7-4

After the ego-slap of Friday I had an ego boosting run this morning.

Saturday's 34degree sit-on-my-arse-all-day day was over and I felt I needed a decent trot. So I headed out for a road and trail run that would finish in Manly. I'd arranged to call Sal en route so she could meet me for breakfast on the beach. I'd taken a look at a map and noiced that from the end of my usual trail section I could cut across a short stretch of road and join the Manly Dam mountain bike circuit. So that is what I did. At a little over fifteen km into my run I headed over the Wakehurst Parkway and continued trail running.

By the time I'd completed my six of the seven-and-a-bit km of the circuit I had been passed 4 times by bikers and had passed a bike 7 times. I had been a little concerned that I would get in the way of the bikers, and if there had been a few hardcore nutters about that may have been the case. But by keeping my pace up on the single track and sticking to the sides of the wider sections I got in no ones way.

I chatted with some of the bikers as I went around and at the end, and got some ego-boosting props from them. Which was nice. That said, having biked the circuit several times I can now say that the up hills are waaaaay easier on foot and a steep hill for a bike is nothing like a steep hill for a runner. Makes sense; unencumbered by thirty-plus kilos of bike a walker or runner can be made to scramble up some prety steep stuff. Though, that said the bikers are able to basically sit there, or stand there on the downhills where the runner has to punish his joints. Gravity will help a runner - a bit - and can be a complete rest break for a biker. Anyway, it all evens out in the end. Irregardless (gotta love that non-word!) it made an already pleasant yet challenging run to Manly that little bit more challenging. I'll certainly be doing that again.

For anyone interested...it has now been eight hours in which I have had two energy drinks, two bottles of water, a fruit frappe, a large coffee, sundry other water...and no need to take a piss. Thirty four degrees it is not, and I finished running a little before 09:30am, and it is still a dehydrating job.