Sri Chinmoy 8km race

Sprint
Post-race warmdown

A record! 8km in 35 minutes 21 seconds

I have to put in some caveats, although I am in fact absurdly pleased. Firstly, I was pipped to the post by someone I hadn't seen all race, and I swear he beat me by less than a second. Fortunately, he wasn't in my age group, so he didn't cost me the medal - but he also won a medal; first place in the over-60 division. That's a bit of a thunder-stealer! I have to say, I was very tempted to lurch "uncontrollably" in front of him, but I restrained myself. I'm pretty sure that would be inappropriate behaviour for what is notionally a recreational sport.

Furthermore, the guy who won the 16k - which is my usual choice of event - ran it in 65 minutes. Twice the distance in 5 minutes less than twice the time. When you see the picture (below) you will see that I'm not winning that distance any time soon.

Finally, the two guys who usually win this event didn't show up. It's all about the process, though, isn't it? And that time represents a great PB for me, a solid 25 seconds per kilometer off my previous best. It makes me think that maybe the coaching is paying dividends in more ways than just comfort. It still feels like a long way to 4 minute pace though.

500 meters left

Really, I'm shockingly competitive.

After the race and the pancakes, I went for a warm down 12km through the Bardwell Valley. It's a bit of a pain getting to it (you have to run UP the spur between the Cooks River and Wolli Creek) but the 4-5 km you get to run through remnant bushland makes it worthwhile,