2 runs worth blogging

I am pretty slack with blogging and my last few posts have just been race reports. But I had 2 runs this weekend that are blog-worthy I think.

The first was Friday night at the CoolRunning Summer Twilight race at Silverwater. This is a very low-key casual chance for a good hitout at 7pm on a Friday night. I got lost on the way there and so didn't arrive at the start until 15 minutes after the start. But the host kindly let me head out then and said he would wait for me. There was a choice between 5k and 10k. I had planned to do the 10 but thought maybe I should do the 5 as I was late. But when I got the 5k turn-around I was feeling so good I really wanted to keep going. So I did. It was warm and very humid with a strong headwind from 1 - 2.25 and 5 - 7.5 and a good tailwind on the rest. I just concentrated on working hard and trying to go fast and it worked pretty well. I was really happy to finish in 47.38 or thereabouts. There were cold drinks and lots of friendly CRs at the finish, so it was a most enjoyable evening. And I am motivated now to try and improve my 10k time at the Striders series next year. And that leads to my other good run...

After nearly 2 years living in Sydney and no plans to leave just yet, I decided it was time to join the Striders. They have a 6ft training group that runs on Saturday mornings and so I joined them for the first time yesterday. We started at Marsfield and I think we were in Lane Cove National Park. I have no idea where we went, but there was lots of up and down, heaps of splashing through flooding creeks and it was brilliant. It was only a very short run of about 11k but that was enough for me - sore calves, and I got a great taste for what the group was like, and I loved it. So some more motivation there, hopefully enough to keep me going through the next 2 weeks of eating and lazing and holidaying.
Merry Christmas to all and Happy running. :)

Canberra Half Ironman

I had been looking forward to this race for quite a while and it would be my first big triathlon since Ironman in April. Canberra is my home town and I have worked on the aid station at the Canberra Half since I was a novice 4 years ago, and now it was my turn to be on the other side. Unfortunately overseas work commitments meant that I did not have an ideal preparation. I didn't do much swimming or riding in the 6 weeks before the race, but I did lots of running. I was confident that I would be able to finish and was feeling quite fit considering, so hoping that I would be able to have a decent race.

It was a wetsuit optional swim with the water temp at 22.1. The ladies started at 6.38 in the 3rd wave. Before the start I moved towards the front of the group, not because I wanted to lead but because it would be less far to swim. I spotted a friend nearby me at the start and I know she is a better swimmer than me but not heaps better, so I thought I would try and stay on her feet. This worked really well for the first half - I followed her and was trying hard to keep up to her pace. This meant I swam harder than I normally would but I still felt I was within myself. But after awhile I noticed she was further and further in the distance and I gave up. For the last 300 meters it was so strange, there was no one around me at all - it was like I fell off the back of the fast-ish group and there was no one behind for ages. Anyway, I got out of the water and looked at my watch and I thought it said 35 minutes. I was happy with that especially as I felt that I had swam faster and harder than I usually would. It turned out that I looked wrong and it was probably more like 32.

There was a long jog to transition and by the time I got there my feet were numb from running on the concrete. (One day when I do Escape from Alcatraz I am going to wear sneakers). I did the usual struggle out of the wetsuit, put on my usual loose bike white jersey, socks and bike shoes and headed out onto the bike. It was drizzling but not cold so I did not bother with arm warmers. The bike was 3 laps of 31k, with 1 steep hill and quite a few moderate rises on each lap. I don't have that much to say about the bike as I didn't really enjoy it. I never found a rhythm and never felt comfortable. It was like I was working harder than I should be, but going slower. A few times girls passed me and I tried to keep them in sight but never could. I wasn't having fun like I usually do on the bike, but I was a good girl and concentrated on eating and drinking according to schedule, getting down on my tri bars as much as possible and not drafting. It rained on and off, sometimes quite heavily, but this didn't really bother me. One thing about the rain is that its good for peeing on the bike. I know this is too much information, but peeing on the bike saves a lot of time, and its not very nice to do when its hot and dry. I was happy when the bike was over and looking forward to seeing how I would go on the run.

In T2 I peeled off my soaking wet jersey and grabbed my soaking wet hat and shoes. I didn't have a second pair of socks and was a bit worried about my very wet feet, but they turned out to be fine. I started running and was feeling good. I had planned to try and "push it" on the run but instead I just ran "comfortable" and was happy with that. The first lap went by quickly. I some nice chats to fellow runners, got cheered by lots of friends spectating, said hi to other friends racing - yep, this is why we do it. :) After about 14k my legs started to reeeaaally hurt, and after about 18k I felt like I was very borderline crampy and not running very well any more. But I was still moving faster than plenty of other people and passed 1 or 2 girls in my age group. I finished in 5.36 and felt sore but still really good. I would have loved to finish in under 5.30 and it was my bike split of 3.14 that let me down. But I was happy to finish 7th in my age group out of 28. The 6th placed female was 10 minutes ahead of me so I figure I beat everyone I was going to beat. I was also lucky not to get any flats as there were plenty of them with the wet conditions.

I am happy and proud to be a Canberra Half Ironman finisher and feel that I had another good solid race. At the moment I am feeling like I want a break from triathlon for awhile, but I will wait and see how I go after Christmas.