Well, I spent a wonderfully gluttonous Saturday morning wandering the Farmer's Markets at New Farm Park, testing this and tasting that, and walking away with a backpack full of tasty treats to enjoy later.  Thankfully I had ridden my bike there from Kangaroo Point, so while I probably didn't burn off all the excess calories I consumed that morning, I at least may have done some damage control.  For anyone who hasn't visited them, these markets are a collection of sellers of fresh fruit and vegetables, speciality meats and cheeses, and a plethora of gourmet deli items like dips, olives and sauces.  And the best part of it...  Most of the stalls offer taste tests.   My advice for anyone that's planning on a market excursion?  Don't have breakfast!  You need to leave plenty of room for all the tasty little morsels that you'll discover along the way.

 

And so I had a glorious time tasting home-made organic toasted muesli, rich greek yoghurt, fried haloumi and more dips than I think I've ever tried in my life.  Along with the requisite pita crisps of course.  Oh, and a BBQed chicken, spinach and pine-nut sausage, smothered with dijon mustard, to munch on as I wandered.  Into my backpack went some gorgeous strawberries, fresh-picked that morning, along with a big tub of apple-cinnamon greek yoghurt, some irish-cream fudge, a massive macadamia muffin and two big chunks of home-made muesli slice.  I was very tempted by some of the dips, but knowing my penchant for them and my distressing tendency to consume the whole lot in one go, I decided to give them a miss.  Maybe next time.

 

In other news, the Bridge to Brisbane is almost upon us, and I'm actually quite surprised at the popularity of it.  Not only am I tackling the gruelling 12k distance, but so are many of my friends, and even my house-mate has allowed herself to be talked into it.  And, believe it or not, even my young-at-heart Mum is strapping on the walking shoes for this one too.  I'm aiming to cover the 12k in 1 hour 20 minutes or less, but considering that darn massive bridge is at the start, I may have to be happy with a longer time.  With 1.1km uphill stretch at a 5% incline, the bridge is not to be under-estimated.  Bring it on.

Gold Coast 10km Run - July 2nd 2006, 9:30am

 

~BANG~ "And they're off!"...  Tensely milling around in the starting chute, doing my best to focus on relaxing and slowing my heart rate rather than stressing about the race ahead, I finally heard those magical words.  At that point, it was something like being trapped in a stampeding herd of bulls.  Caught up in the pounding feet and jostling elbows, I got swept along like a leaf in a stream, passing those slower, and those faster passing me in turn.  In fact, it was all so intense that I didn't even notice the first two kilometres fly past!  I remember seeing the 2km marker and being absolutely amazed that I'd gone that far already, and was feeling great.  I had planned on pacing myself with my heart-rate monitor as I usually do on runs, but that went out the window along with my resolve to go slow and steady.  My heart rate at the 2km marker was a massive 185bpm.  Even on my most difficult training runs it usually sits at about 170bpm, so needless to say I was working my ass off out on that course on Sunday!  I really didn't think I'd manage to keep up that pace the whole way but guess what?  I did! 

 

I swear, though common sense tells me otherwise, that I saw the 8km marker three times during the race.  Each time, I almost collapsed with relief thinking I only had 2km to go, only to be disappointed to realise I was mistaken.  Hallucinating?  Or just wishful thinking?  Either way, towards the end of the race I was nearly ready to die.  Seriously.  I would have quite happily climbed into the ambulance along with the unfortunate gentleman I passed having a medical emergency during the race.  My legs were made of concrete, my arms just didn't have the energy to pump anymore, and I'm pathetically glad that I was wearing my Ipod so I didn't have to hear the sound of my own tortured breathing.  I was perilously close to slowing to a walk, but with so many people lining the course watching, I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  I've never been so glad to see the word FINISH in my life (though I did think that whoever designed the course is probably laughing sadistically at the fact that we had to run PAST the finish line and on for another km or so before being able to turn around and actually CROSS the line.  Bastards.)   My final time was 1:03:03, which was a personal record for me on a 10k course.  I placed 1947th out of about 3400 people, so I'm definitely a "middle-of-the-pack" type of runner.

 

And yet, regardless of all the torture and pain, I wanted to do it again.  Yes, I'm serious.  I can't wait for my next race.  Why?  Two words.  The challenge.  There's something about facing failure, laughing in its face and crossing that finish line just when you thought you couldn't do it.  The self doubt is necessary.  For a challenge to be worthwhile, you have to have those moments where you seriously think "I really can't do this!", and then when you do, its the most amazing feeling in the world.  I'm proud to be one of the 3400 people that finished the Gold Coast 10km race.  I have the medal and the t-shirt to prove it.