Pacing duties.....and a sneaky record!!

I did actually have a bit of a break from running events after the IAU Global Run, but all too soon the Canberra marathon was upon us - and I'd agreed to pace some of the guys as they were very keen to try to break 3 hours. I knew that I had been doing too much as I couldn't get excited about the run myself, though I was keen to see so many of the club run after all the hard work that everyone had been putting into targeting the event. I was actually really worried that I would not be able to run fast enough to pace them, so had a few sleepless nights worrying that I would let everyone down. We had a breakfast confab before leaving the Central Coast, and I suggested that I would get them to halfway in just under 90mins and then see what happened after that. Luckily 2 other guys had also offered to help out, so that took a bit of the pressure off me :-) 

Breakfast confab before leaving Terrigal

A group of us staying together traveled down in two cars, meeting up for lunch halfway there, and it was really relaxing to get there at a decent time on the Friday and just chill out knowing we weren't running until the Sunday. The timing was actually perfect for me as my (second) cousin Eddie was due to pass through Canberra that evening on his epic India-Pacific Ride (a self-sufficient bicycle trip from Perth all th way across Australia to Sydney). I looked at the route and worked out where I could intercept him, and then jogged off into town to do so.....without having really taken into account that he might also be meeting other people along the way and so not be travelling as fast as his tracker predicted.

 

This led to some dodgy hanging around the centre of Canberra as it got darker and darker, frantically watching my phone battery run down as I followed his tracker and kept in touch with his wife (who was back in Wollongong but trying to keep in touch with him). I feared that he would then fly past me in the dark, but luckily I managed to speak to him on the phone and so went to where he was due to see his work colleagues. I was surprised at how well (if skinny) he looked - not at all as if all he'd done for the last few weeks was to constantly cycle eastwards on his bike!!

Eddie and his bike arriving in Canberra

 

On Saturday I somehow persuaded the guys to come to parkrun with me, and for many of them it was actually their parkrun debut (I should be on commission!!). It's hard to tell how you'll feel the day before a marathon so the guys were mostly taking it steady or even walk-running, but I thought I should run a decent pace to see how I felt for pacing duties the next day. It wasn't the easiest of courses - undulating and on gravel - but it also wasn't as tough as it felt. I started off running with Mark (one of the other guys pacing the sub-3 group) and he commented that it felt like a nice, easy relaxed pace......I felt like I was dying and then realised we were actually going way slower than 3hr marathon pace - eek! I couldn't even blame the freezing temperatures as that was the forecast for the Sunday too.

 

It was an out and back course with more downhill on the way out so I think I picked up speed somehow, as I found myself running alone in about 3rd place overall and at the turnaround I saw that Mark had dropped a little way back. Unfortunately this meant that the way back was mainly uphill, and so I did question why I was putting myself through the effort, especially with a more important long run coming up the next day. My doubting mind won out and I decided to take a few walking breaks on the inclines and then run the flatter/downhill sections. When I was actually running rather than walking, I must have still been going at a decent pace, as nobody overtook me, although the guy in front did disappear out of sight. I somehow still finished in 3rd place....and could've kicked myself for not taking one fewer walking break when I saw the results later on, as I'd been all of 2s off the LV45 record :-( 

The parkrun posse

 

We chilled for the rest of the day, picking up our numbers at the race expo, going to the movies, cooking lots of pasta....and the "piece de resistance"......talking one of the lads (Tom - who wasn't up for trying to set a PB himself) into joining in with the 3hr pacing effort, which took the pressure off me a bit. 

 

Sunday morning was clear but so cold, hence I only ditched my outer layer right before the start gun went off. Never the less, everybody still took off rather fast so it took a few hundred metres for me to slot into position with Mark and Tom, leading our little band of runners. A few more of the guys had decided to come with the "sub-3 bus" and when other runners realised that was what we were aiming for, they decided to join in as well. I didn't feel too bad, considering, just "comfortably uncomfortable". I was slightly amused that Mark was running about 10m ahead of us and making encouraging comments about how we were a few seconds up on our planned pace etc, without noticing that he was talking to thin air, as there was no-one running with him. He dropped back as soon as he spotted the gap and we all ran together, though I felt like I was being the windbreak, leading the group slightly. A couple of random runners broke our pack up a bit by cutting in between us, and one nearly took me out a few times, trying to cut corners and so jumping on and off the pavement.

