Another one bites the dust!...

Two weeks ago Bernice, another of Madam Lash's Minions, sent me a flyer on FB for Singleton Triathlon Club's, of which Madam Lash is a member,  very first annual Fun Run, and asked would I be doing it.

First of all I said yes, then forgot all about it.  Until Bernice asked me about it at training on Friday morning.  I was hesitant for a few reasons...

Firstly, because it was the Tri Club running it and I thought I had to be a member of the club...

Secondly, because it was the Tri club running it I thought I actually had to run the whole way...

Finally, because it was the Tri Club running it!!

I was going to be surrounded by fecking Triathletes for feck sake!!!

... so after asking a few questions I said I'd do it.  Then promptly forgot about it.  Again.  Until about 10pm Friday night at which point I signed up.

Roll around to Saturday night, and I say to myself  'Self, you should get to bed early and get a good night sleep'.

Cue laughter...

I went to bed about midnight - which is kind of early for me, but I laid awake for what seemed like... phwoar... all bloody night, before crawling out of bed at 6am.

Registration was at 7am and because I don't like being late for things I got there nice and early, and this was my reward.

I met up with Bernice who was running the 5km route, Madam Lash couldn't make it, she had a previous appointment with a bucket of paint,  and we spent the next few minutes talking about how nervous we were.

Organiser Dude explained the route we'd take, told us where the water points would be, and sent us on our merry way.

The whole course was flat, and mostly sealed roads, that is to say that there was some level of bitumen on them, as opposed to the number of sealed v unsealed roads in the course,  only the middle bit was on grass, and the only 'hill' if you can call it that, was the levee bank built in the 50's to protect the town from flooding.

I found the levee bank a bit of a challenge as the spot we had to climb it was to my eyes  practically perpendicular!  It was climb two steps and go back three, but I made it and soldiered on.

The second water point was not far from the levee bank, and the bloke who was manning it, Errol, must've seen me battling the bank as he came striding toward me very purposefully, and began asking if I was okay, and gave me heaps of encouragement, advice and instructions on what to do if I needed first aid!

OMG I must have looked horrendous!

He walked with me all the way to the water point, the whole time telling me to go easy, take my time, if I need anything to holler etc...  I continued to assure him I was okay, and just kept going.  

The next part is the long pointy line on the map, it wasn't really that far I don't think - maybe a kilometre each way... well I had gotten all the way down to the end, was starting back and had just gotten around the little bend at the bottom, when who should come trundling down the road but my knight in shining 4X4 ute, Errol The Magnificent!

I'm assuming he went down and collected the route markers that were now behind me, either that or the poor petal was desperately worried that I was gonna drop dead on their first ever annual fun run  and stopped to make sure I was okay, again, and gave lots of praise and encouragement, again, then says "I'll be back in a minute with some water" and off he goes.

True to his word, back he comes with 2 cups of water for me.  I felt that I needed to put his mind at rest and showed him my HRM and said - well shouted, I had my earphones in with Queen blasting and couldn't hear myself, and quite ironically it was 'Fat Bottomed Girls' - that's my heart rate it was 130... I'm okay... he smiled and left.

When I got back to the water point, he said with more than a touch of jealousy well I'd like to think so anyway...   'Was that your heart rate?  It's better than mine, it's 170 when I'm doing a run...'  I told him that Madam Lash is my trainer, and he said with a smile  'Oh that explains it, she doesn't go easy on anyone'

At this point there was only a few hundred meters left to go.  I looked up and saw Bernice come bounding toward me, which was a lovely surprise as I had thought she may have left by then, and she walked with me to the finish.

Just after I saw Bernice, I saw my honey, BM, standing there taking pics.  Apparently he had gotten there not long after the start and had been watching me since the squiggly bit on the oval, he had even sent me an encouraging text, which I couldn't see until I had finished.  He's such a big sweetie.

Reverse First again, and I've got the number to prove it! 

I got what amounts to a standing ovation mostly because there were no seats,  when I crossed the line, yes, I know I have delusions of grandeur, but shhh!  The last time someone told me that, I very nearly fell off my unicorn,  remembered to turn off Map My Walk, so that I had an accurate gauge of my times, and am pleased to say that my times have improved from the Hunter Valley Marathon.

I compared the MMW results of both events and got all excited because I had shaved a whopping 25 minutes off my time!

How about that?!

25 whole minutes!!

Nah...  Turns out I had forgotten to turn off  Map My Walk after the HV Marathon, and I've only improved by 2 minutes.

But hey, 2 minutes is 2 minutes and I'll take it.

I didn't do it to race myself, or to see if I had done better than last time.

I did it because I still need to know that I can.

Each time I do a big walk around town, or a Fun Run  still having issues with that particular term  it's me telling myself I'm not the same woman I was a year ago, because that woman, well she never would have put the runners on in the first place.

Photo courtesy of Esa Lilly of Esa Lilly Photography
http://www.esalillyphotography.com/