From Emotional Depths to Great Heights

It's been a little while since the last update and much has happened in that time.

Three weeks out from the Auckland Marathon I was feeling extremely run down and located some "lumps" in my right arm and of immediate concern was one large on in my armpit.

Sure enough I freaked out thinking it was the worst, the Big C and went to the doctors that week.

I was sent for ultrasounds then tissue samples were taken of the lumps (of which there ended up being about 6) and I was not prescribed any medication as they were waiting on a diagnosis.

I finally got the results back 2 days before the Auckland Marathon at which point I had pretty much wound myself up completely and was in a dreadful physical and mental state.

Thankfully the results were negative for cancer but I did have a massive infection in my system which lead to my lymph nodes swelling so greatly while combating it.

With time running out leading into the Kepler Challenge I decided to carry on and attempt the Auckland Marathon anyway to use it as a training run as opposed to going for a time.

Things started out well and I got to the 18km mark without incident but then the cracks started appearing. I had to use the toilet and joined the cue of other unlucky runners under the harbour bridge gutted at that stage to lose about 5 minutes.

Still, I completed the first half of the marathon in about 1hr 50 min which I was happy with. The body however soon decided to let me know that running that day was not such a great idea. At about the 26km mark I started slowing up markedly and the usual aches and pains seemed to be magnified tenfold.

At about the 29km mark my brother Rod drove past and I pleaded for some voltaren or nurofen to get me through. Not long after I hit an insurmountable wall of pain and my kidneys felt like they were trying to crawl out through my back.

Reluctantly I pulled out at around the 32km mark I got home, collapsed and ended vomiting any fluids I had managed to retain in my system up leaving myself completely drained and demoralised. I knew I had to look after myself and think about the upcoming events. I kept on telling myself that if I had carried on I would have seriously jeopardised my build up to Kepler and possibly The Everest Marathon as well. That didn't stop me absolutely hating myself for about 3 days knowing that I could have carried on a finished. Not being used to "failing" I took it extremely hard and was pretty unbearable to be around I am sure!

Ten days later i went for my first proper run and felt OK then four days out from the "Mac's West Coaster" Click here for event details I ran for an hour through the hills in Wellington and felt great. this really surprised me as I have always struggled on hills but gave me hope for the West Coast Marathon that weekend.

Event day came around and it was a crystal clear dry still day - apart from the heat perfect for running through the Waitakere Ranges. It was a fairly small field and I was surprisingly relaxed. Not wanting to blow out and conscious of only having two weeks until my main 2008 event all I wanted to do was spend some time on my feet so started off pretty slow plodding along with the tail enders. I made sure I filled my camelbak at each drink station and ate something as well. After about 2hrs 30mins i was still feeling really good and relaxed. I then started picking up places through the more technical bush trails and boulder hopping on the creek bed in the Goldies Bush reserve.

At the four hour mark I reached a drink station on the outskirts of the bush before the killer 14km road section & was surprised to be told I was in about 10th position. This lifted the spirits a bit more and I plodded on picking up a few more places on the steep & hot roads. Coming back into the Goldies Bush drink station I felt great and was ready to put my foot down for the last 5km. Unfortunately I also put my head down and missed a critical turn off on the trail and ended running for about and additional 15 mins. Once I realised I was pretty angry at myself but then saw the funny side especially seeing as at that stage if I was running the Kepler I would have still had about 3 hours to run.

Crossing the finish line was a rush knowing the turn around from three weeks before in the Auckland Marathon then finding out I still came in 7th overall and 5th in my division even with the "detour". The other great thing was that even with the extra 15 minutes I finished in 6hrs 35mins which was 30mins faster than I had estimated.

I was so elated with my performance that I managed to go out that night until about midnight!

I now feel at least as ready for the Kepler Challenge as I did last year physically but more importantly much stronger mentally with a greater appreciation of what I will be in for.

It must be hard for those around me to understand why I have become so passionate about these crazy events especially when I start talking about longer harder more outrageous ones like when I saw an article recently on a 100 mile race through the Rocky mountains in the States and got totally excited by the prospect of 30+ hours of physical and mental torture to complete it.

The events of the last month have really highlighted to me how much I love doing these events and that all the pain and suffering the body goes through before and after is totally worth the sense of jubilation and achievement you feel when you reach your goal. They are now very much a part of who I am and I believe they make me a much stronger and better person. Two years ago I was over 100kgs and a lost soul. Now I have more drive and passion than ever before and that crosses over into both my professional and private life.