Yesterday I ran Mt Coot-tha to get some trail running in. I went with a fantastic trail running friend, which was such an encouragement. I don't know if I could have faced those hills alone. We started off running across a gentle field (see below)
But not long after we hit the Powerful Owl trail. Which goes straight up. I tried to take a picture of it (below) but it ends up looking more like a flat cruisy trail rather than the steep nightmare it is. On the way up my calves started to burn. Every step felt like flames running up the backs of my legs. Walking provided no relief...I just needed to get to the top! I can't remember the last time I've had so much intense muscle burn. Poor little calves. I thought it would never end. When we got to the top and the ground levelled out I felt an enormous sense of relief...and we were only 2k in! To give you an idea, according to my Garmin watch we ran uphill 123m in the first km and 55m in the second. Well, when I say "run" I mean "run/walk".
... still doing those calf raises? How are those calves feeling, by the way?
The rest of the trail wasn't so bad. We made it to the top - hooray! My friend told me we were a quarter of the way there, as we headed down to the bottom of the other side of the trail. I called it halfway, because running down the mountain doesn't really count.
We got down to the bottom and took a bit of a rest in the beautiful Gap Creek Reserve before heading back up to the top. Fortunately, unlike Powerful Owl this trail was more windy and less steep than that first hill climb we did. While my calves were feeling the burn, it was nothing compared with before.
Total time (including all rests):
Total distance: 10.78km
Total elevation: 438m
Average pace: 8.59min/km
Now, set the timer for another 10minutes or so and keep up with those calf raises until then. I'm sure you will be able to sympathize with the calf burn I felt!
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