The Other Side of the World

After a few failed attempts/applications, I was finally given a compassionate exemption to travel by the Australian Department of Home Affairs (who eventually deemed my need to travel exceeded the "risk to the Australian public"). For those that are not aware of certain events, this was due to the health of my parents - my father had a stroke earlier in the year which has affected his memory, and my mother has also been struggling with increasing memory problems, and (apart from just plain wanting to see them) I felt I needed to go and see the lie of the land myself and attend their appointments, speak to their health professionals and discuss things with both of them and my sister/brother-in-law.

Having left a NSW in “lockdown”, it was amazing to see the difference in the UK, as for the most part of the time, you would be forgiven for thinking that there was no Coronavirus around, despite there being more daily cases in each local area than there were in the whole of Australia!!

Still, I did profit from this in being able to spend time with family and friends, and I also managed to sneak in a few races (more about them in future posts, as each one was rather “accidental” and last minute) and 5 parkruns, setting 4 new age group records (well, there has to be some bonus from having gone up an age group whilst being out in Oz!!). It was so nice to return to the camaraderie of community sport, and here’s hoping that it won’t be long before it returns in Australia!!

Wow - running in the UK again!!!

The first one I did was at Northwich, as I’d flown into Manchester airport and combined my arrival with a good catch with an old friend (and nice meals out at pubs…..how exciting, as it’s been a while since I’ve been able to do that too!). I hadn’t really planned on going but my body clock was all to pot and I couldn’t sleep so I moseyed on down, ran round, chatted to a few people and then trotted back to my friend’s house….only to find out later that I’d actually run faster than my only other run on the course which was obviously in a younger age group (weird as I paced it so badly - I blame “jet lag” - that I went off too fast and then needed a few walking breaks!!).

Ahhhh.....the lovely Lake District!

My next one was Rothay parkrun in Ambleside, which was at the start of a week on the edge of the Lake District with my parents, sister and all her family. It was my first proper run after a last minute ultra the week beforehand, and so I was just glad to make it round the whole 5K route (and couldn’t actually have run much further), but I liked the course and even more surprisingly, crossed paths with an old childhood friend who was on the last day of his Lake District holiday and so was taking part, along with his wife and children!

Tree-lined paths aplenty in Barrow

Number 3 was at the end of our holiday and , as the earliest riser in the family, I sneaked off down to Barrow parkrun before meeting everyone else at Furness abbey midmorning to start our day of sightseeing (note Barrow is really called Barrow-in-Furness so the abbey was very close to the parkrun). That was another interesting course entirely within a park, with none of the mud of Rothay but many more hills (the biggest one of which we had to run up three times), tree-lined paths and small lakes to skirt.

Gie it laldy (at Lochore)

The next weekend found me visiting a friend up in Scotland and she suggested 3 very different park runs near her house. One was a bigger/more crowded one in the city (a couple of laps of a park), one had an amazing cafe but a more boring  course (round some fields) and the other one didn’t have a good cafe but was a nice course round a loch. I opted for the last one, but we compromised on going for a walk at the second one later after visiting their cafe :-) Lochore parkrun is a nice, small friendly parkrun which consists of most of a lap of the lake with a small out and back section at the far end (I presume this is to avoid the chance of coming across any cars going into the carpark/to the cafe if they’d done a full lap) but the killer bit is that the hidden inclines are in the last kilometre when you’re just hanging on for the finish (which, as it happens, they have moved further away to make it more “Covid-safe”….but I guess that means you get bonus distance!!)

Pacing Sam to a sprint finish!

Finally, on my last weekend in the UK (I was actually on a train leaving Durham by Saturday lunchtime), I ran Durham parkrun as it is not far from my parents’ house. It’s the 4th time I have run it (I’ve been tail walker there once) and the course has changed to a greater or lesser extent each time (due to redevelopment/privatisation of the Sport Centre where it starts), due to subsidence of the riverbanks, and due to building works en route. My parents walked down to see me at the finish and we then went for coffee (and a scone for me!!!) at an outdoor cafe by the rowing club, which was so nice and quiet that I think they’ll go back……and a  lovely way to end my trip!!

