Day 28……………….Run leg to the City.
Caloola Farm what a spot. Set in a picturesque valley
complete with a clear flowing river. Australian wildlife in every direction,
and just a great sense of being out in the Australian bush!
The morning was a quit one like most mornings on the BNT,
the pure pleasure of being out in the middle of nowhere, no neighbours, no
traffic not even the flickering of a street lamp. We open the mother ship
curtains and have the dramatic back drop of the mountains with the low lying
fog that sits around them outlined by the yellow glow of the sunrise. Even
Skippy the resident kangaroo thought it was a great spot as he hadn’t moved
from his spot where he was the night before. As I jumped out the Maui to put
the gas on to make coffee, the silence was broken only by the flock of
cockatoos flying overhead. I wish every morning could start this way, that’s
right it had pretty much since we left in March! Does it have to end?!
I pull on my trail shoes and look forward to the run ahead.
Again unlike most days Vickie would be able to take the mother ship all the way
with me meaning that I didn’t have to carry my pack and she could share some of
the day on the actual BNT route that she nearly always misses.
We left the farm heading for the gate which had a herd of
cows surrounding it. They didn’t even move for the Maui so it was unlikely they
would move for me. Now as you are all now aware, thanks to Vickies video post
about me and cattle. I was a little nervous as I had to open the gate for the
Maui. There was only one bull amongst the herd and they are what make me scared
after my last interaction with them coming out of Omeo!, even more so as
Arcteryx has sent me bright orange t-shirts, great for roads where there is
oncoming traffic, or to be spotted when out in the mountains buy deer hunters
or if I needed to be rescued, but not for the big fat angry bulls where by
bright colours just piss them right off!
Safely through the gate the next 10km were to be straight
down the farm track where by I would leave Vickie for a further 10km before
re-joining the main road heading in to Thawa.
Then I would be heading towards the suburbs of Canberra,
before finishing up at Pine Island, where I had started with the horses just a
couple of day before that.
The terrain was going to be flat for the whole day and
mainly on sealed roads for the 40km I had to cover. Why is it that the easy
days have to also be the hardest?
I think it’s due to commitment. Long days of say 65km
through some tough country and no support of refuge means that you just have to
get out there and get on with it, because if you don’t, that long day becomes
longer and you don’t make it back when it’s light and if at some point if only
one small hiccup arises mid run then it really delays the outcome which is
finishing. Those days begin with the finishing point concreted in your mind.
Fixed solely on that, your focused on getting there regardless.
The short flat easy days like today, where you get support
from start to finish and the protection of getting picked up if anything
happens, even minor, make for a hard day. The focus just being to get to the
next meeting point a mere 3 -5km away where Vickie was with drinks. 3km feel
like 10km and you cannot seem to get the leg turn over you have been craving
since being in the mountains. A run like this on any other day would be a fun
one, but the lack of mental commitment makes your legs hurt and the distance
grow and with every opportunity I got to meet with Vickie, I’d just complain
about how hard it is today.
An easy fix would be to just run the bloody distance and
finish up quickly as to have a short day. Funny how your body and mind
responded to different situations!
I eventually got to Pine Island, and thought about what all
the fuss was about?! Tiered, I refuelled on the usual Musashi post run drink
and Vickie had knocked up some cheeses toasties!
Yet another marathon down and cheese toasties in hand,
things do get a little better than the morning at the farm!
No comments:
Post a Comment