Dragon Boat Paddlers!

Chloe and I have decided to give dragon boat paddling a go.

We've been to a couple of training sessions and, boy, does your back hurt after an hour paddling!!!! Our boat takes about 20 people sitting in pairs and we train on Currumbin Creek - very picturesque.

We've been invited to dinner at Palm Beach Surf Club tonight to meet the other crews which will be nice.

Southern Cross 10k 2009

After an absence of probably more than 3 years I decided a few months ago that I'd like to do more running.

When we first arrived in Australia I gave it a go but found the climate was hard to cope with. In Scotland I used to run with Jog Scotland and was always the first to strip down to vest and shorts even on a frosty night (it didn't take me long to heat up!). So I really struggled with the heat when I started running here.

I joined the Twin Towns Running and Walking Club early this year and started off walking with them twice a week for about 6kms each time. I enjoyed it but always wanted to start jogging as I felt that brisk walking was more difficult. We walked in the evenings when it was cooler which helped alot. It didn't take too long before I decided to go for it and start jogging the 6k then 8k then 10k!

Last July Ken and I watched the Gold Coast marathon finishers and I'm sure some of the half marathon and 10k runners too, and I decided there and then that I would enter the 10k the following year.

I'm glad to say that I did just that and completed the race on Sunday, 5th July. It was a big milestone for me as I had always watched the race from (very) afar before coming over here and wished that I could join in.

On Sunday, I left the house at 5am - in the dark - and made my way up to Southport for the start of the race at 6.45am. By that time the sun had come up. There were more than 23,000 participants in total for the 5k, 10k, half marathon, marathon and wheelchair marathon. There were approx 7,000 in my race. We started running in Southport and the route took us into Surfers Paradise and back. Some of the route was along side the beach which was lovely and the rest was on road. I must admit it was the first 10k run I have ever enjoyed and I think that this was partly because of the scenery.

I managed the run in 1 hour 8 minutes which is not exactly a record breaker but, considering I haven't ran for a while, I was very pleased with myself.

Each finisher received a medal and a t-shirt and I'll put a photo of the medal on here when I get organised. If you click on the title of this post it will take you to the Marathon website.

Twin Town Walking and Running Club have been very supportive of me and helped me gain confidence enough to take part in the 10k which I am very thankful to them for.

I will definitely be entering next years 10k!