Shoalhaven Summit

I had been thinking about running the new Shoalhaven Summit 55K race as it was one of the ones suggested suggested when the 6 Foot Track was cancelled way back in March, but unfortunately it was also delayed a couple of times due to Covid-19 restrictions. Unfortunately the final date that they moved it to was just a week before another big run I had entered, so I didn't think it would be a sensible thing to do in any way!

However, I did still get to experience the event, as my friend Simone decided to enter it, and so I offered to go down and support her for the weekend. We were going to head down on Friday as soon as I finished work as the race started fairly early on the Saturday morning, but at least that meant we would be able to get back home on the Saturday night. Another friend of Simone's (Julie) also decided to join us so it became a nice girls'' trip away, as we stopped for dinner and a drink en route.

Outside help was not allowed during the race, so I offered to volunteer for the organisers whilst the girls were running, as there were shorter distance events starting a bit later on so they needed people to help with car parking and registration as well as being able to drive people out to swop volunteers at aid stations. I had a brief thought of running the shortest distance on offer (13K) whilst there, but it was due to start at 1:30pm and I thought that the girls might be finishing around 2pm so I didn't want to risk missing them coming in, and hence dismissed it.

With Julie and Simone
before they headed off

The forecast for the weekend looked rather horrendous as there was a heatwave coming through the area, but the decision was made that the event would still go ahead, but that start times would come forward. This meant a 4am alarm for us, as Simone and Julie were now running at 6am instead of 7, and I was volunteering on registration from 5am....the coffee van in the field was a godsend (when he finally got set up!!!). I waved them off and then carried on dishing out starter packs and hoodies to those taking part in the 40K, the 23K and the 3K races who were all due to go if within half an hour of each other. As the girls weren't going to be back for ages - and there was no further volunteering to do at that point, I decided to run the 13K after all - as it was now starting at 7:30am rather than 1:30pm.

I didn't want to tire myself out or end up completely dehydrated and so "racing" was not the order of the day, but as soon as I started I realised that there was no danger of that! It was sooooo hot, and soooo humid....and we started straight up a rather steep hill, which seemed to go on and on. I took it nice and steady and managed to keep "running" of sorts all the way to the top, passing a couple of people but watching others move away ahead of me. Once I finally reached the "crest" there was a lovely view down the other side, and as I knew that enforced "braking" would be worse for my quads, I just let myself go down the hill. There was a water stop at the bottom, but I didn't think I really needed to use it as I'd only gone a few KMs, but I regretted that later. 

The race leaders were far out of sight, but I had overtaken a youngish looking lass (Paige, aged 20) and another young lad on the descent. It got slightly confusing after that as we started to catch up with the tailenders on the 23K race who had set off 30minutes ahead of us. There was another steep descent down to a creek but we'd been warned that the ford was rather slippery due to moss and that the stepping stones were safer, so a funny change of stride was involved in getting to the far side, especially as I was now stuck behind one of the aforementioned tailenders. The climb back up from the creek was my first walk of the run, but as the gradient lessened, I did then manage to run all the way to the 13K turnaround point.

Simone's car was feeling the heat!

For some reason the way back seemed an awful lot harder....but maybe that was because I was hotter and more dehydrated by then.....but I found it much harder to keep running. I reminded myself that I had nothing to prove and so "allowed myself" (not that I could have done much else) lots of walking breaks. I found myself doing a dance on the stepping stones with a runner coming the other way - backwards and forward trying to work out who who step off first - and then did detour via the aid station to take on water before starting the climb back up and over again. 

I decided that I would walk up most of the hill, with the occasional short running break when it was less steep, so Paige soon flew back past me and disappeared out of sight as she powered up it. The young lad I mentioned earlier was an interesting study in odd run tactics as he seemed to run past me up the inclines yet walk the flats and so I'd overtake him again - though again he disappeared off ahead of me as that last hill climb was over a kilometre long. By the time I reached the top there was no-one in sight either in front or behind, and so you would think that the logical thing for me to do would have been to just meander down it gently. My brain had other ideas, as I just wanted it over and done with, and to get top the finish as soon as possible, and so I powered down it (randomly taking a Strava crown in the process) even though my legs felt like they'd buckle at any minute.

