JETTY TO JETTY: FIRST RACE IN YONKS

I was pretty apprehensive about racing again.  My back really doesn't like the faster running.  My plan was to run a low-key race of around 90 minutes.  Anyway, the morning of the race was cold and wet.  I arrived a bit late and only had two kilometres of jogging to warm up.  I had been to the physio on the Friday and my back was generally sore from his manipulations and workings.  I don't think it a good idea to get such work done so close to a run.

On the start line Richard Quirk asked what time i expected to run.  I told him 90 minutes, which was my planned pace.  I truly wasn't sure where i was at as far as my race fitness level.  The toot tooted and off we went.  We had a tall wind, so the climb over the first kilometres felt cruisy.  I was cold and wore a beanie from the Christchurch Marathon.  Not much use for beanies in Brisbane. I forgot my gloves in the rush to get to the start on time.  I posted a piece on FB on my losing my precious beanie and the kindness of the person who returned it to me during the race.  

"I ran the Jetty to Jetty this morning. And i must say that it was one of the best feel good races i have run. The volunteers out on the course were all cheery, thoughtful, keen and gave clear directions. Generally, the whole event was well organised and you could tell that the J2J was a race run by runners or those who get runners and running. I love running and here is one simple reason. i wore a beanie that i received after the Christchurch Marathon last year. At around... 7k (I can't really remember the distance) it got too hot on my head. And i can have a pretty hot head at times. Anyway, tucked the beanie in my shorts. Checked sometime later and to my disappointment it was gone. Anyway, wrote it off as a loss.On the way back to my surprise there was a lady in pink holding my beany up for me to grab as i ran past. Made my day. Thank you Team J2J and those who understand that we runner like to hang on to our race mementos. A special thank you to the lady in pink who took the time to hand back my memento from Christchurch."        

I couldn't see my watch so didn't really know my pace.  I decided to just go hard as i could for as long as could.  It's not the Olympics or anything.   I hit five klms in 19 minutes and tried for a sub 38 minute 10 km.  i got there in 38:09.  It has been a long time since i ran that time for 10km.  Hard to imagine that just a few years ago in 2015 that that was my marathon pace when i ran 2:43:58 at Melbourne Marathon.  Of course, at

J2J i came home much slower.  At about 16 klms i had a sudden and stabbing pain in my back. It settled after a few hundred metres but after the race it was really sore.  And to add to my discomfort my insoles slipped back in my shoes.  The insole was just about poking out the top of my heel counter at the finish.  Nevertheless,  I had a good view of  the race between Claire Geraghty, Chris Bell and Brad Ward to take my mind off my woes.  Ward pulled away to run 19:56 with Chris and Ralf Hamann battling it out to the finish.  Ralf finished in 1:21:27 to Chris's 1:21:18.  Claire, being the champion she is, hung on until the finish.  At 5 km i was 26 seconds behind Claire and at the finish i was about 12 seconds.  She's a fighter. Aidan Dineen shot past me  with about 4 km to go like I was waiting in in queue a Woolworths.  He dragged me along for a while and helped close the gap to the runners in front.

My son Jonny won the race in 1:10:23.  Not bad considering his limited training load, heavy work load and busy life, with his wife, Rosa and Jon, having just moved into their own home and "building their nest."  

Jonny running errands.  Returning  containers which held garden produce we gave them. And delivering some yummy garlic and basil sandwich spread that, Jon's wife, Rosa, made for us.  Fun run and family catch up in one go
.

My insoles slipping back got a bit annoying, but didn't slow me down.  Damn.  It could have been a good excuse.

Claire, ever the fighter, making Ralf feel alive.  Ralf is coming back into form after recent Ironman.   

BACK INTO ROUTINE

This week I clocked 100 miles.  I don't feel too bad.  However, I find anything under 4 minutes a km hard going.  Anyway, it is what it is.  I just want it to be better than what it is... so i'll just have to knuckle down to it. 

 I was surprised to see Brendan Davies and Wayne Spies run the Gold Coast Marathon.  Both ran really well at Comrades, so they have recovered well.  Having said that, I know both are capable of much faster times than they ran at GCM.  It has been great checking out how everyone ran and I must say that there was some stand-out performances.  Too many to mention here.  I missed being amongst the action. 

I missed the live streaming so I could do a reccie run out at Redcliffe.  I knocked out 36+ ks at a reasonable training pace.  The cool weather makes for comfortable running.  The flat running allows for a showier pace than running the undulations around where I usually train.  Of course, the cement surface is hard on  the pins.   Anyway, I started slow and finished with sub 4:30s.  I forgot to start my watch after a pit stop but the Strava corrected to 37km while my watch recorded 36 km  ??

I had a blood test for PSA level this week.  I see the doctor mid next week.  He'll be directing me to have a new PSMA Pet scan   http://oncologynews.com.au/recurrence-of-prostate-cancer-detected-earlier-with-innovative-psma-ligand-petct/ to locate exactly where the tumours are hiding.  The rising PSA levels indicate that there is is no doubt that there has been some micro-metastasis occurring.  So all I can do is pencil in future races.  Should be able to get a few in before further treatment.  It's depressing and I get quite anxious about the whole situation.  The uncertainty really makes planning races  - anything - difficult and in some cases pointless.   The thing is I feel fine.  And I can't complain. I ran my first marathon 34 years ago and have had many wonderful experiences and met some absolutely awesome people.  I will do my utmost to make the most of the cards I have been dealt.

FIRST MARATHON: A different world back then.