I was so happy running down the last hill into Bondi Beach on Sunday 14 August, my 32nd City to Surf about to be completed. Two months ago I was carefully resuming running following a long break for the injured left calf. I put in my entry thinking that I'd be doing a lot of walking (which I did) but ended up completing the race quicker than expected — 85:06 for the 14k, an average of 6:05 per kilometre. Last year I ran 70:17, just failing to qualify for the 'Red' start group so I was a long way off that, but still happy.
My pre-race plan was to run to the bottom of 'Heartbreak Hill', walk up the hill before jogging and walking to the finish. That's pretty much what happened. I love it when a plan comes together! So, 5:27 ks on average to the 6k mark at the bottom of Heartbreak, then walking and jogging while taking some video of the race with my phone.
Since the City to Surf I've continued to gradually build my mileage (it's now around 50k per week) and as that's happened, my race fitness has improved. I ran in the Wagga Trail Marathon 5k on Saturday (which I think was longer than 5k) and was pleased to run the first 3k at under 5-minute pace. Splits went 4:53, 4:52, 4:57, 5:17 and 5:08 plus 1:17 for the extra bit. A sub-25-minute 5k is the immediate goal, then perhaps something close to 23 minutes by the end of the year.
Phone video of my 32nd Sydney City to Surf
