Blood, Sweat and (no) Tears

Thanks to my buddy Dinesh for this good blog title.  So, I am sitting here on a hard plastic chair, with my compression tights on and two Nurofen on board.  I think I need to put a cushion on this chair….  This morning I ran my longest run ever - 32 kilometres (just about 20 miles).  I am So Pleased with myself.  So pleased.  I was quite anxious about the run beforehand as I've just been on two weeks' holiday and my training program has basically gone to hell in a handbag.  

Justine, Avril, Sarah

After several half-hearted attempts to run while on holidays, it was WONDERFUL to run with my run buddies this morning.  They make it so much easier for me and the honest truth is that, without their support, I would NOT be able to do the distances I have done.  We are a real team.  Here were are in the early stages (see us smiling?) with the reploca ship, HMS Endeavour, that is tied up alongside the Riverside Centre.   We did yell out to the crew that we were interested in running away to sea but they refused to take us seriously!  Our run this morning was from Milton, out to Portside at Hamilton and back again.  Unfortunately, at about 11km an uneven brick in the pavement leaped up and tripped me over and I went down like a sack of spuds.  I think it may have actually been quite a spectacular tumble, with a bit of somersault action because I managed to graze my shoulder too.  I am really going to have to practice my recovery for the next time, so that I can leap up with a smile on my face and my arms in the finishing position, as this young gymnast might do.  

Luckily I didn't do any major damage and was able to continue running, which actually stopped me thinking about it.  However, now that I am sitting here typing (this chair really is HARD), I am stinging a bit and tragically, despite the fact I am a nurse, living with a doctor, we have no antiseptic or dressings in the house!  Once at Portside, Hamilton, we quite literally stumbled upon a huge ocean liner, the P&O Pacific Sun.    

moi, Steve, Dinesh, Sarah

So, it's been a run with a nautical twist today, with a taste of sea travel from the 18th century alongside modern ocean travel. I know which I would prefer…. The Endeavour!!  I am sure I drive my running buddies bonkers with my photo opportunities all along the route though it can be said with confidence that the more tired I get, the less photos I want to take.  Therefore, no photos after 16km.  It was hard work and the best way to do it was to break it up into chunks.  We would set ourselves a goal and then tick it off once we'd arrived - the Storey Bridge, the Botanic Gardens, the Goodwill Bridge…. tick, tick, tick.  I got an idea of the pain I can expect at 32kms so, if I can steel myself to run those last ten kilometres on 3 July in some discomfort, I will be SET.  I began to understand the psychological aspect of long-distance running.  My body is pretty willing, but my mind has to be willing too.  If I tell myself I can do it, I WILL do it.  (I will!!!)  Sarah taught me a good trick.  To imagine I have a string coming out of the top of my head and someone is pulling it, therefore encouraging me to lift my body and hold myself upright. It made a huge difference to the pain I was feeling in my hips and low back.  I think I will call this The Puppet Manoeuvre.  

I found myself thinking about my friends Doc and Kerryn finishing the Busselton Half-Ironman yesterday.  What a feat of endurance - to be out there cycling, swimming and running for six hours!!  So, I just decided to shut up and take it like a man (!!) and now I have done it and I am THRILLED - and exhausted.  Have I mentioned the hardness of this chair?  Could it be that my bum is getting bonier?  This time in eight weeks, I will have finished the Gold Coast Marathon - and so will all of you who are doing it too.  We will be snacking on sausage sizzles and champagne and showing off our medals.  Hooray!!!  Hard to believe - and what tortures will we write about then?