Manly to Watsons Bay Race Report 44 km

Manly to Watsons Bay Race Report

Australia Day 2020

NB: still some editing to do and get your self a cuppa.

I

Background

The Beaches Unsupported Marathon Series (BUMS) and the Australia’s Day Weekend Run is a not for profit group where all registration money goes to charity.

This month’s run raised $3000 to a family in a small community that were affected by the bushfires. The run is from Manly to Watson’s Bay.

Prior to the race Jane provided a GPX file to use on the Garmin. My new reconditioned Garmin 935 watch was able to use the GPS. But I needed to know how to use the software. And I’m glad I learnt.

It is a run I have been meaning to do and this was a cause which wiped away my hesitation. My hesitation was that I noted times of runners who are faster than me like Greg Finlay who sometimes ran between 7-8 hours which is a long time.

Selfishly, I like running and my run around Sydney has been planned to do the Manly to eastern suburbs leg as one of the BUMs events.

Australia Day weekend was great timing so I pressed the go button. I planned for 8 hours and did not expect 8:50 hours but that is how long runs sometimes turn out.

I had been running through December and January pretty much each day and was feeling fatigued last week. So, I took the week off and swam at Hornsby Pool to get my exercise fix.

Although I was a bit run down with a head cold and had emerging chest cold, I managed it in the week before the race with decongestion medication to keep my chest clear. I was a bit concerned when I had a coughing fit at 3:00am on Saturday morning.

We planned to go to Avoca for the weekend so Jenny drove me to Manly and my plan was to catch a train up the coast after the event. Accordingly, I packed a heavier pack than required.

In fact, I packed my light weight Salomon pack and was planning to carry water bottles. I woke up at 1:00 am and repack a different pack I use on the bike with a water bladder and bit more room for clothes and iPhone battery backup charger. With a full two litre bladder it probably weighed 4 kgs. It was a good decision given the heat and access to water.

I was the only one of a pack this size and it did not worry me because I decided to use it as practice for speed packing.

II

The Run

As much as I try to go to bed early before Races it never really happens or goes to plan. after looking at the best route to drive we went via Mossman over the spit. Not the way I would’ve gone.

I arrive to see Jane sitting on the steps outside the ferry terminal. It was nice to see her again as I have not seen her for a while. Soon there where are some familiar faces and many newer and younger faces of runners I didn’t know. After catching up with a few people and a photo of the group with 10 seconds to go. We were on our way. I had not started my watch so from the very start I was last and stayed in that position for the next eight hours and 50 minutes.

I wasn’t confident in using the navigation function on my watch but in the end I’m glad I did. Being at the end of the pack meant I was left to my own devices. Peter started early to mark on the footpath blue arrows. And I had my watch which gave me directions. In the very beginning it was telling me where to turn but after a While it defaulted to how many kilometres to go.

I went off course about a dozen times only a couple of hundred metres. I am so grateful for Jane’s GPX and for Pete and his blue arrows.

Anyway, the section between manly and the spit were trials that I have never been on before and it was very pleasant and I ran down hills in the flats and walk to the hills. And there are a lot of hills.

As I was running I looked across to the left over the harbour I can see Watsons Bay and it was quite daunting to see that’s where I was going to be later this afternoon. So, I took a series of photos along the way to get a sense of where I was and where I was going.

I started now to stop now and then to get my breath on the hills. Which I found quite interesting because normally I can sort of jog slowly so I just listen to my body and stopped and walked the hills at a very leisurely pace.

I was also starting to feel a hotspot on my left heel on the right-hand side which was a place where in the past I’ve had blisters and they were coming back again. I had packed some tape but the pin I left on my Salomon bag I forgot to transfer to my new backpack. So, I was never really in a position to treat the blisters so I ignored them to the end of the run.

The course has these seemingly secret pathways to hug the foreshore. Sometimes we would go down a battle-axe driveway with houses on the right at the end there will be a little path with a blue arrow to take us between street and onto the beach before Balmoral Beach. There were little parts like these all the way around the harbour on the northern side and through the eastern suburbs.

I reached 21 km in just under four hours. And thought to myself that my second-best marathon time was three hours 50for the time now I’ve taken to run half the distance.

There is a tradition to have a beer at the Kirribilli hotel at about 25 km. Given I have not had a beer for five years I settle for a Coke. Neal was still at the hotel having some soft drinks and was surprised to see him there. But then I realise he was running the course of the manly to Bondi route which was slightly different and a total of about 80 k’s. So, I was still in last place.

After the Coke I went to the corner shop had a good look around and couldn’t decide what to eat that would not upset my stomach. I spotted one of the yoghurts I normally have that I knew had a spoon inside the lid so I grab one of those and a bottle of Coke and cross the road to the archway at Milsons point station and sat down there looking at the markets and listening to this young woman singing beautiful songs. Soon I was on my way.

I forgot to mention the race started at 7:10 in the morning and I left the Kirribilli hotel at 12:30 in the afternoon. I decided to text Jane and Pete to let them know that I was okay but my predicted GPS finish time on my current pace was 4:30 pm. So, I told them I was okay I’m just walking a lot and suggested that they not wait for me.

