We set off at 5.15am with Mike driving on kangaroo watch. With sunrise timed for 7.30am, it was dark the whole way. I, on the other hand, was out like a light with my trusty pillow. We got up there and it was PERFECT running conditions. It was chilly I'll grant you that, but it was still, there wasn't even a breeze.
Before I go any further I just want to mention my fabulous husband, amazing one-man-cheer squad, proud papparrazzi and incredible hat wearer!! It's great knowing that someone is cheering me on when I run, gives me that extra impetus to go the distance, and knowing he's there cheering as I come over the finish line, proud as punch, it makes a world of difference. Oh and the pang hat I crocheted for Christmas got a very good work out. He said it kept his head nice and warm.
It was great to meet up with some of the girls from our local 12wbt crew before the race. Pictured here with Rebecca, we were pretty pumped. Note the guys in the background with t-shirts on, hmmmph I think they were just showing off, it was freaking cold !!
My good friend Lynn who runs with her whole family, she is such a role model to her two children. She did run behind me for a lot of the race, she said she was checking my butt out, but secretly I think she was hoping that I would find all the rocks to trip over before she did! Ha. I did nearly go arse over turkey at one stage and saved myself before completely tripping and ending up face down in the dirt. Lynn and young son then overtook me at the 4km mark and ran off into the (well I was going to say sunset) but misty distance will have to do!!
The papparrazzi action shot ... how happy do we look. About to run out of town and then up into the bush tracks. It was sensational smelling the gum trees and the fresh bush smell, and hearing the kookaburras and cockatoos. I think our thunderous thumps may have scared the kangaroos away, they probably thought there was a herd of elephants running out of town!!
Oh I hesitate to show this. How some people come over the finish line and look so fresh and elated is beyond me. I have a look of utter exhaustion when I finish a race. Now don't worry, I didn't do the 6km in 8 hours 40 minutes and 1 second!! That was the actual time at that moment. I've just checked the race results online. I ran the 6km in 40 MINUTES 24 SECONDS!! Not bad considering I was hoping for 45 mins. Not only that but I came 142nd out of 202 runners in the 6k run. I'm absolutely elated with my results. Who knows, this may be the impetus I need to train for the 11.5 next year.
I might have looked exhausted crossing the finish line, but my recovery time is getting better. This is a few minutes after I finished. Still exhausted. But HAPPY !!!
Catching up with friends after the race. Trish on the right looks amazing having just finished the 11.5km. It was actually really great finishing the 6km and being able to watch the 11.5 km runners come in and cheering two of our girls back home over the finish line.
Done and dusted. The obligatory finish line shot!! Ready to go and have brunch. Kudos to the organisers, they put on a complimentary brunch for the runners afterwards (with a gold coin donation from non-runners). Hamburgers, sausages, eggs, baked beans, tomatoes, followed by fruit baskets of watermelon, bananas and oranges. Absolutely terrific.
After the presentations and we said our goodbyes to the girls, Mike and I decided to go walking. The idea originally was that he wanted to get some landscape shots to assist in his oil paintings (yes, he is a man full of surprises my husband!!). It kind of wasn't to be. We drove up to the car park at Mount William - you drive up 10km and walk the remaining 1.8km up a very steep bitumen path and we knew we were sunk when the top of the mountain was shrouded in cloud! Not to be outdone though, we decided to go up as far as we could before visibility got too bad.
Mike however thought I'd taken him to boot camp with the pace I set going up the road. He had to have a little sit on one of the thoughtful chairs placed on the first incline.
Me on the other hand, I was ready for anything. Hills? Bring them on. Ain't no mountain high enough, okay well I'm getting a bit carried away there, but I was still on the runners high.
Now I know there's a mountain range out there somewhere !!! This was the view that we were getting. Now unless Mike was hoping to paint a canvas all white a la a snow storm, we weren't going to get any landscape shots at all.
Crazy stuff, we were way up in the misty clouds, Mike's moustache was even going frosty!! My hoodie was sodden with the mist, and it was cold. We decided to call it quits before we got to the pinnacle with the promise we'd come back and do it on a visible day.
Everything was wet! And getting wetter by the minute.
Someone was VERY glad to be heading back down, made it in record time too! With the promise of the thermos of coffee in the car. :-)
What a day! With the alarm going off at 4.30am, it will be early to bed for me.
1 comment:
Congratulations on another great achievement. We've been busy travelling in WA so I'm a bit behind with blog posts! You can see what we've been up to at ourwestoztrip.wordpress.com
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