Simone focussed on her goal!

Back in October 2010 I set a new goal for 2011 – to complete a half marathon. I was excited and committed about this ‘new’ goal and even pushed back my planned trip to South America so that I could enter the Sydney Half Marathon in May. This was a big goal for me, considering that I only started running past 2 to 4km in July 2010.

 

I told my Trainer (at Vision Personal Training, North Ryde) about my new goal and he was stoked. The next thing I knew one of the female trainers asked if I would be interested in being a ‘back-up’ runner for a Team Triathlon event in March 2011 (Huskisson Triathlon). I was not that keen; as it meant that I would have to start training straight away and continue over the hot and very humid summer months. I said that I would be the runner only as a very last resort. The next morning I received a call to say that I was in – I had to start training for a 20km race.

 

Once I picked myself up from the floor when I was told the news, the next thing I did was to contact Susan to request a training program be pulled together. Susan was great. She built the best program for me taking into consideration all my current training sessions but still giving me the variety I liked – weights, short runs, long runs, interval training, spin classes and walking.

 

Then I was off! Running, running and running some more! I even became a fan of running in the rain (I never thought I would hear myself say that!).

 

The toughest times of the training were the heat and the holidays! Apart from the very humid summer we had, there was pure commitment needed to get up on Christmas Day morning, Boxing Day morning and my birthday to go for my scheduled training runs.

 

Lucky for me I spent part of my holidays with my friend who lives in Byron Bay – who also happens to be a personal trainer! She was not a regular runner, but was so supportive and came with me on my interval training sessions and my long slow runs. We did a 16km run while I was staying with her, up until that point she had not run past 9km. Now she is also training for the Sydney Half Marathon!

 

Through January a group from Paceline decided to go on a camping adventure weekend near Lithgow. I made my request very clear – I still needed to do a long run on the Saturday morning. The group was fantastic, and they came with to do the run in very hot and extremely hilly conditions (a massive thanks to Jacqui, Bev and Manon – you guys rock!). During the run the elevation rose by 122 meters – it was a tough, tough run.

 

My training continued in the lead up to March 13^th, and I was feeling stronger and fitter – this was the fittest I have ever felt in my entire life!

 

Then it happened! An injury. 10 days out from the race, I was on the homeward stretch and starting to taper, and I did a Grade 1 tear in my right calf. Lucky for me it was only a minor injury, but the Physio ordered me to rest, with no running, and no other form of exercise!! I followed his strict orders and one week later I was able to go for a nice short, slow run to get the legs moving over before the big event – which was only 3 days away.

 

There was a team from Vision Personal Training also competing in the Triathlon event, so we all went down for the weekend to enjoy the carnival atmosphere together. I have never seen so much carb’s consumed in all my life! Between the 8 of us, we must have eaten our way through about 20kg’s of rice, pasta, bread, lollies, and bananas.

 

On the race day morning, we were all up at 4.30am; as we needed to get down to check-in the guys competing in the individual event by 5.30am. Then it was a waiting game for me. Our team swimmer started her section of the race at 8am, our bike rider kicked off her section around 8.45am. Then I waited. Relaxed. Ate some more carbs. And then warmed up. Finally I started my run at 12.20pm. It was 33 degrees and I was the last runner to leave out of all the competitors. The overall winner had already crossed the finished line about 2 hours previously.

 

I felt great throughout the run, and I made sure that I kept up the energy gels and due to the heat I stopped at every water station to keep up the fluids. Along the run the locals of Huskisson made a massive difference and came out to cheer us all on! They even brought out their garden hoses to cool us all down as we passed their houses.

 

Finally I crossed over the finish line at 2hrs06mins – and I wasn’t the last runner to cross the finish line! Yippee! As I approached the finish line the Vision Personal team were all there cheering me on. It was an amazing feeling. I was extremely proud of my time, considering the weather conditions and the time of day I had to run. I was on cloud 9 for the following week after my event.

 

A massive thanks goes to Susan, Anne, my Trainer (Blake) and the all the runners at Paceline. There is no way I would have been able to complete my first long distance run without all their encouraging words and constant support. Thank you J

 

Now onto the next goal….