The destination is worth the effort..

I just realised that i never posted about thursday night's run with "girls on top". We met at the bottom of Haigh access road and headed into the bush at Okura. It was yet again an unfamiliar place in Auckland. That is certainly a great byproduct of all of these runs, I am getting to see parts of Auckland I never knew existed. I started with the turbo turtles from the start. The weather had turned nasty while I waited in the car and so was thankful for my polyprop that I had packed. But only 10 mins into the run through the bush I had stripped it off because my body has it's own heating system when I exercise :)

Rather than being a loop course this one was more of a run in for an hour and then turn around and run back out....so we were told at the beginning. Every downhill we ran in the back of my mind I was imagining having to run it uphill on the way back. There are a lot of stairs through the bush, it's a great trail but I was cautious of slipping down them, especially after my less than graceful fall the last time I had run. the up stairs were aplenty and they were killing my butt and thighs. I would always be lagging behind the other three on the stairs and felt like I was spent and couldn't continue. What amazed me as I ran though was how quickly my body was able to recover even as I ran. It's a funny concept but a fantastic design feature in the human body. To be able to recover from physical exertion while still exercising. I had to keep reminding myself that I would recover as I fought my way up the next staircase. We ran through the bush, then alongside what looked like mud flaps and eventually came out on a beach! It was a glorious sight....but our run was not over. We crossed a little stretch of water and then ended up back in the bush. I was keeping an eye on my watch and at the half time mark we looked nothing like we were turning back. I was having serious doubts at being able tomrun the return journey at the same pace as our outward run. Suddenly we came back out on the beach again! To my delight that signal led the end of the line and we were turning around and heading for home. Even more exciting was realization that we were not going to run back through the bush, but alongside the bush on the beach, which was covered in these amazing flat rocks and shells. Better yet, there were no big staircases on the beach. Out came the head torches and off we ran bound for home. When we got back to to point where we first encountered the beach, others headed back into the bush, but we carried on around the next stretch of beach. The wind was annoyingly strong and it was sapping my energy. But around the next bay it was much calmer. We eventually headed back into the bush. The return journey through the bush was much muddier as everyone had run on the track and the mud was stirred up. A couple of near falls thanks to the combo of mud and tree roots but I managed to stay upright the whole way. We hadn't skipped all the stairs but I reminded myself that it's all good training.

It was fantastic to arrive back at the carpark bang on 8.30pm, exactly two hours after we began. I loved the bush run, the mud, the trees....but I absolutely loved the surprise of the beach. The journey was hard, but worth it to reach that destination. I try and remind myself of the ultimate destination on days when my body is hurting or my mind is tired....the ultimate destination is crossing that finish line at sumner and being handed that sprights Ginger beer, knowing I started the day on the other coast.

I will definately be returning to this location for another run.....in the daylight. Watch out anyone whom comes to visit me in Auckland, you may just find yourself climbing some stairs in the middle of the bush to get to the beach.....