This week we take a look at the TRX suspension trainer and how it can be used to build Strength, Flexibility and Balance.

TRX Suspension Training gives participants an edge over conventional strength training because every Suspension Training exercise builds functional strength, improves flexibility, balance and core stability all at once as is required on sporting fields and everyday life. The training movements are distinguished from traditional gym exercises in that either the user’s hands or feet are supported by a single anchor point while the opposite end of the body is in contact with the ground. Using the TRX, the desired percentage of body weight is loaded onto the targeted body zone and animated as an exercise movement.

The TRX Suspension Trainer was develpoed in the USA by Navy SEALS on operations and is now used as a effective training tool for a anyone regardless of age, gender or fitness level up to elite athlete’s.

The benefits of Suspension Training are not just applicable to athletes, they are relevant for everyone who seeks a method to safely and rapidly improve their fitness. Senior wellness programs have turned to TRX as a solution because it enables seniors to move freely without fear of falling. Physical therapists are using the TRX to rehabilitate patients.

The newest addition to the TRX family is the TRX Rip Trainer. The TRX Rip Trainer develops explosive power and rotational movements. By using the TRX Rip Trainer, individuals can strengthen the muscles around the spinal cord, making them more stable and less likely to be easily injured.

Brendan Tuck

Certificate IV Personal Trainer

http://vo2vitality.com

Brendan is a TRX instructor and Group instructor with VO2 Vitality. He is a Level 1 Strength and Conditioning Coach, a Level 2 Kettlebell Instructor and a Punchfit Kickboxing Instructor. He also has 6 years of Kyokushin Karate and 3 years of kickboxing with both State & National Titles wins.

Free diving is a great sport and easily available to the region. It is a great form of exercise and helps improve your lung capacity, making it an excellent low impact exercise for runners. Some of the best free diving sites can be found around here. Over the weekend, free diver Michaela Werner was featured in the Mercury and talks about her free diving experience. You can read more about it by clicking on the images below to view their larger size

More pictures of Michaela Free diving can be found at Edwin Kwan Photography

Edwin Kwan

Edwin Kwan is the PADI Dive Instructor with United Divers and also has a keen interest in underwater photography. He is also the webmaster for the this website. He has a certificate III in fitness and has done numerous half marathons including a marathon and triathlon. He also has a keen interest in Photography and is a webmaster for Little Handy Tips

Edwin Kwan

Anita from VO2 Vitality before the ride

Last Saturday, VO2 Vitality and Spearman Cycles organised a mountain bike ride day up at Appin XC Ring Track.

It was a great opportunity for those who haven’t mountain biked before to give it a go; and there were people from all experience levels that day.
We met at the gates to the ring track at 8am that Saturday Morning. There Ryan, Cameron and Jessica from Spearman Cycles helped pair us with demo bikes and adjusted the bike and seats according to suit us. Once everyone was geared up, we were off!

Amy, Anita and Brendan from VO2 Vitality

Being a first time mountain biker, it took a while to get used to riding in the trails. Having only ridden on road bikes prior to that day, I was used to slowing down and trying to avoid rocks and other obstacles. With mountain biking, its completely different, there’s rocks everywhere and slowing down doesn’t help as there are times when you need the momentum in order to get past the rocks.

We were also taught how to accelerate and lift our front wheel followed by our rear wheel in order to ‘climb’ up the rocks and also how to shift our body weight to the back and level our pedals while doing down hill. Despite that, I was still able to have a massive stack and flip the bike because I had my weight body towards the front while doing down hill.

It was so much fun and we even did two river crossing along the track! Thanks to Brendan from VO2 Vitality and Ryan, Cameron and Jessican from Spearman Cycles for organising this!

Group Photo After the Ride

If you are interested in trying out mountain bike riding, check out Spearman Cycles to see when their next demo day is. And if you’re looking at increasing your mountain biking fitness, contact Brendan from VO2 Vitality about their TRX suspension training!

