TR24: a Great weekend with amazing people

I had often wondered whether I would truly enjoy the proper endurance events you read about.  MdS is firmly on my bucket list, and when I pick up trail running magazine and read of multi-day stage races through various wilderness- rainforests, deserts, the Thames Path, and the Essex Way,  I dream of completing these challenges, self sufficient, taking in the magnificent scenery and revelling in that sense of accomplishment at the end.  For me, with the camping element, TR24, was a sort of halfway between the organised mass-events I'm used to, and these more interesting solo pursuits, that a geographer salivates for.

We arrived on the Friday night- I'd come in from London on the train, and a couplle of my team mates fetched me from the station.  Its rather strange- I hadn't met any of these people before, but we were all part of that worldwide club of runners that basically means you have a friend anywhere you travel as long as you talk about running.  I was particularly excited to meet my RW forum buddies who have given me so much guidance and support over the past 7 months, resulting in Pbs at Marathon, half marathon, 10k and 5k distances (as well as 12.2, 14.9 and 15 miles if you count the crazy cross countries I've done).

We had a few drinks to break the proverbial ice, although, there was no ice to break, we got on really well.  It was scorching, and glorious sunshine!  I didn't believe that it was going to rain tomorrow, no matter what the forecast said.  I was convinced we had a blocking anticyclone, and no other weather systems were coming through...more on that later.

So the camp we had was for 3 teams, a pair with @mia79gbr, a 5 with Malcs from the forum and his friends and wife, and our team of 8, a bunch of us from the forums, or friends of them.  Tigger, had organised almost everything- got us a brilliant camp which we set in a circle so it was really sociable, and had organised the team kit - it looked awesome, and was a much needed additional piece of kit this weekend.

With a team of 8, we estimated that we would each get to do about 3 laps, though Sarah wanted to do 2 laps back to back, and the night ones would probably take a bit longer.  Having done 10k in under 50 minutes 2 weeks ago, I honestly didn't think a 10k cross country course would take me 10 minutes longer, but it did.

I was 4th to run on Saturday in the Sweltering heat, I had been feeling pretty awful in the sun all morning,so I thought I was taking it easy.  I knew the running would make me feel better, so I got on with it.  at around 5k I was starting to feel good, but I was being sensible and walking the hills, knowing I would have to run again later that day.  I was glad I carried my water bottle with me, rather than relying on the 1 water station on the course.  I was squirting water on top of my head and as it dripped down my neck it was so warm it felt like I was pouring baked beans over my head, not ice cold water!  I really need to buy a white cap!!!

I got around the lap in 1hour, 1 min, 28 seconds.  Surely when it would be cooler later, I would go under the hour?  I got back to the camp, gathered my things and went back to queue for the showers.  Unfortunately, I got a cold one, and wimp that I am couldn't have a 'normal' shower,but was standing on the ledge and putting various body parts under the water.  I've never been able to take the stress of cold water on my spine, no matter how hot I am.

I would be running again around 9pm, so I had a hot jacket potato with a luxurious amount of butter and cheese.  Looking back, I ate very little on Saturday considering it was a day I ran 12 miles.

Later on, around 7pm, it started to get darker as the clouds were coming over, and the humidity was up.  I guess I was wrong about that blocking anticyclone.  I was getting set/psyched for my next lap, and hoping it was just going to be gentle rain- you know sometimes how the british weather doesn't deliver on its forecast... that's what I was hoping for, but no, the heavens opened.  At first, it looked like it was a rain storm that might last an hour, tops, so with any luck, I would eb able to do my next lap in the relative dry with the atmosphere cleared.  In any case, given the time of day, I would be taking my head torch.

I headed to the race hq a bit early with @mia79gbr, and am so glad we did, as it really really began chucking it down- we could stay in the shelter of the food tent until we had to go to the transition zone, rather than making the journey from the campsite in the really really heavy rain.  The thunder and lightening had started, and it was pretty scary.  The route did go through the forest afterall.  I was getting rather annoyed with so many people walking around with umbrellas aka lightning conductors...I headed across to the transition zone and about 5 minutes later Tigger showed up - there was so much rain, and visibility was poor that we had to scream her name for her to find me and hand me the baton, but she was in good spirits, adn seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed the run that started dry and finished wet.

