees and shade and even wallabies!

About halfway in we reached the Esplanade, which was a welcome relief after running along the side of the highway for so long.

At this stage we had started the walk a little, run a little, which soon deteriorated into just walking as we needed more fuel.

A stop at McDonalds provided us with some much needed salt, sugar and carbs!

We managed to keep on with the jog a little walk a little until about the 34 km mark, when we found even a slow jog was too hard.  Everything hurt. I felt that it wasn't really my muscles that were sore and tired (although I'm sure they were!) it felt more like my joints were struggling - my hips and knees were just exhausted and aching.

Those last 8 km were some of the hardest we've ever walked.  It was hot, we were exhausted but determined to finish what we'd started. We did talk about what we'd do if a friend happened to drive by and offered us a lift home, and agreed we'd have to say no, and complete the marathon distance, no matter how long it took us and how much it hurt!

We finally finished the 42 km in just under 7 hours. We managed a slow jog together to cross our imaginary finishing line.

It was so nice to walk through the door at home to our waiting girls who had been cheering us on with supportive text messages along the way! 

I don't think I've ever felt quite so exhausted and the rest of that day was spent resting and recovering, grateful for our pool!

I think my body took a good week to recover from this marathon attempt. The aches went after just a couple of days, but the fatigue was still there. 6 days later we did one of our regular 10 km trail runs which was much tougher and slower than usual!

Would I do it again? Absolutely - but not for a while.

We probably could have walked the marathon distance in much the same time at a steady strong walking pace, but it's made me want to build up to be able to run for that long and that far because right now I can't even imagine being able to do it.

We have a goal to run the Great Wall of China marathon for my 50th birthday in a little over 6 years time.  I'd like to be able to complete that strongly and enjoy the experience. I know I have a lot of work to do between now and then to get to that stage, but I do like a challenge and it's good have goals to strive for!

Let the training begin!

Have you ever run a marathon?  

My longest ever run!

Today I finished our week of trail runs with my longest ever run at just over 24 km.

It was tough but fun and so satisfying to finish it.

We ran from Stoney Creek to Kuranda which is the main part of the Cairns to Kuranda Trail race that we run each year.

We parked at Stoney Creek, ran up the hill and along the track to the small town of Kuranda where we'd planned to have a coffee and cake in a nice cafe there, but unfortunately we were too early and it wasn't open. So a pie and Freddo Frog Chocolate from the supermarket had to suffice. We had a nice 20 minute break eating those down by the river, then ran back the way we'd come.

It's a clear, nice wide track.

With plenty of ups and downs!

It was SO nice to have a swim in the creek at the end to cool off and help our muscles recover.

A great run that we will do again sometime - but not for a while!

How I've progressed from running 500m to 16km

As the top of my blog says, when I started out running, 6 years ago, I struggled to keep running for 500 m. Two days ago I went for my long weekend run of 16 km! Then yesterday I was chatting to a friend and she asked how I've got to the stage that I can run for 16 km and this made me reflect on how my running has progressed over the past 6 years.

What I did as a kid

I was never much of a runner as a kid. I did gymnastics for 7 years and considered myself pretty fit and strong. I did occasionally go for runs, but never anything more than around 3 km, and even those weren't very often.  Our family was generally very active when I was growing up. Weekends and holidays were often spent walking and hiking in the countryside. I also walked everywhere just day to day - to school, the shops, the beach, everyday was a walk somewhere.

So as you can see growing up I had a good base of fitness which I believe has stood me in good stead in the following years.

Post baby lack of fitness

After having our two daughters, I hadn't done much exercise at all. After our second child, I drove everywhere, rarely walked and did little or no exercise. I had put on weight and was about 20 kg heavier than I should be. I slowly got back into exercise starting out with a book from the library with, I think it was an 8 minute daily workout. I did video workouts at home and got on our exercise bike while the kids slept in the evenings.

Why and how I started running

When my husband and I first moved to Cairns, we heard about the annual Pyramid Race 

(a race up a local mountain shaped like a Pyramid). Having both enjoyed hiking in the mountains we decided we'd like to one day take the on the challenge of this race and settled on the 50th anniversary which was in 2009.

