Seventy30zero

Section 8 – Ngong Ping 2 to Shui Hau (11.9 km)

I changed my bag which my support team brought for me to replace the dysfunctional one I was carrying. This took some time to move all the mandatory equipment and all the other items which I would need. I tried to be mindful of which items went where but I was also aware of being quite distracted doing this while trying to refuel myself at the same time. I was keen to get moving since the rain had started again and I wanted to get down this last descent while it was fairly dry.

This time I picked up another spare headlight and my son checked it for me and I threw it into the new back pack.  I managed to have a coffee with butter and hot broth with some onigiri. I ate the orange wedges this time and they tasted so good. Bottles were refilled and I finally managed to set off, feeling determined. I knew it was all downhill for a good 6 km.

Getting deeper into the night, the mist started to swirl around and visibility with these minimal head torches became very limited. All you start to see is what is directly in front of you which basically is just your feet on the trail. It is very haphazard running on rocky trails in conditions like this but you have to trust your instincts a lot and push some caution aside when you are in a race situation. I was behind another racer in a purple jacket and he set a really good pace so I stayed with him and considering that maybe I might be able to pass him at some point as I was feeling quite good. But he stayed ahead of me and at one point I tripped on a stone and nearly fell on him just after the West Dogs Tooth trail head. This area is quite technical and there is quite a big drop on one side of the trail. I took stock, told myself not to be stupid and slowed myself down and tried to be more careful with my footing as the trail was getting wetter at this point.

Shortly after, the purple jacket guy in front of me stumbled as well and nearly fell off the edge of the trail into the abyss! I think I made a gasping noise since I was scared he would fall and then I offered a hand to get him up. He managed okay without help and sped quickly along. I guess his pride took a hit but he also seemed to slow down after that close call. I pulled back a bit after that so I would not stress him by following too close. It’s never worth a terrible incident that results in injury or worse just to get ahead in a race.

We finally got to the bottom of the hill and crossed the catch water onto the main road. I saw a silver car parked and thought, is that ours? And yes it was! My boys had driven down from the last CP to cheer me on. Race rules are very clear that participants are not allowed to receive any support, i.e. hiking poles or food/drink outside of the official support area but moral support is of course fine and for me was very much needed at this time of the night. It was coming up for midnight and the rain and wind started to get more fierce. It was so uplifting to see my son roll down the window of the car and hear him shout “Go Mum!” as they both waved as I ran past.

This next 6 km trail around Lo Kei Wan was a low point for me. It is a very technical trail around a peninsula with a couple of moderate climbs. The trail winds around through some dense low lying areas so it can get very dark. The rain began to get progressively heavier at this stage and that is when my head torch began to blink indicating low battery. I was using this for the first part of the night and neglected to change the batteries at the last CP. Another rookie mistake. What was happening to me?! I guess I was so intent on repacking my bag, I had forgotten about the head torch! I stopped and I fumbled to get the other headlight out.

A whole group of runners ran past me including one lady whom I was doing the yo-yo thing with since before CP 7. As she passed, she could see I was fumbling around and trying to be friendly, she said “crazy weather tonight”. I did manage a reply agreeing but I can’t really remember what I said as I was getting quite frustrated at this point and was losing my cool. I resigned myself to the fact that I let her get ahead of me and would not see her again. I was still pretty sure that she was younger than me and not in my age category but was worried momentarily I had lost my spot. I did not want to disappoint my son mainly but shook it off.

Digging around my unfamiliar bag for my spare light, everything else started to fall out onto the dark trail. My light had finally given out so I couldn’t see anything to pick it up. I finally located my spare light and turned it on and tried to find all the items I had dropped around me. I was quite upset with myself at this point but I just made myself get on with it. I knew I was close to the next CP and could restock there and get ready for the last big climbs. I finally got my act together and started off again but was getting slightly deflated with all these issues. I knew at the back of my mind that all these little things were nothing and I realised that the most important things were going right. Body was good, energy was super consistent and I was able to deal with all the setbacks with logic and calmness which was such a change from my carbohydrate ultras of days gone by.

