Plenty of time for running in my week off

I've had almost the whole week off because it's exams week but I only had one exam. So on Monday I went for a run into the city with a running partner. We started in Kooyong and went along the bike path to the Tan, then did two laps of the Tan and back to Kooyong. It was about 18 or 19km. It was a beautiful day and a nice course. It was my last long run before the Run to the G half marathon and I felt really comfortable for most of the way.

I actually recovered from Monday really well so yesterday I rode into the Tan and did another run there. I did about 3 or 4km warm up, then I alternated between 500m in 2 minutes and 500m in 3 minutes so I ran fast, then jogged, then ran fast etc. The markings on the Tan are so handy! Surprisingly, I wasn't feeling any stiffness from Monday's run. I then ran over to Vodafone Arena and the MCG. I did a lap outside the G (get into the mood for Run to the G and Melbourne Marathon). Then I did some 'stairwork' on the steps outside Vodafone. I'd heard from a friend that they are a killer. However, I kinda had to make up how to make them a 'killer'. So I ran up and down them, ran to a nearby lightpole and then ran up them again which took about 45 seconds. I then walked down, back to the lightpole and back to the bottom of the stairs to do it again (75 seconds). I did this 5 times. It was fun but not really very hard. I guess you have to do them again and again. Afterwards, I ran back to my bike parked at the Tan and rode home. Altogether, I'd done about 11km and 25km on my bike. I wish I had the time to do that every week, it was really enjoyable. Unfortunately, especially this time of the year it's only possibly to run at the Tan during holidays.

I've been eagerly planning all my runs this week. I want to run to Fed Square (15km from my house along the bike path) tomorrow because I did the same time last year and it was the first time I'd run anything anywhere near that far. But I think I'll just go do the circuit class at the gym because I don't want to run too far in the lead up to Run to the G.

Exams

Exams are almost over. I quite enjoyed them and I wish we had them every term. Last Wednesday we got a whole day off for 'study day', however we had a PE SAC so I had to go to school for that. Then on Thursday I had English (boring) and Chemistry (easy). On Friday I had Maths Methods (easy) and GM* Maths (surprisingly easier than methods). So now I had today off, tomorrow off (although I have to go to my PE class period 1), Biology on Wednesday, and then Thursday and Friday off. So I just had to do 5 little exams and I get 7 days off school (plus birthday holiday next Monday).

Sandown Photos

I found heaps of photos of me from Sandown on Sporting Images. Here are my favourites. I'm going to order one of them.

Sandown

After netball coaching and doing homework, instead of heading off to netball I headed out to Sandown for the big 10km. I arrived just in time to see the juniors finishing which was good. Definitely wish I was that fast! Our race was due to start about half an hour later so I went for a warm up with some of the other Richmond girls and we were pretty much ready to start. I found both in this race and the Latrobe race I wasn't ready to start, there was a whistle out of nowehere. But that doesn't matter in a long race. The women started up a ramp (yay, downhill) while the men started on the main track. I planned just to go quite slowly and leave as much as possible in the tank for the first 6-8km. I got into a rhythm early and found by 2km that I was going at a pretty quick pace. I couldn't really slow down though, I tried to but it didn't work. In the 2nd/5th/8th kilometre there is a 'hill' which looks almost flat until you have to run up it. We had a major headwind and of course it is strongest up the hill. Luckily I wasn't getting dust in my face like yesterday. Just before the 4km mark I got lapped by the wheelies and then at the 6km mark I got lapped by the first runner. Boy was he travelling fast! It killed me that he had almost finished and I still had a lap to go. I've never run a 3 lap race before but it wasn't as bad as I thought. The straight was so long and it was hot with the wind behind. I started to hurt (probably from yesterdays x-country) at the 7km mark and I started to worry I wouldn't get in under 48 minutes. At the 8km mark I started to really want to get in under 47 minutes. That meant running 9 minutes for the last 2 kilometres - something I thought I could achieve. I pushed it and felt comfortable up until the 9km mark and the back straight. I started to get a stitch and felt really uncomfortable. I had to push though and with about 100m to go I could see the clock ticking over to 47 minutes. I kept pushing and managed to get in at 47.12. That's a PB by over 2 minutes. I wasn't really that happy with it but according to McMillan's it pretty much fits in with my other PBs so it was a good run. I guess I enjoyed the race and I hope Richmond did well.

