Melbourne Marathon Race Report - 2015

Well somehow I didnt blog about my 11th Marathon. Generally I like to construct what I would like to post in my head over a few runs, then I find it best to sit and knock the whole thing out in one go.

Melbourne was different, it was so emotional for 2 reasons - and its taken me a while to process the feeling and renewed motivation for running.

Without revisiting old ground, I have spent the year forcing myself to run marathons. Looking for my old motivation. I didnt race at any other distance, didnt run a half or a hard 10k. I went from 7 to 11 marathons without being race fit. I just logged enough miles not to die. Always hoping that on one run it would "click" and all of a sudden I would have my mojo back. It never came when I wanted it to.

Looking back over my Garmin data I didnt log too many miles through September, and having the 3 weeks between marathons really didnt give me a chance to recover or get any fitter.

Marathon week arrived and I was looking forward to just a mini holiday, after the stress of the Capricorn Coast Running Festival it was a relief to have the weekend to havea  few beers and unwind.

Then I recieved a call. BOOM. Ben calls from NZ saying he is coming over to run. At first I was hesitant because it was a lot of cash to be spending, but he says he wants to come. SO in an instant our Marathon party grew! I was so excited, it had been over 12 months since Ben returned to Wellington and I missed really missed his friendship, running with him, and hanging out. Maybe part of my running mojo was with Ben, as soon as he announced they were heading back to NZ it sort of just vanished. We had spent all of 2012 running together, training for my first ultras, under Ben's coaching I PB'ed across all distances. It was my biggest running year.

When we touched down in Melbourne it was clear Ben was either pregnant or really serious about hitting the gym, he looked huge like a white kiwi Hulk. I had talked him into running the marathon and not just spectating. He said he hadn't run for months, and it was obvious he was telling the truth.

On the way down in the plane - I said to Brenden he has to have a crack at a 3.30 marathon. He had never been fitter, the weather was perfect and he had to just enjoy this moment as he might not get another chance like it. He was not quite sure as he was training heavily for Noosa triathlon, and wasnt certain he would recover. We hatched a plan, that if he felt a tweek to any pain in his glute (where he had problems) that he would just back the pace off and finish the marathon as a training run.

My original plan was to shave the 9 minutes off my time from Sydney and finish the year with a 4.00 marathon. Ben said he was going to run 5.40s for as long as possible then I could leave him behind. Yeah right. Like I would be leaving him behind! My plan was just to enjoy the day out with my brother.

So we met Greg (who was injured) and met his mate Matt who was running his first marathon, Matt joined Ben and I and we set off to try and run a even split 4.00 marathon. Everything was on track, we held back really early - then eased into 5.25-5.30 pace. We caught the 4.00 pace balloons around 12 or 13km and then got seperated with Matt. We spotted Brenden a couple of times, as he was on the other side of the road. He looked really comfortable, running his own pace.

We ran on, and by 25km I started to get tight. My legs just felt like lead, and my stride length just got shorter and shorter.  It was sort of a relief to get to that point having run solidly knowing could take it easy with some walk breaks and still finish under 4.30, and this is exactly what we did. For the next 17km Ben and I just enjoyed being out, talking, running. Ben even called his wife Mel in the middle of the race! Definately not your typical marathon!

As we neared the end, the moment and emotion started to bubble up within me. I missed Ben. I missed being fit. I wanted more out of myself. I realised finally that I can achieve more with running, I am not done yet, I wanted to get back to feeling like I had in 2012. As we rounded the last corner, there were runners everywhere - 5km, half marathoners, marathoners. The finish line was super crowded, but Ben and I savoured the moment. Crossing together, arms raised.
We run for those who cant.

Within moments we found Brenden and he had run 3.30. I was so pumped for him. A marathon PB in the middle of his triathlon training. Officially he finished with a 3.30.01 - 2 seconds and he would of been sub 3.30! He had run a perfect negative split marathon.

As we had a few beers and watched Bathurst it really started to kick in, the feeling that it was time to dig in and really have a crack at a 3.30 marathon. If Brenden can do it, there is no reason why I couldnt. I had run all year with him, and know that if I got my endurance back there is no reason I can't smash it.

Ben made his way to the bus station and we said our final goodbyes, promising it wouldnt be too long between our next visits.

As I had a few ciders with Brenden in the airport I felt different, I had been here before, I knew the feeling, MOJO. All of a sudden I wanted to run. I was ready to reapply myself and rip in.

2015 goals start today.

Before I even think about races, I needed 2 things, to get to my racing weight and to build a decent base.

So starting stats 14th October 77.3kg ave weekly kms 50km/week.
On Sunday I weighed in at 72kg and have averaged 70km/week for the last 6 weeks. Feels good to ramp things up, drop the puppy fat and start to feel comfortable running again.

The goal is to get to racing weight, not sure but somewhere around 69-68kg by the end of February then ramp things up for a big crack at Gold Coast and Melbourne Marathons.

I'll start posting weekly updates of training etc just to keep myself accountable.

Run smart

Pex

More Than One Way to Skin a Cat

There have been a couple of really good articles this week about risk taking and racing.

This article on Running Times here Winner Runs Through It  is pretty interesting, it really provided me with some perspective to my racing. This blog post by Wyatt is along the same lines Taking Risks.

