Woolgoolga 10 000 metres race

I finished third in the Woolgoolga 10 000 metres championships. Well there were only five males in the race, and three ladies.

The conditions were a lot cooler than last time on the track. I started and had to hold myself back from leading. It felt like a jog. However the Garmin said I went throught the first kilometre in 4.02. The two leaders got away from me slowly. I didn’t get lapped until lap 13.

I really started to fet tired the last 5km and my times slowed significantly.

 I did a masters PR of 45:54. I also did my fastest five at the halfway mark (21:17). Second 5km was 23.19. OK the Garmin said 10.3km at the finish?

my splits:

(4:03, 4:13, 4.11, 4.25, 4.26, 4.32, 4.38, 4:45, 4:49, 4:43) =44.36 + 300 metres in 1:10 @ 4.16/km.  

The track at Woolgoolga is a little confusing, the times there seem long. Overall, I think the race showed that I am improving. 

• the first three kilometres feeling so easy, but only being 5 seconds lower than the first three kilometres of the 5km three weeks ago.
• the first 5km (21:17) was 16 seconds than my 5km race three weeks ago.
• I was able to sustain 4:25 & 4:26 for kilometres 4 & 5. Last race it was 4:38 & 4:39. 
• I recovered more quickly after the race. My claf was sore, but I was able to do a jog to warm down. Last race I was limping for several hours.
• I am confident that with more mileage I can bring down the pace of my second 5km.

A stressful day

Today I was put in a position I was uncomfortable with. Firstly it was expected of the attendees to a workshop to fill out an individual profile questionare (Myers Briggs). I thought the questions were invasive of my privacy and irrelevant to the way I live my life.

So I refused to fill it out.

 I attended the workshop until morning tea. When I returned from morning tea, the attendees had formed into groups. I couldn’t face the stress of the situation and I fled back to the office, where I spent the day doing more productive activities.

I’m afraid I thought the course was a complete waste of time. I can understand having to do a First Aid Course or Occupational Health and Safety, but I fail to see the importance on the kind of  of course I attended this morning. All management jargon and weasel words.

Yesterday I went for a run on the grassy field. I was hard going.

Found the going a bit heavy. The grass hadn’t been mown since heavy rain early last week, and the surface was still quite muddy. The good thing was that the surface had lots of give in it, and my calves gave me no trouble whatsoever.

10km 52:22 (5:28, 4:57, 5:02, 5:09, 5:16, 5:20, 5:22, 5:30, 5:30, 4:47)

What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger

Another 16km run. That’s number five.

89:25 @ 5:35km (5:40, 5:20, 5:26, 5:19, 5:24, 5:35, 5:08, 5:17, 5:19, 5:28, 5:53, 6:05, 5:54, 5:58, 6:08, 5:24)

I ran the Coffs Creek trail. The first 8km felt pretty good, I did about 43 minutes. Although the Garmin made me run 200 metres further to the turn around point than last time.

The last 6 kilometres were a struggle. I was struggling to run 6 minute kilometres and I was pretty annoyed at that.

 

Coffs Creek trail

 

My favourite place to run is the Coffs Creek Trail.

 

It starts in the a tall forest of Blackbutt trees. A blackbutt is a large gum tree with a stocking of rough bark and smooth upper branches. The trail is sandy, and the trail is lined in a profusion of wilflowers in spring. Yellow and Red Bacon and Egg plants, purple hoveas, white beards and Banksias.

 

You can hear the chatter of Black and White patterned New Holland honeyeaters enjoying the rich nectar of the wildflowers. Sometimes you can smell the sweet meat like smell of the Banksias.

 

The trail then heads through a grove of Paperbarks and She Oaks. The wind makes a sad whining noise in the needle like branches. When it is really wet, frogs call from the sedges, sounding like hundreds of people finger plucking in their mouths at ground level. At several places there a raised walkways and I can hear my feet slapping in the wooden planks as I cross.

 

Looking to my left I can see mangroves lining the creek and areas of treeless saltmarsh which the tidal water inundates each day.

 

The trail head out under the new Coffs Creek Road bridge, the construction of which resulted in the loss of several tall turpentine and blackbutt trees.

