Noosa Report

Well, there it is, Half Marathon number two is complete!


I drove up to Noosa on Saturday afternoon, arriving at the registration centre about 4pm, just as the guys I was staying with were thinking about heading off to the caravan site. Picked up my number and my ultra small t-shirt (there was me thinking I was being clever, ordering a small because they're normally over-sized and USM had produced womens sized T-shirts instead!)
We settled in to our cabins back at the caravan site; I was sharing with Gywenth, Tim, Scotty & Ciaran, but before long most people had come in to our cabin to share some carbo-snacks before going out for dinner.
Dinner was a good laugh, the service was sloooooooooooow but this was a good chance to catch up with some of the guys whom I only ever see at race meets, and exchange stories of past and recent events.

At about 10pm (after the footy!) we all turned in for the night. Despite being on the worlds lowest bunk (floor level) I fell asleep pretty quickly, unfortunately I did wake up at about 2.30am really cold and never really got back to sleep again after that. No matter, at 5am I got up, quick shower to warm & wake-up, packed up our bags and headed down to the starting area.

I decided to run with the 1.50 group, hoping for a time similar to the GC, but equally as happy to just run it as a longrun and enjoy myself. Unfortunately Tesso, who was meant to be one of the pacers for the 1.50 was unable to run, but still, two guys who I knew were there and things were looking good. We started right on 6.30am, the morning was beautiful, a very slight breeze, but not a cloud in the sky, warm but not too hot. I was feeling good for the first 5km and although my intial plan was to stay with the pace group until about 8km, when I got to 6km I started to creep ahead. Just 15meters ahead, myself and another girl who I knew ran together for a K or so, she then dropped back a bit, but I was still feeling good and carried on, enjoying watching the lead pack start heading back the other way. Knee was feeling good, back was feeling okay, there was a slight rub on the back of my heel, but I'd taped them up so thought that shouldn't be a problem... I was wrong. At about 9km I stopped to try and pull my sock up a bit, with the idea of easing some of the rubbing; my hands were shaking though and I didnt do a very good job. I lost a bit of time doing this and saw the 1.50 group not too far behind. Still felt pretty good though, and the boost from MC Pat Carroll calling out my name at the turnaround point, and all the Regatta/Pat Carroll guys cheering on the side was a real boost. I got to about 12km before my foot was really becoming sore, the 1.50 group were only about 30secs behind, I gave away the idea of making an impression on my GC time and just relaxed. A couple of points, about 15 and 18km and I wanted to give up. At 18km Liz (pacer for 1.50) caught me, but she must have been going a bit fast as she pulled up for a bit, only to take me again at about 19km. I kept Liz in my sights and just began to look forward to getting over the final bridge and to the finish. Nick (other pacer) ran the final 100meters with me, getting me in at 1.49. Not a PB, but under the 1.50 and I was happy...ish as the moment I stopped I was in agony. My right knee, which I thought was okay felt like it had a huge amount of pressure expanding on it, I looked down and half-expected to see it blowing up like a balloon. My left heel was covered in blood from where the blister had been rubbing. Still, a trip to the first aid tent, lots of stretching, a cold shower and a couple of anti-inflammatories later and I was feeling a bit more human.

The drive home wasn't as bad (sore) as I thought it was going to be, I'm going to make a physio appointment tomorrow though. This last week, I have just been feeling good and fluid again, don't want to spend another two months taking it easy!

The morning was great though, lots of CR's on the course, and of course plenty of other runners I knew too. Jodie won the Womens Half, which was just fantastic. Clairie & Matt were superb and everyone had a smile on their face when they were out on the course. Definitely in the diary for next year!!