2nd lady and 1st in age group :-)

At the bottom of the hill, I came across the young lad again - his tactics had unfortunately gotten the better of him in the heat of the day, as he was having to be helped to the finish field, which was so close....just a few hundred metres down a rough single path into the field (I reckoned that would catch a few people out in the longer events...trying to pick up your feet on such a rough surface when you were knackered). I felt so sorry for him, but he was definitely the worse for wear.

As for my own run, I'd closed up a lot on Paige down the hill but she needn't have worried about me catching her as there was still a good 30seconds in it......but I was still so hot and bothered at the end that I needed lots of cold water and coke before I could even think about the scones that were on offer! Unfortunately Simone had also suffered in the heat and pulled out after 20K, but Julie ran/walked the whole distance, and so I did several more hours of volunteer duties as we waited for her return.

Presenting Julie with her
finishers' medal!

All in all it was a fun girlie trip away, but I;m not sure that any of us did ourselves any favours by running in those conditions.....and my quads were sore for days from that long hard descent....but all self-inflicted so I ask for no sympathy!

NSW Club Champs - argh!!!!

I am not sure if I have a reputation for not wanting to let people down, for being a glutton for punishment, or just for being an idiot....but whatever it is, when someone pulled out of the NSW Club Championships last minute (ie less than 2 days pre-event), guess who was asked to step in??!!!

It's not as if I had nothing on that day, but as usual, I ended up agreeing as I didn't want there to be an incomplete team at the event...and I had secretly hoped that they would let me compete in the Masters' Race rather than the Open one. Although I have now run three track races (a 5000m, an hour event and the 24 hour event), this one was even more out of my comfort zone as it was the 1500m race (which is a shorter distance than I would usually run as a warm-up!!). As I was only entered in the Saturday race on the Thursday night I didn't really have too much time to dwell on it - and although I was assured that it "didn't matter how I did as long as I had fun and enjoyed it", I can't help the fact that I get nervous before any timed run, even a parkrun!

As it was, my Saturday was rather busy - starting with a Trotters Saturday morning run, then coffee with the girls before going back to Marg's house for a shower and brunch (it was nice to catchup after her 3000m run on the Tuesday night). After that I had to go back to Terrigal for a GP education day of lectures about diabetes and asthma/COPD, both of which I felt I needed to know more about as they are chronic disease with nurse-led management in the UK, but here in Australia everything is GP-led so an update in my knowledge was definitely overdue! The morning lectures ran over by a long way...partly due to long presentations, and partly due to people asking questions which had effectively already been answered, but they'd lost concentration due to hunger or something. This meant that lunch was late and I was overhungry and so went back for thirds before being chased back into the lecture hall. I came to regret this later when on the train (well 3 trains actually) down to Sydney as I felt rather nauseated and unwell ......though with hindsight, I think it was probably more due to nerves than overeating :-) 

If you're going to run on a track, make sure it's a good one!

I wasn't going to be allowed to run with the Masters but had to take part in the Open race....with girls young enough to be my daughters! There were 18 entrants so we were all going off together no matter what our predicted times were, and I was so worried that I was either going to fall flat on my face or be lapped. If you're going to make a daft track debut, then it's worth doing it somewhere memorable....so despite my secret hopes or transport disruption, I managed to make all the right connections and found myself outside Sydney's Olympic Park station looking for the track. I made it (the loudspeaker in the stadium did help to guide me there), sourced a club vest (Go Mingara!!), attached numbers front and back and went off for a warm up jog outside with my friend Simone (another distance runner out of her comfort zone - as she had competed in the Masters' 100m race earlier). Then I headed round to the registration area and watched longingly as the Masters men and women set off for their 1500m event.

