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Race report – Greenbelt Half Marathon

Sunday was my 3rd Greenbelt Half. My first, in 2014, was my second ever half marathon and a huge PB for me, 1:42:43. Last year I missed out on a PB by only 10 I seconds. I couldn’t see where I could have gone any faster, so I was happy with that time.

Since then I somehow beat that PB during the Masters Games – 1:37:54. I’m not quite sure how I managed to do that time especially on a 4 lap course that wasn’t exactly flat. I’ve sort of discounted that time as a PB as I currently can’t see how there is any way I’ll beat that time!

My new time to beat was my 1:42:27 at Clare just a few weeks ago. Clare being a notoriously challenging course (not the most challenging ever but 10+km uphill followed by an almost undetectable downhill back half does not make for a great PB course), I was confident that anything I could do at Clare, I could do better at Greenbelt!
I had recovered well from the previous weekend’s 24k trail race at Cleland. In the days leading up to Greenbelt, my hamstring tendon issue that had been bugging me since the 100k in January, miraculously disappeared (well, temporarily at least). I did a hilly run with my UTA100 mandatory gear on Tuesday, a now traditional fast flat run on Thursday, and a gentle (somewhat soggy) ‘jogette’ on Friday morning.

Several weeks ago I had planned to make Greenbelt an ‘out and back’, running from the start at the top of the River Torrens at Athelstone, to the finish in the city at Pinky Flat, and then donning my UTA backpack and running back up to Athelstone. No, hear me out, there was method in my madness!

A fast, downhill course known for being good for PBs would be an ideal marathon training hit-out. From memory I was due to run about 30k as part of my Gold Coast training plan. I wasn’t too concerned about distances at this point as I was committed to events. Besides, a hard half marathon race is equivalent to a longer training run in terms of training effect.

However, there was something else to consider, and that was the small matter of a 100km ultra in 2 weeks. I may have mentioned that before. Well don’t worry, you’ll be hearing a LOT more about it in the next few weeks and beyond!
To get more ‘time on feet’, the run back up to Athelstone would be an ideal solution. Plus I’d be wearing my race vest, which I’ve run a few 10k runs in, but 21k would be better for ultra training. AND, I could have a bonus sleep-in on Sunday – rather than having to get to Pinky Flat to catch a bus up to Athelstone for the start, I could drive straight to Athelstone.
Apart from it being a bit insane, this plan was thrown into disarray when Adelaide United qualified to host the A-League (football/soccer for the uninitiated) Grand Final on Sunday afternoon. Running Greenbelt, waiting for the presentations, then the slow plod back up to Athelstone, would mean I’d really be pushing it for time to get home, showered and on the bus back into town for the big game.

I found a compromise. Beck was also running Greenbelt and lives near me, so I would get a lift with her to the city, leave my backpack in her car, bus it up to Athelstone, run the race, smash out a PB, see the presentation, don the backpack and then run the approximately 8km home. With a short warmup before the race itself, that would make 30km all up. A pretty good day at the office, incorporating training for both a marathon and an ultra!

I had to carefully consider my race day outfit. I wanted to run in one of my South Australian Road Runners Club singlets (as I had at Clare), as I wanted to fly the SA flag at Gold Coast and needed to train in the top I would be racing in. I also needed something that would be comfortable under the backpack on the way home, so that meant no metal bra clips (spoiler alert – this would lead to chafing and probably tears). 

Although my ‘wounds’ from Cleland had healed up nicely, the graze on my hipbone was still causing me some trouble and was in the MOST inconvenient spot, I still couldn’t wear jeans comfortably even by Friday! (On discussion with a colleague during the week we decided that rather than a graze it was probably actually a friction burn from my clothing – that would explain how it happened with no damage to my clothing!) I therefore had to pick shorts or a skirt that would not rub in that area!

During the week I had bought some 2XU compression socks which I had tried on and LOVED. And they were such a pretty shade of purple! I was SO keen to wear them for Greenbelt! However sanity prevailed and I decided not to take the risk of trying something brand new on race day. I went with the old tried and tested Compressport compression sleeves. Maybe I will wear them for UTA100 and/or Gold Coast but I will definitely be road testing them first!

On Saturday night there was some pretty wild weather, mostly strong winds with a bit of rain. Not exactly ideal conditions to run a PB!

On race day I got ready as usual as well as preparing my race backpack for the run home. Beck picked me up at 6:15 and we made our way to North Adelaide to catch the bus to Athelstone. I pointed out a girl in front of us as we walked to the bus (she ended up getting on the bus in front of ours) and said, “See that girl there? She’s gonna win it”. It was Micarla, who in the past 4 weeks had won both the Clare half and the Cleland 24k.

We arrived at Athelstone Primary School in plenty of time and had to make the tough choice, toilet first, or warmup? We decided on the former, and it was a good choice, because the toilets were already struggling to flush (presumably not used to 800 people using them in the space of an hour) and were likely to get worse as the start approached! The sky was looking pretty black and it seemed inevitable that it would rain on our parade at some point.

Beck and I did a quick 1km warmup to loosen the legs and then she peeled off her extra layers as we counted down to the 8:00 start. I got to catch up with a number of people, some of whom I had only previously met in passing, some who I had not seen in some time. That’s probably one of my favourite parts of events (well that, and of course the finish!)
Beck and I were aiming for sub 4:50 average pace. That would be a PB for her and pretty close for me. Hopefully I would have a bit left at the end to be able to increase the pace.

With 800 starters, the start line was pretty congested. I couldn’t even find Beck at first but I saw her off to the side. Within the first few hundred metres we had managed to connect! The 1:45 pacer, Rick, was a little way ahead of us (we’d eventually need to pass him to get our goal time) but we were happy to sit behind him for the first little bit, and just keep him in sight.

The first few kilometres were a bit slower than we would have liked, primarily because of the congestion and also because it was marginally uphill. As soon as we could overtake people and get a bit of daylight in front of us, we did. It meant we would have to run a bit faster to get back to our goal pace.

We hadn’t planned to overtake the 1:45 ‘bus’ at any particular stage, just sometime before the finish line! At around the 6.5km mark, the ever expanding group was starting to impede our progress. It was time to make a move. We overtook the bus and almost immediately after that, the threatened shower eventuated. It wasn’t heavy and it wasn’t long but it was enough to make the ground a bit slippery. Especially since pretty soon after that we would encounter a wooden walkway – I called out to everyone around me to be careful.

It was around this time that Beck and I found ourselves running behind two men, who she jokingly thanked for being a windbreak for us! They didn’t come with us when we overtook the bus, but it wasn’t long before one of them, Tom, was with us again. I had seen him before at parkrun but we’d never run together before in an event. We would end up going back and forth for the rest of the race. Also around us was Peter, who I had run with a bit at Clare. He wasn’t having the best day – we also went back and forth but after I passed him later in the race and then didn’t see him again, I knew something wasn’t right! He ALWAYS beats me – not by much, but by enough!

Greenbelt is an undulating course. Some very nice downhills (although with the congestion early on, we weren’t able to make the most of them) and some nasty little uphills. On the uphills I contemplated getting the whip out. This was something I picked up from another Peter. He would often give his thigh a slap to get him up hills. I thought of him as I went up the hills and wondered how he was getting on! (He later told me he got the ‘whip’ out once – he ran a pretty good time too so it obviously worked!)

I knew Beck wasn’t far behind me because at one point I heard her distinctive laugh. It sounded like she was going OK but I dared not look behind me. How does the saying go, ‘Never look back, unless it’s to see how far you’ve come.’

15km was my ‘wall’. I’m not sure why, but as soon as I passed that marker, I guess I knew it wasn’t going to be a PB for me. It was just a hard slog. (Kym, who I had seen marshalling at 2 points along the way and who is pretty much trail running royalty around these parts, said to me after the race that you can’t expect to have a great race after a tough trail race the previous week. He was probably right.)

The slow start and subsequent push to get back under 4:50 pace probably took a bit out of me and meant that my ‘traditional’ fast finish wasn’t on the cards. Then there was Cleland last week. So yeah, there were probably a few contributing factors.

Around this point I saw a few friendly faces. Chantel, who is on the comeback trail from a nasty bike accident was out taking photos because she wasn’t yet ready to run it. It was great to see her smiling face out there. Hopefully she’ll be able to join me at Gold Coast in July! Then not long after that I saw Nat, my cycling coach, on a drink station. I gave her a cheer and a thankyou – I didn’t stop at all for drinks because I was carrying my own. It was great to see her regardless.

The rest of the race was a bit of a blur. There was my friend since high school, Tracie, official photographer in Elder Park – hopefully I gave her some good shots! After passing Tracie I said to those around me (but probably more for my own benefit) “Look straight ahead. Do not, whatever you do, look right”. That was because on the right, across the river, was the finish line. We were still more than 1km away from reaching it – we still had to run up a nasty little hill, back across the Torrens Weir, and along the other side. Seeing the finish line now would be just demoralising. We knew it was there, but seeing it just made it more real!

I had stopped looking at my watch by now. “Que sera, sera”, I thought. I didn’t think I had made up enough time and I didn’t really have a whole lot left to smash out a fast final km.

When I felt my watch vibrate to signify 21km I knew I had about 200m to go. My watch had consistently been about 100m ahead of the actual distance. Possibly because I hadn’t started right at the front of the 800-strong pack, maybe the overtaking along the way, and maybe simple satellite inaccuracy, or a combination of all 3. I entered Pinky Flat and could finally see the beautiful sight of the finish line! Despite being pretty much spent by this point, I was sure I had another 200m left in me!

I picked up the pace and managed to pass a few runners as I approached the finish line (admittedly mostly 10k runners, but still…) and rounded the bend to cross the line in 1:42:47 by my watch. A little disappointing, being 20 seconds SLOWER than Clare, which most would say is a tougher course. (My official time was 1:42:44 – a lousy 1 SECOND off my Greenbelt PB from 2 years ago!)

I remembered to get my medal first before ducking under the bunting to collapse in a heap! It was not 30 seconds later that I saw Beck cross the line for a new PB! She was stoked and I was too, for having been a part of it! She said she had been able to see me the whole way – my choice of a hi-viz yellow top probably helped! We are both hoping to run Boston qualifiers this year and based on that run today she is well on track!

I then got to my favourite part of any race, getting to catch up with friends to see how they went. Greenbelt being a point to point course, after the start you don’t see anyone unless you pass them or they pass you. The fast people at the front I would not see again until the finish. That girl I said would win? She did! Not a bad 4 weeks for her – 2 half marathon wins and a state trail championship! I saw both the Peters – one had a great run, the other not so much. Another regular running buddy John (well we don’t run together that much, mostly because he is too damn fast!) had done a PB and come so very close to his goal of breaking the 80 minute barrier. Imagine. 80 minutes. At this point I’d be happy to break 100 again! (I know it is possible. I’ve done it once!)