Not a bad legacy to leave at Durham parkrun!

Locked down....again!!

Back when the 5:20 chicks could all hang out together!!

As it turned out, we only just managed to get the Bay to Bay race in, as there was a sudden Covid outbreak in Sydney the week afterwards and as we were randomly described as being part of Greater Sydney (despite being 1.5-2 hours away from the City) the Central Coast was also forced into lockdown. Races were all cancelled as we were only allowed out to exercise with 1 person who was not from our household, and only essential workers (such as myself....sigh!) could go to work. Our exercise restriction wasn't as bad as for those living in small LGAs (local government areas) in Sydney, as although we had to abide by the same rule (do not exercise outwith your LGA), the Central Coast spans a huge number of kilometres. 

Evening "exercise" catch-up

Initially we thought we were limited to 10km from our homes, but it turns out that the rule was 10kms or within your LGA so we had the whole area to play with.....but only in pairs :-) 

At a viewpoint mid-run with Julie

Gone were the group runs/sessions and a lot of the socialising, but the girls and I still had a lot of fun plotting new routes, exploring different places and swopping running partners a lot. It was actually really good as when you are in a group, it is easy to get to the end of a run and realise you have hardly spoken to anyone much, so the one-on-one time to chat was great.....and we also managed a variation of "speed-dating" where people dropped in and out of runs at various places so we were never running with more than one person, but it wasn't always the same person. 

With Mon at Maccas

With Katie at Maccas......notice a trend?

If you carried a mask with you, there was motivation to run to somewhere for a takeaway treat or a coffee so that helped us in route planning.....and as I still had to go to work every day, I occasionally cycled one way, or ran home in the evening (until I realised how long it took/how tired I was at the end of the day!). 

En route to work one morning

With all these different variations on simple paired runs, we still all managed to catch up with each other even if we were just longing to be able to all just hang out together as a group......but all good things come to those who wait, and I'm sure we'll be back to it before we know it!

Krystie and I as the masked cyclists grabbing a coffee

Bay To Bay

 The Bay to Bay Festival of Running is an annual event hosted by the Terrigal Trotters, which was back for 2021 after a coronavirus hiatus for 2020. The festival consists of a half marathon, a 12(ish)km race and a 5K run (there is usually a kids' run but the coronavirus constrictions meant that this could not happen in 2021).

All the runs finish in Gosford stadium with both of the longer events starting down on the waterfront in WoyWoy (hence the name "Bay To Bay"!). I was in two minds about taking part as I felt exhausted after work and a bridge match on the Saturday, but after a sleep at my rellies' house in Koolewong, I decided to run down to the start line and give it a go. It was rather windy and wet, which meant it was all about getting the job done rather than about trying to record fast times.

The "elite" men set off first, and soon afterwards (with a rather disorganised "Ready....Go") we ladies were off. I was definitely not ready for the start as I had expected some notice and at least a countdown, but luckily there were not many of us, so it did not take long to wake up and then settle into the run (avoiding some decent puddles, kerbs and bollards in the first hundred metres or so).

The "slightly convoluted" HM route

The problem with having such a small field and separating the men and women meant that there was really noone to run with. I could see a group of 3 ladies running together up ahead of me, working together into the wind though getting some shelter from the lead bike, but I was all alone in No Man's Land as I knew that I could not run their speed, but I'd dropped all the other ladies. Some of the Trotter men might have been running my speed, but as they'd set of before me, this was of no real comfort to me :-( 

One of the weird things about the half marathon is that you set off from WoyWoy in what seems to be the completely wrong direction, ie heading away from Gosford. After a short while you find yourself practically crossing the startline of WoyWoy parkrun, and running the whole out and back course (initially along the shoreline cycle track and then across a grassy stretch liberally strewn with tree roots and puddles).

We actually turned at the parkrun turnaround, so it was nice to see the lead runners flying past as I was still heading out, and be able to cheer on (well, gasp out some encouragement anyway) the Trotter boys.  I was still running solo as I started to head back towards the start line, but by now there were many other runners heading out, due to the nature of the wave starts, and so I got to see several familiar faces. Somehow I managed to reel in and pass Mark LJ (who I'd run with at Canberra). This did surprise me slightly as I knew he had pace over the HM distance but had just faded at the end of the marathon. 

