"You've got it"

                                                                    THE DREAM

It’s been 12 years since I first ran the qualifying time for the Olympics. This is me when I was 16 years old, in year 11 at school and lived for running. So much so, that when I got injured and couldn’t run at those Olympics, I almost lost the will to live… the words perspective and patience don’t exist to an ambitious 16 year old! So, after 12 years of riding the highs and lows that is elite running, the Olympic dream lives on and I have qualified again! And I'm excited! I'm running free, free of the fear of it not turning out how I have planned, because after 12 years, regardless of the feeling of disappointment at the time, the promise that it always works out for good has been proven true too many times!




                                                                THE TRAINING

The build up to this race was a month spent training in Laguna Mountain, California. It was the perfect place to get away and focus. I was up there with fellow Aussie athlete Ben St Lawrence and American runner Bobby Curtis, both boys also training to qualify at Stanford. Accommodation is basic, we stayed in scout-like cabins and had a common kitchen for cooking, a lot of athletes won't go to Laguna because it is so basic and not exactly luxury, but I like it for this reason, to train up there for a month you need to be able to rough it a bit, you need to be tough...my feeling was that I can't afford to be precious if I expect to run fast enough to make the Olympics. Jony joined us on the mountain after a few weeks, cooked some amazing slow cooked curries, and, as always was a calming and reassuring influence in fleeting moments of self doubt. Call me biased but I'm pretty certain I have the worlds most supportive husband.


                                                                 A FIJIAN WEDDING

It did however, make it a lot easier to train in the wilderness that is Laguna Mountain knowing that I was flying to Fiji for 4 days for my sisters wedding in the middle of the "mountain month". Jony and I flew from LA to Fiji for four days in paradise with my family and 50 of my sisters besties. We had such a great time and loved celebrating my sister and gaining another brother! It was only 10 days out from Stanford, so most of the hard work had been done. It was pretty hot and humid so I was getting up nice and early to run and totally loved running along the trail out from the resort greeting the employees "bullaaaaaaa" each morning as they were walking in. Most of the employees at the resort lived in simple huts along the trail I was running on each morning, I got desperate for water a couple of times so I'd stop in at a randoms house for a drink. I love the Fijian people, so laid back and friendly, they truly know how to relax and it rubs off onto you. We'll go back there.

                                            STANFORD  "JUST ANOTHER RACE"

The pictures above pretty much tell the story of Standord 10k- the start the middle and the end. I was reminded as I rounded the final bend towards the finish line how hard it is to run and cry at the same time. When I saw the clock and realised I was going to run the A standard, all this emotion just came bubbling up and there was nothing I could do to hold it down. I think I was clocked at 21 seconds for the last 100m... for the plebs, this is slow, a new born donkey would have beaten me in the last 100m. I was pretty nervous before the start, mainly because you don't get those sort of opportunities often and because I had been training so well, I had high expectations. My sister Gemma and my brother is law Chris were there to watch which was a boon! I ran into them coming in the gate as I was going out to warm up and gave them a high five and a "wooo weeee"! The best thing my coach Nic called out during the race was "you've got it!"- it was with 1km to go and we still didn't know if I actually "had it" yet because I was only just under target time- if he had of yelled out something like "you need to move along!" I think I would've tightened up but hearing him say "you've got it" made me relax and think "yeah! I've got this!". There's a lot to be said for claiming it and declaring it before it has come to pass.




                                                 RIDING HOME IN A PADDY WAGON

After the race, I said "goodbye" to Gemma and Chris and wished them "happy honeymooning"! and then attempted to cool down, (I think it was more of a waddle re the blisters I had on the bottom of my feet). Then begun an aimless and unsuccessful walk back to the hotel. Me and my roomie Charlotte walked for at least 30mins somehow in the opposite direction to the hotel, ending up in a creepy, dark construction site with mac trucks all around we waved down a police car and the kind sheriff gave us a ride back in this here paddy wagon.

Post race in Palo Alto

After a sleepless night due to a combination of caffeine, adrenaline and skype, I happily walked around Palo Alto- the home of Facebook headquarters. I window shopped at Tiffany's, Burberry, Jimmy Choo's and Victoria's Secret but my only purchase was this amazing chocolate sundae. What can I say, I'm easy to please.