Sunday, June 04, 2006

Nooooooooo

Something bad is about to happen and everything goes into slow motion ...... Nooooooooooo ..... your mind wants to back out and avert the tragedy but it's too late!

And so it was the night before the Queensland Half-Marathon ... this sensation of "Nooooooo" went through my mind, as I downed the second spoonful of the Indian Curry, I foolishly requested and that Katy had made. The Weekend Warrior Athletics Commission has its owned banned substances list:

1. Curry
2. Spicy Thai Food
3. Chilli
4. Red Wine
5. German Beer (but strangely not Guinness)
6. Yogurt (just because I don't like it)

My race started well and was a paradox of comfort ... I was very easy in my pace around 4:25 min/K. The source of my discomfort was the part of the body they DON'T mean when they say "dig deep". Details? ....... I'll spare you. Suffice is to say I spent some time here .....


I was building my run through the second half, whilst the thunder down-under was brewing at the same time. My unplanned stop was around the 15K mark. From then on, I was a traveling percolator (a steam engine with the value holding tight, whilst disturbing rumblings announced that at any moment my ass might explode). My time was a little over 1 hour:35 min or 1:33 PA (poo adjusted).

Do times still count in a half-marathon if they are wind assisted?

Congratulations to Hannah brilliantly beating the 2 hour barrier, Nick blistering under 90 minutes, Robert Song and Liz announcing they are ready for the Gold Coast marathon through performances beyond expectation and to Tesso whose smile crossing the line said it all.

15 Comments:

Blogger RunDave said...

That is the cleanest portaloo I've ever seen. I don't reckon they come out of the factory that clean!

6:09 pm  
Blogger Chelle said...

Well you seem to have done very well, even without the PA time!!

6:28 pm  
Blogger Robert Song said...

Better stick with toast in future.

7:20 pm  
Blogger Wobbly man said...

Pictures of portaloos bring back scarey memories of when I got stuck in a really smelly one. I suppose they are all smelly but when you are stuck...

10:19 pm  
Blogger Habeela said...

That has to be the nicest porta-potty I've EVER seen! I was just reading yesterday that Curries are an absolute no-no the day before a race...well, guess you don't need to be told that now, do you.

11:05 pm  
Blogger Tesso said...

No wonder I started slowing down at the 15k mark, obviously there was something in the air ....

Damn good result even without the curry in a hurry incident. Hope its not being served at the bus drivers cafeteria the night before GC.

9:28 am  
Blogger speedygeoff said...

Ah! That explains why we seemed to be running into the wind after every U-turn.

6:57 pm  
Blogger Rob said...

Toasty I thought you were sweating overly much for such mild morning.

No doubt that is the before shot of the portaloo.

8:47 pm  
Blogger Tammy said...

Sigh... when will you learn? :P

2:20 am  
Blogger Tammy said...

Sigh... when will you learn? :P

Congrats on a great race, PA and all!

2:21 am  
Blogger Unknown said...

If I had to spend time in a portaloo (we call em porta potties here in the states) I would not mind hanging out in that one.

Speedy time considering the rumble down under.

8:34 am  
Blogger Chelle said...

I know you have a name.... just wasn't sure if you were quite ready to cope with all that fame and fortune yet :)

1:53 pm  
Blogger Ginger Breadman said...

You gotta consider the thoughts of Ihatetoast - what do thai runners have? But then, you really don't see a lot of thai runners up there in the rankings - or mexican runners for that matter - don't suppose you should try beans,jalapenos, and tequila before the next race.

12:35 pm  
Blogger E-Speed said...

omg between your and Katy's blog I get in enough laughter for weeks :)

3:19 pm  
Blogger Giorgio said...

congrats: 1 hour and 33 min. I think it's a good performance. I've never run so quick. I run the last half marathon of Civitavecchia 1 hour and 42 min.

8:10 pm  

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