The parkrun cycle path on a nicer morning!!

Not long after that I realised that I was also closing up on Al (who'd had a great run to smash the 3 hour mark at Canberra), but I didn't want to go all out to catch and run with him, as I thought that I'd then blow myself to pieces. It was nice to run back through the start area as there was quite a lot of support due to the 12K runners gathering before their race. I tried to raise a smile rather than a grimace as the race start announcer warned Al to get moving as "she's coming to get you"!!

I caught him just before the 10K mark and expected him to then come with me, as although he had started ahead of me, I passed through that marker faster than I'd run both the Sydney 10K and our last club 10K time trial and Al is way quicker than me over short distances. I must have been running better than I felt as I soon opened up a gap much to my surprise (and slight worry as I thought that really meant that me blowing up was more or less a certainty for later).

It was a slightly less pleasant course now as the cycle path snaked alongside the main road and there was not really much shelter from the weather. Encouragement from the friendly Trotter marshals helped as I ran up and down the small inclines on the road, and I could see the lady in front of me getting slightly closer (albeit ever so slowly so).

We left the road, ducked under the railway line and were then back on a winding waterside path taking us ever closer to Gosford. A couple of good friends were marshalling along this stretch and they tried to encourage me to keep chasing the girl down, and although she had better flat speed than me, every time there was a slight slope to run up, I 'd make inroads into her lead.

In order to make up the distance (it was a proper certified half marathon course) we had to run a circuitous route round one of the parks but luckily there were many marshals keeping us right as to the course as we had to keep our wits about us due to the roughness of the running surface and a couple of obstacles en route that had to be avoided, and had little brain power to spare for finding the way.

Coming down off the bridge into Gosford

Some tight corners and a little bridge took us back to the main road and we were guided across a slip road and up onto the bridge that would take us into town. I might have felt like I was almost "done" but I also almost caught the girl in front due to having to run up that bridge! As we ran down the other side of the bridge I was gutted nit to be doing the 12K race as they would be directed off the bridge, underneath it and into the stadium, whereas we half marathoners had to run along the foreshore away from the stadium to make up some extra distance before turning round and running back towards it.

As you turned and ran back towards the finish, you knew you were in the homewards stretch and so should have been able to pick up the pace and "go for home". Unfortunately I had nothing left and was just praying that I'd make it in one piece.

For some reason I had thought that the final lap of the stadium would be on a track and so the grass caught me completely unawares. The lady in front had had more left in her legs at the end and so had managed to open up a wee gap again, but I was very happy to cross the line in 4th place (1st vet) way faster than I thought I could run, and indeed my time was faster than previous winning times!

With Al, Mark LJ and Charlie at the finish

It was lovely to catch up with so many people at the end and cheer as many in as possible (before we were moved along, as Covid rules prohibited hanging around). Mind you, the weather wasn't exactly conducive to hanging around much so I grabbed some food and then jogged back along part of the course so my rellies' house, stopping to chat to and thank all the marshals that I saw en route (and dodge/cheer on all the oncoming runners!). That evening's beer with my fellow Trotters were very welcome (especially as I'd actually had my second Covid vaccine between the race and the celebrations)!!

"Cross Country" Relays

Although I thought that I had nothing much planned in the next few weeks, I found that I did have a few work meetings/courses down in Sydney and so managed to catch up with friends for a few social runs whilst down there, which brought some enjoyment back into my running. As the fun side was coming back to the fore, I agreed to join a cross country relay team (for Mingara) when asked.

We were a "masters" team with a total mismash of ages (I think our team average was something like 52) and so I admit that I did think it was going to be a small social "Mickey Mouse" event. I had to work (just for a change......not!!!) on the Saturday morning, but met up with my friend Marg and her husband Greg in order to travel down to Ryde in Northern Sydney for the event. When we got there I was shocked at the scale of the event....as it turned out to be the State Champs!!!

