Friday 6 March 2009

Time for a race: Half Marathon March 1

I'd been putting of doing this post as i was waiting for official results and possibly a picture so i could be a bit less vague, but with none forecoming i'll just have to ramble on with my thoughts.
With no races since Caboolture i freely admit i was hanging out for a race, any sort of race as long as it was at least a half marathon.
Me without races sometimes is a bit reminiscent of the quote
“All I want to do is drink beer and train like an animal.”
from the New Zealand running great Rod Dixon
http://www.olympic.org.nz/Athletes/AthleteProfile.aspx?Print=&ContactID=1102&id=3774
tend to push myself well over fatigue point when i go on a training run when there isn't a goal that next weekend, would some it up and as for the drinking beer best said i always do find beer (and wine) a great recovery tool !.
Having noted that there was a Half Marathon in Brisbane on the Sunday (at the ungodly hour of 6AM meaning i'd be up and having breakfast at 4 with the 100K drive to follow from the Coast), decided that was my best option.
Only one Half Marathon last year (Warwick in May) and before that my previous two were in April 2006, so admit that nowadays they aren't really my thing (not sure of exact figures but have listed 58 since 1992, quite possibly another 70 odd in the years before - once upon a time they were my "thing"), so it really was a case of going in with no specific training and hoping the legs would remember just what was needed.
Went for a run on Saturday morning, but was feeling so fresh at what i considered to be my standard turnaround point that i decided to go on a bit, the hills of Bilambil Heights did eventually knock the stuffing out of me and what was originally an easy 2 hours turned into more like a tortorous 4 hours, not exactly a brilliant way to freshen up for a half the next day !.
With the petrol gauge light coming on at Beenleigh, spent the rest of the trip looking worried at it, and it was only once i got of the M1 at Stanley St that it dawned i didnt actually know where the Brisbane Road Runners Club venue was, a little worry. Thankfully after a few wrong detours i saw runners parking cars and so did the same.
Running a little late was relieved to find a queue of people still entering so had time to take a breath and relax a little.
Thankfully only hand written numbers, so i could race as i train, topless, lots of familiar faces but a course that i knew from the Brisbane Marathon as being somewhat mind numbing !!.
First up was 550 metres out and back and then we would do 5K loops, however i was a little worried when the 550 metres went on and on, surely i wasn't running that slowly. Went under the clock for the first short lap in 8 minutes+ (bit unsure of exact time), evidently something wasn't correct and was a little peeved, this wasn't going to be a good one, sometimes you can just tell.
Was chatting with Adrian for a while and he was saying we'd gone 1K out rather than the distance meant, was almost relieved thinking it might mean a 22K race instead of a dud half marathon time. Let him and then Keith go as i was still struggling to get the rhythmn needed, i was hoping distance was on my side. Was surprised to see him coming back towards me, sure enough with the wrong distance for the short lap, they had remeasured for our second lap so that the last 3 would all be 5K's, suppose all i could do was keep on going and maybe sometime i'd get that something that hadn't appeared so far.
Another lap and pretty much i'd revised my goal to just making sure i wasn't lapped by the winner, a course that to some degree should provide enough variety (turns, little climbs, etc) but one that just doesnt seem to suit me, still struggling and definitely p*ssed off as i realised sub 90 was going to require speed that my legs didn't appear to have on the day.
One lap to go, and at least the winner was within a lap of me, didn't look back to see him come in but i'm sure he wasn't far behind, i then had another Gold Coaster come up beside me (names aren't my strongpoint as i type this his escapes me !) and then pass me, finally i was a little fired up and made sure i was back in front the next turn. However i then heard footsteps and a strange noise, damn it was Aussie 24 Hour Rep John Pearson complete with running stroller and his son Jack, i do recall having been beaten by a bloke with a dog before but now one with a kid !!, definitely one of those days.
Was glad to at least get in before the clock ticked up to 93 Minutes, 92:3? i think, not a great time and it means i'll have to front up at Warwick again for a faster half. Still next week it Six Foot Track, finally i can get back to doing Ultras, been training hard this week and i'll even try to taper a little next week.
AC/DC tribute band tonight ought to give me some non running exercise

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