Running really IS good for you. It is!

I am trying to believe that headline IS true as I nurse aching legs, hip joints, a sore hand and a headache after a 20km run this morning involving another fall (my third in six months) in which I cracked my head on the concrete. 

I do.  Running is why paracetamol and anti-inflammatories were invented, don't you know?  I was actually super pleased to run 20km today but wouldn't have made it without my buddies Natalie and David.  The rest of the group were far ahead but as we three were pounding along at about the same pace, we made a bit of an unspoken pact and stuck together.  So, after falling and wondering if I was concussed, it was David (ex-Army) who got me up and walking straight away, before I could turn into a pansy and wimp out - on a day where I had no CityCat money!  The three of us egged each other along and before long, we'd made it back, just in time for coffee, which I'd been thinking about for the last 10kms -  and talking about for the last five....

Even though my back (sacroiliac joints) is still hurting, the exercises I'm now doing are starting to help, I'm pretty sure.  I think some swimming might be good too so I need to find myself a pool, preferably heated!  I'm trying to take the pressure off myself about the marathon and think of it as a FUN thing rather than a difficult, challenging thing.  

Now, back to my uni assignment and perhaps some more analgesia - or ONE square of Whittaker's peanut butter chocolate?  Today was the inaugural City2South run in Brisbane and by all accounts, it was fantastic.  So, perhaps next year I will give that a go - after I have retired from marathon running for ever! 

Rapture versus Running (running wins)

Oh readers and fellow runners!  WHAT A WEEKEND!  If the Rapture was going to come in the form of consecutive earthquakes, it would only be due to the thousands of pounding feet in Queensland this weekend.  Thank goodness it didn't eventuate because we were all too busy running to stop for a diatribe of religious balderdash.  First event was actually Justine running the Brooklyn Half-Marathon in NYC today. She smashed it, coming in under two hours and getting a PB to boot  - with jetlag and sleep deprivation.  Excellent!  Actually, the first big event of the weekend was the Warwick Pentathalon which is an event, or series of events, that I can be quite sure I will never attempt.  Talk about feats of endurance!  This weekend a group of my "Run 10 With Jen" beginner runners did their first ever 10km event at the Rotary Run at UQ today.   I have been trying to upload some photos from the run but it's not working so as soon as they arrive, I will be posting them right …. HERE.

Go Team InTraining, go!!

Yes, that man DOES have three legs….

I am so proud of them all and from the mad flurry of posting on Facebook, they had a fantastic time!  I wish I had been there to see them finish but this weekend found me at the Noosa Winter Running Festival running the half marathon.  I did this run last year and really, really enjoyed it, despite missing my sub-two hours by five seconds.  This year was just as fabulous.  It's so scenic!  It's so social!  The ice-cream is so good!  And….  I finished in 1:56:46 and came 21st of 53 women in my age category.  How am I EVER going to get rid of my competition when there are TWENTY of them?  Big sigh…   I am really pleased because I felt sensational throughout the run and was basically feeling so good that I was at risk of being banged on the head by someone to shut me up!  I ran with my friend Simon who had quite a job trying to "curb my enthusiasm" and keep my quiet so I would have some energy left for our last 5kms.  It was quite an honour to run with him because he is not only fitter and younger than me but he is also a man and here I was, keeping up with him.  Okay, so he is recovering from surgery but I don't want to think about THAT!  

I went up to Noosa with three of the girls from InTraining and we had a bit of a hoot shacked up in our French Quarter Resort room with our moth-eaten blankets (we had to beg for them), our broken sofa bed and this delicious culinary breakfast treat - chia seeds in a glass of blueberry Gatorade (was that the recipe Sarah?).  It looks like something out of Doctor Who! 

I did NOT suck on this during the night! 

Sarah's brekky…  I wonder if she was glowing in the dark?

Pre-race "prep" involving shoes, timing chips, safety pins, numbers..

Shihoko, another one of my beginners (see how proprietary I am about them?) was along to run her first 10km event and despite being a bit nervous, never had an opportunity to worry with all the distractions created by the other three of us - and a few trashy mags and some ice-cream … for CARB LOADING!  

Speaking of "trashy mags", this publication greeted us in our race packs - I don't know who is scarier, Bob or the wombat?  (Or whatever that furry creature is…)

Happy 10kers at the finish line - Shihoko, Dorte & Clare

I saw lots and lots of my friends at the event today, which reminded me of how much I love the spirit of running and the friendliness of it as a sport.  Everyone supports each other.  Even out on the course people yell out encouragement and try to help others to finish.  Doc had The Sacred PomPoms and was cheering us all on as we crossed the finish line.  My buddy Cath should have been in this photo above after running her 10km, dammit. I  will need to focus more on my post-run photography skills at the Gold Coast.  I also saw Marathon Mal and Dom running today and we yelled inspiration at eachother at several points along the course.  I will say right now that my yelling, singing and arm waving did deteriorate as I became more shagged…  I think I will be good for pretty well nothing but drooling at the marathon.   Alarmingly, Simon suggested running the same speed for the marathon to get a sub-four hour marathon.  Thank goodness I don't want THAT!!  Do I….? 

Laughing 'til I cry

A friend of mine alerted me to this hysterically funny (in MY view) little YouTube movie today.  After wiping away tears of laughter, I discovered it was done by Eddie Izzard, a British comedian.  That then reminded me that I'd heard something about him completing an astronomical feat of marathon endurance so I Googled him and this is what I found.  W.O.W...... W.O.W.  I am speechless. It's people like him who inspire me to believe in myself to finish my FIRST marathon, let alone my 43rd!  Thanks Eddie!