SMH Sun Run

“The smallest steps can lead to your greatest accomplishments.”

Today was a big day for me. I completed my first 10km fun run in a personal best time. Given I’d never taken part in a mass participation event I wasn’t exactly sure what time I should be happy with. Sub 60 minutes was the goal, but to be honest, I was aiming to crack the 55 minute mark. Amazingly, I almost smashed through 50 minutes, with an official time of 00:50:36.

When I first decided to take part in The Sydney Morning Herald Sun Run, I had my sights set on the 7km distance. My usual training route is 6.5km so I figured it just made sense to take part in the shorter length. But where’s the challenge in that, right?

One thing I learnt as I stepped out of my comfort zone and challenged myself was that it was crucial to focus on the kilometre I was running and not get ahead of myself. At the start when I was only 2km in, I was fretting about how I was going to feel in the 7th and 8th kilometre, and wondering how the heck my body could make it to the end. I switched my mindset and concentrated on finishing each kilometre, until before I knew it, I was a few hundred metres from the finish.

The event was well organised and the course was a beautiful winding path along the coast from Dee Why to Manly. There were a couple of heart starting hills at the beginning of the fun run and then it was fairly undulating. Overall as top event, apart from the lack of toilets at the start, but what mass participation event doesn’t have a  shortage of dunnies these days?!

Next step, the 14km City2Surf in August!