After the presentations it was time for the hard run home. It ended up being a bit over 9km, mostly (ever-so-slightly) uphill, on tired legs with my UTA100 backpack. I was so happy that Adelaide United had forced me to abandon my plans of running 21k back to Athelstone. 9km was more than enough, thankyou very much! I was never so happy to crack open an icy cold can of Coke than I was when I staggered in the front door just after midday! I had managed to fit in a relatively fast half marathon as part of my marathon training, as well as some ultra training on top of it. It had been a good day.

And as history shows, it got better. There wasn’t time to collapse on the couch and become a vegetable for the rest of the day – I had an A-League Grand Final to get to! So I quickly demolished a pizza and got a bus into town. And my team, Adelaide United, the mighty Reds, prevailed 3-1 in front of 50000 roaring fans at the Adelaide Oval, which I had run past only hours before.

So yeah.

It was a pretty good day!

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Race Report – SA Trail Championships

The SA Trail Championships are run every year on the Cleland Trails. There are 3 distances on offer (being a trail race, all distances are approximate) – 6km, 12km and the championship 24km course.

Cleland is a popular spot for hikers and runners alike, with regular wildlife sightings (I’ve seen kangaroos, koalas and even deer) and some pretty challenging sections of trail. Any time from early in the morning to the dark of night, you’re bound to run into someone – from weekend warriors to serious proper athletes. I’ve done it in mornings before work, Sunday Runday, even Friday night group trail runs. I’ve run through there during Yurrebilla Ultra Marathon (during YUM, Cleland is home to one of the best buffets I’ve seen) and I even spent last New Year’s Eve running through there.

Trail Running SA, who put on the SA Trail Championships, also put on social runs on most Sundays when there are no trail races scheduled. I’d run the Cleland 24km loop, pretty much the same as the Championships course, several times, so was pretty familiar with the terrain and the course.  

The first time I ran Cleland was also the very first Sunday social trail run I ever did. We were given printed, very clear, directions (eg “400m along Winter Track and then left on Long Ridge.”) Even so, one of my regular running buddies (who shall remain nameless) somehow ended up atop Mount Lofty (which was in no way part of the run) and tried to call several people for help. Said people allegedly saw who was calling and decided to ignore the calls! I ran with Kim and we did pretty well except towards the end when we took a wrong turn which ended very quickly in a dead end and we got back on track.

Another time I ran with Beck in pretty horrible conditions. Cold, windy and rainy. We were lucky enough to finish just before the big deluge hit. David, who organised the run, was not so lucky – getting back to the Cleland café just after us, he somewhat resembled a drowned rat!

This was my first Trail Championships. In 2014, my first full year of running, I was training for my first marathon and from memory it was only about 5 or 6 weeks away. I’d opted for a long road run instead of a challenging trail course where I might roll an ankle (being extremely inexperienced on trails) and put my marathon plans into disarray. In 2015 the championships clashed with the inaugural Bay-City Fun Run, which I decided to make into an ‘out and back’ to make it into a long road run, again as part of my marathon training.

This year I am also in marathon training but the marathon I am training for is later in the year. I’m also training for a challenging trail ultra in just under 3 weeks. This year, the Trail Champs fit perfectly into my plans!

I spent the week debating the merits of racing it versus using it as a training run. Realistically I wasn’t ever going to be a contender (although many very good trail runners would be skipping this event to taper for the inaugural Hubert ultra next weekend) but I still couldn’t resist the opportunity to race! A training run would mean wearing my big race vest, laden with mandatory gear and a bag of rice for extra weight. I’ve been trying to make up for my lack of training by running some of my regular road and hill runs with the race vest. But I didn’t really fancy doing that at the Championships. Instead, I opted to wear my small race vest just with sports drink and maybe half a litre of water, simply so I wouldn’t have to stop at the drink stations. (That tactic had actually resulted in my getting a placing at the Kuitpo Forest trail race last year).

I was picked up in the morning by regular morning running buddy Max and her husband Ray. I had gone out without a jacket – thinking my rainbow coloured arm socks would be warm enough – but was quickly sent back inside to get something warmer. I was so glad I did too, because it was a tad chilly at Cleland when we arrived about 45 minutes before go time! I peeled off the jacket with about 10 minutes to go.

I didn’t really have a goal time in mind. Mark, one of the fast runners I try to keep up with on my morning runs, asked me at the start what time I was aiming for. I said “2 and a half hours but I have a feeling that is a bit ambitious”. 2 hours would be 5 minute kms (even less, considering it was a bit OVER 24km) and with over 1000m total elevation, anything close to 2 hours was just utterly ridiculous! Anyway, 2.5 hours seemed like a reasonable figure to aim for. Given that it was my first Trail Champs, it was a guaranteed PB whatever happened! 

And without further ado, and spot on the advertised start time of 8:00, we were away!

Having not done a warmup, within the first few hundred metres I seem to recall, I blurted out to anyone who might be interested, “This is awful!” Not a good start when there’s over 24km of tough running to go! However, it soon went from awful to tolerable and then to pretty damn fun! It probably took a good kilometre for my dodgy hip (hamstring tendon most likely) to warm up and start feeling good.

I soon found myself running with Kate and Kay. Kate I have run with a fair bit, including my first ever half marathon (possibly also Kate’s first?) and regularly on a Thursday morning. Kay I used to run with regularly on a Sunday and also for about half of last year’s Barossa Marathon. We were also joined by Leon who is training for the 6 day Big Red Run in June, and may I say the best colour-coordinated man I have ever seen out on the trails, in head to toe blue! (Well maybe not toe – he dropped the ball a bit with the shoes. Let’s say ‘neck to ankle’.) 

We lost Kay after a while (she happily did make it to the finish!) and Kate and I settled into a rhythm as we chatted away.

Early on Kate had a couple of little trips but saved herself like a pro. It was then that I thought I’d better start concentrating on where I was putting my feet. I still find steep downhills very challenging – I tried the zigzag technique to reduce the gradient and that seemed to work.

For the most part.

At approximately 7.5km I think I must not have lifted my foot quite enough and caught my heel on a rock. One could say I went down like a sack of sh*t. Actually I think it was more graceful than that.  Kate complimented me on my roll! I hit the ground with my right elbow, knee and hipbone, rolled and bounced back up to do a quick systems check. There was a bit of blood on my elbow and knee (but thankfully not dripping) and I dared not peel back my skirt and Skins shorts to look at my hip. Miraculously (and most importantly), save for a bit of dirt and a few specks of blood, my lululemon skirt and Skins came out unscathed! And even better, other than Kate and a guy behind us who had previously proved to be an absolute pro on the downhills, NO-ONE HAD SEEN IT!

I had avoided any major damage and prescribed myself a tall glass of concrete (aka ‘HTFU’). We pressed on.

I won’t lie. It was a challenging course. 1000m of ‘vert’ in 24km was comparable to the 4000m in 100km that I will be tackling in just under 3 weeks. The scenery was beautiful, the day turned out absolutely perfect, and it was just wonderful to be out there among friends, enjoying the trails.

The uphills were at times runnable, and at other times either Kate or I would set a landmark and we agreed we could walk until we reached that landmark. For example, “the black tree” as Kate suggested on one occasion. I cheekily suggested she might want to be a bit more specific. There had been fire through there recently. There were a LOT of black trees!

We enjoyed the relief of the flats and the downhills and used the uphills as an opportunity to get some hydration on board. Kate commented that she would have expected to see a drink station earlier than we did. There was a spot just near Greenhill Road, just after 5km, which we thought would have been a perfect spot for a drink station and we thought it was odd that we didn’t see one until 10k. Not that it mattered because neither of us needed anything at that point – except maybe a pair of glasses. Sure enough, I later found out that there WAS a drink station there! That shows how little attention we were paying to our surroundings at that point! 

As we reached the drink stations Kate would stop for a refill and I would plod on ahead. At one of the drink stations Louise, who had been a beacon way ahead in her hi-viz yellow, joined our little party and ran with us for a while. It was around this point (19km – just over 5km to go) that I decided to make a bit of a move.

Looking at my splits, the next kilometre was effectively the fastest (considering it was slightly uphill and the faster splits I’d run were downhill). I was kicking it up a notch!

And then. I hit Doug’s Hill.

It’s not officially called Doug’s Hill. I think it is part of the Birriee Track. It has been unofficially named after SA trail running royalty in Doug Smart. Lovely guy, and very involved the organisation of Trail Running SA events including this one, but that hill? He has a lot to answer for! I’m told that, on a wet day, it’s kind of like trying to climb up a waterfall.

Kilometre 20 was 5:19, just a little uphill. Kilometre 21 was 12:04 with 116 metres elevation. I could see Kate and Louise not far behind me. Kate had earlier asked me, “Is this the steep hill?” I replied yes, it was A steep hill, but it wasn’t THE steep hill. Halfway up Doug’s Hill I yelled out to Kate, “THIS is THE steep hill!” I joked to the guy just in front of me that this would be a good spot for hill repeats. Except, having to go back down – bugger that! (Plus, he pointed out that access was a bit of an issue – a tough 5km ‘warmup’ just to get to the hill! A good point well made.)

I thought I was almost at the top when I said that. Nope! Still more to come! Kind of like Heartbreak Hill! When I realised I was finally at the end, I did a bit of a fist pump. The worst was over. It was all downhill from here! (Except it wasn’t!)

A few more kilometres slightly uphill and we were on the home stretch. From the point I’d left Kate and Louise, I’d been following a girl called Tracey who I didn’t know personally but who I knew was a good runner (and running buddy of Kazu, Yurrebilla runner-up and eventual third placegetter here as well as winner of our age group) I tried to catch her, at one point I did pass her but my lead was short lived. I chased her all the way to the finish and she beat me by a few seconds. It was great having someone to chase, even though I couldn’t quite get there today!

On one of the uphills I was easily passed by another girl. Looking at the results afterwards, I think it was Angie, who had finished in 2nd place ahead of me at Kuitpo Forest. I did eventually pass her and was surprised she didn’t pass me again on the downhill ‘sprint’ to the finish. I ended up finishing in a dead heat with another girl, Bronwen. The finishing arch had collapsed just before we came through so we had to do a bit of Limbo to get over the finish line – easier said than done after a tough 24+ km!

Having not really been looking at my pace at all, and just running by feel, I was pretty happy with my finishing time of 2:35:34. 2:30 is definitely doable and maybe something to aim for next year. Except hopefully this time next year I will be in Vegas, still basking in the post-Boston glow!

