Hartley Vale.
SUNDAY 21/5/06, 6.45AM, 18K, WEEKLY TOTAL 78.5K, 5.5 HOURS SLEEP
Not getting good sleep these days.
Was picked up by Poider at 6.15am for the drive to Yurtie's at Mt Victoria.
We ran down Berghofer's Pass to Mt York road, then descended Lockyer's Track- historically an old bridle trail that was one of the first routes descending the Blue Mountains, these days a rough and rocky singletrack that follows an up and down ridge for several km before descending to the valley of Hartley Vale.
It was about 5 degrees and misty. Occasionally we'd come to a vantage point overlooking another ridge, or the valley, through the fog. Excellent stuff, and I wasn't rtegretting passing on the SMH Half at all.
Lockyer's was pretty slow progress- over 6min/km, even on the downhills. I found the short, sharp uphills here to be really hard work. Lack of sleep showing there I suspect.
At the floor of the valley we were running along a country road with high and foggy mountains on all sides. Trotted through the "village" of Hartley Vale (about 5 old homes on substantial acreage) and began the climb up Hartley Vale Rd to the Darling Causeway.
This was a solid climb of a bit over 4km length, and Yurtie and I kept pushing each other up the hill as Poider took it easy and went up at an easier pace. We were both breathing pretty damn hard and eventually Yurtie drifted ahead as STOP signs appeared above us. I called out to ask Yurtie if that was the top of the hill, he replied "yes" and I picked it up to be first to the top.
We spent a minute or two recovering our breath, waiting for Poider. Interestingly, we'd gone up the hill at around 6min/kms but our average pace had actually improved, given the slow and rough descent down Lockyer's...
From there we followed a gravel access track along the railway line back to Mt Victoria, spotting a kangaroo in a front yard a few hundred metres from the end. Bit of a sprint finish to the end too...
Aesthetically a fantastic run, but not really long enough to be my "long run". Planning a big one for next Saturday....
Not getting good sleep these days.
Was picked up by Poider at 6.15am for the drive to Yurtie's at Mt Victoria.
We ran down Berghofer's Pass to Mt York road, then descended Lockyer's Track- historically an old bridle trail that was one of the first routes descending the Blue Mountains, these days a rough and rocky singletrack that follows an up and down ridge for several km before descending to the valley of Hartley Vale.
It was about 5 degrees and misty. Occasionally we'd come to a vantage point overlooking another ridge, or the valley, through the fog. Excellent stuff, and I wasn't rtegretting passing on the SMH Half at all.
Lockyer's was pretty slow progress- over 6min/km, even on the downhills. I found the short, sharp uphills here to be really hard work. Lack of sleep showing there I suspect.
At the floor of the valley we were running along a country road with high and foggy mountains on all sides. Trotted through the "village" of Hartley Vale (about 5 old homes on substantial acreage) and began the climb up Hartley Vale Rd to the Darling Causeway.
This was a solid climb of a bit over 4km length, and Yurtie and I kept pushing each other up the hill as Poider took it easy and went up at an easier pace. We were both breathing pretty damn hard and eventually Yurtie drifted ahead as STOP signs appeared above us. I called out to ask Yurtie if that was the top of the hill, he replied "yes" and I picked it up to be first to the top.
We spent a minute or two recovering our breath, waiting for Poider. Interestingly, we'd gone up the hill at around 6min/kms but our average pace had actually improved, given the slow and rough descent down Lockyer's...
From there we followed a gravel access track along the railway line back to Mt Victoria, spotting a kangaroo in a front yard a few hundred metres from the end. Bit of a sprint finish to the end too...
Aesthetically a fantastic run, but not really long enough to be my "long run". Planning a big one for next Saturday....
posted by Mister G at 10:15 pm
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