I was cold from standing in the rain, so set off at 5k pace, I was just trying to go as fast as possible to warm up- after this I would get to sleep afterall- ample recovery, so no need to save anything.  I can't remember walking any part of this, although I probably did, I just wanted to move as fast as possible to stay warm, and to get away from running in the thunder storm!  I was getting rather concerned that my phone would be waterlogged as I was carrying it in my bumbag, so I checked it to find a message from David asking why the event was called Thunder run :-).  In fact the rain had made the ground conditions quite nice, it was softer on the feet and cooler, so I thought I was going really fast.  Crossed the line in 1 hour, 1 minute and 14 seconds... so maybe the course and the weather didn't make a jot of difference!!

At the end of the lap, I had to transition to Sarah, and I couldn't see her anywhere, I got that sinking feeling of oh no, I'll have to do a double!  But then she screamed my name and I found her, I handed her the baton, and she handed me an umbrella... great, I was now going to be a lightening conductor ;-)  but actually it was the best thing as now I wouldn't be pelted with rain on the way back to the camp, and might have a chance of not freezing after my run.  I made a bee line for the food tent and wolfed down some pasta bolognese and a cup of tea.  Back to the campsite for some sleep, but at that point I couldn't work out how to change from my wet muddy running kit to dry clean sleeping kit... I was sleeping in my running leggings and a long sleeve tshirt, so yes, it is sleeping kit rather than pyjamas.  After about 30 minutes of contemplation, I figured it out, adn got to bed.  I was so cold I ended up putting socks and a fleece lined hat on to sleep.  2 days before I had been wondering whether I would even need a sleeping bag!

Through the night I could hear the other team members getting ready for their laps.  I guess I had it easy not having to run in the middle of the night, but then a lot of the team were really keen on doing a night lap, whereas I had had quite enough of night running having done marathon training last winter- running at night in the snow was enough for me!

I got up at around 6am- It was light, it had stopped raining, and I had needed to go to the loo for ages, but didn't want to brave the rain.  I got up and saw @mia79gbr.  Apparently her husband had decided this was a silly idea in the middle of the night, and didn't come to meet her after her 3rd double lap! haha, hilarious!

My next lap was going to be around 8am, so I didn't want to eat too much before.  Now it had stopped raining, surely this would be the lap I did under an hour.  Alas, it was not to be, all these people were going on about the course drying, but the clayey soil just turned to, well, clay, and clogged up my treads, making my trail shoes fairly useless.  I had to walk to avoid injury.  After I'd got through the worst of the mud, the point where I had felt I twanged my knee on the 2nd lap was starting to hurt on the 3rd lap to the point of pain.  Considering my bike ride next weekend, I didn't want to push through it.  I stopped to stretch out my quad- it was definitely very tight, and started running again, but this didn't fix it.  I took the rest of the lap gently.  This was a really tough one I looked at my watch at 3k and it was reading 22:30= the time I did 5k last week... at 4 miles I was on 50 minutes, which was my 10k time, so that was rather demoralising.  The last lap was done in 1:22:17.  Unfortunately my slow time meant that perhaps another member of the team wouldn't be able to get his 3rd lap.

Now, I could eat, but for some reason, my body wasn't telling me I was hungry.  I was drinking lots of water though.  I must have been pretty dehydrated.  We all started packing up the campsite ready to leave as soon as the race had finished.  We went to cheer clive on his last part on the course, and then met him at the finish, he was coming around really strong, and also very very muddy!  Neil had jumped into Malcs team to finish it for them, and I think he was quite impressed to have such a big cheering crowd!  and @mia79gbr looked Awesome with her sprint finish.  Only she could muster a sprint finish after 54 miles of running!

We all posed wiht our medals for our team photos- before heading our separate ways.  One thing I wasn't prepared for was how emotional I would find it watching the solo runners completing the race.  I read about people doing these amazing distances running: 100km, 100 miles, MdS etc, or 24 hour endurance races, but actually seeing people doing it, seeing my new friends completing 54 miles, makes me think that one day, I could do that too!  And no doubt I will one day!

