Still frothing!
18/1 - I am STILL frothing, four days later! Sunday just gone saw my return to racing at the 55ish km Hares and Hounds. It was set to be a stinking hot lead up and race day....just the way I like it! I didn't think my fitness was anything special yet, as I only resumed running on the 1st of November after my extended injury break, but I felt good and ready to race solidly...but not kill myself! Dad, Andrew and I headed down on Saturday afternoon and were all feeling pretty keen to run....all be it a little nervous. After my first night sleeping in the van, it was up early and ready to rock at 3:30am.I started the race with Andrew and we ran the first hour or so together, ticking off k's a little quicker than I had planned but feeling good none the less. We lost each other through an aid station and then it was solo running for me. The course is an out and back, so on the way out when it was cool, I did my best to stay on top of my Tailwind nutrition and enjoy the morning, getting ks in before the heat hit. The course was really nice and I loved what ended up being the first 27.5-28k to turn around (thanks for the extra 'free' k's guys!).I was still feeling pretty good when we started heading back home and met up with a cool guy Nolis. We ran together for some time, had some good chats and to be honest, it is always nice to have some company on the trails. I hit a bit of a rough spot between 35-45k and whilst not too bad, I have Nolis to thank for moving me forward solidly and keeping me running. He eventually surged ahead after an aid station and I just couldn't keep with him. It was getting hot but to be honest, I didn't really feel the heat, keeping ice in a Buff around my neck, wetting my head down and having ice in my hand helds. I was really stoked with how I regulated my body temperature.The last 10k was pretty exposed and from about 35k onward I employed the old 'hike the uphills hard and run the downs and flats' technique. This worked well as always and I didn't really lose much time and even passed some peeps. I was getting tired but I am really happy with how I stayed consistent, put out good effort and kept steady even through the later stages of the race. I thought a guy was chasing me down toward the end so I kept myself moving as hard as I could, eventually finishing in 5hr 44min 1sec...good enough for 6th at my first race back. I am SO so happy with how the race went, how my body performed and how I measured my effort. I was stoked to be back on the trail and loving every minute of it. Blessed.After the race it was super cool to hang out, chat to different people and eat some food! A good crew from Bundy came and all finished in tough conditions! Congrats to Campbell, Dad, Ricky and Andrew. Top work boys! I introduced myself to a lady I thought looked familiar (turns out I didn't know her! Ha!) and we got on like a house on fire! Her name is Carmen, is vegan, doing Ultraman in May and just an all round cool lady. We met up for some lunch on the Monday and chatted up a storm. She may have planted some seeds in my brain for future endurance events but well see how that all pans out. The trail and ultra community is just so special to my heart and I love that I have met and stayed friends with so many people through the commonality of suffering and adventure. Much love.So, overall, super stoked! I have taken a couple days off, eaten well, rested and I am super excited to lay the hammer down for the next 12weeks in the lead up to Down Under 135. I am super keen to get back there and seek some retribution from unfinished business last year. Keen as a bean! In the mean time, its almost time to start ramping training back up again and to get back in the swing of things. Thanks for the love and following along friends. Much love and Ill catch y'all soon. Mat