Author: daveg

So my last fun run of the year is over. On Sunday I completed the 9km Bridge Run. In the lead up to the day, I wasn’t very confident. Two weeks before, I did a long 10km odd run after work which left my knees wrecked, and had to take the rest of the week off to rest.

The week before the race, I ramped things back up again. Did two 5kms runs out at work in Cumberland Forest, with one of them being a personal best for that course of 21:24. Also twice hit the gym to use the bike which really helped with my leg and knee strength. On the Friday evening, I did a nice, quick 7km around Moore Park at about 80% pace which I finished in 31:18, so I was feeling pretty good after that.

Had Saturday off to go to a wedding but I didn’t make it home until about 11:30pm, which I wasn’t too happy about. Then Rozie came home from the wedding at 1:30am, then she was feeling crook at about 3:30am, which I helped her out as much as I could. I woke up at about 5:45am having only had what felt like about 4 hours sleep.

Got myself down to Central Station to catch the train over to Milsons Point, since I had to get my bag onto the trucks before 7am. Got to Milsons Point around 6.45am. After I put my bag on the trucks, I thought sleeping probably wasn’t a good idea for my race performance, so I just sat in the sun until about 7:30am, feeling super-crap. Had bit of a warm up, a quick pee and joined the other runners ready for the race at 8.05am.

Now there’s supposed to be self-seeding, but that didn’t seem to work out too well. Lots of walkers pushing into the front area. A lot like City2Surf (although admittedly not as bad). Megan Gale fired the starting gun, which was a pretty damn good start IMHO!!

So the race went up the road from Milsons Point, up over the Sydney Harbour Bridge (I didn’t really look too hard), along the Cahill Expressway, up Macquarie St, down Gallery Rd to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair and back, back down Macquarie St, then to the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House. *phew*!

For most of the race, I was pulling in 4:20mins/km, which was I really happy with, since up until recently I’ve running at around 4:30mins/km. I still managed to see I swear the same little kid who runs most of the race ahead of me that I saw at the Bay Run and City2Surf.

Right near the end of the race at the roundabout near the Opera House I quickly saw Rozie waiting for me and she gave me a quick cheer which helped me make a final dash for the end.

So I ended up finishing the race in 37:59mins, which was way better than the 39 to 40 minutes time I’d set for myself. And in the field of 7100 odd runners, I finished 186th (that’s not adjusted… I’ll probably rank better once the results are finalised).

So all in all, I was super-stoked with my time and performance. After a creaky start, it really felt good and just rolled nicely along. Next year, I’m planning on perhaps doing a half-marathon or two, and with the time I did on Sunday, I reckon I’ll easily smash that sub-60min goal for the City2Surf to pieces.

So race 2 out of 3 is over for this year, the famous City2Surf. So how did I go? Well, not quite as well as I’d hoped. I finished the race in 65:07, a few minutes of top of the 62 minutes I was hoping for, but still almost 30 seconds quicker than my old time from when I was 16, so I guess that’s nothing to be ashamed of 🙂

Admittedly, I’m a little disappointed, but I understand the time, since I spent so much bloody time during the race trying to duck and weave past much slower runners and walkers. The first 300 metres at the start I had to physically shove my way past some oldies who for some reason decided they should be right at the front of the pack (I was in the HSBC group). A sentiment that I heard from quite a few people over at the Cool Running forums.

Also I felt pretty crap most of Saturday after having a few birthday drinks on Friday night, so that’s a lesson learnt for next year 😉

But my time does qualify me for the faster A1 group next year (runners who completed the race in under 75 minutes), so that does make me happy. I think starting in that pack will have me finishing much closer, if not under 60 minutes. Plenty of time to train until then, so I don’t think its that unreasonable a goal, considering this time last year I had a hard time walking up hills without breaking a sweat. Really dreaming, I’d like to get down to the 55 minute mark, but that’s real dreamtime stuff, which perhaps I can work towards.

So next month I’ll be doing the Sydney Bridge Run which is a 10 kilometre run. If I stay away from alcohol and keep up with the running, I should be able to knock that over in under 45 minutes. Its a flatter run that C2S as well, so I should be able to keep up a faster pace. I’m really psyched for that one! 😀

So on Sunday I entered my first fun run in 13 years. The last one I was in was the City 2 Surf back in 1993. Sunday’s race was the 7 kilometre Bay Run, around Iron Cove, which is surrounded by Leichart, Five Dock and Rozelle amongst other suburbs. I got up nice and early for the race, 6am.. ergh. Rozie even came with me. I was really appreciative of the support since I know how much she loves sleeping in.

After registering, I was given an ankle tag and my racing bib. I spent some time, like others jogging up and down a bit to warm up. About 10 minutes before the race was a “professional” warmup, which involved lots of jogging on the stop and punching the air, kind of what I remember doing at school. It must have been the same for the other runners since half the place was in hysterics.

A few minutes after that, the race was on.

Most people made a pretty mad dash at the start, but I kept it safe and went with a comfortable pace. I found myself overtaking people pretty quickly and getting into a nice groove. After probably the 2nd kilometre, things were pretty static in terms of placing. But by about the fifth, people who’d been infront of me for a while dropped back and I found myself overtaking quite a few people. In the last 750 metres I managed to get past two little pipsqueaks who were probably about 10/11 years old. Little buggers!

So I ended up finishing the 7.05km course in 30:39. That was just under my aim of 31 minutes (although I would’ve been happier with under 30). That’s a goal for next year though. I ended up place 127th out of a field of 770 men and women, 32nd out of 99 in the 16-29 year old males and 111th out of 457 males runners.

Overall I’m pretty stoked with how I went. I’ll definitely be back for it next year and hoping to bust through the 30 minute barrier.

Coming up two weeks time is the City 2 Surf, which I’m hoping to do under 65:30 (my previous time) and after that, the Sydney Bridge run, which is approximately 10 kilometres.

After a bit of off-time, I’m back again. My blog (and Rozie’s) has been moved to another of the Dorja servers (thanks Troy!) Now that things are back up and running (and that I’m back in the City) I’ll be blogging more regulary.