Right a quick post on the 2018 man versus train race where we leave North Dandalup train station and run the 35k to Serpentine train station and catch the only return train back to the start. Miss the train and you have a 18k run on a busy road or a 35k trail run back to North Dandalup. !!

The Serpentine train leaves North Dandalap at 10:20am so we decided this year to leave a tad earlier than previous years due to the various running injuries we were all embracing. Calf strains, Achilles issues, carrying too much weight (I’m not sure this is an injury Barts!)  and good old Plantar Fasciitis to name a few. Thus at 6:40am we set off up the scarp, mainly due to Bart’s insisting we get a move on as he really wasn’t ready for a 35k sprint to the finish. He had got lost last year when he was dropped halfway up the scarp and had to run a lonely thirty or so kilometres to the finish. This year he was determined to stay the course and refused to leave a key hidden on the car so if he got lost he knew I’d have to find him and my lift home. Little did he know I had arranged alternative transport if we ‘lost’ him.  In the end he made it and ran a large proportion of the run with us, complaining most of the way of course. I don’t think Bart’s like any hill in any direction, up or down, as both seem to set him off on a tirade of abuse. This from a man who loves trail running ?

The photo below shows the starting line up for 2018 taken at North Dandalup train station, funnily enough we were the only people about early on a Sunday morning in the country. I managed to persuade five  ‘newbies’ to join us and supplied all of these with a GPX file of the course as I didn’t want them to suffer the same fate as Bart’s from last year, bless him.

So  off we went up the scarp, which is a road section and probably one of the hardest sections of the run as you’re in danger of getting collected by mad country drivers cutting corners. Thankfully this year it was very quiet and I don’t remember seeing any cars, which is unusual, they were probably all still in bed after the West Coast Eagles, a local footy team, managed to sneak into the Grand Final the day before. As you can see from the elevation below the start is a challenge but the finish is ‘to die for’. It was a this point last year we lost Bart’s (the start not the finish.) and history repeated itself with Mark, a new runner from Brisbane, dropping off the pace early and, in Choo-Choo tradition, left to fend for himself. I felt a small amount of guilt but this was quickly forgotten when I realised the task ahead and I had supplied Mark with a GPX file of the course , so he had no excuse to get lost.

The conditions this year was perfect and we had given ourselves more than enough time to finish by leaving probably half an hour earlier than the year before. This certainly made the journey less stressful than previous years and we settled into a good rhythm with enough pace to complete the task at hand but not enough we couldn’t natter away discussing a plethora of topics and generally putting the world to rights. We as a group splintered early which seemed silly truth be told as it wasn’t a race and there seemed no point running a few hundred metres infront of each other. I ran with Jon, because he had the GPX route loaded into his Garmin 310, and Liam for conversation. (with Bart’s always a few hundred metres behind us complaining about something?) The three of us eventually caught up with the two Mark’s at the  ‘drinks stop‘. I say drinks stop in italics because there was no drinks. Simon had hidden a carton of water and a box of Gu’s behind a tree but it seems these country people are resourceful with good eyesight because there was no supplies to be seen. Not a problem though but it did the make the last 5k or so a challenge as we were into the ‘dead zone’ (over 32k) with little water and no nutrition, a good test of your bodies capabilities to survive on it’s won internal fat resources I suppose.  Luckily the last 10k is predominantly downhill so you can sort of ‘fall‘ to the finish line. ( It is to be noted this year Trish refused to bake for us which made the return trip to Dandalap a bit of an anti-climax as the reward of Trish’s baking (which is awesome by the way) would not be there to greet us, in the end we made do with McDonalds pancakes but thrust me they ain’t the same!, anyhow I digress.)

After regrouping with the two Mark’s the group of five set off to the finish and the conversation continued to improve with numbers. The highlight of the last part of the run was most of us falling prey to the only puddle on the whole course, how does that  happen ? Mark C,. attached it with gusto (he’s Scottish you know and use to large expanses of water !) and nearly went in, this made me more cautious but it was to no avail and I ended up in the same situation, soggy socks and shoes for the last 10k or so.! Once we started to descend of course it was ever man for himself and Mark C. probably set the record for the fastest kilometre with a 3:10 down the steepest part of the hill. He was very excited and reported feeling a runners high as he snowballed down the hill at speed, more probably he was just totally knackered as we had all just ran just about 35k on a few sips of water.