Splits (very approximate).
1km Didn't see marker
2km 8.14
3km Didn't see marker
4km 18.00
5km 23.16
6km 28.00
7km 32.35
8km 38.00
9km 42.54
10km 47.12

Championship Cross Country

After waiting excitedly all day we finally headed off to cross country at Bundoora Park. The juniors and intermediates had already run by time we got there so I was really annoyed as the best part of cross country is cheering the others! We arrived about 25 minutes before we had to run so I quickly changed into my shorts and we warmed up and then had to line up on the start line. It was so squishy, 240 girls from 24 schools lining up to race. The schools next to us hadn't left us any room which was really unfair. The start was the most horrible start I've ever done. I was trying to overtake many people (so many slow people sprint off at the start) and I was running on the outside of the course. There was a massive headwind and dust got in our eyes and mouths. We were to do two laps of basically a massive oval and the first third of each lap is gradually uphill. I was just cruising because I didn't want to be too tired for Sandown. I was feeling really comfortable and the first lap went really quickly. The field finally started spreading out and I could run properly. I don't have much to say about the race just that I felt really comfortable and it seemed to go very quickly. On the second lap with the headwind I didn't draft behind anyone coz it just doesn't suit me so I wasted a lot of energy. I was rounding the corner to finish feeling really good and all of a sudden a girl comes sprinting past me. I realised it was a girl who's in my netball team and who I really didn't want to beat me! She was a few metres ahead of me but I managed to come in just behind her at the line. My time was 17.05! But I wasn't really excited because I was annoyed Elise had beaten me (even though I was holding back for Sandown) and I had no idea what place I had come or what anyone else had come. I was second out of our girls. I reckon the course might have been shorter than 4km. I'm sure it wouldn't be though.

Unfortunately our school came 3rd in Div 2. That's not too bad I guess, but I really hoped to win.

I'm not really sure what time to aim for at Sandown tomorrow. Maybe somewhere between 46 and 48 minutes.

Cross Country

Championship cross country is tomorrow! I'm really looking forward to it. My borrowed PLC athletics uniforms today from the PE department (coz we're supposed to wear it) and they only had an XS and S left. So I got the XS and I thought it probably won't fit and I won't have to wear it. It did fit though but it stunk of BO! I shoved it in my locker and thought I'll just wash it but I opened my locker later and it had made my whole locker stink! Anyway when I borrowed my top my PE teacher told me I should just buy an athletics uniform. But I only wear it for 2 cross country events per year and I finish school next year. Then she says "oh but you can wear it for all your half marathons!". As if I would want to wear my school athletics uniform when I'm running a half marathon (it's so gross). So I told her "but I've got my own athletics uniform!". :) Anyway I'm REALLY hoping to run sub 17.30 coz I never run 4km (so this is my only chance for a while) and I was only 8 seconds away!

Coburg Fun Run

I've had this race on my calendar for a long time but it almost didn't happen as I have a VERY sore calf. I woke up this morning and could barely walk, but I didn't have the heart to tell my dad because then he would have woken up early for nothing. So we went anyway. I was tossing up between the 6km and the 12km but I guess my decision was made for me (the 6km). We arrived with 10 minutes till the start as we got every red traffic light on the way. That didn't matter though - it meant I didn't freeze (well I still kinda did). The turnout was BIG - I was number 87 and there were probably a few people after me. There were lots of people wearing dark blue t shirts, I'm guessing from some sort of personal training or beginners running group.. I started off quite well and left most of the field behind. My calf didn't hurt much at all - I'm really lucky it seems to be a muscle that isn't really used for running. After the first kilometre or two I settled behind a man and woman and another man who kept overtaking them and then dropping back. So I was kind of in a 'pack' and they were pushing me. At the turnaround I noticed I was the fourth female and I really wanted to come in the top three. I made sure I stayed behind the woman in front of me. My time at the turnaround was 12.48, it's supposed to be 3km but I'm not sure how accurate that is. At about 5km we went up a hill and I started to drop off the 'pack'. I was really disappointed as I really wanted to come third. When we came in on to the track for the last 400m, I noticed I was slowly closing the gap between me and the couple in front of me. With about 100m to go I overtook them and sprinted away. I was so happy. However, they kept running (they were doing the 12km) so that's why they didn't sprint at the end. So I was the third female in a time of.......... 26 minutes and 54 seconds!!!!!! That's 4.29 pace for 6km! I never thought I could run at 4 .30 pace for that distance! At the end I was so, so tired I was out of breath for about 2 or 3 minutes! That's a PB of 2 minutes and 20 seconds!

