Practice session # 11 (Saturday to Sunday 08-09 March 2008) of our Oxfam Trailwalker 100 km walk/run event has been the longest and toughest training session so far. We have reached peak endurance and fitness with the conclusion of this session and we will wind down our training intensity from here on to be conserve energy and be ready for the actual event on April 11, 2008.
Session # 11 highlights
Start: Check Point 2 (Lysterfield Lake)
Start Time: 7:40 am, Saturday, 8-Mar-08
(Break in training from 5:30 pm Saturday to 7:30 am Sunday)
Finish: Check Point 8 (Milwarra Primary)
Finish time: 5:30 pm, Sunday, 9-Mar-08
Total distance: 69.0 kilometres
Session time: 19 hours 50 minutes
Average speed: 3.47 Kilometres / Hour
Temperature and conditions: Dry and very hot (30 degrees on Saturday and 34 degrees on Sunday)
This weekend's training session, in two parts, was probably the most important of all our sessions for many reasons. Firstly, this long and very difficult session tested the team's endurance as closely as possible to the real event on April 11th while still allowing enough recovery time. We had decided that a good measure of our ability to complete the 100 km event would be to try and walk two-thirds of the trail (66 kms). Secondly, we wanted to cover this distance over two days to test our bodies ability to walk over 33 kilometres on a day on the actual trail, go home and sleep for the night before going back to the trail early morning to cover the remaining distance. Thirdly, we were trying to regroup as a team after losing two of our original team members. Please see the blog entry titled "Decision Time - Saddest day yet" to understand that phase of this endeavour.
Six walkers assembled at Lysterfield Lake (Check point 2) on the morning of Saturday to tackle the 33 km hike to Olinda Reserve (Check Point 4). Four members were missing from our usual force of ten. While the absence of two - one had a wedding to go to and another was on vacations in India was understood and accepted, the absence of two regular walkers created a deep level of sadness and quiet reflection in all other walkers. We had been a team of ten in most other training sessions and the feeling of incompleteness was overwhelming.
The weather was quite chilly in the morning and this was our first experience of the Melbourne autumn chill. We walked briskly trying to warm up. Our spirits were lifted when we saw a herd of wild Kangaroos bounding across the trail. We soon crossed Wellington road with great care, vividly recalling the scare we had in an earlier session when Forrest Gump (nickname for one of our walkers) attempted to cross in front of a car travelling at 90 km/hour. We breezed through the steep climb of Broadway Street and steps to reach the Belgrave swimming pool. Many of us could recall the difficulty we had at this section during our earlier training sessions. Here was proof that we had indeed built up endurance and stamina. Although, we were tempted to we didn't stop for tea at Belgrave and decided to stop for a quick bite and tea at Grants Picnic. On that picturesque Coles Ridge Rd track we realized that we had a chance to break our previous time record for this section and as a team we decided to go for it. We were walking as fast as our 7-8 kg backpacks would allow us. We beat the record as we coasted into Grants Picnic (Check Point 3) having covered the 13.8 km length in 2 hours and 48 minutes. We treated ourselves to a delicious cup of tea at the cafe there before dragging ourselves out of the comfortable and tranquil environs.
We were soon climbing the steep trail leading out of Grants Picnic to Olinda reserve. There is a green metal railing fence along the trail that always confuses us. We had made a mistake here once in the earlier session and therefore had become wary of these railings, so much so that we are hesitant to even take the correct path. Onlookers probably find it humorous to see us going back and forth here a few times before sense prevails and we cross the bridge. We decided to blame this minor confusion on Julie, our chief navigator and map reader, because she wasn't on this session. We eventually crossed Sherbrooke forest, still feeling reasonably fresh and went through Alfred Nicolas gardens. This trail seemed so different from the last time we were on it when it was pitch dark and rained all through the night.
It must have been the serene and calming nature of Alfred Nicolas gardens that prompted a deeply psychological discussion and exploration of reasons as to why we had embarked on this mad adventure to walk 100 km. One of our lady walkers provided a wonderful observation when she said that she had decided to do the walk and training sessions to rediscover her personal self having been so engrossed and dedicated to taking care of her family, home and going to work. This training experience had given her an insight into something new, something that was outside the routine of life and also introduced interactions with people whom she would normally have not mingled for 10 hours or more at a stretch on a Saturday or Sunday. She said that the aspects of learning about new cultures to which other walkers belonged and the cultural differences between her own culture and that of others fascinated her. She also observed that although her weekends were now taken away by these training sessions, she still managed to get all the "routine" housework and her children's weekend commitments done with help from her husband. I think some of us men were thinking about our own families and the realization that perhaps we should help at home too to give our wives some private time for themselves silenced further conversation.