So when 2009 came about I started running - that's when I found it a struggle to run the 500 m to the local shop!

I slowly built it up with walking and jogging until I could do the 3 km run necessary for the Pyramid Race.

Since the Pyramid Race is a 3 km run to the base of the mountain, go up and down the mountain (922 m), then run  3 km back, we decided we just needed to be able to run 3 km in one go as we knew we could climb the mountain OK.  We did do a couple of practice climbs of the mountain before race day too.

So race day came and off we went. We had lots of friends came to watch us attempt this crazy race after years of inactivity! It was extremely tough - we hadn't realised how hard it would be to climb the mountain AFTER running 3 km there, and then to run 3 km back after the mountain was impossible - we barely managed to walk. Our wonderful friends and supporters waited over 3 hours at the finish line to cheer us home. 

We had come last, but we finished! What an achievement.

Beyond the first race

After completing my first Pyramid Race, I wanted more. What a feeling to finish and a sense of achievement. I knew I needed to do more to get fitter and healthier and was enjoying my short runs. So I continued running and continued to run the Pyramid Race each year, getting a little faster each time. From 3 hours 15 mins the first year, to 2 hours 45 mins the next year, then 2 hours 36 mins.

Slowly I was getting fitter but after a few years of just generally getting fit, I started to want to try other races and to go faster.

Training Plan

At the beginning of 2013 I decided to see what I could really do and get a time for a particular distance.  

There was a 5 km run in June on the flat that I entered and downloaded a free 5km training plan from the internet. I ran my own marked out 5 km run at the start and timed this, then followed the plan and was pleased to have improve my time by the end of it. So I did the plan once again in the build up to the official 5km race, when I went out and ran a full minute faster than my goal - 22 mins 58 seconds! 

That race changed a lot for me. I realised what I was capable of and wanted to know what else I could push my body to do.

I think that was the point that I decided to go from just running when I felt like it, to actually having a training programme with goals and times I wanted to achieve.

Consistency - or lack of!

So for the past couple of years I've tried various running plans - some I've planned myself, others downloaded from the internet for free. I've also done more DVD workout programmes which I've found to be great cross-training to complement my running.

I've had periods when I've been super keen and working out twice a day, and other times when I've been less motivated and have done very little, but overall have felt I've gained a lot in my fitness.

Back to square one

At the beginning of this year (2015), we had a family holiday travelling in Asia for a month. During this time I did no exercise and didn't eat particularly healthily. When we came back to Cairns, I couldn't believe how much fitness I'd lost and how hard it was to get back into it. Running was a real struggle and I felt like I'd lost all the fitness I'd built up over the past few years.

Of course it wasn't quite that bad - but it certainly felt bad enough to know that I won't willingly go for a month with no exercise again!

Maybe it's my age catching up with me; recovery takes longer, and I have to be more aware of what I eat and the exercise I do now than I did when I was in my 20s!

2015

This year I've built my fitness back up to my best adult levels yet. I've done it through general fitness DVDs (Insanity), runs on the flat and trail runs and walks. My races this year have all been good - with personal best times and even another trail running medal - to add to my first one ever last year!

This is the first year I've started consistently running longer distances - that's with an eye to my goal of going under 2 hours for a half marathon run I'm doing in 3 weeks time. I'm almost at the end of a half marathon training programme and each long run I do, I'm still amazed that I can run that far! 

I much prefer being fit and able to run these distances to the inactive and far less healthy person I was a few years ago.

I'm now looking forward to seeing what else I can push my body to do.  The big goal being the Great Wall of China Marathon for my 50th birthday! 

So it may have taken me 6 years, but I've gone from struggling with a 500 m run to being able to go out for a 16 km run. I've built this up  slowly through time and perseverance. Anyone can do it - no matter what your starting point. I've read so many inspirational stories of what people can achieve, that it makes me want to do more and more and see just what I am capable of achieving.