So what does it mean for me, and what does it mean for my upcoming race? Well my races have generally fallen into 2 baskets, success or failure. As I move forward with more races under my belt it is pretty clear that I let my watch (as in overall time) tell me if I have been successful or not.

Take my race at Toowoomba, if I had run more conservative and used my speed on the down hills and conserved on the uphills, I would most likely of had a much more enjoyable day (and likely a faster overall time). But I took a risk early and was sitting in the top 10, running hard, only to  blow myself up.

So what is a better way to race? Balls to the Wall? Just go for it? Smash your PB but risk blowing up? Or take it easier, never knowing if you could of went faster as you don't leave enough distance to really "go for it"?

I have had 1 race where this worked, it was the Rocky River Run in 2010 - I just went berserk and ran out of my skin, one of those days where it was just easy to run hard. The problem with a race like that, is that it reinforces that type of approach to racing. Which has been my issue since.

If you remember in my pre-GC race post "Running Naked" - I had to run by feel, so I wasn't able to be so fixated by my pace as apposed to effort and listening to my body.

Maybe some people are better at running conservative and finishing strong, whilst others relish going hard and hanging on. At the end of the day, your Personal Best is a TIME and doesn't have an * beside it saying "blew up" or "had plenty in the tank". How you get to the finish line is just that, your personal best. 

What we do know from a science perspective is that it pays to conserve at the start and your goal (particularly for the marathon) is to evenly split the two halves of the race. For shorter races particularly the 10k and 5k it never feels very comfortable, as you are near your limit the whole time.

The Running Times article posses an interesting idea, the idea of purposely DNFing a marathon - that is, racing at your absolute limit for as long as possible. I just call this "hitting the wall" :) But seriously it is an interesting idea, as in theory if you have left it all out on the course, you would take 1 step after the marathon and collapse.

On Sunday I am going to give the 15km a different approach to normal, I am going to start conservative and will run harder/faster towards the end. As I know there are about 3 people in the world who read this blog, it is really just a chance to make ME more accountable for my running, and stick to my word.

I will be back next week with a race review.....and KM by KM race splits, so you can see that I ran the first km at 4.50 pace!

Run Safe

PEX

PS - Thank-you for the Movember support, our CQUniversity Team raised nearly $15 000!!!

Blogging, Racing and Saying Goodbye

So I have been in Blog overdrive this week. 3 posts in a week is some sort of record for me!

SO how did my race go?! Well I can honestly say that I have never felt more in control of a short sprint race ever. As it was 8km (5 miles for my USA readers) I had a well constructed plan, which was to start easy then settle into a pace and actually SAVE some juice for the last km.

Yes I can hear Jason saying "you never stick to plan" "you always blow yourself up early" - which is true, I always log a sub 3.45km first k BUT I knew that I had the pace and am in good shape to run a negative split if I just got my excitement controlled at the race start.

"3, 2, 1, GO" we were off for the Rocky Road Runners Movember club race. Now here is the point where I relaxed, and actually slowed and let a couple of groups of runners through. I was sitting on 4.00 pace but that was still too quick so I slowed, let another couple of people past. First KM 4.17! YES I actually felt like it was easy, so the plan was to run another 4.15-4.20 then start running sub 4.15s. Second KM takes us all the way down to the water stop, great to see Benny there handing out cups (hope his back is better by our next race) - I started to eyeball who I was going to catch on the 3rd KM. Second KM 4.12 feeling great!

So as we wound our way through the gardens I start to pick up some of the other runners - wow this is weird! I NEVER pass anyone. Thats the problem with starting too fast, people are always coming past you as you fade! Not today thought. We run past a couple of people with kids and strollers on the path which slows me from 4.10 to 4.15ish - then just as we get to a fork in the course

BOOM

FAAARRRKKKK

My right foot doesn't land on the path but on the edge and my ankle just rolls under me. I immediately stop and it hurts enough for me not to run another step. So I walk slowly back to the race start. Frustrated that I have rolled my ankle - my mind switches on the big race is coming up in a couple of weeks down on the Gold Coast, so no point wrecking it.

Rest, Ice, Elevation and it is looking and feeling heaps better this morning. I'll take it easy today and see how it is on Monday.

Jason thinks it is Mo Karma as I had accidental shaved my Mo off trying to trim it up Tuesday. Lets hope I have paid the Mo gods back now!

Very impressed with Jacob "Hammer Time" Williams cleaning up Miles, Michael and Gav for the win! It is his first race win, really pumped for him! He was sandbagging all week!

The other big news this week is that Geoff the Grandfather of the Road Runners is leaving for Brisbane. I have said it before but Geoff is the only reason I kept turning up to Saturday morning running. He always ran back and checked on Jason and I as we were struggling out the back.

I have turned into a bit of a Saturday long run snob, running my own pace as prescribed in the session. Saturday group running are a bit daunting, as there are always a heap of faster runners there. When I started running I had Jason to run with, but he improved faster than I did, Geoff was always there to come and run some k's with me, making sure I was OK, and giving me the encouragement to keep running. Geoff encouraged Jason and I to turn the idea of HRE into a reality.

Geoff hasn't run for most of the year, as he has had a few injuries. It was great to see him at running Thursday night, looking forward to seeing him at our Brisbane races.

 

 

Thanks for keeping us running Geoff!

 

 

PEX