Edwin Kwan

Change over of swimmers from Anita Graham to Lis White

Last weekend was the inaugural MS 24hr Mega Swim at URAC. It was a hugely successful event and they exceeded their targeted fundraising goals, raising almost $40,000.
There were around 17 teams, each team can have no more than 15 members and there has to be someone from the team swimming for the entire 24hr duration.

Anita is such a great organiser, there were so many teams participating in the event and she also got quite a few sponsors for the events. There was URAC who hosted the event at their pool, the Figtree Lions Club which provided a 24hr BBQ service (I tried out their bacon and egg sandwich on Sunday morning and it was delicious).

Lis White after completing her lap

Brendan Tuck from VO2 Vitality was there to provide TRX training for everyone to try out. Elisabeth White from Lis White Yoga ran pool side yoga sessions and Grant Jacobs and Ben from Recovery Works provided 24hr massage to soothe the sore muscles for the tired swimmers. Also there were dietatians from Port Kembla hospital there to provide freshly cut fruits for everyone. There was plenty of activities going on throughout the 24hrs.

The event raised close to $40,000 and the MS Trashers team, won the event (based on an distance covered and funds raised)! It was such a great effort by everyone involved and they all looked so tried after. Just looking at them swim made me tried too. More photos of the event are up on my website and available at http://edwinkwan.com/2011-ms-24hr-mega-swim-in-wollongong/

MS Trashers (The winning team)

Edwin Kwan

With Summer and the warmer temperature, what better way to start the day than with a swim in the morning!

I’ve picked this up recently and in Wollongong, you have quite a few options.

Wollongong Continental Pool

The first option is swimming in Wollongong Continental Pool.

The pool is very well maintained and it is open early in the morning. I get there at 6:30am in the morning and there are already people in there. You can find out more at http://www.nswoceanbaths.info/pools/b075.htm There are two pools in there, with the one closer to the ocean being a deeper lap pool. The shallow pool seems to be used more for aqua running.

Wollongong Rock Pool

This is your second option and the good thing about it is that it is never closed for maintenance and there are fewer people in there than the continental pool.
The rock pool is just next to the continental pool and during high tide, the waves will get into the pool. I usually use the Wollongong rock pool for cold water immersion recovery after a run. Another added benefit is the marine life you might encounter in the pool. I once saw an octopus in there.

Ocean Swim

This last option, which is also my favourite is Ocean Swimming!!! The water is so much more refreshing and it is never boring! There is a group which does this every morning. even on weekend! I believe they’re out there at 6:30am on weekdays and 8am on Sunday! What you do is to walk along the rocks from the continental pool (next to the pipe) to the end. There you will find a ledge where you can do a shallow dive into the water. The usual route is to swim north from there to a white mooring which is near north beach. I reckon the distance is around 800 meters. It’s a great swim and always different. I tend to find that the swim out is harder and takes longer compared to the swim back. That could probably be due to the waves pushing us back to the continental pool.

Another option for ocean swimming is harbour swimming, which is to swim the aquathon route in Belmore Basin. This is a good starting point for those who are not quite comfortable to be out in the ocean yet but still like to experience ocean swimming.

Whichever of these options you pick, summer is a great time to get some swimming in and enjoy the ocean!

Edwin Kwan

Do you normally feel sore after a training run or running event? And does that muscle soreness linger around for days preventing you from getting back into running?

Well Grant from RecoveryWork recently did the New York Marathon. He hasn’t been training for distances greater than 30km (18.6miles) prior to the race, but using his recovery technique, he was able to get back on his feet quickly and experienced no muscle soreness following the marathon.

Below is a video outlining the recovery technique he used. It consist of active recovery doing full squats, simple mobility exercises, static stretches and cold water immersion. Watch the video to learn more.

Try this effective recovery technique to train harder and stay injury free today!

Watch Video on YouTube

Your body’s natural reaction after such an effort is to do NOTHING – just collapse and recover! For me, doing an active recovery instead has proven to be the most successful method of recovering quickly and bouncing back to your best.