As Marg and I walked over to meet our other team mates, I felt like a total fraud being there, as the junior races were in progress, and there looked to be some top level young runners really going for it. The team "manager" had wanted me to go off first in order to "have a race" but I had no desire for this and so luckily Tara agreed to lead us off (as that also suited her for childcare). It was a 2 lap course so I managed to get a bit of a warmup in and then make it back in time to cheer her through the start/finish line and on to her second lap. 

Team Mingara (30-39!!!!)

She gave it her all, handed over to Marg for the second leg, caught her breath and then briefed me a bit on the course as the second lap seemed to take it out of a lot of people, especially with two hills early on in the lap. The course was set out almost entirely within a park, snaking up and down all the hills that there were, which meant I could run around the inside and catch Marg at various points to cheer her on - ensuring I didn't stiffen up yet was in place for my handover at the right time.

As expected, we were a long way down the field by this point, being lapped by many other teams, but this meant I could just run without feeling under pressure (well, except for the pressure that racing always makes you put on yourself, especially if you're part of a team!). I felt OK heading off....well, for the first 50m or so until I hit the start of the first climb anyway.....but from then on it felt like I was having to work a lot harder than I wanted do. It was quite a hot day and the course was not exactly what I'd expect for a XC race.

I have only ever run XC races in the UK - usually in the middle of winter so it's freezing, and the ground is usually churned up mud, grass and puddles. This was a warm, sunny, humid Australian afternoon of generally smooth grassy running (I think I managed one footstep in mud on each lap!) so there wasn't quite the breakup of pace and effort that you'd expect.

"Cross-country".....many ran in racing flats!!

I still ran as hard as I could and made up about 14 places over the 2 laps, though it was gutting to think you were chasing someone down as you closed out the lap, only to see them heading to the changeover pen whilst you headed back out on your second lap (and then their fresh runner would sprint past you on eager fresh legs). I still find it amazing how different something can feel from how it actually is, as (exactly as Tara had described) the second lap appeared much tougher than the first one, but when I looked at my splits afterwards, my pace was pretty close to being identical!!

After I handed over to Sally for the "glory leg", a marshal called me over  - and although he let me catch my breath back first, I was then given a stern talking to! I had been wearing my number when I jogged across to several points inside the course to cheer  Marg on, and so one of the other teams had taken it upon themselves to report me for "pacing her" and they wished to discuss a possible DQ with me. I told them exactly what I'd done and offered to show them my watch trace to prove I had not been pacing, though agreed with the marshal that he was only doing his job and following up on someone else's complaint.

Although I'd made up several places, I couldn't see why anyone would even bother with such a complaint (eve if it had been accurate) as we weren't exactly a competitive team at the sharp end of the field, but I apologised to my team mates for any stress caused (in fact, they hadn't known anything about it, except for seeing me called away, as they knew I hadn't been pacing Marg). We cheered Sally in, thanked everyone for the run, wished the mens' teams "Good Luck" as they were about to start, and then Marg, Greg and I headed off for some food and drinks.

Sally & Tara with our Bronze medals :-)

Whilst eating we got an excited call from Tara and Sally.......it turned out that we'd won bronze medals in the 30-39yr old category (we had to race in this category as Tara was 39) despite being an average of at least 10 years older than all the other teams and so they were picking up our medals....an amazing bonus to a fun team day out - I do love the camaraderie of team/relay events :-)

UTA 50

My original plan had been to aim for selection for Team GB for the World 24 Hour Champs which were meant to be held in Romania at the end of May. During my taper for this, the girls were all going up to the Blue Mountains to take part in Ultra Trail Australia (3 running the 50K and 3 running the 100K), so I had offered to go and and be support crew/cheerleader. For one of the girls, it was to be her first Ultra so I was going to be her roomie/bag carrier/dogsbody for the weekend and offer sage words of wisdom (not!) about the madness of a 50K on trails with lots of ascent/descent and steps!!! 

