Bribie Beach Bash 15km

So, late last night I was still trying to decide whether or not to have a crack at 30km. In the end , I decided I would, so I set my alarm clock for 4am (ugh!) and went to bed. I slept very badly (does anyone ever sleep well before a race?) and woke up at 3am to find all the doors in the house slamming themselves from very high winds. Needless to say, I decided then that 15km would be fine!

So, I actually got up at about 5am and headed off to Bribie. I really love Bribie Island – there’s something so relaxing about the place. It definitely has a holiday atmosphere. When I arrived, most of the runners were already out on the course, but had a nice chat with MJ who was there helping.

Then a lady recognised me from the West End and came up to chat – our handicaps at the last 10km werent too far apart and we ended up running together. She’d never run 15km today, so I ended up being a bit of a pacer for her. It was sooo nice to be able to do that for someone else after all the lovely people who’ve done (and continue to do it!) for me. Something very karmic about the whole thing :) Plus, it also meant I got to be a bit of a slacker, go slow and really enjoy the run.

It took me about 5km to get used to running on sand, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it not as hard as I thought it’d be. I do think it pushes you onto your toes a bit more in order to try and get some traction, and the underneath of my left toes started to ache a bit, but feels okay since.

After about three kms, we had to cross a small waterway that meant going ankle deep in the seawater. The initial sensation of cool feet was nice, but wasn’t so keen on feeling like I had two blocks of warm concrete attached to my feet afterwards! Oh well, these things add interest to a run, don’t they ;) One of the strangest things was having no sense of distances – so hard to gauge how far you’ve run with so few land marks… sort of nice at the same time though.

By 6km, C (running companion) started to struggle a bit so I started crapping on about everything and anything to try and distract her (and probably me, too) from the run. I can never tell if talking during a run irritates people – personally, I like it if I’m struggling because even if I can’t talk back, I can tune into it and out of my feet. Mind you, if I hated it, I wouldn’t have the breath to say bugger off!

On the way back, about 3km from the finish, we looked out into the shallows to see a whole school (pod?) of dolphins swimming along side us, playing in the surf. I think C thought I was a bit nuts at that point, since I started squealing. I’ve always had a really strong affinity with dolphins and to see them swimming so close by was just so unbelievably magical. It was just one of those moments where you feel so privileged – I felt so lucky to be running and to be there at that moment… the sun was dancing on the water, the sky was purple-blue, these beautiful creatures were swimming along with us and everything was bloody marvellous. Very zen ;) All those poor people still snoring in bed, wondering why on earth anyone runs!

As we crossed the finish, Clairie cheered us in and all I could say was ‘Dolphins!’ LOL. I think she thought I was hallucinating! She and Tess and Liz all had spectacular runs though, collecting shiny silver trophies. The girl I ran with grabbed me and gave me a huge bear hug, bless her. I’m also told that the ultra runners got chased by a wild pig! LOL! That would definitely inspire supersonic km times from me!

As I crossed the line, I felt really good and I could probably have had a go at the 30kms – if I’d kept running at the very slow speed I was at, I think I would’ve made it. Oh well! There’s always next year :) If I had, I probably wouldn’t have seen the dolphins so it was worth it just for that. Caught up with a few people and chatted. Some interesting flirtage going on, but I’ll say no more unless there’s something to say. A few recent experiences have re-emphasised for me how cynical and sick of dating I have become so I’m not holding my breath by any stretch ;)

On another note, I did inadvertently manage to line up a couple of new clients which was nice – did aim to sort of leave work behind today, but alas, self-employment isn’t quite so clear cut)

After chocolate cake and winning my first ever random prize draw (a mouse pad, go me!) We all went our separate ways – I went and had fish and chips at my favourite fish and chip shop in Australia, which just so happens to be on Bribie! I followed it with a Magnum icecream and it was gooooooooodddddd..