Good start to the year...

Since Blackall 100, I had a week off and have been keeping a solid training base of between 100-150k a week.  Yesterday was Hares and Hounds, a race I had been looking forward to for a little while and would be the start of my 2015 season.  This would also be a telling sign of where my fitness was for the year ahead and if the hard work I had put in last year was going to pay off this year!Unfortunately, my wife and girls decided not to come down to this race given its early start (3:30am) and only being able to access one checkpoint.  So, for this reason, I went down with dad and my mate Rod (who crewed me for Coast 2 Kosci).  We were going to be camping at the start line and hanging out with a heap of our trail running friends laughing, telling tall tales and generally having a good time.  Made for a great weekend if you ask me!We rolled up in Woodford after a nice relaxed trip down and went and kicked back in town for a bit, getting a brew, meeting some locals and catching some great local music.  After, then meeting up with 'Team Beat Mat Grills' (yes that is what Meagan and Luke actually called their team!) we head back to the start line to set up and get ready for the night.After setting up my new tent, we head back to the local pub with a group of us for dinner and some laughs.  I don't think the chef's have ever prepared so many vegan meals in one go!  After dinner, it was back to camp for a reasonably early night, ready for our early wake up.I got in a reasonable sleep, got ready and then head down to the start line to get amongst it.  I registered and then organised my stuff and before I knew it was off and running into the darkness.  For about the first 15-20k, I fell into good rhythm with Jody and Rod, keeping a good clip, and one that I thought might have been a touch fast for the back end of the race.  None the less we kept moving forward and before long, I was off on my own, clicking the k's off to the turnaround.  I think I reached the turnaround (about 26.5 to 27k) in under 2hr 30min.  Happy with that.  I turned and started heading for home, feeling good and upping the pace a little.  I had thoughts of negative splitting the race but wasn't sure how the later stages would go.  Time would tell.As we were returning home, I kept passing people and felt like I was running strong.  It was really evident that I have been racing and training long and that my body and mind were fresh and ready for anything.  I think on the way back I passed about six people, making sure I passed strong and then kept the hammer down.  I continued to run well until about two k from the finish where I started to feel the pinch but kept moving forward reasonably well.I got to the end feeling really happy with my day, finishing 6th or 7th (not confirmed yet) in a time of 4hr 49min.  Whilst this race is a fair bit shorter than I like (end distance was about 53.5k I believe), I was really happy with how I was able to turn my wheels and compete in the first race of the year.  This has really put me mentally, physically and emotional in a great place for the year ahead.All the crew I went down with and hung out with did a fantastic job (although Meagan and Luke were NOT able to live up to their team name!) and all should be commended for their awesome efforts on a hot day at the office.I am now taking a well earned week off training before starting a 12 week hardcore block for Buffalo Stampede...a 75k sky run in Bright Victoria.  I am super motivated and excited for this run and can not wait to get into training for it!So, Happy New Year everyone!  I hope and pray this finds you well, with new goals, ambitions and adventures for the year ahead!  Go out and get it friends!  Run on, Plant strong.