When it came down to it, the World Champs were postponed until October, and although my plan was still to go up and support them all, the girls convinced me to enter one of the events in order to avoid bad FOMO. I was really undecided about it, as I felt that I wasn't giving the event the respect it deserved, having not trained and tapered for it (in fact, I was working the day before the runs), but as I drove up to the mountains on the Friday afternoon, I decided that the worst that could happen would be that I'd have to pull out partway through, so I should just give it a go and enjoy a beautiful course and put no pressure on myself. 

The 5:20 Chicks hit the Blue Mountains

I had been put into the first starting group for the 50K, but at least we started just after the crack of dawn so I didn't need to wear a head torch (though I did have to carry one in my compulsory kit.......though when I thought about it, if I needed to finish the run using it, then something seriously bad would have happened to me....but rules are they to be obeyed so I dutifully carried in). It might have been a daylight start but it was still freezing cold, and so I was wearing armwarmers, gloves and a buff round my head.....and my jacket until right before the off! 

The first two startgroups of the 100K went off ahead of us, but as the first section was a (very "undulating") out and back on both sealed and gravel roads, I got to see the leaders of their race coming back towards me....along with a couple of other friends who had started in these groups. I know that I started way faster than I should have done, but I just wanted to get warm.....and I also was enjoying the nontechnical nature of that first 5K! 

Slightly chilly running those first few road kms

Soon after that we headed off onto the single track trails that wound up and down along the edge of the escarpment......and when I say along the edge, that was just the beginning to lull us into a false sense of security. The field had spread out by this point which was quite a good thing as it was hard for people to pass each other when the trails were narrow, twisty, muddy and consisted of rather a few steps. After passing one of the most famous viewing platforms of the Blue Mountains (the "canonical" view of the Three Sisters) we were sent down a very long steep rough staircase to the valley floor.

The Three Sisters from the viewing platform

The trail along the bottom was so pretty as it was lush rainforest-type vegetation, but unfortunately we only had about 1km of this to enjoy before we had to climb past up to the top again. I knew that the race finished with a climb up about 900 steps from bottom to top of the cliff, but I hadn't quite figured on doing something so similar so early on in the run. I really doubted I'd make it round as I felt so exhausted going up this section and we were only just over 10K in. Several parts of the climb were wide enough for people to power past me, and I was more than happy to stand aside and watch them all go, and even when we reached the top and the route became more "runnable", I had to force my legs to move faster than a snail's pace.

How I came to hate steps....

The 16K aid station came and went but I didn't need to refill my bottles as I'd not actually drunk anything as yet as it was still rather chilly. I had a few moments of doubt of my navigation skills when I couldn't see other runners (all those overtaking had disappeared off into the distance), but luckily it wasn't too far between route markings. I tried to switch off as to how far there was to go and just enjoy the beauty of the trails. I ran with a guy for a bit, so it was nice to chat away to someone just ahead/behind me.....but it was rather funny that just as he was commenting on how much friendlier he found trail runners than road runners, a girl caught us up (wearing headphones) and nearly pushed me off the edge of the trail down a cliff in her eagerness to rush on past!

The guy told me that as long as I got to the next aid station, I would enjoy some non technical forestry road running afterwards, so I made that aid station my mental target. I thought the organisers were being deliberately harsh on us as in order to cover the last couple of kms to said aid station, they made us run along through sand and bush, up and down little gullies, parallel to the road that led there! Pah! When I came to the aid station, it was like heaven as there was food galore....and so I partook of several slices of watermelon, a cinnamon bun and some other lovely bakery treats. Although I thought I should refill my water bottle, when I got it out, I realised that I'd hardly had any of it....no wonder everything was tasting so bland and dry!

The weather did make for atmospheric pictures!

Everyone who knows me, knows that I'm a "bit rubbish" at running downhill, and so although the next section was many many kms of forestry road rather than technical trail, I'd been told that the first 6 or 7 were steep downhill so I wasn't quite sure whether I should be celebrating or commiserating! I decided to just let my legs make the decision for me and run down as hard or as easy as they felt like doing.....which must have been at a fairly decent pace after all as nobody passed me but I caught and overtook a decent number of men who had been ahead of me.

