30km of Trail Suffering on My 30th Birthday

For a while now I had liked the idea of attempting a 30km run on my 30th Birthday. It seemed to be a solid way to mark the milestone, one kilometre for each year. The main issue being that currently I am extremely unfit and weigh more than I ever have in my life. My longest run so far this year was only 15km and other than that I don't think I have done anything longer than 10km. A task that would have been just an easy training run a few years ago was going to be a fairly significant challenge!

I started out from home and tried to maintain a solid pace. I was quickly through Top Ryde and hitting the first section of trail at Burrows Park and then through the Field of Mars Reserve. I was pushing myself but didn't really think it would be realistic to maintain that pace. This section was over quickly and then I joined the trails along the Lane Cove River. These are really great trails and I don't know why I don't visit them more frequently. I shall have to try and make more of a habit of it. I ticked off just over 8km in the first hour.

After the flatish section along to the Lane Cove Weir I continued along the Great North Walk and onto a lot more technical terrain. I was starting to feel pretty rubbish but just tried to maintain forward progress walking the techy stuff and jogging the rest. I hit the 15km mark in exactly 2 hours. I still wasn't feeling confident that I would last the distance and the legs were feeling seriously heavy. It was a relief to hit the firetrail at the 19km mark. I enjoyed the downhill run into Browns Waterhole and then started a short out and back section along the valley floor to make up the extra few kilometres that I needed.

20km into the journey

The turnaround point on the Great North Walk

Hitting the Terry's Creek Trail after 22.5km I was onto very familiar terrain. The light was fading fast now to I grabbed out my torch to light the way and pressed on. I was completely destroyed now and just looking to get the job done so I could have a birthday beer. I passed by the 25km mark and only had 1.5km of trails left before the final road section back towards home.

In complete darkness at the 25km mark on the Terry's Creek Trail

Leaving the trails I started the grind up Blaxland Road and over towards Ryde Hospital. I was on struggle street but the fact that I was on the home stretch motivated me to get the job done. I cruised down the steep steps on Ryedale Road and down towards Anzac Park at the 29km mark. I was really looking forward to this. Jemma was waiting there with William and we ticked off the final kilometre as a family by walking a few laps of Anzac Park together. It was awesome to have them join me to finish off the end of such a milestone run.

My two favourite people in the world joined me to tick off the final kilometre together

I wouldn't necessarily recommend attempting a 30km run whilst extremely unfit and mildly overweight but I really enjoyed myself. I really tried to push myself and walk as little as possible and despite my pace dropping off a fair bit in the second half I was happy to knock it off in under 4.5 hours.

It feels odd to be entering a new decade in my life but I am looking forward to what it will bring. My 20's were nothing short of incredible with some huge milestones, getting married to the love of my life, buying a home together and starting our family with the coolest little man! Its going to be bloody hard to top that decade but I am seriously looking forward to trying!

The first adventure of the decade is already laid out for me. I have come a very long way in my recovery since my back injury and I think its time that I can realistically start turning my energy towards the goal that I was gearing up for when I got hurt... The 100 mile distance! I have a fair bit of weight to lose and almost all of my fitness to regain. Its gunna be a long road, let the training begin :)

Strava GPS Data:

Finally enjoying a well earned Birthday Beverage!