I am begrudgingly writing this post because I have a strict deadline tonight. I would much rather be spending my time preparing for the 100 miler next week and relaxing. Still, writing is a good way to reflect on my taper and preparations so far, and it’ll be something worthwhile to look back on in years to come. So here I am writing one more life update post before flying to Victoria and finally toeing the line. This one is a mixed bag of training, tapering, racing and preparing.

🗓️Training Update

I was able to squeeze in one final big week before my taper. This allowed for a roughly 2 week taper which some may think is too small, but I don’t like tapering so opted for the short option. I’m sure it won’t make much difference. Supposedly a perfectly executed taper only provides 2-3% performance gains anyway.

My final big week was a great way to round out the training block. I managed three long runs in the week all spaced out with recovery days. One of the runs was terrible, a confidence destroyer but the other two were strong and I felt stronger the longer I ran. These were major confidence boosts, exactly the way I want to be feeling coming into an event.

😖Taper Tantrums

It didn’t take long for the tantrums to begin. I started my taper last Sunday and by Monday I woke up feeling like I was getting sick. This is absolute typical taper behaviour from me and it’s usually all in my head. But this time Miranda, my housemate, had been feeling under the weather too a few days earlier. She thankfully came good after about 3 days and I haven’t got any worse so I think it will pass. I still feel a bit ‘off’ but I am definitely not properly sick.

Along with the psychosomatic sickness I also have a more real niggle to deal with. A bit of extensor tendonitis on the top of my right foot is giving me some grief. I’ve had it before and it usually goes away in time. I kind of classify it as a ‘fake’ injury, but it is still a form of inflammation of a tendon which is not ideal going into 100 miles of running. So I have been ladder lacing my shoes, night wrapping it and praying for a quick recovery. Thinking I am both sick and injured are typical parts of the taper process.

🏁GPT100 Preparations

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and scheming about my race plan. I eluded to all of this in my last post. Now I’m’ put the finishing touches on my race plan spreadsheet and the briefing slides for my crew and pacers. I’ve added links below for those interested and if you want to steal my plan.

I’ve panic prepped so much nutrition. I have homemade drink mix, homemade gels, plenty of Moor gels and drink mix, SiS go gels, Koda gels and I will be complementing all of this with heaps of solid food as well. I am definitely overprepared in the nutrition department. But it’s anticipating that at some stage some options will become unpalatable and I will need to pivot. So all of the extras will allow for variety when required.

All year we have been worrying about heat. Last years event was cancelled because the extreme heat caused too many medical incidents. Everyone in my household has been smashing the sauna to maximise our heat adaptions. Now as the event draws near it looks like we might be in for some cold wet conditions. Ideal for us Tasmanians! But there is rumours that we’ll have to carry more weather dependant gear which I haven’t trained with and I’m not certain it all fits in my pack. So I might be doing a last minute pack change if the weather looks properly cold.

🫐Moor to go More

Rob from Moor generously supplied Justin and I with plenty of his products to test during training and they’ve worked exceptionally well for me. The flavours stand out from anything else on the market: fresh, unique, and easy to enjoy even deep into a long session. I’ve now built them into my race day nutrition plan and really like both the gel flavours and the blackcurrant drink mix.

My plan is to take one Moor gel roughly every hour, with the blackcurrant drink mix sipped intermittently throughout the race. Rob’s provided me with heaps of gels and a bag of mix, so if I manage to get through like 30 of them by the time I reach Dunkeld, that’ll be a pretty solid testimonial in itself. After the event, I’ll write up a full review of the products. Hopefully, I’ll still be as big a fan after consuming that much of it!

🏃‍➡️’Racing’ at Knockers

I entered the whole kunanyi Trail Series this year and have had so much fun racing hard over the shorter trails. The final race ‘Knockers‘ was on last night, 12km with 480m of vert. It is less than a week out from the 100 miler. So I tried my hardest to have some restraint to hold myself back. Racing during a taper is not the ideal situation but I wanted to round out the series and get amongst the community. And going a little fast is a good way to bust the rust from these beast of burden legs that I have been plodding along on lately.

I will do a whole post on my Knockers experience. It was a great night out, perfect weather, some would say the vibes were immaculate. Milling around the start line I saw a lot of absolute weapon runners. This was good, it meant I could easily drop back from the front and not get too silly. I somewhat foolishly drank one of the free Tenzing energy drinks before the start and I was buzzing on the startline.