A creek that we had to ford marked the end of the long descent and the start of a rather long spell of undulating up and down (which definitely felt like a lot more up than down) - and the first kick up after the creek nearly finished me off!! I have no idea what the elites do at the sharp end of the field, but there was no way that I was doing anything except walking up those steep climbs. For the hundredth time that day, I asked myself why on earth I'd agreed to take part and wondered whether I'd make it to the end. Such self talk and doubt is rather defeatist so I would try to shake myself out of that mood and spur myself on by spotting that every climb and descent brought me closer to the guys I could see ahead of me, and it was nice to share a quiet word (I should say an "encouraging word" but it was usually more like "not another hill") as we passed. It was still relatively cold, but I forced myself to drink from my bottles and to keep my mind occupied, to appreciate some of the beauty of the area, as you would get occasional glimpses of the cliffs above through gaps in the trees.

The clearing for the final aid station

By the time I got to the final aid station, I was hanging out for some more goodies such as the buns and watermelon that had been at the last one, but unfortunately all they had on offer was drinks. At least I could feel smug that I'd finally finished one of my waterbottles and so could eventually fill it up again. People reassured me that I had not much more than 10K to go and that there would soon be a "really nice runnable trail all the way along under the cliff edge", so that spurred me on a wee bit. The only problem with this "runnable trail" was that I had to climb up to the base of the cliff to get there...and every time I thought I must have finally made it, there was a switchback in the trail or it descended a bit before reascending! I had no idea what time of day it was by this point, so when a man called out to me "good morning" I replied that I wasn't sure if it was still morning and that I certainly wasn't feeling good!! A few long switchbacks later I came across him again (he was doing some trail maintenance so had just walked up a sneaky shortcut) and he cheered me up by saying that I might not be feeling good, but I was still making decent progress (I think he was being overly kind, when he said I was "motoring along" as I felt more like some old sputtering diesel engine)!!

I made it to the end of the forestry road and was back on the pretty single trail again - I mentally agreed that I would usually have called it a lovely runnable trail, but unfortunately my legs felt they had no running left in them, so it was rather a run/walk. One of my funniest incidents of the race actually happened on this stretch (although that is said with retrospect as I was rather less than amused at the time!). It had been touch and go for several weeks prior to the races as to whether they would actually go ahead at all as there had been considerable flooding and wind damage to the trails....but luckily most obstacles had been cleared in time/courses were rerouted. Unfortunately the odd thing slipped through the net - and one of these was a huge tree that had come down directly across the single track trail. I could not go through it or around it and so had to go over it - and the sheer size of it meant that the only way to do this way to prostate myself on top of it and try to get my far leg down to the ground on the other side. 

Back on the single track

Sounds good in theory but in practice my tired little body was having none of it, with cramp setting in just as I was spreadeagled across the log. I was completely stuck there, unable to move with neither foot on the ground and there was nothing I could do but lie there in my unceremonious position and wait for the next runner to come along and help me over to the far side - how embarrassing!!! On the bright side, at least he had the decency not to laugh...and I had had the chance to grab a bit of a rest! When I was finally unstuck, off and moving, I knew I was into the final few Kms of running so the end was near, though for anyone that doesn't know these races, there is an almighty sting in the tail as the last kilometre involves climbing up 998 steps (known as the Furber Steps) to the finish line at Scenic World!!

I had run that section of the route with the girls a few months earlier and so I knew that when I started to climb up steps, these weren't the "real steps"....just a warmup to lull you into a false sense of security. By the time I got to the base of the base of the actual climb, I was feeling totally drained and empty, but I knew that I "just" had to make it to the top to finish. That staircase must have been on the longest ones of my life, as I had to take a break every few stairs or so, as my body was failing me - not only did I lack any leg strength but I kept thinking that if I pushed myself at all, then I would end up vomiting. I did jog/shuffle the tiny flat section between the endless steps, and used my arms to help haul my carcass upwards whenever there was a handrail. I can honestly say that I didn't care how many people came past me on that section as I could barely raise a sarcastic reply to the poor photographer who desperately tried to get me to run for him.