Next year I'll be setting bigger and better goals, and working on keeping my training consistent; after all, I've only got seven and a half years to build up to that Marathon!!

The Pyramid Race 2015 - from last to 2nd in 6 years!

Yesterday was my 6th year of running The Great Pyramid Race here in Cairns, Australia. 

I had a great race day, everything seemed to go well and despite feeling like I really haven't trained for the race this year I finished in my best ever time of 2 hours 9 mins and finished 2nd placed veteran female!

It was such a great feeling and amazing to see how far I've come since my first Pyramid Race in 2009 when it took me 3 hours and 15 mins and I finished last place in the Open Female category. 

In my 6 years of doing this race I've learnt a lot. I've trained hard and gone in knowing I had a chance to do really well, but stuffed up my hydration completely and cramped badly halfway through the race. I've let my mind get the better of me and given up mentally halfway through the race. But this year I really feel like I've learnt how I should run the Pyramid Race.

I went into the race this year with no expectations having done very little training.  

The run to the mountain

I knew from experience that the 3km flat run to the base can be my undoing, so I consciously took it easy and felt good at the base - warmed up and ready to go in just under 17 minutes. 

The climb up

The climb itself (922m) takes me about an hour. I knew my steady pace and stuck to it. If I needed to pass people to stick to this pace I did, but I also didn't worry about people passing me. I made it to the top at the 1 hour and 21 mins mark, so a little more than an hour of uphill, but I was pretty pleased with that and still felt good.

The run down

I now really enjoy this part of the race. The turn around at the top is a great mental feeling and once the uphill is over, my breathing becomes easier. The downhill is about speed with control and enjoying it.  I loved the downhill this year and came down in my fastest ever time of 31 minutes.

The run back 

The 3km run back after climbing the mountain is quite simply a mental challenge. My legs were so tired, but I knew my time was very good and I knew I could run all the way back - albeit slowly. 

 With a jelly snake from my watching daughters to set me on my way, I slowly jogged back. Pretty soon into this final run I felt my legs wanting to cramp, but wasn't going to let that happen and the last 12 mins of the race was spent chanting in my head, 

"you will not cramp, you will not cramp"!

With the finish line in sight, I was really hurting and just wanted to finish, but when I heard my girls shouting for me I managed to put on a bit of a sprint for the line. Although judging by the photos, my feet were barely making it off the ground, so I don't think it was much of a sprint!

So this year I feel like I finally learned how to run The Pyramid Race and I feel really positive and encouraged about my coming years of trail running. To see how far I've come in 6 years of persistence, training (which I've got better at over time in terms of consistency) and learning about race hydration and nutrition; gives me real hope and an excitement about what I could achieve in years to come!

I'm fired up to start training properly again and also to lose some weight.  This is something I talk about lots, start dong and lose 2 or 3 kilos and feel really good, then stop. I think I'm mentally ready now to stick to it beyond the initial couple of kilos, with the incentive of some really great times in my running.

I'm just about to start a 12 week training plan for a half marathon race I'm entered in in November, and there are a couple of trail runs in those 12 weeks too which will be fun.

I'm feeling focused, motivated and ready to take action to become a better and faster runner!

Eat & Run - A Book Review

I recently finished reading this book about ultramarathon runner Scott Jurek.

This man was at the top of ultramarathon running in the States for a long time, and his book tells of his journey to the top and how he got there.

He writes about the kind of training he did over the years, and also a lot about his diet and nutrition. Each chapter even has a recipe at the end. I tried the the vegetarian chilli recipe on P.70 which was very tasty!

I enjoyed the style of the book and hearing Scott's tales of endurance - the things he pushed through and overcame. I find it inspiring and motivating to read about what other people push through to achieve their goals. It often makes my own doubts and stumbling blocks fade away as I realise how small and silly they are in the scale of things.  It's also amazing to realise what the human body is capable of!

Scott became a vegan and is very much an advocate for a plant based diet, proving how nourishing and adequate it can be - it certainly provided him with enough fuel and nutrition to achieve some amazing physical results.

