So a week has passed since the 2014 City2Surf and I’m finally getting around to putting together my wrap-up. Please excuse me if it’s a little disjointed, I am full of Sudafed and Armaforce in a bid to rid myself of this annoying flu that seems to have made a home in my body…
Basically, this year’s race was the best. I hit my goal of running under 65 minutes and I PBd by almost four minutes. Final time – 63.33. 297th of all females and 130th in my age group. I didn’t quite win, but I’m pretty proud of myself.
To be honest, I thought 65 was going to be a massive stretch. My previous best was 67.12 and I just didn’t know how much more I had in me. But my brother had promised to run with me to help me get there, so I knew that if I was ever going to do it, this was the year.
The run itself was pretty enjoyable, if you can believe that. Runners will know what I’m talking about when I say that some runs are a struggle… every step a battle of mind over matter. This was not ones of those runs. Sure, there were some hiccups along the way, but overall, it was actually pretty fun.
So that got me to thinking…. WHY was this year better than others? What did I do differently? Here are the top four differences I could come up with:
Longer runs – I’m training for the Blackmores half marathon at the moment, so I’ve been getting out and doing more longer runs. In previous years, I mightn’t have run more than 10km in the lead up to the C2S, whereas this year I did a 12km, a 14km and a 17km training run, plus plenty of 10km runs at a decent pace.
Hills – Since last year’s race I have moved to Bondi, which means hills are part of my daily life. Even when I’m not running them I’m walking them with Lou, so my glutes knew what to do when Heartbreak Hill hit. I lost a lot of time on the hills last year, but this year I averaged 5min/km, which I’m pretty stoked on.
Putting my goal out to the universe – in previous years I have had a ‘secret’ goal in mind; one I didn’t like to tell the world in case I didn’t reach it… what a terrible attitude! This year I decided to put it out there. I hoped the positive energy from my friends would help get me through. And it did!
A running partner – Having Fraser there beside me pushed me to run faster and harder than I otherwise would have. I remember running along at a 4.05min/km in the first couple of km and thinking ‘shit, I didn’t even know I could run this fast’. I absolutely would not have done that on my own.
Post-race compression sock fashion
All in all it was a pretty successful City2Surf.for the whole family (although Fraser did stop for a vomit halfway up Heartbreak Hill). My ma finished in 86.36, close to her best and pretty darn impressive for someone who swore she’d never run. And on that note…
Next stop, Blackmores Half Marathon.
p.s We got to meet City2Surf Legend Alan Farrell, who has completed all 35 City2Surfs… including an extraordinary number down in the low 50s…. C2S royalty, right there!
Fraser & I with Alan Farrell, who has completed all 35 City2Surfs. He is an official legend!
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