Gold Coast Marathon - 16th in 2:34:00

Rocked up on a beautiful morning having walked from Main Beach. Said a few hellos to JB, Macca and TB before listening to some chap murder the National Anthem. I don't bother with a warm up before the marathon, figuring that 42.2km is enough for the day.

We were off and I was feeling great. The Garmin was all over the place but I think I went through the first km in 3:26. I wasn't too fussed though as it felt fine and I thought it would be a few seconds in the bank. Settled into a group of 3 ladies and a couple of blokes so it was a decent crowd. And it stayed this way for quite a while. We were regularly ticking off 3:35's and if they drifted to a 3:38 I'd push the pace again. Gradually though the group was whittling down. At the turnaround at 16km I could see JB about 30s back but running alone, with Macca and Tongey about 10s behind him. I was surprised about Tongey but was expecting him to come through in the second half, remembering what he did at the SMH Half.

We caught a guy from the ADF at 17km and by that stage it was me, ADF chap and Ogi the second placed lady. This was the best bit of the race. I was leading the group but getting loads of shouts from the runners going in the opposite direction which really lifts your spirits. By 20km ADF chap had dropped so it was down to me and Ogi. I was working harder to keep the kms at 3:35s but told myself just to get to 30km where the real work would begin. I picked up what i thought was my Thomas the Tank Engine drinks bottle at 20km only to discover it was a Buzz Lightyear one with Dave Kane written on the side! Had a bit of a chuckle to myself but then was a bit pissed off as he didn't tape a gel to it.

Coming back into Main Beach suddenly 3 chaps come back to us paying for the early pace. Its not nice but very satisfying to start picking people off in the latter stages of the race. Here I really started to work hard, determined to keep the pace consistent at least until 35km. It paid off as the results show I had the 7th fastest split between 30 and 35km. The splits went as follows:

5km: 17:45
10km: 18:04
15km: 18:02
20km: 18:01
Half: 1:15:56
25km: 18:13
30km: 18:09
35km: 18:27
40km: 19:04

Ogi was still with me and at 35km as I started to fade a bit she started to lead for the first time in the race. I just held on to her telling myself every extra km she could drag me through would be a bonus. Coming back over the little hill over the bridge at 37.5km was the doing of me though. I was now knackered. Saw Gary an JB by the road at 38km and I was struggling, the next 2km were just trying not to fall apart and went on for ages. I was still doing 3:48's though so thought I might still sneak under 2:34. Before 40km I did some maths and thought I'd need to go through in 2:25:30 to have a shot. I went through in 2:25:50 so thought it was out of reach so just tried to get home. Every time I tried to pick up the pace my hammies would seize up so it was a balancing exercise at this point. Hit the crowds coming towards the finish and immediately my spirits lifted - it's a fantastic feeling. Turned the final corner to see 2:33:45 on the clock. I thought "I can do this!", I just need to sprint. Tried to sprint but my hammies seized, so I tamely crossed the line in 2:34:00, only temporarily rueing it.

I was chuffed to bits. Ogi said something in Japanese and we hugged having shared 2.5 hours of pain. Had a good chat with Mark Tucker then watched Macca and TB cross the line. News coming in wasn't good on Kanser or JB. They're both fit though and will regroup to run a good one soon.

Then got a bit emotional like I do after long races. Pulled myself together and had a few lively beers with Macca, Glen and Bartles before heading off to Moo Moos with the rest of the squad. Don't remember much after that but I've for a cracking hangover.

Almost there

8.5km jog around the beaches, 5km with the kids. Almost there. In one piece for now. News from Macca is that a bandaged up bloke will haul his ass to the start line despite not having run in 11 days and running on a wing and a prayer. Would have expected nothing less form him.

HuRTS Gate to Gates

Trotted down and dawdled around at the back of the reps with Ray. Put in a few 100m strides to stretch the legs. Ran the last rep at target marathon pace which was less comfortable than I was hoping for. Hey ho.

All post excellent massage in the morning courtesy of JSM's no.1.

Daniel Batman

Easy 4.7km with the kids this morning and then 11.3km with MC, Mr Ace, French Jules, Jonathan and others at lunch.

4 days to go. Just want to be on the startline now, everything else feels like going through the motions.

RIP Batman.

More easy running

Just an easy 10km at lunch on my work 10km route, untimed.

Fucking annoyed with Athletics NSW not counting our Men's Over35 team result from the XC at the weekend. This was their response:


"Hi Tom,

Thank you for your enquiry and congratulations on a great run on Saturday.

The rules for cross country and team competitions in the winter running
events are on the web:
https://assets.imgstg.com/assets/console/document/documents/Winter%20Running
%20Rules%20120424.pdf

The process for calculating team results at the adidas Winter Series
competitions, including the NSW XC Championships, allows an athlete to run
up (for juniors) or down (for masters) an age group. The simple requirement
is that if an athlete is not going to be entered in his/her "natural"
age-gender, then the team manager must complete a form to modify the
"natural" age-gender and submit this prior to the race. These forms were
available at check-in on the day, and also available on the website prior to
the day of competition.

https://assets.imgstg.com/assets/console/document/documents/Agegender.pdf

By looking at the Age Group results for the final event at 3:00pm, we can
see that you (Tom) were in the 35-39 age group; Nigel Wickham and EJ Davie
were in the 40-44 age group; Paul Bruning was in the 45-49 age group. Teams
are in 10-year categories i.e. 35-44 and 45-54.