Although I won't be going vegan (I was vegetarian for a few years when I was younger) I'm happy to try to include some vegetarian meals into my meal plans, and as I mentioned before there are some good recipes in the book.

Towards the end of the book, I felt that things really slowed down. Scott went through a phase when he wasn't motivated and although he climbed back out of that, the book didn't finish with the same inspiration and motivation it had started with. It kind of felt flat at the end.

It wasn't as good as the previous book I read - Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes; but I did enjoy reading this book and would recommend it to those interested in running, ultramarathons and the amazing abilities of the human body!

Disclosure - the links in this post take you to The Book Depository where I would receive a small commission if you buy your books there.

I've run 1000km this year!

This year I decided to keep a record of the exercise I did. For running, I wrote down the distance and times of all my runs.

I found this to be really motivating as I could see how much I'd done each month, and I didn't want any month in the calendar to look empty after that!

I highlighted my runs in pink, which then made it easy to add up the distances at the end of each month. Once I started doing this, I saw I was close to 100km one month, so it spurred me on to run a little extra and reach that 100km mark in April! 

Then later in the year I added up each month and realised that I was going to be close to 1000km run over the course of the whole year.

WOW!

To me that sounds like a lot. It doesn't really mean anything, it is just a number, but quite a large number and I decided to make that my target for the end of the year, to run 1000km in one year.

I just did it!

My husband and kids came with me for a final 3km run yesterday so I could reach that 100km mark.

I'm quite amazed and proud that I've run so far. I don't know what I've run in previous years as I've never kept a record like this.

There are still a few days left in the year and I may run a few more kilometres too!

Do you keep a record of how far you run in a week? month? year?

Great Barrier Reef Half Marathon Race Report 2014

A few weeks ago I ran in the Great Barrier Reef half marathon in Port Douglas. I've done a few half marathons before but only as 'fun runs' where I didn't train and just ran a bit walked a bit.

This time I wanted to train and be able to run the whole way.

It was early November and very hot and humid - even at the start time of 6.30 am.

The run started with around 5 km along the beach - good hard sand and a beautiful setting. The course then turned in through the houses and out onto the main road out of town. Under a bridge and onto a track through the cane fields and back out onto a small road to the halfway turnaround point.  

Coming back the same way along the track to the main road into town, which we then followed alongside basically all the way back and finished by the beach again.

I was so pleased that I managed to run the whole way which was my goal. The last couple of kilometres I may have been faster to walk and run but that wasn't the point!  It was a hard slog mentally, to just keep going and not stop.

I'd only gone 17 km non-stop running in training, so when it got hard in the race before the 17 km mark, I kept telling myself I couldn't stop because I knew I'd done at least 17 km before. Then once I'd passed that mark, it was only 4 km to go, and out of 21 km, that's a short way, and I wouldn't let myself stop then. Good logic!

I've done 18 km trail runs before (see my train race report from a few weeks earlier). But that's hard in a different way as there are up and downhills and lots of concentration on where you're putting your feet, so you tend to think less about the 'keeping going' part.

In this half marathon race, it was a straightforward flat run, so mentally the tough part was to just keep going - there were few distractions from the hard slog!

I finished in a time of 2:09.28, which was 21st in my age category.

I'm pretty happy with that - and with the beautiful medal we got at the end, which is also a fridge magnet and a bottle opener!!

Now I'd like to try a half marathon race in winter when it's not quite so hot and humid!  And my new time goal is to go under 2 hours!

I'll be entering this race again in 2015.

It was so well organised, great to be a part of - a beautiful place to run, lovely running shirt and as I mentioned - a very cool medal!

Cairns 2 Kuranda Train Race 2014 - Race Report

Last Sunday I took part in my 3rd Cairns 2 Kuranda train race.  This is an 18km race up a hill to try and beat the tourist train you can see in the background of the above picture.

Usually this event runs in winter, but due to unforseen events, this year's race took place in the heat of October here in the tropics.

Since the race is against the train, the race start is when the train leaves Freshwater station, which is around 9am.  By this time the sun was beating down out of a clear blue sky and the temperature was already about 32C. It was HOT!

