The Northface 100

For those of you that don't know, two of us here at Sydney s and c decided it would be a good idea to enter The Northface 100, a 100km trail run through the Blue Mountains with 4.3km of vertical climb and descent.  On paper it looks tough: 100k's through some rugged terrain with a lot of hills and stairs.  In practice, it was the hardest thing I have ever done.
We were warned before the race started to just take it easy for the first few kilometers up to check point one at the 18k mark.  We sort of did and sort of didn't listen to this.  While we felt good for the first few k's, there was a lot of walking and being stuck behind people which slowed us down considerably.
Stomach cramps up to cp1 made the going a little tougher but not unbearable and they disappeared into the second leg.  By 30km's however, both quads, both hammys and both adductors were cramping to the point of not being able to bend my legs.  This make climbing hills and descending a little tricky.
After cp2 at 38km's everything was going well until around 42km's and a steep down hill section which took it's toll on the knees and ankles.  We hobbled into cp3 at 54km's around the time the winner finished the race in 9 hours 22 minutes.  Cp3-cp4 was not too bad apart from the stairs at Nellies Glen on the six foot track, which nearly broke me.  We spent a long time in cp4 sorting ourselves out both mentally and physically, getting some food in and a bit of a break.
The next 24km's were hell, there is no other way to describe it.  We ran through the Katoomba streets for a couple of kilometers before descending the great stairs and onto a fire track to Leura creek.  We were told before hand that the course went down to the creek, along a bit and back up.  It really goes down to the creek, along a bit, down again to another creek then climbs for 700m over 8km!  This slowed things down a bit.  We got in to cp5 at 89km's thinking we were good to finish in under 19 hours easily.  The last section (11km's) took 2 hours 30 mins over stairs, technical single track and creek crossings that send you on an emotional roller coaster so close to the end.
We finished in 19 hours, 17 minutes and 53 seconds.
A couple of after-thoughts:

1 - I have a new found respect for ultra runners.  Running for extended periods of time is not normally something we condone, however it takes a special sort of person to do well in these races.
2 - If you're going to do something, fucking train for it!  Adding a few 400's or a couple of 2km time trials to your normal training is not going to cut it.  Build your body up a bit with some specifics (like long walks/jogs over the type of terrain you'll be covering).  This applies to anything however: if you have a specific event, train for it specifically.
3 - practice your race/game day nutrition and strategy beforehand.  Trying to run/walk 70km's with leg cramps is not nice.  Practice what you're going to be doing on the day with foods, drinks, equipment etc.  This goes for any competition and any sport.
4 - Don't be afraid to get support.  This is more a little life lesson than a training one but applies to the gym as well.  I was dragged through the last km's of TNF100 by the most amazing person I know and I'm not sure I would've kept going if it hadn't been for them.  If the support of someone else is what you need to keep going, get it, and keep going.  We all need a little help now and then.

New program will be starting up soon too, an 8 week powerlifting program for a competition on 15 July 12.