After my first marathon I took a week to even start walking normally. Using this really basic recovery protocol, I can now return to recreational running in just 2 days after finishing!

The key is to start active recovery within an hour of finishing. Now I know this sounds difficult for a lot of people, but starting out with something as simple as supported body squats – ¼ squats, ½ squats and then a full squat…..progressing to unsupported bodyweight squats – again ¼, ½ and full helps me bounce back quicker.

2 Hours after finishing I am able to do 2 sets of 10 full bodyweight squats.

I follow these up with a simple mobility exercise around my hips. This is to try and loosen up my lower back and hips and move more freely.

I do static stretching for my lower body and legs as a bare minimum…and if I’m really lucky and there’s water nearby I can jump in and do a cold water immersion session. This helps to keep inflammation from overuse to a minimum.

I’ve found this protocol very useful after running, but also after soccer, tennis or a hard personal training session of boxing and running intervals.

However you choose to recover, make sure its an active recovery and make sure you refuel your body properly.

Do you have a recovery method which works very well for you? Why not share it with everyone by writing it in the comments.

Grant is an accredited and internationally experienced Strength & Conditioning coach and Sports Massage Therapist and is a graduate of the University of Wollongong.

Edwin Kwan

We all know that some of the best runners in the world are Kenyans. At the recent Gold Coast Marathon (July 2010), the top four runners in the marathon event were Kenyans. The Sydney Marathon, which is held in September each year, was won last year by Julius Seurei, a Kenyan. And at the New York Marathon last year, the second spot was taken by, you guessed it, a runner from Kenya. In fact, Kenya has the most number of world class runners per capital!

Experts have attributed the superior endurance running capability of Kenyans to be due to their diet, the intense training, the altitude which they train in and also the their special genes.

Dr. Owen Anderson, from Gloucester Catholic Cross Country, visited the Kenyan cross country camps on the slopes of Mt. Kenya to interview dozens of elite Kenyan athletes. They provided him with 20 “running commandments” which outline their running success.

The 20 rules of Kenyan running are outlined below and are divided into two categories, principles which you should follow in your own training, as well as a couple of factors which are very difficult for you to control.

1. Avoid distractions.

Compared to Australian youngsters, Kenyan children have fewer toys, watch less television, and hardly go on facebook, so there is a much-smaller chance that a Kenyan young person will become sedentary. Because Kenyan youngsters are so active, they build up a tremendous base of aerobic development, strength, coordination, and speed between the ages of five and 16 and are more than ready for intense endurance competition while still in high school.

2. Don’t run on concrete or asphalt.

Kenyans prefer to carry out their workouts on trails or dirt roads, which simultaneously increase their leg-muscle strength and save their legs from too much hard pounding. Dirt provides more cushioning but usually forces you to work harder to run at a specific speed. Trail and dirt road running produce greater leg-muscle power, with less total damage to muscles, tendons, and ligaments, compared with hard-road rambling.

3. Do more race-speed training.

A favorite workout of top Kenyan runners involves a two- to three-mile warm-up and then about 10K of running over very rolling terrain. During the 10K, Kenyans alternate back and forth between about two minutes of fast running (at 10-K pace or faster) and around one minute of easy, relaxed ambling.

4. Make sure that outstanding running performances are rewarded with substantial financial bonuses.

For Kenyans, the prize money they receive from winning competitions can allow them to retire for life. Needless to say, this kind of financial-reward system intensifies young Kenyans’ interest in running.

5. Have great role models.

In Kenya, their world class athletes are out on the street – where everyone can talk with them. With so many great runners providing encouragement to up-and-coming competitors, young Kenyan runners begin to believe that it is normal – and almost routine – for Kenyans to win major international competitions.

