Westlink M7 Blacktown Running Festival - Half Marathon Review

I arrived early today so I get to cheer on my club friends at the start of their race. Blondie me - turns out I just made it in the nick of time. I made it just a few minutes before the start gun went off and the roar of Eye of the Tiger off the PA. Apparently it is the tradition to play that song in this race.

The marathon consists of a small (think 200 people) but very high quality runners.  From what I hear the route is very undulating and boring...no crowds or music. The only cheers are from the dedicated volunteers on the course. I guess you have to be of pretty high calibre to put up with such boredom.

Anyway the half normally starts in an hour after the full started. Once I saw the guys off I decided to find the loo and then warm up around the oval. It was such a cold morning and being situated so far inland made the temperature drop even further. I went for a jog around the athletic track and caught up with my friend Simon. After quick exchanges of how are yous he revealed he had forgotten his bib! I told him to get a replacement but he said its ok..."it's not a serious race so I plan just to run it. How about I pace you at 1:45?"

I took on his offer.

And we are off!

He then proceeded in explaining the route. According to him the route is narrow and very undulating. The main relief is the last 500m where it's all downhill then flat along the athletes track. Luckily he told me all of that or I would be been surprised (in a bad way).

Anyhoo so I ran. The pace of 4:45min/k was ok for the first 14km but afterward I started to struggled. My stride was laborious and my breathing was out of whack. I think the run at GC has left a massive hole in my energy reserve and it's still not a full tank. After 17km my pace has dropped to 5min/km. I also felt stomach cramp after drinking blue Powerade. I had to slow down even further to relieve my cramp. Simon tried to encourage me to continue but I simply cannot hold on. He felt my pain and slow down and kept on encouraging me. The cramp slowly subsided after dropping my pace further to 5:15min/km. The route was indeed, super undulating and super boring. One really needed to hold onto every mental cell just to stay sane. 

Around 19km Simon hopped off the track and said see you at the finish. Being bib-less he was almost caught around 15km mark but obviously ran off pretending to be oblivious to the obvious issue...

Long story short - I picked up my speed again and ended up with a 1:46. It wasn't the time I was striving for, but then again I didn't train specifically for a half, nor have I fully recovered from GC. So I am fairly happy with my result.

I think the M7 races really take someone special to race it. It is particularly taxing in the head as there is no crowd or entertainment on the course. The undulating and narrow route has made the race super challenging. I don't think I would ever want to do the full there. The half...maybe! It's small enough for the announcer to call your name out at the finish :-)

Here's the medal!

Gold Coast Airport Marathon - 4th time lucky

And so the 4 hour curse was comfortably broken on the 4th attempt…
It's done and I am looking forward to run a similar time in the future. Being so physically unnaturally made for running I am one proud human being! I also enjoy the advantages of finishing a little earlier than usual. Mainly, the likelihood of your favourite post-race Cola will still be cold; there will still be food and fruit left in the club tent, and you get to spend more time hogging more sunny warm grass space! So here's what happened:

Race day morning
Given there was road closure right outside our apartment my friend suggested it would be wise for us to walk to the start. This was the best decision ever. Not only walking will give us an exact arrival time to the start tent, it was also a good way to warm up our bodies for the mega mileages ahead.
On the way there we saw the half marathoners already out in force:

The GCAM 2015 Half Marathoners out in force at 6AM

Later we saw a couple of our club friends sitting comfortably behind the 2 hour pacer and we waved and cheered. We also played traffic cop to stop people running on the right side of the median strip because if you continue on the right hand side you will have to eventually jump over the barrier. The organisers probably ran out of orange traffic cones......so  it was awkward to watch competitors jumping back over the route. We helped a few people run back the right way but most people were blissfully unawared.