I definitely want to go back next year and see if I can do more laps - 30k in a weekend isn't more than I've done before.   I would like to go back and do at least 50k, and even more - 100k would be amazing!  but I think I need to focus on the primary goal for now, which is the Boston Qualifier.

On the knee- after 5 hours of travelling, I got home and had a bath - my muscles were starting to stiffen up, particularly my quad and shin on the leg with the dodgy knee.  I gave it a bit of self massage, and as I worked over my knee cap, it clicked back into place, so I think it might have been a patella tracking problem, which I've had before.  I might have to tape it up for the bike ride next week, though I'm sure if I focus on some stretching this week it will heal up just fine...

Excited!

This weekend, I'm doing one of the most crazy things I've ever done in running. I'm going camping in Derbyshire with a bunch of other runners to run a 24 relay race known as TR24. And honestly, I can't wait! Since having to give up on my autumn marathon, I've felt my running has lost a bit of focus. And other goals, such as running 1000 miles this year are beginning to slip. Tr24 will be a lot of fun with no particular time goal, so I'm looking to this and the 100 mile bike ride the following weekend to be the turning point that gives me back more focus in my running, so I can get back to training properly.

The cycling has certainly been beneficial, but I just don't enjoy it as much as running, but with the running I've set some other challenges to keep the interest up. I think I need to get back to my rough weekly schedule of this:

Monday: weights- strength and conditioning
Tuesday: early morning easy run
Wednesday evening: medium long run
Thursday evening: easy run
Friday rest
Saturday morning: Parkrun or speed work
Sunday: long run.

After the bike race I have 7 weeks until Ipswich half marathon- I want to see if my recent speed in the 5k and 10k will carry across- so that's the next big goal... Time to build the training plan :)

Chelmsford Parkrun and even pacing

Colchester Parkrun was cancelled today because of the carnival, so I took the train to Chelmsford to run theirs - the park is flat, so I was hoping for another pb, the trifecta 3 in 3 weeks, but after half a bottle of wine and a buttery risotto last night, I had the excuses lined up, just in case.

I wore the Adidas boost to give me a turn of speed, but when I did my warm up, I felt sluggish, and wasn't that confident. I did some strides, but even then my legs felt heavy and still tight from last week- only 6 days after my 10k pb in the heat. I was aiming for 22:40, according to my pace calc app, that's a 7:17mm pace, so I programmed my virtual pacer in the garmin on tht pace.

I wonder if the slowness helped I certainly didn't set off too fast and by half a mile in, I was finally up to pace.. This Parkrun was as advertised- flat, which made the fact I was slightly off pace at half way a bit annoying. Then there were a few sections on grass that made it a bit tougher. I followed @mia79gbr's advice, and kept asking myself if I could give any more. The nice thing about a Parkrun, is that it doesn't last much longer than 20 minutes,so the answer to that question is almost always yes. In the last km I was just chasing the people ahead of me, trying to pick them off.

The Chelmsford lot are fast! The clubs around there must be competitive, whenever ladies from Springfield Striders come to Colchester Parkrun, they seem to always finish in the top 3.

Whereas I was 40th in Colchester 2 weeks ago, today I was 67th despite being over 30 seconds faster!

And I'm impressed with my even splits:

Mile 1: 7:21
Mile 2: 7:21
Mile 3: 7:17
Last 0.09: 6:11

Average pace 7:18. So 8 seconds per mile improvement in 2 weeks for a time of 22:33

So, what to do for the next few weeks- 3 pbs in 3 weeks is quite exciting. I want to try out my newfound speed on a half marathon, I think I'll do Ipswich, and so I'm going to get together a training plan tomorrow and get back on it.

Also, with my recent lack of focus, I'm beginning to fall behind on my 1000 miles in 2013 goal, so long runs will be coming back :)

Stats:

Congratulations on completing your 4th parkrun and your 1st at Chelmsford Central today. You finished in 67th place and were the 13th lady out of a field of 213 parkrunners and you came 5th in your age category SW25-29. Take a look at this week's full set of results on our website. As this is your first run at this event we have set your PB.