6. Eat cheap, simple, healthy foods.

The Kenyans’ high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet revolves around ugali (corn-meal porridge), delicious vegetable stews, beans and bean soup, greens, plantains, passion fruit, cabbage, and rice. All of these foods are filling and satisfying and contain rich lodes of vitamins and minerals. Contrary to popular belief, Kenyan-runners’ diets are quite adequate in protein, provided by complementary combinations of grain and vegetables as well as sprinklings of lean chicken, goat, milk, and an occasional egg. Overall, dietary fat, especially saturated fat, is as sparse as slow race performances.

7. Be part of an excellent running team.

The Kenyan cross-country teams are true teams – not just collections of people thrown together for a competition. They train together for several weeks prior to the world championships, and everyone completes the same workouts.

8. Train with a very accomplished runner.

At the Kenyan camp, young Kenyans worked out with world class athletes. Fledgling runners learned exactly what it took to win and found out that they could handle the workouts carried out by their illustrious peers. Young runners – at first unsure about their abilities – gradually developed an attitude of “I’ve got what it takes to win, too.”

9. Take regular, prolonged breaks from training.

European, American and Australian athletes tend to think, “If I don’t train strenuously all the time, someone may get ahead of me,” but the Kenyan maxim is, “I work so hard that my body periodically needs a great rest.” Five-time world-cross-country champion John Ngugi trained very, very lightly at various times during the training year, and Moses Kiptanui, former world-record holder in the 3000-meter steeplechase, 5K, and two-mile run, was known to take four- to eight-week breaks during which he carried out no running at all. Such recovery periods allow the muscle-rebuilding process – an essential part of any training program – to be optimized and completed fully and leave runners highly motivated and mentally fresh for subsequent, intense training.

10. Carry out some of your training at altitude.

Altitude training is great for you mentally. Altitude makes every workout feel tougher, so you can develop a higher mental tolerance for pain. As veteran Kenyan runner Ondoro Osoro said, “When I come down from altitude, competition at sea level feels no more difficult than sitting in a rocking chair.” The altitude training must be completely wisely, however. At altitude, the Kenyans like to practice running at the precise pace which will be needed to win an upcoming race at sea level. When the sea-level race takes place, the required pace seems fairly facile, because it has been practiced under much-more stressful conditions – at altitude. Don’t forget, too, that a three-week residency at altitude can boost the blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity.

11. Take chances.

Kenyans occasionally go to extremes, including running unbelievably tough schedules (with a high frequency of fast intervals, hill repeats, and scalding fartlek sessions) for about three weeks at a time. These “crash cycles” of training seem to push fitness to extraordinary levels. Naturally, it is important to monitor oneself during these periods to make sure that the risks of overtraining and injury are kept low.

12. Warm up thoroughly at the beginnings of workouts, and spend lots of time stretching after workouts are over.

Even the very best Kenyan runners begin most workouts by completing a couple of miles at a leisurely, eight- to nine-minute per mile pace. Kenyans settle into fast training speeds only when their muscles are warm and blood vessels leading into their hearts and leg muscles are full-bore open. Kenyans do not do much stretching before they run, so the initially easy ambles also unkink tight muscles. A diverse array of stretches and calisthenics are carried out for 15 to 30 minutes after almost every workout and help prevent muscles from “locking up” in between training sessions. The post-workout stretching also “opens up” leg muscles to incoming carbohydrate, so that more glycogen can be stored between workouts.

13. Get your local schools involved in fitness.

In Kenyan high schools, 10 to 12 weeks are sometimes devoted exclusively to physical education. Phys-ed programs teach young people appropriate exercise techniques and help to create and maintain a large, highly fit “pool” of young individuals, from which nationally and internationally successful athletes can emerge.

