I'm Back!!!

Well it has been a long haul and to be honest, pretty tough for me, but after eight weeks off with a stress fracture in my foot and then four weeks training, building slowly, last weekend I did my comeback race! Cooks Tour 30k.This has been the first race I have attended in a long time where I haven’t done the furthest distance, so it was a bit of an odd feeling. Starting at 8am was foreign too! With that said, all the runners mingled around Woodford Pool before heading off for a little journey of the Glasshouse Mountains. I had a heap of friends going and in our race I was gonna hang with Andrew and Meagan. Andrew is a whippit and I gave him for-warning not to head out too fast…..So, after the gun went off, Meagan and I set a pace, keeping Andrew in site. He took off! We kept him in reach however I was running way faster than I wanted to….around 5min km pace on undulating trail. We settled into our own paces and before long I was on my own, still watching Andrew like a hawk!We got to checkpoint 8 and started on the eastern loop. I know these trails well now and on the downhill at the start, bombed past Andrew. I commented that I would either blow up or hurt and run through…time would tell! From here on I kept my distance from Andrew and with about 9k to go, started to feel the pinch. I was pushing the pace a fair bit beyond what I usually do, however took comfort in the fact that it was ‘only 30k’ and I was ready to suffer that long! I put in, ran as strong as I could and to my surprise finished in 2hr 33min….super fast for me! Andrew finished only a couple minutes’ back and then Meagan only a couple minutes after that! Ripper!A big shout out to a heap of my other posse that ran too! One of my athletes, Andrew had a bit of a tough day out with a tight Achilles but still finished the 50k. Katie, Dad and my sister that also did the 50k. Deb in the 30k and Nix in the 10k. All winning in their own ways!! Well done friends. To all the other regular faces I see at trail events, thanks for making it a rad comeback race!The wash up…. 1. The foot was TOPS! After four weeks training in the hills, my legs are already feeling stronger! I cannot wait to see what is going to happen with my running from here on in. 2. Running short, HURTS! Give me 100k + any day! 3. I am going to look at alternating my sandals and shoes in training…..I miss my sandals and the durability of my shoes is questionable, although I really love them. We’ll see how that pans out!Apart from that, all is great and I’m sorry I haven’t blogged for a while! I am going to aim to blog once a week on a Sunday or Monday to keep things regular and so you know when to tune in and read up on my adventures!Lastly……MASSIVE news…..after Coast 2 Kosci, I didn’t think I was going to race any more SUPER long events due to the stress on the body and my love for the 100k/mile events…..however, I have decided to apply for a once in a life time opportunity. Next year marks the 100year anniversary of the ANZAC’s and World War One. As a tribute, a race has been organised around the trails of Canberra….a 145km track. There is a one, two and three loop events and naturally, I am going for the big boy! 435km non-stop, with a six day cut off!!!!! I have completed a week-by-week, 11month training and racing program, and cannot wait to see how this next crazy challenge goes! Stay tuned!Have a rad week my friends, smile, run, dance, kiss and be merry!ADDITION…..This is being added at later date to the above. I have decided, for those interested and for my own accountability, to start a 16week blog for my journey to the 100miler in September. I have made it known to a few that my big goal this year is to finish in under 20hours and be as competitive as I can. I will be doing a personal daily journal entry and posting this each week on a Sunday. I would love if you follow my steps (literally!)! As usual, I will be honest, share what I can (the good and the bad) and you might find it interesting! Keep track on the website each week for this!