From easy 5km runs, to speed work once a week, to 8/10k race pace runs to those long 1 hour 15 min plus runs at the weekend along the coastline - I felt ready to go.

I went up on the Friday and stayed in a cabin that I had booked on a caravan park about 7km from the start of the race. A deluxe cabin for $77 per night - quality! And split between six of us on the Saturday night it was a bargain!

On the Saturday, we went to discover more of Lake Macquarie (1.5 hours north of Sydney, near Newcastle) - long stretches of sandy beaches, mountain wilderness and the lake is 4.5 times the size of Sydney Harbour. It was beautiful and we finished Saturday off by watching the sun set behind the mountains on the edge of the lake.

Saturday night was a cold night therefore not much sleep so waking up at 5.30am was not easy. We needed to get to the start before 6am which is when the roads closed. It had rained all night and was still raining when we arrived.

There was Steph and myself running the Half along with Steph's fiancé plus my flatmate Sandra who was running the 10km race. My friend Sam from home and Ben were the support crew!

The Half started at 7.00am and the rain stopped and blue sky appeared. We had perfect running conditions and with only 289 runners, there would be no problem with overcrowding.

My plan this time was to run the first lap (10km) relatively hard which I did in 47 mins - a PB! I felt very strong and light on my feet. The course was pretty flat with one long stretch being slightly undulating but nothing dramatic. It was a beautiful course along by the lake and most of the time I had the road to myself - there was so much room!

The second lap was slower but I focused on two females in front and gradually caught them up and overtook them. I don’t know what was in my legs but they felt like they were flying!

The last 400 mins were hard as there was an extra bit that I wasn't expecting so I speeded up a little too early! However, a guy ran up by the side of me and told me to keep going as I had 5 females on my tail and shouldn't let them overtake me! He said that I had been keeping an even pace throughout the race (I think my green Windle Valley Runners vest is a bit of a focus - there is never anyone else with that coloured top on! Helps the support crew!) and he pulled me along and my spare energy store kicked in and no other females came past me - thank mate!

I sprinted to the finish line in 1 hour 41 mins 39 secs - a PB. My PB was 1 hour 44mins and next time I hope to break the 100 mins! I still felt like I had more in me so I know I can do it.

I was 16^th female out of 78 and finished 132^nd overall out of 289.

I would definitely run it again next year - it was a great weekend.

Next is the Bridge Run 10km in Sydney on Sunday 15^th September where I hope to run another PB. Then it's onto the bike and swimming.