Kate, Louise, Kay, Leon and Max all finished not far behind me. I was extremely surprised to see Mick, fellow SA UTA100 athlete and awesome comedian, cross the finish line, fresh from breaking the Guinness world record for the highest comedy gig in the world. At Everest Base Camp. He’d only got back into town the night before the race! Now that’s impressive! (And that was probably the only time I will ever beat him in any race!) 

I also chatted with Andrew, winner of the Heysen 105 last year and who had done really well at last year’s The North Face 100 (now UTA). He had finished 6th in this race – he said the fast guys were just too fast for him! Now when someone like that is talking about ‘the fast guys’ you know they’re going at some scary pace! We also chatted to Simon, a fellow UTA100 virgin who had just marginally missed out on cracking the magical 2 hour barrier. I expect he will do very well at UTA.

I went to the first aid station to get my wounds cleaned up. The first aider was pretty happy with how clean they were so she just cleaned the blood off with a bit of saline and sent me on my way.

Presentation time, and more importantly, random prize draw!

Standing next to me was Micarla, who was in red-hot form having won the Clare Half only a few weeks earlier. She was dressed in street clothes despite having run the event! I soon found out how she had had time to freshen up and change – she had WON the women’s 24k! Nice job Micarla! Second and third places were filled by some familiar faces – Bronwyn, fresh from a great performance at the Buffalo Stampede, and importantly now no longer in my age group (at least until next year!) in second, and Kazu, happily back doing well after a nasty fall in a trail race here in January, in third place. (I later found out that Kazu had also had a bit of a stack out there but thankfully only a minor one this time! See, it happens to the best of us!)

Somehow, I was 2nd behind Kazu in the 35-39 age group! Kind of like Masters last weekend except this time there were actually other people in the age group! I was very happy with this considering it’s a very tough age group (even with Bronwyn having ‘levelled up’ to the next age group!)

Speaking of age groups, I need to give a special shout out to Max who won her age group and was only a few minutes behind me! And this after overcoming a long-term injury! Well done Max, you’re a star and an inspiration!

I was lucky enough to win a prize in the random draw – entry to the next TRSA event, Sturt Gorge on 22 May. My face must have dropped a bit – I’m volunteering at that event, being 1 week after UTA100. As Claire handed me my voucher, she said I can use it for another event seeing as I’ve already got my name down to volunteer. I look forward to running one of the TRSA events later in the year, after the Gold Coast Marathon!

All in all, it was a fantastic, well run event, and I would like to give huge thanks to everyone – committee, volunteers and of course runners – that made it possible! 

I highly recommend this event to anyone. 6km is great both for relative trail newbies and for people who like to run FAST! For those who want a challenging course but don’t think they can manage 24km, there’s the 12k! (Both the 6k and the 12k are also great for walkers!)

I LOVED it (yes, even Doug’s Hill)!

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Australian Masters Athletics Championships – aka ‘Better invest in some silver polish’

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Some may remember last year I competed in the Australian Masters Games which was held in Adelaide.
If you are interested you can read about it in the below posts:
https://randomthoughtsandracereports.wordpress.com/2015/10/11/two-halves-make-a-whole-right/
https://randomthoughtsandracereports.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/and-now-for-something-completely-different/

Well this year the Masters Athletics Championships were also held here in Adelaide. This was the perfect opportunity to compete with and/or watch some seriously proper athletes, with the Athletics Championships generally attracting a larger field than the athletics events at the Masters Games.

It was also one of my last opportunities to compete in the somewhat less competitive 35-39 age group. In most of my open age group events, 35-39 seems to be the toughest age group. Maybe that’s just me, but it seems like whether it be a trail race, an ultra, half marathon or 10k, the placings invariably feature at least one woman from my age group. However, maybe because they are still so competitive at an open level, women in my age group don’t tend to compete at Masters. That’s fine with me! Once they hit the 40s and 50s though, the numbers rise dramatically. So a hometown championship meet, while still under 40 – of course I had to enter!

The timing wasn’t ideal – 4 weeks out from Ultra-Trail Australia 100km. Ideally I should have been doing a long hilly trail run. But you have to take these opportunities when they arise, so what can you do?

When the final start list and programme came out, it looked something like this:

SATURDAY:
8am 10000m – just the 2 athletes in my age group. The other one was Lisa. I don’t want to sound negative but even if she’s having a bad day I cannot beat her! And I’m OK with that, she’s just too good!
4pm 800m – 6 in my age group. Lisa was the only one I knew. Anything could happen! (Well, probably anything except me winning!)

SUNDAY:
11:30 1500m – 4 in my age group. Lisa and 2 interstaters who I didn’t know (and couldn’t easily stalk, because the start list only gave first initials!)

MONDAY:
8am 5000m – my ‘pet’ event. Only the 3 of us (one interstater and, you guessed it, Lisa!). A guaranteed medal!

An email received the day before competition started meant that I would not be walking away with ANY medals. An issue with the medal order meant that there weren’t enough, so the organisers had requested that all SA athletes return their medals to ensure that all interstate athletes got medals to take home. We would still get ours, in the fulness of time.

For once, I didn’t have to think too much about what to wear for a race. State Masters uniform was mandatory. I had opted for the lycra racerback top rather than the tech fabric singlet because I liked the way it fit better. I paired this with my old fave lululemon black skirt over Skins shorts. For the first day I decided to wear my blue Compressport calf sleeves (I usually wear them for races of 10km or more) and also strap my feet to prevent blisters. (I normally only strap my feet for half marathons or longer, but my blister experience from the 100km track race in January meant I was taking no chances.)

I’ll be honest, I was a little anxious about the 10000m on race eve. While checking my email that night to confirm race start time, I saw that registration was from 12pm – 5pm on the Friday, and from 8am each day of competition. My race was at 8am. If registration started at 8, how could I run at 8? There was nothing I could do at this point, I decided to get there early and hope that registration opened even 5 minutes before 8.

RACE 1 – 10000m

I got to the stadium about 7:15 and to my relief registration was already open. I collected my race pack including my race numbers, and asked one of the volunteers if there was anything else I needed to do. She said “No, unless your event has heats.” I said “I bloody hope not, it’s the 10000m!”

I attached my numbers (front and back was required) to my Spibelt with the toggles (SO much easier than pinning them to a top I was already wearing, especially on the back!) and went down to the track to get my hip number, an additional number required for races of 800m or above (ie races with more than one lap) so the lap counters could keep track of how many laps we’d done. My hip number was #1, which I thought was pretty cool especially since I was running in the first race of the meet. Probably not an omen though. I wasn’t expecting to be #1 in the race! (I was #1 by virtue of being the youngest in the field).

I warmed up with 2 laps of the stadium (about 1.4km). I was ready and raring to go!

In the 10000m, being a looooong race, all the women in all the age groups run together. So the field ranged in age from 39 up to 69.

We lined up at the start and we were away! I was in lane one (on account of my #1 hip number) and lane one is where everyone runs (being the shortest distance). Quickly I was overtaken by a lot of people (Lisa of course being one) but I didn’t let that concern me. This was a 25 lap race. There was a LOOOONG way to go!

I decided to go conservative for the first 5 laps. Call it a warm-up. I had 3 more events after this and there was no chance of my getting anything other than a silver medal unless Lisa DNF. There was nothing to gain by trying to race from the get-go! Even so, as it turned out, my first lap was my fastest of the 25!

I got through the first 5 laps (2km) in 8:24. Average pace 4:12 per km. If I could have kept that pace up that would have been a 42 minute 10k! But of course, as I said before, 25 laps is a long race and as it turned out (surprise surprise), despite my attempt to take the first 5 laps easy, I did not!

My next 5 laps took 8:39. During this section of the race I was lapped for the first (but not last) time! It was just after 7.5 laps (so, the 3000m mark) when Lisa and one of the 50-54 athletes passed me. I knew it would happen, it was just a matter of when. I was pretty happy to have made it almost a third of the way before being lapped!

My next 5 laps was 8:58, slower again. I passed the halfway point. Up until then I was counting how many laps I’d done (there were official lap counters, and I was wearing my Garmin watch, but the GPS can be inaccurate so I didn’t want to rely wholly and solely on that). From the halfway point onwards, I started counting down. At one point the lap counter told me I had 11 laps to go. I questioned her as I was sure it was 12. I didn’t want to get my hopes up! Sure enough, the next time I came past, she said 11 laps to go. My instincts were correct!

I managed to sustain my pace for the next 5 laps, again going round in 8:58. Although the whole race was tough, it was sometime in this section that I hit a (mental) wall. It was just after I had been lapped for the second time. Now, as I passed the finish line and the lap counters, the number showing on the board was 2 less than the number of laps I had left to go. From memory the board showed 6 and I still had 8. Mentally that got to me a bit.

My last 5 laps was a little faster at 8:50. The front runners lapped me yet again and I started to hear the bell, signifying that someone was entering her last lap. My last lap was 1:38 – as always I seem to be able to find a little something when I know the finish line is in sight! I crossed the line in 46:26 (according to my watch) – a little slower than I’d hoped, but for my first 10000m on a track, I was happy.

Overall, I averaged 1:51 per lap. My 2 fastest laps were my first and my last.

The crowd and the announcer were great. While I didn’t win my age group (predictably I finished second) I was pleasingly announced as the ‘happy champion’ because I was smiling and cheering most of the times I completed a lap! I think I was even smiling in some of my photos, even though I can honestly say that was one of the toughest races of my life!

I got my silver medal and hung onto it for a while before reluctantly returning it as per the organisers’ request. I would eventually get one to keep! And I could safely say I was the first person to wear that particular medal, who knew how many people would have that pleasure before it found its eventual owner?

RACE 2 – 800m

I’ll be honest – I didn’t like my chances. I had only ever run 800m twice before and here I was competing against 5 others in my age group.

After a busy day, I made my way back to the stadium to find the carpark was full and I ended up having to park at Bunnings. Turned out there was some big event at the adjacent netball complex and the carpark there was full, so a lot of the netball people were parking in the athletics carpark! Grrr!

Eventually I got to the track and I had plenty of time. I did a warmup with Lisa, the only time I had ever actually run WITH her instead of just seeing her as a speck in the distance, and it was really cool! She wanted to do 3 laps (2km) so I went along with her. We probably went a bit early though, because there were a number of 800m finals and there were quite a few before ours.

In our final, there were 8 listed – 6 in the 35-39 age group and 2 in 30-34. (The smaller age groups were combined to minimise the number of finals required. The larger age groups had had to run heats earlier in the day.)

Lisa and I were there, and another girl Renata from SA who I had not met before. But the 3 interstaters were nowhere to be seen! I didn’t want to get excited at the prospect of another medal, I expected one or more of them to show up at any minute! (I had seen one of them – she had medalled in a throwing event. She seemed to be primarily a throws competitor, judging by the events on her programme. Maybe she had opted to drop the 800 to focus on the throws.)