Cross country

We qualified first in Division 2 for GSV Cross Country, which means we have a good chance of winning Division 2. It was funny to see the mixed reactions - we just missed out on Div 1 but we have a chance of winning Div 2 - which is better?

Unfortunately I only miss english (although that's a good thing) for cross country on Friday week.

Preliminary GSV Cross Country

This afternoon we had school cross country - the preliminary carnival against 7 other Girls Sport Victoria schools. There's 3 carnivals, all at Yarra Bend park and 8 schools compete in each to separate the schools into division 1, 2 and 3 for the championship carnival. Last year we came fourth in division 2. Unfortunately, our school was in carnival C, which means we were competing in the afternoon (better than in the morning I guess). Although it did mean I missed double Maths Methods. We were against Genazzano, Sacre Coeur, OLMC, Lowther Hall, Firbank, Star of the Sea and Tintern.

The Junior (years 7 and 8) race was first and they did 3km. We had a girls come 2nd, 3rd and 9th which was great! PLC came 3rd in the junior division. Intermediates (years 9 and 10) were next and they did 4km. We had Penny who is awesome come first (in 15.10), Grace 2nd and Mandy 4th. We also had another come 9th. The intermediates won their division and got a trophy which is almost unprecidented for PLC.

Our race didn't get started till 2:50pm and none of us Seniors (year 11 and 12) could be bothered! We were so short for people we had to get a couple of my friends who really aren't runners. I was the only year 11 who wanted to do it. I started off really slowly as I was trying to make sure I started my watch. I was stuck behind lots of people. I didn't mind too much though because I always like a slow start. There's only one hill in the course and it's in the first 100m. It's very short but very steep. The rest of the course was completely flat. I spent the whole race overtaking people because of my slow start. I really enjoy racing that way. In the last kilometre I started getting closer to Nicole (Laura was way ahead). I almost overtook her and was about 5 metres behind her for the last 500m. I didn't really sprint much at the end but I'm so glad no one overtook me. Unfortunately, at the finish I accidently pressed stop on my watch twice which deleted my time! Luckily one of our teachers was taking down times - he said my time was 17.38. I came 15th out of about 80 girls. It's very competitive because it's the best girls from each school. So I was very happy with my result. I've taken almost a minute off my 4km PB from last year and I achieved a goal of getting under 18 minutes. In the senior division, Laura came 4th and PLC came 5th which isn't too bad. Overall, we came THIRD out of the 8 schools we were competing against. We'll possibly be in division 1, but I'm hoping we're in division 2 as we may have a chance of winning it.

The thing I found really hard was running on grass. I'm getting used to running on the footpath and racing for roads. The track was mostly on gravel and only some on grass. I was really unco on the grass and I was hanging out for the gravel track!

It started raining just after we'd finished. We didn't end up leaving till 3.45pm and I didn't get home till almost 5pm!

The Championship Carnival is on the 25th May, unfortunately the day before Sandown. As I don't race 4km very often, I really want to get under 17.30 then.

AV race - Latrobe

The results came out for Sunday's AV race. I came 13th in the U18 5km (out of 19) in a time of 23.12. Only 7 seconds off my PB!

AV race - Latrobe Bundoora

Today I made my official AV debut for Richmond Harriers. I woke up this morning feeling crap coz I'm getting a cold (everyone at school is sick!) and I got home at 2am because I was babysitting (so I had less than 5 hours sleep). Plus I have had a sore quad the past 2 days. Mum tried to discourage me from running (pffft!) but I just ate a little bit of breakfast and Dad came to pick me up. We got there with plenty of time and I found the rest of the Richmond Harriers straight away. Dad and I went for a walk to look around because we had 40 minutes till the start. We came back and I did a short warm up and put on my bib. I had to buy a black pair of shorts so I splurged on a very very nice pair of nike shorts which are made from super comfy fabric (it says polyester on the label). I was looking forward to racing in my brand new shorts and club singlet.

