Running - the big day!
So, I ran in the Mother's Day Classic this morning, in the 4 km run at the Domain.
In my training runs I've been doing 4 km in around 22m 30s or so, so I figured (allowing for the crowd of over a thousand I'd be running with, and that therefore it might be a minute or two before I even crossed the start line after the gun went off, and also the fact that the track is fairly narrow and there'd be a lot of congestion, all of which turned out to be true) that I could aim for a time under 25 minutes.
And the result? Did all that training pay off?
Yes it did!
I did it in around 24 minutes 30 seconds. I'm well pleased! (Official times will be released in a few days, I think - we wore timer chips.) And I didn't walk, except for a few steps at a couple of points where the path was too crowded for me to run.
It was a good day for it - not hot, not too cold, no rain despite threatening dark clouds.
The rest of the Choice team did well too. I'm especially pleased for my pal Katie who ran the 8 km and came in ahead of all the other Choice runners. She was very happy with her time too. She was there to cheer me on at the finish of my race; it's so encouraging to enter the final leg and have a big crowd cheering you on, and to have your own friends there cheering for you. Helps you find the last reserves and sprint to the finish.
The running bug has well and truly caught me now. I never thought I'd be saying that! Katie and I have agreed to enter the City to Surf this year. Pretty unlikely that I'll manage to run the whole 14 km, but I'll give it my best shot. And I'm going to keep training so I can enter the Mothers Day 8 km run next year.
The running is certainly paying off for my fitness, too. My pants are feeling looser lately - so much so that I bought a pair of jeans last week and actually went down a size from my usual 38 waist to a 36.
And now, a wee rest and a quiet afternoon, methinks.
[ETA: my official time was 24:29 (from when the gun went off to when I crossed the finish line). However my net time, from actually crossing the start line to when I finished, was 22:44, which is pleasing.]
In my training runs I've been doing 4 km in around 22m 30s or so, so I figured (allowing for the crowd of over a thousand I'd be running with, and that therefore it might be a minute or two before I even crossed the start line after the gun went off, and also the fact that the track is fairly narrow and there'd be a lot of congestion, all of which turned out to be true) that I could aim for a time under 25 minutes.
And the result? Did all that training pay off?
Yes it did!
I did it in around 24 minutes 30 seconds. I'm well pleased! (Official times will be released in a few days, I think - we wore timer chips.) And I didn't walk, except for a few steps at a couple of points where the path was too crowded for me to run.
It was a good day for it - not hot, not too cold, no rain despite threatening dark clouds.
The rest of the Choice team did well too. I'm especially pleased for my pal Katie who ran the 8 km and came in ahead of all the other Choice runners. She was very happy with her time too. She was there to cheer me on at the finish of my race; it's so encouraging to enter the final leg and have a big crowd cheering you on, and to have your own friends there cheering for you. Helps you find the last reserves and sprint to the finish.
The running bug has well and truly caught me now. I never thought I'd be saying that! Katie and I have agreed to enter the City to Surf this year. Pretty unlikely that I'll manage to run the whole 14 km, but I'll give it my best shot. And I'm going to keep training so I can enter the Mothers Day 8 km run next year.
The running is certainly paying off for my fitness, too. My pants are feeling looser lately - so much so that I bought a pair of jeans last week and actually went down a size from my usual 38 waist to a 36.
And now, a wee rest and a quiet afternoon, methinks.
[ETA: my official time was 24:29 (from when the gun went off to when I crossed the finish line). However my net time, from actually crossing the start line to when I finished, was 22:44, which is pleasing.]