Training had been going well until 3 weeks out when my work schedule had me travelling all over Australia which in turn meant that fitting in training runs, and especially the long ones, became difficult, as did trying to regulate my diet. Hotels and late flights played havoc with my food intake and meant that I effectively started tapering 3 weeks out, which is too long for me.
That being said, I was looking forward to the weekend and felt prepared to at least give it a good crack.
After catching an early afternoon flight, picking up our (upgraded!) car, our race pack, checking into our small but perfectly formed accommodation (a bargain at $90 for the 3 of us!), we headed out for dinner finally finding an Italian place in Surfers where we demolished a large plate of pasta each. It was then back to the hotel for an early night.
Race morning started early, at 5.30am to be precise with the normal ritual of eating - toilet - eating - toilet - more toilet, before leaving the gaff and walking the 15 mins to the start line (another reason why the accommodation was so great). Although it was a clear day, there was a definite chill in the air with the sun yet to fully rise. I couldn't help but think on my way to the start just how lucky the half marathoners were having started at 6am.
Once at the start line, we placed ourselves between the 3.15 and 3.30 markers. My plan was to start at 4.3x for as long as I felt comfortable, ideally keeping the 3.15 pacer in sight.
Roly's plan was the same but with the 3 hour pacer in sight and Tim's plan was to go off at 4.30's.
With that in mind, and the fact we each had slightly different plans, once the gun went, we all went off on our merry ways with me bringing up the rear.
Off we went along the Gold Coast Highway, darting in and around the backstreets on the way. The first 5km went by in 23 mins, averaging 4.35's. Pretty perfect. This continued to 10km with a split of 22.55, again at 4.35. Pretty spot on and I felt comfortable at this pace, managing to keep the 3.15 pacer in full view whilst still feeling comfortable at this pace. The same could be said between 10-15km with another virtually identical split of 23.00. At this point we reached the first turnaround and started to retrace our steps back to the start line. again, 15 - 20km passed without much fanfare, although the pace was starting to drop a little with a 23.15 split (4.39's). Only by 15 seconds though so I wasn't too worried. At 16km I took a gummy gel thing, deciding to pop one every 4 km from then on. No real reason, just figuring I may as well give my body something whilst I felt good. The course was flat and I felt in a good place.
At around the 20km mark, I caught up and passed Tim who seemed to be slowing down. Not much was said apart from a quick grunt hello. Roly was still forging ahead and looked strong.
Half way was reached in 1.37 at an overall average of 4.36's. Again, this was pretty much spot on where I wanted to be, having put away 6 minutes in the bag for the second half which would hopefully see me dip under 3.20. By this time, although I was managing to hold a pace, the course was starting to get rather tedious. Whilst it was certainly flat, there were a couple of minor undulations and turns which seemed to annoy me for some reason. No idea why. Maybe it was just the fact that the course seemed to stretch out in front of me in a rather monotonous way. Boring.
25km came and went with a 23.10 split between 20-25km. Again, pretty much ideal.
From 25km, however, things started to get harder. At the time I didn't know why, but all of a sudden I started to really struggle to hold the pace. It was at this point, the 3.15 pacer quickly disappeared into the distance. Time to harden up I figured - this was always going to happen at some point.
It was also around this point that I started to feel the heat of the day. Whilst the race had started in relative cool conditions and before the sun had fully risen, by the time I was 2 hours in, the full heat was starting to take its toll and I was starting to sweat a lot.
30km came and went with a split of 24.41 (4.56's). Clearly my pace had really dropped and I was starting to struggle. I went through 30km in 2.20. Still not bad and meant all I had to do was hold 5 min/kms to come in under my PB - surely that wouldn't be too hard.
The start - finish line came and went and the route headed north, up a small hill (although it felt like Everest!) and out along the freeway. As we passed the start line the crowds had built up and there was a lot of support which made things slightly easier. That being said, I was really starting to struggle by now and was concerned what lay ahead for the final 12km.
Onwards I went as the km markers seemed to get further and further apart. I was also walking the aid stations by now, trying to get as much liquid into me as possible.
Eventually, the 35km marker came into view. With nothing left in the tank, I decided to pop a gel at this point to try and stop the rot. 26.46 was the 25-30km split (5.21). I had dropped 30 seconds a km in less than 5km! Things must be bad.
From 35km to the end things basically got ugly. I was spent, gone, spent, finito. We rounded the final turn and I continued to shuffle between km markers, walked a bit, ran a bit, shuffled a bit more, ate a gummy, walked a bit more. I also developed some form of lock jaw at this point with pins and needles in my hand. At the time I figured that was my body telling me it was prioritising bits that it felt it didn't need at the time. This was the wall I thought! Lovely, hello Mr Wall - I haven't met you since Sydney!
The km markers became oases in the desert as I kept trying to pick up my pace, whilst what felt like hundreds of people streamed past me.
Eventually I hit the 40km marker (29.55 - 5.59 split). Only 2200m to go as someone shouted at me. Still, it felt like a long way! More walking, shuffling ensued.
By the 41km marker I knew I was nearly there so broke into an apologetic jog as I entered the finishing area. Plus, it was about this time that the 3.30 pacer came streaking past me. In hindsight the finishing area was something I really should have soaked up as the whole finish precinct was perhaps the best part of the whole race, with a gantry, stand and what felt like 10,000 people watching. With this kind of backing I had to run the last km - but I swear that was the only thing that kept me going!
I eventually made it to the finishing shoot, just as the clock ticked over to 3.30.40 - 20 seconds to go to break 3.30 gun time. As is customary, I found enough in the tank to sprint to the line, crossing in 3.29.59 gun time, 3.29.25 net time. And that was it - I had nothing left. I immediately sank to my knees.
After meeting Roly, we waited for Tim who crossed the line in 3.43. He had struggled big time as well.
After grabbing some food we then started to walk back to our accommodation, all feeling and looking like 80 year olds! From there we changed, showered and drove back to the airport, getting back to Sydney just after 6pm.
It's always good to reflect on these occasions the morning after to give perspective on the race...and so sitting at my desk looking back at the build up to the race and then the race itself I figured that I probably got what I deserved. Whilst the training had gone well up until 3 weeks out and indeed had probably been better than it had been for both Sydney and Melbourne last year (especially the pace of the long runs), the lack of any training runs over 30km probably let me down. I did one 32km run but nothing else over 30km. Clearly I need to mix in a couple of 35/36km efforts next time so that my body knows how to maintain some kind of pace post 30km.
That being said, conditions were not ideal for me yesterday either. It was hot, humid and I never run well in those conditions as I lose too much liquid which I can never replace. So although I can always blame my training, the reality is that the conditions probably exacerbated things....if it had been 12 degrees and overcast I am sure things would have been different.
All in all, I am happy with the result. Up until 30km I was cruising and that's a good sign. It's just the last 12km I need to work on. Not that I will be able to work on it anytime soon though as the next marathon I plan to run will be after a 180km bike ride at IM Melbourne. And that'll be a completely different kettle of fish. Maybe Melbourne 2013.
For now, I think it's time to back off the running and get on the bike again - starting next weekend. Something I am very much looking forward to. Only 15 weeks to go until Forster!
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