Anyhoo we reached the start tent. Another great thing that I came to realise with walking 2.5km to the start line was that it gets the blood in your intestine moving...my stomach was feeling funny around half way to the start and luckily it wasn't during the run or I would have sh*t everywhere. What I love about the Gold Coast Marathon was their super clean port-a-loos!! They were pristine! They smelt of heavy toilet cleaners but boy they were clean!
The time came and we have to line up. At that point in time I was still unsure what average pace I will do. The Boy kept telling me to do 5:19 for a sub 3:45 finish. I think partly because I promised earlier that if I finished sub 3:45 then I will take everyone to the pub and shout all food and beer! But I know I cannot at this point in time because I don’t even train at 5:19 pace so I don’t even know what that feels like…
Eventually I decided to simply close my eyes and just run whatever that feels marathon-comfortable. It was also strangely warm for a winter day and I really enjoyed it as I don't fare well in the cold. At that point in time...2 minutes before the start I had this sudden urge to pee. Ugh too late now! I will find a loo along the way (I will find one but doubt I will go so I better just get the run over and done with quickly so I can pee!).

And so the Gold Coast Marathon started.

My friends looking very happy!

0-5KM. The first 2km I had to swim through the crowd and stuck at 5:30min pace. So that means I had to increase my pace to an average pace of 5:25min/k by the 5KM. I did it though but it's not ideal.
5-10KM. I saw a lot of people overtaking me. I had to suppress my competitive streak to let them pass me and forced myself to stay at goal pace (5:25) and let them go and catch them later...
10-15KM. The first turning point. As I was approaching the turn I saw the elites and later my team mates flew by. It was magnificent to watch them run! Around the 12KM mark my body has finally warm up and I was able to reduce my average pace to 5:23min/km.
15-25KM. This was the most magical part of the run. I was in full control and I felt like I was floating with each stride. I was able to maintain my average pace of 5:23 throughout the run.
25-30KM. Ok this part was tough. I don't think that the wall but – suddenly my pace slowed by a few seconds per km and by 30km mark my average pace was down to 5:24.
30-35KM. I was able to pick up my pace after a slow km (1km slow, 1km faster). My average has drop down to 5:26. I was still feeling great but I think my cadence had drop as I was getting tired. At this point I can feel cramp creep...that same dreaded tingle down my right calf that I had at the Six Foot Track marathon back in February. To restraint the cramp I walked at every water stop and also forced myself to stand tall. It worked and I was able to suppressed the cramp.
35-40KM. At this point I told myself that this is the part of the race I excel at. And I did. This was the point where I hit my runners high and I found my stride again and was able to pick my average pace back up to 5:25. By that time I was onto my GU Espresso Love with caffeine and hope that will give me a lift for the final few Ks.
40-42.2KM – Arguably the longest 2.2 KM ever. I feel very dehydrated I even had to stop at the last drinks top at 1.6km to go. Two cups in hand, walked for 5 seconds, and off to pound the pavement again. The last 400M was fuelled by pure emotion and adrenaline as I have nothing left. The crowd must have saw me with my suffering face on, which drew even more cheers! By the time I saw the finish arch I had 45 seconds to approach it. That felt like the longest 50m, ever.

I crossed the line at 3:52 and a net time of 3:49. I was very happy that the 4hour curse has truely been broken!

I don't want to gloat here as there are huge room for improvement in time for Berlin in September, but right now I am just so so so so so happy! I shed a tear of joy and relief at the finish. I even almost scored a place at the medics tent because I walked into one of the volunteers and she thought I was about to faint. (I wasn’t but I was delirious and just walking into people)

Me and the obligatory medal shot

Analysis paralysis

I need to stretch more/do more yoga. My hips are very rigid from being a long time desk jockey.

Cramps – I still have no idea why I get them. I blame it on my still sh*tty running technique. I never get them at training runs so it’s a bit difficult to work out a cure for it. Perhaps if I persevere and work on my technique I might be crampless for Berlin.

Gels – SIS are now my gel of choice. I no longer carry a bottle when I run on road so these liquidly SIS gels quench my thirst when I most needed it.

I still like to carry a couple of GU/Expresso Love for a caffeine kick towards the finale. They are very compact which is ok.

I think I should have carbed up more. I did feel a bit tired (battery charged to around 80%).

Pacing wise it is good this time. My pace was fairly even overall with a bit of a drip from 35km onwards (loss about 5-8seconds per KM). A little bit of a positive split but that’s ok. (5:24 down to 5:28). I would prefer to be identical all the way though. Something to work on.

Time to celebrate all our achievements!