So, the next leg was to be 17 km to the finish it turned out to be 19 km due to my meandering. We went over the harbour bridge and up the stairs went up and along the Cahill Expressway then down into Botanical Gardens and around past the Opera House with a lot of tourists going on a small train along the park pathways, then I exited the park and went around the loop of Lady Macquarie’s Chair. Just after the boy Charlton pool we headed down to the Woolloomooloo wharf and pass the famous pie shop and up a very steep set of stairs where I had to stop twice.

In this section I’ve got myself a bit lost because I only know it via the main road so we are going up and down hills down lane ways and in a general sense I knew I was passing through Elizabeth Bay double Bay Rosebay and then after that we went through the back streets of Vaucluse along the harbour beaches. Finally, I was on the descent to Watsons Bay and jog them to a packed area near the Fisherman’s wharf and the hotel. Neal who is ahead of me and had by this stage 160 km to my 44 say hello and continue on his way to Bondi.

III

Homeward bound

Now the next three hours of the journey started I had to get to Avoca beach. I text Jane and Peter and let them know that I was okay. Promptly dived into the harbour with the motive of wetting my clothes and trying to get rid of the smell of sweat because I was going to be on public transport for the next three hours as I was to find out.

While I was in the water I noticed a lot of people are on the wharf waiting for a ferry. So, I just got out of the water tied my bags to the shoes I couldn’t put the shoes back on because of blisters.

I thought I could swap my Opal card at the ferry but as I got on the ferry they said I had to go back to the end of the wharf to swipe it. I started to do so but was told just get on and fix it at the key end. I’m such a goody two shoes I didn’t feel good about that I was so tired I didn’t matter.

I arrived at circular Quay okay and walked across to McDonald’s and ordered a Big Mac and a vanilla thick shake while also noticing the light rail had a sign to central. So, I got on the light rail still wet and packed away more of my gear and put on a yellow spray jacket to keep warm in the air conditioning.

I walked to the country platform once at Central and only had a 20-minute wait for a train to Wyong and call Jenny with an ETA at Woy Woy station and just relaxed on the train keep me away from people because I smelt.

IV

Thoughts

I’m really pleased I was able to do the run and support a worthy cause. But there are aspects of the reality of running in my 60th year that I need to be aware of if I’m going to sustain my running for another 20 years.

Looking at my Garman data my average heart rate was 136bpm and because of all the walking and running I was doing it was going up and down up with a peak up to 185 bpm which was most probably on the climbs.

If anything, it’s just my feet in the same spot which slows me down. So, I’m not quite sure what to do about this but I guess if you got a run for 8 to 9 hours foot care is something you need to manage.

I now seem to be in the past era of runners because there are a lot of runners out on the course that I didn’t know but it was nice to see some of the runners I met at the start of my public involvement of Cool Running in 2004.

I don’t often think about how almost 40 years of running conditions me to doing runs. I can honestly say that after all these long runs at the relatively slow pace that I now actually recover very well.

It’s 26 hours and a bit since I finished the race and I have no soreness in my legs at all. I did make a conscious effort to eat and drink protein when I finish last night maybe that’s contributed to my recovery but I don’t have any soreness at all. Perhaps tomorrow when delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMs sets in, it might be different but there are no indications that this will be the case.

So, I guess I have to be pretty pleased with that outcome though I’ve been pretty hungry today and I’ve been eating a lot mostly good food.

The run has also made me think about my goal of running 60 kms case in my 60th year. Because the reality I’ve already done that in the run in the past.

While on the run yesterday reflecting on 44 km in eight hours it was also a bit daunting to consider running another 18 km. I almost decided to keep running to 60 k’s yesterday because when I finished I would by myself.

The only thing that stopped me was I had to get to Woy Woy and Jenny was going to pick me up at the station. At that pace I was running it was going to be another three and a bit hours.

So, I might reassess what my running goal will be for my 60th year maybe I need to do it in stages and run maybe 60 miles which would be 100 k’s which is something I haven’t accomplished yet. But it would really need to be at a stage situation perhaps 50 k’s a day not sure how to approach it.

Anyway, I am just most grateful to those who organise this event particularly Jane and I’m sort of chuffed that I was able to do it. I had a sense of accomplishment as I caught the ferry back from Watsons Bay and looking to the left and right realising that I had run that whole arc of an open circle and that made me feel good.

On top of this I’ve added another leg to my run around Sydney. And I’ve done a leg in 2020 so the pressure is off to do another one this year.

I now need to get my head around how I’m going to run into the Shire and at the moment it seems I’m just going to run down north south of Sydney in a line from Pennant hills to Cronulla. I’m having a planning and motivation planning problem in relation to this because it’s pretty well much through suburbia the whole way.

Well that’s all from me I think that’s my 43rd marathon distance run. Let’s see what the rest of 2020 brings myself and all my running friends.

Keep moving.

Cheers Plu