I finally recognised the last climb out to this dark dreary section and onto a vehicle access road. Just 1 km of this till I see my support again. I had caught up with some of the group that passed me including that yo-yo lady. I ran to the end of the access road and through the sleepy Shui Hau Village. Just before the little shop at the end of the village which they kept open for the racers as a check point, my son met me again looking slightly concerned since I took a lot longer than I planned on this section. It was really wet and cold now and the rain was hitting hard. We climbed the village hill up to the little shop and it was full of very wet, tired looking runners. There was only a few seats under a covered area and they were all taken.  My boys had umbrellas so they tried to keep me covered so I sat on a stool and tried to get organised.

By this point I new I had to recharge my garmin and my phone. I took time to do that but I was pretty depleted so I didn’t mind a long break. I saw my yo-yo lady had found a seat and was sitting with her head down. She didn’t budge for a while either. I finally had another hot broth with butter and some more onigiri in my broth. I got the big rain coat and put it on. We let my devices charge for a bit and then, as hard as it was, I got up and got myself going. This was the toughest check point to leave but then it was so miserable there that it was actually okay in the end.

A final trip to the toilet before setting off. My yo-yo lady was just heading in. She seemed to be shadowing me but I just smiled and carried on. I knew I would probably see her again but at least I was still ahead of her for now.

Section 9 – Shui Hau to Pak Kung Au 2 (6.5 km)

A couple hundred meters jog along the road, I arrived at the trail head which heads uphill through the village cemetery onto a catch water. I started the climb steadily keeping in mind my least favourite climb of this section which would come after a 3.5 km flat jog on the catch water. I started slow and steady trying to save my energy to jog where possible.

Onto the catch water and I decided that I did not have the energy to jog it as well as have enough left for that dreaded climb coming up. I decided to do my power walk till the start of the climb so I just put my head down and got on with it.

About 5 minutes in, yo-yo lady passed me jogging. I was too tired now to worry about her and just let her go. I didn’t want to use up any more energy on catching up to anyone.

I only just noticed that she jogged about 200 m ahead and started walking as well. It was comforting to think, yep, she is struggling too. She did go back to jogging and I managed to some how keep up with her doing my power walk but after about 2 km in, I lost sight of her in the distance. I carried on and then finally saw the turn off onto the start of the climb. There are some benches on the opposite side of the path and I could see some headlights of other runners having a rest before the stairs. One of those lights looked up in my direction and it was my yo yo lady. She was probably hoping I would stop too but I just headed straight up without a pause and set off on my steady pace up the hill.

I have done this climb many times before. It is a very steep climb with big stone steps that go on for what seems like forever. I have done it on practice days with fresh legs and knew that it takes me 20 min climbing to the top. I just knew if I kept going, one foot in front of the other, I will get there in at most 25 to 30 minutes. I settled into my pace up the dark, wet stone steps and before long, yo-yo lady passed me. Oh dear, not a good idea on this uphill with so much more to go. In that instant I realised a few things about my yo-yo lady. She was unfamiliar with the trail, she was trying to compete with me, and she just made a bad mistake.

Not long after that, she was bent over catching her breath and didn’t move as I passed her again. She did force herself to follow me but this time she paced behind me the rest of the way. I finally recognised the top of the hill, so I turned around and told her we are almost at the top and it will go flat after. She nodded I think in appreciation for that information but this time considerately stayed behind me. As we got to the top, I told her that the climb was finished. She seemed relieved but didn’t say anything and even though I thought she would overtake me again she never tried to pass me again after that.

Along the slight downs and through the technical rocks she dropped back and then eventually I lost her and that was that. I never saw her again even though she was only about 20 min behind me at the finish.

A tough adversary but too competitive with the wrong person of the wrong category. What a shame.

Section 10 – Pak Kung Au to Pak Mong (9.1 km)

Pak Kung Au seemed like heaven when I arrived but my boys weren’t there. To be fair, it was around 4 am and I was ahead of schedule for this section. From my own experience I know supporting is just as exhausting in many ways so I felt for them.  I did think about just going on but I knew I needed to get some fuel in before this last bit. I text my team and they said they were near so I went to the port-a-loo and decided to go with the smart option and wait for them. I was so eager to get this over with but my common sense prevailed and I concluded, yes, it was the last bit and yes, it was my most familiar section of the course, but it was still a very tough section. So thankfully, I decided to wait a just a couple of minutes for them.

