Tai Tapu 15K

It was a cold day this morning - almost freezing when I got up. I decided to bring the long sleeve top just in case. Starting time was 10 am so it might warm up considerably. I thought it might be a somewhat small event (relative to the City to Surf of 14,000). I was right and wrong. They didn't have 14000, but there were probably 1500 runners there. This was the tuneup race for the Christchurch Marathon at the end of May. In other words, there were plenty of talented runners there. I had no expectations since I really hadn't run much in the last two weeks. I ran yesterday about 30 minutes on trails with Oliver just to make sure the pilot light was lit. At starting time it was still kinda cool and I wanted to be comfortable so I wore the long sleeve top - it was a mistake. Withing 5 minutes of running, I was wishing I could peel it off, but I was too busy huffing and puffing to make the effort. 5K came through at 27:30 - that was OK. 10K checked through at 54:30. I didn't allow myself to walk until I hit 10K, but it came as a real relief from the pavement running to slow down and walk. I had no expectations for the last 5K - just survive and get back to the car. I walked at every K mark and surged between as much as possible. This jerky strategy got me a last 5K of 30 minutes for a finish time of 84:30. I was stimulted to kick in the last 400 meters when I was passed by a guy who had to be at least 90 in the last kilometer. I though it would be untoward for me to surge by the old guy right in front of the finish line. All in all, a heroic effort that will help me get through the next few days of aching muscles and joints. I think there's another 10K this month put on by Sri Chinmoy (Did I ever tell you he lifted me once?). Since it's called the Avon Loop, it probably has some grass to run on along the way, and now I know I can go that far.