6 hrs of Dusty track

The Caboolture Dusk till dawn.
After getting great advice from Tesso on how to set up for this run I had a shopping list for goodies. I was actually excited about this run and was ready to go from Saturday morning. I left for home about 3pm and had one stop on the way up for a some Panadol, my head started pounding. I took it as a bad sign but an hour later it was gone. I was there in plenty of time and started to set up my table. After getting set up I got my shirt and headed over to meet Ann my lap scorer. A quick chat with Blair and his wife and sat down to rest the legs. It was an hour to go and I tried to lie down and close my eyes but the noise of people chatting and walking past were too distracting so I sat in my chair and chatted to all walking past and people near by. I took a small walk around the track and did a few strides to feel the surface. It was not a track that I like but it soon felt better under my feet. With 5 mins to go I was at the start line and turned on my Garmin. Ready Steady Go ! Garmin still not working ! It took almost 3 laps before it kicked in and I could see what pace I was at, but by looking at the clock I had done the first two laps just under 5 mins so I slowed a little. I was feeling good and had found someone who was doing a nice pace in front of me so I stuck to about 5 meters behind him. But after an hour he started to walk so I continued on trying to hold that pace. I decided not to look and just run the race as good as I could. The key was staying comfortable. I now know why they changed direction every hour. After a couple of hours I noticed how depending on the direction witch leg got a little sore. 2 hours gone and I was feeling good, chatting to the odd person and making sure I was well hydrated. 3 hours gone, 2 shirts later and I was running topless. Man boobs were out in the open! Ha. I was still feeling good but got a little worried when after consuming a GU I had a coughing fit that really hurt my stomach muscles. I never stopped but it hurt and the tickle in my throat would not go. That's when I noticed at the start they had just put out some green drink and I stopped walked for about 5 seconds to get at least 2 of these into me and they seem to do the trick. They were cold sweet and just what the throat needed. Coming up to the four hour mark and energy was going up and down in waves. For 15 mins at a time I would feel cr#p and almost walk then bang I was feeling good again and focus on the next person to try and overtake. 4 hours 30 mins and I hit a low patch. My legs started to feel tied and I got thirsty. I grabbed a cup from the start line and got half a sip out of it while the rest went down my legs. A quick grab at my table for a water bottle but grabbed the coke instead. Two big sips of the coke and dropped it off back on my table the next time round. Almost half a lap later I had this little energy burst and I was feeling better. My shoes had started to get soggy from my sweat and At this stage it didn't bother me, Nothing did !. Another few laps and I finished the coke as well as a GU and a bottle of water. 5 hours gone and I was ready to walk but my legs had turned into a machine doing one pace and not wanting to stop. 5:12 I hit the 50 k. 5:15 gone and I knew I could do the whole 6hrs, hell I was on a high and if someone had asked if I wanted to go on and do the 12hr I would have said "sure this is easy". I tell you what, the people on the side of the track are a fantastic bunch of supporters/runners/scorers/good guy's/champions. Blair's wife "Trick", "AndyP"and Ann yelling all sorts of nonsense I never got to feel the real pain the last half an hour. Blair was an inspiration, he looked down and out but just kept on going. Smashing his PB on a day when most of us would have called it a day. I tried talking to him a few times but I was having trouble getting the words in the right order and with only 15 mins to go I drank my can of V (a mental thing to push me through) . I was so happy and words cant describe how I felt when I finished the 57k in 6:02. 114 laps but only 113 counted. 4th in the men's by one lap.
I stayed up all night to watch the 12hour guys. Just after they finished I left.
Hmmmmmmm...........
Next time.
Take care