(Coronet Loop abort) Coronet traverse out and back & skippers

Two days in a row 👀

Omarama sunrise jog

Night Walk

Cromwell -> Omarama

Race report and learnings (mainly for my own reflective benefit):

There is no where to hide in a marathon on technical terrain with over 2,000m vert!

330g carbs (10 gels and 2x500ml carb fluid @40g each)

The sharp-end of the field was strong this year! Top four under last years winning time (~4hr20min), incl a pro athlete (Scotty Hawker), who likely just treated it as a training run ;)

Fast pace from the start with a few people who likely later paid for their enthusiasm.  I paced it pretty easy for the first 6km to the main climb and settled into 5th.  Was faster than two others in front on the climb (they power walked several parts), and creasted the first (largest) climb in 3rd.  Tom (finished 3rd) was booming the downhills, so I let him go, wanting to save my quads.  Up the river valley my main thought was 'this is barely a trail, much more technical than anticipated'.

First 24km was going well with a gel every ~20mins, and crossed the saddle at the top of the course only about 2min behind 2nd and 3rd..... 
But at ~28km, after a long steep descent I started to get some, then severe, cramps in feet, calves, and adductors (hindsight & lesson: likely not enough fluids before the start during 4:30-6am drive to start, and only 500ml w carbs in first ~2hrs; even though temp was 5degC; co-factor: intensity of effort in first 2hrs).  

No excuses (expect I would have finished 4th either way), but probably haemorrhaged ~10min over that 6k section.

At this point I had to pivot from ‘racing’ to ‘finish, even if you need to walk the rest!’.  Slowly got ontop of the cramps by about 34km (lots of water and a bit of coke from aid stations), and actually was able to race the last ~8km to the finish (buoyed by ‘hunting’ down all the 10km racers who shared the same final climb as the ‘thin course).  First time experiencing cramping like this - so I've obviously done well with fuel and hydration in the pace, but can now relate to others who have suffered this!

So, a bit of a blemish on the performance, but great to tow the start line again for the first time in a several years

Of course, if you really push to find your limits, sometimes you go a bit far, and the result can be ugly!  Those ~6km were definitely the hardest running experience I have had (no quite Coast to Coast however), so definitely proud to have pushed though and enjoyed the last 8km.

Training block was great.  Probably lacked the volume on technical trails (vs. port Hills); but not possible with the young ones at present.

Time to think about a next event!

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Brendon Bradley

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(Coronet Loop abort) Coronet traverse out and back & skippers

Two days in a row 👀

Omarama sunrise jog

Night Walk

Cromwell -> Omarama

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