September 7, 2020

Kuipto Forest Race Recap

Kuipto Forest Trail Run was rescheduled from its August date to 6 September 2020 due to Covid-19. The Covid safe measures were a lot of work for the organising committee, race director and volunteers but did not really require much from participants. As tickets were limited and Trail Running SA members got to buy tickets first, there were quite a few people (including my Mum) who missed out on entries. Usually race entries are not capped (or have a very generous cap number) so the people of Adelaide are not used to having to buy their entries as soon as they become available. Covid-safe differences for this race included:

discouraging car pooling (car pooling is normally encouraged for environmental reasons and because car parking is often limited)
social distancing at all times including lining up for bib collection
no print off display of bib numbers (this meant you had to look up and remember your number in advance)
wave start times to minimise numbers at the start
not arriving more than 30mins before your race start time
leaving after race and not standing in crowds at the finish
no water or food on course or at the finish line
the courses were also designed for minimal overlap between 10km, 16km and 25km participants. Ordinarily the course will maximise overlap to build atmosphere and for course marking efficiency. This made racing very smooth because there was minimal to no overtaking of the 25km participants who started before the 16km.

Start and finish line.

Running fast to the start line as race was starting without us.

Anyway, on to the race. I entered the 16km because I still have plantar fasciitis in my right foot (12^th week of injury). Not to be confused with the plantar fasciitis I had in my left foot from January to June 2020. This was a fantastic opportunity to get back into racing, see where my fitness levels are at, and catch up with the trail running community. Although I had done 5 long runs of 20km or more in the weeks leading up to the race, I had not been doing much fast running as this agitates my injury, so thought it was best to enter the medium distance.

The weather was a cracking sunny day, and made for perfect racing weather early in the morning, with most of the course in shaded pine forest or on single trail through Kyeema Conservation Park. I had warmed up with Tim and we jogged back to the car (about 1km away) to get a sip of water and take off jumpers. Tim was running quite fast and it was only as we were heading back to the start line I realised we were running late for the first wave which is for anyone aiming for a top 10 gender position. The race started just as we arrived, so we ran straight through the timing mats from our warm up. This meant my heart rate was already high, so I did not get the normal rush of exertion I ordinarily do from fast starts. After catching up to the leading female, I overtook and then did not see any other females in the 16km the rest of the run.

The first 5km were fast along shaded forestry trail, mainly downhill with some shorter uphills. I found myself running with Paul and Tim who are both taking it easy also coming back from injury. They were chatting which was a nice distraction, as to keep up with them I had to push fairly hard. Unfortunately race day fell on the last day of my cycle which means my resting heart rate is about 4bpm faster and exercising heart rate is 5-10bpm higher than normal. This means to sustain the same pace, my heart is beating 5-10bpm faster than normal. My average heart rate for the race was 164bpm which is usually my heart rate for an uphill sprint. Given I usually only have this elevated heart rate for two days a month it is fairly rare it would coincide with a race day, but it did for Kuipto, so it is just something I had to keep in mind. For longer races, this would mean I have to take in more fuel and higher heart rate generally means more glycogen burned. This was only a 16km race so no gel needed.

First 8km I was running just behind Tim and Paul which is a nice change as I often find myself running solo in races.

One of the single trail descents that gave me ouchie blisters.

After the initial 5km we joined the tinjella trail which is a loop I am familiar with. This has some climbs and descents, but all on gentle pine needles, which helps with the plantar fascia pain. At this point I was still running fairly strongly. Climbing gradually uphill we then came to the Kyeema Conservation Park turn off which brings you to a steeper uphill climb. It was clear here that my high heart rate was taking its toll. Paul and Tim both ran up, while I had to do a few steps of power hiking on the steeper part or I was going to have to do some anaerobic running. While this is disappointing as you should not have to powerhike in a 16km race, I started running again when the gradient eased and soon forgot about those 2-3 seconds lost. When we turned off into the Kyeema single (involving jumping a fence at about my chest height) at about 8km Tim took off and I was left running with Paul. On the technical single trail descent he was slightly slower than I would normally go but this was a blessing because it helped my heart rate remain under control. We then left the single trail descent and started a gentle firetrail climb. At this point some of the 10km runners started passing which added some interest and some other people to chase. Paul was still keeping me company at this point.

At the 11km mark when there was a turn on the fire trail I screamed as I noticed I had blisters all along the outside edge of my big toe pad. As I was pushing hard I could not explain properly to Paul but I said the word blister and he understood. As my watch was still running from the warm up I had no idea how far we had to go, so I asked Paul and he said a good 4km maybe 20mins of running. Average pace was about 5min/km at that time. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to put up with the pain for so long, so I overtook Paul when we entered the single trail that takes you down and then up to the finish line. This part of the run is the nicest, being very shady and following multi use path, with some gentle switchbacks. It really helped take my mind off the pain. I could hear Paul behind me, but kept pushing downhill on the single trail a bit faster. When we crossed over the firetrail to the second half of the single trail, it was extra shady which was a blessing as by then I could really have used some water or a gel. This part of the fire trail is deceptive because you can see the cars parked through the trees and the trail winds up in that direction, but just as you reach the cars, it ducks back down into the trees and winds through the pines again. This year, the single trail also wound all the way past the start line and then we crossed the finish line in the opposite way I had expected. Some of the 25km male runners were coming past at this point and I felt really slow, especially as Paul had overtaken me and disappeared for the last 2km. I did try and enjoy this part because it is a nice reward after the faster running up to this point. Crossed the finish line as first female. A bit of a struggle (mainly due to the elevated heart rate, plantar fasciitis, blisters and lack of recent races) but so nice to be racing again and see where I can go after building more fitness.

The last time I raced Kuipto was in 2018 when I did the 23km course. Comparing segments that were in both the 2018 race and the 2020 race, I ran about the same pace for most segments. However, you should be running faster in a race that is 7km shorter! That is ok, it just shows that although I still have some fitness to rebuild, I already have a solid base to work off. I did run the last 4km faster than in 2018 which gives me faith I have some power left to build off.

There were no presentations or medals due to Covid-19 restrictions, but there were photos of top finishers. Although we were meant to leave immediately after the race, we still caught up with a number of people on the way back to the car. Thank you Trail Running SA for putting on such a professionally run Covid-safe event. I hope that there will be more races soon.