ACT Masters XC Handicap 9.3km ; Snow Person Eating Dog
Minus 5 degrees, cloudy, no wind...It was very cold wearing ear muffs, gloves and tri-suit to keep the chill out, arms were freezing and numb most of the race.
The course once again affected by rain with mud, puddles, erosion, a fallen tree affecting the course. It was worse last week so we should be lucky it dried out a little. The course undulating with several steep climbs, the final 1km climb up over Majura saddle is brutal and is followed by a very fast descent of 1km.
I started as back marker as always, caught most of the faster runners by the top of the saddle, still had loads of work to do on the final descent. Despite running 2:51 last kilometre I ended up 5th on handicap, one step away from 3rd (Roger was 4th who saw me coming). All up another great run with 135km in my legs last 7 days. I broke M50 record set in 1994 by well over 2 minutes.
I saw Gabe out there, passed Kathy just before the top of the saddle, Minnie half way down the final descent. KT won the short course that finished earlier and put herself into contention for Queen on Mountain.
Of me: 95% age standard today, my best of the year. Results below.
That's the end of week 10 in a 16 week build up. I'm happy with where I'm at. A similar build up to last year in terms of volume with 18 months average 120km+ and every month average average 110km+. I also have most of my leg speed from the track season.
Next few days in recovery mode. Next session on Thursday with 5000m paced XC intervals. No racing scheduled before I leave for Europe in a couple of weeks.
The course once again affected by rain with mud, puddles, erosion, a fallen tree affecting the course. It was worse last week so we should be lucky it dried out a little. The course undulating with several steep climbs, the final 1km climb up over Majura saddle is brutal and is followed by a very fast descent of 1km.
I started as back marker as always, caught most of the faster runners by the top of the saddle, still had loads of work to do on the final descent. Despite running 2:51 last kilometre I ended up 5th on handicap, one step away from 3rd (Roger was 4th who saw me coming). All up another great run with 135km in my legs last 7 days. I broke M50 record set in 1994 by well over 2 minutes.
I saw Gabe out there, passed Kathy just before the top of the saddle, Minnie half way down the final descent. KT won the short course that finished earlier and put herself into contention for Queen on Mountain.
Of me: 95% age standard today, my best of the year. Results below.
That's the end of week 10 in a 16 week build up. I'm happy with where I'm at. A similar build up to last year in terms of volume with 18 months average 120km+ and every month average average 110km+. I also have most of my leg speed from the track season.
Next few days in recovery mode. Next session on Thursday with 5000m paced XC intervals. No racing scheduled before I leave for Europe in a couple of weeks.
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