We're half way there

Once upon a time not so long ago
A girl who liked to run
Dubbed herself running mojo

She set herself a challenge
It’s tough, so tough
Mojo works the super all day
Working for her dog

She brings home her pay for race entries
For race entries

She says, we've got to hold on to what we've got
'Cause it does make a difference if we make it or not
We've got each other and that's a lot for love
We'll give it a shot

We're half way there
Livin' on a prayer
Take my hand and we'll make it
I swear, livin' on a prayer


Half way there! I almost can’t believe it, but here we are 6 marathons down and 6 to go!

These past two weeks sure have been a whirlwind, seeing me complete two marathons and my Masters in Environmental Management and Sustainability.

It was not originally part of my plan to run two marathons in such close succession, however when I had to pull the pin on Perth due to logistical problems, Traralgon was the best replacement, albeit only two weeks after GORM.

Steve Moneghetti describes the Great Ocean Road marathon as “one of the toughest — and most rewarding — challenges on the national calendar.”

While Brimbank park will remain my toughest marathon to date, I certainly agree with the rewarding part. The panoramic seascape views are breathtaking, and provide a welcomed distraction to the task at hand.

I ran GORM last year and had a wonderful time, so was very excited to get back this year. I booked myself a lovely apartment that over looked Lorne beach, and made a long weekend out of it. As I was staying in Lorne I got a 6.30am sleep-in on race day, and it was a great luxury to be able to walk out the apartment door and be at the start-line.

I was determined to put to practice what I had learnt from Lavinia Petire at the O’Keefe marathon. So, I set out at a nice easy pace and my mantra for the day was to have fun and enjoy the run.

And that I did. Overall I averaged 5:39 which was not far off my 5:30 target (just like Lavina had run in the O’Keefe).

With number 5 in the bag, and number 6 in two weeks’ time - recovery was key. I made sure I got my protein in for muscle recovery and took full advantage of the ocean for a recovery dip before retiring to my apartment that had the most amazing spa bath.

The following week I did two easy runs then parkrun on the Saturday. On the Sunday, I set out for a long run with a colleague from work who is training for the GCM.

Things were going great until I miss stepped off the footpath and rolled my ankle. There was a crack, and I was holding my breath waiting for the pain to kick in, but thankfully it never did. To be on the safe side I had a quiet week and just went out for a test run with runclub to save all my energy for Traralgon.

Problem was I think I saved too much energy!

On the Friday night I had drinks for a friends birthday and also to celebrate the end of my uni days. Knowing that I had the marathon on Sunday I decided that I best give myself a 12am curfew, and only have a couple of beers. In fact, my exact words to my friends were "I have a marathon on Sunday, so I will be on my best behaviour."

Next minute it's 3am and I am in an Uber talking Trump with the poor driver! Oh dear Mojo, when will you ever learn :/

Needless to say I was feeling very sad and sorry for myself on Saturday morning. I managed to get myself together though, and headed off to Traralgon in the afternoon.

I was very fortunate that one of my work colleagues from work, Matt, put up his hand to come along and support me on this one, and he also happens to be a very talented photographer and video maker. So watch this space to see the finish product of his work - very exciting stuff indeed!

The Traralgon Marathon is the oldest current marathon in Australia and was first run on 24 August in 1968. The course has changed several times, but has been run in an out and back format to Toongabbie for many years, moving away from the main road onto the rail trail in 2016.

I was less than a kilometre into the run when Kerri started to chat to me about my marathon a month project. Turns out she was doing the same thing - with the overall goal of hitting 50 marathons this year. As she had already run a lot of marathons we had a lot to talk about.

At around the 10km mark we picked up Jim, another runner who had run a marathon a month in 2016. It was great to just run along and chat, and boy did it make the time fly by. Matt kept popping up as well which was great for breaking up the run. Before I knew it, we were at the turn around point. Jim had dropped back a little, but Kerri was still right there with me and there she stayed up until the 30km mark where she started to drop the pace. Part of me wanted to slow down and run with her, but the rest of me just wanted to get finished, so on I went.

My pace also gradually started to slow, but I can’t say that I hit the wall on this run. The runners high was working wonders – either that or I was still drunk from my Friday night antics. Whatever the reason the kms kept flying past, and before long I was trotting down to the finish line. Matt was waiting there to capture it all, and to give me a big hug.

I cant put into words how much it means to me the support I have received from my friends and family on this project, but I will be forever grateful. If it wasn't for them I think I might have given up by now.

So here is a big heartfelt 'thank you, thank you, thank you.'

Next up is the Gold Coast Marathon in 3 weeks time!

Happy running x