14. Don’t keep a log book or follow an absolutely rigid training schedule.

Instead, monitor yourself closely and keep your training “in synch” with how you are feeling. If you keep a log of your running, it’s easy to add up your mileage for the week, and there is a great temptation to run at least that many miles during the following week – even if you are feeling pretty worn-out. There is also a temptation to complete a scheduled workout even though you feel like hell – because it is written down in the log. Attempting to lock step to the dictates of a written training program and working hard on days when you are really tired are guaranteed ways to maximize the risk of overtraining. The Kenyans don’t count miles and prefer to carry out solid amounts of training on days when they feel good and minimal quantities on days when they are fatigued. This can actually involve more discipline than simply following the commands written down in a training schedule, and it is a more effective way to build a training schedule which optimally balances hard work and recovery.

15. Develop a good financial-support system, so that you can concentrate fully on your running.

In Kenya, talented young runners usually join the police or armed forces, where they can train with other topnotch harriers and don’t have to worry about putting bread (or in the Kenyan case – ugali) on the table.

16. Don’t worry too much.

When troubles arise, the Kenyan runners often invoke the motto, “Hakuna noma,” which simply means, “There’s no problem.” Bad things happen to runners all the time, including missed workouts, slower-than-expected races, illnesses, and injuries, just to name a few. The Kenyans simply acknowledge these disappointments and then look forward to better workouts and races in the future. The focus is on gradual progress toward a better future – not on beating oneself up over disappointing events.

17. Train on hills nearly constantly.

Top Kenyan runners carry out almost all of their workouts on very hilly terrain. Hill running transforms your leg muscles from thin strips of sinew into powerful dynamos which can use oxygen at incredibly high rates, when needed, and which can provide incredible, stabilizing support for the body during movement. At the same time, hill training improves running economy, so that you do not need as much oxygen as usual – even when you are cruising along at tough intensities. As a result of their hill training, the Kenyans have huge aerobic capacities but require only puny percentages of those dynamic oxygen reservoirs to keep up with the runners with whom they compete.

The Final Three Commandments You Can’t Follow Now… It’s Too Late

18. Choose ancestors who were pastoral people with a fondness for the “bride-price” system of marriage.

Although there are at least 35 different tribal groups within Kenya, the majority of Kenya’s internationally successful runners have come from a single tribe called the Kalenjins. That’s a bit strange, since Kalenjins make up only about 4 percent or so of the entire population. Historically, Kalenjins lived a nomadic life tending roaming herds of cattle, and a young Kalenjin male was considered suitable for marriage only if he possessed an adequate number of beeves (this was the “bride price”). Since livestock didn’t exactly grow on trees, enterprising young men would raid wandering herds at night (often those belonging to a different tribe) in an attempt to purloin enough hooves to impress the family of the potential bride. This involved running the cattle away from the main herd as quickly and for as great a distance as possible – before the theft was discovered. Thus, a direct link was established between outstanding endurance-running performances and fatherhood, an effect magnified by the tendency of Kenyan males to marry several times.

19. Exercise a lot when you are a child.

Little kids in Kenya really do carry out a lot of aerobic training, but they call it “running to school.” As I jogged on the trails and roads near Mt. Kenya, little folks padded past me, cruising easily at six-minute per mile tempo in bare feet on uneven ground, with heavy school bags draped over their shoulders. The average Kenyan youngster covers eight to 20 kilometers per day just ambulating back and forth between home and school (more Ks are often covered while doing chores around a rural home), and this sole-to-ground mode of transport increases the strength and flexibility of leg, ankle, and foot muscles. Later, when a young Kenyan begins to train seriously for competition, the support system – the feet and legs – can handle the stresses of training with relative ease.

20. Grow up at an altitude of 5500 to 7000 feet.

Maturing at such elevations gives you slightly thicker blood, a stronger heart, more blood vessels per muscle cell, and slightly smaller muscle fibers which can be more easily and quickly penetrated by incoming oxygen molecules.

Read the full article by Dr. Owen Anderson at Gloucester Catholic Cross Country

Edwin Kwan

Wollongong runner Michelle M. recently completed the 2009 Comrades Marathon in South Africa. Read her story here.

