City to Surf - RunOther

This is the first time I have ever run the full length City To Surf! I did the 4km run last year but this year I was ready for something bigger thanks to all my running training over winter. Overall I really enjoyed it. I knew that the course contained 3 big hills to conquer, but I was pleasantly surprised that there was also a lot of easy down-hill running which allowed for plenty of recovery. I also really really enjoyed running with so many people. It was a big change from my usual BOP position *lol*

My usual gut issues played up, won't go into detail but I had to make a toilet stop halfway, despite going twice before the race started. This added about 5 mins to my time, I paused my HRM and the time recorded in this RR is my HRM time. My official time will be longer.

I was plagued by a really weird sensation in my lungs, it felt like my airways were constricted and I couldn't get as much air in as usual. This left me very out of breath and I had to stop and walk several times, especially up the hills. I was actually wheezing when I took deep breaths! I am not asthmatic and never have been. I've been coughing up phlegm all afternoon and still can't breathe comfortably so I'm thinking its probably a chest bug of somesort. I don't feel unwell though like I usually do with a cold. Anyway, whatever it is, it was a little frustrating because I could have done a much better time had I not had to stop and walk so many times. But there's always next year!!!

Not a lot. I have done more running training this winter than I have my whole life. If my chest had been OK I would have gone better.

And as always, one can always train more :)

Had my free bottle of water and apple, and walked around for ages trying to find Sefton. We had to get home quickly because there was a surprise party for my grandma's 80th birthday that we had to be at by 12pm. We had arranged to meet at his corporate tent, but it was no where to be found! Finally I bumped into him, turns out his company had not erected a marquee as promised after all, and we were both wandering around lost in the massive crowd trying to find eachother!

I got to see Cathy Freeman! She was being interviewd by the radio station 94.5FM on stage when I walked past looking for Sef. I was about 10m away from her! How exciting, I am so pleased I got to see such a great Olympian and role model. Her time was 1:03, but I think she walked and mingled a lot with the crowd along the way, plus she says shes a sprinter and doesn't usually run long distances. Surely just trying to make us mere mortals feel better about ourselves :)


Funny wheezing thing.


I'll be back next year! This is a great local race on quite a challenging course where you get to run with HEAPS of people of differing abilities. It lets me see my achievements in a more objective way when I compare my fitness level to a much larger cross section of the population, not just elite super-fit triathletes *LOL*