Chilly Trotters just chilling...

 

We started with a loop around the start area and so it was nice to have a few cheers from club members who'd either come to watch and support, or were doing shorter races and hence starting later. There were also a couple of places to spot runners ether ahead or behind you, so you could shout encouragement to those that you knew. I was a bit surprised to pass a couple of runners that I knew, as they'd said beforehand that they were aiming to run 3 hours, but when Tom and I checked our watches, we were spot on with the planned pace.

Brrrrr......Mark with gloves and no vest!!

 

We suddenly noticed that Mark was no longer with us, and so Tom and I took it in turns to run wide of everyone else and look back for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. At the time we joked that it must have been too cold for him (as he always runs without wearing a vest) but as it turns out, he sensibly stopped when he felt that his sciatica was starting to play up. This meant that the pressure was back onto the two of us, but I felt comfortable in taking everyone through halfway in the planned time of 1:29 - 1:29:30 (though unfortunately there was no timing mat at that point so the distance was a best guess from our watches). 

 

Pacing the crew

Soon after that I found myself running with a girl I'd met at the 6 Foot Track, which then dragged me on a bit quicker, so I moved away ahead of the lads. I wasn't sure what I should do as I'd got them through to that halfway point as planned, and knew that Tom was still with them. In the end my head decided for me, as I suddenly thought that I wasn't enjoying it, and I really just didn't want to run any more, so I pulled over to the side of the road and started to walk. 

 

Stu (another Trotter, running the half marathon) shot past soon after and told me that I would need to get running again as "the boys need you". I gave myself a talking to, and started to run when the first of the lads caught me up. I ran just ahead of him for a way, but he seemed to be going well himself, and so I moved back over to the side and my walk of shame recommenced.

 

Tom and the next 2 guys came past next (they were the original two that wanted the sub-3) and though one of the (James) looked like he was still full of running, Mark (yes another Mark - I think it's the most common name in the club) definitely had a slump in his posture and appeared to be fading. I ran a bit with him and then stopped to walk further as I'm ashamed to say that I just couldn't make myself keep going when my heart wasn't in it. I could see Mark dropping further back from Tom and James, so I would run again to catch up with him, and then slow to another walk.

 

Celebrating my friend Krystie's debut

By the time there was only 5K to go, Mark was starting to show the slump of defeat, so I pulled myself together to try to get him through to that finish. I didn't walk again but instead ran alongside/just ahead of him, trying to encourage him and get him to take the shortest line possibly by clearing a gap round the corners. I wanted to take his mind off the clock as he kept looking at his watch, so I talked non stop, sometimes focusing on posture and running style, and sometimes on his family waiting for him at the finish. 

I'm not sure Mark wants to hear me "encouraging" him ever again!!

 

We had another couple of places where we passed runners going the other way, so although I tried to cheer on the other Trotters by name, several of them said they just heard me encouraging Mark. It was so close, but he had nothing more left to give......he kept the effort up all the way to the line, and although he just missed the sub-3 by a whisker, he still ran a big PB in front of his proud cheering family!

 

The sub-3 bus :-) 

It was a great day for the club as I think everyone (except the pacers) ran a new PB, and I managed to sneak in first place in my age category and take over 20 minutes off the NSW V45 marathon record, so celebrations all round!!!

 

 

 

 

Celebratory drinks back on the Coast

The IAU Global Solidarity Run

Anyone would think that I would have been entitled to a rest after the past few weekends, but I did have one more event in the diary, that I had to get my body through. Luckily it wasn't a high pressure race, but something that would link me up with my global running friends, despite all the upsets of the past 13 months. The event was the IAU Global Solidarity Run - something set up by the International Association of Ultrarunners in view of the cancellation of all the World Championships. Teams were selected to represent each nation, and they all had to run for 6 hours on the same weekend, wherever they were in the world. It wasn't about recording the furthest distance that you could cover in the time, but about uniting ultrarunners again round the globe. 

The Run!!

I was delighted to be back running for Team GB, but my plan (to fit with the concept of "Global Solidarity" was to represent GB, whilst wearing a Team USA vest (I've now learnt that running vests are called singlets in Australia), and run in Australia. A friend helped me to design a circular route which I called the "Ring of Friendship" and my Australian running friends (the 5:20 chicks) would all come out and support me on the day. As it turned out, the weather in the UK was much kinder on the day than the weather in Australia - they had beautiful blue skies and sun, although I gather it was nice and cool.....whereas I had torrential rain and flooding, but unfortunately I had no option but to zip up my mansuit, give my tired legs a good talking to, and just get on with it!

