10km MS Canberra Run – June 2015
The following are all the posts from my Jet setting Josh Facebook page that I posted up when I completed each event.
4 March 2015
1st sporting event for 2015, 120km Amy’s big Canberra bike ride wrap up.1300 participants registered for the 2015 Amy’s big Canberra bike ride incorporating the 20km through to the 120km event. I physically felt really good from the beginning to the 50km mark, knowing that the steepest hills had been concurred. I was anticipating to stop for a 5 minute break at the half way mark but the course had changed since 2014 and I was getting a slightly sore lower back and lethargic quads but I pushed on and rode to the 70km mark then took my strategic break, taking the opportunity to refill my drink bottles and refuel on homemade slice and muffins and sneak in some jelly beans, protein bars, fruit and dextrose tablets to help me to make it to the end. Everything except the protein bars and dextrose tablets were supplied by Pedal Power and the volunteers did a great job encouraging the competitors and supplying the sustenance. Hopped back on the bike and again felt great til the end mark, probably due to the dextrose tablets and Gatorade . The last 50km were much easier then the first 70km as there were only a few smaller hills to climb and the last 20km was relativity flat coming back into the city from the Cotter Dam and finishing at the same place it started, at Rond Terrace on Lake Burley Griffin. Having saved a packet of Reece’s Pieces and Boost chocolate for motivation to eat at the end of this event, they never tasted so good after packing my bicycle away in the car. Overall I finished the event in roughly 4hrs 45mins according to my bicycle computer, with an average of 25kmph which is what I was aiming for. The day after at work, I was slightly sore in the quads and hamstrings but still managed to ride to/from work and even got a short 15 minute slow jog in on the treadmill after work. This was the second year in a row that I have completed the 110/120km Amy’s big Canberra bike ride now and was glad to contribute to the Amy Gillett foundation, promote awareness of bike safety and have a really great workout with fellow cyclists.
2015 – 1st sporting event for soldier on
11 March 2015
2nd sporting event for 2015, wrap up. 126 runners showed up for the 10km Sri Chinmoy challenge run on Canberra Day 9 March 2015. There was also a 4km run on that day with 72 participants. Was a coolish start and managed to set off from the third row from the front so got a pretty good start. The first 3km I was running faster than my usual pace but from there til the 6km mark I ran at usual pace as the sun started to come through the low lying mist and got a little humid for my liking. The drink stand at this point really helped picking me up and from there til the 9km I felt really good as the sun was now shining on my back as the run is an out & back event. Hit the last hill with enthusiasm and raised my running pace going down the hill til the finish line where I equalled my PB at this event (48:21). Not a bad result I thought, as I have really only been concentrating on training for my first full marathon (42km) which is in April 2015. Training for a 10km run is so much different than training for a marathon. Was great to have my 6 year old nephew run beside me for roughly 100m towards the end of the run and to have the rest of the family waiting at the finish line. Saul might be ready for the 4km run at the next Canberra Sri Chinmoy run in October 2015 PS I’m the one on the right, towards the front with the circle.
2015 – 2nd sporting event for soldier on
13 April 2015
3rd sporting event wrap up. 1078 runners finished the 42km Australian running festival marathon on 12 April 2015. I had never ran so far in my live before until this day. I have done several half marathons and a few long training runs but never this far in one go. It was almost perfect running conditions with lots of cloud cover, a little bit of a breeze, slightly humid about the half way mark unfortunately but only got to a max temperature of around 16 degrees during the run. Up til the 24km mark I felt really great and was running at the pace I wanted to be at up til this point but then I started to feel really lethargic and my mind started to play tricks on me and I was wondering if I was going to make it to the end or not and I slowed down. This went on til the 34km but then I had a resurgence and my body wasn’t shutting down as I had stuck to my nutrition plan, so I dropped my shoulders, made longer strides and started to pick up the pace and enjoy the moment and the fact that I was almost at the end of the marathon. Towards the end of the marathon, I saw three participants along the course that had ambulance assistance and a number of others that were walking from around the 35km mark but I managed to not walk any of the marathon, which I can contribute to my preparedness and training which I was thankful for seeing as though it was my first full marathon. I crossed the finish line in 4hrs02mins19secs which I was pretty happy with as I was aiming for around the 4hour mark. Out of the 223 male 30-39 year olds I was placed 155. Not a bad effort. After the run and for the rest of the day I drank around 4 litres of liquids and ate quite a number of different types of junk food which I had been saving for this occasion and that was great. My next event for charity SoldierOn will be the 10km mother day classic run in Canberra on 10 May 2015, so I will have a small break from running then back to it again soon.
