A look back: Tears at the finish.

So we move forward to July 2012, a full year after my accident and a solid 6 months after I was cleared to run. With a few races under my belt, including a 47:00 10K in Singapore, some significant training using my Hansons program. I was ready to take a much longer flight and head out of Malaysia for a race. This time it was with my two favorite ladies. I don't get to run much over hear with Rox and Brenna watching, mostly due to the ungodly race start times. This was a race in Hunter Valley, NSW Australia. We decided to "bookend" the race with some time in Sydney. This would have been our first time in Australia, we were very excited. The Hunter Valley running festival included a 1/2 marathon, full marathon, and 10k. The entire course is set along 3-4 wineries, the douse is also mixed track, with grassy parts, loose stone and hard roadway. I also heard that the race has its own "heartbreak hill" a solid 1/2 mile uphill stretch at about the half way point. I was nervous about both the terrain and the threat of a serious hill.
We had a great time in the vacation portion and Sydney is a fantastic city. Two days before the race, we headed out to the Newcastle area, and had a great time there as well. Newcastle is a beachside city, with some great organic restaurants and a fairly young population. I gotta say, one thing we miss s a really great salad, we found many places throughout Australia where we could get just that, a great salad. The day before the race it was cold, windy and raining, if that weather continued I would be in some trouble. the last cold weather race i ran was late 2010. I did bring some 3/4 tights and arm warmers, but if I had to deal with wind driven rain and cold...I might not be prepared.
Raceday! we got up really early, for a 30min or so drive to the race (Brenna was not happy). When we got to the venue, it was COLD, I would say 45 degrees Fahrenheit. It was also windy with a light drizzle. the hope was, as the sun came up it would get a bit warmer and maybe chase the rain. I had chosen the half marathon and was nervous about the distance and if I would really be ready for this after only a few months of really disciplined training. The running gods we kind, at race time it was a cool 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and the rain and wind had all but gone.
Once i started, all that nervousness and concern went away. It was not a huge race so it was easy to stay free from the crowd, yet it was attended well enough to keep you with other runners on the course. With a race course I know, i will just go at my pace and not worry. If i don't know the course I will usually try and find a group or a single runner that is at my pace, and stay with them. I had to do this a few times, as I would lose them or they would lose me. Then came the hill...holy crap...the one thing i can say, is that I did not walk...not once...

Up the hill

After the hill it flattened out again and there were some downhill sections. This was a beautiful course, ver little of it along major roadways, most of it through well maintained gravel maintenance roads though picturesque woodland. As the miles ticked off and I was able to maintain pace, I actually began to consider the possibility of a PR. Now I did not have grand aspirations, I really did not. I had not run well in the months prior to this and although a 47:00 10k is not bad its not the 45-46:00 I was running in Florida, and certainly not the 43:00 PR I had run a month before coming to Penang. My best time in a 1/2 marathon was 1:47:08, way back in 2010 with my first year running. I really thought I could come close to that though with the pace i was maintaining, how good my legs felt and the distance i had left. That excitement was my undoing...I pushed and paid for it. I can remember coming around the last turn, looking at my watch and saying to myself, "come on man you can do this!" Crossing the finish line...looking at my watch...and looking over at my wife, who had stuck by me all these months through hospital stays, crutches, DR visits and rehab, she had tears in her eyes, my daughter had a big smile and I could not help but cry a few tears myself. Not only did I finish the race, but I came in at 1:48.........:22. I missed a PR by a full minute. A small part of me cared, knowing that pre-accident me could have done the race a good deal faster, but this was my new  reality. If the "new me" could run close to what I was running in the first year that I started to run, then this me was ahead of schedule. It was a very happy day to know that I was...well...Back.

Finish!

The day was great, This would be a race I would love to do again, although this year I will not be able to, maybe I will win the lottery and come back in 2015....that would be sweet! Thank you loyal reader for continuing to follow along with this walk down memory lane, not much longer now before we are back on US soil....wonder if Rox an I will ever find ourselves saying "we will always have Sydney", Oh and a great bottle of Shiraz 2009...and cheese. Yeah races at wineries rock!

Run Happy!