As alluded to previously as part of my task in organising pacers for the half and full marathon I also decided to "fill one of the gaps". Thankfully Silverfox put his hand up for 3:30 which was looking grim but given 3:30 is usually a bigger group I opted to still run 3:30 rather than the 3:45.
An early rise to get to the start in time to organise the half pacers and then a quick respite before it was time to hit the road! Silverfox and I lined up in the pack and pretty soon we were off. The initial plan was for me to drive the front at a steady pace (as per plan) while Nick would sweep the back of the group. As we headed through the Domain and Lady Macquaries Chair Virtual joine dme at the front and was quite handy in surging ahead at the drink stations to pick up some extras in case any one in the group missed out.
The usual fun of running along Oxford Street with the nightclubs still going and the drinking going strong! The run through Centennial was good to offer some shade protection as the day certainly warmed up. We were still bang on schedule but teh group was starting to reduce. Just after halfway Nick came up and suggested that he take the lead group a little faster, worried about the back half. I agreed and as they moved a little up the road settled in with a few people, still holding the scheduled pace and splits as a sweeper.
Again running through the city was a good respite from the sun but no hiding as we hit the Western Distributor. Once again the climb up to Leichhardt was tough and as I upped the effort to hold the target pace the remnants of the back of the 3:30 group shattered. Was very grateful to see the turnaround finally and some cheeky comments from Action and Luke Skyrunner about me not shaving down :)
Alas the downslope did not dramatically alter the pace and so I focussed on again lifting the effort to stay on schedule. By the 35km marker the increased effort had it's effect and the piano dropped on my back. From here it was a struggle and my lack of depth on recent long runs came home to roost. Through Pyrmont I removed the pace flag so I would not confuse anyone and then ground it out all the way home. The splits (against planned) were
Dist Plan Actual
5km 25:15 0:24:36
10km 49:30 0:49:09
15km 1:14:00 1:13:40
20km 1:38:30 1:37:41
25km 2:03:00 2:02:23
30km 2:27:30 2:27:24
35km 2:52:30 2:53:18
40km 3:18:00 ???????
End 3:29:30 3:41:50
The achilles really seemed to flare up as I was slowing down but now seems to be ok, or is it the rehydration dulling the pain???
Had a good time catching up and comparing notes at the Strider Tent at the finish which went down a treat, although hiking back and forward through the village to get bags, medals, t shirts etc on dead legs was a bit taxing.
So in summary, disappointed that I was unable to hold it all together as a pacer but this course is brutal and will chew up a lot of runners, especially if under prepared....
Thanks to:
Don Juan for the catering at the tent
Fellow Striders and others for volunteering their race to pace others
The CR cheer squad on the Cahill, something to look forward to!!!
11 comments:
Good on you Dave for giving up your own run to help others out. I have no doubt that your effort was appreciated.
How big was the CR cheersquad? I think we had record numbers !
Delighted to see the pacer groups went down so well and did their jobs. Sorry I missed out yesterday Dave, but I hear the Striders did well!
congrats dave it was a tough day! it was excellent to be part of the cheer squad - and there were so many striders to cheer it was amazing!!!!
Well done mate. You looked like you were hurting in those final KMs in that heat. Hope the legs are kind in recovery. :)
Great job Dave - taking the time to tinkle the ivories over the last 7k was a real touch of class ;-)
Enjoy the recovery.
Great effort to notch up another tough marathon mate, particularly with the lead-in. Really hope the achilles didn't suffer as you feared.
Yep, that course just chews them up and spits them out. Well, that's what it did to me last year.
Well done on keeping the train rolling along for as long as you did. You must've helped lots of people achieve their goal.
Hope the achilles settles down.
Great Job. Considering the problems along the way I reckon you did an awesome job. Hoperfully next year I'll make it there. :)
Great effort Dave on going for as long as you did. No complaints from Bekele he would have loved your pacing. Next year you'll get back at the course.
Great job in holding on for as long as you did. Enjoy the recovery and get ready to go again.
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