All the prep was done, just the actual race now.
Pre Race - Headed down to Canberra on Saturday morning to catch up with a cousin for lunch who I have only met a couple of times. From there it was across to the motel to register, meet and greet and then cheer on the runners in the 5/10km.
Had great fun watching the races as there were a number of laps so we got a good chance to cheer a lot of people. In particular Clairie with her pace escorts Mr G and Spud, but also Aki, Luke Skyrunner and a heap of Striders. Also good to see a couple of supported Cool Runners do real well!
Dinner was a good pasta load at a Italian restaurant in Kingston, I was slightly late as I needed to pick up last minute supplies.
Race Day - Slightly disturbed sleep but up at around 5am ready for action. The great thing about where I was staying was it was a walk out the door to the start! Popped over early to put my drinks in for the drink stops. Finally headed back over around 6:15, trying not to get too tense etc. There was certainly a mood of tension in the air.
Soon enough and we were off. I had decided to run by myself and keep a steady pace. If someone that I knew was around then great! Nice even splits early, ran with sportsman for about a km but he was going a little more conservatively so I pushed on. Back to the Bowen Cres turnaround and 10km just before it in 44:09, bang on my plans. A great lift from the crowd as we went through. From there it was just stay as smooth as possible, not far ahead was Philip B, another strider, and he was running probably only a second slower than me so it took until the tunnel until I caught him, we had a quick chat and I kept the momentum going. Back up the hill and through the tunnel and hit the 20km mark in 1:28:09 so a 2nd 10km of 44:00. This put me through the half way point in about 1:33. About here Philip B caught back up to me and we had another quick chat but he moved away from me pretty quickly mainly due to the fact that my pace was slowing.
Made concerted efforts to step it up again but to no avail so I decided to stay running comfortably and see what happened. As we got closer to the Bowen turnaround I could feel myself struggling more. Steve B, caught me at about the same time as I caught Mohammed just at the turn. Again the crowd was great but I was starting to hurt, the stomach in particular was beginning to spasm. Everytime I had a drink it gotr worse so I (maybe unwisely) started to limited fluid intake. Coming out of the turn Amjan gave me a big cheer and I think I said to her things were starting to hurt. Back out along the bridge and just at the drink station after the bridge things got worse. At the same time Superflake, vat_man and Blue Dog caught up to me. We had a quick chat but there was not a chance I could hold on to them.
Now I'm of the opinion that a blog must be honest and so this next bit is difficult...
About a km after the water station I really started to get bad stomach cramps and felt like chucking. I eased up further and around the same time the legs etc also started cramping, calves first probably due to the reduced fluid and also the increasing heat. The 30km time was 2:17:14 so a 49 minute 10km split. By the time I got to where the runners were coming the other way and turning on the bridge I was down to around 7 min/km pace and in semi tears from the pain/frustration. Really contemplated pulling out right there but did not want a dnf. I kept on going in this manner and now people were starting to stream past me. Finally got to the turnaround and shuffled back up the hill. By then I knew I would finish but it would be ugly.
Finally got back across the lake and not many people moving much faster than I was now, the 40km time was 3:24:36 so a 1:07 10km split. The stomach had eased up a bit by now but the damage was done and no way I could get the legs to turnover faster.
Finish time of 3:40:24. Not aware at the time but Miss Skarmel did a cartwheel about 20 metres behind me, and redback was also not too far back. I caught up with a few people right after the finish, including Tesso who had passed me during my worst section but had also slowed. Rather than sit around feeling sorry fro myself I dragged myself to the Striders tent had a couple of drinks and then went back to the finish line to cheer home the others. What an emotional experience cheering on the runners still finishing. Probably brought more of a tear to the eye yelling for people like Psychoma and Bernie G as they finished their first marathon than my own experience. Eventually I had to sit down as I was starting to feel woozy.
The whole race can be best summarised by the 2 half splits, 1:33 and 2:07 for 21 km. I feel somewhat guilty about being down on my time when many, many other people toughed it out for much longer than me. But I expected a whole lot better and am really at a loss as to what happened. Maybe I just went out too hard and did not factor in the warmer weather, it seems I was not alone as many people I know struggled today and missed what they were aiming for. Given my fluid/stomach problems I only used 1 of the 3 gu's I was carrying as well.
Well done to those that posted PB's on a tough day. I did some quick analysis and for those runners that ran in 2004 and 2005 as a group we were 3.1% slower this year.
Two days later now and while the upper quads and lh adductor are still a little sore I have pulled up pretty well. I'm going to go introspective for another day or so before I decide on the program forward. I do have a few ideas in mind and have already entered the SMH half so will be there for that.
Thanks to all those who posted here on my blog and also who were out on the course, both runners and spectators for the encouragement. I had a great weekend of meeting and socialising with Striders and Cool Runners, it is just that hour and a half or so mid Sunday morning that was certainly not enjoyable.
For posterity 5km splits were
5km 22:12 22:12
10km 21:57 44:09
15km 21:54 1:06:03
20km 22:06 1:28:09
25km 23:10 1:51:19
30km 25:55 2:17:14
35km 34:38 2:51:52
40km 34:44 3:24:36
End 3:40:24
9 comments:
A great report Dave giving us a great insight on your run. Reading all the reports tells me that a lot of runners started to lose it at the halfway until really struggling between 25 and 30km, with many falling short of their goals. I can't speak for everybody, but for me the heat was definitely a factor from that point. And it only got progressively hotter. Don't beat yourself up too much as you will have better days. It is experiences like this that make us stronger.
Dave
ditto as per horrie. The heat really had a major impact yesterday. I think for most of us times went out the window and getting to the finish became the primary goal.
And 25 - 30kms seemed to be the rainbow connection, where I think either the temp increased rapidly or the course came out into the open with little protection.
Well done finishing, it takes more guts getting to the finish when all goes pear shaped than running the perfect race(although I know which we would all prefer!)
Hey Dave, given your race report, I didn't realise just how tough you did it out there...hairy balls for finishing mate!
I saw you at the start take off in front of us and hoped that you would hang on for the 3:10 time.
Was sad to see you come up when we went out to black mountain again.
But I am very happy that it was not the old groin injury and 'only' stomach cramps. Hope you sort that out Dave and I will see you at 'North Head' and SMH.
Great effort to keep going Dave to the finish.
wow, way to tough it out, dave. you know, as well as the rest of us, how many factors come into play during a marathon, and no matter how hard you prepare, the race can throw things at you that will make the best prep null and void. the good news is that it wasn't your previous injury that caused the missed goal, but environmental factors! take your mental break and get some rest. you'll take away heaps of experience from this race and come back stronger and wiser.
thanks for the honest race report, your perseverance is inspiring!
Thanks for the report Dave!
Just for the record, your "slow" 10k's from 30-40 of 1:07 is still faster than I have EVER run a 10k. :-)
Thanks Dave. Thats what I don't like about marathons - you train for months and months and if things go wrong they can go wrong in a big way.
I had a problem with leg cramps at 22k (passed there by Miss pink and Flash) but wanted to finish in one piece so walked it. I will write something in AaE this weekend.
Basically a comfortable 1:47:33 plus a 3:50. Not good.
This is why I am scared to take the longer distances on! For the record, you were running when you passsed me, and didn't look worried. You should take up acting, you're very good at it, especially if you were fighting cramps!
Thanks for the support in the 10k as well, it was nice to meet up with you, and put a face to the name.
Go O Runner! :)
Great report Dave and ditto what horrie & nick said. Funny I'm happy with my time yesterday - 10 minutes faster but I also only did half the distance. I figure if I can't be first finishing is all I need to do and give it my best which is what I did.
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