Was up at 5:45 and out the door by about 6:20am. It was fresh but perfect running weather.
Sub 1:40 not a bad time for the 12km. Met up with Sam and we based ourselves at the weir for cheering. My friend Julia was running her first marathon and I had promised I would have a bit of a run with her each time she passed. This plan also finished differently. Like me she is a back of the packer. She had had a sprained ankle 7 weeks out on a 30km run. She came past me at 13 km and off we went for a bit of a trot, just 1/2km to get her under the bridge and on her way.
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| Good morning! |
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| Not a bad time for a training run |
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| Sam and I at the weir, preparing for cheering duties |
After that, we waited for some people to come past on their way back around to the botanic loop. Steve Moneghetti was running and Sam and I managed to get this selfie as he came past.
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| Not sure why but I am all cross eyed. Sam, Steph, Ev and I! |
So the girls had left and I knew that Julia would be coming around the weir again at about 27 km to head back up the hill to North Adelaide. She was in a bad way. There were tears and talks of pulling out. I wasn't having a bar of it. You can't come 27 km of a 42 km race and pull out. So we joined forces and we walked the next 15 km to the finish. Her ankle was sore, everything was sore. I get that, I've been there. Twice. If it never hurt, everyone would do it. The ankle was a bit of a worry but she wasn't limping and was still moving forward, so I was confident she would be ok. So for 15 pretty brutal km, we talked, we walked and we got to the finish. At about 38km we had got a message from Julia's husband who was at the finish that they had saved a medal (she was only a little over the 6 hour cut off). That was enough to spur her on to keep going as honestly, it's the bling that makes this idiocy that we put ourself through worthwhile. We got there, and so my day went from a 12 km training run to actually around 30 km ( if you count the back and forths from the weir to the oval and then my walk to Currie St). The bus was going to be 26 mins so I got a cab.
Today was one of the first times, since volunteering a year ago in NYC, that I have been able to give back to some one in the running community. To see someone become a marathoner for the first time is really truly amazing. It was a great day and topped off by Julia's daughter putting her medal around her neck as she came over the line. I only had one day off this week and I spent most of it at this running festival. Great, great day.
So what you need to know is this entire day was fuelled by a honey stinger wafer and a medium cappuccino. I do not condone this type of fuelling for this distance, but it can be done. At no time was I hungry, AT ALL. Nor did I feel that I was lacking energy.
Needless to say though, I nearly cleared out the local supermarket of food and have since inhaled that and a piece of Red Square Cheese (cheese = protein).
I've had a shower and a snooze and am currently wearing all sorts of compression.
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| My unplanned afternoon of compression |
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| And hideous minutes on this tool of torture |
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| This is me. |
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