Why do runners run? Why do they enter a half marathon, a marathon, and who in their right mind would enter an ULTRAmarathon? Why would anyone want to run 89.17km on a road? Surely there are easier ways to get from one city to the next – bicycle, bus, car? Yet every year thousands of athletes from around the world line the streets of South Africa to compete in the 89.17km Comrades marathon, known as “the ultimate human race”.

When I was young, my family would religiously watch the event on tv – all 12 hours of it. We’d eat, drink and laugh at the stupid people who thought that running this distance was fun! And every year I would think to myself, one day when I am big, I will run and complete that race.

When I did “become big”, I sat and wondered again why people would run. Then I heard about the ton of chocolate eaten on the route, along with 5.4 tons of bananas, 448 pockets of oranges and numerous other goodies (bottomless coke, cream soda and powerade). Maybe this was their inspiration (If I run 8km, I can have a chocolate bar, if I run 89.17km, can I eat as much as I like?) Nothing was able to prepare me for what I was about to endure.

Months of training behind me (and countless slabs of chocolate to make up for the burnt kilojoules), I stand at the start, amongst 12 900 other runners who have decided the free chocolate and coke is a good way to spend the day. The first 60km breeze by and we all laugh, joke, run and walk along. The entire route is lined with spectators who scream my name and cheer me on. In this race, everyone gets their name printed on their race number, not just the “elite” athletes. The sea of supporters continue along the road and I am embarrassed to walk in front of them for they have such belief that I am a hero. If only they knew, I was just here for the food and a possible chance to be on national television. By the time I plod past, some of them have even lost their voices from all their shouting, yet they continue to encourage as best they can with crazy statements like “you are looking so good” and “not much further to go now”.

This race begins at 60km with 29km to go. I dig deep and recall the tunes played every year at the start – firstly the South African national anthem, followed by the theme song to Chariots of Fire. I hum along in my head as my feet pound the pavement and try to ignore the shooting pain increasing in my knees and quads with every step. I wonder whether chocolate will take away the pain, whether it will make me feel better? Instead I make conversation with those around me and we recall happier moments of sport – I develop friendships in those few minutes which will last a lifetime.

The challenge increases with each stride (more like a shuffle at this point of the day), but with only a few kms left to endure. I see a man stumbling along the road leaning to one side and another who is vomiting in the gutter – clearly they did not eat enough chocolate to get them through this long day. I take my time, 12 hours from the start before the cut off gun shatters the stadium, the longer I run, the more I can feast!

10 hours, 45 minutes have elapsed before I enter the stadium. And I know now I did not do this for the chocolate, or the biscuits , or the coke. Tears fill my eyes as I cross the finish line, surrounded by runners who are now my friends, crowds who have pulled me through this day. I have completed the ultimate human race.

I started running because I love chocolate. I ran 10km, then 21km. As my desire for chocolate grew, I needed to add more kms, hence the upgrade to ultramarathons. Now I can eat as much chocolate as I want. But I realise after this race that I dont only run to savour the next Lindt ball or box of honeycomb Tim Tams. I run to learn about myself, to reveal who I truly am inside and to challenge myself to be a stronger person. So here’s a challenge for you – enter a race, maybe even the 2010 Comrades marathon in South Africa. Work hard at it, but dont forget to enjoy the chocolate along the way.

~Mich

Wollongong runner Michelle M. recently completed the 2009 Comrades Marathon in South Africa.

The Comrades Marathon is the world’s oldest and largest ultramarathon run over a distance of approximately 90 km (55.9 mi) between the capital of the Kwazulu-Natal Province of South Africa, Pietermaritzburg, and the coastal city of Durban. The direction of the race alternates each year between the up run starting from Durban and the down run starting from Pietermaritzburg. More information about the Comrades Marathon on Wikipedia

Having done the up run route before, Michelle returned to do the down run course this year and earned herself the Bronze medal. Even though it was a down run course, there are still some exceptionally tough hills to climb.

