Ultra Race Familiarisation Weekend
With only 7 weeks until my 50km ultra, things are starting to get a little real with myself and my girlfriend heading to Lake Taupo in New Zealand's north island for a course familiarization weekend trying out a large part of the course to see what we are getting ourselves into when we race in October.
We were very fortunate to have a close friend join us for the weekend who had run the 75km and 100km races in previous years so was experienced on what the terrain and course had to offer. Even though he had raced the course twice, he knew the course like the back of his hand and provided a lot of useful information on where we would be experiencing challenges and where we would be able to back off a little bit.
Ultra Training - Part 1
The course runs through some private farm land so we were unable to start at the 50km starting point, so we missed the first 3km because of this. This was no issue though as we ran a 17km stretch of the race into the town of Kinloch on Lake Taupo. We started off just after 10am and the course ran downhill for the first 8km or so before we made it to the edge of the lake. Here we then made our first real climb up into the mountains, with nothing too strenuous before making our way into the town of Kinloch for a well earned 30 minute refuel and rest. We made our way into Kinlock just before 12.30pm.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1795400604
Ultra Training - Part 2
The second part of the day saw us taking on the final 22km section of the 50km course from Kinloch to Taupo, with a lot of hill climbing and off road running through the forest. The course was tough but we were glad to have rested before taking it on again. The 30 minute rest made a big difference to our energy levels as we took on some difficult terrain. Our final descent was still tough as we had been on our feet for over 5 hours for that day, but it was a good training session to put behind us.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1795400934
How The Day Went
Well, it was good to see what the course has to offer, and I think I have actually run tougher courses before. It's going to be interesting to know how I am feeling at the 40km mark, knowing I still have 10km to finish the race. It's going to be difficult to pace, to make sure we are strong at the finishing point of the race, but it is definately something doable and looking forward to the up coming race.
WOW!
Landscapes along the way must be fantastic, isn't it?
Your right, it is pretty impressive and it is actually difficult to capture with a camera.
Regards @run.vince.run
Very exciting!
Those are some huge climbs! Keep it up, dude!
I didn’t see this post before, amazing