UTMB CCC: Fuelled by family and friends…and odd socks
The ballot for the UTMB CCC opened on the 6th of January – my bucket list race. As I logged onto my computer, I remember thinking there was no chance of getting a spot through the ballot process – the race had previously been cancelled due to COVID and there would be heaps of rolled…
Surf Coast Century 100km: Just Dancing
My first 100km race – ten times 10km. Ten of them. Golly. A 4.00am start – the usual mobility and taping, all the coffee, a pre-cooked breakfast, and a lot of toilet stops. 5.30am and I was suddenly at the start line, nerves in my stomach. But the atmosphere was great, the beach looked amazing…
GSER: The Reckless Ragdoll
I hadn’t originally signed up for the Great Southern Endurance Run – which took the 28km runners up it. I’d told everyone how beautiful it was because I’d hiked it a few weeks before. But then FOMO crept in, why wasn’t I running it if it was so good? Because. Because I had the Surf…
The Alpine Challenge 60km: Beauty and the… Brumbies
I knew I wasn’t ready – physically, and maybe not even mentally. But I knew I wanted to do something…something challenging. So, it was between the Buffalo Stampede 42km or the Alpine Challenge 60km. My coach – knowing I was questioning my form – told me to choose the course I preferred rather than the…
Buffalo Stampede: Fast and furious, but still glorious
Evening races have never been my jam – the last time I participated I almost swore I’d never do it again. The anticipation throughout the day is a killer, and I can never quite get the nutrition right. The 10km Buffalo Stampede, however, was upon us (ahem, more like 12.6km). Short, but tough: up Emily…
Warburton Trail Fest: The highs, the lows and the blows…
I hadn’t raced a multi-day since Lara Pinta in 2017 – which is strange because to this day it’s been one of my favourite racing experiences. I’d raced at the Warburton festival in 2020 and managed to take 2nd place in the Donna Double (22km) despite spraining my ankle at 17km. I wanted to do…
Surf Coast Century 50km: Redemption
My first race since March, and I really didn’t expect it to turn out the way it did… After weeks of not knowing whether it would go ahead, Surf Coast Century 50km was upon us. Different rules to last year, to any year: limited support crew and crowds, different start location, adjusted aid station rules.…
Bright Run Fest: 10 days of 10kms
I’d given myself an ‘easy week’ leading up to the running Festival, but after two days of rest I was itching to get back, which was a bad idea. Because something in my calf was hurting and I prayed it wasn’t shin splints. So, I rested. And waited. And then Friday finally came. Day 1:…
UTMB Virtual 50km Race
It’s been almost a year since I ran my first 50km race (Surf Coast Century in Australia with Jessica Short), which was a beautiful and brutal experience. I remember very vividly the excitement, atmosphere and the feeling of crossing the finish line. The UTMB Virtual 50km in Hong Kong would be very different. It would…
ATG Vertical Challenge – max elevation in Stage 4 lockdown
I’d love to say that when I was asked to join a team for the Asia Trail Girls Vertical Challenge, I didn’t know I would be in Stage 4 lockdown. But no, I knew. I knew I’d only have one hour of power to smash out as much elevation as I could, within a 5km…
Running Hong Kong’s big four trails (298km)
Running Hong Kong’s big four trails has been a goal of mine for a while now, so I’ve loved having the opportunity to explore them over the last couple of months. An adventure of epic proportions… but not without a few hiccups (boars, monkeys, snakes, stupidity, humidity, dehydration, more stupidity that led to more dehydration…
Double Donna 22km: It’s not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves… (and sometimes the mountain conquers us too, for a few minutes)
It had been five months since I broke my foot. Since I’d realised that I’d fractured it by dropping a 10kg weight onto it, then completely broken it during the Surf Coast Century 50km. The placement of the break made so much more sense – as the Sport Physician and Surgeon had pointed out that…
You Yangs Running Festival: Lessons on Hitting the Wall
I took my weirdly swollen ankle to the Doctors the Monday after UTA50km “X-Ray.” The results confirmed a loose bone fragment (Betty) with it’s little jazz hands, having a party of it’s own – well away from the rest of my ankle bones. My Doctor told me that the rounded edges of the bone fragment meant that it…
UTA50: 50km, 4,000 steps, 2,500m elevation… and one sprained ankle.
With just two weeks until my first 50km, a trip to the doctors confirmed my worst fear – the fatigue and nausea I’d been feeling since TSP was not one but TWO types of parasites I’d picked up. Suddenly the struggle to get out of bed (not just the darker, colder mornings) made a bit more…
The Speed Project – 550km of high, lows and everything in between. And some running too.
I arrived in LA at 6.00am on the Saturday morning, a week before TSP. Sleep deprived, I wondered whether I’d over committed myself by trying to get to a 5km run organised by Blue Ribbon Sports (the original Nike)…at 10.00am…on the other side of LA. I went anyway, surrounded by beautifully passionate runners – many…
Spartan Elite – Trails, Obstacles, and all the Burpees
My training for Spartan mostly involved ramping up my mileage to account for the 13km+ trail running elements, and CrossFit workouts to help with the 29+ obstacles that would be on the course. A large part of which consisted of working on my (lack of) shoulder strength – stemming from a few too many sport…
Head over Heels….I mean Handlebars
A few things had happened since the Disqualification at Wonderland – I had quite a few words with myself, pushed down the disappointment. This happened for a reason – there must be a bigger picture. The answer? To ramp up my training in preparation for Spartan in November. Twice a day you say? Well ok…
The Good, the Gap, and the Heartbreak of the Headphones
After realising my time and distance in the Tussock Traverse and Run Larapinta qualified me for the infamous 36km Wonderland Run at Halls Gap, it took me a couple of glasses of wine to book it… it was only three weeks away and my training had been mainly focused on duathlons. My legs were grateful…
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a pair of running Shorts 