Turn back now! This is a long one... :-) You have been warned.
Back when injury kept me out of the C2S and W2B (and limited me to pacing the Sydney half), I set my sights on running the Central Coast Half as my near-term major goal. The stated reason was that it was to be a validation of my new "body-friendly" training plan, but I guess I also wanted to see one more pb fall before the end of the year. At first, I was just aiming at some slight improvement, but seeing Gen(CR Evie)'s run at C2S inspired me to set my sights somewhat higher. In a rush of blood, I announced to the listening world (hi mum!) that I was going to run 94:xx. Given that my pb at that stage was in the high 98s, this was a fair leap of faith.
My first chance to test progress came at the Strider's Internal Half in October. Result, a 1 minute PB. Then two weeks ago at Smithfield, I chased Johnny Dark for another 30 second pb. 2 PBs in a month, but still 3 minutes off the desired 94. Subtly, I transformed that 94 goal into a 95:xx, hopeful that the course at The Entrance could give me 2 minutes, but skeptical that I could get 3. Regardless, confidence was growing all the time, with the knowledge that I was going to be running with Gen, Wayne & Tim (CRs Evie, Johnny Dark and Redback), and that we
all wanted that same 95. Sadly, last week Evie got called interstate and was unable to run. Not fair!
I woke up at about 3am on Sunday morning and listened to the pouring rain for a while but it didn't worry me - I don't mind rain. We miscalculated a bit with the travel time, and arrived at about 5:50am. At the time we thought it was a mistake, but after taking 30 seconds to register and later seeing the
enormous queues that formed, it turned out to be an inspired mistake :-)
At the start, Wayne, Tim and I reaffirmed our pacing strategy - 4:30's the whole way. I knew that there was only a couple of k before we hit trees, so we only had a couple of useful Garmin measurements to lock into the pace. I also figured that there wouldn't be many/any km markers, and so from then on we'd be running blind. Although I had every good intention to stick with the others, traffic in the early stages broke us up very quickly and we never quite regrouped. If it was a bus, then it was a fairly long one! I knew that Wayne was just behind, but I couldn't see Tim.
It started to bucket down at about 5k, and the puddles turned to rivers. I noticed that many people were trying to run around the water, so a number of times I overtook people simply by plowing straight through. I was already sodden, so what more could a little puddle do? :-)
Quite a few times on the outward journey, I questioned our pace. It didn't seem 'hard' enough, but we were consistently overtaking people so I decided to trust my inbuilt speedo and stick with it. I was very pleased to hit the turnaround at bang on 45 minutes, which allowed for a reasonable fade plus the extra few hundred metres tacked on the end. Wayne was just behind, and Tim only a fraction further back. Both said to keep going, so I did :-)
From here on, it was just a matter of picking someone up ahead and trying to reel them in. I noticed from about 15k that my breathing was gradually getting heavier and heavier, but it wasn't uncomfortable. There was one woman ahead who, no matter how many people I passed, managed to pass them too. WhenI realised that I was finally starting to make inroads on her, she became my major focus (don't tell tiger angel :-) :-) ). About 2 k out, I got right on her tail, but there was no way she was going to let me pass without a fight. I sat on her heels for 500m, then finally drew level. We exchanged pleasantries (like it was a daily stroll) and ran side by side for another few hundred, but on one corner I got a better line and she dropped.
I'd been conscious for a while that I wanted to make the last k count, so when I got to the last little bridge, I straightened up, settled the stride a little longer and just went for it. The last time that I had looked at my watch was at the 9k turn-around (4.5k from the end) and at that time I had calculated that a new pb was fairly certain, and that the 95 was possible. Without any hint of hyperbole, I think that I got one of the greatest shocks of my life when I finished at 90:57, a full 6:16 under my 2-week-old pb. I seriously had no idea at any stage of the run that anything like that was possible. I'm still shocked and staggered.
I know that I've mentioned them a couple of times already, but Gen gave me the initial hope that something was possible, and Wayne & Tim encouraged me enormously during some long and difficult Star runs. Much thanks to all of you! Everyone should have encouragers like you three.
Most of all and as always though, my beloved tiger angel is my inspiration. She's coming back, slowly and sensibly, but she's a-comin'. And when she does, I want to be there, not off on some training run of my own. Yes, I'm going to do 6ft, and do it as well as I can.
But, number one priority is TA's training. I've had my golden year. This next one belongs to her :-)
