Warwick Pentath

WEEK - 11.5k
MONTH - 123.3k
YTD - 511.3


Friday - The first family holiday began early when we all had to go to the city and pick my mum up from the train station at 6.30 am. She was going to visit after this weekend but we invited her to come to Warwick with us to enjoy the festivities.

It was then off to Warwick about 1pm after some lunch, I am still on holidays so it wasn't a mad dash like many of the others had to do after work. We arrived about 3 pm or so and checked into the motel and basically relaxed until dinner. We all went into town and bought some groceries and ordered some italian take away which pretty much ended the night. How exciting :)

Saturday - Race 1- 21.1k. Woke up about 5.30am to find that the morning weather was nowhere near as chilly as last year. I had some breakfast and walked up to register. I was feeling great, all excited that I was doing my second pentath. The race started at 7 am, the goal was to complete the race without injuring myself so the plan was to run comfortable which is what happened.

The run couldn't have gone much better, It felt easy but I must admit to begin with it was very hard to hold back. I ended up completing the first 10k in 45.02. I eased up in the second half and finished in a time of 1.37.07. I remember last year I could hardly walk after this event which made it a long and painful weekend, this year I was still feeling great.

Race 2 - 4.6k cross country. This race is a one of a kind, the terrain doesn't look hard and apart from jumping over obstacles it is a relatively normal cross counrty track. However it is so damn hard. It is raced on an equestrian park and instead of having a lead vehicle, horses run around the course showing the leaders were to go.

Before the race I paid off my warmup and only done about 200m of gentle jogging before it began, my first mistake. The race began and I was in the thick of the action, front row, for what reason had no idea. I took off like a lunatic, covering the first 1k in 3.25, second mistake. It was not long after that I ended up getting the biggest stitch in the world, it was tearing my insides apart. The dust was pretty bad and I found it soooooo hard to breathe, I couldn't take deep breathes because it hurt so much. I still eneded up passing through the 2k mark in 7.45 but that's were it ended. I was almost at a standstill it was embarrassing I was squeezing my sides trying to get rid of it but no luck. It felt like the whole field passed me, I was hurting and was so relieved to finish. I think the time was about 19.40, unsure, the one thing I did know was that I needed oxygen and a drink fast.

Race 3 - 5k road run. This time I concentrated alot on the warmup, my stomach was sore from the previous race. I don't know what stitches do but they feel like they tear muscle. I practiced taking deep breathes and exhauling squeezing my abs. I didn't want that sucker to return, thank good it didn't. I set off at a comfortable pace but quickly realised that my normal comfortable 5k pace was not so comfortable after running 26k already. I still remained at a decent pace and was spot of 4 min/k pace at the 4 k mark. It was then that I hit the wall, the last little incline felt like Mt Coot-tha and I struggled, I ended up crossing the line in 20.26. The atmosphere at this race was great, especially at the end when, although I dont know her, CR Cirque finished her goal 5k race.

On the way to the car carrying the pram up the steps my left foot felt sore for a moment, I didn't think anything of it at the time, but it didn't seem to get any better.

Saturday Night Dinner. Last year I didn't go to the dinner for some reason and looking back now I should have, it was a good night, well apart from realising how dumb I am in regards to sport trivia :) There was lots of medals won by many of the CR's with lots of cheering, the most enthusiastic had to be Clairie. You dont expect anything less though and it wouldn't be as fun that's for sure. By the end I was getting tired and was looking forward to my now normal fragmented sleeping pattern.

Sunday - Race 4 - 10k Killarney Ascent. What I thought would be the hardest day ended up being the easiest. Well the foot didn't get any better and when I got out to the start and began my warm up my foot had this sharp pain on the outside of it. It started only after a couple of steps and I began wondering how was I going to do the remaining two races. It was painful, I removed my near new orthotic to see if that was the culprit but it still hurt. I was annoyed, and was so close to packing everything up and returning to Brisbane. I decided to go for one last jog and eventually found a running style that made my foot feel better. It still hurt but I had a more optimistic view of being able to complete the remaining races.

In saying that the race was run at a very slow and steady pace with alot of walking. I didn't really mind too much even though it is frustrating the main point is that I was able to run the race. I hardly even raised a sweat for the entire hill run which is what I meant by the easiest day and I got to enjoy the scenery a little more. I ended up completing the run in 59.30.

Race 5 - 1500m. The last run for the 2006 Pentath, it seemed to fly this weekend probably because I could actually walk unlike this time last year. I gave my foot a hiding, alot of stretching and massage trying to loosen it up before the race. I wasn't going to run the event for a time in my condition and just jogged it around, although it felt like it was an effort. Alot of compensating for the pain but there was no way I was not going to do the last race. Not much else happened and I got beaten by most under 10 kids in the race, although that would have probably happened even if I was healthy. They are pretty fast nowadays. I crossed the line in 6.42.

Hanging around for everyone to finish was great, all the little kids doing there first ever race was pretty cool to watch, they looked all proud when everyone was cheering them. The support that everyone shows each other throughout the weekend is second to none, I have not done any other race that even comes close. This was shown when the last two competitors were in the last few meteres of the 1500m when all the CR's amongst others joined hands and made a tunnel for them to cross the line under. A memorable moment that's for sure.

I was unable to stick around for the presentaions and lunch after the event and didn't get a chance to say goodbye and congratulate everyone. Samuel was a bit sick throuhgout the night and I wanted to get him home as soon as. Therefore....

Thanks to everyone for an enjoyable event and congrats to Tesso, Clairie, Hannah, Schultzy amongst others for their great efforts. Although Samuel slept for entire event Im sure he was glad to meet everyone and hopefully soaked up some of the atmoshere to inspire him to compete in the event in a few years. Hope to see everyone again soon and those who haven't done this event before place it on the calender... May 19/20 2007.

Results this year compared to last year

2006//2005

Race 1 - 1.37.07//1.37.28

Race 2 - 19.40//18.24

Race 3 - 20.26//20.36

Race 4 - 59.30//53.34

Race 5 - 6.42 //4.55

Total - 3.23.25//3.14.57

Oh before I forget the concern before the race was the shins, I am happy with how they went, no soreness, after the race now is my foot, I think it is caused by the orthotics, over longer distances it has strained the outside of my foot (rectifying my pronation problem). Im guessing it is not serious and I will take it easy for the rest of the week. I think I deserve one I just ran a marathon....well sort of :)