Lamington Classic Double

Well here we are after not having a drink (of the alcoholic variety that is - i'm not a camel) for ten days and a magnesium supplement for the same time and i'd be honest and say my body has handled the rough way i treat it runningwise pretty well of late. Two 20 mile runs (including one interupted by hail stones drawing blood - even i stopped for 15 minutes and sheltered, possibly wearing a top would have helped ???) and a 20K run last week as i thought i really should push it a bit.
Having got a late start in the Lamington Classic (a run with a field limit of 50 meaning i ended up on the waitlist) my intention was to do the actual race (Saturday 22K's O'Reillys to Binna Burra and Sunday the reverse on the glorious Lamington Plateau in the Gold Coast Hinterland) but to also run back each day, so just over a marathon on trails both days.
Was probably a bit overrated on the first stage as i ended up starting with the first group (fastest groups go off first a minute apart) and with speed merchants like Peter Hall and Michael Page i was somewhat outclassed and ultimately beaten in by the next group and 2 from the third. Was getting quite cold towards the end and struggled a bit because of that finishing 13th in 2:02:06 and wasn't surprised to see heavy rain as i was sitting in the cafe fuelling up on cappucino and beef lasagne. Waited for the rain to stop (and put on my rain jacket and bandanna) and ran back, very cold half way as i went through heavy fog and was very thankful the sun was shining when 2:49 later i was back at the car.
With a 9AM start on Sunday meant i could have a good sleep in as it's only 50 odd minutes to Binna Burra, slightly different a slower group at 8:30 and a faster group at 9:00. For mine this is the harder direction (although the way i've run this innumerable times over the years) so knew i'd be faster than my plodding solo return but not as fast as Saturday morning with fresh legs. Ideal conditions and ultimately did this in 2:12 for 13th again.
Again it was off into a line for coffee simply to keep me warm, and then a very pleasant lunch and prize giving. Ended up with 3 of us heading back to Binna Burra with overall third place Matt Carrick and Australian 100K representative Susannah Harvey-Jamieson, but with Susannah taking it easy after acting as sweeper ended up with me and Matt doing some decent time and ultimately 2:35, certainly a good weekends training.
With thoughts of Great North Walk i was content to find the back causing minimal pain, but had booked in for the chiropractor on Monday as really needed some feedback. Positive comments about the back so it was off for a solid 25K run this morning and again feeling comfortable (if only damned typing didn't do me more harm than running). If i'm up early enough i'll do another 2 to 3 hour run tomorrow morning and all being well put in a GNW entry, finally the comeback seems to be heading the right way (i am thirsty though :-) ).