The day had arrived. I thought it would never get here, but would have loved it to have been a week later. Anyway such is life. My goal was 2:35, or 3.40 per km. In the sydney marathon i ran 2:41 but was on track for 2:36 up until 35km, so i figures 2:35 was not out of the question in canberra. The plan was even pacing at 18:20 for each 5km.
I did feel pretty good on the morning of the race, so my confidence had improved. I went through the first 5km in 18:30. This was a worry because I had to work harder than I should have at this point and i was still 10 sec off my target. The next 5km was 18:33. At this point i wasnt sure if my legs were starting to feel heavy or were just numb from the cold weather. But either way it wasnt a good sign.
I did feel slightly better during the next 5km, even though the time was 18:50 as it was a fair bit uphill.
The next 5km were a struggle. At this point there was a turn around which should have meant the wind was now behind me, but it seemed to be more headwind. This 5km was close to 19min and i reached the halfway point in 79min 40sec. The target was 77min 30sec. I realised now than my target was totally impossible and id have pull out a miracle to break 2:40. When i was feeling like crap.
The next few km's were very painful. My left hamstring was killing me. I would have been pretty pissed off if id been running well and it was sore, but under the circumstances I think it made my decision to pull the pin easier.
I ran back to the 26km turn around, as that was the closest spot to the finish and walked off the track.
I was disappointed, but not as disappointed as i thought i would be. Because Id spent most of the week tossing up weather to run or not. And i did run knowing that it was pretty remote that i could run a marathon to the best of my ability whilst being sick for 5 days leading up to it.
At least now i can start back into it and put in some hard weeks for the gold coast marathon in july less than 12 weeks away.
It was great to see uncle dave and tucks run great races. 2nd 2.27, and 3rd 2.29. Bloody good under tough conditions.
I did feel pretty good on the morning of the race, so my confidence had improved. I went through the first 5km in 18:30. This was a worry because I had to work harder than I should have at this point and i was still 10 sec off my target. The next 5km was 18:33. At this point i wasnt sure if my legs were starting to feel heavy or were just numb from the cold weather. But either way it wasnt a good sign.
I did feel slightly better during the next 5km, even though the time was 18:50 as it was a fair bit uphill.
The next 5km were a struggle. At this point there was a turn around which should have meant the wind was now behind me, but it seemed to be more headwind. This 5km was close to 19min and i reached the halfway point in 79min 40sec. The target was 77min 30sec. I realised now than my target was totally impossible and id have pull out a miracle to break 2:40. When i was feeling like crap.
The next few km's were very painful. My left hamstring was killing me. I would have been pretty pissed off if id been running well and it was sore, but under the circumstances I think it made my decision to pull the pin easier.
I ran back to the 26km turn around, as that was the closest spot to the finish and walked off the track.
I was disappointed, but not as disappointed as i thought i would be. Because Id spent most of the week tossing up weather to run or not. And i did run knowing that it was pretty remote that i could run a marathon to the best of my ability whilst being sick for 5 days leading up to it.
At least now i can start back into it and put in some hard weeks for the gold coast marathon in july less than 12 weeks away.
It was great to see uncle dave and tucks run great races. 2nd 2.27, and 3rd 2.29. Bloody good under tough conditions.
4 comments:
Bad luck Tim. I know the head cold knocked you around a fair bit. Good decision to stop when you did.
Good luck for the Gold Coast.
Thanks for the wraps Tim, and I'll echo Flake's comments that it was a good decision to stop when you did - one which will no doubt see your prep for the GC on track much sooner than if you'd laboured around for another 16k just to avoid a DNF.
The photo appears to say it all (unless you've recently developed an unnaturally feminine high arm action). Looking forward to seeing some quick times again soon. I think your aim for SMH Half is a bit conservative.
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