Geelong Half Marathon

I have no idea where to start. I still feel euphoric!!!!
Well as i sit here eating a slice of yummy cheese and bacon bread and sip on my coffee, i will try my best to let you imagine one of the most fantastic days of my life.
Started off on my 2hour journey to Geelong on Sat, and arrived at the Mercure around 4.30pm. Drove down to the start/finish line to try and fathom what the hell i had gotten myself into. I had gloves, beanie, and very warm trackies on. I was freezing. Had my pasta and tinned tomato dinner back in my room. Then remembered Stu's very strict instructions.... "make sure you have a glass of wine the night before". No probs Stui. So i had a fantastic glass of red, read a little runners world and went to bed around 8.30pm. Had the worst nights sleep EVER! Toss turn all night long. Then had to listen to a domestic in the hall at 2.30am then again at 4am. As i lay there awake, all at once, my mobile phone alarm starts going off just as the alarm clock radio and the wake up call from reception happened. ( was no way in the world i was gunna sleep in) Jumped up and had a piece of bread soaked in honey. Time was 5.50am. Thoughts: Ok, this is it. Today is the day. 3 months training for this very day. Oh crap!!!! Was relatively calm. Had my shower. Got dressed in my very neatly laid out running gear. Pinned my number on. Then turned my i pod on. I think that was a little premature as i really started to get in the groove. I was dancing about my room like a loony. Finally convinced myself i should rest the legs and save a little adrenaline for later.
Just after 8am, Stu picked me up and we headed down to the start line. People were starting to turn up. We went in to collect our shirts. It read: I finished the 18th annual Geelong Half Marathon. I felt terrible reading it as i felt i would jinx myself. Quickly folded it back up. Soon after, we went for a very slow warm up jog. I think it was only 1 or two km's. (I can't remember.) I had no pain in the shins! Yay. Didn't tell Stu but i had a pain in my left glute. Got no idea what from though. Anyway, was feeling absolutely fantastic. Everything was perfect. Cool morning but not freezing. A little sunshine but overcast. Before i knew it, we were standing amoungst all the other entrants. I asked Stu if i could squeeze in the front, but he wouldn't be in it. Had no idea what the guy was saying over the p.a but did hear the count down. 5,4,3,2,1 we were off. Thoughts:Oh my god, i am running in a half marathon.. ARGH!! My plan was to stay as close to 150bpm with the heart rate. It was a slow shuffly start but soon got carried by every one. HR was starting to exeed 150 not long after. Prob around 155 for the first km or so. Lots of people were passing us. I didn't mind cos i knew it was a very long race. And i really wanted to finish it. Wasn't long until we got to the bottom end of the loop. Approx 4km's. I was very excited and even did a little dance to the marshall! He thought i was crazy i'm sure.
I can't remember exact times, but i remember sitting around 6min pace consistently. Which actually surprised me. I had done no training runs this fast before with this distance. Was secretly shitting my daks as i thought i was gunna die in tha arse after 10km's or so. Anyway, kept listening to Stu chat away. I was able to return the favour too. Was great being able to run and talk. (like it a lot) Times still sat around the 6min pace. Was feeling great with no pain what so ever. (pain in my arse had gone too thankfully) Was very happy to see the 10km mark. Was even happier to still feel great both physically and mentally. There were a few little rises here and there which to me were bloody big hills ( i don't do hills!) So i started to puff a little heavier. Stu kept giving me tips... which were actually working. Pump the arms up the hills, breath through the nose, slow your breathing down etc. He even started giving other runners advice!! So i quickly reminded him that he was only to help ME!!!! More chatting... more running and soon we were are the 15km mark.
This is where i started to have a little trouble. My breathing kept getting a little too heavy and was struggling to keep it down. I really felt like i was running a lot slower. My blisters had started to feel quite big under the toes but didn't want to say anything as i felt i would think of it too much.
We had reached the top part of the loop (in the map) and only had one small leg to go. Stu could tell i was starting to struggle and tried keeping my mind of it. I was starting to feel fatigued but more than anything, the mental battle had really begun. There were more bloody hills and still more km's to go. Had to even dodge people on push bikes and even some people with Kanoes! How rude!!
Every time we came to a section that required a little brain power, i had to rely on Stu to tell me which way to go. I was feeling knackered and had had enough. Almost at the whingey stage. Asked stu, "wheres the 19km mark!". I wanted to see the bloody thing. Finally we had passed it. Stu was really pushing me along ( really just kept me going). He tried to speed me up a little but gave up as i was really only just getting by. Then i saw the end of the road i had driven down the day before. I knew how far there was to go. We could see the bridges but not the finish line. A lady on a bike yelled to us, "come on guys, your on the home straight now!". We were baby! and i could finally see the finishing line. Was probably a few hundred metres away. I started to try and pick up my pace. As i looked at the banner, all the thoughts going through my head were making me feel like an emotional wreck. All the training, all the crap i have encountered lately, all the km's i had just run... i was almost in tears. 2hrs 06mins and11secs. I had done it!!! I had run a half marathon. Wrapped my arms around Stu and realised my legs weren't working very well at all. Then a kind old man handed me a flyer about an 8km race coming up! Kindly told him to bugger off!!

Drank the rest of my powerade from my fuel belt and wanted to fall in a heap but wasn't aloud. We had the saltiest faces i have ever seen. Was very funny. Am actually laughing as i visualise Stu's salty eyebrows. (sorry stu) Anyway, so there you have it. A complete run down of one of the biggest days in my life. All thanks to Stu as i could deffinately not have done it without him. Also to Karina for your support. And everyone else on the Ausrun Forum. You have no idea how much it helped me get through the tough times. So i hope i haven't bored you all too much with my very long post but i am thrilled to bits with my result and love my t-shirt (i wore it to work today) and may consider doing it again next year but am not puting any pressures on myself for a while. Thanks again to you Stu, you helped me more than you will ever know!! You are so motivational and inspiring and i just take my hat off to you.

Crissy.
Conquerer of Geelong!

Splits: 2k -12.01, 4k - 12.00, 5k - 5.59 (30.02), 6k - 6.03, 8k - 11.55, 9k - 5.59, 10k - 5.57 (59.57), 11k - 5.53, 12k - 5.49, 13k - 5.55, 14k - 6.04, 15k - 5.58, 16k - 5.50, 17k - 6.04, 18k - 6.10, 19k - 6.07 (yes Crissy we found it!), 20k - 5.53, 21.1km - 6.24 (incl that extra bit) Total: 2.06.11