Its over for another year and I can't believe it.
During the race I thought I would be lucky to finish...lucky to not hobble over the line or collapse at the 40km mark. As it turns out...a few days later i am wondering why I did not run harder or look at my time so I could go faster??
I am determined to run hard in my next marathon and give it some guts.
Canberra was always going to be a training event, not necessarily just a training run because I was keen to do as best as i could...but I knew I did not have the legs or fitness to run a hard sub 3:30 as I wish to do this year.
The 42.2km didn't get me. I finished in 3:37:19 and with a strong finish. But I hurt...I hurt alot and for a long time from 20km onwards. I have been thinking of why and how and what for...so here are some thoughts I have come up with as well as a quick summary of my training in the week prior.
On my last 30km training run I developed a sore foot. A very very sore foot. I ended up going to a podiatrist and then for an MRI. I had my shoes altered and after 10 days of no running and lots of mental stress about what to do I was happy to come away with a diagnosis of blunt force trauma (from shoe).
Hence the taper was really that - a no running taper. I didn't get to race my half marathon or my 3k time trial so mentally I had no good indication of what I could achieve in speed under pressure. Though I was happy to not have the stress of racing on me!!!
The week before Canberra I did a speed session at Pats and some light runs over the Easter weekend with no more than 12km each time and at an easy pace finishing at race pace.
THE MARATHON
The night before was a shocker - I had 2 hours sleep thanks to screaming babies and a head cold that came out of nowhere. Flu tablets had zonked me out but my heart rate was going so fast I could not relax even when the babies were quiet.
Race day dawned however and I was feeling relaxed enough. None of the expectations of performing were on me and I had slept well the night before (Friday) so I was in good spirits.
bang the guns went off and Tesso and I were giggling and on our way again!
Okay I admit - I went out too fast. The 3:30 pacer was way ahead of me and I just wanted to keep him in sight. The balloon was out of sight by 6km and I had just ran in under 29mins...so he OBVIOUSLY was way ahead of his 5min/km pace!!!!
Everyone around me was telling me to forget him but I couldn't. My goal hadn't been to watch the clock..I was not prepared to calculate splits or pace..I had just wanted to run with the pacer in sight and see what I could do. So mentally I was at a loss and just kept running as best I could. Unfortunately going out to fast I hurt when I finally caught up to the pacer at 16km as he had started to ease up by now. I got in front but was hurting so just sat with him. At halfway mark we were at 1:43:00. I sat with him till perhaps the 30km mark and then sagged behind. My foot was really hurting and I had to stop and adjust my shoe. I think it was an excuse to stop running.
I loved my gus at 12k and 25k and the V i had at the 35km mark. Not sure if I should have taken anything else but my stomach was great and no upsets at all which suprised me! The V was a bit hard to swallow but it switched on the strong finish I badly needed.
Somewhere in the last 7km I did a 6min km - Not sure if this is where I adjusted my shoe or not but the garmin tells a shocking story. The last few km after I saw my family and then Katie I got really revved up and ran home in reasonable form. I even managed a strong run in the last 1km to finish strongly.
I was very dizzy afterwards and really sleepy...finally the flu tablets were closing my eyes and I excused myself from the celebrations and went home to sleep the sleep of the dead.
Thankfully I was back a few hours later to get some drinks into me and see everyone else and hear their stories.
Canberra is such a wonderful event and it is more about your own personal race...it is the race of so many others out there that affect you too. I recall two other runners on the course that made my day - a girl who was in front of me the whole way and stopped with just 4km to go (sore leg). I made her run again and she took off which gave me something to follow..also a guy who was really struggling and I held his arm and pulled him along. I am sure he was swearing at me..but he continued on to and I have some hope that I was able to get them through their thoughts of their own pain to continue on to finish.
Then there are all the wonderful, exciting stories....Luckylegs looking so strong...Uncle Dave finishing FIRST in a time of 2:26..Tesso trying to sneak up on me....Eddie trying to sneak up on Glenno (and succeeding!!!) Bad Andys first marathon, Wattos fastest marathon, Glennos PB for ages, Robbies support and 10km race, Katie...well what can I say about her - BEST DAMN SUPPORTER YOU EVER DID SEE. (trust me - if you saw her on the day you will know what I am talking about!!!!!)
8 comments:
Well done, you finished and not too badly at all really. It is probably a good idea running (training) marathons without looking at the time, it can take a lot of pressure off. Did the same myself, had no idea at all of the time until the finishing straight. Pity about the pacer, but that's par for the course with pacers. Next time you can taper/sleep/and use a real timer, and you will be speedy again.
Great report Clairie - you made light of a number of obstacles and hinderances before and during the race - top stuff.
Matty
A good race Clairie considering your no run leadup, and no sleep the night before. Lets see what the GCM brings.
Congratulations mate. Great run, really under the circumstances. And gutsy. And generous (for what you did for those others). Get over that sore foot before you do anything else and you will keep hacking away at the times. It might take two or three more to get where you want to be (I mean well below 3:30), but if you are patient it will come.
Great Report Clairie. It was soo good to have you out on the marathon course again. I was so happy that Tesso did it as well. What a race! What a weekend! It was good to catchup with Al and finally meet Billy. i catch up with most of my Brissy friends in Canberra.
Clairie you ran a very good Marathon. You now know you have your marathon legs back. Now you just keep on building and working. Pretty simple really.
Congratulations Clairie. You did pretty well under the circumstances (especially the 'taper' and poor sleep). Starting fast would have hurt your finish time - 6k split at 3hr 25 pace and that 6k includes the Parly House hill! An easier start and you may have run 3:33, but who want's to run 3:33?
Have a good recovery and happy training for the next one.
Great report from a great run!!! Can't wait until we get to do it all again, so much fun. I just remembered us entertaining the guys pre race with our aerobics and dancing outside the motel room :)
Fantastic report, Clairie! I would never have guessed you had a bad night before running or that you had a flu like cold. Gutsy performance from a really, really gutsy runner!
Hope to see you & your lovely big smile soon!
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