After what seemed like an eternity, it was our turn. Just the 3 of us started in our age group – another medal to come! Lisa and the 2 30-34 girls were both wearing spikes. And then there was me in my road shoes – I was completely out of my depth!

Even the start revealed my inexperience in events like this. The official told me to go to the green line. Quickly Lisa realised I had no idea what to do, so she kindly explained to me what I had to do. Start at the green line in lane 5, and not move into lane 1 until after the cones that indicated he 100m mark, or else risk disqualification. OK, I could deal with that!

The starting gun went off (a bit quieter than I was anticipating, so it took me half a second to get going) and we were away! Just a lazy 2 laps – how hard could it be?

I passed Renata in lane 8 before moving into lane 1 after the 100m mark. Lisa and the younger girls were well in front. (I had jokingly asked Lisa before the race not to lap me – quite silly really. I would have had to have been walking for that to happen in a 2 lap race!)

I went my hardest. I was aware of the cameras but didn’t have the time or energy to wave or smile – these would be serious racing photos! My first lap was 1:20 which was a 400m PB for me. (I don’t compete in 400m races nor do I intend to).

On my second lap, probably around the 600m mark, I thought I could hear footsteps behind me. I tried to pick up the pace. Although I already had a ‘so-so silver’ medal (with apologies to The Simpsons) and it would have been cool to have a ‘shameful bronze’ for something different, I was desperate to hold onto second place! This was actually the first time I had been in a Masters race with more than 2 in my age group. And I had never beaten Lisa, the only person I had ever actually competed against. So this was my first chance to actually BEAT someone in my age group!

As I entered the final straight I couldn’t hear the footsteps anymore and I focused on the clock. I had been caught out the previous week at state Masters comp when I thought I had done a sub-6 minute 1500m for the first time, only to find out afterwards that the clock was 6 seconds slow! I was sure that this was not the case here, though.

My eyes widened when I realised that I was on track for a PB! In my 2 previous 800m outings I hadn’t been able to crack the 3 minute barrier but it could happen here! AND IT DID! I screamed with elation when I crossed the line and my watch showed 2:59.60! Renata was only 10 seconds behind me in the bronze medal position. (Garmin Connect and Strava have a nasty habit of rounding up times so both of them gave me a time of 3:00. 3:00 is a lot different to 2:59! In fact, my official time was 2:58.90!)

Unfortunately Renata was not able to stay for the medal presentation so once again it was just Lisa and me on the podium. It would have been cool to have a full podium for once, and 3 South Australians for that matter!

I hung around to watch the 100m finals – wow those runners are FAST! For the second time that day I returned my silver medal and, satisfied with my day’s work, headed home for a curry, cider and Epsom salts bath!

RACE 3 – 1500m

This was a weird day. My one and only race for the day was scheduled for 11:30. Right in the middle of the day! I contemplated going for a gentle 10k run with the Sunday morning run group but thought better of it. There were 4 athletes in my age group. I did NOT want to finish last and be the only one who didn’t get a medal. (There was a good chance that may happen anyway, but I didn’t want to do anything which would negatively impact my medal chances.)

Instead, I got up at a civilised time (woken up by the sun for the first time in who knows how long), had breakfast and then headed into town for a leisurely coffee with some of the Sunday runners. While having my breakfast I put together my race plan.

I wanted to run sub 6 minutes, or average just under 4 minutes per km. I had done 6:01 before so it was very doable. 1500 is a weird distance in that the first lap is 300m and then the next 3 are the full 400. It makes it tricky to pace.

I did my calculations and worked out that I wanted to be on around 1:12 after the first 300m, then 1:36 per lap thereafter. So at 700m I should be on 2:48, 1100m 4:24, and 1500m 6:00. Assuming I could squeeze out a slightly faster final lap, sub-6 was well within my capabilities. I did plan to write the goal times on my hand but it was easy enough to memorise them.

After a nice coffee and chat with a bunch of the runners, I made my way to the stadium to watch some of the earlier races before getting ready for mine. When I arrived the race walks were in progress, an event that has never appealed to me personally, but they do go pretty fast! Hurdles were next, and of course we had to wait for them to finish and clear the track before we could start. 1500m is challenging enough without making it into an obstacle course!

I warmed up as I had the day before, with 3 laps of the stadium. My warnup was a bit too early as it turned out, because our race didn’t end up starting until closer to 12, rather than the advertised 11:36. Oh well, it was a beautiful, sunny morning so there were no issues with getting cold while waiting around.

All the women gathered at the 100m mark to get ready for the start. There were 3 races – all the 55+ women in one, then the 50-54 women (originally there were 12 on the start list, hence they had a race of their own, however only 5 actually started) and then finally the 30-49 group. The same 2 30-34 girls were back for more. There were a LOT in the 45-49 group! But where were the other 2 35-39 girls? They were 2 of the 3 girls who were entered in the 800m but didn’t show. I had thought that they might be serious 1500m runners who decided to skip the 800 to focus on the 15. I jokingly said that maybe they’d seen my name on the start list and gotten scared! Maybe they were just injured. Either way, they were not there (although I was looking around constantly, expecting one or both of them to show up at the last minute)!

It was go time. Again it was just Lisa and me in our age group. A medal assured (ANOTHER silver!), I just had to do my own thing and not worry about anyone else.

I started slowly (or so I thought), letting all the rest of the field pass me as I settled into a rhythm. When I reached 300m I was a good 6 seconds (I think – I forget the actual time) under my goal time. And I felt it too! Despite not feeling like I was going fast, I was dragged along by the fast runners and was going way too fast for me.

By the end of lap 2 (700m) I was a few seconds over where I had planned to be. But I didn’t have any capacity to increase the pace, so I decided that a PB was not on the cards. I just wanted to finish strong and get as close as I could. And hopefully not finish last out of everyone! (I was still in last place at this stage)

Lap 3 was the slowest, around 5 seconds slower than the one before it. I waved to the photographers, given that a PB was not happening, I might as well enjoy it!

I managed to increase the pace on the last lap and even passed one of the other runners, focusing on trying to pass the next girl in front of me. I didn’t end up catching her, but it was a good motivator to run a bit faster. After all, I didn’t need to leave anything in the tank as this was my only run of the day.

I finished in 6:10 – well outside my PB, which I was a bit disappointed with, but really it was that first lap that got me! Going out too fast – I don’t seem to learn!

After a hard fast race such as this, sometimes I find I can’t stop coughing for a while afterwards! This was one of those times. It probably took about an hour to go away altogether. Weirdly, it didn’t happen after the 800!

After the medal presentation (possibly the same medal again – after a quick photo I returned it AGAIN) I headed off – I had to get my mandatory gear sorted for the Ultra-Trail Australia 100k in (aargh) less than 4 weeks! It seems really weird to be running a 1500m track race and then dashing off to prepare for a 100km trail ultra!

RACE 4 – 5000m

This was my bread and butter. I think I’ve probably run this distance over 120 times (and that’s just parkruns!) so I was pretty confident I knew what I was doing. I had a track PB of just over 21 minutes which was still well outside my overall 5km PB. There were 3 listed iny age group but one of them had also been listed in the 800 and the 1500 so I wasn’t expecting to see her at the 5000 either.

I got to the track about half an hour before race start. This was a good event as I had a few friends running in it as well (albeit not in my age group). When I arrived the 55+ women had just started their event. Among them were some Masters legends including multiple world record holder Lavinia Petrie in the 70-74 age group, and Anne Young in 80-84. As someone who works with primarily frail older adults it’s great to see fit older people out there and hopefully that will be me in the years to come!

I did my 3 lap warmup again and was good to go by race start. Once again it was just the 2 of us in my age group. All I had to do was run my own race and barring absolute disaster (ie a DNF) I would collect another silver medal.

I went out hoping to run between 3:45 – 4:15 pace throughout (and had set my Garmin pace alerts accordingly). Once again I happily let a whole lot of people pass me, knowing that there was no point smashing myself early. I did manage to pass a few throughout the course of the race (as well as being lapped by multiple athletes – although I was happy that no-one managed to lap me twice!)

I passed Clare, leader and eventual winner of the 30-34 age group, within the first couple of laps, but it wasn’t long before she passed me again. She was to stay ahead of me for the remainder of the race, but it was good to have someone to chase down at the end. I think she only beat me by about 5-6 seconds so I was happy with that.  Lisa was one of the athletes who lapped me, I think around the 3000m mark, and beat me by about 1 1/2 laps.

I didn’t get the bell today! I heard it a number of times for athletes ahead of me, but when I started what I was sure was my final lap, no bell! I checked my watch to be sure. GPS can be inaccurate as we all know, but it wouldn’t be out by 400m in a 5000m race. Yes, that was definitely my last lap!

It wasn’t a PB for me today – maybe it was the combination of the 4 races in just over 48 hours taking its toll, but despite perfect conditions I just couldn’t get there. My Garmin time was 21:42 which was a good 30 seconds outside the time I did in the Masters Games last year, but it’s around the time I’ve been doing at parkrun of late so I can’t really complain!

The story of the day for me was regular running buddy Maree claiming bronze in the 50-54 age group, which was a complete surprise to her in a very competitive age group! Well done Maree! Contrast that with me, who only had to finish to get a medal (same as all of my races!)

I only need to get one photo of the medal presentations – all 4 of my podium photos look EXACTLY THE SAME! Except I wore a different hat yesterday. And in some I am wearing my runners but others I’ve taken them off. But it’s the same story every time – Lisa on top, then me in 2nd. I’m still slightly taller even on the lower podium – normally all the medallists get up on the top podium for a photo but Lisa wouldn’t let me get up there!

So after that was done and dusted I had to make my way into town to get my mandatory gear checked off for Ultra-Trail Australia 100 – talk about ‘and now for something completely different’! I guess I’d better start training…

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Race report – Conquer the Summit

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April 10 2016 was a day of choices.

The SA running/triathlon scene has grown so much in recent years that invariably decisions have to be made re which event (if any) to enter on a given weekend. And that’s a good thing. A little competition never hurt anyone and can only make for better events.

April 10 in particular seemed to be a very popular day. On that one day we had not one but two triathlons (Gatti at West Lakes and also one at Strathalbyn), a new event at Granite Island with a 5k and 10k, a 5k and 11k Conquer the Summit at Mt Barker, and finally another new event, the Salisbury half marathon (with various shorter distances too).

I ruled out the 2 triathlons first – I initially had earmarked the final Gatti of the season as my tri debut, but hadn’t had enough time on the bike to be able to do it justice (not to mention not having some of the essential gear ie a trisuit, wetsuit and oh, a bike!)