It’s hard to put into words the run itself as it really was just about the perfect day. A good distance, beautiful trails and great company rounded off with Brownes Mocha and a danish at the Deli. Chuck in a train ride where the guard announced to the whole train of our adventures as we boarded and departed and the day really couldn’t of got any better. Talk at the Deli (see below) centred on next years departure time as we had plenty of time to relax at the deli before the train, well most of us that is. If you remember at the start I mentioned Mark from Brisbane getting dropped at the 3k mark, you’ll see he’s not in the photo below. We all thought he was gone and I had even arranged at the Deli to let him know we’d drive back and pick him up, save him the 18k walk back to the train station. Well he made it with 3 minutes to spare, albeit the train was late as usual so he could have probably stopped at the Deli for a danish.

As you can see from the photo below taken at Serpentine train station Mark is back into the fold and happy to be there, he currently holds the record for cutting it closest to missing the train, probably beating Trailblazers record set a few years ago. I’m sure Jon can get closer with a bit of effort ? Honourable mentions must go to Allister Caird who set a course record running the route in 2hrs 27 minutes, thats a 4:11k average, sub 3 pace for a hilly trail run, Boom! He could have left nearly as hour after us and still made it. Nigel also went well considering he twisted his ankle at 15k and ‘hobbled‘ to the finish in good time, a big call as if the ankle had given way completely it would have been a long night on the trails. Of course Mark gets a mention for running the whole route by himself under the stress of a potential long walk back to the car. He looked relaxed when he finish and puts his time down to this was his first trail run back in Perth, he’s from Brisbane you know. Bart’s also went well after we dropped him just after halfway, we actually dropped him earlier but always made sure he could see us, sort off. At least this year he ran the whole course after his miracle run last year.

Right that’s the Choo-Choo for another year. I’ll try and drum up some more enthusiasm next year as if you live in Perth you really need to do this run. We all agreed we’d leave later next year but the departure time is personal to your ability and general fitness and also if you want that added bonus of really ‘racing a train’ and trying to cut it closer tham Mark, fromBrisbane’s,  valiant effort of three minutes to go. Up for the challenge ? All aboard…..

Last year I wrote a post on my old mate the T-Train and his cross training adventures as he trained for a half-iron man (would a half-iron man be a ‘rubber’ man, or maybe ‘wood-man’..?)  He even had the cheek to turn up for a post Sunday long run pancake feeding frenzy wearing a triathlon top.  You can read all about it here : https://www.runbkrun.com/2016/12/04/cross-training-as-useful-as-cross-dressing-to-runners/  The subject of cross training has again become central to my daily activities as I continue to battle Plantar Fasciitis and I eventually gave up on just running and released the Elliptigo for a second time.

Long term readers of my blog (assuming I have any bar my Mum) will know I purchased the Elliptigo ( http://www.elliptigo.com.au/ ) last year to help me get over my calf tear.  ( https://www.runbkrun.com/2017/06/24/elliptigo-is-proving-a-life-saver/ ) As with all things , non-running, though the Elliptigo was forgotten once my calf tear was repaired and it was sent back to the garage to sit next to my very expensive Giant carbon fibre racing bike. (Much to my Wife’s disgust.) I merrily returned to running twice a day and all memories of the fun I experienced on the GO was quickly erased and any thoughts of continuing cross training disappeared faster than an avocado smoothie at a models convention.