This is Michelle’s story, beware there are some gruesome details…

Bobbing Head Glory

Decided to come back from Oz this year to complete my second Comrades marathon. Warren, my brother, also decided to come out of the woodwork and return to the event for his second medal after making his debut 11 years ago. When I claimed this would be my last Comrades run, he decided to run it with me. We were aiming to run the 89.17km in 9hrs 58mins. I know it sounds slow, but believe me, to keep going in a forward direction for that length of time is never going to be easy, never mind adding speed to the equation.

Preparations ahead of the day went off well and we were seeded in the same batch to start. We began at a comfortable pace, easing into the day. Pretty much exactly to our scheduled pacing, we were both feeling (and dare I say at this point, even looking) good. At halfway, 45km down, only one minute behind where we needed to be and things were looking fine. Still on track at 23km to go and I began to get waves of nausea hitting my stomach. There are always good and bad patches in races of this distance, so I try to ignore the bad things and they tend to go away if you dont think about them. No worries yet. At 22km to go, my main focus was to try and vomit, not a great sign, especially when no matter how hard you try, nothing comes up. By 21km to go (68km down) I started to feel a bit dizzy and sights were blurry. While my legs were on autopilot just wanting to continue running, the top half of me had other plans. The half a banana (the only solid thing I’d had to eat this far) was floating in my stomach amongst the water, coke and powerade I had been downing for 70km. At this stage I realised sub 10hrs was not going to happen and I told Warren to go ahead, he could still make the goal. He chose to stay. My eyes began to close involuntarily and at 16km to go, my head seemed not to be attached to my body – it was bobbing around from side to side, even when I tried desperately to focus. My star seconds, Greg and his mom, realised the problem when my smile had disappeared and they managed to see us every 5km til the end. Warren would spot them in the spectators, I would see 4 guys who were an exact replica of my husband, as well as 4 of his mom standing around him. Now, I do understand that to some of you, 16km to run seems like an eternity – to a Comrades runner, 16km is what you do after a 10 hour working day using as much effort as a non-runner would take to change tv channels with the remote. There was no chance I was not going to get through a simple 16km. Adopting a walk/run/stop to try vomit for a few seconds routine, I gave up and changed to the run/walk strategy. At 8km to go, I had given up all hope of being able to vomit and was actually jealous of the fellow runners hunched over baricades and in gutters puking their hearts out.

Anyway, managed to enter the stadium, just so glad when my brother took my hand for I feared in my disorientated state I would run straight into a sign board, or worse yet, spin around and start heading back in the wrong direction. Warren pulled me through and I was so happy that it was all over, I just wanted to go home. 10hours 46minutes, a safe bronze medal in the bag. But my big brother was watching and within a split second I had a medic at my side wth my brother explaining the problem. He offered me a stretcher to the medical tent – did I really look that bad???

I decided to walk (my bottom half was still good), although I probably looked rather drunk and I wouldnt have been surprised if someone had thought I had been slugging vodka rather than water all day. Admission to the medical tent was a scanning of my number and within seconds I had a bed as well as one of 41 doctors at my side. The medical tent looked like a war zone with bodies on stretchers, many comatose and some looking what I hoped was a whole lot worse than me. Yet all was calm and completely under control. First question, what is my name. Easy, Michelle. The doctor smiles, clearly I am one of the lucky ones who can still provide one-worded answers to questions. For some of the folk didnt have bobbing heads, theirs were just flat on their chests not responding to anything. Next question, about how many times on the run did you urinate. Easy again, once. (I guess bells should have started ringing here for me). And when was that, umm, bit harder, probably about 75km of running ago? (Ok, I realise now in retrospect) And did I drink, oh yes, plenty. Blood was taken and results at my bedside within 10 minutes. Drip up, magic medicine added to drip, blood pressure and pulse rechecked. Also bumped into 2 physios I know that head up the physo stations for the route etc and within seconds I had the best student at my side for 15 minutes, using about 250ml of Arnica oil, to rub my tired legs – I could handle this life I think as the nausea subsides. More magic medicine!!! As I slowly come around to seeing only one of everyone, I realise that I overhydrated myself. So my kidneys, brain and probably every organ I have were floating around in me like a toy duck in the bath. The specialist then did his rounds. Have you urinated yet, another easy question, no. Well, once you have you may go. Hows that for pressure? I am escourted to the toilet and pass around 10ml of some substance which I would rather not remember. The specialist is happy and I am free to go. Drip removed, space blanket wrapped around me, discharged with a click on the computer and I walk free to my family waiting outside.