I wandered over to the starting line to queue up for the start of the junior race. I was in the U18 5km. I was right at the back. I was hoping to not come last (although I knew I wouldn't). I started out slowly, letting all the little kids sprint off. I was probably in the last 10 or so runners for the first kilometre but after that I kept overtaking all the people who had gone out too fast. I kept an eye on my splits. At the 3km mark I thought "Wow only 2km to go, this is so easy!". I wasn't trying to go too hard, I was just keeping a steady pace. I ended up finishing at around 23.16 although I may have to readjust that because I didn't stop my watch straight away.

My splits were:
4.32
9.16 (4.44)
14.11 (4.55)
18.48 (4.23)
23.16 (4.32)
So I'm not very consistent! That doesn't matter though. Amazingly, I was only about 10 seconds slower than my PB of 23.05 (this is the second time I've raced 5km). I really liked the distance, it's long enough to get into it but you don't get too tired. I really enjoyed the race and I look forward to racing for Richmond again at Sandown.

VO2 Max Test

On Thursday we went on a PE excursion to Monash University. We were in the exercise research area. In the first hour we had a lady reinforcing what we had learnt (well kinda repeating everything we've learnt). She has a good knowledge of VCE PE though and she kept reminding us how to answer her questions the way the exam markers will want the questions answered. It was good coz we only have 9 in our class.

After that we moved into another lab. My class voted for me to do a VO2 max test and an anaerobic test. So after I got weighed (with all my clothes on!) and measured I did the anaerobic test. I had to run for 45-90 seconds on the treadmill. The treadmill was set to 15.4kph (can't remember the gradient though). It was a stupid test coz it didn't test anything except mental strength. I decided to stop at 85 seconds because I moved my head and felt dizzy. My legs struggled to keep up with the pace coz they're too short but otherwise it wasn't too hard. It left me a bit drained for the VO2 max test though.

I had to wear a HR monitor and breathe through a tube with a peg on my nose for the VO2 max test. The guy started the pace at 9kph and then it went up 1kph every three minutes. I think the guy got a bit bored coz I was cruising at 12km/h and so he jacked up the pace to 13km/h and 3% gradient. I got tired after that coz it took me a while to adjust. The he kept increasing the speed and gradient until some figure reached a certain point. My VO2 max ended up being 51.8 ml/kg/min (55.4 if he hadn't weighed me with all my clothes on) which is ok. I probably should have got quite a bit higher. Doing the test made me realise how inaccurate it is. It was a good thing to do though.

In the last 24 hours I have run 17km and done 4 runs.

Last night I had to drop a form over to the Richmond president's house so that was about 4km.

This morning I did about 2km then I came home coz I needed water and a pee break.

Then I headed out and did 6x4oom with warm up and cool down and recovery in between - total 8km.

Then I did running club at lunchtime - 3km at a good pace.

Then tomorrow I am actually going to school cross country training for the first time ever. It's at the Tan so hopefully it'll be fun.

Then on Thursday I'm doing a VO2 max test in PE (of course my class voted for me to do it!) so I might run between 3 and 6 km then.

Senior House Cross Country

Yesterday we had senior house cross country (year 11s and 12s). I knew I wouldn't be able to beat 2 of the year 12's - Nicole and Laura, but I was kinda hoping maybe I could come 3rd (best case scenario). Worst case scenario I thought would be 6th or 7th. I was really nervous as I put a bit of pressure on myself to do well.

I was very glad when the race started before I had a chance to get really nervous. Crystal, who's sports captain was telling Nicole to watch out for me and trip me over coz I was a threat to her. I thought no way I'm not even going to be close to Nicole! I was in about the top 5 from the start but I knew one girl who went out fast would quickly drop off the pace (I was right). I got a bit anxious when I heard fast footsteps behind me, however it was just Mad Dog who'd come for a chat (I didn't mind too much if she beat me). Mad Dog dropped off soon and it was just Laura and Nicole way in front with me 3rd. I was very happy if it stayed that way. I couldn't hear footsteps behind me so I was sure I was at least 100m in front of the next runners. At the halfway point I had taken about 6.15 minutes so I was happy with that. I was still in third place. Just after halfway, Nicole was about 30m in front of me and she dropped her ribbon and I picked it up. From then on I could see her in the distance and I was slowly closing the gap. I noticed a sign that said 1100m to go and I was running a really good time. Not long after I overtook Nicole (shock horror!) and gave her her ribbon. I definitely expected her to chase me down again. I realised about 100m from the finish that there was no way she could beat me. I tried to do a sprint finish but my legs wouldn't push harder so I just cruised to the end. I think everyone at the finishing line were so surprised to see me come in second as Nicole just doesn't get beaten. I ended up finishing in 13.04 which I'm happy with as it's 4.21 pace.