So what changed and why this post. ?  Another long term injury eventually dictated I had no choice but to dust off the GO and start commuting to work as well as keep running lunch times. This served two purposes. First I was getting in three decent cardio exercise sessions a day compared to only one, secondly I needed to work more on my core as the last 3-4 months of inactivity (relatively) had not been good to the waist line and for the first time in many years my ribs disappeared and I started to see these ‘handle’ like growths above my waist. ! My Daughter and Wife even remarked that I was getting ‘a belly’  when I was changing into a t-shirt. Truth be told this was the last straw. I had suspected as much but when your 10 year old notices, much to her amusement, something had to be done. This made me scuttle off to the garage and dust down the GO as I decided I still didn’t really enjoy cycling enough to make another comeback. I feel with cycling you don’t get the same benefits for your running related muscle groups as you do on the GO and this was hammered home this morning when, due to a slow puncture becoming a fast puncture, I was forced to leave the GO at home and mount the Giant.  Cycling in I just didn’t get the same workout I experience on the GO albeit I was taking it easy for the first half of the commute as I got use to sitting down compared to my normal ‘loud and proud’ standing position. I know there’s the old saying about ‘as easy as riding a bike’  but it’s been over a year since I got on the Giant and it can be a tad unforgiving, add in a decent cross wind and my deep rimmed wheels are purpose built to dismount a ride at speed. (As I nearly found out this morning !)

Are there alternatives to the Elliptigo. ? There use to be an Australian product which was even more designed for runners in mind but this product was let down by Chinese suppliers (you can’t trust some people!) and unfortunately they went under.  They had designed a product to mimic running seamlessly and I had a test ride after I purchased the Elliptigo (always the way !) and was converted. Unfortunately No1. Wife wasn’t convinced and forbid me to buy another bike, for some reason she considered three enough and four was just a ‘bike too far’, I’ll never understand Women ?  The Bionic and Predator was built by an Irun.com but is no longer available which is a crying shame. Luckily for me one of my colleagues at work has one of the last models and I’m just waiting until he gets bored and decides he’ll never use it, I’m biding my time; just got to convince No1 Wife.

So as usual I have digressed. The reason behind this post is to highlight the benefit of cross training and recommend every runner makes an attempt to add some cross training time into their busy running schedule. It may be the difference between an injury free period or an interrupted period, and trust me I am talking from experience here. I know Meb Keflexighi is a big believer in using the Elliptigo for a good daily second workout the pounding another run would entail, he explains why in this YouTube video.  ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlTBE93OIlk )  I’m also a big fan of this method of grabbing your exercise high without the risk of injury. (albeit some car drivers may think otherwise, bless ’em. ?)  This weekend I have some GO maintenance planned and will be changing out the back inner tube and ordered two new tires on the interweb this morning. I can’t be doing with all this cycling for fear of ending up sitting in a café,  drenched in sweat , cocooned in lycra ordering a soya, light frappacino……..

Of course you don’t need to buy an Elliptigo to get a good cross training hit. Circuit classes at the gym are a good alternative concentrating on your core muscle group and high repetition, low weights. Alternatively there is another train of thought which recommends heavy weight, low repetition. Personally I tend to steer clear of these as I’m not really a gym fan and just prefer to get my exercise high outside, standing up at all times if possible.  Another avenue I feel is over looked by nearly all runners is the Pilates, Yoga type exercise.  ( https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/good ) Being an ‘older’ runner I can’t even touch my toes with hamstrings so tight you could probably perform Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony on them. I will eventually pluck up the courage and attend a Yoga class, probably. I know Mike K. swears by them and he is a lot older than me ! (Sorry Mike) My Wife has a Pilates Reformer which has stood idle for nearly two years, (due to my Wife’s bad back which is why we brought it in the first place ? A classic chicken and Egg scenario? Which came first, the Pilates Reformer or the bad back?)  maybe one day I’ll actually read the manual and strap myself in, so to speak. In the meantime it’s back to the GO for me because it really is just so much fun.

Footnote: Since  writing this post and before posting I had a weekend on the GO after rotating the tyres and putting in a new back inner tube, the joys of riding ? Anyhow I rode to Kings Park for a 12k trail run and then rode home afterwards. I’d done the same a few weeks ago and let me tell you it doesn’t get any easier. The GO-run-GO brick session is a killer and I backed it up this morning with a 20k Kings Park trail run with Damo and Mark L. ; I convinced them too leave the beach run for a week. Needless to say I am ‘cross trained’ out and can only assume this has done me some good. The last three weeks I’ve averaged 12 hours a week exercise with virtually a 50-50 split between running and the GO. It’ll be interesting to see how I go when I eventually get rid of this pesky PF and hit the ‘road’ , literally.

Note : The reference to cross dressing in the title was purely to get your attention and for all the readers who have struggled through this post in the vain hope of some juicy cross dressing information I can only apologise. So sorry T-Train.