The rain had eased and it looked like it would dry up a bit. My boys arrived and I had some hot broth with an onigiri. I left my heavier rain jacket and opted for a lighter wind breaker but remembered to throw in a spare thermal top, which turned out to be the smartest decision I made on that race.

At this point I knew I would 100% sure regardless of how I felt that I would finish. I put my mind into ‘let’s just finish this’ gear and hit the last big mountain, Sunset Peak. With a last look and a wave to my team, I shouted “see you at the finish line!” I filled up with renewed energy just by finally being able to say these words to them.

In the end I only spent 12 minutes at this check point and even with the extra few minutes waiting for the support, was worth gold!

I set off nice and slow up the steep climb of Sunset Peak. I have done this climb so many times before so knew it like the back of my hand. At this point the wind picked up and rain started to fall again. The higher I climbed it seemed to just get worse and worse. I realised I had I made a bad mistake to eat that last onigiri with the soup so quickly at the last check point because it was sitting in my stomach undigested and was starting to make me feel nauseous. The temperature suddenly dipped again and the wind and rain came driving down. Visibility was terrible and the head torch did almost nothing to light the way. I didn’t know where I was but I just kept going slowly and breathing so I wouldn’t throw up. A couple of guys passed me then and they seemed to know me and yelled “Yuko san” and “gambatte” and I said the same back to them. I finally got to a place I recognised. It was a rest/viewing point where a couple of benches were placed recently for weary hikers. Those same guys that had passed moments earlier were sitting there. They shouted out a bit more quietly “Yuko san”, I waved as enthusiastically as I could manage but they weren’t budging so I carried on passed them.

At some point before the windier open area, I crouched down and took my merino out and put it on under my windbreaker. I knew I would need all the warmth I could get.  I think the two friendly guys passed me there again. Just a nod this time, it was all too miserable and too much effort for anything else.

I was quite alone till I got to the flat and I think it was around cabin 15 near to one of the rare clear signage post we could actually see along that dark night trail. There was a guy resting there who asked me if I knew where to go. I said yes and relieved he followed me for a while. It was so cold and still in shorts with my legs exposed, I was wondering if I made a huge mistake to leave without changing into some longer leggings. The skin on my legs were turning to ice but thankfully my merino kept me warm on top. I was still feeling a bit nauseous but knew if I stopped anywhere here, I would seriously be in danger of hypothermia, so I just kept moving. One foot in front of the other.

It was virtually impossible to make out where we were at any point along the saddle of this mountain. It was cold, exposed and the top of the mountain was in a cloud with gale force winds and rain pelting down.

Finally I saw some fairy lights that the organisers placed to mark the turn off onto another trail which slips past under Lin Fa Shan. It was the next peak, thankfully which we don’t need to climb before a long downhill of what seems like a million steps to the last check point at Pak Mong.

Such relief flooded into me at this point as well as, I am sure, the guy behind me. I turned onto this next bit, feeling “this is it, it will be easy from here!” I couldn’t have been more wrong. The rest of the way to Pak Mong was a nightmare! Mud, mud and more mud! I slipped and fell several times right on my backside! If it wasn’t so miserable, it would have been funny. I was not the only one for sure yelping as I slipped multiple times.

I started wondering at this point if I made a huge mistake not to have my hiking poles as I fell over and over again finding it almost impossible to get any traction to stand up.

This section was taking so much longer than planned. On a normal day, I would easily run all of it but the overnight rain and the trail that was trampled on relentlessIy by all the earlier runners had become a muddy mess. I looked back at some runners behind me and they all had hiking poles but were all still slipping. I took comfort in the fact that it probably wouldn’t have made a difference if I had brought my hiking poles.

I fell hard on my left hand at one point and later when I tried to rub off the mud I realised it was numb and very swollen. I thought, “oh no!”, I have broken something but it was so cold that I didn’t feel any pain. There was no choice at this point so I just kept going. At least finally the skies had lightened up and the rain and wind had eased.

The rest of the way down was tortuous and slow broken up only by the concrete slatted steps which were all waterlogged as well. Finally, on the last descent with the huge stone steps, I managed to get some speed going. The legs were complaining but still working so I just went with it. At last I made it to the bottom of the steps onto a concrete access road. I jogged it into CP10 feeling like a drowned rat who was playing around in the mud.

