The Cocktail Party
OMG....... thanks Lisa Nolan. What a night.
Gold Coast 1/2 Marathon
Sharon Broadley tackled here second half marathon with a preparation that had been interrupted due to travel, work and illness. Carrying a back injury that hit her hamstrings as well.... yes I know the Nathan Buckley actually doesn't take the field when suffering from such an injury. Sharon battled on and still managed a PB. Well done Broads.
Paul also took to the field and battled through for a PB of his own. Along the way discovering that 1/2 marathons are very very tough races.
The other great thing to come out of the GC 1/2 was the induction of our first NZ athlete. Sharon's bro, Andrew was gracious enough to represent our little band by donning theinnergame green and then beating us all home. All up a wonderful event.
Sri Chinmoy 10 K race
We had a larger number of athletes turn up for the Sri Chinmoy 10K race. For many it was their first 10k race. For all I believe it was their PB. While that's great, I think you can tell from the stories below that the sense of achievement was even better. Well done to all.
How about this for a story...It was F***ing cold and it took almost 5K before I could feel my toes. Oh and what kind of race has you climb 3 flights of stairs...not only once, but twice! :) Well I guess that is not really a story, so much as a whinge.
According to the Sri Chinmoy web site I was 62nd and finished in 53 min 59 sec, but on my watch I had 53 min 55 sec. Which I was pretty happy with based on my earlier time trials, which put me at around 55 minutes. An interesting thing has happened to me since I started training. Ten weeks ago I didn't think timing really mattered and just finishing these events was my only objective. But now that I've started to get better at the individual events, I can actually feel my attitude changing such that the timings are becoming important. After the race on Sunday, I've been thinking that I could probably have done better and that the next time I would like to finish in 50 minutes or even less, which is something I would have never even considered before starting the training for Noosa. To answer your question about if I'm still competing at Noosa, unless I injure myself between now and then, my answer is HELL YES! :)
On another note, it was pretty cool seeing everyone running with the green innergame tops on. I think we all really stood out and people definitely noticed us. It also helped us all recognise each other and we could cheer each other on as we were running.
Howdy... well it wasn't pretty but I did turn up and I did finish - so for me that was a huge achievement in itself. Was pleased with a sub 70 min time, 69.30min to be exact! Found the course very very difficult with lots of hills, stairs, ice and freezing temps (4 degrees when we started and lucky fi it was 6 when we finished)... but this was the same for all so I shouldn't complain!
It was just terrific to see such a big turn out from the innergame athletes... we really did look very impressive in our shirts and created rather a lot of interest!
Thanks for all your support, encouragement and inspiration. Now on to the next challenge.... the Melbourne half - OMIGOD!!!
The run was good on Sunday and I was pleased with the time. I managed to get 57:42 which was better than the 60mins I was aiming for. Fair to say I had nothing left at the end and couldn't have done another 50m.
The knee held up brilliantly, I've got no pain during or after the run. My calves are only slightly tight which was to be expected but nothing like they used to be. All in all I am very happy!
12 weeks ago when I first met you after purchasing a 10 week fitness trainer voucher at a Tsunami Appeal Charity Auction, you suggested I try running. After some thought the goal was set, 10 km's in 10 weeks. I admit that I really didn't think it was a realistic goal given running was never something I did well and always ended up with painful injuries. Bad back and bad knees were always part on the equation.I joined in the group training and focused heavily on changing my bad technique. There were injuries along the way but all have come good with physio and good stretching and strength exercises. There were times when I had to stop running and ease back into it slowly which all helped my in the end. I am now able to manage them on my own without weekly visits to the physio which is great.
Well, 10 weeks on I managed to complete my goal and in a better than expected time. I am motivated now to compete at Noosa and maybe the City to Surf in Sydney .
For the official results go to http://www.srichinmoyraces.org/au/results/comolandingresults2005/document_view
O'Hara wins the UK National Duathlon Championship.
Katherine O'Hara, well know to our runners and cyclists, won the Female age group category at the UK National Duathlon Championships. Really this shouldn't come as a surprise as she has won the Victorian Age Group Champs in triathlon and we all know what a sensational athlete she is.
We also know that she is the ultimate good sport as well. Just to try and even things up a little, Katherine through herself off her bike when riding home from work one night at around 10:00pm. This significant interruption to her training schedule was deliberately planned so that she could increase the competition from other age groupers.
Overall, a sensational result which Katherine will be delighted about but in her normal modest style just play down as something that she does. In the meantime we think she is a superstar, just for getting over there.
Katherine's overall time for the 10k run, 40 k bike, 5 k run was 2:10:33. This included a 0:38:18 for the first 10km. Damn that's fast.