So the first marathon is over. I don't know where to start, I am so stoked by the whole experience, it was just sensational. By that I don't mean only the race itself, but the whole process of training, reading up and learning about what I should do, putting together a plan, going through all the stress and second thoughts and then finally hurling myself into it and doing the race. What an experience.
The plan was difficult to concoct. How do you set yourself a goal time when you've never run a marathon before, in fact never run more than 35 or 36km in training (and even that just a couple of times in my life) and have no idea about the course, but have been told it’s really hilly and very difficult to maintain an even pace? But I set myself a cascading series of goals - I was confident I could do under 3.30 if everything went right, but I figured I could maintain 4.40min kms for a long time, so why not have a crack at 3.15? Although with all the complicating factors, I thought I’ll start with 3.15 intentions, be overjoyed to bring it in below 3.20, very happy with 3.30 and ultimately stoked just to finish at all!
The training had all gone exactly according to plan and I was really happy with my last few months of sticking with a program and getting through the volume and intensity without any problems and actually quite enjoying it. Tapering all went well - I was absurdly paranoid about getting sick for the last couple of weeks as it seemed that everyone I came into contact with was in the grip of some awful flu or cold - but somehow I managed to dodge the germs and arrive to race day healthy as a horse!
Ate well the day before, got a few hours restless sleep and woke up at 4.40am at Luke's parent's house at Mount View in the Hunter Valley to eat some toast and peanut butter and banana (making sure to finish 3 hours before the race start) and 700ml of water, then had a few minutes of meditation before crawling back to bed. Nothing passed my lips from then until the race.
The weather turned out to be perfect, it had rained the night before but cleared up beautifully with just some scattered clouds and plenty of sun. Plus it was WARM which was a big deal considering it had been bleeding Baltic the week before in Sydney. So now the stage was set. I was healthy and injury-free, well trained, perfectly tapered and the conditions were ideal. I just had to get to the start and run the race.
Thirty seconds later I managed to reverse the car into a ditch on the way out of the driveway and it was stuck fast, nothing we could do was able to get it out. Thankfully we were able to quickly borrow Luke’s mum’s car and we made it to the race about 10 minutes before the start – but I was determined to remain calm and relaxed (and somehow managed it). I had a brief chat to a couple of people in the starting gate – it was a small field of about 70 or 80 for the full marathon - then we were off just after 8am!
First few kms I thought I was taking it slow but then realised that by 5km I was already 2 minutes ahead of my pacing chart. I felt great but I’ve read too many postings on CoolRunning about going too hard too early and blowing up at the end, so I made an effort to slow my pace. I managed to drop back to 4.40min kms and keep only one minute over my pacing chart for almost the whole first half. When I slowed down two guys caught me and I fell in with them for a good 15km until I felt they were pushing a little too fast for my pace so I let them go off into the distance and tried my best to keep the pace even. Good call in the end, I finished ahead of them both.
Halfway – got to the end of the first loop in 98mins, only a minute slower than my predicted pace, but the second lap was always going to be the real test. It was great to have Sarah there for me at the halfway point for a quick high 5, a huge smile and some much needed encouragement.
I was caught just after halfway by a bloke named Tony wearing a Maitland triathlon club shirt who I had felt was close behind me for at least the last 8km or so, and we seemed to have exactly the same pace, so we just started running together. Didn’t talk much, but just kept each other going at an even pace. Lost some time on the hills up to Audrey Wilkinson (I feel like I’ll never be able to drink that wine again – bad associations now!), but then picked it up with a few 4min kms strung together afterwards.
It got tough after that, but thankfully I never hit the dreaded wall I’d been fearing. My right knee felt like it locking up just after halfway and got really bad briefly before being ok for the rest of the run, although it was a real worry for a few kms.
I was careful to drink plenty at every drink station and every time I felt myself slowing just gritted my teeth and kept with Tony. He seemed to go faster on the flats whereas I was the one leading on the hills, both up and downhill. Talking to him at the end it felt the same for him as it did for me, we just kept trying to stick with each other as we both went through alternating bad patches and good patches.
The Debeyers Road out and back section was difficult the second time round. It was all about just trying to keep a strong pace. I was getting hot many times and worried about overheating , so made sure to drink more water at those times and it seemed to do the trick. I had 3 gels – one at 15km, one at 25km and one at 35km and they saw me through to the end energy wise – I never had a slump.
Getting close to the end of Debeyers Road I realised that we’d been about 2 minutes slower than the 3.15 pacing chart I had pinned to my singlet for quite some time now, so I ripped it off and threw it away (responsibly at an aid station, I never littered – the sight of gel packets everywhere on these beautiful roads wasn’t very nice, I carried mine to aid stations and put them on the tables). Underneath I had the 3.20 pacing chart and we were comfortably in front of that. Funnily enough I was so shattered I wasn’t interested in pacing charts by that point, I just focussed on keeping the pace up to stick with Tony.
Suddenly we got away from Debeyers Road and back onto the main course and it seemed doable and I felt there wasn’t going to be a “wall”. A couple of minutes later we got to 40km and the pain was gone and it was go-time! We unspeakingly picked up the pace and passed a few people. Even passed Eagle, a CoolRunner who was doing his 81st marathon after having achieved a sub-3hour run at Gold Coast 3 weeks beforehands! Well we passed him for about 30 seconds or so until he charged past us and seemingly sprinted straight up the hill towards the finish leaving us floundering in his dust! Inspirational stuff, it made me fire up a notch too and I managed to pick it my pace going into that final steepish hill at about 41km. The pain was gone in my leg, any thought that I wouldn’t make it was banished and I felt strong and comfortable. I sped up going up the hill and started to pull away from Tony. I realised and slowed down and he said, “If you can go, just go!” so I thanked him and tried to push it a little bit.
Although my legs were sore as hell I felt like I flew over that hill and the last 500 metres or so were a doddle. I knew it was all over, knew that I was still running strongly at a god pace and that I was mentally and physically all there, feeling fine and not overly fatigued at all. Nothing like when I came over the line in last year’s Sydney half marathon and was completely spent.
Running over that finish line at 3.18.xx on my watch (still waiting for the official race results) was something else, what a feeling! Sarah, Jenn and Luke were there at the top of the little hill before the line to cheer me on and they ran down the hill to see me at the finish line too. I felt a million dollars coming into the finishing area, with a big smile across the face as I threw down half a dozen cups of sports drink and turned back to have a chat with Tony and thank him for keeping me going and pacing me through, as well as a yarn with Eagle about the run. Then Sarah came and gave me a big hug which was sensational. Chatted with a few other finishers and just basked in it for a little while. What a day!
I thought the course was absolutely stunning, I’ll be back next year for sure. Now it’s all about a couple of weeks of taking it easy before I start training for the next major event – my first Half Ironman!
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