No Rest for the Wicked!

Last weekend was the first weekend since Christmas that I have not gone for a run. I think that running a 32km race the weekend before means I have earned a little rest break. But strangely enough I actually missed my weekend run! During the week a friend emailed and asked if I would be part of an Oxfam Trailwalkers team. For those of you who haven't heard about it, the Trailwalkers is an event where a team of 4 people have 48hours to travel 100km - and no you can't use your car or bike - its all on foot! My team 'Falloo' are planning to slowly run the flat sections until tired/dark and then walk all the uphills and to finish in about 18 hours!

So today was my one and only training run/walk with two other members of the team. We met at the bottom of the 1000 steps in Ferntree Gully and then travelled all around the country side for 1 hr 50 min. My running coach had advised me that the best way to pace for a 100km event was to keep my heart rate at 130 bpm or below so that was my game plan for today. I did my best to keep my heart rate at 130 but found it hard to slow down when other people on the track easily passed me or my team mates started to move way ahead of me. Yes my competitive drive was pushing me to go faster and on the shorter stuff this is okay but I have to slow down to make sure I can finish the 100km!!

Hmm, so what did I learn today well it is actually quite nice to run slowly and just enjoy the experience. I am usually travelling so fast (well fast for me!) that I don't often take the time to enjoy what's around me - a typical case of focussing on the destination and not making the most of the journey! It will be really important in the 100km to forget all about any sort of speed and just focus on pacing so that the whole team gets there in a relatively good condition.

Run/walk: Time 1h50min, Distance 10km, Location Bush Trails around Ferntree Gully, Temp 21C.

Gmap of run course:Have no idea where we went!