Getting ready to Go

Have taken 2.5 weeks off, virtually exercise free. After my last Mt Ku Ring Gai to Cowan run/walk I felt exhausted, and everything hurt. It took about a week of rest before muscles in my legs and hips stopped aching, to be able to get out of bed in the morning without aches and to stop stiffening up just sitting at my desk at work. Combined this with lots of fresh food and some miscellaneous sups and now feel better than  have for ages. Do feel sluggish and lazy though, presumably from being sluggish and lazy for a couple of weeks.

Prepping:

• Have all the gels, bars, food, electrolytes that I plan to take with me. Will take Gu Roctane and regular Gu gels, plus a couple of old left over Hammer gels. I prefer the Gu. Will take some Hammer bars, though, as they are good, plus some other “raw food” bars that are similar but half the price but higher energy. Plenty of other food too. Use Hammer Endurolytes caps for electrolyte replacement.
• First aid and “drugs” all ready to go. Includes no doz and snake bite bandage.
• Picked up a hi-vis reflective vest from Bunnings for $5, for night time road walking.
• Have picked the shoes I’ll wear: Saucony Xodus 3’s.
• Got a couple of emergency “space” blankets. One as a blanket if needed and one as a tarp, if needed. Slept under one in the rain once and it kept me totally dry, yet they are very light.
• Got a new 3L water bladder, Osprey Hydraform. My old Source one leaks and isn’t worth fixing, it was never much good. Normally just use bottles, but need some extra capacity for the long dry stretches on the GNW.
• Did a recce trip to Brooklyn and Patonga to scout out the parking situation, which is good. Plenty of free all day parking at both places. The drive from Brooklyn to Patonga took 50 minutes on a Sunday afternoon.
• Have walked or trained on all sections of the GNW, most of them many times.

Revised food “Rules”

I will be “allowed” to buy food from any shop along the way that is open and on the route. This means food falls under the same rule as water: if it is publicly available, then I can use it. I will not be accepting supplies from any support crew nor leaving supply drops for myself along the route. I want it to be an “alpine style” “through hike” of the GNW.

Ready to Go

I’m ready to go at a moment’s notice. Unfortunately, I have to give much more than a moment’s notice, organising deps to fill in for me at work taking my students and rehearsals. Means I can’t wait and pick the best weather. I just have to make a date and stick to it. Next weekend looked good, and that should be it. It does coincide with the GNW 100’s Ultra marathon that same weekend. That shouldn’t be a problem, will just see a bunch of runners heading in the opposite direction. Best wishes to them, that looks like a really tough race.

I’ve booked people to fill in for me, and realised what an expensive weekend it will be, missing so much work. Unfortunately the weather doesn’t look so promising with rain now forecast for most of this week. At least the weekend shouldn’t be too hot, though after my bad time in Auckland I am a bit worried about rain and wind.

Will try to post details of what I’m taking plus logisitics. Then, after it is done I can reflect on how well various things worked.