C2S 2006

Week - 14k
Month - 62k
YTD - 815k


Arrived home last night after deciding to drive from Sydney to Brisbane in one day instead of two. It was a nice relief to wake up this morning knowing that I didn't have to drive another few hours today.

So what has been going on in the last week or so. The days leading up to the C2S were very casual only one run along the beach of Terrigal was done before the race. I dont know what possessed me in running 10k on sand but I did, and my legs complained about it that night and on Saturday.

Anyway we arrived in Sydney on Saturday afternoon after driving down from the Central Coast. After checking in to our hotel, Cass and I went for a walk around Darling harbour and the like for a few hours. After returning to the hotel we were a bit tired and remained there until the race the next day.

Waking up I was quite excited about running the C2S for the first time since 97. I had forgotten about how big this race actually is, the A1 starting area quite early in the morning contained more runners than the usual races I have been doing over the past few years.

After standing around for what felt like an eternity the crowd shifted forward and then the gun fired, I was cold and stiff and didn't feel like getting straight into it at all. I didn't start my watch until I passed the line and even at that stage it wasn't for a few more seconds that I could actually get some speed.

Everyone took off like gazelles and I tried not to get too caught up with everyone but knew that I was running way too fast. I had a guy take a face plant in front of me at high speed and slowed to help him up but he seemed ok. About 1k into the run it settled down a bit and some normal running took place.

I couldn't remember any of the course and the amount of hills suprised the hell out of me, even before heartbreak I was struggling up the hills which wasn't a good sign. I reached HB and put the head down and pumped the arms, the only thing was the legs didn't want to go, I was tired, the breathing was heavy and I was feeling hot.

The little guy in my head told me to stop and reassess the goals but I pushed on and tried to keep in contact with those around me. I reached the top and was exhausted, I ran until the drink station at the top and took a drink and walked for about ten metres and then set off. The clock at the top was just over 30 minutes so I was still on good time but I was hurting.

I wanted to break 60 mins, but thought, 61-62 mins was still a good effort. I continued and every hill I died on there was no steam left. I had to make the time up somewhere so I pushed a little harder on the downhill sections. By the 10km mark (41.28) I was starting to struggle even on the flat and was hanging out for the long downhill section into Bondi. I knew I could recover there a bit and battle on for the last km.

I passed the 12k sign and knew that I didn't have long to go before the end. I just needed to keep the legs turning over, however once I hit the flat just opposite the shops I had nothing left, I reckon I was running around 5 min/k pace and even that was hurting me. Reaching the big left hand turn for the run down to the finish I gritted my teeth and at times closed my eyes and dug deep I heard the announcer saying something about sub 60 and knew that I still had a chance. I passed a few people on the way down and crossed the line in 58.4x however I must have taken my time to get my time card so my official time was 58.52, my watch time was 58.27. I was also quite impressed about my position making it into the top 1000, #897

I was pretty happy about my time, I reached my goal but am bit disappointed as to how I ran it. I ran horrible and looking back I could have taken alot of time off that. Maybe next year!

Anyway, Noosa in two days and I haven't ran since the C2S. I am going for a jog today and leave tomorrow for the trip up there. Im not sure how I will go, I wish I had done some more training so I could have a shot at my PB but I dont think that will happen. I will just enjoy the weekend and see what comes from it.