2015 – 3rd sporting event for soldier on
12 May 2015
4th sporting event for 2015 wrap up. 800 runners completed the 10km mother’s day classic run on 10 May 2015. It was a really windy morning and cold but I managed to finish in 49mins00secs. Got within 40secs of my 10km PB, not bad considering the weather conditions, being involved in a slight car/push bike incident two weeks before the run (not my fault) getting injured (minor) (I was on the bike) and having a reoccurring knee issue and doing no outdoor training runs since completing the marathon last month. I pushed for most of the first lap around the lake then slowed down a couple of times on the second lap but when a fellow woman runner would catch up to me I sprinted off every time. I did this three times. Im sure she was getting frustrated with me. The last 2km I pushed hard and overtook quite a few runners, maybe it had something to do with the tailwind :-). In 2011, this event was my first timed running event since I was in high school. Since 2011 I have completed this event three times and I have improved my 10km time by 9mins. My next event for charity Soldier On will be the YMCA Canberra half marathon run on 24 May 2015.
2015 – 4th sporting event for soldier on
25 May 2015
5th sporting event for 2015 wrap up. 406 runners completed the 21km YMCA Canberra half marathon on 24 May 2015. It was a freezing start to the run being -2 degrees C at 8am but everyone seemed in high spirits and when the gun went off people hastily started, maybe so that they could finish quickly. My race plan worked well this run, resulting in a PB (for a half marathon) by 38sec and coming 149th overall in this event despite it being so cold and it turned out to be a great day for a run with no wind and low humidity. I felt really great the whole run and managed to overtake quite a lot of fellow competitors and only had a couple of other runners overtake me at about the 15km mark. Having run around these areas really did assist me in the knowledge of the terrain even though this was my first YMCA Canberra half marathon. At the end of the race it was 6 degrees C but still couldn’t open my protein bar straight after I finished, as my hands were still frozen (as you can see by the action photo, I am trying to keep my thumbs warm), thank god for heaters in the car. My next event for charity Soldier On will be the MS Canberra 10km run on 31 May 2015.
2015 – 5th sporting event for soldier on
1 June 2015
6th sporting event for 2015 wrap up. 181 runners completed the 10km MS Canberra run on 31 May 2015. It was a pleasant temperature and no wind to start the run this week compared to the couple of previous weekend runs before this run. My race plan went really well this run as there wasn’t that many competitors compared to other runs on this route I have been on + my knowledge of route is good as I train around this area a lot. I got to the half way mark and looked at my watch and I was ahead of my usual running pace and was surprised but there were a couple of other guys I was keeping pace with during the whole run, swapping the lead between us a few times which I think helped me get a PB for this distance 46min44sec (29th overall). I beat my PB by 1min35sec which I was really happy with and considering as this event was the halfway mark for 2015. My next event for charity Soldier On will be the 21km Canberra Sri Chinmoy half marathon run on 8 June 2015.
2015 – 6th sporting event for soldier on
9 June 2015
7th sporting event for 2015 wrap up. 88 runners completed the 21km Sri Chinmoy Canberra half marathon on 8 June 2015. The temperature at the beginning of this run which started at 9am on the Queen’s birthday long weekend day was barmy compared to recent weeks running events, being 10 degrees C with only a slight breeze throughout the race. This was the second year in a row that I had competed in this run and it is a 1 mile loop track around Telopea Park completing 13 times. This like last year I had the family support team cheering me on and giving me high fives every lap. They arrived with five laps to go. It really did help and was great to see everyone there. Up til about the ninth lap I was doing really well, swapping the lead with another guy, egging each other on but it was about here when my timing watch stopped due to me moving my wrist to a more extreme angle than usual to get a drink from the drinks table and it hit the stop button, so I started to drop off and my loop times got slower and I decided to just cruise to the finish line. Happy with the result though of 1h48mins21sec with an average speed of 11.66kmph. Three running events in three weeks has taken a bit of a toll on me so am grateful that my next event for Soldier On will be in a months time, the 10km Canada Day Cancer Council run in Canberra on 5 July 2015.
2015 – 7th sporting event for soldier on
6 July 2015
8th sporting event wrap up for Soldier On. Well having reached the 2/3 mark of my 2015 Soldier On charity fundraising campaign with completing the 10km Canada Day/Cancer Council fun run at Stromlo Forrest Park in cold 1 degree C, frosty conditions (as you could probably work out by the two photos I posted up on the day of the run) I am really happy with my progress. Unsure of the exact number of participants for this event as that information is not distributed but I would guess that there were around 200 people running/walking the 5km or 10km run which was pretty good given the conditions. Last years conditions were worse, with a slight wind, spitting rain and similar cold conditions. I actually managed to achieve a PB for this distance being 46min20sec, which I was really surprised about because I was sure it wasn’t my fastest run as it didn’t feel quick, probably due to the cold weather. The pancakes with maple syrup at the end of the run were definitely the best way to recover after this run and fitting given the sponsors. So now I get to go into a little hibernation again with my next run being the 14km Canberra Times fun run on 6 September 2015.