I went out with the leaders, the first climb was a brutal way to start a race. Legs immediately feeling the burn. I dropped back and on Knocksofty I let a few people out ahead. It was fun running down the zig zags getting to see the whole field ahead and behind. The corners were treacherous though, Tom Goddard took an epic slide out fall just ahead of me reminding me to take it easy.

I dropped away from the leaders and fell in behind Steve Flynn, I followed him most of the way till the final climb up to Knocklofty summit where I pushed ahead. This race made me realise that climbing is an absolute strength of mine at the moment.

Coming down the final descent I caught sight of Alex Hunt and took the brakes off not being able to resist a chase. I ran him down towards the finish line and didn’t see his daughter Peggy, waiting on the finish for him to pick up and I nearly took her out. Thankfully no one was harmed in my reckless finish stunt. Hopefully my legs can recover from the harder effort mid taper.

I finished 7th in the race and I think I was 2nd overall in the series. This was my first year running the whole series and I had so much fun. I think the whole series is going to become a fixture in future years. And it would be good to one day give Dave Bailey a run for his money for the title of ‘King of the Mountain’, it won’t be easy though.

🥝Kiwi Sleep Banking

I’ve been working on improving my sleep hygiene for a while now. My phone no longer comes into the bedroom at night, and I stick to a fairly consistent bedtime and wake-up time. During this taper period, especially while feeling a bit under the weather, sleep is my best defence against any sickness trying to take hold. Plus, banking extra rest in the leadup is one of the most effective ways to prepare for the inevitable sleep deprivation of running all night.

I recently stumbled upon a study that found that eating two Kiwi fruit one hour before bed helped participants fall asleep faster and increased their total sleep time and sleep efficiency (link to the study). The scientists reckon that eating kiwis is associated with improved aspects of sleep quality and mood, potentially by mediating your serotonin metabolism. That’s because kiwifruit naturally contains serotonin and melatonin, which are super important neurochemicals vital for regulating your body’s sleep–wake cycle. On top of that, kiwis are packed with beneficial components like amino acids (including tryptophan), Vitamin C, and B-vitamins, which are needed to produce those crucial neurochemicals that regulate sleep.

So, I figured I might as well give it a try. Even if it doesn’t work miracles for my sleep, it’s still a healthy and delicious addition to my diet. I’ve been eating two kiwis before bed for about four nights now and have been sleeping pretty well. It’s hard to say if the kiwis are the reason, but I’m definitely growing fond of them. I’ll keep experimenting, and I’m still undecided on the great “to eat the skin or not” debate. I’ve tried both ways, the skin adds a unique texture and a nice boost of fibre.

🥲Enjoying the Process

No matter what happens next week I have genuinely loved the journey of preparing and sharing the training process with such a great group of friends. The actual event is only the tip of the iceberg. The real magic lies in the months of anticipation, growth, and commitment to a big goal. I’ve already gotten my money’s worth out of the entry fee just from that experience alone.

This year feels especially meaningful. I’ll be running alongside great mates after a year of training together with my partner and family along for the ride. For my partner Lauren, she is returning to run the 50km after a 2 year hiatus that involved a herniated disc and back surgery. She has rebuilt from ground zero and I think she is coming back stronger than before.

My parents are flying up to be my support crew and I have two mates as pacers. These races are a team effort and it makes the experience so much more profound getting to share it with others. It is a way to create lifelong shared memories that can be looked back on fondly in years to come. I am so grateful for all of the support and I know I will cry at least once or twice mid race when I think of how grateful I am for all of the privileges I am afforded in life. The mid race cry is common for me and they are usually tears of gratitude and happiness.

By enjoying the process up till now I am less concerned with the outcomes of the race. Even if I don’t finish I am satisfied knowing that the experience up till that point has been fulfilling and rewarding. I am hoping it doesn’t come to that. My terms of DNFing are pretty harsh, I am only allowed to pull out if I am knocking on deaths door.

Wrapping Up

This will be my final post before the 100 miler. I’ve got plenty more content in the pipeline, and hopefully I’ll have some free time after the race to get stuck into writing again. There’ll definitely be a big post-race recap to tell the story of whatever unfolds on race day and if inspiration strikes, I might even bring my little camera along and turn it into a video.

I’ll try to keep my Instagram stories updated with race antics and will share a link to the live tracker for anyone keen on a bit of dot-watching. You’ll be able to follow my dot as it slowly makes its way across the map. Thanks for reading I hope these posts are at least somewhat entertaining for those who share the same wonderfully niche hobbies.