Next – Salisbury looked to be a great event but I didn’t fancy another half just a week after having raced pretty hard at Clare.

Granite Island I had initially pencilled in. I love the area and love running there, but I needed to focus on my 2 big running events coming up – firstly Ultra-Trail Australia 100km in (yikes) 5 weeks, and then a sub 3:40 marathon in (aargh) 12 weeks. My training for both has been a bit messy, with Sunday races getting in the way (can’t resist a race!) and trying to juggle training for 2 very different races.

So I had to pick the event that would give me ‘time on feet’, some hill training, and just a long run. Conquer the Summit ticked all the boxes so that was the event I chose.

Conquer the Summit is a community event which has been running for a number of years, organised by the Mt Barker Lions Club. My friend Karen says it’s one of her favourite events, and she does it every year. She does the 11km (uphill) run, then runs back down, making it a good long run. (‘Normal’ people get a bus back down. Normal is overrated)

Given that it would essentially be a long run (the first half being a race, albeit uphill), I decided to wear my small race vest with some water in the bladder, sports drink and a few light snacks. It would be good training for UTA100 where I would also be wearing a vest, albeit larger and heavier!

I didn’t decide on my outfit until race morning – after much deliberation I opted for a pretty floral skirt which I’d never worn in a race before (over the top of Skins compression shorts, so no chance of any chafing) and the top I wore for Yurrebilla 56 and the front half of Heysen 105. It’s a nice top but the back is stained from where the colour has run from my race vest. So it can now ONLY be worn in conjunction with a backpack!

I studied the directions of how to get to Keith Stephenson Park in Mount Barker. I screenshotted just the last bit (once I hit Mt Barker), as I knew the way pretty well up to there. I left home at 7, giving myself plenty of time to get there, collect my race number and fit in a quick toilet stop before the 8am start.

Soooo… I’m not trusting Google maps anymore.

When ‘my destination’ turned out to be a dead end street to the middle of nowhere, I consulted the maps app on my phone. According to that app, the park didn’t exist! I finally went to the always reliable UBD street directory. Yes, I went old school. And what did I find? THE PARK IS ON THE FREAKING MAIN ROAD INTO TOWN! And it’s big too. You can’t miss it!

Anyway, that unscheduled tour of Mt Barker aside, I made it to the park in plenty of time.

Autumn is a magic time of year up in the hills – the autumn leaves on the trees (and the multicoloured carpet on the ground) are just stunning. I found out after the race that this event was originally in June. It’s pretty cold up there in June, and no pretty leaves. I’m glad they changed it!

So all I really knew was that this race was pretty much all uphill. Roughly 11km of uphill. And it attracted a pretty strong field too. Some really high quality female runners (so I knew I wasn’t going to be competitive, which was kind of nice. I just wanted it to be a training run) and a whole lot of red singleted Adelaide Harriers (I think ‘Harrier’ is Latin for ‘crazy fast runner’)!

I had pushed it a bit at parkrun on Saturday so woke up with stiffness and soreness in my left hip (the old tendinosis which flares up from time to time) and probably the drive up (slightly longer than it was meant to be, too) didn’t help. Without enough time for a warmup, I decided to take the first few kilometres pretty conservatively.

Within the first few kilometres I was on familiar territory, the Mt Barker parkrun course! I was running at 4:50 min/km pace which was a bit slower than I was used to running on this particular track! It was flat, if not ever so slightly downhill. As tempting as it was to try to pick up the pace, there was still a LONG way to go! (The turnaround point for the 5km fun run was at 2.5km. The marshal there said “Just a little bit further to go!” Somewhat of an understatement.)

The course was really quite steep in parts but there were also flat and downhill sections. Most of it was on roads, roads that were open to traffic but not overly busy, and there weren’t too many competitors, so there were no dramas.

I decided to try to maintain a fairly constant effort, rather than worrying about pace. That seemed the logical thing to do on a course that wasn’t flat. That meant when I hit the flats and downhills I would speed up and often overtake people. Then, on the uphills, I would frequently be overtaken.

I tried not to look at my watch. From about 4km until 9km I only looked at it periodically to make sure the time was still going. I didn’t want to know the distance and I wasn’t interested in pace. When it vibrated to indicate another km had been completed, I finally looked at it and it showed 9km. Only a bit over 2km to go. Sweet!

There was a guy in front of me most of the way, wearing a backpack. If I did catch up with him I was going to ask him if he was running back down – I guessed he probably was, given the backpack). Sometime between 9km and 10km I did catch and pass him but I was focused on breathing so I didn’t ask the question.

At around 10km we turned a corner and went up a steep gravel track. One woman said “Not long to go now!”. Correct. Not long to go. BUT, that ‘Not long’ was ALL UPHILL. And a pretty steep hill at that! (Kind of like saying “Not long to go” with 400m left to go up Mt Lofty. Yeah, 400m is not far in the overall scheme of things, but it’s a pretty nasty 400m all the same!)

The guy with the backpack passed me on the way up the hill. On the way up I managed to say “You done this before?” to which he replied in the affirmative. I then asked “How far?” and he responded “Not too much further, but I don’t really remember”. Not heaps helpful, but I guess if it was a horrendous long climb he probably WOULD have remembered that!

Towards the end I started to see red singlets coming towards me. Of course. The Harriers were already finished, stretched, hydrated, recovered and on their way back down. They’d probably also managed to fit in a 3 course brunch. Well maybe not the last bit. Anyway they gave me some encouragement and the old favourite “Not long to go now!” Easy for them to say!

Having not done this race before, and having decided it would be a training run, I hadn’t set a goal time or pace. I did, however, have a few thoughts along the way. 6:00 minutes per km sounded pretty reasonable for an uphill run. So if I could crack the 10km under the hour, I’d be happy Then I decided that 11km in the hour was doable.

I managed to achieve both of these goals. Unfortunately I thought 11km would be the end of the race but it wasn’t. I got 11km in under 1 hour but had to keep going. I did walk maybe for about 20-30 seconds after that, and then the hill seemed to flatten out. SURELY this must be it? I went round a corner and sure enough there it was, the finish line! The clock had already clicked over to 1 hour but I managed to get in under 1:01. I was pretty satisfied with that! I had Conquered the Summit. What’s weird was that until then I had never been to Mt Barker Summit, and didn’t even know it existed, despite having been to Mt Barker a number of times! I guess it stands to reason that where there’s a ‘Mount’, there’s a summit, I guess I’d just never thought of it before!

After fellow crazies Geoff, Karen and Ruth had all finished, we all set off back down to the town. Ruth, being a local, knew a trail that would take us back in a slightly more interesting way. It was interesting alright! We encountered a herd of cattle on the path! Forget running with the bulls, we got to run with cows and calves! Ruth had experienced this before on her runs but it was all new to me – very cool!

We soon got back onto the road that we had run up not so long ago. Luckily I had Geoff with me at that point because he had obviously been paying more attention to his surroundings on the way up than I had – none of the roads looked familiar to me AT ALL! I’d been concentrating on the people in front of me and been distracted by the pretty trees!

We made it back to the start just in time for the very end of the presentation (not an issue since none of us were contenders) and had a bit of a chat with some of the placegetters including my old nemesis Lisa who had won the women’s 11km in 48 minutes (I think). I don’t really mean nemesis, it’s just that she seems to be in every event I’m in and I can’t beat her. I have nothing against her personally of course! She happens to be in all 4 of the events I’m running next weekend at the Masters National Athletics Championships. Oh well – hopefully that will make me run faster!

Overall it was a really great run, a lovely community event in a beautiful location. I definitely would do this race again – I think I’d have to try really hard to crack 1 hour next time, now I know what to expect! To sum it up in one word? Well I have 2.

Brutal and Beautiful.

Brutiful.

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It’s all in my hands (feet?)

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As I write this, I’m thinking of my next race, the Clare Half Marathon. It will be my 3rd straight Clare, the first one being my first ever half, and a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The second, not so much. Probably my worst race ever. I’ve talked about it here before and I won’t go into it now, but I’m sure it will get a mention in next week’s Race Report!

I’ve had an easy week this week. Last week I did 65km, this week just 24. I had a weekend of R&R and made the conscious decision to forego a run on Sunday for a few extra hours sleep. There are still 14 weeks until the marathon. Plenty of time. There was some talk this past week about ‘junk miles’. Running for the sake of running. That’s what yesterday would have been. No, the extra sleep was way more beneficial. And I’m sure all the Easter chocolate will benefit me in the long run too (pun intended!)

I’ve been reading the excellent running book, ‘Run Like Crazy’ by Tristan Miller, who ran 52 marathons in 42 countries (including several ultras) in 1 year.

Almost 2 weeks into my 16 week training programme for the Gold Coast Marathon, with a view to qualifying for Boston 2017, I was a bit over the whole marathon caper and thinking of ‘retiring’ from marathons after Boston. However, the book has sort of got me excited by marathons again! And has even given me some ideas of other international marathons I might want to run!

A thought occurred to me. Yes, another one!

I have played team sports before. Most recently, I played soccer (or as some of you probably know it, football) for 5 years before taking an extended break at the start of last year. In my last season, 2014, after a few early games (often coming off the back of a 30km marathon training run) I decided the risk of injury was too great and stopped playing until after my marathon.

But it wasn’t overtraining that I was worried about, as you might think. It was the unknown and unpredictable. The dodgy tackle leading to a broken leg. The quick sprint to the ball leading to a snapped hamstring. Both unlikely but not out of the realms of possibility.

Which leads me, in a convoluted sort of way, to my thought.

Running is far more predictable than any team sport. Essentially, what happens out on the track/trail/road on race day is 100% up to me!

My marathon PB is 3:38 something. I need to do that again at Gold Coast to ensure that I get in to Boston next year. And really, there is no reason why I shouldn’t be able to do that!

There are various race predictors you can use, to predict your time in a race based on your time over any distance. I’m not sure how accurate they are, but one I looked at recently, based on my latest 10km time, predicted pretty close to my current PB for the half marathon. And 3:30 for the marathon. 3:30? You must be joking, I thought. But, then I thought, why not? If I do the training, and I know I can sustain the necessary pace for an extended period (just a touch under 5 minutes per km) then why the hell CAN’T I do a 3:30? Who is going to tackle me in a marathon and stop me? (Well I probably shouldn’t say that – I HAVE been pushed over at the start of a big race, after all!) Unlike team sports, I don’t need to worry about the unpredictable. If I do the necessary training – I WILL get the desired results!

I guess only time will tell!

