The Graduation

No, I wasn't graduating.  I had an all-day gig yesterday, playing for 3 graduation ceremonies (for Griffith University, at the Gold Coast).  Most boring gig, ever (so far).  We had a sound check at 9:30 (about 15 minutes, all up).  We played from about 10:15ish - 10:55ish, and a piece as the musical interlude (about 3 minutes), at about 11:40.  Repeat the last 2 steps at 2:15ish and 6:15ish.  So, less than 3 hours playing... More than 5 hours not playing...  We were informed in the initial email that there would be lots of break time.  Accordingly, I took along a book, my phone, and my phone charger - all of which I used - plus ear phones, which I left in my bag.  The other players didn't bring anything to do in the break times.  I read a lot of my book and played a lot of games on my phone, as well as texting and checking Facebook a lot - I would have gone totally insane without these things. 

The actual playing bit was easy.  On one hand, much easier than playing for a wedding (no 'it has to be perfect' pressure).  However, just before we started playing, we (and all the soon-to-be graduates) were told the ceremony (and subsequent ceremonies, obviously) would be live streamed for the first time ever.  Ooh, hello pressure!

The whole show was very finely organised and ran really smoothly.  Especially the 2nd and 3rd graduations - more instruction beforehand on the doff, faster reading of names - that's pretty much it, really.  And I trusted our contact would actually come and find us at the right time (as she promised she would, repeatedly), instead of wandering out there 10 minutes too early and being tempted to do cartwheels in all that lovely convention centre wide open space.  Well, in the bit that wasn't housing the hundreds of academic gowns.  And the hangers to accompany them. 

I was disappointed, though, to find our green room lacking its apostrophe.  Now that I think of it, I should have used a pen... Oh well.  Next time.

The Practice Run

I've been having weird dreams lately.  I know the upcoming Gold Coast Half Marathon is the flattest course in Australia, but my subconscious is putting in stairs, buildings, wine and cheese tastings, and sand.  I also know that when I run my familiar route my brain is happier (that drinking fountain is just around this corner and along a bit so go for it - that sort of thing).  So I thought it would be a good idea to do a practice run of Sunday's track.  This term being what it was, though, meant that today was the first opportunity.  Viola Man came with me which made it a much more entertaining run than normal.

I have heard that it is not a good idea to do what I did, that it's better to run only about 3/4 of the distance before the event.  But I know my brain, and I know how it interacts with my body, so I have no regrets.  But I would like to hear from others on this matter - do you make sure you can run the distance beforehand?

My subconscious can now relax.  It really is quite a flat route.  21.1 km on this route was less strenuous than 18 km of my normal run.  Knowing that I am a slow runner meant I could run down the other side of the gentle rises, and the last 500 m felt more like running than it does at home.  Getting to the turnaround point was a tiny surprise.  I did have to walk a little on the return (sore knees) but the knees didn't bother me nearly as much as they would have normally.  That has been my biggest concern, as running along the river (including the hills between where I live and the river, and the lovely hill at the end of the Riverside precinct) results in the need to stretch every couple of kilometres once I've covered about 6.5.

The benefit of doing this practice run now is that they were beginning to set up everything for the weekend.  We could see the road closure signs dotted along the way, and there were marquees and barriers going up around the start point.  Which all means I could get this photo:

As you can see, the weather was fairly overcast.  The weather was coolish - so when we weren't running and the wind was blowing, it was a good reason to start moving again!  You might have to peer, but I promise this is the Gold Coast Airport Marathon sign.

We came back to Brisbane for a lunch of Mexican - great post-run food, except I ate about half my bodyweight.  Nevermind.  I also tried a different coconut water - this time it was Cocobella in pineapple flavour.  This was much more drinkable than the other sorts I've tried so far, but I'm not keen on added sugar.  I have something different to try tomorrow - I'm determined to find one that works!  (Still getting the occasional cramp though).

And now, I think, it's bath time.

Running with Purpose

Last night, I had the most amazing run.  I knew I needed a really long run for many reasons, and set out wanting to go further than Ann St (my previous best along the bike path).  I don't know if it was the new running gear, or that I'd had a rest day (instead of running on Saturday I had a Bollywood string quartet night...very fun!), or just that I knew I really needed it, but it felt so good on the way out.  And most of the way back, too, except for a couple of stitches and what felt like my stomach jumping up and down.  So, with Finding Nemo's Dory singing 'just keep running, just keep running' combined with my normal running music (Tico Tico) and themes from Indian quartet music (yes, it was bizarre in my head), I kept running to the Goodwill Bridge and was greeted by an overwhelming endorphin rush. 

After a much-needed shower, I checked Google maps and discovered this was a 13 km return run.  I also had a text from Trainer Dan wanting to change training times for this morning, and I told him what I'd just achieved.  His reply was along the lines of, Are you doing the Gold Coast half marathon?  I'd been thinking about it, and so he sent me a training schedule.  Turns out it's an official training schedule for this specific run.  It starts 20 weeks out, but we're already up to 14 weeks.  As I'm relatively fit, it should be ok to just jump in.  At least, I hope that's the case!

Last time I did an official run (a 10 km in Toowoomba last October), my training consisted of a few runs in the leadup... Not very effective.  So the idea of actually training for a run is a bit new to me.  Not to mention getting my brain around the idea of running that far.  But here goes!