Sekrit Stuff & Mysterious Massai

Today Total: 31k
Week Total: 57k
Month Total: 130k
Year Total: 1814k

Headed off from Explorers Tree in the rain and gloom a smidge before 6.10AM and if I was going to meet up with the Mysterious Massai at 7.00AM at Megalong Valley I was going to need to get a wriggle on.

Nellies Glen is at its best in the rain - simply gorgeous - I was right in the zone from word go and despite the runnels of water and the slippery conditions I really hammered the stairs - hitting the Nellies sign in 12.48 - a 1 min PB and the first time I've gone sub 13.

I knew I would pay for hammering the stairs later on but my leggies felt great and I galloped off down towards Megalong enjoying myself immensely arriving at the road in 51 minutes.

No Massai yet so a loo break was in order and as I wandered back to the carpark I could see four members of the tribe had arrived - three men and a woman. King of the Mountain, Sub 50, Damo and Deek. Sub 50 as good as his word had some water for me to cache for the return trip.

After introductions and final preparation we were off - at first the pace was nice but as we started to hit the ups I struggled a bit to stay attached and once we got off the road and hit the serious ups I made the decision not to try a stay with them - they were on much fresher legs after all - and I was backing myself to pick them up again once the trail got more technical and downhill.

It wasn't long before they were out of sight but I was happy enough biding my time and waiting for the trail conditions to become more favourable for me. As I suspected I finally tagged on the back again just passed the second gate and then pretty much stuck with them till we hit the river.

I hit the stop button on the Garmin pretty much where the timing mats are on race day in 1.34 which is pretty sharpish for me and I had a bit of an "oh dear" moment as I contemplated the implications for the return journey - ouch!

I bade the Massai farewell and headed up to the tank for a water resup and a chat with some happy campers.

Right from the start on the return I knew I had overcooked the legs and it was with much shuffle running and walking that I slowly made my way back - that's ok it was the effect I was actually after - if I'm to fulfill my goals for next year I need more practice at looking after myself and keeping moving after my legs have chucked their Teddy from the cot.

I happily mooched my way back to Megalong where I picked up the cached water *thanks Sub 50* briefly stopping to render assistance to some Belgians in a campervan who were struggling to come to terms with meeting their first huntsman spider. I did my best Croc Hunter impersonation by getting it to walk onto a stick and then depositing it (happily for all) on the outside of the campervan - all the while reassuring them that this one was only a baby and that it's the funnel webs ya gotta look out for......

On the more open fire trail the rain was more noticable and the exposure to the wind far greater and I started to get seriously cold - I just kept moving at my best pace (which wasn't very fast at all - about 9.15 pace) and polished off the last of my salted peanuts hoping the metabolic process would literally stoke the furnace.

Eventually I made Nellies and the closer trail and the steeper gradient soon had me sweating again. I actually walked the stairs fairly strongly which was a nice surprise and finally made it back with a huuuuuge positive split of 2.53 for a total of 31k in 4 hours 27 minutes - Ewen do I get a finishers medal?

Once I stopped I quickly got cold again - it was still only 10 degrees, raining and windy - I had a quick wash which sent my core temperature plummeting further (good thing it's summer) and then got dressed and into the car.

My fingers were numb and unresponsive by this stage and it took till nearly Bathurst and several cups of coffee before I felt warm again.

I'll post maps for those interested on Monday.

Geez I've had a great morning - I loved it :-)