Speed Session Fail

I stole one of @Mia79GBR sessions for speeding up her 5k. its as follows:

5x 4 min @10k pace off 1 min recovery, followed by 5x 2min @5k pace off 1 min recovery.

I dutifully put it into my garmin last night, setting 10k btw 7:50 and 8:00, and 5k@ 7:10- 7:20...

Was running the session ok, though on the 3rd interval was starting to feel it, and really struggling to keep pace.  I even allowed myself 3 minutes rest before starting the 5k intervals... 90seconds into the first one, I gave up... walked home.... totally wiped out!!  tee hee!  I guess that proves 1 of 2 things:

1) you shouldn't do speed work 2 days after a 10k

2) I shouldn't do speed work on my estate where it is so easy to stop, and anywhere is less than 5 min walk home... 

So, here is what i did manage

5 min warm up at 9:56 - this is slow for me at the moment, so I should have known something was up...

4 min 10k pace intervals

1. 8:01

2. 7:53

3. 7:57

4. 8:03

5. 7:57

I guess 5 half mile repeats with only 1 min recovery was actually pretty good going, given I've been doing similar sessions with a much longer recovery between repeats.

Felsted 10k

A scorcher of a week and playing in a concert yesterday meant my hydration plan was a bit off track. Luckily, the race had a late enough start that I could play catch up, so, a cup of tea a cup of beeple, a banana, 500ml sis go energy with chia seeds and a few swigs of water from the water fountain was my pre race prep.

This race was part of the Essex Championships, so was full of club runners. I decided to use my Adidas boost as race shoes, and that I would keep to an 8 minute mile, with the heat, I didn't want to risk pushing it beyond that. Got stuck behind a couple of slower runners at the start, but once I was past them, the field pretty much stretched out, and it was easy enough to get to pace. I ws on pace by about 0.4 miles, so remembering womens running tip, the plan was to sit at this pace until halfway. There were some undulations which would have been fine if it wasn't so hot, but the slight uphills were tough in the heat. I was also beginning to regret not carrying water with me, and couldn't remember if there would be any on the route....at 5km, I was beginning to struggle, the heat was getting to me. I remembered that the tip from womens running was to start chasing vests from 5k. The water station came up very soon after the 5k mark, so I stopped to take on 2 cups, and pour some over my head. Now I could focus on chasing bibs. It was a mind game now- had to keep reminding myself that I was well trained for this. But was also thinking to myself, this is the pace I want to be doing for a marathon, and whilst its fast, it doesn't feel as uncomfortable as previous 10ks, so maybe it's possible.... Wonder if I should be aiming for 8mm for Colchester Half Marathon next year?

I started counting bibs I was passing. Got to around 23 then lost my mojo for a bit, plus the men I was overtaking were playing mean, swinging out in front of me so that I couldn't just run straight but had to add extra distance to the run!

8k and it was time to go hard... I actually didn't have much left, the pace was up slightly, but it was all about focus to keep going. I kept looking at my watch, the sub 50 really relied on me keeping going and not stopping. I didn't want to risk blowing up with heroics, until I was past 6 miles.... Managed to overtake another couple in this last section, and went for the finish hard.

It was a tough finish. This was a tough race because of the heat, nice and low key, so great for setting pbs, except for some minor mishaps with other road users not being all that considerate, it was great. I guess I would have preferred it to start a bit earlier so i could get on with the rest of the day a bit sooner. And of course would have liked a medal! But I think that was me not realising where to get them from...I might contact the organisers to see if they'll send me one.

Mile splits:

Mile 1: 7:56
Mile 2: 7:57
Mile 3: 8:11
Mile 4: 8:02
Mile 5: 8:01
Mile 6: 7:50
Last 0.25 (garmin extra distance) 6:55

Total 49:42, avg pace 7:57

A bit of reflection...

I feel like patting myself on the back. When I started this blog, I was so far away from the idea of qualifying for Boston that I just wasn't sure it would ever be possible, especially as back then I think I would have struggled to do even 1 mile in 8 minutes. I have a good feeling I will do my 10k at that pace this Sunday though.