You can hear supporters and a loud speaker at the finish before you get there - which under normal circumstances would be really exciting - but my only thought was to avoid embarrassing myself. This idea of selfpreservation kicked in just before I rounded the final corner and I was able to run the last hundred metres to cross the line so thankful for having made it, but having no idea of my finish position or time (and in fact, not caring in the slightest). There was a compulsory kit check just after the finish, during which time it was actually sleeting, and after watching me struggle to get out and show my thermal top and waterproof jacket, the marshals took pity on me and helped me to put them on (well they put them on me as I stood there like a helpless idiot) and then took me round the corner to the medical tent.

I felt absolutely rubbish as I had let myself get too cold to look after myself properly during the run, ie I hadn't eaten or drunk nearly enough (especially as I usually eat more than most people)......in fact I think I'd had a total of about 500-700mls in the whole event! The medics wrapped me up in a blanket with a hot water bottle and gave me food and drink and I began to feel slightly more human. After about 30mins someone suggested checking my blood sugar level - I did point out that this was probably pointless as I'd just eaten chocolate, lollies and nuts, but I did let them take my temperature - even after this time it was still reading about 34.7 so I wondered how low it had actually dropped!

Mon grinning her way over the 50K line

Katie finishing her longest race ever at 50K

The "50K girls"!

By the time I left "medical" and made my way over to the drop bags to put more clothes on, it was actually starting to sleet, but luckily I had perked up enough to make it back to the finish and cheer the other girls in/help them get warm afterwards! 

Jackie crossing the 100K line

Anna finishing the 100!

We "50K girls" were lucky in that we had the opportunity to go back to where we were staying and get showered, changed, eat/drink more and chill out before we headed back to the finish line to watch the amazing 100K girls finish......they were looking so strong when they crossed the line despite it being cold and dark (though surprisingly enough, it was warmer than when we'd finished as the wind had completely dropped) so it was generally a successful weekend all round (and an added bonus was finding out later that I'd finished in the top 10 and as first vet - what a total surprise - yippee!!!)!

Some surprising results!

"Meh".....

 Sometimes you're flying high and other times you just aren't......for no real reason that you can put your finger on. I was a bit like this in the run up to Canberra......I found it hard to get myself excited for a race where I had no real ambitions, though I really wanted all the guys to run well....and unfortunately that "meh" feeling persisted for some time afterwards.

Most of my clubmates were surfing the PB wave, but I felt like I was down in a trough......if I'm honest I'd probably just been overdoing everything - running, working, stressing, trying to be everything to everyone, and something had to give. I had previously been talked in to entering the Sydney 10K and arranged to go down with the boys, but I was definitely in 2 minds about it. I'd been given a priority start number (with my name on it), but as I knew I wasn't going to have a good run, I positioned myself right at the very back of the start pen, despite people telling me to move forward.

It was a perfect course for fast times - flat and on relatively wide closed empty roads - and the conditions were ideal - cool, no wind and slightly foggy. I thought that starting at the very back meant that I would have a steady sensible run, but unfortunately (even though friends starting in later waves said that they did spot me way behind the other guys), the nature of the course and field meant that I was dragged along at a pace faster than I should have run.

It was a 2 lap course and I found myself passing the 5K mark in about 18 minutes which did rather freak me out as I knew that pace was a lot faster than I felt I had the fitness to run/maintain. I probably shouldn't have looked at my watch as it meant that I psyched myself out, and when I felt a niggle in my right hip flexor soon afterwards, I was convinced that I'd pulled something, and so I pulled up short and started walking along the road. From there, it was a walk/run right to the finish as I didn't want to quit and step off the course just because I wasn't having a good run, but neither did I want to push on and cause a more serious long-term injury. 

With several of the Trotters post-run

I think I was about 3 minutes slower over the second half of the course, but I got there and managed to see/congratulate everyone else on their fantastic runs.....so many new PBs were set. Not exactly a day to be proud of myself, but when I got back home, 2 of my fantastic girlfriends took me out and flanked me for a debut Terrigal oceanswim, so I did get to set a kinda PB after all.....love the girls for turning my day around :-)

Onwards and upwards......after all, you have to have the lows to appreciate the highs.....

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