Brisbane Half & Marathon

Went down to view the races from the other side - as a spectator, with a camera & Tenz at my side. Followed the runners after synching my stop-watch with the start, past GOMA & under the William Jolly Bridge to the start of the Riverside Drive. Stood there with Glenda & Matt R & was surprised to see the first two HMs sprint right past the bikepath/ footpath & head up round the milk factory. There was a steward standing further down the road rather than at the entry. Fortunately, Steve "the footman" cycled up shortly after & got another cyclist to chase them down & send 'em back. They probably lost a minute here & were understandably not too happy. Saw Pat a little later & he mentioned his camera wasn't working & could I take some shots at the finish.

I then headed over the Victoria Bridge to cheer & take some photos as the leaders came back from Coro Drive. I was approached by a guy who really wanted to pat Tenzing. No problem, until he opened up his wallet to show me his Border Collie who had recently died. And then a flood of tears, he was pretty distraught.

Back over to the finish where I had to run to catch a shot of the winner crossing in about 70 mins, only 30 secs or so to his nemesis & they were minutes ahead of anyone else. Puntermatt had a great run & in my excitement I had the shutter button depressed but the camera off- duh! Peter H also had a great run finishing in 82, with both Mike H & Wayne PBing as well. Damn if I wasn't running...conditions were good, coolish, a bit of rain & a breeze, would've suited the marathoners.

Watched the top finishers in the marathon come thru' including a gutsy effort by Roxie Schidmt who charged past me to finish in 2.49.

Wounded knee

Pushed it a bit too hard at Tuesday's session after our last long run. Did a couple of laps of the steep hill "Gold Coast" & probably strained my knee from that. Felt a bit ordinary the next day & have been nursing it since. Didn't stop me from a 90 min session last Sunday & ran 14ks on Wednesday. Have avoided fast sessions, so no PCRGs. Brisbane HM this Sunday, lucky I hadn't entered, really don't want to go hard for a little while yet.

Gold Coast 32 k

Got an early lift to Miami with Wayne, driving in tandem with Pete & Mike to meet up with Dave. Started pretty close to the GCM turn-around point (about 13 ks into the race) & headed north along Hedges Ave. This street is known for its exclusivity - squllion dollar homes fronting onto the beach - with every third one up for sale. Come worst-case climate change scenarios, storm surge & sea level rises will no doubt eat into their rateable land value...

Weather turned a little yuk, squally rain & wind. Ran past the start finish line & turned at the 1 hour 18 mark. Couldn't resist the finishing shute practice...put on a surge to skip to the front & cross the 'line', arms outstretched & sub-3 of course...

Running south was into the wind in the open stretches , but not too bad. Had a drink & a short stretch at the 2 hour mark & consumed a Gu that Pete had given me. The first time I've tried this & it seemed to go down well. An energy shot that probably has more of a psychological lift than anything. Still, we upped the pace for the last 35 mins to 4.15s. Finished off with 5 mins of slow jogging & then a brief swim - surf was choppy with a strong current. R & R at Dave's unit overlooking the beach.

3k TT Tues.

Ran a good race after my last long run to take another 8 seconds off last month's time, now 10.07. Encouraged by my quicker recoveries. Blister didn't have any bearing but got sore later in the week after an easy 10k on Wed, I had Fri & Sat off.