The weather forecast!!!

As I was running on a Saturday, I wanted to link it in with the lovely Terrigal Trotters and so I decided to start (and finish....if possible) at the "Trotter Tree" in Terrigal at 6am, when the usual Saturday run would be going off. I thought that there would be almost nobody running that day due to the weather (and predicted forecast) but there were actually lots of people huddled together in the darkness under the shelter of the Surf Club roof. My good friend Monika (who has just recovered from a nasty injury) started the "run" with me (I say "run" as we headed off up one of the steepest roads around and so I was reduced to a walk within the first few minutes!!) whilst (the legend that is known as) Julie layered up for the weather ahead and came along on her bike. 

Repping every nation I could!

All too soon, Mon had to turn and head for home (but reassured me that I'd see her again later) so it was just Julie, myself and the open road.... That sounds so poetic, but the real reason that we had the road to ourselves was that it was still early and so pitch dark!! The road verge was rather narrow (and made all the more so by overhanging branches) so Julie kindly cycled along behind me with a flashing red light on her bike. I confess to not exactly feeling very fresh, but I did also know that it was still early, and the first part of the run was by far the hilliest. It gradually got lighter as we wound up and down the road round Brisbane Water, managing to chat when space permitted, so it was great to have a blether about all sorts of rubbish :-) 

Just the lonesome twosome in the early morning light..

Suddenly it seemed to have stopped getting lighter and actually be getting much darker again, but just as I was about to comment to Julie about this, the heavens opened....and when I say "opened", I mean that it was like a flood gate had broken! Within seconds, I resembled a drowned rat and the rain was bouncing back up off the road to about knee height, coming down way quicker than it could run off the road, so that I was splashing along on tarmac but in water up to my ankles - I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it before!!! Dave (Julie's partner) drove past us to check we were OK and I don't think I could even focus clearly on his numberplate to make out that it was actually him! 

It takes a good mate to put up with me for that long in that weather :-)
 

With the weather being as bad as it was, I would not have blamed my friends for staying in bed that morning, but as I ran past a bus shelter at the side of the road, Jackie was there waiting to join me - and she'd also dragged along a friend of here who had come to stay for a few days. It was lovely of them to come out in that weather and the next few k's ticked by easily as we chatted away and laughed at ourselves being out in that rain. Unfortunately for Jackie's friend, she got rather more than she bargained for, as Jackie will always go above and beyond and so they accompanied me all the way from Bennsville, up and down the hills at the bottom of the bay, across the Rip bridge and along into Woy Woy. Julie was kindly giving me some of my food supplies as and when I asked her for it, but the girls refused to take anything of mine and so I think they were hungry on their long run all the way back to Bensville again :-( 

Just slightly damp...

 Just before we got to Woy Woy, I spotted Simone standing on the cycle path by the water waiting for me, and then she jumped in to run a couple of ks, which was lovely as I knew she had lots of family commitments already that morning. Luckily for my guilt at dragging everyone out in that weather, the rain has stopped and it hard warmed up (slightly!) so we took off our waterproofs and handed then to Julie on the bike, who then handed them on to Dave in the car :-) 

The tag team handing me on at WoyWoy

I was handed on to my next tag team at Woy Woy - Anna (who'd been dropped off by her hubbie and hence was running with me back to her house), and Monika (who'd been dropped off and was running along to join her family at Bunnings). Don't get me wrong, it was fantastic that they'd all come out to support me, but I had to keep asking them to slow down as they were all springing along at a pace I knew I couldn't keep up for the whole 6 hours :-( 

We were running on a "proper" cycle path along the shoreline so Julie could also cycle with us for this section, and as it was mainly flat, it was much easier to keep the conversations going. The roads were still "rather wet" and so one car who happened to drive past us just where there was a huge puddle on the road, actually sprayed water right up over our heads!!! The cycle path becomes rather low-lying as you near Gosford and it is very prone to flooding so there was no possibility of avoiding getting our feet even wetter than they already were, so we resigned ourselves to it and just splashed through like the kids we all are at heart. 

