City 2 Surf Recap
Did you know that Sydney’s City 2 Surf is the largest timed fun run in the world? AND WE KICKED ITS ASS. Okay, so we didn’t even come close to Dickson’s or Anna’s times, but we did manage to jog most of the distance and finish relatively strongly. We started the day off by walking over to the start (about 20 minutes from our place), figuring it would be a good warm-up. Once we got there, we were just astounded by the number of people. They’d actually closed registration a day or two before as more than 63,000 people had signed up. We fought our way through to collect our red baseball caps and then nervously joined the other 19,000 runners in the HSBC start. (That’s the “middle” group, behind the serious contenders but ahead of the walkers in monkey suits.) We heard the pistol as the elite group took off, and a few minutes later it was our turn. I’d thought to bring a stop watch so I started it once we actually got up to the starting line. (It took a while; 19,000 people don’t get moving very quickly!) And then we were off…

The initial bit heading down William Street was so fun. Everybody was cheering and I felt like I could run forever. I kept turning my head to look at the sea of red surging down the street behind me. I’ve never seen that many people running in my life. Of course, the immediate problem was picking your way through the crowd. Just as you’d start get get up some steam, you’d run smack into ten soccer moms walking abreast in the middle of the road. (I honestly bet we probably ran an extra kilometer from all the sideways dodging we had to do.) It was also tricky to stay together since the red caps made it hard to spot one another. At any rate, we seemed to be making really good time and we decided to skip the first drinks station. (We’d done a good job of hydrating beforehand; all the more remarkable considering that this guy and this guy got Snookums drunk the night before.) I remember coming into Double Bay and just starting to realize how hard this was going to be and how much I was going to hurt… when I heard pumping rock music in the distance. We turned the corner to see a full-on 80’s hair band wailing through “Paradise City” on the roof of the Golden Sheaf Hotel. It was AWESOME, like a scene out of a movie. Have you ever seen 10,000 people try to jog and head bang at the same time? I have.

The rest of the course is a blur, really. I remember passing a few jazz bands of old guys tootling away on their horns and clapping with delight. I remember enterprising little kids who’d set up lemonade stands along the route, as well as the more philanthropic kid with a bowl of ice cubes he was handing out. I remember people spraying their garden hoses over the appreciative crowds. (Did I mention how GORGEOUS it was today? Sometimes I can’t believe I live somewhere so pretty.) I remember turning a corner and seeing the crowd surging up up up… So this was Heartbreak Hill. Two kilometers pretty much straight up. We walked the steep bits and tried to run on the flat bits, along with pretty much everybody else. The church at the top had erected a big sign congratulating us on making it the top, and I could’ve wept. An onlooker yelled out “AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE” and I screamed “OI OI OI!” “I’m surprised anyone has the breath!” said the woman struggling next to me. “I’m a new Australian, and that was my first official OI chant!” I grinned. We could tell we were making good time, even with my walk breaks (which became more frequent in the second half). Our stopwatch was running about twelve minutes behind official race time. As we passed the 8K mark at the top of the hill, I said to Rodd, “There! Now this is the farthest you’ve ever run.” And when we passed the 10K, it was his turn to say it to me. I could see the ocean and feel the cool breeze as we neared Bondi. My stomach had been cramping the whole time and I started to get a stitch, but Snookums kept me moving. We were nearly there. The only accident came as we were heading down in to Bondi. I turned to tell Snookums I needed to take a breather, and a girl who’d been running right behind me swerved and tripped over my foot. She went down to the pavement and I apologized profusely as I hauled her up. It could’ve been worse; the St. Johns Ambulance people looked to be busy with folks who’d overexerted themselves.

We’d asked a lot of people before the race about their previous times, trying to gauge how long it would take us. The serious runners were all under 90 minutes, while the walkers were over two hours. Our previous 8K took us about 50 minutes so theoretically 14K should be doable in under 100, but with our lack of training (thanks to my stomach) and Heartbreak Hill, we decided to aim for two hours. Two hours, we figured, would be miraculous. Well, guess what? As we struggled around the final turn, I raised my head to the official clock. It read 1:56:00. “Look at the time!” I yelled. Screw the stitch; screw my stomach; screw my aching feet and jelly legs. I just started pounding one foot in front of the other. We crossed the line at 117 minutes, and I was trying so hard to keep moving and breathing (and not break down in tears) that I forgot to check the stopwatch. Whatever. Our time will get adjusted down anyway due to the delayed start, and we knew we were about 12 minutes off the official clock. So we’re calling it 105 minutes. Which is AMAZING. I still can’t believe it. The next hour was a haze of wandering through crowds and waiting in line to get a bus back to the city, from whence we walked back home to Chippendale. My face was gritty from the salt of dried sweat. After a shower, we headed out to the cafe for massive cheeseburgers. Then it was home for a long nap, followed by an hourlong massage (for me) and many hours of World of Warcraft (for the Snook). It’s gonna take us a few days to recover.