2015 – 8th sporting event for soldier on
7 September 2015
9th sporting event for charity Soldier On wrap up. 191 runners completed the 14km Canberra Times fun run on father’s day (6 Sept) this year. I equalled my PB for this distance (1h05min45sec) with an average speed of 12.80kmph and am pretty pleased with the result seeing as though I hadn’t done a lot of training runs since my last event due to it being winter and eating a lot more comfort food lately The weather conditions for the run were almost ideal, being overcast and hardly any wind and 8 degrees. My race plan was to run hard at the beginning till about the 5km mark, run fast down the slight downhill section, get a drink at the halfway section and slow down for the final hill till about the 9km mark, got back up to a faster than usual pace for the final flat part then lift for the final 2km of the run. This plan went well as I have now completed this event 3 years in a row and I know the course. I kept seeing a few runners every now and then that were keeping pace with me, which is exactly what you want happen when your in a race. A couple of random runners gave me a “Good on you Soldier On” shout outs, which was also great to hear. One volunteer at the beginning of the run said “You’ve picked a great charity to support there”. Really happy to see that others are aware of this charity. To date I have raised $870 for Soldier On thanks to people like yourself and am still taking donations as I’m aiming to raise a total of $1200 this year . I’ve got a bit of a break till my next event, which is the 10km Sri Chinmoy challenge run on 5 Oct 2015, but October is going to be a busy sporting month for me (coinciding with spring of course), so stay tuned.
2015 – 9th sporting event for soldier on
6 October 2015
10th sporting event for charity Soldier On wrap up. 108 runners completed the 10km Sri Chinmoy Labour Day run on Monday 5 Oct 2015. Was a coolish start to the run (humid at the end) but numbers were slightly down from previous years, probably due to the nice weather Canberra has been having recently and its school holidays atm. The course was slightly changed due to some road works, which was good as it made a detour around the largest hill on the course. The whole week building up to this run, I was sick at home with a cold & flu so didn’t do any training and I was still recovering on the day of the event so I decided to just coast this run. Thankfully, I didn’t have many peeps overtake me and I was able to overtake a couple of other runners which I was happy about. Managed to sprint the last 1km of the run which I contribute mainly due to some guy I heard coming up huffing and puffing with loud footsteps and I thought to myself if this guy is going to overtake me and I’m actually not going to badly considering, I can’t let that happen. Got the final result of 49min19sec, which is exactly 3mins off my PB for this distance. This was the 5th time I had completed this bi-annual event and its always great to participate in as it is a not-for-profit organisation with event staff and participants that don’t take themselves seriously and has a community and family atmosphere. To date I have raised $920 for Soldier On thanks to people like you reading this blog and donating, it is very much appreciated. Could I please ask that you share this Facebook site with your friends and family as I am looking to expand my profile for the last part of this fundraising campaign. This month is a busy sporting month for me as I have 3 more events on in 3 weeks then this fundraising campaign is over. That’s right folks, you read correct 3 more, not I signed up for another event, the Canberra Dragon boat Abreast Corporate Regatta on 17 Oct 2015, No rest for the wicked, so its back out there training. PS How funny is the photo of me overtaking the kid, grandma and pregnant women at the end of the run. Atleast I am faster than some
2015 – 10th sporting event for soldier on
18 October 2015
11th sporting event. Not strictly a Soldier On event but am counting it as my 11th as I did take part in the 2015 Healthy Defender dragon boat team. We officially come in 3rd out of 16 teams this year. The team is very happy with this result as it is one place better than 201
2015 – 11th sporting event for soldier on
29 October 2015
12th sporting event for Soldier On wrap up. 700 people completed the 105km Fitz’s cycle challenge this year. I ranked 93. There were several other distances riders could participate in from 50km to 250km with a total of 1438 riders taking part in this event. The 105km course had 1700m of climbing and I completed it this year in exactly 4hrs 30mins. The weather was almost ideal for a long ride this year as it started off coolish at 13 degrees at the start at 8:30am and by the time I finished at 1:10pm it was a warm 27 degrees. Not as hot or windy as last year, this wasn’t that comfortable. Saw a few fellow Soldier On riders on the ride, so had a couple of short chats whilst on the course or waved to them when I saw them as the 105km course is an out and back, so started at Stromlo Forrest Park (SFP), turn around at Tharwa and return to SFP. I felt really good up til I got off the bike at the turn around point for a 10min break and that’s were I first felt the onset of