A 32min PB at Six Foot in 6.14.11

Beat my Six Foot PB by almost 33min improving from 6.47.02 to 6.14.11 on March 14th 2015...

Coxs Crossing 15.5km split of 1.36.32 was fantastic, and hung in there well from there onwards. Top of Pluvi (26km in 3.30)... Garmin held on for 27.46km and 4hrs 11min before it ran out of battery life, and because I didn't start it until 16km into the race, it was very handy in monitoring Km splits when it counted on the Black Range from 26km to 43km... Very happy with a significant improvement the hilly trails focus in the last 6 months has paid off.

Financial issues more a nightmare than ever, and need to have some improvement in that before I race interstate again... Never want to experience the logistical nightmares I have had this weekend again. Have had issues in the past a lot, but I think this weekend was the toughest ever, and the only reasons I was not a DNS this time is because of things like "had no better alternatives". Did not want to waste what I had already paid for. Trusting God to help me go the way I think was right. Was hoping to try and sneak under 6 hours but with 80-81kg that was always going to be a struggle, but that is my best racing weight this year by about 3kg...

If the opportunities come and the obstacles are removed (especially financial barriers like needing a new job) then I would hope I can build on this result, and continue to progress. Am worried that the obstacles may not be removed, and greatly concerned that this might be my last good race. It is in Gods hands, and I accept his decision whichever way it goes.

STATS TIME... 3 Key Splits and logitudinal analysis comparing my 4 races in 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015;
2015 6hrs 14min...The splits; 7km in 41min, 10km in 60min, 15.5km in 1hr 36min (river crossed),
26km in 3hrs 30min (top of Pluvi), finish 6 hours 14min.
KEY SPLIT ONE; Start to River crossed 1hr 36min 1min faster than 2014 (despite hitting 10km 2 min slower),
significantly quicker than the 1.4x in 2013 (65min for 10km) and 1.5x in 2011.....
KEY SPLIT TWO; River crossed to top of Pluvi. 1hr 54min (including 6min rest after river to get garmin signal
& get rocks out of shoes), faster!! than 2.03 in 2013 and 2.05 in 2014, and especially the 2.16 in 2011!!!
KEY SPLIT THREE; Top of Pluvi to finish; 2hours 44min. Same as, or slightly faster than 2011, but with 39min
time in the bank this time, and would have been quicker if hammy had not cramped a little in last 2km,
and cruised the last 500m a bit. Much quicker than 2013 and 2014...
In 2013 and 2014 I hit top of Pluvi in 3.48 and 3.42 and took over 3 hours to get to end.

Conclusions; 2013 I started a bit too fast. 2011 I was an inferior hilly trails runner especially from river to top of
Pluvi in road shoes. In 2014 I got it right early, but lacked the strength to hit the climb to Pluvi hard enough,
and struggled to get to the end, but the excellent start especially on the singletrack gave me enough time in the bank
to sneak in a PB. In 2015 I replicated the start of 2014 but with a lot less effort (could have gone much faster),
got to the top of Pluvi more than 10min quicker, and kept it strong to the end, except in the last 2km where
I played it safe a bit to avoid injury. Overall am a far better runner in 2015 having more hills strength,
better staying power for longer and my singletrack attack is continuing to improve.
Trail shoes for the first time at Six Foot seemed to work really well. Would like to continue that way if I come back...
If I could lose 5kg or more and drop my weight to 76kg or lower then something under 5 hours 40min
should be possible in 2016 if I get the opportunity to go again...

Not sure what is next in the adventure of life, but it was fantastic to be back in the blue mountains for the 4th time!!!!!!!

Massive thanks to the Creator Triune, my wife, my training friends etc for the chance to experience the tears of joy at Jenolan.