Some of my friends did a great job with Mary Ann in 7th and Tessa, Groundzie and FanDog all in the top 20 or so.

There's a PB meet on Friday after school (4km) and I'm hoping to reduce my 4km PB (currently 18.30) to under 18.10.

At school today everyone kept mentioning cross country (and calling me a freak for beating Nicole).

Netball

Netball returned after the holidays on Saturday.

Results
Year 4's lost 3-5 to Malvern who always have awesome junior teams. My girls really well considering the Malvern team had access to a lot more training and knew how to play more than my girls. The really positive thing was I found two girls who actually wanted to stay in GD and GK, so now I have 3 defenders!

Year 6's lost 9-18 to these MASSIVE girls who had to be in year 7 or 8. My girls played well again, they were down by about 7 or 8 in the first quarter but fought back to win the second half. They played with speed instead of biffo like the other team did.

We lost 17-21 to cap off a weekend of losing (which I don't mind). It was pouring with rain the whole game and we were freezing! We were down 4-14 at half time and played really well in the second half to come close.

Running on empty

Today I went for an early morning 'speedwork' session because I failed to do it last night. I've never done speedwork in the morning before - I usually just do a comfortable 6-10km. I have to run 'on empty' because if I eat something before I go I feel a bit sick. At that early stage of the morning, I failed to realise that doing speedwork on empty would be extremely hard. I was planning on doing 4x800m (in about 3.25) with 20 minutes warm up and cool down and 2 and a half minutes recovery. Running on empty is alright as long as you are going at a comfortable pace, but speedwork requires a significant proportion of energy from anaerobic glycolysis (lactic acid system) - burning carbohydrates. I probably used up most of my glycogen stores in the 20 minute warm up so I didn't have as much energy as I would have liked when I came to do my speedwork. I'd be really interested to measure what fuels and energy systems I used during my run. My heart rate and breathing rate were much higher than usual which indicates possibly using fat as fuel. Anyway, it was a good session, well it felt very much like it was a good, hard session so I am happy.

Richmond/Malvern Challenge

I had my first race for Richmond Harriers today! It was 8km at the Tan. I was hoping to run sub 39 minutes and get an 8km race PB. However I could tell in the first 100m of the race that my legs did not want to run a PB. I wished I hadn't run yesterday! The race was hard (Anderson St hill the second time!!!!) but I enjoyed it. I never run fast on the Tan so I probably shouldn't have expected too much. I'm glad I didn't come last (ok I suppose that was another of my goals) because I thought everyone else would be way faster than me. Unfortunately, Richmond lost to Malvern 500 to 480. I think Malvern had the good front runners but we had a good middle pack. I ended up finishing in 41.10 which I'm quite unhappy with. That time is closer to my run at the Lorne Mountain to Surf (hot and hilly and hard) than any of the races in the Super Sunset series. I can't believe I've never got under 5 min/km for 8km (in a race)!!!!

I got to meet quite a few club members and I got my Richmond uniform. I really like it. I'm so glad I joined Richmond and not Malvern. I got to see both clubs today and noticed Malvern had a lot of bratty little kids that have a whole lot of natural talent and would kick my butt. I'm the only junior girl who'll be running winter season and that's how I like it. Everyone at the club is really nice and I know I'm going to really enjoy running for Richmond.

Running alone vs running with a group

I usually train on my own and until recently, hadn't thought of doing it any differently. In fact, I thought running with someone else could really annoy me. I suppose I've thought negatively about running with a group because of the ocassional school cross country training I attended(boring!). However, I did a Nike training session for Run for the Kids and LOVED it (pity I could only get to one). Now, I'm joining Richmond Harriers and I'm training with Andrew when I can. Although I probably won't get to train much with Richmond during the winter when it gets dark so early!!! Now I love running with other people (only if they run at my pace though!).

Indoor Cricket Premiership

I've been really slack lately with updating my blog. I can't believe I missed out on a post about our indoor cricket premiership!

On Monday 26th March we played our final game of indoor cricket for the season. It wasn't the grand final - it was our last round match and whoever finished on top of the ladder won the premiership. So it was a bit of an anti-climax because even if we lost we would still top the table. We were to play Toorak College who we knew we'd thrash. They tried to bail out on us - they only had 6 players but Dan, our coach, made them play. I left school at recess coz I was sick (story of my life!) but I came back to play. We hoped to have a big crowd but we only had Crystal and Erin in year 12 watching. They're so fun so they made up for it.

