Orchard Run-31.5km

So with three weeks until 6FT I wanted a good hitout today. I normally run 3 laps of Quarry Track as my final hitout but decided to check out the infamous Orchard Trail instead. I arrived at Palmdale Crematorium just before 6.30am. There were quite a few cars parked already, no doubt the 6am Terrigal Trotters starters.
After a quick lube up I donned the camelbak and headed for the hills. Instructions say after 1.5km turn right up a steep hill on a dirt road. They weren't wrong! The climb from 2-3kms is very steep, I ran the first few hundred metres but quickly trottled back to a power walk. Already sweating profusely and donning a couple of litres of water, no point in blowing up early. Wide open firetrail with easy vehicle access, I can see why Dog and Paul wanted to make this an official race last year. At the top I started running again and for the next 4km it was undulating along a ridgeline to a track intersection. I liked this type of hilly terrain, where you push hard on the uphills (well it felt like I was anyhow) and then have just enough time to recover on the descents for the next climb. Came upon a powerline clearing in the bush which afforded views out over the valley both left and right, a fantastic plume of early morning fog hugging the landscape just below me on either side. The kms ticked by and at times I felt ordinary only to come good again, still experiencing that rollercoaster ride of emotions on my long runs these days, which fitted well with the ups and downs of the terrain. After the 10km track diversion off to the right, there are some nice long gradual descents which I knew would bite on the return trip. However I was taking advantage now and upped the pace rolling down them. It was along here that I came across Paul Arthur looking super fit and fast on his return trip.
Not long after another one time 6FT winner appeared in Greg Love, also looking mighty fit.
I figured this can't be a bad place to train with such talent gracing this country.
The climb from 14-15km is another toughie, but i just tapped out a steady plod up to and past the Orchard. More Terrigal Trotters coming back including the lovely Miss Gazelle and partner Colin.I didn't know exactly where to turn around so kept running past the orchard and the came upon an intersection with a house on the left. I continued on a bit further along the bitumen but figured I'd passed it and decided to turn back. I was later informd that the turnaround is at that very intersection. Split time was 92 minutes.
The return leg was fantastic. After a gu and half a museli bar I decided to bash it a little and see what kind of a negative split I could pull off. I fanged it on the descents and ran harder along the flats passing the trotters back markers along the way. The final 3 kms were a joy, I bolted down the hill and passed a few more trotters before hitting the bitumen and returning to the crematorium. Finished in 2.49, 77 minutes for the second half which gave me a 15 minute negative spit! Well pleased with that.
Hung around for a bit with the trotters that were still there and then packed up and headed home.
Definitely great training for 6FT, very different to Quarry Track. The hills hit you harder and more frequently at Quarry Track and no doubt I would cover more elevation gain there over 2-3 laps but it's good to train on long hard hills too. I'll come back for sure. A couple of laps (63km) of this would be great training for WS.

A pleasing week's training with 107kms of running, a bike and a swim too.
I'll back off a little now and see if I can get some freshness back into the legs.