Six Foot Monster - update 1

Well, there’s 6 weeks to go until the Six Foot Track marathon in the Blue Mountains of NSW and I must say that I swing through a range of thoughts and emotions in thinking about it. I guess that like anything you go into “blind”, there’s a certain amount of apprehension and anxiety just because of the unknown...too true!! But there’s also excitement around challenges – new or old, big or small. They’re a little bit like a stage performance where you’ve practiced so much and now you just want to get out there and show off everything you’ve learned.

So with the Six Foot Track there’s been times where I just can’t wait to get up there, out of Sydney and into some new territory that I’m sure I’ll love. Even better that we get to run through the bush, along the tracks, across the creeks and up and down the hills. I suspect I’ll be sorry to be racing it since there’ll be so many photo opportunities along the way.

But don’t forget the fear of the course. There’s a lot of uphill...and even more downhill (it’s a net downhill race). Each of these is sure to take a toll of my legs, not to mention my little old heart. Since my goal is to race it every physical aspect will be magnified – for better or worse. I’m going to take a real beating...and I expect it’s going to take some minutes to get out of bed the next morning!!! Hello stiff, sore and tired muscles...

Training has been going well. A friend asked me last night when do you start ‘training’ for the race; in all honesty, training is on-going, but it was back in about mid-December that the realisation occurred that I need to start heading to the hills in preparation. Not just some gentle undulations, but serious hills.

Melbourne itself is not all that hilly. Yeah, we have some hilly streets but nothing like those in the Six Foot Monster!! So real training means heading into the surrounding mountain ranges in search of steep, long trails to train on. At this stage I’ve only gone so far as the Dandenongs mainly because they’re closest by, and they’re a popular place to run, let alone how people head out there to walk.

Home base for the weekly long run has been the Upper Ferntree Gully picnic ground, better known as the starting point for the famous “1000 steps”, which is a ruse since there’s actually only about 890 or so!!! The 1000 steps serves as a memorial to the Kokoda track in Papua New Guinea, with some plaques and information signs. I’m not sure if many people actually stop to read them (I haven’t yet, either!!) since the majority, i.e. 99% of people, make a bee-line for the steps with a steely gaze of determination for walking the steps.

I could write a whole other post about the 1000 steps and associated visitors, but I try to steer clear of them and keep to tracks around the slopes of One Tree Hill, which is at the top of the steps.

So far I’ve made four trips out for training runs, running a range of routes and tracks around One Tree Hill, plus heading off into the distance and through places like Belgrave, Kallista, Ferny Creek and Tacoma. It’s just wonderful running along beautiful tracks, under a constant canopy of trees and other vegation. Time passes quickly in these surrounds – it’s a complete world apart compared to training on the roads around home.

I can’t forgot to talk about the steep tracks…oh my god!!! Although I’ve just run over a small area of the Dandenongs, so far I’d rate the steepest tracks as follows:

1. View Trk – I’ve only run down this one, and nearly fell flat on my it’s so steep...which makes up the shortness.
2. Tyson Trk – also short, but also very steep.
3. Chandlers Track – not quite as steep but it’s 1km long with the steepest part at the end.

Anyway there’s more training runs in store out in the Dandenongs. Here’s a map – and elevation – of today’s run. 41km in 3:16hr with about 1700m ascent (my goal is to do a run with 2000m ascent!!). Love the run!!