We were back at the dreaded Hackett Road and its 15 degree inclination. This time we scaled it reasonably well. We think we are getting stronger and Hackett doesn't scare us anymore. We made it to Olinda reserve almost on the dot at 1:00 pm. We had our lunch watching the local cricket match at the reserve. The Olinda reserve is next door to the golf course which has a great little cafe. We bought take away coffees with us on the way to Silvan (Check Point 4). By this time one of our team members, Subbu was struggling a bit because he had twisted his ankle having stepped on a stone. Subbu was in considerable pain as he hobbled and limped through the downward slopes of Predator track and Barges road. We took it slow and easy because we knew that we had another day to go and about 38 kms more to cover. Soon we reached the overflow car park at Silvan reservoir. Martin Block, our wonderful support crew for the day picked us up at 5:30 pm after 10 hours of walking to bring us back to Lysterfield where we had parked our cars. We thus ended the first phase of training on session # 11 having covered 33 kms and one walker had been injured.
We were feeling sore in the leg muscles and undersoles when we woke up at 5:30 am to be ready for a 7:30 am start from Silvan. We knew from the weather forecast that it was going to be hot. This time there were only five walkers, two men and three women. It was commendable that Subbu decided to give the gruelling 36 km it a try despite a twisted ankle. It brought a lump into our throats to see him limp out of the car park at Silvan into the Olinda creek trail. This is the type of attitude that helps teams and individuals accomplish extraordinary outcomes. It would have been so easy for him to just stay back home and put his feet up on this hot Sunday. He chose to do what champions do and we are proud of him. The morning was quite refreshing and we walked to Mt. Evelyn reserve quite briskly. This place had uncomfortable memories for us because it was here that we had given up without reaching our target during an earlier training session. It was little wonder then that we were in a hurry to leave the place after grabbing a quick bite and toilet break. Within a few minutes we were at the start of the dreaded Warburton trail. A post at the beginning of the trail is marked with a W and 32 kms written beneath it. That is how long this unrelenting trail is - 32 kilometres. The sun started to blaze on us and soon we were perspiring with the heat and load of our backpacks. On this occasion we managed to find Graham Colling reserve (Check Point 6). We had gone past it during an earlier training session. The section from Graham Colling to Woori Yallock is about 13 km and walking along this uninteresting section under the hot sun must have prompted all of us to think many times as to why the hell were we doing this. After walking for over 5.5 hours from Silvan reservoir we reached Woori Yallock (Check Point 7) and we went straight to the world-renowned Woori Yallock bakery. You will find the world's best pies at this bakery. If you don't believe us, we sincerely urge you to walk there and find it out for yourself. Patrons at the shop must have wondered as to what was going on. Here was a crazy group of five walkers inside a bakery with all their gear spread across tables gulping their home-made sandwiches, the bakery pies, coffee and tea on a quiet country afternoon. We must have caused a furore in the quite, sleepy town of Woori Yallock.
The hike from Woori Yallock to Milwarra Primary School (Check Point 8) is the toughest and most demanding we had undertaken so far in the last three months. By late afternoon the temperature had reached well over 30 degrees and the heat was really unbearable. We had all drank lots of electrolytes and water and despite that we were soon reaching exhaustion. We played the team video on a mobile phone several times and that kept us going for 20-30 minutes at a time. Our mental resolve was thoroughly tested on this hot afternoon and all of us simply wanted this session to be done with. We were literally dragging our feet as we got within 2 km of our target Check point when one of our lady walkers suffered a mild sun stroke. We were thankful that we were so close to our destination. I think we would all have been in trouble had there been more distance to cover.
We limped into the Millgrove supermarket to buy ice creams and bags of ice to cool our hot heels. We are really proud of our achievement over the two days and it seemed incredible that we had walked almost 70 kilometres under really hot and trying conditions. We are particularly proud of Subbu who was very determined to finish the distance despite a twisted ankle and we are equally proud of all three women who showed us men what they are capable of. This is the kind of steely resolve that helps teams overcome tough challenges such as the Oxfam 100 km trailwalker event.
We are grateful to Dennis and Bala for picking us up at Millwara Primary School. Without their help we wouldn't have had the energy to get into a car let alone drive it.
We have now completed the second phase of training very successfully. The first phase which we embarked on in December was to familiarize ourselves with the trail. We covered the entire 100 km trail in 6 training sessions. We then entered the second phase of training which was intended to improve our endurance. During this phase we gradually increased both the distance and time in our walks. This phase culminated in the weekend's effort of 69 kilometres in a little under 20 hours. We will now rest for a week and then commence the short third phase of training where we will cover shorter distances and try to improve our speed. Our confidence levels are high and we are now more certain than ever of finishing the actual event.
You can see pictures from this session at the photo gallery on this site.
Please do visit this site regularly to read about our experience.
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