 

The trail opens out into a long stretch of tall eucalypt forest. Several veteran blackbutts with massive roots lean out over the creek. At dusk Currawongs call as they fly home to roost and Glossy Black Cockatoos sit in Forest Oaks and I can hear the discarded seed cones land softly on the carpet of needle leaves.

 

Then there is another long section of raised walkway that goes through Paperbark and saw sedge and Bangalow Palm. Satin bower birds fly from tree to tree, the males in search of blue straws, clothes pegs and pens to add to their bowers to impress the ladies. Whipibirds call from the undergrowth.

 

Sometimes I can hear the paddle of canoes as they make their way along the Creek. In early spring my heart gets pumping when I often spot a rather large Red-bellied Black Snake sunning itself on the trail edge. Often I startle Cormorants and Herons into flight, and eastern water Dragons slide off into the water.

 

Coffs Creek is also home to one of the largest camps of Grey-headed fruit Bats on the north coast of New South Wales. They are quiet by day and venture out at night in search of fruit.

 

At the end of my run I do stretches on a viewing platform overlooking the creek. Pelicans glide over the water and sometimes I hear the piping call of Sooty Osytercatchers. In the distance I hear the odd sound of seals from the Pet Porpoise Pool, and a Peacock strutting it stuff.

Days when I can still feel alive

I never conquered, rarely came
Tomorrow holds such better days
Days when I can still feel alive
When I cant wait to get outside
The world is wide, the time goes by
The tour is over, I survived
I can’t wait till I get home
To pass the time in my room alone

Blink 182 Adams Song

Did a very easy 10km this morning in 56:12. Just resting up my calves and achilles? that seem to get sore after I push in a training run.

Didn’t sleep very well last night. A potentially stressful situation resovled it self positively, for which I am extremely relieved. And hopefully I will sleep better tonight as a result, although my hot water service is still on the Blink 182

Homesick

I realised today I have been homesick for 16 years.

I was looking at a photo of the start to the Sutherland Marathon in 1983. There is me in the middle of the picture, long blonde hair, white le-coq sportiff singlet, and grey nike shoes. I’m just to the left and behind Les Farley.

The start is at Kookaburra Flat, a lovely Picnic area on the Port Hacking River in Royal National Park. There was a classy field assembled for this race including,  Horst Wegner, Danny Boltz, Steve Poulton.  

In front of me on my work desk was a print out of the Sutherland Athletics Club cross country program for 2009. When I started to think that this year I might get to compete again at Lady Carrington Drive or Bottle forest,  after an absence of 24 seasons, I got emotional.

 I still feel a strong association to the Sutherland Shire, a feeling of belonging. The Sutherland Shire is still my home. The north coast is not my home and never will be.

I looked at that photo and wondered how things have not quite gone right for me, between then and now.

Back then I never dreamed that I would suffer a mental illness, I never dreamed my mother had only three years left to live, that I had 2 years left to run, before knee injury took that away from me. I never dreamed the family home would be sold in 1997, and all the lovely Scribbly Gum trees in the backyard would be destroyed. I never dreamed my father would survive lung cancer, and finish up living on the other side of the country in a hostel.

I never dreamed I would live and work on the north coast for 16 years, And in hindsight this has been the worst life choice I could ever have made.   I have spent the darkest days of my life here on the north coast, and also some of the most inspiring and brightest.

I wanted to transport myself back into that photo, back home to that better time and place.   My last ever half marathon. I did it 79.28 and I didn’t run it flat out.

I remember running really conservatively the first half. I recall a sprint at the finish, and dry retching as I stopped.

I was trying to reach into that photo beyond the stress I feel about the here and now, and wanting to go back to 1983, trying to relive the race, to say hello to my mother when I got home, to sit in the backyard and watch the wattlebirds climbing the branches of the Old Man Banksia.

I never ran another half marathon, the next year at the same event I went in the 10km and did 33.12.

I couldn’t really jump back into that photo, because it is so long ago and my memories of the race are sketchy.  Did I drive there in my new Toyota Corolla or did someone give me a lift? I don’t remember.

Drizzly Rain

Don’t mind this kind of weather.

Ran 8km in 39:45 (5:38, 5:11, 5:01, 5:14, 5:05, 4:40, 4:48, 4:09)

I seemed to build momentum in this morning’s run. I started with the intention of going easily until the last kilometre.

In the sixth km I clicked up a gear without too much effort. And the last km I went all out.