It is only now, when I see my brother properly outside that I realise what he has done for me. Although having completed 89.17km, he looks like he just took a stroll around the block. I would not expect that kind of loyalty from any running partner, friend or family member ever. Sacrificing his own goal to ensure I was ok. I guess that is the spirit of Comrades, but it still brings tears to my eyes when I think of how he helped me through my bobbing head syndrome.

It will certainly be a day I will remember for ever, but I wont be back in a hurry to run. I know I said the same words this time last year, but that medical tent forced me to realise what and how much can go wrong. I have my up-medal, my down-medal and my back-to-back medal. For now, I am satisfied. All I dread is those official photos posted on the internet for all to see an unhappy, struggling, pale to grey kind of look on my face with closed eyes and a bobbing head. At least by then I’ll be able to look back and laugh.

Well, thats it for now. I’ll keep up with my cowboy style walk, running up and down the stairs (more painful but for a shorter time period) and I’ll have a smile on my face now. To everyone who was on the route to support, THANK YOU, the runners would never be able to do it with out you guys and I really appreciated seeing each of you. Hope you all have a great week ahead.

Lots of love and friendship,
Mich

With the North Face 100 challenge coming up, a fellow runner in Wollongong, Neil H., decided to do a 50km night run to see if he is ready for the challenge. Below is the account of his run:

The Lunatic Fringe

I love getting off the roads into the bush in order to experience nature while running. It gives me the opportunity to feel more connected with creation and get some fresh air into the lungs. My weekly long runs is normally run somewhere around the escarpment and it usually in the early hours of the morning. I have done several trail runs over the years including the 6 foot track, the Brindabella classic, and the Bogong to Hotham marathon. I have always wanted to do something a little longer. A 100 K trail run in the blue mountains came up last year called the North Face 100 and I thought that now was the time to do it.

To decide whether I had the fitness to run it, I felt that if I could do a hilly 50 k around the escarpment in the evening when I was already tired then I should be ok to enter the 100 k. In late March I headed out at 9:10 pm from home for a run that I planned out to be around about 50k.

On a clear still night, I strapped on my hydration pack that was full of water and had a few fruit bars tucked into it. From Wollongong, I headed out through Unanderra and up Farmborough road. At the top of Farmborough road I emptied Gatorade powder into my bottle and filled it up from a tap; got my headlight out and headed into the darkness onto the trail. I ran around the back of Mount Kembla via the ring trail, over Mount Burelli and onto Harry Graham Drive. From there I headed over towards Mt Keira and picked up a water top up which I had dropped behind a tree the previous day. I also had some Gatorade powder, a banana, a muesli bar and a small tub of custard that I had also left. I headed across Mount Ousley road and onto the trail that leads out to brokers nose. I continued on to Rixons pass and then down, along the fire trail to the back of Wonoona, and back onto the bitumen. My legs were starting to feel tired but nothing was sore. I stopped at a petrol station and bought a coke at about 2 am. The operator was surprised to see someone who looked like he had been running and asked what I was doing. I continued on home and managed to clock up the 50.6 km in 6 and a half hours and it was 3:40 am. I was full of running and felt like I could commit to entering the 100 k trail run. I managed to get into bed just after 4, however, the alarm went off just after 6 so that I could make the kids lunches and have breakfast before heading off to work. I slept well the next night.

Running Route

Edwin Kwan