To qualify for Boston, I was told my shorter race distance times need to look like this:
5k- 22mins
10k- 45 mins
Half marathon- 1:38

Which should lead to a 3:35 full marathon.

After only 3 weeks of speedwork, my 5k is already getting closer to that at 23:08 on a hilly Parkrun course. I would like to see if I can get it to 22 over the summer. I'm then going to build my endurance back up with a lot more off road for my long runs hoping to complete the Essex way.

I think the 45 min 10k and 1:38 half can come in 2014- although that half may take a lot longer to come- half marathons seem to all be on the same dates.

So in 7 months I have taken almost a minute off my 5k pb set in 2011, 3 minutes off my half marathon pb set in 2010, and 15 minutes off my marathon pb set in 2011. This is all off the back of marathon training. We'll see what I do with a 10k this weekend, and another one in September after a dedicated few weeks of speed work.

Fast intervals: tune up for the 10k

Today, I did session 10 from the women's running article:

"This session is completed perhaps five or six days before your 10k race. This is the time to feel quick and just turn your legs over. Five minutes of threshold (3 minutes of jog recovery). Then two sets of 4-5 x 400ms off a 60-second jog recovery. Run set 1 at 5k pace and set 2 a little quicker."

I put it all into the garmin last night. The threshold pace I set as between 8:20 and 8:50. 5k pace from my recent 5k was 7:26 so I put garmin to between 7:20 and 7:30, and then the 'quicker' at 7:00 to 7:15.

5 minutes at threshold wasn't too challenging. I think I was off pace on one interval as the last half of it was all uphill- incline really makes a massive difference in these sessions!

Paces as follows:

5 min threshold: 8:22
Set 1
Interval 1: 7:27
Interval 2: 7:17
Interval 3: 7:26
Interval 4: 7:08
Interval 5: 7:40- this is the uphill one

Set 2
Interval 1: 6:57
Interval 2: 6:39
Interval 3: 7:03
Interval 4: 7:11
Interval 5: 7:07

At the start of some of the quicker ones I was even below 6mm, although not for long! I did these in my Adidas boost shoes, which certainly helped with leg turnover. Uncertain wheth to race in them though?

Total distance run with all the jogs between was 4.6 miles in 41:58 so an average pace of 9:07. Despite having a watermelon slice, chocolate milk, 2 eggs and a whole meal English muffin, I am totally wiped out now! Strange as the session didn't seem all that hard!

Shiny new Parkrun and 5k pb

Race report for Saturday’s parkrun.  

So, I was never sure if I was going to make it for this parkrun on time, as I had a Dr appt at 8:30, however, luckily he got there and we started early, though we did spend much of the appointment talking about cycling and the best way to get a 6-pack!  He’s into cycling!  But fulfilled his doctorly duties and made sure to tell me not to take it too seriously.

Got to the park with about 10 minutes to spare, so thought I’d go to the toilet, but the chap was cleaning the ladies and wouldn’t let us in.  Eventually I was encouraged to use the men’s instead.  Not sure it would have made a huge difference other than to settle my nerves.  I said hello to the other Core group people and Gareth, who was doing the Para’s 10 later in the day, said he would run with me, so he didn’t push it too hard… charming! 

I tried not to go off too fast, since Colchester Castle Parkrun is quite a challenging course.  After the first 200 metres with a slight incline, it is downhill for the first couple of km, then flat, before coming up the tough hill to go around the castle for the second time – you get the downhill again, but you don’t get the respite of a long flat section before having to go uphill again.  The second time up this hill really saps your legs, and for me at least, left nothing for the sprint finish.  After that second hill, it was all about holding on.  Its hard to know whether to pace oneself on a 5k.  Now I have an idea of where my 5k fitness is, I guess that would make sense, but then again, I would probably be a lot faster on a flat course.  In 2 weeks time, Colchester has had to cancel the parkrun due to another event in the park, so I might travel to Chelmsford to do theirs, which is apparently quite flat!  There were a few parts of this where I might have stopped for a few paces, but having Gareth next to me meant I didn’t want to lose face.  He encouraged me up the hill the second time, reminding me to pump my arms, which did help, and also made me realise that I need to start doing weights again.  He asked if I had anything for the sprint finish, but I really didn’t.  This is certainly something I have to work on.

