City to Surf 2011 was an amazing experience, that’s for sure.
It started for us on Saturday morning as we set off from Canberra, with the car packed… three kidlets squeezed into the backseat and trying to keep them entertained for the 3 hour car trip up to Sydney. The boys fell asleep just 10 minutes before we got to our hotel. Perfect!
Once we arrived at our hotel we were greeted by Rene, who quickly struck up a conversation with me about the race… informing me that he usually runs in the RED (super speedy fast first) group, but this year he is going into YELLOW to support his brother-in-law. Awesome.
We then headed over to the C2S Expo… which was buzzing with people collecting their BIBS… quite literally almost at the very last minute… as it was 2 hours before closing.
Mikaela and I posed for a few silly pics:
And I got myself a nice little souvenir top:
As we headed back to our hotel… a French guy came over, spotting my expo bag, asking for directions… Ah Mikaela, please speak French to this gentlemen and let him know where to go. He was most grateful and complimentary of Mikaela’s command of French.
Heading into Hyde Park… we decided to stop at the café and grap a coffee (for me) and some muffins and such for the kiddies. We ran about a bit, Mikaela did some handstands and cartwheels, they played chasings… and we headed back to our room. We spotted a squirrel and her bubba… we stopped and watched them for a while. Mumma squirrel was on the grass… bubba up in a branch. Joshua and Benjamin were intrigued and had their eyes glued to these sweet little creatures.
After getting sorted at the hotel, we decided dinner in Darling Harbour was the go. We went to a little Italian inspired restaurant, as I was keen for pasta. Unfortunately I didn’t chose very well… it was oily and a bit gross… I only ate about half of what I needed to. And unbeknown to me at the time... I was going to pay for this BIG time during the race.
Back at the hotel we tried to get an early night… 11pm I was still tossing and turning… then I got an SMS message asking if my daughters BIB was still for sale? Ah yes… 40 mins of tooing and froing… I eventually ended the SMS conversation and shortly afterwards fell asleep. (there was more SMSing about it all in the morning, and in the end they didn't even collect the BIB, what a waste!!!)
530am my alarm went off and I got into the shower and with all my gear laid out and ready to go… getting dressed and down to breaky was a cinch. I headed down to the restaurant at 6am… I had a slice of wholemeal toast with peanut butter (BIG mistake)* and a coffee. Plus a sports hydration drink and lots of water.
*we don’t have peanut butter in our home as Joshua is allergic… NEVER do ANYTHING out of the ordinary on a race day. Seriously, not good!
I went back up to our room, started to rouse the family and try coordinate extended family… before switching off to all that… and walking out the door to the starting area. I don’t remember reading the part that says not to arrive more than 30 mins prior. Oh well… there were quite a few of us eager beavers… and we stood and waited. And waited.
About 30 mins to go, it started to POUR with rain… oh, ohhhhh! Thankfully it didn’t last long and there was no more for the rest of the run. It was about this point that I got chatting with ASHER… I asked him what time he was aiming for … he said sub 50. WHAT? Dude, you are in the wrong group… you should be in RED. He explained that he is not a runner… he is a rode rider, he just runs to keep his weight down, and this was his THIRD time to put a BIB on. I admired him immensely… but really, of all the people to strike up a conversation with, why did I have to choose this intimidating speedster? He asked what I was hoping for, uhhhhm 85? Maybe?
I took a Gu and water, most of my handheld was already gone and I was busting for the loo. Speedster Asher had no Gu, or water! Mmmm!
The announcers were chattering away… the national anthem played… and I sang along and touched my penny and thought of my Pop and how lucky I am to be here today.
The wheelchair athletes took off to much applause and excitement. Five minutes later the RED group were off. Close to our start Asher and I ceased our nervous banter, shook hands and wished each other luck. Clearly, I would not see him again!
The gun sounded, and we were off. The first 2 km’s I was clocking a 5min average. That’s fast for me. I can do faster, and have done in some races… but not going down hill and not where it is WET and slippery…. I was being cautious.
Near to the 2km mark I got a tap on my back, my sister had seen my BIB and we chatted for a bit… she said she wanted to stop already… I assured her I did too… that we were going FAST (for us) and that we needed to just slow it down an bit and get into our groove… breath and relax into the run.
By this time were already heading up some hills. The atmosphere was electric and we were moving along at a steady pace.
Meeges started walking… I grabbed her hand and we ran some more… then she stopped to walk again. I told her I am not leaving her behind… got her to run with me some more, then I turned around and she was GONE.
I mean really GONE. She was like a vanishing act…. For 5 mins I kept scanning around me and could not see her at all. I started to cry a bit and get emotional… before I told myself to get it together, not worry about my sis… she had done it before and would do it again today.
I had to knuckle down and just run my own race. At about 5km I started to scan the crowd for my family… as that is where Nathan had told me he’d be… and he was, but I never saw them. I saw a young kid with a sign “my Pa is a legend” and I started to get teary and emotional…. Her grandfather had run every C2S for the past 40 years. That is awesome!
My sister (Megan) saw Nath and the kidlets, she ran over to have a quick break and a chat... they asked where I was? She said, oh she's way ahead of me. She told me later that the kids looked very disappointed with that news. Poor darlings.
Everywhere about there were people and inspiration… young kids running hard with their parents… older people running much faster than I could!! Achilles athletes running better than abled athletes. Kids at aid stations get me teary… all the volunteers get me teary… really I am an emotional person, clearly!
We were nearing heart break hill and I busted open another Gu, just taking a small amount… I cruised into heartbreak hill and kept up at a pretty steady pace. I yelled out “Go Little” as I came up beside para-athlete Rosemary Little. I walked a few steps of HB hill… probably twice I walked about 5 steps before getting back into my run.
