Hello all,
Its been a while since I posted. I do have another post half written, but wanted to get this one out before too much time passed.
One of the girls in my running group very casually suggested I might like to do a 10km run just for fun. I found myself signing up for the Bridge to Brisbane 10 km run. I was pretty cool with it until the day or so before and certainly the morning of. Suddenly I had all these doubts, what if I couldn’t run that distance, what if I failed, what was I thinking, a struggling 5km runner why did I think I could run 10km, and so on it went.
Thankfully at Intraining (Club running) the week before we had done a slow and steady run. I had managed to run and talk and feel somewhat comfortable, which in turn gave me some courage. If I could find that pace and that rhythm, perhaps I could run 10km.
The atmosphere was fantastic. I was number 19904 which meant there were a lot of runners on the course. They started us in waves which you nominated for when you signed up. There were the super fast elites, the fast runners, the fast kids, Corporate runners, joggers and walkers. I popped myself into the jogger group which is where I firmly belonged.
Off we went and in the beginning there were a ton of people trying to jockey for position and sort themselves out. Some people sprinted out, others walked out, and some like me shuffled out which I had been advised to do.
After about 1km we all seemed to have our space and everyone was doing their thing. I found myself starting to enjoy the experience. The city was beautiful and we were running through it, over bridges, across the river, down the side of the river, back across the river, and all on roads which you would normally drive on which was super cool.
There were buskers placed strategically along the road at intervals, all of whom were trying their hardest at keeping everyone going and happy and providing a bit of a beat. They were wonderful. At one stage we ran though a small tunnel, and inside the tunnel was a grand piano and 3 Opera Singers whose sound filled the tunnel. I will never forget it. It was super wonderful and I loved it. The crowd was cheering whilst running.
And so with lots of runners to look at, music changing, great scenery, time seemed to be passing along well. At one of the drink stations I finally took a drink of water, which ended badly. I suddenly needed a toilet right there and then and felt quite panicked. My stomach was in knots and I was wondering how long I could go on for, when miraculously around the corner appeared a row of port-a-loos placed exactly where I needed them. 2 minutes later emerged a whole new person.
The last bridge was a challenge. It has a very long and steep rise up to the crest and I talked myself into it by saying that after this rise, I would be going down hill or flat, so just suck it up, its your last effort. I did it, went down the hill, round the corner and saw another hill I had completely forgotten about. It almost did me in. I started to walk, about 30 strides, then talked myself into going again as I was fairly close to the end. Made it up the hill, around the corner, and there was the finish line with my husband cheering madly.
And so I ran across the finish line. Initially I felt absolutely nothing. Needed water most of all. But then emotion came flooding in. I truly felt euphoric. Loved the world and everyone in it, and was just so incredibly happy. I would highly recommend taking up running just for that feeling. It was very, very good.
My official time was 1:20:34 less the toilet stop was around the 1:18 mark. I had no real expectations on time. Just wanted to finish it.
Back to reality, I did Park run this morning, filled with confidence and bravado. This 5km was going to be a walk in the park, after all I could now run 10km. How wrong can one be. I went too hard, couldn’t sustain it, needed to walk some of it, and finished around the same time as 2 weeks ago – 36:34.
We live and learn.
Have an awesome week. Hope you’re all doing well and having fun out there.
Until next time.
