Coach Mo asked for 14 kilometres this weekend. He got 11. He asked for hills. We gave him mountains, thanks to what I refer to as The Old Goat’s Death Trail. There was no chance of me doing another three kilometres when we got back to the start. Hell no, my hips and glutes were screaming.
I only have one complaint. The trails at the top of the mountain are overgrown. It’s a matter of running through long veld grass which does nothing for my tortoise-like shuffle. So where are the bloody cows? Lying around chewing their cud like they have nothing better to do. Do they not know their primary task is to nibble our trails into pristine condition?
This insubordination of the cattle led me to do a great deal of power hiking. Power hiking is a very necessary skill to have for an ultra-trail. If you are going for a 50- or 100-miler it’s best to power hike the hills, train for fast descents (if you are not a ninny like me) and jog along comfortably on the flats.
Here is an awesome link on how to power hike during an ultra https://ruggedconditioning.com/news-notes/2018/2/14/the-power-hike – if you want to go long in the mountains read it and practice!