Christmas Run

The plan was an out-and-back run along the trail from Monbulk toward Emerald, following the creek, with the turnaround point wherever. The DRNP Walking Tracks brochure calls this the Tourist Trail, so I was expecting something 6 feet wide, groomed, with a metal surface. Hah.

It's singletrack (my favourite), ranging from slightly overgrown (okay) to majorly overgrown with stickyweed and blackberry grabbing onto my running tights, and scratching my face, neck, and arms (not so okay). Sweat into blackberry scratches really hurts!

The bonus of an out-and-back run is that I avoided the worst of it on the return trip by running on the road.

Oh, and Mr Melway could do with some instruction in the difference between left and right. The track isn't marked at many of the road crossings, and the Melways has it incorrectly marked in several locations - causing me to spend a bit of time searching for the trail. I mean, how hard can it be to get the track on the correct side of the creek, and in an approximate location (not 50m further up the road). Grrr.

My turnaround point was Avard Picnic Ground where I had a 10 minute break and ate a whole Energy Gel and a cup of water.

I was happy with the way I ran - and I probably ran 80-90% of it, at what I call "Trotting pace". Because it was reasonably flat, I could keep my heartrate relatively level too - average 150bpm. Which had the added benefit of not tiring me out. It took 2 1/2 hours to tire my legs out - usually my energy levels give out way before that. Nice and cool - maybe 15 degrees.

16.2 kms in 2:46. (MB says 17.0 kms, elevation gain 914m - it didn't seem that hilly)

The scales were back to 73.4kg last night, and 71.7kg after this morning's run. Probably slightly dehydrated, so won't read too much into it.

Walking	21.4 kms
Running	32.0 kms