Well folks I have to say that his has been a tough week for me. I seriously lacked mojo and was battling some sort of illness all week. Life at the corporate was particularly draining this week. I’m still looking after my resigned colleague’s portfolio and have been doing a few late nights and generally feeling exhausted. I pushed through and stuck to the program despite the chorus of evil voices in my head telling me to roll over and go back to sleep. The week culminated today at Ross where I ran the Half Marathon.
Here is how the week went down.
Monday 31/8/15
Today was an ‘easy 40’ day. I was a bit buggered after the 14km I did on Sunday and I wasn’t exactly leaping out of bed to do this. I did battle with the lazy me and won (after about an hour of procrastinating in bed). I headed out at 6AM and ran my usual Sandy Bay route. Nothing awesome just a 6.4km plod at 6’11” pace. Better than not doing it hey?
Wednesday 2/9/15
Interval Day today. 4x1km at 10km (5’30”) with 90sec rest. The lazy me won out in the morning and I slept in. The good me would not be defeated and I vowed that I’d run after work. It was a particularly painful day at the cheesemine. I was exhausted and felt like a princess who didn’t want to run in the cold. However, reason won out and I would not not be stopped so I chose to run this on the treadmill. I still feel like it’s cheating but again it got done and I actually felt the better for doing it.
Friday 4/9/15
Still feeling lethargic today and got off to a late start. Luckily the TRR coaching Gods had me down for a 30 minute easy run today instead of the usual 50 minute Friday special. I ran Sandy Bay because I wanted an easy run and did an easy 5km. I didn’t start really enjoying the run until about the 4km mark and I could have gone further…maybe I’m just starting to love the longer runs? Anyhow, I finished up feeling happy and ready to face anything the corporate circus had to throw at me…monkeys and all. Love that feeling!
Winners are grinners! Me and Stuart … We WILL be Marathoners.
Sunday 6/9/15
I had an extra rest day this week and didn’t run on Saturday. Thank the baby cheeses! I really needed it. Today was Ross Half Marathon Day. I’ve only ever run the Ross 10km and that usually kills me. Anyone who has run it can vouch for the hill and the wind. I couldn’t believe I was actually going to do the half marathon. Was I in denial? I managed to fight off the cold/flu/exhaustion and actually felt good going into the run. My hubby kindly chauffeured me to event so I was relaxed (despite the usual pre-race jitters) and ready to go once I got there.
My good luck started on arrival. We managed to score a great parking spot. I won a spot prize (an awesome Nike hat) when I collected my bib and the sun was shining. All of the elements for a great run! 10 minutes to start time I stripped off into my Make Me a Marathoner singlet and was raring to go.
The gun went and I was off! I felt great from the first footfall and was pleasantly surprised when I did my first km at 5’28”. Part of me was saying ‘slow down you can’t sustain this’ but I just went with the devil and kept going. The course was lovely and I ran through some beautiful Tasmanian countryside. At no point did I feel exhausted or not enjoying it. The usual hill of doom on Park Street slowed me down a little but I ran all the way up that motherfucker twice with a smile (ok maybe grimace) on my face. I managed to sustain an average pace of 5’38” per km which is not far off my 10km pace. I was in my element.
Smiling at the Finish!
I’m still waiting for the official time but my Nike App says I did it in 1:57:53 (it lies sometimes) but I think official time will put closer to just a whisker under 2 hours. Fingers crossed. Either way I ran well today and smiled the whole way through. I’m proud of my effort and that is all that matters.
Today’s effort just goes to show that rest and sheer determination are quite powerful. Today has given me the confidence boost I needed to help me realise I CAN DO THIS!
Next week I take the show on the road to the corporate big top in Sydney. Looking forward to running the harbour bridge in the warm sunny Sydney weather.
