Woodford To Glenbrook 2008

I targeted this race for a good solid run and a good time. I had heaps of room for improvement over last year's 2.20 (when I was underdone and recovering from a cold). After studying last year's results I decided under 2 hours should be achievable for me.

My plan was to take it steady for the first 15k and then put the pedal down for the last 10k. The plan went straight out the window with a sub 4 minute first k. Everyone seemed to be running really fast and I wanted to too. I eventually settled down to a more comfortable pace. I found I struggled a bit on the hills, and I walked some of them, which I am pretty sure I didn't do last year. Too much 6ft training! I really don't think its necessary to walk such short climbs in such a (relatively) short race. I think my problem was that I didn’t have a plan in mind as to how I was going to tackle them. It wasn't a big deal as there are only a few uphills, but that’s something I can improve next time.

I passed Geoff E at about 12.5k and the time was just under 1 hour. I commented to him that as long as we did a negative split we would go under 2 hours. But not long after that I had a small disaster when my shoelace snapped. I tried to quickly tie it back together but it kept coming undone. I eventually had to stop and fiddle with it for a minute or so. I was really annoyed to lose that time and set off to try and catch some of the people who had passed me. I thought I would have to push a bit more now to reach my goal. I felt like I was moving well on the gentle downhill and I tried to concentrate on good form and not slowing. I really enjoyed this section and the feeling that I was fit enough to run it "fast" and not be struggling in the second half.

With about 5ks to go I got sight of Geoff in front of me in the distance. He didn't look to be running particularly fast, but his legs are about twice as long as mine. I slowly made up ground on him, but I didn’t quite get there. A few runners came past me in the last k or so, really accelerating. The end was a bit different this year, down a steep grassy slope, across a bridge and up a small rise to the finish. I surged a bit to try and get Geoff but he crossed the line just in front of me.

I finished in 1.57 and 13th female. I was pretty happy with this. Maybe I could have run a bit smarter and pushed a bit harder, but maybe not. Tom finished in 2.07, enjoyed himself and easily beat his time from last year. I have pulled up really well this week. Tired and some soreness on Monday but nothing serious. I think the solid downhill running the week beforehand in Canberra may have helped.