Splashing along with Anna and Mon

All too soon the girls had to peel off to get back to their Saturdays, but I was not left alone as Julie had crazily agreed to come with me for the whole loop. She kept me right with navigating the busy main road intersections and then cycled alongside me where she could, bearing in mind that the next stretch I had to run had neither pavements nor a cycle lane. Not long after that the heavens opened up again and it felt like I'd had buckets of water emptied over me - funnily enough, Dave drove by about the same time, so Julie and I decided that we might have to ban him, as he seemed to be the bad weather jinx!! 

Julie and I "on the road again"...

Another Trotter friend Graeme suddenly appeared at the side of the road to give me a wave and a high five, and he then popped up at several other random spots along the route, even giving me a Union Jack (he's an ex-pat Brit) to carry at one point too :-) The rain came and went, as did some hills, but Julie kept me going (and out of the pubs I spotted along the road!!) and offered to find shortcuts if I was struggling as I really wanted to complete a looped run, rather than have Dave pick me up somewhere random at the 6 hour mark and have to be ferried back home. I realised how tired I was when I seemed to be crawling up even the smallest of inclines and randomly kicking a football I came across in the middle of a road seemed to sap all my energy.

With Graeme's Union Jack

My last running buddy to join me was Krystie, who was using it as her final long run prior to the Canberra marathon, so I was a bit worried that the pace was not going to be good enough for a proper training run for her, but she actually ended up doing more of a fartlek session for the first half of her run. She had parked her car at Ourimbah and I knew that if I stopped to chat where I saw that she and Dave had parked, then I probably wouldn't get going again, so I just ran on past and she had to then chase me down (sorry Krystie). On a funny side note, the area where she started flooded whilst we were out running, and there were photos of her half-submerged plastered all over Facebook with people commenting about it being abandoned for insurance purposes - we did have such a laugh about the posts afterwards as she only managed to get back into it by climbing through the boot! 

Now with "added Krystie"

 I was definitely tired, so some new chat with Krystie was great - and Julie also tried to take my mind off the distance with funny anecdotes and offers of shortcuts that we could take. I decided that I'd rather shortcut the route if I had to do so in order to make it back to Terrigal within the allotted time, rather than just keep plugging along to the 6 hour mark and then need to stop on a random kerb and be driven back, as that would be a kind of "fail" in my head! 

Not exactly typical Aussie weather - I'm sure there's a street there somewhere!!

As well as Graeme popping up to wave and high-5 me at various points, another Graham (from Trotters) also came out to give me some encouragement. This meant that it became even more of a fartlek for Krystie as she'd stop to chat to them briefly, but then have to sprint back after me, as I would just wave, say Hi and keep going (I felt that if I stopped, then I wasn't very likely to be able to restart). My plan had been to run along the lovely cycle path around Tuggerah Lake as it was nice and smooth, traffic-free, wound amongst trees and would be fine for anyone accompanying me on foot or bike....but the weather had other ideas. We headed down a path towards the water and were soon up to our knees in flood water, and sinking further into mud as we couldn't see where the path was meant to be. That led to a quick reversal of direction back to the main road, but needs must - at least there weren't many people out "for a drive" in those conditions!! 

The cycle path is somewhere under there!!

I knew that I was getting closer to the end when I started to recognise some of the roads from club runs, but I also knew that every club run is hilly and so it wasn't going to be a gentle jog home. Looking at my watch, I could see how close I was getting to the 6 hour mark, so although it was the last thing I felt like doing, I had to turn the screw and pick up the pace. Julie was trying to help me by telling me how far away from Terrigal we were, but this just made me panic as I didn't think there was any way that I could cover the distance in the time that I had left. 

Passing the tree the first time with some good cheers from Mon

I'm still not sure how I managed it, but I gave it as much as I could manage (even gathering up a Strava crown or two by accident), and misjudged it slightly, so I had to continue on beyond the tree (albeit very briefly) until the time ticked over.

Prosecco Pals

Several of the girls had come back out in the rain to cheer me in, which absolutely made my day - and we celebrated with some nice (!?!) cans of prosecco before heading back to get warm! What a day - 6 hours in the most torrential rain and flooding, but I'd completed my Ring of Friendship - and wouldn't have done it without all the lovely support all the way round - thankyou girls (and guys) xx

Some of the wonderful 5:20 Chicks at the end xx