City 2 Surf #8

up at 7am to be down at Starbucks to meet mum & dad at 7:45am...

jumped in the lift only to find my footy teammate, Candy, ready to go to the start too...talk about small world!

jumped into the SH1 start just after 8am...Debbie Cowell was happy to see a familiar face!

this year we sang the national anthem before Grant Hackett got us underway right on 8:30am...took me over a minute to cross the start timing mats but at least we were able to get into rhythm fairly quickly...

said hello to Adam Robinson near the 3k mark (he has a distinctive running style!) then Anthony Scott (aka Scotty) went flying past on the way to 5k - he'd started in the green start!

CJ passed me on the bottom half of Heartbreak Hill...Richard M from Customs passed me at about 10.5k (chatting as he did so!)...

I was really pleased to retain my SH1 start with a 71:10 (by my watch) which is my 3rd fastest official time...I literally jogged through the medal collection and down to the North Bondi SLC to collect my bag from Sheona - Tim had run 55:XX so looks like he'll be back running with the plebs!

the stats:
start temp/humidity: 8.9/77%
start time: 8:31am
total distance: 14.37 (14.11 in Sporttracks)
total time: 71:10
avg pace: 4:57 (5.02)
total calories: 707
avg HR*: 179

*Time spent in HR Zones:
00:00 [Z1: 93-111]
00:00 [Z2: 111-130]
00:00 [Z3: 130-148]
22:09 [Z4: 148-167]
30:53 [Z5: 167-185]

split using 7k marker: 36:28 / 34:42
split using 10k marker: 51:22 / 19:48

I jogged up to the head of the bus line and got on a bus to Bondi Junction right on 10am...thankfully there was a line of taxis at Bondi Junction and I made it to the airport by 10:30am...

my flight was on time and I managed to get to Ainslie just after quarter time and played the rest of the game from about halfway through the second quarter...although we got hammered (0.1-1 to 13.7-85) we had lots of small victories which pleased everyone...I managed to take a handful of overhead marks, including some contested ones...

I hung around and watched the Div 3 men go down to Ainslie before heading home for a shower and food...

lastly I picked up Tim from the airport at 7pm...