The first part of the run is 5km on the roads. 

It is a nice run and this section of the run is the part I do well in. Just running on the flat!

Once I hit the uphill, that's when I slowed down.

I haven't managed to do a lot of uphill and trail running this year, and I really felt that, together with the heat on the 8 km trail part of the run.

Last year I did this race in 2hrs and 12 mins. This year was over 2 and a half hours, thanks to the heat!

Next year, hopefully this race will be back on in winter - and with more training, I'll be aiming to go under 2 hours!

Till then, I was very happy to find this video someone shot on the race last year.

When you get to around the 2 minute mark, the cameraman is coming up to the finish line - and in front of him you can see someone with a pink t-shirt and black shorts running - that's ME!!

In so far as beating the train is concerned, a handful of male runners have managed this - but as yet, no females. Since the train gets to Kuranda in 1 hour 30 mins, I don't think I'll be the one to break that record any time soon!  But hopefully a lady will beat that train one day! This is a great trail race in Cairns, so well organised, and despite having a very slow year this time, I was very happy to win a spot prize at the end of some muscle gel!
Lucky me!

The Great Pyramid Race 2014 - Race Report

For the past 6 years now, my husband and I have entered The Great Pyramid Race here in Cairns. The race is 12 km long and the mountain 922 m high (the worlds highest natural free standing pyramid).

 The race is described as:

“A never-ending uphill scramble and a ‘controlled’ downhill free fall”

 My report from last year's race, when I got my hydration all wrong and cramped badly, is here.

This year, my training was going well, I'd got my hydration sorted and was feeling positive...until I got sick.  It was a nasty winter cold that went to my chest and blocked my sinuses and I could not kick it!  So when the race came round (back in August), I was still coughing and blocked up, but decided to do the race anyway, just for fun and not worry about my time.

It was nice to run the race in a relaxed mode and I was surprised at my overall time when I was 'taking it easy'!  

So here's a few photos and comments on the race in general. I've used some photos from races and others from a walk we did up the mountain with our girls a few years ago, to give an idea of what the trail looks like!

Here's the start in the small town of Gordonvale:

To start the race you run all the way around the town square, with people cheering you all the way. I always go too fast on this part in the excitement of the start of the race. Once I'm past the square, round the corner and out of sight, I slow to my real pace!

First you have a 3km run to the base of the mountain, then the climb begins. It's basically non-stop uphill on a dusty, rocky track, which is sometimes a bit of a climb!

(the following pictures are from walking up the Pyramid with our kids - not race day!)

For the race, you have to reach the halfway up the mountain point under 1 hour to be allowed to continue the race. The first year we did the race, we made the cut off with just seconds to spare.  This year when I was 'taking it easy' I made it with 10 minutes to spare, which made me proud of how far I've come!

Going up, your legs and lungs burn. I can now go up the Pyramid in an hour. Coming down you use completely different muscles as you leap and bound on the rocks trying not to lose your balance! But I love that it's not hard on your breathing coming down! I can come down in 30 mins. 

(Incidentally, the race record is around 1 hour 15 mins - that's including the 3km run to and from the base, and up and down the mountain! Crazy!!)

Here's the view from the top 

(not that you stop to appreciate it on the race!)

Once you're back down the mountain, it's a relief to be running on the flat, but it's tough on your legs to keep them going for that last 3km back to the finish line!

Crossing the finish line is an awesome feeling. Especially the first year we did the race - not very prepared at all. We finished, but were basically in last place!

If you notice our time there from the first year we ran this race. It's nice to see our improvement. 

This year my husband finished in 2 hrs 12 mins; more than an hour quicker for a 12km race! Not bad.  This is a time I've matched in training but am yet to do on race day!!

It's always nice to get our finishers medals and certificates.

But what I really want is a top 3 female finish next year. I know I'm capable of it, on a good day, no illnesses etc.

Next year! I'll get there!

I love this race. It's tough and never seems to get any easier, but such a challenge and the best feeling when you've completed it!