Woodcutter revisit - 14 August 2010

To complete a run that started last week. Well, at least i have to try.

BIG RAINS! Rains cats and dogs kind of sms received while i was on my way to NP. I assured them that i will be there, no matter what develops.

The rains soften when i reached NP and eventually we started off around 6:45am on Saturday morning for our woodcutter trail run.

I have to be conservative in my approach for the run as i know my fitness and weight are both heading South.

I was the last runner to reach the end of RRR before we start our journey towards MR. As we going down the first slope, HR went North for no reason. Sigh. What should i do?

Many thoughts keep floating in my mind how do i salvage the situation. Before the critical turning point ahead(few mins later), HR came down and even lower than my expected range. This doesn't seems to be good. What should i do?

When body is acting strangely during workout, the easiest is to stop and walk away. Not knowing what is going to happen if i ignore and carry on is a stupid risk, only time will reveal in the future if it is. If i know what is going to happen to me after Busselton IM event, i could have stop and stroll to the finishing line( i still have around 4 hours left). Sometime, i just have to base on gut feel and choose the path.

I did a conservative jog and walk strategy. I was feeling in much better shape than last week when i reached MR toilet in around 1:30hr.

Take a museli bar and rest break before we move on our journey towards lower pierce. I was feeling ok when i am out of the woods. Running on the road again(more downslope here ) give me the opportunity to regain my strength. It was a long wait for the 2 toos when we reached pierce toilet. Apparently 1 of them went to toilet thus cause the delays.

We proceed and soon reach the gate towards pierce reserviour. Tao(not running today), has volunteer to be watergirl and we are so delighted to see her there. We drank and ate. It was heavenly sent! Distance 20km covered. 3 toos went up the "bus" at this junction.

After the break and reorg, we headed into Woodcutter trail. We have been into this trail(twice last year) and nobody remember the exact route! Not surprising, it is thick vegetation and a few messy twist and turn involved. Lucky with Terence Garmin GPS route(based on last year), we manage to navigate out of it smoothly. How to use the GPS feature is not so straight forward from my own experience. Combination a few factors plus previous experience on this route, did " heng heng" brought us out! Phew!

It was a relieved to get out of the trail into more familiar terrain. We headed straight to our next rendezvous point with Tao at Blk 213 Petir road. At there we had "sng pao", chips and drinks await. By then a few of us are already down with various issues. Distance 27km.

After recharge, 1 too came down from the "bus" and we pushed on our last leg towards NP. It was not really that bad for me. I can feel i am still in control of my body. Just need to run conservatively.

Finally after so many up and down, we reached end point. Time checked 12:30pm(around). Distance 32.5km. It is nice to cross over 30km finally.

Have to retire my old ascics nimbles today. It has serve me very well. I have my doubt with it initially, but as time goes on, it has prove its worth despite glue it repeatedly. Today, i have to bear the pain and RIP.