7:20 am at the Pak Mong check point looked like a disaster zone. Everyone seemed to have crashed out there and even the volunteers were just sitting around. There seemed to be no hot food and only some sports bars. What a pathetic last check point. I was not impressed at all but lucky at this stage I was just fueling on my fat stores so I didn’t feel I needed anything. There was a guy on the ground and some people were attending to him so I just filled up with some coke (unfortunately full sugar) mixed into one of my half full water bottles in case I needed a kick later for the final push. I took a tiny sip and decided it tasted awful so in the end I didn’t have any of it.

Section 11– Pak Mong to The Finish

I managed a text to my support to say I was leaving the last check point and that my phone batteries were dying. I then hurried on walking and jogging where I could along the flat road. I finally started the last climb up the Olympic trail. This trail was all concrete so a welcome change to the muddy trails that I had just come off of. I had happily pulled off my jacket and merino and put it back in the pack with my head torch. Relieved to leave behind the reminders of the uncomfortable night, I said to myself, “Home stretch!” I was nearly there.

It was nicely comfortable and dry again, as the mud on me dried and started to flake off and thankfully the left hand was still swollen but did not hurt anymore. No one would know the conditions that I just got through. It seemed like a distant memory to me as I got excited for the finish line.

I got to the top of the climb and forced myself to start jogging again as the trail started to undulate downward. I was dead tired and wondered if I could manage a sprint finish like I did last year but I leaned onto the fact that I always managed a sprint finish so I trusted that the energy would kick in when I needed it.

The excitement of the finish and seeing everyone there is always such a lift. No matter how tired, how sore, how bad you feel, when that adrenaline finally kicks in it is like magic. You feel, well I do anyway, like you can fly. You rise above the pain and just go.

There is one more section of about 500 m of trail which I did manage to slip twice along but almost unaware of it, I got myself up and just kept going . Along this point, I heard a lovely familiar voice shout out “Go Yuko!! Looking so strong!” It was one of my Nepal gals and she had her drone which I heard take off chasing me. Awesome! Fueled by her and her cheers, I got that last burst of energy from who knows where and I started putting power into my legs. I finally reached the concrete path just above the village next to the finish where I had set off yesterday morning. At the top of the final staircase and down to Wang Tong Village, I flew down the very familiar stone steps passing a couple of racers who were sadly not in great shape hobbling down. I know it was irritating to see someone running down so near the end when you can’t, but I was too excited that I couldn’t spare too much thought on them at that point and shouted “almost there, keep going!” as I flew by.

I got to the bottom and then went through the village. Most of my Nepal friends live along this path through the village and it was crazy as I heard another familiar voice shout out my name from a balcony somewhere. I had no idea who it was and I just randomly waved my hand still running as hard as I could. Finally out onto the beach front and I knew I had made it! I got closer to the finish line and I saw another friend cheering me in. I used the very last bit of whatever I had left and arrived at the finish line.

Through the finish line in 23 hours 30 minutes and 16 seconds. 35 minutes off my target time but 20 minutes better than the year before. I came in 25th in the women’s category and 1st place in my age category. I managed to stay ahead of 2nd place by an hour and 34 minutes. Anna from Taiwan, my yo-yo lady, finished 26th just 24 minutes behind me and it turned out she didn’t need to stress over passing me, she was in the 40-44 age category. Much younger than me!

Just completing a grueling ultra marathon is the ultimate thrill but then seeing the proud, happy faces of my family and friends cheering me in was the ultimate first class icing (low carb of course) on the ‘carnivore’ cake. Forever grateful for all of their support and love.

I feel I still have the potential to go faster but with mostly weather and other small challenges aside, it all went to plan. Still need to learn about my fueling and electrolyte strategy but I think I finally know the direction I am heading on that. There is absolutely no way I would go back to carbohydrates as a fuel, ever.

Some post race notes:

Felt remarkably much fresher than after the finish last year. I was managed to return to the finish area after a shower to receive my category award. Sleep was amazing after and recovery was super quick. Was able to do a moderate hike the next day, even though it was unplanned.