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What started as an inconvenience has all of a sudden become a really big deal. Plantar Fasciitis (PF) sneaks up on you because it’s one of those injuries that doesn’t stop you running, as such, it just eats away at your daily, weekly and monthly schedules until you finally give up and take to the Elliptigo, you do have an Elliptigo don’t you? ( http://www.elliptigo.com )

Last week I rode 173km on the GO, mainly due to commuting to and from work. At 19kg the Elliptigo is not light and due to the standing position when you’re faced with a strong head wind you are in for a serious physical examination ! Luckily for me last week was a particularly bad week for weather in sunny Perth so I was beaten back on many occasions during the week, much to the disgust of my ‘man made’ traffic jam of irate drivers wondering initially what the hold up was and then as they passed me what the hell that was ?  The Elliptigo is still a relatively new item for the Perth streets and I certainly made an impression. I’ve found children, professionals and women like the Elliptigo,   ‘tradies’ (tradesmen) not so much !

I’ve now had four treatments of Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) so far but am still suffering with PF to a point I still cannot run on hard surfaces. Luckily for me I have Kings Park less than 500 metres from my office desk and am blessed with trails of sand or grass that allow me to exercise without doing damage to my PF injury. (I’m assuming?) This has been my salvation for the last four months but unfortunately I have not been able to shake PF to allow me to scuttle back to the asphalt and bike paths that I love so much. This has cost me two marathons this year and currently is looking like taking out Rottnest as well.  This will be a huge disappointment as I ran second at Rotto last year and was targeting a good time this year. At the moment I’d say it would be a Lazarus like recovery to be ale to run Rotto in October as the last four months has eaten away at my fitness levels and I’m not prepared to start ‘running’ marathons just yet in my running career, for me it’s all about testing yourself and racing the bad boys.!   I’ve got plenty of time to ‘run‘ marathons when I mature as a runner, remember I’m only 51 years young?

Rottnest Marathon has got to be one of the most scenic marathons in the world and I highly recommend a visit if you ever come to WA.  ( http://www.rottnestisland.com/ ) I could spend hours posting pictures of what I consider to be paradise on earth but I’m biased as I always spend a week after the marathon recovering on the Island with my family and these memories we create  I cherish.

There’s also a few more target runs and races I have to try and get fit for coming up this year. First off the ranks is the ‘Choo-Choo’ run on Sunday September 23rd. I’ve written a few posts on this run and all are welcome to join us in the Perth area. Of course you are always welcome to fly over for it but it’s not the biggest event in the WA running calendar so probably not worth it. For those Perth runners who are reading this I highly recommend this run and I’ll see you on the 23rd either at the start , North Dandelup train station, or the end, Serpentine train station. ( https://www.runbkrun.com/2017/09/15/choo-choo-run-2017-man-against-train/  or https://www.runbkrun.com/2016/11/15/the-choo-choo-run-an-exercise-in-living-on-the-edge/ ) You’ll need to buy your ticket and get the 10:20 from Serpentine to North Dandelup, if my memory serves me well; there’s only one train down to Bunbury and one back per day so choice is limited. (Australind  timetable for those interested in joining me on the 23rd.  https://www.transwa.wa.gov.au/plan-your-journey/the-australind )

Then there’s the 6 Inch Ultra Trail Marathon on December 16th, funnily enough my 10th in a row. After missing 10 in a row for the Perth and City to Surf marathons it’ll be nice to actually run this ? Again if you live in Perth, or even Australia, this race is a must-do. ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) So many good times running this race at the end of the season, more about the challenge of the course and running with good friends rather than time, although under four hours is a target. (You need to keep yourself honest people ?)

Final goal race of the year is the shortest and certainly one of the funniest. The infamous St. Georges Terrace Running Club Beer Mile. Never been a race where I ever expect to podium mainly due to the fact I probably drink more in this one mile than I do the rest of the year. I’m famous for pouring most of it on my head as I reckon natural evaporation drains beer quicker than I drink it ! Certainly no records are set but its a nice way to recover after running the 46k 6 Inch Trail Marathon the day before  ! Of course all of these could be null and void if I can’t get rid of this pesky injury, why does running have to be so hard ?

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