The dream run continues...

I had planned to take the whole tribe down to Lane Cove for the 10K, but John has a cold, so I went without entourage for the Striders 10K.

I was chatting with Tiger Angel, who was doing the timing, and sfGnome, who is coming back from injury, and TA asked Gnome if he was running with me, at which point he looked at me and said "I suppose so."

I was immensely happy about this. Gnome is a great pacer, and I knew I had a much better chance of nailing this scary 49 minute barrier if he was helping.

We took of and tucked in just behind the 50 minute pace group. I knew that these guys had planned to put time in the bank early, so I wasn't worried about running the early stages of the race with them. We went through 2K in about 9:30 and didn't lose too much time in the 3rd K (the dreaded trip up Scribbly Gums), but I missed the marker. This is where things start getting hazy. I remember in the mid stages we started to pull away from the 50 minute group, and by six K I had started to tell Gnome that I didn't think I could do it today.

But Gnome wasn't giving up that easily. He coaxed me through those difficult Ks. He kept me running the shortest line possible. When I started to burp, threatening to unload my breakfast he started to lead from the front. He kept coaxing me along and encouraging me. He also told me not to look at my watch. I still had a couple of sneaky looks - more out of habit than anything else, but I was giving all of my energy to running. When I looked at the watch I saw some numbers, but I didn't have the energy to waste on thinking what they meant.

I remember Gnome saying something about only being a few seconds behind at 9K. At this point he also said "you go ahead - see if you can run away from me now". That last K was tough. There are a couple of bends, and I got my hopes up about seeing the finish after every one of them. The last K is also mainly downhill. When we did round that last bend we weren't too far from the finishing chute, and the clock said 48:3x. Gnome and I let out little yells as we realised that we'd made it with time to spare. When Tiger Angel realised that we'd done it she did the same. I crossed in 48:44 - a 27 second PB on a course that is, well, hilly.

I was stoked. I spent the next hour or so with a silly grin on my face and just soaked it up.

I have to wholeheartedly thank sfGnome. He kept me on track throughout the race, and kept me on track when I could so easily have lost it in the latter stages. I know I said it in person and on CR, but thanks again, Bruce.

To top it all off, I got home and John gave me my first proper (i.e. not wind induced) smile.

Sweet.