When the alarm woke me at 4.30 am on Sunday morning, I had to ask myself why I do this. Seems to me that the rest of Broulee are still fast asleep, enjoying the weekend rest. With not much time to contemplate, the running gear was on - and out the door I went.
Craig and Bec kindly drove me up to Huskisson for my first attempt at the Husky Half. You couldn't have asked for a more perfect day weather wise - blue skies with gentle winds. Temperature at the start of the race was 12 degrees. The atmosphere was buzzing - over 300 runners anxious to start. Bec and I nuzzled our way towards the front of the pack in an attempt to listen to the race briefing - Adam joined us shortly after and off we went.
My aim was to simply enjoy the race and take in the scenery of Jervis Bay. What a delightful run it was! The race followed the cycle path towards Vicentia, along the shores of Jervis Bay. Elite Energy did a fabulous job of organising the event - with plenty of water stations along the way. Being an out and back course, I got to see Bec and Adam in the various stages of the race. I have had minor knee issues in the lead up to the race (excuse no. 64), so my goal was to finish under 1.45.
My pace was consistently around 4.50 per km and I was feeling fresh and strong and my knee was not causing too much grief. It was warming up and whilst there was some shade on the course, being a later start - 8 am - things were certainly starting to heat up. Wonderful to see so many female runners out there. 304 competitors, with 164 being women!
I maintained my pace to finish in a time of 1.43.27. Whilst not a PB, I was stoked to finish strongly and to overtake many runners in the last few kms. I finished 15th female out of 164 starters. You have to be pleased with that.
My support crew were there. Kim and my gorgeous girls are always there to see me finish and share the experience with me. Thanks to Bec and to Adam for their encouragement along the way too. Met up with Nicole, from the Uladulla Rats - what a small world it is. Hopefully the Rats will come down to Broulee later this year and have a run with the locals. Well done to Ken Saunders, who I hear recently ran a marathon - at 80 years of age, you're amazing Ken! Such an inspiration.
Which brings me back to my those questions I asked myself in the darkness of my Sunday morning. Why on earth do I do this to myself? To all the runners out there, I think that you all know the answer.