my butt hurting. It hurt for the next 20km so was standing up on the peddles a lot more than usual, which helped. I think due to not doing as many long training rides this year compared to last year is why it was hurting. Recently I have been training for multiple sports, dragon boating and running along with riding. By the time I got to the last long ascent, the Cotter Road, all was fine and started overtaking other riders again. This is the 3rd time in a row I have completed this annual event. Recovery food and electrolytes were quickly consumed then I cracked open the can of Dr Pepper and ate the 5th Avenue chocolate bar I have had sitting in my cupboard for a while, for motivation in completing this event, and they tasted great. My overall time is <1.5kmph slower than last year due to my butt hurting, nevertheless, I had a great ride, didn’t have any accidents or punctures (in 2013 I had 5 punctures, which sucked), minimal sunburn and I felt pretty good at the post 20 hour mark since finishing, only slight muscle soreness, that I even rode my other bike to work today. Seeing as though I added the dragon boating event to my Soldier On events calendar late in the year, my next sporting event which is the 21km Run for your LifeLine half marathon on 1 Nov 2015, will be the last one for Soldier On and the 13th for 2015. I will be celebrating the end/thanking everyone for their support, encouragement and donations, to my fundraising campaign for Soldier On with a bbq on the day of the last event, so come and join in. BYO everything to the bbq.
2015 – 12th sporting event for soldier on
3 November 2015
13th and final 2015 sporting event wrap up for Solider On. 160 people completed the 2015 Run for your Lifeline half marathon. This is the second time this event has been held and the first time I have participated. There was also a 5km and 10km run on the day and a total of 688 runners finished all three events. This course was on a brand new road in Canberra, the Majura Parkway and it was a smooth and pretty flat run. The run started as the sun rose at 6am, so was an early start. It was a coolish 8 degrees and very humid start for the run as it was raining the night before. I later found out that it was 20 degrees at the end of the run so was a sweaty, humid, hot run. Not the most humid run I have done before but a bit outside of my comfort zone. I didn’t necessarily push that hard the first half of the run as I was sweating a lot. Had a few runners overtake me and I started to get a little frustrated so began to lift at about the halfway mark and started to overtake others as the return leg was slightly faster as it was to some extent more downhill. When I mean downhill, the degree of slope was probably only about 1-2%, at best. Got to about the 14km mark and this is when the 21km course joined back onto the 10km course. Running with the 10km runners helped me push a little more as their pace was slightly faster than mine, so kept up with them and even overtook some of them too. I had a few runners say “Go Soldier On” and I waved to a couple of other fellow Soldier On competitors. It’s really great to see that others recognise my chosen charity. Had a four way 600-700m sprint to the end of the run, which I won, except for at the very end when a 5km run come out of no where and just beat me to the finish line. Regardless, I had no issues with my legs before, during and after the run and managed to get within 45sec of my PB for a half marathon and without doing a lot of training runs lately as I was concentrating more on riding, I am very happy with finishing this run in 1h46min14sec. After recovery drinks and food was consumed, I headed straight to McDonald’s for some greasy breakfast and it tasted delicious. Hadn’t eating Macca’s breakfast for I don’t know how long. This time last year I completed the last of 15 sporting events, the 21km Golden Gate half marathon in San Francisco, California. This year I completed 13 sporting events but did more kilometres and more importantly, raised money and awareness for Soldier On. I would like to give a big shout out to all of you for supporting me and donating throughout the year to my fundraising campaign for Soldier On. The fundraising goal I set at the beginning of the year was achieved. It has been a great journey and one that I hope you have enjoyed watching my development, reading my blogs and viewing the photos over the past 9 months. A few highlights for me this year whilst doing all these events was finishing my first full marathon in April, getting a PB in the YMCA half marathon in May, getting a PB at the 10km Canada Day run in July, our dragon boat team getting one place better than last year and of course finishing the last sporting event for Soldier On, this run. Thank you to my parents, sister, niece and nephew for showing up and cheering me on at some of the events this year. It was a great motivator. Thanks to all those that attended the celebration bbq too. Was a great chance to catch up with you all and the champagne definitely hit the spot right now, there are no plans for future Soldier On events but I could be popping up doing one-off events, so keep an eye out. Thank you for coming on the journey with me this year.
2015 – 13th sporting event for soldier on