I think the following reasons perhaps had bearing on my result on Saturday.  The last parkrun I did was 24:19

-          It was 6 days after my marathon (Its possible my legs were still a tad tired)

-          I’ve been doing speed work recently

-          I had Gareth as a pacer

-          I knew I was in pb shape, based on the last parkrun- at that time I didn’t know I could go sub 24, so didn’t try for it

-          I knew the course better.

I rather suspect I will set a pb on this course the next couple of times I run it without specific training, just as I become more familiar with it.  I was speaking to one of the Colchester Harriers afterwards who said it’s a really tactical course, because of the incline.

Splits:

Mile 1: 7:17

Mile 2: 7:37

Mile 3: 7:31

Last 0.11 @ 6:13 pace

Making an average pace of 7:26

My max heart rate went as high as 205, which I don’t think I’ve hit since I was 20 and on a rowing machine!  I think this was down to the heat, so Sarah, you’re right, it did have an affect.  That said, my legs definitely could have given a bit more, which is good for doing it on a cooler day.

My first club run

Today I decided I was going to give Colchester Harriers a try. I see so many of them at local races that it seems silly to keep on paying £2 extra to run them. Plus, I can get to know them and hopefully make some new friends and get a bit faster....

Arthur, who is a regular at the Parkrun, both as a runner and as a volunteer, is the ladies coach, so I said hi to him when I arrived, although this was after about 5 minutes of not really knowing what was going on. Turned out many of the regulars had other things on tonight, including a local race, which I had thought of doing, and lots of end of term school things... As a result, I was the only lady there, so it was in fact just me and Arthur. We went out for an 'easy' 6 mile run. I found it quite hard going at first as we were doing 8:51mm, and I hadn't run since the mersea island race. It was really nice to have someone to chat to though. He's number one in his age group, nationally, so he's gracious enough not to enter too many races so its not always him who wins.

It was quite hot and barely a stop, so I didn't really get to take on any drink. I had thought we would be doing something hard so had planed to drink between intervals. In reality, I probably didn't need any more than water, but carrying it was a bit of a faff. Just after 4 miles we bumped into one of the men who is a regular at Parkrun, Andy, he came second last week. We stopped for a chat, which allowed a breather, but messed with my pace!! This could have been my fastest 6 mile run otherwise. Arthur said it was 6 miles easy. I could keep conversation up, so I guess, technically it was, however, I reckon I would have been shattered had it been 12 or 18 miles at that pace.

I think I'll try the harriers out again, hopefully when there are some other ladies there. Certainly enjoyed having the company of someone who could run without having to stop to walk, although not sure it was the best introduction to running for a brand new runner!!! Good job I'm not then ;)

Splits:

Mile 1: 8:52
Mile 2: 8:52
Mile 3: 9:06
Mile 4: 9:13
Mile 5: 12:15 - this is where we stopped for a chat, I did pause garmin after a while
Mile 6: 9:18

Time 58:00

All in all a good run. I probably could have done intervals last night if I hadn't been partying, but will rest tomorrow in prep for hopefully doing Parkrun on Saturday.

Mersea Island round the island race

Well, I woke up feeling pretty dehydrated from the bike ride the day before, and feeling silly that I hadn't even mustered up the energy to make dinner or a snack before bed. I thought I would fix this with Sis energy mixed with chia seeds and a bowl of porridge... Unfortunately the milk had gone south so had to go out to get some more. Being outside at 8 o'clock when it was already so hot made me realise that it was gonna be a toughie! Didn't want to make the heat worse with hot porridge so had oats with some cold milk and dried fruit instead.

We left home at 8:45- race registration was between 8:45 and 9:45 for a 10:30 start. I had registered online before but never got around to sending my cheque off. Anyhow, if I do this race again I'll just enter on the day- was only a tender and no bother, though David pointed out there were no emergency contact details on the back, which was a cause for concern. Given the heat and my exhaustion from the day before, this was another reason to take this one really easy. I thought sub 2 hours for a 12.2 mile race was realistic, so that meant just under 10 minute miles. Clearly, not having lived in Australia for 3 years, I have forgotten how tough running on sand is.

