NZ Nationals 3000m

What a journey down to get to the NZ Nationals. Ok...it was only from Nelson to Christchurch (approx 4.5 hours in a car) But it felt like a road trip from when I was a teenager.

I got picked up at 8.35am in the Sunshine Coach (a mini van sponsored by sports Tasman) The Tasman coach Greg was at the wheel and I decided to sit down the back. We journey round Nelson picking up more and more kids. One of them I will affectionately call Man Mountain.....this lad was tall and solid (his calf's are the size of my thighs) So seeing how big he was I decided to take over the order that we were all sitting. I put two other bigger lads in the back and him in the back isle seat. Then the next seat could only fit 1 person as the front bench seat was broken and reclined so that it touched the next seat. So Josie, Me and another lad sat in the broken seat. In the front was Greg and two other lads.

By 9am we were off. We stopped every two hours to let everyone stretch. By the first two hours my back was killing me and so to the lad beside me...every bump the seat would bounce and rock. It was like traveling in a bulky recliner chair. It was during one of these stops that I found that the seat base had snapped off the main attachment to the van.....eeekkk.....so greg will get that looked at once we get back. OMG....I forgot, I have to travel back on Sunday night yet......ugh!!!

So we make it CHCH by 3pm, load in the motel rooms. I am sharing with 3 other girls and they are really awesome. I was worried I would really feel like an old nana but they are either really good at making me feel ok or I am in their eyes...ok. We got dropped off at the Palms to go shopping at the supermarket, so I brought what I thought would last me 3 nights and to my surprise the guys actually brought food....not junk food...they got lettuce and bread, veges and steak......I was very impressed and am sure their parents would be ever so proud if they knew.....

I woke up at 7am feeling great. I had a really good sleep and managed to have some breakfast too. At 9am Greg dropped two of us to the track and I went off to find the other walkers. Its so great to catch up with them all as NZ Nationals is often the only time we all get to see each other. We went out and warmed up together and chatted about records and who was trying to break what. A lovely walker from wellington was having some struggles mentally and was worried about her style and so I walked with her and tried to help her take something positive out on to the track so that she would have a great race too.

We all got called into the call room and learnt about some new overseas rules re logos showing on clothing etc. They let us away today but normally we would have to cover all logos with tape. We headed out on to the track and did some quick sprints to get out heart rates back up and then we lined up. The gun goes off and we were off. I tried to let the faster girls go but got caught up in the bunch for a wee bit so my first 200m was a bit quick @ 1 min. We settled into rhythm pretty quickly and it felt easy. It didn't take long till I was on my own......100m to the ones in front and 100m to the ones behind me....so I was not feeling pushed and didn't think I was doing so well. In the blink of an eye the bell rings for my last lap and so I dug it in and on the last 50m blasted up the back straight lapping 1 competitor to finish in.........16.32............I had to look twice and got so excited I forgot to stop my watch. When I caught my breath and the officials came to take us to the tent I had to ask for them to check my time and they confirmed yes that is my time. Its a 28 second personal best!!! OMG......I just couldn't believe it.

So I won the first medal for the Tasman team - Bronze for Senior Women.



Next race is Sunday morning - 20km on a 2km loop

So for those interested ... here are my 400m splits
2.04.69
2.12.28
2.14.25
2.14.27
2.14.28
2.14.85
2.15.65
1.???? I forgot to hit lap as I crossed the finish line for the last 200m)



Kate Newit - 1st
Alana Barber - 2nd
Nyle Sunderland - 3rd