Run to the G

Caz and David are a married couple who are friends of mine. The have both been into fitness and looking after themselves for the last year and have recently discovered running.

They had both bought entries for the Run to the G 10km event and had entered a third person who couldn't make it on the day.

Caz offered the extra entry to me so in return I offered to pace them in their goal's of a sub 1 hour 10km, and to run all the way with out walking.

I haven't been in the Run to the G before and I have to admit the disorganised chaos at the start line left a lot to be desired!!

There was a few thousand runners jammed into a small horse shoe shaped starting chute and when the starting orders went out (15 minutes late!!), the crowd surged sideways, instead of following the starting chute, and we was left to struggle over two lots of temporary fencing (Ggrrr).

Once out of that shambles the race turned right on Swanston St then right again up Flinders St. Caz set off at a cracking pace and completed the first km in 5:37 then the second km in 5:29. I tried to let her know she could back it off a little but the hills around the MCG soon did it for me.

The next two km's came in at 6:14 and 6:12 and the head start we had gained on Garminators virtual training partner was starting to catch up to us.

At the end of the 5th kilometre David stretched a calf muscle and started to walk, gradually falling behind. I dropped back to offer any help or encouragement and let him know to finish at his own pace. No point giving himself any further injury's. It is only a FUN run.

It was then a quick run to catch up to Caz. That sprint for 500 metres sure felt good and I was encouraged to find her ahead still running strong.

7km splits blew out to 6:45 minutes when my Padawan learner had to stop for a toilet break. Caz then realised her 1 hour goal was slipping away and she pushed through the pain to run the 8 and 9 km in 6:05 and 5:58.

For the last kilometre I kept up the encouragement and told her it wasn't far. The last 400 metres I lead in front pushing her to sprint over the finish line.

I was just wondering what happened to David when he pulled up right behind us at the finish. Seems he caught up at the toilet break and with his calf feeling better he kept up with us from then. Great effort!!

The goal of 1 hour was just missed with the end time of 1:02:10. But I did push Caz to her goal of running all the way.

It was a very slow pace for me as I could see later on the heart rate chart. The graph above is from yesterdays Run to the G. Below is a graph taken earlier in the month from a 13km solo run at Lysterfield Lake park.

Even though I didn't have the fastest, gut-busting time that I usually push for a did have a very rewarding experience. It was good to help a couple of friends realise a running goal and we talked about more runs we could do together in the future.

Other stuff

Yes I have been a slacker when it comes to blogging. It seems to go hand in hand with being a slacker at running and weight loss.

May totals ended in 106 km's and June had started off pretty piss poor as well.

I had been avoiding Sekhmet's Fat Fighters blog as my weight loss yo-yo's wildly in an attempt to avoid the disappointment. Weight loss I've found is only fun when you are losing.

My ankle and foot continue to go untreated and the ankle is starting to get sore again. I'm not too sure if I am 100% happy with the Podiatrist findings. I mean he didn't even see me run, only watched me walking on his stupid treadmill.

I can't help but think the problem is related to these new blue Asics Kayano 13's. I never had this trouble on my old red Kayano 12's and I did go through two pairs of them. Maybe another brand of shoes with more motion control maybe in order?

I may investigate further Beakus suggestion of a Sports Doctor. A streching and warm up regime before running may help.

I am unsure as to where I am in relation to Run to Rockhampton. The web site I use to measure the distance, mapmyrun.com, is having a lot of trouble with my run. I am 744 kilometres this year so far. Somewhere between Goulburn and Sydney!