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Race report – Bay-City Fun Run

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Yesterday was the second Bay-City 12k Fun Run. I decided to do it again, after having run the inaugural event last year. I had to choose between that and the inaugural 65km Coastal Challenge, along the Adelaide beaches from Aldinga in the south to North Haven. It was sort of a difficult choice. On one hand I have a 100km ultra in just under 2 months (insert mild panic here!) and 65km would be good ‘time on feet’ training. On the other hand I have a Boston Qualifying marathon to run in 15 weeks and was due to do my first long run (21km), so a fast road run would be the logical choice! Plus, I hate sand! Well, running on it. In the end, the road run won out over the ultra.

I always like to have a goal time in mind when doing a race. It helps me work out my pacing and to know how much to push myself. Last year I did 58:28 so, as always, I wanted to run a PB. I didn’t really have a time in mind other than that. I set my pace alerts on my watch for 4:20 – 4:40 (minutes per km).

Pre-race preparation was not ideal. I had had a pretty big week mileage-wise (I’d already run 40km before Sunday) including 2 solid track races at the SA Masters championships (1500m and 3000m). I gave myself Saturday off to ensure fresh legs on Sunday (plus, I was rostered on as Run Director at parkrun so couldn’t do parkrun anyway). That was all fine, but it was work friend Maggie’s (very fun) 50th birthday party on Saturday night that meant I was a little on the tired side when my alarm went off on Sunday at 5:45am!

I had everything ready to go before I went out on Saturday night, so I could go straight to bed when I got home around 12:30. Gear-wise I went for the tried and tested – my old favourite lululemon skirt over Skins and Compressport calf compression sleeves on the bottom half, and on the top I went with my SARRC top which I had run a half marathon in (and probably will wear for the Gold Coast Marathon). I also had my small Ultimate Direction race vest – normally I would not use a vest in a race except an ultra, but to make up the 21km I needed for my long run, I planned to run back from the city to the Bay, so wanted to have plenty of hydration on board. I carried 1 litre of water and 500mL of sports drink. In hindsight I probably could have done without the water but no doubt if I hadn’t brought it I would have needed it!

After 5 hours or so of sleep I got up and had my usual brekky smoothie before getting dressed and sunscreened ready for a morning in the sun! It was a bit cool when I left home so I put my rainbow arm warmers on.

I drove to Plympton, almost exactly 4km from the start line. I parked in the same spot I did last year, next to the Mike Turtur Bikeway, a shared pedestrian/cycle path that follows the tramline. From there I ran along the path to the start line in Glenelg, the same spot where the iconic City-Bay Fun Run finishes. By the time I got there I had warmed up enough to shed my arm warmers. As with so many races I’ve done, there were plenty of familiar faces to greet before the race started at 8am. Unlike City-Bay, where there is an ‘Elite’ group, then the ‘sub-60s’, then the rest of the runners, then the walkers, in Bay-City, the smaller field means everyone starts together. The fast people still start at the front – I positioned myself behind them for 2 reasons. First, because I know they’re faster than me and will only overtake me within seconds anyway. Second, because trying to stick with them in the early stages would almost certainly derail the rest of my race!

8am came and we were away! Up Jetty Road and eventually onto Anzac Highway which seems to go on forever! I remember running through the busy Anzac Highway/South Road intersection and looking for traffic as I ran across. Somewhat unnecessary given that the road was closed – force of habit!

The first few kilometres felt a bit ‘ploddy’ but actually I ran 4:37, 4:33, 4:37 – all within my goal pace range. I actually got slower after that, my watch seemingly constantly going off, telling me I was going too slow. At the halfway mark (and no, there was no impromptu Bon Jovi singalong!) I was sitting on 28 minutes. Double that and I was on 56 minute pace. By this time I had forgotten what my time last year was, but knew 56 minutes would be a PB. I did want to negative split though, so I decided at 6km it was time to take it up a notch. I managed to get in a few high fives to the kids on the sidelines (When I do a road race, I don’t feel like I can claim a race medal unless I’ve high fived at least one kid!)

After a 4:45 6th km, I managed a 4:37 in the 7th and then a further second quicker in the 8th. When I saw the sign that said ‘4km to go’ I thought to myself, “I got this!” (In City-Bay and Bay-City, rather than having kilometre markers to show how far you’ve gone, the signs tell you how far you have to go. Sometimes that’s nice, although not so much after 1km – “11km to go!” – not very reassuring! )

Although I slowed down slightly in the 9th (according to Strava it was ever so slightly uphill, in fact the ‘steepest’ km at 13m elevation) it was around this point that we hit the edge of the city and I knew the end was in sight.

I was starting to pass more people at this point – some who were doing the 4.5km race, and some 12km runners who were struggling. (It wasn’t exactly hot, but running on bitumen with little shade, it can get pretty warm!)

I was checking my watch periodically and I was still on track. My 10th kilometre was 4:41 but other than this I had managed to keep between 4:35 and 4:40 from the halfway point onwards – I was happy to be able to maintain a relatively consistent pace.

With 2km to go, I picked up the pace again. I managed to speed up to 4:30 for the 11th, and then when I passed the glorious ‘1km to go’ sign, I forgot all about the impending run back to the car, and went for it. The last kilometre was 4:02, albeit slightly downhill. As we ran through Light Square, the Nova radio crew were there with loud uplifting music (from memory, ‘Uptown Funk’) which helped get me psyched for the finish!

I saw the clock as I approached the finishing arch, and pretty much sprinted, thinking I might be able to sneak under 55 minutes. I didn’t quite get there – according to Strava it was 55:07 – but still, a PB by more than 3 minutes – gotta be happy with that!

I didn’t hang around long – just enough time to congratulate a few fellow runners and collect my medal, before the 9km run back to the car, this time along the tramline. It was a bit frustrating, after a non-stop 12km run, to have to stop seemingly every block for traffic lights! Once I got out of the city though, it was plain sailing and I even ran into regular running buddies Beck, Kay and Alison, running back from their long run. (Kay and Alison ran the corresponding ‘City to Bay’ run with me last year – this time it was just a quick ‘Hi’ as we ran in opposite directions!)

Once I got back to the car I headed to West Beach to see some of the Coastal Challenge runners at Checkpoint 5, 46km into the 65km run. I hung around there for a while, and by the time I left there in search of lunch at 1pm, I knew I’d made the right decision. A solid, fast road run was definitely what I needed and I just couldn’t have imagined running 65km along the coast – well done to everyone that did though, makes my 12k (and a little bit more) look like a walk in the park!

I feel like it was a good first week for my 16 week marathon training programme – lots of fast running, some track runs and a nice hill thrown in too, with a total of 65km. That’s probably a bit much for such an early stage and I doubt I’ll be doing that much mileage for the whole 16 weeks, but I’d say it was a good start!

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Regrets, I’ve had a few

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With apologies to Frank Sinatra, I thought I might do a slightly thinky blog today. (‘Thinky’ is not a word. I am well aware of this. I think the ‘proper’ word is ‘thoughtful’. But that doesn’t really capture the essence of what I’m trying to say. Plus I like making up words. Been doing it since I was a kid!)

There have been many things said about regrets. Many very profound quotes by very important people.

Listening to the lyrics of ‘My Way’, I can relate to a LOT of it. Including that immortal line, ‘Regrets, I’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention’.

What is regret? I could Google ‘regret definition’ and rehash it here, but where would the fun be in that? No, to me, regret is wishing you hadn’t done something you did, or wishing you HAD done something you didn’t.

I had a thought. (Yes, it does happen from time to time.) And like many thoughts that pop into my head, this one was about running.

I have now been running for nearly 3 1/2 years. I started at 35, quite late by many people’s standards. The thought that occurred to me was, what if I had started athletics as a kid? (‘What if’ is possibly a synonym for regret)

I now find myself in a position where I am improving, but I never seem to get any better from a results point of view. By that I mean my times may be getting overall faster, but my placings aren’t – there is always someone (and in most cases many someones) who is faster.

I am a so-called ‘veteran athlete’ – a term which I find quite funny – I don’t really consider myself an ‘athlete’ and I am certainly no veteran – in fact I was listed as a ‘Veteran Woman’ in my very first race, one week after I started running. I could hardly have been further from a veteran! But it was purely based on age – apparently from the age of 35 we are considered veterans.

Loving running and all the places it’s taken me, and most of the people it has brought into my life, made me kind of wish I’d ‘discovered’ it sooner.

But then again, I see the people who have been running all their lives. Many of them are plagued by injuries now. Whereas I am still relatively ‘fresh’ – I have been lucky enough (touch wood) not to have been affected by any significant injuries. It’s possible that my laziness in my earlier life has paid off!

Do you know what else I have regretted in the past? Not taking full advantage of the wonderful time of year that is Fringe in Adelaide (aka Mad March, although it is half in February). I’ve talked about it before in a recent blog post – https://randomthoughtsandracereports.wordpress.com/2016/03/04/liberated/

Well I’m pleased to say this year I won’t be having that particular regret! I saw 28 shows this Fringe. At the time of writing I’m still considering squeezing in one more. I am seriously wondering what I will do with myself once it’s over!

You can regret time you’ve wasted on things/people that just weren’t worth it – but it wasn’t totally wasted if you managed to learn something from the experience.

I’ll tell you one thing I’ve never regretted – going for a run! There have been times when I’ve been out on a Saturday night and not got to bed until late, and maybe only had 4-5 hours sleep before having to get up for my Sunday run. I have considered sleeping in, and either not running at all (yeah, right!) or running on my own later in the day. Most, if not all of the time, though, I make myself get up and go. And you know what? I have never regretted it. Sure, they haven’t always been the greatest runs, but I’ve always been glad to have sacrificed that extra few hours sleep. And the post-run coffee has always been appreciated! (In the words of Bon Jovi, I’ll sleep when I’m dead!)

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Race Report – Yumigo! Summer Trail Series Race 4 – Newland Head

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The Yumigo! Summer Trail Series is a fantastic series of trail races in beautiful surrounds, mainly in the Adelaide metropolitan area. Each of the 4 events, taking place in December, January, February and March, has a short and a long option – the distances getting longer each time! There are cumulative points that go towards trophies at the end of the series – overall winners as well as age group winners.

If you have been reading my blog for a while you might have seen my previous post about the only other race in the series that I ran – December’s opening race at Anstey Hill. If not, you can find it at this link:

https://randomthoughtsandracereports.wordpress.com/2015/12/13/race-report-yumigo-summer-trail-series-race-1-ansteys-hill/

The final event of the series was at Newland Head, near the popular seaside destination of Victor Harbor. This was a bit more of a hike for the city dwellers, although a sleep-in for the locals and the southerners! It was quite close to the starting point for the Heysen 105 which I did for the first (and probably not the last) time last year.

