Sunday the 6th i completed my first 10k "race", the devonport classic in Auckland. I'd set myself a goal of 50 minutes which i was confident about making. The course turned out to be alot harder than i'd expected! Hilly and alsorts of surfaces from road to sand to grass to cobblestones. I felt strong throughout the event, i found myself being towed along by some of the other runners.... At about the 6k point i tripped and fell, thankfully i feel well, jumped back up, did a small bow for the onlookers and carried on. :-D
A man came blowing past me with 2km to go, i was already working really hard but thought i'd try and hang onto him until the finish. i managed to do so and even had enough gas for a final burst over the last 100m (amazing the energy the crowd can give!).
Crossed the line in 00:53:30. very happy with that considering.

Sunday the 13th just gone i completed the hawkes bay half marathon. This is my third half marathon but the first i've managed to run the whole way. The course was flat and quite featureless apart from a small hill 3km in (which i made the mistake of speeding down the other side of, oops!). I was feeling average at about 7km when a couple of runners came past, not going much faster than me. I decided to let them set a pace for me, bang on 10km/h. Felt strong until about 16km in, then i just wanted to be done with it all. Kept telling myself it wasn't far to go and to just hang on. the 20km sign appeared shortly after.... i picked up my legs and dropped my pace setters.... one of them tried to come with me but didnt last long. I covered the last km in just under 5 minutes which really surprised me (again, thanks to the crowd) and even had gas in the tank to "sprint" the final 100m!
Finishing time was 2:05, 20min better than my last half. Felt like vomiting for about 30 sec after i crossed the line.... pushed myself perhaps a little much over the final 1.1km.

All in all a very successful fortnight. Huge gains all round. Next event is on the 3rd of may, a flat 10k road race. Can't wait!!


Pics from the 10k event;
1. 50m from the finish
2. across the line, phew!!

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Well done Mr Fruit, and thanks for your reports. Keep us posted with your further adventures....................Attachment 393

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GONE RUNNING

Nice one Kf great to have the report as well !!

Kia ora, Kiwifruit! Didn't realise you were actually from NZ

Congrats on beating your times

thanks folks

heres a pic from the hawkes bay half finish line... boy, was I pleased to be there!
http://store.thephotographers.co.nz/...2_enterAlbum=0

What a good read, thanks for posting and well done! Best wishes with the next race too

Great news KF, keep up the good work

Fab pics.

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A loser is not the one who runs last in the race. It's the one who sits and watches and who has never tried to run.
Bird in Boots Oh what have I done FLM09

Well run in both events KF......and good to see you run in Black!!

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My old man said be an Arsenal fan........

Update time :D

A few weeks ago i did a flat 11k race in near perfect conditions, 55min on the dot, first time i've run 5 min km for any distance longer than about 6km. Was hard work but really enjoyed it!

Sunday just gone i completed my home town half marathon in 1:58.53, it was wet, cold and muddy for about 3km (we've had alot of rain lately). Really happy with that time considering the conditions. It was the hardest run i've ever done but i was ready for the "pain" thanks to the training and help from a great friend / mentor.
The same event took me 2:55.00 last year - it was the first event i'd entered, ever.

Heres a pic of me in July 2007 (been walking / "running" for a month or so) and in July 2008.

Anyone reading this considering getting into a bit of running, do it, do it do it.

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Excellent job kiwifruit.....

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My old man said be an Arsenal fan........

What a result kiwifruit. I am looking forward to being able to produce before and after pics.

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0 - 14 Miles in 6 months, 2 hours, 13 minutes and 58 seconds.
Start weight: 18 st 4.. Current weight: 14 st 8.. Current Goal: Duchy Marathon, 8th March 2009

Excellent! I'm going to show my boyfriend that picture, if anything can convince him to take up running too, that can!

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Don't run before you can jog!

great news KF, this running lark really does get a hold of you

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A loser is not the one who runs last in the race. It's the one who sits and watches and who has never tried to run.
Bird in Boots Oh what have I done FLM09

Great going KF, looks like you have had a busy race schedule recently, did you find it hard to cover all the bases for different events or do you like me "just run" in a fairly unscientific way ? any how, good going.

That's great progess KF - improving your time by almost an hour in only 1 year. Scary