July 2022 I did my first interstate runcation. As I'm a secondary teacher, and events are never put in school holidays, it's virtually impossible for me to attend interstate ultras, but some stars aligned and I was able to go to this year's Brisbane Trail Ultra, using flight credit for a Covid-cancelled trip I was meant to take in 2020.
This is the video I made of my runcation.
Pre Event
I had a great start, as it turned out other runners were on the same flight. Always nice to chat and feel the camaraderie. I had a chance meeting with an old uni friend, which was amazing. She gave me and two other runners a tour of the All Hallows' School, and the next day we went to lunch by the river. That night I caught up with an old karate friend and did a class with her, the first one in about thirteen years. It felt like home. I did do my best to take it easy on the legs, and when everyone was kicking the pads I did more punching out of fear I'd break a toe before the ultra. We went out for pizza at Joey's Restaurant, which was by the river at the finish line. Reconnecting with these beautiful people from my past, and these past aspects of myself, was cup-filling.
The remaining time was spent checking in mandatory gear and walking. Lots of walking. It was a half hour walk to get anywhere from my hotel, but I didn't dare take a city scooter in case I had an accident just before the event. The lead up to a big event event is always nerve-wracking. Don't get sick. Don't get hurt. This plays on repeat, and the ansty feeling tapering creates gets directed to these worries.
Event
It was a horribly early morning as I had a 4:30am bus to catch to get me to the start line. I arrived in time to see the first 110km runners head off, and then the second group. I found out that 60km runners were supposed to carry trackers too. Thank goodness they were small as I had no room left in my pack. As I was checking something on the bus one of my zips had broken, so I'd lost one of my biggest pockets and had had to redistribute gear. As I wasn't using drop bags, space was tight.
It was cold, and we huddled around gas heaters until our start. I always feel confused about what to wear. Do I dress for the start and finish, or for the middle? In the end I dressed for the start with long pants, t shirt, long top, gloves, and headband. I had to carry that long top around my waist most the day, but appreciated it the first few hours. There were parts of the day I would have loved shorts, but when the temperature rapidly dropped in the evening I was glad of the pants.
The event was everything an ultra should be. Challenging. Highs and lows. Times I'd look ahead at what was coming and swear (I'm looking at you, Kokoda Track). Great chats with other runners who came to feel like friends. Chance meetings with people from home or connected to someone from home. River crossings. Missed turn. Confusing markings. Tripping (four times, saved myself from falling two of those). Downhills so steep I couldn't run, with little round rocks that created a ball bearing situation (one of the falls). Uphills so steep I questioned why I do this stupid sport and vowed I'd take up a new hobby when I got home. Toilet stories. Moments of self doubt. Moments of pride.
As the 8am start runners began overtaking me (I was a 6am start), I had a low moment of self doubt. That imposter syndrome feeling of 'who am I to be claiming I'm an ultra runner'. At that moment, one of two women out hiking stopped me to ask where we were going and how it would be in total. She was amazed, and called herself pathetic for 'just' being out on a walk. I said to her that there were plenty of people who would at home sitting watching TV right now, yet here she was hiking outdoors and that that was fantastic. It's funny how the universe can deliver those perfect moments, showing me someone comparing themselves to me and feeling low as a result just as I was doing the same with faster runners. It was nice to see that my words bolstered her just as she had bolstered me, and I stopped with the unhealthy comparisons and got back to enjoying the superb weather and being where I was and what I was doing.
Running somewhere brand new was fantastic. To hear different bird calls, see different animals, vegetation, and views, and feel different weather made it exciting. The steep climbs and descents went for longer than those in Adelaide, which was one of the toughest aspects for me. After some climbing my body would say, "Hey, usually we've finished climbing by now." when I was only halfway up a climb. I'd just put my head down and keep going. Not knowing the tracks meant I couldn't think ahead, which kept me more in the moment more than usual.
