Sunday 29 April 2012

Out with a Bang!

This weeks training has finished with a bang. . .

Today I ran my first race since Little A was born 8 weeks ago and it couldn't have gone better.

I didn't anticipate that I would be able to run the whole 10km after only 3 weeks of training and was planning to run as much of the course as I could and walk what I needed to. All I can say is you can take the girl out the race but not the racer out of the girl. Even after 10 months off from running my race face came on like the flick of a switch. Heres my race wrap up:

Conditions were perfect with a cool 19 degree day, no rain and no wind. As always I took the first km easy and found my place in the pack (towards the back!) Initially I just hoped to finish sub 1 hour 10 minutes but by the 2km mark it was clear that everything was going my way and I was going to give this race everything I had so I revised my expected finishing time to 1 hour 5 minutes. The first 5km flew by and I had comfortably built up to a 6 minute pace. The last 5km however were much more of an effort and by the 7km mark I was really working for it.

At 55minutes I reached the 9km mark and realised if I could just pull out a 5 minute km I could achieve a sub 1 hour time. I dug deep . . . but I didn't have it. I hadn't run this far in 11 months and it took everything I had to get out the final km let alone achieve a pace that I save for my speed sessions. In the end I finished up at 1 hour and 42 seconds. Big smiles. Not only did I exceed my every expectation but I was feeling good too.

As I crossed the finish line I was met with an unusual amount of cheers and applause. I smiled and lapped it up but little did I realise all the fuss was not for me. Just meters behind me was the first finisher for the 1/2 marathon. Oh well, it was nice for a moment.

I am still buzzing from my first race back and I just can't wait for the next one. As the day has gone on though my body is feeling that it raced today and raced hard at that. I have decided to make tomorrow a rest day and will just enjoy a nice long (recovery) walk with Little A followed by a long date with the foam roller.

Big thanks to Little A who slept from 7pm - 7am last night waking only once for a 15minute feed. It was such a bonus to line up at the start line so fresh and well rested!

Here I am all sweaty and worn out post race with my little supporter...








4 comments:

  1. Well done! Very proud of you!!!! We are all clapping and cheering from here.
    I still can't believe it. Did you even give birth to that baby??? You had a surrogate didn't you?
    CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! xxx

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    1. He he. I definitely gave birth. The experience is etched in my brain!!!! Actually I think that experience makes running easier and pale in comparison!!! Tks for your support Aunty L. Miss you guys!!! Xxxxx

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  2. Wow, amazing! You must be so proud. Congrats on your first race again!

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  3. Thanks. It sure felt good but quite sore today. Compression pants and wheat bags for me tonight! I think I spent half of the race checking my Garmin. How are you enjoying yours? :)

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