Harbourside Hike STaR.

SUNDAY MORNING

Clear cool morning with a south west breeze, but getting warmer later on. 30km of hills and bush in Sydney's northern suburbs.

I ran with the 6.10 group- back at the start of October I'd been dropped after about 20 minutes by this lot, but today I managed to hold with them for the first 21km or so, then alternated between being at the back of the pack and off the back for a few more km, then died in the arse in the last few km around Balls Head and Berry Island for a final time of about 2.44. So, getting better, but not there yet. Most of them are around 3.00 for the marathon.

Funnily my GPS measured this course as 31.8km. Vat's read about 30.4, and the maps say 29.6. We took a few wrong turns so no surprise we went over 30, but the discrepancy between my GPS and Vat's is a bit strange.

Oh yeah, and a couple of people this week have commented that I look thinner! I doubt I've lost much weight, but might have put on some muscle mass in lieu of fat. Perhaps I should get a skinfold test done, see if I can get back to the 9% I was at the start of the year....