Hitting the heights

Week number 4 of training. This is around the time where I either break down in body and mind, or find a new gear. Thankfully, it seems to be the latter. As I alluded to last time, I'm prioritising quality of runs over quantity. So I took in a quickish and hilly 10k on the Mt Clarence boardwalk, a slow 5k wander with my beloved and two long runs with serious elevation to bookend my week.

Long run #1 - Bluff Knoll half and a bit (22.5km/1,149m - 3:06:12)

Expectation

Bluff Knoll is the third highest peak in WA, and about an hours drive from Albany. It is utterly spectacular. I've hiked to the summit a number of times over the years (once with the worst hangover known to mankind after a friends 21st) and every time is a little different. This year we've had snow on the peak five times, which is almost unheard of - the last was only a week before this run. Needless to say, I was excited. There is a Strava segment which runs from the entry gate to the summit and back, which gives you pretty much bang on a half marathon distance. The course record is held by Richard Avery in 2:02:19. Now, "Blue" is a world class athlete, and not actually human (being both a Kiwi AND ginger), so we can rule out any cup chasing here. Joining me on this little adventure was my running buddy Steve, who himself is in training for a 100mi event in the East later in the year. Needless to say, he's in far better shape than me, and gives me a shock when he pulls trekking poles out of the car as we're preparing in the Bluff Knoll cafe carpark. Me, I was just planning on destroying my quads with no assistance. In true South Coast tradition, it's grey and overcast as we set off...

Reality

It's an 8k sealed road to the carpark at the base of the trail, and we arrive in about 50 minutes. There are plenty of tourists milling about who look at us as if we've got a third arm growing out of our foreheads which we ignore before shooting off down the trail. It's a slog and we're quickly reduced to hiking. To take my mind of how much my quads will hurt on the way down, I start to whine like there's no tomorrow. I know Steve appreciates it, and it makes the climb go faster I'm sure.

Obligatory selfie while attempting not to have a cardiac arrest

Stupid is as stupid does

We hit the summit in 47:50, which cracks me a top 50 slot on the Strava leaderboard (yay). It's white mist everywhere. We sit down for a drink and a bit of food, discussing fueling techniques. Everyone has their own thing, and I'm still yet to unlock my own personal fuel code. After five minutes or so we decide to head back as we're starting to cool down a bit too quickly. The descent is far more fun... "First one to fall over buys the coffee!". Thankfully, neither of us come to grief, and we're back in the carpark in 28:28. My right knee aches. I can't really trust it on downhills at the moment, and since I have been labeled as a "downhill bully" (aka: pretty quick descending) I feel that one of my strengths as a trail runner has been taken away. Still, no time for feeling sorry for myself and off we head back down the road and back to the cafe. Lessons learned:

• strap the knee
• learn to fuel
• stop whining, or at least internalise it

Long run #2 - Albany Trail run course inc. Possession Point trail (22.7km/746m - 2:43:06)

I had initially planned on going to the other side of town to throw some loops around the Gull Rock National Park. But I wanted some company, so I put the call out on the local Facebook trail running group page to see if anyone was keen. Tim was. Tim is also training for a 100mi event, which is in three weeks. I sense a pattern here... mental note: stop running with 100mi entrants.

This course was used last year for the Albany Trail run, and is a mixture of beach running, fire trails and some technical trails around Frenchman's Bay/Possession Point - a real smorgasbord of surfaces. The sand is soooooooooooooooooooooooft, and it's murder on the quads - quads that earlier in the week had been lovingly pushed up and down a dirty great hill at a rate of knots. So I whine, some of it internally. Tim is nice about it, and happily trots along at my pace.
 

Now, the trail part is nice. It's well marked and flows nicely up and down. We pop out at Possession Point and the Attaturk Channel which flows between King George Sound to Princess Royal Harbour. It's whale season, and ERMAGERD THE WHALES ARE HERE!!!!!

Dat photography tho...

A pair of Humpbacks are frolicking in the channel. So we stay and watch for a bit. Now, I probably should pause the Garmin, but what's the point? It's not a race, I've got no time limits and this isn't something you get to see every day. But while it would be nice to stay and watch for a few hours, we need to be on our way. Back to it. We get lost - well, I get lost. Twice. Tim happens to follow me.
He soon wises up and decides to make the trail - turn decisions. Wise choice good sir. Fire trails, more beach, more fire trails. Oh look, a mini 6" escalator!

Yes, it's sand. And short. But dammit, it's the best we can do!

More fire trails, a bit more beach (well, a lot more beach) and one dirty big hill. I take ANOTHER wrong turn but we eventually make it back to Discovery Bay. Another nice hit-out and some good company to boot. Lessons learned:

• sand sucks
• whales are awesome, and worth not pausing a Garmin for
• internalise whining more

 The weekly total reads: 60.4k and 2,161m of elevation. Not bad. Over the last four weeks I'm tracking at just over 32m of elevation for every km of distance. The plan calls for a lower volume week, so I may stick to short and sharp with one big one on Sunday. I don't feel overdone in the legs and the mind seems to be staying roughly in the right place. That's half the battle won.

B.