Post Race

The official time was 2.03.35, 86th overall (out of 111) and 10th (out of 11) in my category.

Still happy with my performance and trying not to dwell on that 3 1/2 minutes. On the day I did my best and had a nice strong finish. I beat the two closest runners by 15 and 25 seconds which I am happy with as that shows that I finished well.

I've been a little sore but not too bad - better than last year after the 10ks. I had a nice gentle 5k run with Pip yesterday which loosened the legs nicely. I had the day off to have an ultrasound of my liver which was probably just a formality to make sure there is nothing visibly wrong. Another blood test due before going back to the doctor next week to check out a heap of things that could be causing the increased liver function results. Hopefully nothing nasty but it would be nice to know what's causing it. Should I tell the doctor I just ran a half marathon?

One strange thing that I have noticed (post race) was that I was very sore in my upper back/neck/shoulder region almost straight after the race and on Monday. I guess I must have been holding myself strangely as I have never felt that before.

Scott made a comment about me being competitive in the race and I guess that (being competitive) surprised me. I think that I wasn't really competing with these runners but using that urge to give myself a boost at times. I found that the last 5 ks was really a mental challenge as much as a physical one and it was good to use the reward for my early patience to overtake those runners who started more quickly than I did.

So, what now?
- I am considering going to Sydney in September for the Blackmores Half. It would be nice to run a half that I have trained more consistently for and it would also be good to run in a big race in Sydney with all the sights of the city.
- I need to start getting into a more regular program. So far it has consisted of running 3 times a week with a long run and 2 shorter ones, no real speed sessions or tempo runs. Just running when and where I can. I would like to get in some longer runs again, maybe build up to 18-19ks.
- Watch my weight. I lost about 4 kilos with the Graves Disease, but now that my medication has really kicked in I have put most of it back on. While I was losing wight I had a great appetite and got into the habit of making yummy desserts at least once a week. I need to get back to healthy eating and make sure that my weight doesn't start to go the other way.