Nelson Sportsperson of the Year

About a month ago Athletics Nelson nominated myself and my coach for the Masters section of the Nelson/Tasman Sportsperson of the Year.

Not long after nominations closed my husband and I went over seas for a much needed holiday. We were gone for two weeks and I had no idea of when we would hear about the awards.

I contacted my coach to see if he had heard anything, but he hadnt.

Well today I got a letter in the mail from Sports Tasman to say I have been selected as a finalist in the Masters Catagory. I am thrilled. I truely didnt expect to be selected, it was an honour to have been nominated by the club.

I have not heard from my coach yet, so I am unsure if he has been selected too. But I am fairly confident that he will have been.

Nelson Shoe Clinic Half Marathon 2009

(Photo as in Nelson Mail...Nyle in full flight just at the finish line - pushing hard and watching the clock - setting a new course record of 1:04:43)

Under the advice of my coach, it was decided that I would enter the 10.55km walk (quater marathon). With the damage I had been doing to my legs with the wrong shoes - I had taken a break from race walking to let my legs heal.

I woke up today to race a 3deg frost...brrrr.....and I was very thankfull that I was not doing the half marathon as they had an 8.30am start. We all started at 9.15am and even though it was chilly it was a lot warmer for us. For the first time in ages I woke up with no pain in my calfs and shins and was really feeling great.

With my training partner doing the half, (which she won) I was not sure of the competition I would have today. I new Gillian, Ros and Wendy were all racing the quater but I new Wendy would be my closest and toughest to stay with, in fact I had thought she would bet me as she is one of nelson's fastest walkers-she just hasnt competed since I started.

With a lot of pushing and shoving at the start, from the runners....(I did sneek up to start with the lead runners) I settled into a steady pace. Wendy also had snuck up to the front but on the other side and was ahead of me. I decided that the best move would be to pass her now and try to stay in front. Shane had also entered the quater but was running and he ran past giving me a wave.

With not having done any walking I was not sure of how my pace would be or if I could hold a pace for any length of time. I went through the 3km mark at 17min 30 (my track 3km time..gosh it was a bit quick) the I hit the 5km mark at 29min 15 and I was feeling great. Normally I dont look behind me in a race. I feel it uses too much energy and if you are pushing as hard as you can then it really doesnt matter if someone is coming up on you. Well I broke my own rule and at the 7km mark I looked behind me as I rounded a bend and was shocked to see Wendy only 50mtrs behind me. I checked my pace and thought...I can go faster and so took off. (Wendy jokes that she saw me look and then I was gone....)

I had to put in a finishing time when I entered this race so I guessed 1.04...which really was much faster than I had inteneded to do...but amazingly I did just that. I finished in 1:04:43 so I was really thrilled. Shane finished in 58:50 which is just fantastic. He is doing so well.

We had been at a coaching weekend too were shane and I both passed our C grade Race Walking judging course.

Here am I with my trophy.