In less than two weeks I take on the 6 inch trail ultra marathon ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) for the 11th time and will aim to try and improve my number of sub4 finishes from 8 to 9. Please note on both occasions I failed to go ‘sub 4’ I got lost but with any trail ultra that is a risk you take,  although I seem to suffer more than most?

The last couple of months I have been building to this event and have been gradually increasing the time on legs but neglecting speed work and this has come back to bite me in both my last 10k races. Early November I ran a 37:36 at the John Gilmour track 10k and last Sunday I went slower at the Fremantle 10k, 37:56.  The first time , on the track , was excusable as it was the last race I needed to win the WAMC age group 55-55 category but the time did sting. I was determined to go better and the Fremantle 10k gave me that opportunity.  As with the previous 10k I started well enough but was unable to hold the pace and had to work very hard to keep sub 38 minutes , saved by a last minute sprint.  A 15 second plus difference from kilometre 1 to kilometre’s 7-9 is not ideal pacing, you should be looking to hold the same pace throughout with maybe a faster last kilometre to account for the ‘kick’ finish. In my defence I was going slow enough that a ‘kick’ finish was achieved , albeit a very small ‘baby kick’?

Every race teaches you something and the last two have taught me I need to add pace to at least two of my weekly runs. I’m planning  a Mona Fartlek at least once a week and then maybe a 10k tempo/threshold to try and bring my 10k time back under 36 minutes (as a minimum) next year. Of course this will have to wait as I have the trail ultra in a few weeks and then the Australia Day Ultra in January ( http://australiadayultra.com/ ) before the Delirious ( http://deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ ) in February, all ultra’s. !

I’ve written a few posts over the years on the 6 inch..probably worth a recap…

There’s more, just type in ‘6 inch’ in the search bar and you’ll find many, many amusing posts on this race and that’s the point of the 6 inch. It comes at the end of year,  a few days before Christmas , where the finishing time is not important (as long as it’s under 4 hours). It’s more about the boys having a night away from our families and just being boys again, albeit for one night only. The experience of driving down Saturday , staying over Saturday night and watching ‘Run Fat Boy Run’ (an absolute classic film which all runners need to watch!) , running with some great friends on the Sunday morning and then a final get together to recount stories from the day, great times.  It really is a special event and one all trail runners need to run sometime in their career.

So have I done enough over the last few months to guarantee  a sub 4 finish ? I’d say at the moment I’m 50-50, conditions will dictate the final finish time I feel. Perfect conditions I got a chance, too hot and it’ll be a closer run thing. Either way I have a date with an esky at the finish so if I finish ahead of you I’d be careful where you choose your post race drink. It’s another great 6 inch tradition apparently.  I’m excited about my 11th time taking on the 6 inch and hope to continue the tradition for many years to come, finishing sub 4 may not be on the cards for many more years but either way I know my old mate Mr.Esky will always be there to greet me at the end and that’s enough to keep me coming back for more. (and watching Run Fat Boy Run with the boys, again you all need to watch that film!)