My Journey

The morning did not start off exactly to plan with little Oscar deciding that today he was going to be sick. I am sure it had a lot to do with the copious amount of sugar he consumed at his party but also the peak of a cold he had been carrying around. So a morning vomit in our bed was an indication that all was not well (and dammit I had just changed the sheets!!) After I showered and dressed in my super cool outfit for the walk he vomited on me again. I was starting to get concerned that I would not have an outfit to wear. After seriously considering my pj pants I went with an old winter weight size 16 trackie pants. They were hot but they did the job.

Linda and I headed in to the registration line up as I had lost my bib and met up with Michelle there. I am so grateful that they are as calm as they were as I was starting to get a bit worried that we would miss the race altogether as the line seemed to take FOREVER. However, after a rough start we were ready to join the throng as the 4th gun went off. We shuffled together until we past the start line (about 10 minutes after the first person in our group) then we found a little space to pick up the pace. As I looked forward the road dipped away and the sheer number of people took my breath away. It was fantastic to be part of such a big group and just getting out there and doing my own thing. After a short jog through the William St tunnel (which I thought would never end by the way LOL) Michelle broke away to continue her running and Linda and I strode out as the space freed up even more. It was so easy walking with Linda. We may be different heights, have a different walking style, but we think so similarly that it was a real hoot. Linda would see a gap 2 or 3 gaps ahead and just make a jogging bee line for it, and I would follow or make my way around a different way. There was never any pressure to keep up, or stay by each others side. We just walked comfortably together.

The atmosphere was electric. Helped by the numerous bands lining the route entertaining us all. My favourite bit was as we came up to the top of Heartbreak Hill and noticed the 7km marker. We had done it in just a couple of minutes over an hour. That was pretty good. There was a garage on our right with a group of people on top. As we rounded the corner they pressed play on their CD player and the music from Chariots of Fire starting blaring out with the visual of all of them starting to run in slow motion. It was hilarious and really helped to keep the spirit up and keep moving. There was never one moment when I considered giving up. Sure if the course had been shorter I would have been happy to stop but I was in this for the final. I felt pretty good all the way. My big toes hurt (???) and I got a bit of chafing under my arm due to the backpack - but that was it.

The stats came out in the paper today and Linda and I finished 1 minute apart but that 1 minute made a difference in our finishing positions. Out of the 53,000+ people who actually finished Linda came in 36,576 and I came in at 36,582 (sorry about the typo in the earlier email Linda LOL) Our own time showed that we finished in 2hrs and 10mins. That's roughly 20,000 steps in my length.

And the best thing?? My recovery. On Monday morning I woke up with the only pain being that of the sunburn I received to my shoulders and chest, and a little hip flexor stiffness. Other than that - nothing. I was so happy. I got ready to go to work and take the boys into kindy but whilst we were at kindy Oscar was sick again and spiked a temperature so I turned around and took him home again. I made sure to ring half a dozen people at work though to tell them that it was not the results of the walk keeping me home. I really wanted to go in and show off but that will have to wait until next year now. Today was pretty good too. Again the only soreness I am feeling is in my hips so a visit to the chiro has been scheduled in.

It was the best fun and I have learnt enough on what I need to do to make it better for next year. So who else is in :D


(Blogger won't let me post photos anymore - after it had lost the ones I did put on here. I will update tomorrow)

Posted by Margaret on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 at 9:15:00 pm | Permalink