I had entered at the last minute. I had always intended to run, but I couldn’t decide whether to do the short (11km) or long (19.5km) course. I had run the long course at Anstey Hill, however I was not in contention for any of the overall series prizes, so it didn’t really matter which course I went with. Eventually I decided to do the long, because I didn’t want to spend less time running than it took to drive there!

It’s been a pretty hectic week, with all the Fringe events I’ve been going to. A planned early night on Friday night fell by the wayside when I decided to go to a late show and got home at 2am. 5 hours later I was up for parkrun. I managed a sub-22 minute 5km for the second consecutive week – I wasn’t sure how that would affect my legs for Sunday’s race.

I had a reasonably early night on Saturday night – not before catching another Fringe show – I think that’s 19 shows so far for this Fringe! I had all my gear ready to go before I went out, except I hadn’t decided what top to wear. I had gone with my old faithfuls – my newish trail shoes, calf compression sleeves, black running socks, and my Skins and black lululemon skirt which I have worn for most of my trail events. I had my small race vest – I was expecting to be out there for a few hours, and I’m not sure what the forecast was for Victor but in Adelaide it was going to be in the high 30s, so I needed some hydration on board. I put 1 litre in the bladder and 500mL of sports drink in the bottles – I didn’t want to fill the bladder any more as that would weigh me down and be uncomfortable, and I don’t tend to drink a great deal during races.

On race day I woke up at 5am and did all the last minute preparation, including choosing a top. I ended up going with the Mekong Athletic singlet which I’d purchased from a pop-up store at the previous Summer Trail Series event, at which I’d volunteered. I had run in it once, on an 18km road run a few weeks ago, and found it very comfortable. The mesh in the back in particular was very cooling, and despite the fact I would be wearing a backpack, I thought it would help keep me cool. Plus, (and this is not a minor consideration by any means) I loved the colour!

I had studied the directions of how to get there, and having been in a similar area for a social trail run a few weeks ago, I was pretty confident I could find my way. As it turned out I got there in plenty of time to collect my bib and timing chip, and join the seemingly endless queue for the portaloos! As always there were a lot of familiar faces there, many of whom I see regularly but others who I tend to see only at the trail races.

Despite the fact that it rained while I was driving and for much of the lead-up to the start, I sunscreened up, put on my hat and had my sunnies with me. By the time the race started at 8am, it had stopped raining, and while the sun hadn’t exactly come out, conditions were ideal for running.

So, at 8:00 both the short and long course runners started together. Straight up a hill! The first km was pretty much all uphill, and immediately the thought sprang into my head,”WHY did I not do the short course???” To make matters worse, there was also soft sand! I knew about the sand – I’d seen it recently at the social trail run and also last year at the Heysen 105. I don’t like running in sand. I like walking in it, and lying in it, but NOT running! It became a challenge to try to find the easiest path, avoiding the soft sand at all costs. Mostly I would be running on the very edge of the bush. The thought of snakes did pop into my head, but at that point I would have preferred a possibly snake sighting to definite sand running! Plus, my legs were a bit tired (and stiff from the drive down) and there was a LOOOOOONG way to go!

I ran with Kate for the first few km, I hadn’t run with her in a while so it was nice to catch up. We had done a lot of our marathon training together in the last 2 years and regularly ran together on a Thursday. She was hoping for an age group win in the series (spoiler alert – she got it!) and I said I wasn’t going to race it, I was just out for a bit of fun. Plus I had no chance of winning anything – the only other race I’d done in the series, I’d finished 5th female overall. And 4th in my age group! Talk about being born at the wrong time!

The first 3km or so were uphill, then we hit a few nice downhill kms. All of a sudden I was enjoying myself, pulling out a couple of sub-5 minute kms and letting my legs have a break, just coasting down the hills with minimal effort.

The course, which I thankfully hadn’t studied prior to the race, was very well marked so there was no danger of getting lost. I say “thankfully hadn’t studied” because there were (I think) 3 out-and-back sections which did mess with my head a bit. I think they would have messed with my head more if I’d known about them in advance!

In one way it was nice to see all the fast people coming back while we were still going out. On the other hand I could see just how many people were in front of me! One of those fast people was Leon, who is doing the Big Red Run in June, 6 days in the Simpson Desert. (I MIGHT do that one day. It’s not on my immediate radar but having been to an info night last year, it does look mighty tempting!) He, unlike most of us, was seeking out the soft sand – it was ideal training for his big event! He had a clear path too, since most of us were avoiding it!

After about 7km I think, we came to a fork in the road. Otherwise known as a drink station. This was the point where the short course and the long course runners separated. This brought with it more thoughts of “WHY did I not do the short course?”. I had hoped that the females I could see in front of me leading up to the drink station were doing the short course but nope – they were going left with me!

Did I say I wasn’t racing today and I was just doing it for fun? I lied. I didn’t realise it at the time, but I should have known. If it’s a race, I get the white line fever. Even in parkrun which is not technically a race. If there is a run that has timing and placings, I seem to be incapable of just doing it for fun! Hence the reason why I rarely do a parkrun the day before a bit event! I was racing. I may not have been competitive but I was most definitely racing!

10km came and went and I thought to myself, “we got this.” More than halfway there! (And no, I didn’t break into the chorus of ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’ as is traditional! In fact there was no singing in this race!)

A few fairly flat kms later, I hit the next big hurdle which was a hill pretty much equal to the one at the start. Except, by now my legs were pretty damn tired! At no point though did I think of walking. Well, I thought of it but I was determined to keep running. Not necessarily because it would be faster than walking (as many runners would know, sometimes walking up a hill can be faster than running) but because once I started walking it would be hard to get going again. For this reason I didn’t stop at any of the drink stations even though they had Coke! I had enough fuel on board to keep me going, and I could keep myself motivated with thoughts of Coke at the finish line!

Someone said to me at the last turnaround, with approximately 3.5km to go, that there was “less than a parkrun to go!”. It wasn’t exactly comforting to me, because I like to race parkrun, so thinking of 3.5km of parkrun I was thinking of running to my absolute limit, rather than having ‘only’ 3.5km left to run!

The 17th km was probably the worst. Uphill. More sand. I was behind Matt and Robbie, 2 regular trail runners. I may have sworn a few times. I may have said “This SUCKS. I HATE THIS!” more than once!

The last 2.5km though were pretty much all downhill, on firm ground, and quite enjoyable! I didn’t let myself look at my watch at all except when it vibrated to indicate that I had completed another km. I find that especially towards the end of a race I find myself looking at my watch increasingly frequently. And more often than not only covering about 100m between looks at my watch! So I just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, and not falling over. There were a few tricky sections of trail, some quite rocky and very conducive to rolled ankles. I nearly went over several times!

Finally my watch alerted me that I’d completed 19km and therefore there was around 500m to go. Piece of cake! I did the last 500m (actually according to my watch it was 600m) at 4:09 min/km pace, by far the fastest of my race so far. Not surprising really – I do like a strong finish and I probably tend to hold myself back in the preceding km or so to allow myself to finish with a burst of speed! There was a guy in front of me – I didn’t really want to pass him but he was running at that awkward pace, just a little slower than I was trying to run. So I called out “GO GO GO” to him so he knew I was there and could pick up the pace to avoid being “chicked”! (Mind you, had it been another girl in front of me, I would probably have just gone for it – did I mention I tend to get a bit competitive?)

My official time was 1:46:29. Having not had a time in mind for this race, I was very happy with that. I was 38th overall out of 106 starters and 8th out of 44 females, and once again 4th out of 21 in my age group, behind the same 3 girls who beat me at Anstey Hill (albeit in a different order), Bronwyn, Sarah and Kazu! Did I mention before that 30-39 Females is a very competitive age group? 21 out of the 44 females in the race were in my age group, and 3 of the top 4!

After the presentations, in which many of my friends won age group and overall prizes, regular running buddy Karen and her husband Daryl and I went for a lovely cruisy bike ride along the coast. The weather was perfect and it was a great way to give the legs some recovery and make the most of the trip Down South. (I had intended to go for a swim too but after the bike ride it was getting late and the fatigue was starting to set in – not the best for a longish drive home – so I decided to forgo the swim). We were really lucky with the weather too because thunderstorms hit during the drive home!

So what’s next? Well trail-wise the next big event is the Cleland Trail Championships next month – which will probably be my last big trail hit-out before the Ultra-Trail Australia 100km race in May! I’m really looking forward to Cleland because after choosing not to run it for the last 2 years because of clashes with other events, I’m finally doing my first one this year!

Thanks again to Ben and all the fantastic volunteers for a wonderful trail series! Hopefully I’ll be able to run all 4 events next summer!

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Burning rubber!

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I live in Adelaide. For most of my life we have had an annual car race here which takes over the centre of the city with road closures starting seemingly MONTHS out from the event, and generally causing annoyance to locals.

First it was the Formula 1 Grand Prix from 1985 to 1995, which was kind of exciting. I went to a few, most notably the final event in 1995, admittedly pretty much ONLY for the post-race Bon Jovi concert. I recall having a uni exam the next day but no way was I missing the very last F1 race in Adelaide after Victoria stole it from us (yep, still bitter!)

Then a few years later we got the V8s. The V8s brought a different sort of crowd. I went to the first 2 Clipsal 500s (it was called something different then) – Clipsal is the sponsor’s name but I think most people would recognise the name more for the car race than for the products they actually sell! Much like The North Face 100, now called Ultra-Trail Australia, it would be hard to imagine it being called anything other than ‘Clipsal’. I had no interest whatsoever in the V8s. I just went for the socialising. I didn’t even make it to any of the concerts (until Cold Chisel last year – I wasn’t going to miss that. Still didn’t see the race at all though!) and soon decided it was a big waste of money.

But not to worry, the whole of Adelaide gets to experience the joy of Clipsal without forking out for a ticket. Conveniently situated during the period known as ‘Mad March’, perhaps unkindly described as the only time ANYTHING happens in Adelaide (and by ANYTHING I mean EVERYTHING), it’s truly a crazy time of year.

The week before Clipsal, when most of the road closures are in place, traditionally my Tuesday running group runs a section of the track during our regular morning run. Since I’ve been a runner, I’ve said every year that there should be a fun run around the Clipsal track – how good would that be? (Evidently it used to happen during the F1 years)

And finally it has happened! A 3km hot lap around the Clipsal track! Of course I signed up for it! And for the optional extra of getting photos taken on the legit actual Clipsal podium – the very podium where the top 3 drivers would be spraying (I say ‘wasting’) expensive champagne at the conclusion of the race the following weekend. It was a no-brainer!