So man, 14K is HARD. That’s nearly nine miles. It’s the longest we’ve ever run (or walked, for that matter) in our lives. And you know the craziest part? As soon as we finished, the Snook started talking about an upcoming HALF-MARATHON. I think we’ve created a monster here…

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Mostly because I don’t really have anything good to report. As you may have noticed from my “training” history down there on the right, I haven’t been doing much running lately. My stomach still hurts. Yeah, it’s been nearly two months now. The antibiotics have seemingly cleared up the e.coli infection, but I’m still not 100% well. I’m trying to give the Nexium more time to work but it’s depressing not being able to have spicy food, alcohol, or caffeine. (Okay, yeah, I’m cheating on the caffeine a little bit. But I did cut back.) My doctor is quite frankly puzzled by my lack of improvement, and if things don’t get better soon, we move onto the next phase: investigating a possible ulcer. Unfortunately the only way to get an initial diagnosis is to have an endoscopy, where they stick a camera stuck down my throat. (I wonder if they’ll give me the pictures? Talk about naval gazing!) Then if it is the dreaded H. pylori, I go on another antibiotics regiment that is “90% successful.” Yay!

So what’s the upshot of all this? I’ve gained three kilos, which sucks. And we’re committed to running the City 2 Surf this weekend, though I’m not sure if “speed” will be a priority. We’re just hoping to finish sometime ’round about two hours. So all in all, a rather depressing DietBlog. I’m just looking forward to Spring and sunshine and being well.

The Mother’s Day Classic Official Race Photographs are now online! (They’ve disabled direct-linking but such strategems are no match for the Snook.) They got a funny one of me running, a nice one of Snookums charging towards the finish line, and this lovely one of the two of us immediately after finishing. (I’m still not used to how I look.) Now we need to set our next challenge. I’m thinking we definitely need to do the City 2 Surf in August, which is 14km through the city out to Bondi Beach. A month after that is the Blackmores Half-Marathon, which is 21km. What do you runners think? Is four months enough time to train for a half-marathon? Or should we just make the City 2 Surf our big event for this year and do the shorter (9K) Bridge Run the month after?

Happy Mothers Day!
Yes, today was the day of our big race. It really crept up on us! The Snook and I got up at the butt-crack of dawn so we could be down in the Domain in time for the 7:30am start of the 8K run event. It was cold but the sun was shining and I felt cautiously optimistic for our performance. I haven’t been able to do much training in the past few weeks – what with my Mom’s visit and my hamstring injury – so I told the Snook my only goal was to finish in under an hour. We strapped on our ankle timers and, after a fair amount of warming up and stretching, we joined a thousand or so other people at the starting line. Soon we were off. To my delight, my legs felt great. People were passing us, of course, but I think we did a pretty good job of running at our own pace. (The only person to lap us was the race leader, who was clearly a running cyborg from the future.) The clock was ticking past 25:00 as we started our second and final lap. We actually made it to the 5K mark before needing a walk break. That’s when I started to hurt. It wasn’t my leg; it was my lungs. I was gasping for breath and I had a stitch threatening the whole time. We shuffled onwards and with every step my body felt heavier and heavier. My brain was saying “I can’t do this” and I had to fight to keep from walking. I can honestly say that it was only Snookums that got me through the last two kilometers. If I’d been on my own, I’d have walked that whole way. As it was, I just tried to ignore all the pain and focus on keeping up with him for a few more feet. Soon the Finish Line was in sight and getting over that mat and STOPPING became the one and only objective in my life. And then it was over. The final times are yet to be released, but it was roughly around the 53:00 mark. Success! I was never so glad to be done with a run in my life. Here are a few pics:

The first three are us before the race. Yeah, I’m rockin’ the terry wristband again. Good grief, I look skinny. Compare with me four years ago. I can’t get over that. Snookums still can’t get over the fact that I talked him into running a race. And he hadn’t had any coffee, which is why he looks cranky in all the pictures. The last one is us after the race, which is why I look so dazed and vacant. My only thought was to force down a Powerbar before I yuked. Fun times! Hopefully the official race photographs will be up in a few days. I think they got at least a few good ones of us.

The aftermath: Yeah, we’re both wicked sore. The hamstring’s good though. I guess the time off really helped with the injury, but at the same time I took a real hit in terms of overall fitness. I’m looking forward to getting back into shape. Only a few months til the City 2 Surf!

