Gold Coast Half Marathon, 2007
Breathing whilst performing strenuous exercise, as you may have already heard somewhere, is of considerable importance. Despite my wishes I still had a touch of the flu this weekend, and being uncomfortably congested I found out just how tough a run can be with reduced breathing capability.
There's really very little for me to report about my participation in this race, so I won't be going into many details or stats.. Still aiming to finish in approximately two hours, I set out with Nikki from the starting line thinking I might pace with her for a while. Clinging to the hopes that maybe my airways would clear up after a couple of warmup kms, we set a decent sub-2hour pace, but it was evident after a mere 2km that I was really going to struggle with this race. I felt like I could barely breathe. I couldn't help stopping repeatedly for short walk breaks to catch my breath, and by the time I hit the half-way turnaround point I was already several minutes off target.
Around the 12km mark - possibly due to lack of oxygen intake - my calves were cramping. I found myself having to walk it out every couple of minutes as they kept cramping every 200-300 meters of running. Not even 2/3 of the way in I knew my goal time was shot, but I was determined to at least shuffle in to the finish and claim my shirt and medal.
I did finish - not that giving up was ever a consideration - but I owe the last km or so to a young lady called Susan whom I got to chatting with near the end of the race. She encouraged me to grit my teeth and fight off the pain to make a final run to the finish. Thankyou, Susan, and I hope you're happy with your race time.
I came in slightly faster than my Vegas time, but around 20 minutes to half an hour slower than I know I am capable of. Next year, for sure, barring further untimely illness.
On a lighter note, I did get to share a hotel room with two beautiful girls. What guy could complain about that? ;-)
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