I think I am stronger in the calves and quads and I can feel this extra power when I try to run faster. I am not straining as hard. However, during the day I do get some pain in the upper calf area. With calf raises and heels drops I can alleviate this discomfort.

Going sub 20 will be a lot harder at my age than it was in my twenties. That 4:09 was and all out effort, and I have to go better than that over 5kms.

Last night I did 15.1km in 50 minutes on the exercise bike. I started slow and pushed a bit harder the last 10 minutes.

Torrential Rain

A sustained 10km from me, in appaling weather conditions. Driving torrential rain, puddles of water several inches deep over the cycle path. There were fallen bracnhes. Rivers of water were flowing off the path.

Wild weather indeed.

10km 46.44 (4:46, 4.31, 4.30, 4.48 (slight hill), 4.58 (bezel malfunction had to stop) 5km (23.29), 4.37, 4.48, 4.43, 4.43, 4.24 (23.15).

The rain, the wet and slippery conditions and the bezel misbehaving lost me many seconds.

I ran past another runner this afternoon. We high fived each other. It was a look at us crazy runners out in this heavy rain, kind of high five. How much fun is it?

On the way to the service station for a cool drink I saw another runner braving the conditions. Boy was it heavy then! Much heavier than when I was running.

I was actually walking comfortably without the knee tape in the shopping centre. I even forgot I didn’t have the tape on.

In bad news my hot water service is not working.

Half Marathon and Marathon

This weekend I’ve been thinking alot about the possibility of running a half marathon, and perhaps a marathon before I’m fifty.  

This is a challenge I set myself. My private challenge. I’m thinking that I donh’t want to share this with anyone except maybe my father.

I’m not going to talk about my running with people at work. They’re not interested anyway, they don’t want to hear.

I’m going to train hard until I achieve this. Then I’ll keep it as my personal reward for hard work, patience and courage.

Cycle, run and long run

Once as I travelled through a quiet evening,
I saw a pool, jet-black and mirror-still.
Beyond, the slender paperbarks stood crowding;
each on its own white image looked its fill,
and nothing moved but thirty egrets wading -
thirty egrets in a quiet evening.

Once in a lifetime, lovely past believing,
your lucky eyes may light on such a pool.
As though for many years I had been waiting,
I watched in silence, till my heart was full
of clear dark water, and white trees unmoving,
and, whiter yet, those thirty egrets wading.

Egrets Judith Wright

 

I’ve been  training hard. I don’t think I comprehend the words ‘go easy’.

On Monday I did a 50 minute ride on the exercise bike, my longest yet. Tuesday was an 8km tempo run in 38:38.

Wednesday I spent an enjoyable day in the field. I discovered a species of bird orchid (Chiloglottis sylvestris) that made my day. It started to rain heavily, and I got soaked going from the car into the office. I also added Thin-leaved Stringybark (Eucalyptus eugeniodes) to the species list for Bongil Bongil NP.

Bird Orchid

On Thursday I did a moderate 10km run along the cycle path in 49.24. I pushed hard the last kilometre.

49:27 (5:09, 4:55, 4:55, 5;01, 5:02 (25:02), 5:01, 5:09, 4:57, 5:00, 4:18 (24:25)   

Friday I had a rest day.

Saturday morning I did a 16km run along the bike path and almost into Sawtell. I made it as far as part of the Sawtell fun Run course. It was raining and cool this morning and I really like those conditions to run in.

16km 82:37 (5:31, 4:55, 4:51, 4:58, 4:48 (25:03), 5:08, 5:22, 5:21, 5:22, 5:13 (26:26), 5:00, 5:01, 5:26, 5:20, 5:24, (26:11) 4:57

The first 5km I stopped to tie my shoe laces twice and had trouble with the bezel changing display due to rain drops. The second 5km I crossed the road, ran on grass, as I ran along the main road into Sawtell. Started to stiffen up the last 4 kilometres, which is reflected in the times.

Tempo 8km

A better run this morning. 8km in 38.38.

I rolled into the first km and felt pretty smooth and I seemed to build momentum from there. Kilometres 2 and 3 were pleasing. Tried to finish strong.

38:38 (5:07, 4:43, 4:41, 4:53, 4:51, 4:56, 4:57, 4:32).

I liked the smoothness with which I was running. I wasn’t straining at all.