You know its a hilly run when you can't stop n talk.....

....or scream out for the snake on the ground as you trundle past it.

I was glad to see on the way down that it looked dead. On the way up I had no energy to move sideways and was already thinking of how I could cut out the poison at the next drink stop.

So as you guessed yes today was another Mt Cootha run days. Tess was working so four of us met up at the Regatta at 5:30am and headed out. We were racing until I asked if everyone could slow down to at least 5min pace....it was ridiculous.

Anyhow we got to the first drink stop before the big haul up to the top of Channel 10. At this stage we all agreed to take the run as it comes and do it for ourselves. On that note Robbie (=good runner) took off. I tried to catch him but he stayed away within 70m from me. Good to have his fluroescent shorts in sight the whole way.

We passed a cyclist but then got passed by a few ourselves (as you would expect!)

The last 400m was a big struggle but I focused and found some inner stregth (it's called dinner) to get me over the line. Ran strong all the way to the tap where Robbie had stopped. All up he got to 100m in front so during the climb he only gained 30m on me which I was really happy with.

When the other two runners Tara and Ciaran caught up we headed off for the undulating hills and ran strongly to the Summit Restaurant. It was here that Tara and Ciaran left us (they had their car at the top of the hill) so Robbie and I decided to race it all the way back to the Regatta.

Aside from slamming into the pavement to avoid a car (who did have right of way) we would have done a solid non-stop run down the hill and along the road into the Regatta. Just at the end Robbie pushed ahead so I went with him and then ran him down. It was a great finish to a great run and I was really happy with my effort.

Even happier to see Tess at the end with some new shoes and a camelpak in preparation for our long run on Saturday!!!