There was only one pain beyond the normal pain; on the top of my right foot the laces felt like they were digging in. At first I thought it was swelling from the water crossings, but no matter how much I loosened my laces it still hurt and was getting worse. By about 40km, on downhills in particular, it was excruciating. I tried folding a snap lock plastic bag and putting it in as padding, but that didn't work. It got to the point of being in tears before I thought to take the laces out of the top row of holes. That didn't help so I took out another row. Success! It did mean the shoe moved more, which put me at risk of blisters, but I finally had relief from the pain.
There were two big changes for me in this event. The first was hydration. I'm still working out the sodium content of my sweat, and therefore what the sodium concentration and amount of fluid I should be aiming for in events, with Alan McCubbin, but this was my first ultra using Precision Hydration. I had about 750mg of Sodium per 500ml. I feel like this worked. I felt absolutely no effects of low blood pressure at the end ( I have had had two ultras where I've had serious episodes afterwards, and a few not so serious but not good). This is a huge win for me. Also, I felt hungry a lot, which I've never felt in an ultra before unless it was after I started feeling so sick I could no longer consume food. This was a healthy hunger, where my body was tapping me on the shoulder and saying more calories and carbs please, and I would eat. Getting my hydration right enabled me to eat more, and at no point did I get that 'I can't eat' feeling.
This hydration product doesn't supply my calories and carbohydrates, so the second big change was more real food. It wasn't all real food, I had some Spring Energy gels and Skratch jellies, but the bulk of it was. Jam sandwich, vegemite sandwich, salt and vinegar chips, bananas, cookies, lolly snakes. So okay, 'real food' in an ultra looks more like a kids' birthday party spread. I'm definitely going to have to work on nutrition because this didn't go so well from about 45km. There were tears of joy when, 5km from the finish, there was an unexpected aid station where they had swipe access to a toilet. I think a lot more gut training is needed, and playing with what I eat.
The finish line was a climb up a set of steep stairs, then a run past the finish, up more stairs, around a park, then into the finish chute. In my mind it played out more like: why are we going up more stupid stairs? Why are we going around this stupid park when we've already done 5kms more than the advertised distance?
Post Event
From lessons learned in the past, I got over the embarrassment of taking my top off in public and got my sweaty t-shirt off and put warm clothes on immediately. I also had snacks prepared that gave me protein, carbs, and leucine and ate them straight away: tuna and whole wheat crackers, and chocolate milk and almonds. This is a change thanks to reading Stacy Sims' work, and I've got a lot more to learn from her.
One of the friends I'd made on the trail let me know there was free pizza and beer for runners (how had I missed that memo!) and invited me to join her with her running group. I invited one of the Adelaide runners and his friend to join, and it was wonderful sitting at Joey's Cafe, looking out over the river, recapping the adventures of the day with other trail runners.
My hotel was just by the finish line, so I showered, changed, then returned to see two more Adelaide runners come in. I felt too exhausted to wait for the final one as it would be another few hours, so I turned in for the night.
The next morning I carried my luggage upstairs (no elevator in the hotel - that was bad planning!) and began the last part of my runcation, visiting a friend from high school, someone I've known since I was twelve. I caught a train to the Gold Coast to meet him and his partner, and we headed up to Mount Tamborine. It was a few days of stunning views, rain forest hikes, wine and cheese, gin distillery, cafes, chilling, and catching up with wonderful people before heading home.
Recovery
I had warned my friend I would be ravenous that first day, but I wasn't at all. I put that down to the fact I finished the ultra with a happy gut that I filled with good food immediately, and I ate the next morning too (cold leftover pizza in bed with Netflix - the best). I had a mineral salt bath at my friend's, and as the aches and pains died away over the first few days I did some rolling and yoga. We walked a fair bit each day, which was great too. As it all settled, there was a sore spot in the back of one hamstring that will be fine. The pain on the top of my right foot will be fine as it's just bruising. There's something funky going on in my right ankle, which I think is from a stumble over a dodgy step as I left the hotel the morning of the ultra, so I'll monitor that. Other than that I'm all good. Ready to build for the next adventure, which will be the Heysen 115km.
It was one of the best weeks I've ever had in my life.
Happy trails.
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