42.2km - 4hr 25mins
Well, as a marathon virgin I didn't really know what to expect, and I turned up with my hopelessly optimistic pace band of 3:58 (ha!).
It was a glorious Perth morning as we set off and I settled in a comfortable pace of about 5:50min/km. My plan was to do a negative split of 2:01/1:59 to get me a sub-4. Oh how naive I feel now!
Almost immediately I needed a toilet break
Passed the Coolrunning cheer squad at Raffles, thanks guys it really made a difference. Caught up with TB777 who seemed to be struggling, good on you for finishing regardless. It was great seeing all the speedy guys run back the other way and I applauded as many as i could.
I felt really good for the first 21k, passing it in about 2:06. But already I was 5 mins behind schedule. No worries I thought, I'll just go a bit faster now! Bad idea. Damn you Garmin Virtual Partner for taunting me so, that pixelated dude was now 800m ahead of me.
I caught up with Mjail who was going great guns at that point, I'm so sorry the wheels came off but you did slug it out to the end, which is a huge achievement in itself.
Running along the river was beautiful, I was enjoying myself as I passed Raffles and got another lift from the gals and a jelly sweet from Lou! But now, my plan was starting to fall apart. Hitting the freeway at 30k I realised I was slowing down and there was nothing I could do about it. I tried to sustain 6min/k but it was becoming a slog. The field had really thinned out and it was starting to feel like a solo training run. I felt a little better passing Como at around 35k. But soon after I had to walk as I simply could not even shuffle. I didn't feel too bad about this as I assumed I would recuperate and be able to run again. However, the last 6km was pure torture and consisted of walking interspersed with shuffling along at about 7:30min/km.
Orlando passed me at about 40km and compared to me looked positively flying! I could see the WAMC clubhouse in the distance and really had to force myself along. It was also getting quite warm by now. With about 800m to go I started to run again as I wanted a good finish photo! By this time I was almost delirious (as in nauseous) and was blurting out all sorts of rubbish to random people
Once again the indomitable cheer squad were at the end for a final Go Coolrunner as I took off my hat and smiled at the camera whilst trying not to throw up! I crossed the line at about 4:25, so I missed all my targets but I wasn't concerned at all. 2 years ago I couldn't run 500m, so I ain't complaining.
Afterwards I had plenty of food and drink courtesy of WAMC. It was great. I even had a champagne toast thanks to Pelagie (by the way congrats on winning your age group!).
Well done on everyone involved, competitors, spectators, marshalls and caterers. It really was a very special day that will live with me forever.
Now...who's up for the C2S marathon?
P.S. Mcmillan calculator had me down for 3:45! Basically I didn't train enough, but lessons definitely learned.
Well done on a good effort. It's such a tough distance that catches everyone out more often than not.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry too much about McMillan, the prediction for the marathon is often way out for runners with less than four or five years of solid mileage behind them. It's the lack of endurance that catches us out. Stick at it and you'll find you don't run out of steam quite as early next time - all things being equal.
Also, see how you recover before jumping to the C2S ; running a marathon takes a lot out of you. Some recover better than others (usually takes me 10 weeks before I'm back to 'normal'). Well done again, and welcome to the 'club'!
Thanks mate. I really want to be part of the inaugural C2S marathon just for the atmosphere. But you're right, it might be too soon. I feel ok now but I'll judge again at the end of the week.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations 20th century boy, you are now officially a successful marathoner! A 4.25 is a pretty good starting point in a race that requires a little bit extra training than a 10k or a Half as i was vividly reminded in the last 15k or so...Great to see you out there near the halfway mark, good blog and photo too.
ReplyDeleteway to go! My advice (after having done 6 Perth marathons, 1 Rottnest and 1 Melbourne, plus the 6 inch 45km etc etc) is to take it easy for at least a week or two/three, dont do anything too intense above 15km...Then see how you feel but maybe ease into the c2S Half or Fool ...I mean Full marathon...The c2s course is a lot tougher so the last 15k of that one will be heaps harder than the Perth Marathon, so try and do some hills training if you plan on it. As Sugars comment suggests when you have a few years of consistently doing these sorts of races, or better still consistent weekly high mileage over several years, its easier to bounce from one marathon to the next, in the first year 1-3 marathons will be your max. after that it starts to get easier to get up for 42km or more, and to recover for it...
If you do the C2S might be a good idea to not have too much expectations with time goals.
As many of us running bloggers in perth have found over the last 5 years, achieving time goals in the marathon can be pretty challenging, and may require several attempts over the years to get everything right. You have begun the journey now, be interesting to see where you go from here.
All the best!
Hi TB...I am deffo doing the C2S Marathon. Foolish maybe. It should be a great day :-)
ReplyDelete