We started the game and Toorak batted first and made 37. That's a big score against us and we were a bit disappointed with it. Technically they cheated though - we were supposed to choose their last batting pair coz they were missing two players but their two best players came in and batted and we just let them do it. We hoped to have a good batting performance ourselves to make up for our 'poor' bowling and fielding performance. We didn't have much of a problem - our first pair made more than 60 and we went on to score 230 - one of our highest totals. We could get away with anything because Toorak looked like they weren't even trying. So we topped the ladder with 35 points and 517.5%! The next closest to us on the ladder was Shelford on 27 points and 96.8. So you can tell we thrashed every team in the competition.

These are the results of all the matches
PLC 114 def Melbourne 50 (I didn't play - sick)
PLC 221 def Genazzano 10
PLC 178 def Camberwell 66
PLC 157 def Lauriston 41 (I didn't play - Biology camp)
PLC 198 def Shelford 33
PLC 144 def Kilvington 3
PLC 230 def Toorak 37

So congratulations to my fantastic teammates - Mad Dog, Fan Dog, Dhaliwal (my great batting partner), Groundzie, Wong, Roastie and our captain Chanmi.
And to Fan Dog, Groundzie, Wong and I - OUR THIRD PREMIERSHIP IN A ROW!!!

We are the champions - 2005, 2006, 2007!

Run for the Kids 07

Last Sunday was Run for the Kids. I was a bit worried I would struggle, as I haven't been training as much lately coz I have a niggly hip. Unfortunately, some idiot had given me a cold and I didn't go to school on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. So when Sunday came around I was still pretty sick. And coz we only had 6 players at netball, I had to play and I played 3 quarters of centre. I was worried my legs would be tired from that (netball makes my legs sore in weird ways). I persisted and did the run anyway, with the plan just to cruise. My original goal was 70-75 minutes for the 15.2km, but I changed that to 80 minutes (85 at the very, very slowest).

I travelled to Alexandra Gardens with Karen, and her friends Jeff and Julia. We caught the earliest train 7.41 at Camberwell. Unfortunately, everyone else had that idea. We squished into the carriage and it was more packed that I've probably ever seen. I was almost sufficating in there. I was hoping some people would get out at Richmond but everyone got out at Flinder's St. I have to say, I enjoyed flaunting my blue race number. I really needed to go to the toilet (as usual) and I was worried I would have to queue for ages and maybe go twice. Luckily, the queue at Flinder's St wasn't too long and Karen and Julia were happy to go too. However, by the time we found where we were supposed to start, it was 8.21. Karen still had to drop off her bag and the race was due to start at 8.30! I had put my jumper in Karen's bag. I decided to get into the queue to start and I left Karen to put her bag away. I waited, and waited for them to start the race. For some strange reason, I wasn't too nervous! Probably because I had tried to forget I had Run for the Kids in the lead up to the race. Anyway it was probably almost 9am before I got over the line. I was glad to start. I can't say much for the race except it was hard. I felt really gross coz I was still sick. I also had a major stitch (like my whole stomach!) and my hip was a bit sore. I thought I'd struggle to make it under 80 minutes. I met Karen inside the very hot Domain Tunnel (about the 2km mark) but pushed on ahead of her. I thought she must have snuck past me again as she was hoping to get under 75 minutes. Anyway, I finished in a time of 1.16.41 (by my watch)!! I was very happy with that. What I thought was about 500m after the 14km mark, a marshall encouraging us said "only 100m to go!". I thought bullshit! But it really was only 100m to go! I think the course was actually around 14.9km not 15.2. At the end, we had to wait more than 20 minutes in the queue for a crappy showbag and we (the 15km runners) desperately needed water. We were in with the slower 3.4km participants and once again, I felt proud to wear a blue bib. I really needed a tissue because my two tissues had disintigrated. I finally got my showbag and found Dad and headed home.

I checked out the results in Tuesday's paper and online and Karen came in behind me! She did it in just under 80 minutes. Unfortunately, I think she had a bit of a bad day like me in the Melbourne Marathon. Anna Thompson (woohoo!) and Lee Troop won.

I came 850th in a time of 1.16.41.