Go Mingara!

I felt like I was surrounded by university students in crop tops and running knickers, wearing spikes and doing strange warm ups, drills and run-throughs....and must have looked so out of place in my vest, shorts and trainers! In order to stop myself stressing any more than was absolutely necessary I left them all to their weird leg swings and jogged round the outside of the track, making it back just in time to be handed my race numbers. This showed my track naivety even more, as I had thought that wearing a number on my front and back would have been enough, but we also had to attach further numbers to each hip (just quietly, the 16 safety pins we were each now wearing might have doubled the weight of some of the other girls :-) )!

Chasing young girls in crop tops!!

All too soon, we had to line up (luckily, as number 14, I was near to the outside of the track so knew I wouldn't get trampled) and were off. Thankfully my knees didn't completely seize up, but I was still plum last by the time we got to the 50m mark, as there is no way I could keep up with the blistering pace everyone else set off at, even for a few metres. I like to "ease into it", ie I'm a slow starter, but by the time we'd reached the 100m I had caught back up and even slipped by one or two runners. From then on in, it was a case of keeping going as fast as I could (admittedly not that fast) and trying to reel in a few other ladies that had started too fast and couldn't maintain their pace (or so I hoped). I admit that I cannot remember much of the race itself, so there was no longer any time for thoughts of nervousness. As the race was 3.75 laps, the clock at the finish line meant nothing to me whenever I passed it, but I could hear the commentator giving lap splits for the leading pack and it sounded like an amazing pace. I was vaguely aware of the Mingara ladies who'd run in the Masters race cheering me on when I passed them but I tried to simply focus on the runners in front of me. This tactic seemed to work as I passed a couple of ladies on every lap, and although I'm sure the leading ladies were approaching the finish line whilst I still had a good 200m to run, it was as if we weren't really in the same event!

Chasing down the home straight...

I dug in round the final bend and tried to push away from the corner and go for the line. I would say that I'd finally warmed up by then and was into my stride, but I think that the reality is just that I faded less than others, as although I closed down a big gap in the home straight and pipped a girl by 0.2s on the line, I was practically falling over myself as I couldn't move my feet as fast as I wanted to, so I really thought I was going to end up nose diving onto the track....the aim was just to get to the line before it happened!

Caught her...on the line!!

I ended up finishing in 9th place in a time of 5:00.7 which is much faster than I thought I'd do, considering my poor preparation, and the uni girl that finished one position ahead of me almost made my day by saying to me "You're really 35? WOW!" - I didn't have the heart to say that I was almost 10 years older than that! I was even less worried about having finished half way down the field when our "team manager" described my finishing position as having "2xWorld Championship representatives ahead of her, 1xJunior World Championship X-Country representative, with the other 5 a minimum of 20years younger"! Not bad for an old distance runner!!

With Simone post-relay!

My next event wasn't quite as dramatic as it was more of a comedy show. One of the ladies in the Masters' 4x100m relay team wasn't feeling well, so before cooling down, I subbed into her place. Another first for me - a track relay race, never mind a track 100m run, albeit on a bend! I was on leg 3 and was told that our leg 2 runner was a sprinter so I was rather stressed about the speed that she might be coming into the box to hand over to me (Simone had given me some brief coaching about which side of the lane I should be on and which hand to hold out for the baton). I thought I'd judged it well enough, giving myself longer to get up to pace than the girls in the neighbouring lanes as they were "proper" relay runners, but just as I got going my Leg 2 runner shouted at me to stop running. Her ankle felt like it was seizing up and she couldn't pick up the pace for the last few metres. It became a "ministry of silly handovers" but at least I didn't do the British 100m relay error of dropping the baton. I then had to try to pick up some pace and get round the corner to hand on to Simone  - and although she powered away down the home straight, we weren't exactly going to make the podium! Still, it was a fun evening and great to experience it with a good friend and even make some new ones along the way! A great novel experience but I really do think that I should stick to distance running in the future though!!