Coming down the hill was much tougher for me than going up. My pelvic floor could not cope and I had some issues… A LOT of issues really. Oh well. There was nothing I could do… I had two choices, stop running, or keep running… I kept running.
Nearing about 11km I started to look for my family again… as we had spoken about a spot which may have been good… I didn’t see them.
I did however go a little beserkas… Rosemary Little was among us now, in a pack of runners just ahead of me and she was stuck. She was yelling for people to move, and they didn’t hear her. I started screaming MOVE MOVE MOVE… she was about 5 mtrs ahead of me and I could see that she had crashed into the curb… I ran in front of her and tried to clear a bit of a path… there were about 1o clear metres, and she took off as best she could. That got me emotional again… and took quite a bit of energy out of me.
I felt foolish for not just sticking to my race, head down and power on, but something came over me and I felt compelled to “help”. Much to the horror of Rosemary Little, I am sure. She was probably thinking "who is this nutcase!!!"
3 kms to go and I was feeling pain… I felt really sick and I didn’t really know why.
About 800mtrs to go I finally heard “BECCCCC” and turned to see my sister {Leanne} and Mikaela (with my big camera obstructing her gorgeous face)… I waved and kept on running.
I crossed the line at 1:34 something-or-other… no idea what that time really meant. My Nike+ said 1:23 for 14.6 kms. I walked through, was given a finishers medal, and asked for another for Mikaela… I got one ☺
I walked for what-felt-like-forever to get more water… I filled up my handheld and grabbed two extra cups for my sister (Megan)… and walked back to the finish scanning the crowd for her.. I didn’t find her. I found Eddy and gave her some water and had a quick chat.
By this stage I was getting really cold and needed my recovery bag… I walked up to where I had seen Mikaela and my sister {Leanne}…. They were no longer there. I called Nath (he was in the car with the boys, trying to find a park). He had given my recovery bag to Leanne. Oh ohhhhhh, where are they? I kept trying to call and couldn’t get through. Nath was distressed at this stage, because he knew I needed my bag and felt he had let me down. Never babes, never!
I walked down to the beach and found them pretty quickly. Thank god! By this stage it was past 1:50 and I was a mess. I’d been walking around lost and cold for over 30 minutes!!!
As I approached them, I could see my dear daughter desperately scanning the crowd searching for her Mumma, she looked so concerned and then SO relieved once we made eye contact. Made me cry again. She is the BEST!!!
We had a quick de-brief and took a few photos of my sister and her friend, Pete. Funny... not one of me! I saw Amanda from my FIT crew and we had a brief chat before she took off to find her Mum.
Mikaela and I went in search of a place to get me cleaned up… I am so grateful for my daughter; seriously I would have been lost without her. She totally is my angel. We found the perfect spot for me to get myself changed and warm! Lucky us... someone was definitely watching over me in that moment.
Once cleaned up I headed back to Leanne and Meeges had arrived too… she ran really well and came in just after me. We were all really happy and excited.
Mikaela and I ventured off to try meet up with Nath… by this stage he and the boys had gone to Bondi Junction, as the boys had fallen asleep in the car, then Joshua woke up needing to go to the toilet.
We decided to catch the bus to Westfield and meet up there. On our way Mikaela spotted Leigh and Lara... they kindly obliged a photo, cute as:
It was full on crowded:
Once at Westfield and having located my super proud husband, we got some food, had toilet stops and a quick bye to Leanne before heading back to Canberra.
Mikaela didn’t run this year… she had a yellow BIB and I had a GREEN one. Mikaela was supposed to run/walk with two of her Aunts, but neither of them registered for the run. They were hoping to get a BIB before the big day, but it never eventuated.
I could have walk/ran with her… but 5 weeks out of my marathon… I was to either run this 14km race… or do a slow, long 35km run.
So instead of participating, Mikaela got a Pandora charm, and was happy spectating… and took a couple of really good photos on the day too ☺ I am more than blessed by this child of mine, that’s for sure!!
All in all it was a fabulous experience and one I am looking forward to doing again next year… Nath says he wants to run with me. Awesome! We’re not sure about the logistics of making it happen for Mikaela too… we’ll have to hire a babysitter in order for Nath and I to run together.... unless we do it where we have family support.... sooooooo:
The alternative we’ve thought of is to do the Adelaide City to Bay… There is a 3km race, and that would be perfect for Mikaela. Joshua and Benjamin can hang with their grandparents… and Nath and I can do the 12 km event together. Bliss!
Thanks to my gorgeous husband for running around madly with a 2 year old and 3 year old in hot pursuit {on his own, not sure I could have done as good a job as you did in the circumstances Babes!} ... thanks too to my wonderful daughter for having only concern for being there for her Mumma.
You guys are the BEST support this mother runner will ever need, and I love you guys so very much!! What we've got really is my dream life come to reality! Thanks for being my family and my everything!
Oh and I made these signs: one side person specific, the other side generic, so the boys could cheer everyone:
In the end we didn't use them, as more than half our peeps didn't run. Another time perhaps... at least they are ready to go if and when we'll ever need them.
According to the paper, my official time was 1:22:43. Fantastic :) I am chuffed with that!
Website results are as follows:
Next year I look forward to running this without the pressure of a marathon looming just around the corner... and doing a C2S training program, instead of a marathon schedule. Oh... and hopefully I'll get my nutrition right and not get {really} sick during the race. Trust me, you don't want the gruesome deets!
Hugs
Bxo
