Women's Jogalong

This morning Kelly picked me up for the Women's Jogalong. We hadn't been sure what the weather was going to do, as rain had been forecast and it bucketed down last night, but all looked good at 7 am so we decided to risk it. The weather held up for us, which was great. I'd had visions of us running halfway around the course before getting drenched or, and I think this one was wishful thinking, of having to go out for breakfast instead.

Being seasoned jogalong women, we didn't arrive as early as last time. We also knew more about how it worked so we were both a lot more relaxed. Before the start we headed off for a warm up jog. I was feeling really good so I expected to enjoy the run. I love it when you know it's all going to go well before you even start.

We had a couple of goals for the run. Mine was to run the whole way, rather than run / walk. Kelly's was to manage the run better than last time as she took off too quickly and paid the price later in the run. The plan was for her to stay back with me at the start and then try to keep up with me at the end. I like the idea that anyone would be trying to keep up with me. I had a quiet chuckle.

Even though we had planned to run together I didn't realise that I would enjoy it so much. I usually run by myself, even when there's a group of us in an event, so it was a new experience for me. We didn't natter the whole way around but I will admit to a bit of chatting. Running a little more slowly also meant that I wasn't going through my normal "run too fast, struggle with my breathing then fall back to a walk before doing it all over again" experience of running.

Last time I ran the course in 43:39 and Kelly did it in 46:25. I would have liked to get around in under 42 but we ended up with a time of 45:02. That was great for Kelly and I realised we weren't going to make the time about half way through so I didn't sweat it. I was trying to take us out more slowly than I usually go and we did the first km in 6:55. The splits were still a bit all over the place - 6:55, 7:13, 7:32, 8:06, 7:25 and 7:49. I'm not sure what happened in the 4th km, although I do remember Kelly asking me to slow down because we were approaching a hill. I obviously overdid it!

I found myself having to slow down quite a few times, particularly when we were passing other runners. Clearly I speed up to pass and then forget to slow down again. Kelly has a much more steady approach when passing people. Towards the end I was feeling really strong and started having mad thoughts of tearing off into the distance for the last 1.5 km. I managed to resist these thoughts. Fortunately they didn't last long.

We ran a little bit faster for the last hundred metres, just to show that we could, and we were done. Of course, I forgot to turn off my Garmin straight away. I'll get the hang of it eventually.

All in all it was a great run - lovely surroundings, good company, comfortable pace and that wonderful sense of achievement you get from completing a run. No wonder I love running!