After my pleasing result in the Mother’s Day Classic, I was considering running a fun run a month for the next little while.
Somewhat daunting list of upcoming runs:
June 2
MS Fun Run
8km
July 14
Sydney Harbour 10k
10km
August 4
Bay Run
7km
August 11
City to Surf
14km
September 22
Blackmore’s Bridge Run
9km
On Saturday, with the MS Fun Run pending, I was considering abandoning the run-a-month plan to focus on working on getting to a longer distance.
When I woke up on Sunday morning at 6am, it was absolutely pouring with rain and the forecast was for rain and rain and more rain – with strong winds – not the most tempting conditions for a ‘fun’ run. I gave serious thought to remaining snuggled in bed, but after a shower and a coffee decided to suck it up (princess) and get out there.
The route was described as challenging and Holy!Goodness! that was an understatement. There was boardwalk, grass, steps, asphalt, pavers, concrete and so, so many hills! And everything was exceedingly slippery. Fortunately the rain had eased to a drizzle before the start and wasn’t too troublesome until about the last kilometre when it began bucketing down again.
Apart from some bottlenecks at various sets of stairs, I managed to run all the way – which thrilled me because those hills were extremely hilly. I was prepared for my time to be much worse than the mother’s day classic which was almost flat and on on a nice, wide road. The field was quite a good deal smaller as well, so I was also prepared to come WAY down the list of finishers (I was aiming to be in the top 90%), particularly as the rain would have driven the less-than-keen away.
I knew Don would be at the finish line to cheer me so I really sprinted (such as I am able) the last 250m – because I am a sucker for an audience. I was feeling a smidge ouchy and exhausted afterward, but I am exceedingly pleased with my under 55min time and delighted that I finished in the top 71% of all finishers and top 59% of females!
Am now reconsidering my reconsidering – running with others really does push me to go faster and I get a kick out of the company.