Some of the Mingara "girls" :-) 

Pacing a Champ!

 Unlike many "senior" runners I don't come from a track background, but when my friend Marg (Margaret) asked me to pace her for her attempt at the NSW >70s 3000m record, how could I say "No"? As Marg said, not wanting to take anything away from the lady that held the previous record, it was a relatively easy target for her to aim for, as it stood at over 24 minutes, and she was hoping to run about 16:30.  My big fear was getting the pace wrong and so being more of a hindrance than a help - mainly because everybody in Australia runs in kilometres (and so their pace is mins/k) whereas I'm still a miles girl! Luckily for Marg, I did manage to alter my watch at lunchtime so that it recorded and showed me kms so by the time I drove up to the track after work, we were all good to go. The weather was perfect as it was cooling off and there was a gentle breeze, but nothing much, and still some nice dappled sunlight

With Marg

She didn't want to do too much of a warm-up so we jogged a few laps and made sure that everything was set up with the time-keepers and officials. Marg had already checked with the governing body that a pacemaker was allowed, and I agreed with the race official that once people started to lap us, I would duck behind (or move out of the way) to avoid others having to run round both of us. I rechecked Marg's desired pace (and hence what lap splits to listen out fo)r and we took our place at the back of the field. A short briefing, some good luck wishes, a recap of race rules and we were off - with the speedsters streaking away from us, which was actually quite nice so that we could settle into our desired pace, though our start position did mean we had to run an extra couple of metres so I was glad that she wasn't trying to break the record by just a couple of seconds!!

Concentrating on my pacing duties

When I say "settle", I think the adrenaline had gotten to Marg as she took off like a bat out of hell and we were belting along way faster than planned. It was all I could do to drag her back to slightly faster than her anticipated pace over that first lap (I'm sure she got sick of me telling her to slow down and hold back though I did secretly hope we could settle at under the 5:30s she'd originally suggested as I thought she definitely had it in her to hold it there). From there on in it was a dream running with her, though I don't think that I've ever looked at my watch so much in a race. I did have to keep my wits about me as I was constantly checking both our pace, counting laps and looking out for other runners. I would try to ensure we were going the right speed before I ducked behind when runners came past and then got us back onto it when I came back alongside Marg. Later on, I actually found it easier to move really wide and let runners come between us, as then I could keep up the motivation/forward momentum.

Definitely the most I've looked at my watch during a run!

We went through the first km quicker than planned, but even allowing for some slight fade, I was hopeful that she would break the 16 minute barrier. I counted down the laps for her and took note of the km splits. We were still going at a decent pace when side by side though it tended to drop when I ducked behind, hence my choice to move wide and keep in sight later on. Whilst jogging earlier, we had joked about the 800m race on the track being a warm up distance for us, so with 2 laps to go, I reminded her Marg that we just had a warmup to go!! The penultimate lap is like the penultimate rep of a session - ie the time when you really need to focus in and stick with it as the last one always happens more easily due to the end being in sight. I was constantly coaching/nagging on that lap - postural things such as keeping relaxed with the shoulders down, working the arms etc - and also sticking with constant pace checks.....luckily Marg was giving it her all so couldn't spare the energy to tell me to shut up!!!

The champ!!! xx

A couple of other girls ran just ahead of us on our final lap as part of their cool down, but Marg remained cool, calm and collected down the back straight. We started to think about the finish and that sub-16 time around the final bend and then she powered away from the corner focusing on the finish line picking up the pace with every stride. I ran wide to ensure that her husband could film her crossing the line and to make sure that I stopped my watch at the exact moment she finished, just in case there was a timing fail. Luckily my watch and the clock agreed.....it was a brilliant new record of 15:51...she absolutely smashed it, and so I can't wait to go out this weekend and help her celebrate as it was an honour to witness her run firsthand

I'll pace again if I can earn more home-made banana bread