KFC Brackenfell 10km Run – 19 January 2011, 6:30pm

I really didn’t feel up to it! I had had a nagging headache for a day or so, made worse by sitting in hot sunshine the day before watching the ODI at Newlands between South Africa and India.

Of course Beloved OH had been nagging me – “You’ll be fine!” and “You’re doing the run! We’ve come all this way, so you’re running it!” I did really want to do it, but didn’t really feel up to doing it! A few months before, I had already decided that I wanted to run another 10km to see how I was doing with my training. The run was being held in the same town as my Dad lives now, and where I used to live many years ago so it was an ideal “in-betweener” for me whilst I build up to my second half marathon in March.

We had gone to Cape Town on Tuesday so that Beloved OH could watch the cricket at Newlands (a late Christmas present). It was a great day, but very, very hot and we both ended up with headaches. After an extremely late night (we didn’t get back to the hotel until nearly midnight) we eventually woke up the next morning at 9:30am! Yes, 9:30am! That’s unheard of in our household! The black-out curtains obviously worked very well!

OK, so it’s 9:30. What time do they finish breakfast service? We checked the literature. Oh dear, 9:30! Better get down there fast! So we threw on some clothes and down to the breakfast room. Luckily, the very nice ladies working there were in a good mood and let us in so we didn’t have to go hungry! I sat there eating some fresh fruit salad and thinking that I’m never going to be able to run later. I felt awful, almost like I had flu coming.

However, after a number of coffees, etc. over the next few hours, and a bit of food (carbs!) I began to feel a bit better and by mid afternoon I began to believe that maybe I could run the race after all.

And that is how I found myself standing behind the starting line at Brackenfell High School waiting for the “gun” to go off. By that time I knew I would complete the 10kms, partly because I felt a lot better and also because they were giving away steri-stumpies (flavoured milk) at the end – and I wanted one! I desperately wanted one! I know, I know – how old am I? But I really did want one so much!

Bang! We were off! Well, the ones at the front were! Those of us nearer the back didn’t actually move for over a minute and then, once we had actually crossed the starting line, we bottlenecked at the school gates trying to get out, so that was over 2 minutes of the race gone already. The “elites” would be about half-way round by now!

At last we were off properly and I trotted off up the road with the others at a nice, sedate pace. I was warming up. There was no need to hurry anyway as I knew it would not be a good run – it was still very hot at 6:33 and I had decided I was going to conserve my energy, not try and do it too fast and die! After all, I was never going to do it very fast as it had taken so long to get through the school gates! So, I settled down to a slow, steady pace.

Then I got a stitch! Well, that definitely blew any chance of finishing in a reasonable time so I walked for a while – several times! Then I found myself caught up in the middle of a group walking up a hill, so I had to walk then as well! Still, that covered the first 4 kms – nearly half way. My Beloved OH (and my Dad, who had also come along – that was really nice) had agreed to be standing at the half-way point to cheer me on and I needed to be there at 33 minutes. So, at the 5km marker I looked at my watch – 33:17. Wow, not bad! I thought I’d better speed up just a little bit so that when I saw them I would look good! Then, someone in yellow overtook me and cut me up! How dare they! I couldn’t believe it! This was war! I ran a bit faster so that I was in front of them again – perhaps I could trip her up! No, that’s not nice, and I’m a nice lady!

I looked up and there were my Beloved OH and my Dad. I felt loads better then and was able to continue around the bend at a reasonable pace, leaving the lady in yellow behind. Another km further on, and an elderly gentleman came up alongside me saying that it was “all downhill from here”, and off he went! Wow, all downhill! That really encouraged me and I overtook a fair number of runners, sorry, strugglers, then. I began to think that it couldn’t be much further now and kept going.

There seemed to be some km markers missing and then, from nowhere, there was the 9km marker. I checked my watch – exactly 60 minutes. Wow! I had to check my watch hadn’t stopped! No, it was fine. Right, I’m going for it now! I really put my foot down – I could crack this. My last 10km took 66 minutes. I wanted to beat this! What a great feeling flying past so many people. All my aches and pains had gone! OK, so there were some who overtook me but I felt good. The marshall turned me left into the school grounds and I saw the official time on the clock at the finish line – 1:05 something and it only changed to 1:06 as I was crossing the line.

I was SO pleased because that meant that, allowing for the 2 minutes it had taken to get from behind the start line to outside the gates, I was 2 minutes faster! I had a PB for a 10km race, and although I have to wait for the official results, I know that I ran that 10km in 64 minutes! That was so exciting! I’ll crack a 60 minutes 10km yet!

And I got my steri stumpie! Yummy!