The race started right on time, on the sand. I had positioned myself toward the back of the field, so I wasn't tempted to go off too fast. There were about 3/4 mile on the sand before going onto a narrow footpath where everybody had stopped to walk! Craziness! I was frustrated at being forced to stop so early in the race, and as a result went off too fast for miles 2 and 3, before arriving at the first drinks station- the heat was already having an effect, and I took a couple of cups here. I really think that I need to get a light coloured cap, as the visor protected my face, but didn't keep the sun off my dark hair.

The next section was plodding along the sea wall, and most of the middle part of the race was like this- the path was very narrow and surrounded by very tall grass. This could be irritating if you caught up to a slower runner, as you were stuck behind them for a long time, but equally, if somebody caught up to you, you felt you had to push it so as not to slow their race down. At the next drinks station at 4.5 miles, bumped into Paula, one of my Parkrun buddies. I was really in a bad way at this point and the sun was getting really strong, with little relief from the wind and no shelter. We ran together for a long section, i figured it was good luck to run with someone named Paula, up to around 8 miles, then she got ahead, I had to walk to calm my breathing down, but I kept her in my sights. The plan had been to take it easy until 9 miles, when I would start picking off runners to overtake, relying on my endurance, and them having gone off too fast. At 9 miles we were back on the beach with a very strong headwind! Argh! No overtaking for me then! I could spot Paula ahead and she was still running! Wow! I found that the speed that I could run wasn't much different to the speed that I could walk, so I got down to the sea edge for some firmer ground and commenced power walking. After I'd got my breath back, I could start running again, but wow, this was really really tough! Much harder than the pub 2 pub run I did in Sydney in 2009! That involved beach running, heat and serious hills, but the beach running was only the first 800m- the rest was road, so I could actually run.

We got back on some concrete and another drinks station at mile 10, I had finally caught back up with Paula again, and I was in my catching bibs mode, so after only 1 cup of water, I started running again- figuring I could put in more speed on the solid ground before softer ground sapped my low energy leg muscles. I passed a chap in a purple shirt, he asked how was I still running, I told him coz I stopped to walk so much in the middle! I had an Ipswich triathlon chap ahead of me, far in the distance- he had actually parked next to me. I thought I could catch up to him, but it was a long shot, only 1.5 miles to go, and almost all of that on beach. I decided counting down from 300 would keep me running, and for the most part, it did, but there were some really soft sandy bits that brought me to a walk. I kept getting closer to Ipswich triathlon man, and kept him in my sights, when we came off the beach and onto the road, clearly, like me, he had more road speed and I lost him around the final corner, but luckily, Gareth, another Parkrun buddy started yelling and cheering me on, and that gave me the boost I needed for a sprint finish!

My finish time was 2:13:52

I saw Paula's husband at the end as well, and told him I had been running with her most of the way, she was only a couple of minutes behind, just enough time for me to get my energy back and start cheering her!

I think on a cooler day this race would have been absolutely perfect. The marshals were great, and it was a really well organised race. I love that I could drive from home in the morning and didn't even have to wake up that early, and I didn't realise I had a beach that's only 15 minutes drive from home! The club has a 5 mile race later in the season. I wasn't planning on doing it, but I think I'll add it to my schedule now. Obviously they can't control the weather, and the narrow footpaths were a bit annoying in the early stages, but that's part of off road running. Would recommend this to anyone who perhaps hadn't done cross country before but an experienced long distance road runner. Certainly wasn't as hard as the other off road races I've done this year- Orion 15 and Karrimor great trail challenge, as it was almost completely flat, but the heat and wind made it really tough.

Splits:
Mile 1: 11:06 - that annoying stop
Mile 2: 8:57
Mile 3: 9:34
Mile 4: 10:03
Mile 5: 12:24
Mile 6: 10:34
Mile 7: 11:04
Mile 8: 10:48
Mile 9: 13:11 - just so windy!
Mile 10: 11:22
Mile 11: 10:24
Mile 12: 12:13
Last .26 @ 10:58, but I didn't switch the garmin off for over a minute so probably more like 8:30