Running adventures and finding elevation: Puzzles aren't just for kids and grandparents...

When I was younger and my Great Grandad was around I remember helping him put together puzzles that he was working on. There always seemed to be so many pieces but I always remembered seeing the puzzle finished and thinking how incredible it was. That's kind of what each week is feeling like at the moment. Every run I finish, every massage, every stretch seems to be all part of a big running puzzle. There is no sure finish date of this puzzle but there will be some moments of joy along the way including a few races I have in the upcoming months. I am relishing every moment I pull on my shoes and hit the trails, and I look forward to the next time running the moment one run finishes.

I knew at the beginning of this week that I was going to be doing the Busselton Half Marathon on Saturday, so as much as I could I eased into the week training as well as maintaining a good flow with how training has been going.

Monday: Finally I managed to get a run in up at Lesmurdie Falls. It had been so long since heading up there. I was a little short on time but had time for just over 12km of great trails and a super fast tiger snake. Glad he wasn't chasing me! An awesome run with some choice hills.

Tuesday: Today was to be my "speed training" for Busselton. Late Monday night though I decided to run early morning with Dan while he did his intervals at around 4:20/km pace which I figured was a nice pace for me to tag along at. The morning run was more about catching up with a mate and having fun. I managed a quick swim between runs, more of a survival doggie paddle... I think I'll stick with the running. Then for the lunchtime run.... I kinda forgot the fact that in a few days time I was going to be asking my ultra running legs to go a bit quicker than usual. So I put a bit of pep in my step and headed out for a few km of what some might call intervals. The issue that became apparent was that it was approx 32deg and rather hot! I met up with Mark and we took off. I ran my 1st 2km at 3:18 and 3:27/km, followed by about 4km of cruising back to Mark and then carrying on. Before deciding I should probably do another 2km set which ended in 3:25 & 3:39/km.... Did I mention it was hot?

Wednesday: Massage & Stretching day.

Thursday: I ran with Liz straight after work this morning for a touch under 8km. When I'm in full flight with my training I love our runs together, it slows things down and reminds me of some of the reasons of why I run. Mind you it might not be slow for long the way Mrs Hawker is running now! Then Liz jumped on the bike and I laced up again to head out for 10km around the river. It had heated up a bit but I wasn't pushing things hard at all so just enjoyed a sunny afternoon running.

Friday: After finishing work we packed the car and made way for Busselton. After a massive detour due to fires near the freeway we made it to Busselton. After setting up the tent and getting organised we left to go and pick up our race packs. Liz was doing the 10km run as well as me doing the half. After getting our race numbers we decided to do a cruisy 5km along the course to see whereabouts we were going for the race. It was absolutely stunning along the coast and a really enjoyable run. After the run we had a quick dip in the ocean to cool off before heading out for dinner.

Saturday: So there I was, standing on the start line of a HALF MARATHON! I was kind of pumped and kind of not. I really wasn't too sure how things were going to go. Optimistically I was hoping to beat my Esperance p.b of 76:42 but really didn't think that was going to happen as I'd only run under 4min'km 4 times in the past few months so didn't know how my legs were going to like it. The gun went and we were off. Dave Kennedy a fellow ultra running mate was also doing the race and planning on a similar time so we started off together and let the crazy fast buggers go off and do their thing. A km or so later I slowly started passing a few of the keen ones who took off at the start which was cool. Before I knew it I was ticking off the km's so easy and the Tarmacs were feeling soooo good! It's so nice in races now that even when the legs are sore or the lungs are bursting my feet are so happy. The race went really well and I continued to pass a couple of runners and I eventually caught the next closest with approx 5km to go. We played a bit of cat and mouse probably due to me not knowing how to 'race' a half as far as taking turns in front? He eventually made a move with about 2km to go and I thought he was gone. However I did a bit of a crazy man lactic acid build up sprint from about 300m out and nearly caught him. Crossed in 76:02 for 6th place. Super happy with the result and really happy with how the body pulled up afterwards. Note to self for next time would be to set up my watch so I can see total time as I should have gone under 76mins had I known how close I was. Always next time :)

Sunday: This morning was another early start to head out to the Bibbulmun Track from the Kalamunda Camel farm. James met me and we were off running. It was an awesome kind of hilly run with approx. 850m elevation in the 26km and some new trails. We ran some trails that I have looked at for ages now but not ventured off the Bibb, probably due to normally running on my own and in summer with some wildlife I'd rather not get too close to on my own. I found one of my old/brand new RaceReady shirts in my suitcase from shifting so was nice to run in a brand spankin new shirt :) Got dirty pretty quick though!!

Another sweet week running and nice to be in a race again. I think I'll leave it a while though before lining up in my next half marathon..... They hurt too much :)