On Sunday I took part in the Sydney Urbanathlon. This is a 11-12km race through Sydney with some obstacles thrown in for good measure. The route itself is picturesque, taking you over Darling Harbour and up to the highest point in Sydney, Observatory Hill.
I completed the race in around 61 minutes, with an average pace of 5:21 minutes per KM. This wasn’t too bad a time taking into consideration the obstacles along the way but I felt I could have done better. I haven’t done much this year in terms of speed work yet and it showed, I’d give myself a 6/10 for running performance.
The obstacles were fairly challenging and a lot of fun, ranging from monkey bars which were very easy to the more difficult wall climbs. I hadn’t done an obstacle course since last year, before I started my CC training and I have to say it really showed. Whereas previously I had had to get someone to give me a leg up the walls, this year I ran and jumped as high up the wall as I could, kicked up, and pulled myself over the wall. The training I’ve been doing over the last year helped enormously, there wasn’t a single obstacle I couldn’t do. I’d give myself an 8/10 for the obstacles, next year I’ll be aiming to get over them faster.
Overall it was a really enjoyable and challenging race and I’d certainly recommend it to anyone in Sydney next year. The only downside being that my ITB was a bit sore again afterwards, so I’ve so far spent this week doing rehab exercises and rolling but I don’t think it’s as bad as last time and I’ll hopefully be running again soon.