If Sydney Striders were to have a team, Paul Bruning could have been
submitted as a change of age-gender and entered into a 35-44 team. This did
not happen.

I recall a discussion with EJ before the 3pm race where I explained that if
all the athletes were competing in their "natural" age group, then no
paperwork was required by the team management. EJ expressed his opinion
that everyone in his proposed team was within the natural age group for
competition.

We have tried hard to make the process clear, and I spent some time on
Saturday explaining to many clubs how to enter their teams. I hope that
this helps to explain the situation and I look forward to seeing you at
other events this winter.

Regards,
Janet."

Monday squad

Easy 16km with the Monday squad in I don't know what. Frickin freezing. Weather like this on Sunday would be ideal.

NSW XC Champs - 13th in 43:42

Spent the early part of the afternoon cheering on Bec and Billy in the under 12's (getting a team bronze in the process which they were thrilled with) then Maggie and Charlie were up in the 1km fun run. Finally got around to the Men's Open race and, after thinking it may be a low quality race, saw Jeff Hunt, Nipper, Russ Chin and a load of other names front up.


I set off at a pace I thought was relatively easy but was surprised to be running with Robin Whiteley and, when we went through 1km in 3:08, realised that it must have been the excitement of running after 4 days rest. Sure enough on the first hill Robin pulled ahead and Chadi came past, followed by Jack Colreavy.


From then on I was pretty much running solo but aware that Richie Roberts was closing in. I felt comfortable on the flats and downhills but was losing time on the ups. Spoke to Richie who said he got within a couple of yards of me in the monster hill on the final lap but that I was pulling ahead on the downhills. Only scare was my shoelace (the one with my timing chip) coming undone in the final 1.5km. No time to stop to tie it but the tag was about to fall off on the final corner. Luckily limped over the line. Felt OK at the end as it wasn't a mad scramble to the line so hopefully no harm done before next week.


Only problem is stomach cramps since the race. I'm hoping it's due to running on no food all day other than a couple of doughnuts from the Berry Famous Donut van.


Nice to stand on the podium for 3rd place in the Over 35's with the kids cheering on. Unfortunately with Chadi and Robin in the same age group anything better than bronze was highly unlikely.

Here is the coolest video of the course which shows you a bit of what it's like, but not enough detail on the bugger of a hill at the back end...

I'm being tested...

3 kids off school today sick. I'm put to but a Sars mask.

Easy 10.3km at lunch with MC, Springer, Mr Ace, Rob, BW and Emma. Now off to Gerringong for a weekend as close to Nowra as anyone dares go.

10 more days

10.3km plod along the beaches in 55:30, first half with Bec.

Last long 'un

4.62 km with the kids (24:30 for Bec, Billy up ahead) then a run to work with Dicky G via Queenscliff (taking the route via the playpark). 18.7km in 80:00.

HuRTS 45min Fartlek

No MC today so I mumbled some vague instructions then took off, intending to take it easy. Bartles and J-Fen pushed ahead while I ran with Tucks and Fats. Tucks and I started working harder around Farm Cove to bridge the 20m gap which we managed by the Stone Gates, with Tongey having jumped out from the bushes to join us.

Stayed like this until the Opera House on the way back. At times I felt good and pushed the pace, other times I just stuck in the group. I was starting to feel a bit tired at the O House though so deliberately eased off trying to chase a marauding Tongey, which would have been fruitless in any case. Bartles and I ran together from here to finish in 44:52. Average pace 3:30.

Seeded!

Today was a run with the Hurt Squad Monday crowd which I haven't done in weeks. Nice and easy 16km in approx 70mins. Beautiful day.

Got a new app on my iPad for Blogger. It's supposed to let me do funky things but I can't make head nor tail of it.

A : We start from here..

Off the rails

Had a few too many beers in celebration on Friday (hence the fruity language in the last post) so Saturday was a write off feeling as though I was coming down with a fever. Went to Ben's 40th on Sat night and pretty much knew I needed the sleep and wouldn't race mini-mos early Sunday morning. Had plenty of rest, went to watch the kids (Billy recovering well after a stack on the start line) and slept watching the US Open golf in the arvo.

Headed out at 4.30pm with Bec and Charlie for the usual 14km route, feeling tired to start with but better as the run went on. 61mins for 14.2km. To be honest, I've been feeling pretty flat all week after the big weekend and a tough Tuesday run. But I've done very little since. Need to hold things together and manage the next 13 days carefully. Laying off the booze will be a good start. But Kirst did buy a nice bottle of Pinot for this evening...

Well done to Kanser on his 33:50 this morning. It's been a while since he's been sub34 so all looking good.