Given that I would be getting photos taken atop the podium, I thought this called for a dress-up. As people who know me or are regular readers of my blog would be well aware, I don’t mind a dress-up. So I was straight onto eBay looking for a replica race suit. I couldn’t find any of those (well, not for a reasonable price anyway!) but found a ‘grid girl’ dress that fit the bill. I went with a neutral yellow one (didn’t want to support either Holden or Ford, so red and blue were out!) and broke the cardinal rule, don’t ever try something for the first time on race day! I wasn’t even sure if I’d be running in it, but after I saw the names on the start list, I thought I had nothing to lose – it would be just a fun run, not a race! No way was I any chance of winning – might as well have fun with it!

Did I mention ‘Mad March’? It’s not even March yet but the madness has well and truly set in. The Adelaide Fringe festival is only halfway through and 2 weeks in, prior to Sunday’s event I’d already seen 11 shows. Consequently I was a little tired and had an early night on Saturday night – being ‘only’ a 3k race I was not too concerned with preparation but I’m sure the early night helped!

On race day I put my costume on, threw some ‘proper’ running gear in my bag and headed down to the Clipsal circuit, already set up and pretty much ready to go for next weekend. It was kind of surreal getting there, with pretty much only security staff, the sun just barely up, and a sense of peace and quiet that most DEFINITELY will not be there next weekend!

I saw a few familiar faces there – most of my running friends were either hitting the trails or running what by all accounts was a very successful fundraising marathon organised by Chris, a running friend mentioned in my very first blog post. But for me, there was never any doubt. Sure it was ‘only’ 3km and I see myself as more of a long distance specialist, but I couldn’t pass up such a unique opportunity! Plus, it was the inaugural event and I won’t ever be able to do the inaugural Hot Lap Fun Run again!

The photos were taken just before the start and we were to go from there straight to the start. So I had to decide whether to run in my costume or in my running gear. I opted for the costume – why not?

We lined up to take our pics up in the 1st place position on the podium, complete with wreath around the neck (which some people hilariously compared to a Borat-style mankini – it really did look a bit like that!) and bottle of bubbly (which remained firmly closed!) After the podium photos I changed into my regular running hat (the chequered hat that came with the dress didn’t fit so well and would just annoy me) and off we went to the start line!

**SPOILER ALERT** Little did I know it wouldn’t be my only time up on the podium for the day!

I did a little warmup – about 800m. In a 3km event you kind of need to hit the ground running. I placed myself near the front, behind the ‘serious’ runners. We were led out by a classic Torana which was a nice touch. Not that I needed a car to follow –  I had all the runners in front of me for that! It was probably nice for the front runners though. It wasn’t long before the car was well out of my sight!

I went out way too fast. As I tend to do! I was only a few metres behind Lisa (my age group ‘rival’ from the Masters Games – I say ‘rival’ because we are in the same age group, but she will smash me every time, so I use the term ‘rival’ very loosely!) for a short while, which was how I knew I was going too fast. Also, my pace alerts on my Garmin were set for 4:00 – 4:15 minutes per km and I was sitting under 4 minutes for a good part of the first km. It was not sustainable!

I was conservatively aiming for sub 13 minutes. That was 4:20 per km and I expected I could go quicker than that. I knew 12 minutes was ambitious, but 13 was safe.

My first km was 4:05. I was sitting in 3rd place, behind Lisa and another girl who I didn’t know. I was waiting for the inevitable moment when someone would fly past me and take my 3rd position, as my over-ambitious start caught up with me. There were certainly no thoughts of moving into a higher position!

I got to the halfway point still in 3rd place. And it wasn’t a dead flat track as I’d expected – sure, the elevation gain according to Strava was only 18 metres, so it wasn’t exactly Mt Lofty, but I felt every one of those metres! (I should have known. Adelaide CBD is not hilly like Sydney, but one thing it is not, is dead flat. I HAVE run the Adelaide half marathon, after all!)

Passing me around this time was a guy called Dan, who I hadn’t met before but who was part of the Indigenous Marathon Project, a fantastic programme which trains indigenous athletes to run the New York Marathon. I had heard him speak at a function prior to last year’s City-Bay Fun Run, so after the race I had a chat with him about how NY went. He said it was great and he wanted to do it again! NY is definitely one on my bucket list… looks like I’m going to be running marathons for at least the next 20 years to fit them all in!

Anyway it was good to have him that little way in front of me for the rest of the race – always in sight, so I just tried to keep pace with him. My second km was 4:16, more like the pace I would have expected to run, but a little slower than I’d hoped. There was only 1km to go – easy!

I did look over my shoulder a few times during that last km. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t been overtaken by another female yet!

I managed a 3:54 last km. I have a dream of running a sub-20 minute 5k – all I have to do is 4 more of those and I’m there! (Easier said than done, of course! I guess first of all I need to crack a sub-6 minute 1500, then a sub-12 minute 3000!)

One last look over my shoulder as I entered the final straight and it appeared I was safe! A final burst of speed and I was home in 12:32 (according to Strava – my official time might vary by a few seconds) and 3rd female! And to top it all off, the trophy presentations were taking place back up on the actual legit podium!

I did feel a bit like a fraud up there – the other 2 girls and the 3 guys were dressed like runners and were actual legit athletes, and there was me in my cross-between-a-grid-girl-and-driving-suit-outfit! Still – the results don’t lie! This time I was in position 3 and I didn’t get to ‘fake spray’ the bottle of champagne but I didn’t care – I had an actual legit trophy to show for it!

I enjoyed the run! Unlike last weekend’s 10k, which was a wonderful event but I didn’t exactly enjoy my run, I actually did like this one. Maybe it was the novelty of running on an iconic Adelaide race track, maybe it was the fact it was a route I hadn’t run before. Maybe it was just a sign that I should focus on the shorter distances! Whatever it was, I would definitely do this event again, and I would recommend it to anyone – it’s a short race with a generous time allowed to complete it, so it is very doable for the average weekend warrior!

Let’s hope the Hot Lap Fun Run becomes an annual event! You probably won’t get me out on the Clipsal course any other way!

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10km – should be 1/10 as hard as 100km, right?

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Yesterday was my 4th Dolphin Run, traditionally the first SARRC (South Australian Road Runners Club) event each year, in beachside Semaphore. In 2013 it was my first 10km race, just under 3 months after I started running. It remains the only 10km race I’ve ever run!

10km is not my favourite distance, possibly because I rarely race it! It’s funny because 3 of my regular weekly runs are usually around that distance, so I should be pretty used to it by now! But I guess those runs are usually at a more ‘leisurely’ pace, and of course also involve stopping, either for a drink or for traffic lights. I run 5km almost every week at parkrun, so I am very comfortable with that distance. I like the half marathon distance. More recently I have decided I like 1500m! And of course I am a recent convert to ultramarathon distances. But 10km? Meh!

Prior to yesterday’s event, my fastest 10k was 42:27. That was during last year’s City-Bay 12k. Probably all downhill. That is a good indicator of what I can do on a good day but I wasn’t counting that as a 10k PB. As far as I was concerned, my 10k PB was my fastest 10k race, which was the corresponding race last year – 47:19. This year, I was aiming for sub-45 minutes. I thought that was achievable. After all, my last proper parkrun hit-out, a week after the 100km, was 22 minutes flat. Plus the Dolphin Run course is very flat and Torrens parkrun is undulating.

My first Dolphin Run was 48:10. I was very happy with that – my aim had been to break 50 minutes. The following year I naturally wanted to go faster, however running the last 3km into a strong headwind put paid to that!

Last year I managed that elusive PB, but I knew I could take a fair chunk off that time this year.

I hadn’t run much during the week. Wednesday night’s annual 20km Pub Run had aggravated my left hip that had given me some trouble during the 100km. I blame the hills, not the refreshing cider I had at the halfway point of the aptly-named Pub Run!

I had skipped my Thursday run (also because I wanted a sleep-in after a late night, having hit a Fringe comedy show after the run) and opted for an easy walk on Friday morning. Knowing that I can’t do an ‘easy’ parkrun unless I am pacing one of my parents, and neither of them were coming, I gave Saturday’s parkrun a miss too.

I didn’t get to Semaphore quite as early as I would have liked, so had to park about 600m away from the start. That was not such a bad thing, as it meant I could do an easy warmup ‘jog’ from the car to the start! Immediately my hip started complaining, and I thought “Hmmm, this PB might not be happening today!” However, by the time I finished my warmup it had settled down a bit and I was good to go!

People I’d spoken to during the week, when they found out I was running the 10k, said “Oh, that should be a walk in the park for you!” – meaning that anything should be easy after a 100k! Well, I wasn’t so sure about that, and it turned out I was right. This 10k felt SO much harder than the 100!

I had my pace alerts on my Garmin set for 4:15-4:30, so if I fell outside that range my watch would let me know.

My first km was 4:15. That was a little too fast.

At the halfway point I was on 22:08. In previous races, I would try to come home faster than I went out (ie ‘negative split’), but by 5km I knew I just had to hold on. I had enough ‘time in the bank’ that I could afford to slow down a bit and still come in under 45 minutes, but it was going to be a near thing. I must admit I thought to myself pretty constantly during the few kms after the turnaround, “Should have done the 5k! Should have done the 5k!” (As it turned out, that 5k time would have seen me as second placed female – but it was the Dolphin Run. I ALWAYS run the 10k at the Dolphin Run!)

Thankfully there was no breeze to speak of! That meant that the tougher ‘back half’ was not made tougher by a headwind. It still felt uphill though! Thankfully, my hip held out OK but the rest of me struggled!

Once I got to the Palais Hotel I started to pick up the pace a little. That was only a few hundred metres from the finish line. I didn’t look at my watch except when it vibrated at me. Thankfully at this point it was telling me I was going FASTER than the pace range I’d set, not slower as it had been doing for much of the second half!

I crossed the line officially in 44:52 – I was super happy with that! I chatted to Paul for a bit – we hadn’t actually met before but we have followed each other on Strava and Instagram for a while and we were already Facebook friends. He had been aiming for sub 44 and I had kept him in my sights after he passed me in the first half. I knew he was less than a minute ahead of me so that gave me confidence I could reach my goal. As it turned out, he didn’t quite reach his goal but he wasn’t far off! I also chatted with Rachael, another Instagram friend who I hadn’t really ever spoken to before, although I had scanned her barcode at parkrun a few times!

It seems weird that I would say a 100km is easier than a 10, but it’s true! Sure, I don’t expect to lose any toenails as a result of this race, and I am able to walk normally today, but I think it’s the significantly faster pace that makes the difference. At the pace I ran the 100k, it felt (relatively) comfortable. There was nothing comfortable about yesterday’s race! I reckon if I’d slowed down more in the 100k I might have felt like I could go on even longer! Also, in the 100k there were frequent stops and walk breaks. I never ran 10k non-stop during the 100. I didn’t stop in yesterday’s run – didn’t even grab a cup of water from the drink station.

So I guess that’s it for 10k races until this time next year!