Yesterday I had my first substantial run since hurting my hamstring last Tuesday. I feel pretty good! The Snook and I kept the pace slow-ish and I stopped every so often to have a stretch. It felt a little sore, but I didn’t have real pain at any time. So that’s good. In other race preparation news, the Snook has been to the podiatrist and his new orthotics are on order. Now we just need to get him some real running shoes. I can’t wait to get our Race T-shirts and numbers!

All this training finally has a point… I’ve officially registered to run the Mother’s Day Classic in five weeks. I’ve opted for the 8K run, and what’s more – Snookums is going to run it with me! I have no idea what kind of time we’ll do together, but I’m just so stoked to be doing something like this with him. I know we can do it. The event is to raise money for breast cancer research, so if you’d like to help out you’re more than welcome to sponsor us. (We don’t have to raise any set amount so I’m not going to give you the hard sell. Just let me know if you’re interested.) The course is actually the same one I ran as a 5K a few years ago, down through the Domain and around Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair. Anyone have any preparation tips for us?

I headed off to the track again last night despite some misgivings about the warm, humid weather (it was, like, 85 yesterday!) and my level of congestion. I didn’t do too badly though. I remembered my pedometer/timer this time so I can state with confidence that I ran eight kilometers (twenty laps) in 53 minutes. That equates to a speed of about 9km/hr, and a 10K time of 66:15. Not bad! My 5K split was 32 minutes, so I did slow down a bit towards the end. (I don’t think my speed dropped; it’s just that I started taking walk breaks.) I’d say that this was actually a pretty comfortable pace for me. Is that a good thing though? I keep remembering The Biggest Loser a few nights ago when Bob kept telling the contestants that he wanted to push them OUT of their comfort zones. But without the trappings of race day (or a running partner with a faster pace), I find it difficult to push myself to that degree. As it was, I considered continuing on for the 10K, but my legs were dead and my left shin started feeling sore, so I decided not to kill myself racking up the miles. It’ll happen.

I just had a sudden realization. The path around Centennial Park is 3.7 kilometers, which equates to 2.29 miles. Last week with Albert pushing me I managed to finish it in ’round about 22 minutes… which means I ran a sub-ten-minute mile. Whoa! Remember back a few years ago when I was struggling to break 12:00? When the heck did this happen? I am so inspired I think I’m actually going to go the athletics field tonight and run on the track. I haven’t run on a track since high school.

Later: Do you know how many laps around a track you have to run to run ten kilometers? TWENTY FRICKIN’ FIVE. And I did it! My longest run in probably eleven years. Unfortunately I forgot my pedometer so I don’t have an accurate time for it, but going by the watch of the drunk maintenance guy at the field, it took me about 65 minutes or so. And that, my friends, is excellent. I wasn’t pushing too hard at all so I definitely think the 60 is achievable. There weren’t a lot of other people at the field, and towards the end it was just me chugging around while a bunch of guys had soccer practice in the middle. At one point a ball came flying towards me and I picked it up. “I’m American!” I yelled apologetically. “I can’t kick for shit!” So I tossed it back to them as they laughed. “You run good though!” one of them replied. I’m gettin’ there, buddy.

Not to make this all “RunningBlog” or anything, but you will not believe what I did today. I ran two laps around Centennial Park – that’s 7.6km – WITH MY HUSBAND. Yes, the Snook actually ran. Those of you who don’t know him do not understand the magnitude of my surprise. I have known him for six years now, and I have never seen him run farther than half a block without complaining of heart palpitations. Turns out he’s been holding out on me this whole time! It all started a few weeks ago when I suggested he come to the park with me and walk a lap or two, and he said he thought he should get some actual running shoes. Being a tight-arse, though, he wanted to go to Kmart and get $20 trainers. Since I really didn’t see where this was going, I agreed. (He nearly chickened out at the last minute. “I’ll have three pairs of shoes! I’m becoming a metrosexual!”) That day at the park, I ran my lap while he walked behind me. Afterwards he confessed that he’d jogged about a fifth of a lap when no one was looking. So today he came along with me to ostensibly do some more walking. “Let’s have a bit of a jog,” I said, “and you tell me if you need to stop.” And we did two laps! We stopped probably about every kilometer or so to take a quick walk break, but our total time for the two laps was a decent 53 minutes. He even pushed me a bit since his natural pace is a little bit faster than mine. I just still can’t quite believe it. “You’re caught out now,” I said. “You’re going to have to do this all the time!” “I suppose,” he said. “We’re going to become those people.” I guess we are. I finally have a running buddy. SQUEEEEEE!

And yes, the first thing on the To Do list is to get him some better shoes.