City Mile Dash

4th in 4:37. Pushed Julian the Frenchman inch by inch but he had my by a puny chest.

Fuck I was nervous for this race. JB was standing by me on the startline and remarked on how his heart rate was going manic. I was exactly the same. We all set off and Bartles was the one pushing the pace. At 300m my legs were starting to feel tired and 10 people were in front of me and I was thinking what the fuck. I then found a gap on the left hand side and pushed the pace to suddenly find myself in 4th with Bartles (leading) 5m in front and Tucks and JB on my shoulder. At the dodgy hairpin I put some effort in and concentrated on catching the Bart. Tucks dropped off, Julian came on my shoulder and we caught Bartles with 300m to go. From then it was shoulder to shoulder with Julian taking line honours and a place on the podium with some saucy ladies from Cancer Australia. I had to make do with a Carlton Draught on the sidelines and $500 per person for retaining the team trophy.

Not bad for 4:37 mins effort. Having said that, the 4:37 effort made half of us barf and the other half taste blood for the rest of the afternoon.

Where was the Tiger!! That was the question of the day. He should have taken 3rd spot.

Deserter

Ran out of the office at lunch clutching my phone to try and fit in 10km amongst work. Wandered into the squad doing Gate to Gates and did a few with them then jogged a bit more with TB and Young Timmy to make up 10km.

Managed to cajole the lads into a group photo following the session. Got back to the office to a fair copping of email abuse from Big Sam and Young Timmy regarding yesterday's post. I think Sam wants me hung, drawn and quartered.

Top massage in the arvo to set me up for the Mile tomorrow. I'll be channelling my inner Bannister. Or is it Landy?

More Aussie than Pom

Managed to squeeze an hour run in at 8pm this evening before going back to work. Just ran up to Bondi Junction and circumnavigated Queens Park and Centennial running very easy.

Was thinking about the TdF when running and who are the favourites. Concluded that I'd rather see Grumpy Cadel win ahead of Weedy Wiggins, which must mean I'm now more Aussie than English.

Fast run home

Missed the lunchtime session with work calls (very busy at mo) and knew I'd have to do a hard run home instead. So it made for a miserable afternoon as I hate the hard run home. Not helped by a cold front moving through in mid-afternoon bringing back the persistent rain.

Anyway, the session was set. My run home is the run I do more often than any other. If I get under an hour it counts as something more than just a shuffle. Under 58mins is a fair effort. Under 56mins requires a bit of work. I've been under 50mins three times previously. April 2008 was the first when I ran 48:51, July 2008 (just before I set my City to Surf PB of 46:34) was the second when I ran 48:45 then in January 2009 (just before I took 8 months off injured) I somehow managed to run 46:21. Still not sure how I did this, especially when I compared the spits today. I must have been flying.

Worked hard the whole way today but felt heavy legged on the hills compared to Saturday when I bounced up them (i had to grab the handrail at the top of Spit Hill). 13:25 at the bottom of Ben Boyd (13:00 when I set my PB) - I gave up chasing the time at that point. 25:40 at the Toyota Garage and 48:51 all up. So equal third fastest and a fair go.

Wet Wet Wet

Holy cow. 36 hours hours of constant heavy rain and Sydney can't cope. Tried to run to Shelley Beach and back but the Quirk Road cut through was a no-go as it was a lake, so skirted along Roseberry Ave to Campbell Pde but that too was a one foot deep lake. So ended up running up to Seaforth and just gaining height. Massive torrents along what are usually babbling brooks. Took it very easy running with Billy on his bike and covered 11.5km.

Back on the trails

Just Dicky and I again today with Sam a no-show. I think Dicky wanted to punish me for yesterday so took me on every hilly and rocky trail he could find, even random ones that didn't seem to go anywhere. We did a big whole loop of Manly dam then headed down to Spit Bridge to run the Spit to Manly. Dicky stopped at his place in Fairlight but I continued on into Manly, along to North Steyne and back home via Pacific Parade.

27km all up in 2:15:25 (5:02's). Doesn't even count as a run in the Easy Tiger rule book but felt like it. Not used to the trails and suffering the after effects of yesterday so I'm dead tired.

Finally, looks like Dibaba handled Defar (who has been neck and neck with last year's no.1 Cheruiyot) with ease last night. An afternoon on the sofa watching the athletics could be on the cards. For all the doubters, that is why Sally Pearson won the IAAF female athlete of the year last year. Cheruiyot's main opposition was missing.

Hilly tempo

Caught up with Dicky Green on another beautiful day. Absolutely perfect running conditions - clear as a bell, completely still and cool. We decided on the hilly 20km up to Seaforth, through Balgowlah Heights, around Tania Park and back the same way finishing with a loop of Manly Golf Course. Long drag up to Seaforth, a few steep hills in Seaforth and plenty of false flats in Balgowlah Heights but equally you get the benefit of running back down them on the return. I did a few hills twice circling back to pick up Dicky.

Full of running today and all up 20km in 1:11:26 (3:34's). Bit of a confidence booster.