The Gold Coast Marathon 2016 Race Review

Let’s start my entry from the results – I ran a Boston Qualifier at the Gold Coast Airport Marathon!

Being female has its advantages, as my time of 3:32 has given me a good clearance of the BQ standard. That is, the chance of being accepted into the Boston Marathon next year is very high based on the law of averages over time.

So read on if you are interested in the pre-race, mid-race, and post-race brouhahas.

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Almost eight months of training and it all comes down to this day. I have tried to rehearse this moment three months prior to the event but it did nothing to calm my stress. Waking up at 4:45am, clearing my bowels, what to eat before...I have practised as much as I could think of what race day would require.

Obviously I wasn't the only one who was on nerve overdrive (well all except one person, an army dude who exhibit calm even in a real life war...), as my friends were also pacing up and down the apartment and tried to start an awkward conversation but it only came out as nervous breathing. At 5:59am sharp I said: “One minute one minute. Move move move! Out out out!”. For a moment all nerves came out but was quickly regenerated when we saw fellow runners at the tram stop.

Loads of runners getting ready to
squeeze in...we know we are on 
the correct platform.

The tram was full to the brim. Luckily two of us here have lived in Hong Kong so this level of crowdedness feels like home. Transport is free between 4am to 3pm by the way (I only noticed it when I removed my bib later in the day...) but in the morning we just took the word of a fellow runner. I don't think a ticket inspector will be able to get inside the tram to check all our tickets.

Eventually we made it to the start, But not without a few obligatory selfies at the start line and in our club tent to ease our pre-race nerves.

Breath in...

    

Once we reach our tent we made a beeline to the toilets. This year the toilet were not as clean or ample or pink – there was a long queue at the main race precinct so knowing there will definitely be more loos in other parts of the ground, so we venture to the left and right for loos. Bingo! And zero massive queues.
On the way back I did a small warm up jog and took some photos as the sun rise further to increase the start line temperature. Temperature was a lovely 10C and a light breeze. Just the way I like it.

Does my back look big in this?

The gun goes off at 7:20am and the first wave of runners was off. There were three waves of entry, all around 3 minutes apart. I have self-seeded myself in the first wave so I can stalk the 3:30 pacer. My goal today is to get a BQ so anything better than 3:35:00 will be perfect - enough to squeeze into the third wave of registration. If I felt good I will try to push for a 3:30 but knowing marathons, I will make a call at 32KM.

0-5km: I placed myself well behind the 3:30 pacer. As a pacer myself ironically I don’t really like to follow the pacer, but I like to stalk the pacer. In a race I find it less draining when I am in my own world. Some people like to follow one from the start but I prefer to run on my own for any race greater than 10Ks. The start felt great and I stayed with my race plan of cruising through the first 14km. It felt as if I was moving through slow motion, so I know I am in a good place. There was a drink station very early on at around 3km, so as a rule I stopped and walked through. Most people at this stage will run through but I thought – if my race plan is to walk through every station then I will stick to it. 
5km split: 25:05

6-10km: At this point I have started to get into a comfortable rhythm. I continue with my “walk the entire drink station strip” strategy, as much as I wanted to just run pass it. The crowd is still relatively thick due to the narrowness of the course at this point but I have started to overtake people. My average pace has slowly picked up to an average of 4:58min/k.
10km Split: 24:54

11-15km: As we head to the turn this body of mine decided to finally fully warmed up. Wakey wakey. As I turn I saw my running bestie around 500 metres behind me. Wonder if he will catch up…
15km split: 24:53
16-20km: Soon after the turn I am also starting to hear my friends on the right side calling my name. It was a weird as I can only hear them but it felt like a distant echo. Later on over lunch they said they were slightly worried as I was looking a bit grumpy and was so far away from the 3:30 balloons. I must have my racing b*tch face on…(the photos from marathon-photos have confirmed my suspicions). Pace wise I have kept it well and stayed at an even 4:58 average.
20km split: 24:48
21-25km: As we head away from the Esplanade, I am enjoying the most comfortable segment. I think it is because the gels finally kicked in (already taken two and reaching out for a third). At this point everything felt beautiful, my average pace has hit 4:57 and I even got a chance to glance at the beach on my right. However, a couple of Ks after passing the half way mark my mind and legs have started to wander...
25km split: 24:58
26-30km: I am starting to feel my hammies! But I kept going and did what I was doing many Ks before. Run and then walk the entire strip of the water station. Around this point runners run past the finish at Anzac park. It was kind of good that we are on the farther side so we cannot see the finish. The commentator at the tower called out my club's name "Here comes another Sydney Strider visiting the Gold Coast". His voice gets repeated over the next speaker so it was kind of funny. 
30K split: 24:58
31-35km: I was getting tired (duh!) and my legs are starting to feel stiff. I knew it wasn't the wall but it was just sheer fatigue. Oh dig deep dig deep I muttered... The pain will pass. My mind was starting to fall asleep and suddenly I heard my two friends from my paddling past called out my name! (They have long finished their Half). My mind suddenly woken up and then next moment I can see the refreshment station.
35K split: 25.49
36-40km: I am still running fine but forcing myself to take more time to walk through the entire drink station strip.
40K split: 26:01
41-42.2km: I had to take a drink at the last drink station. I chucked some cold water on my legs and face to wake myself up. It was strangely welcoming...! I can also feel my hamstrings twitch from fatigue. I forced myself to walk 20 steps every 300 meters. My pace has now dropped to 5:01/km which means I will finish at a 3:32.

And I did. Once we passed the finish I headed over to the railings on the right side and quietly sobbed. Plus I wanted to rest my poor fatigued legs before heading over to the shirt and medal stand. I don't know how long I squatted down there, but a kind volunteer unscrew the lid of a bottle of water and handed it to me when I finally stood up.

I am happy with the result, not only it is a personal best time by almost 17 minutes but also a Boston Qualifier by a more than 7 minutes. It should be sufficient to qualify.

And so we all achieved personal best times.

Back in our apartment where we used our sunny window sill to dry our Endura-drenched shoes and bib...

p.s. I saw this banner on the next day. We noticed a "3" was stuck on the "5". I really like how they reused this banner...

The Gold Coast Marathon Race Expo 2016

Hello from the Gold Coast and welcome to the Gold Coast Marathon expo 2016. We made our way to Broadbeach convention centre (the last stop on the 777 bus (left)) to collect our bibs and bobs. It was an interesting experience at the race bib collection area. I might have queued at a line happened to be manned by a particularly grumpy lady. I was collecting the bibs for two of my other friends, and she demanded that I show her proof that they want me to collect their bibs! Perhaps it was the rule or something but I have never had anyone demanding such documentation. Lucky for me my friends did email/message so politely to collect their bibs on their behalf...

The most ironic thing was - she didn't check my ID when I collect my own bib. Now that is confusing.

Anyway, moving on to the next part of the expo is to collect our Pace our Race Bands and safety pins for our bibs:

   

We had to present our QR codes that came through our registration for the band. Once we find that, scan and a band comes out. Personally I don't use the band but it is a nice reading for me to calm my nerves before the race. It becomes more of a souvenir for me.

   

Straight after the Asics sponsored Pace Band counter is the Asics counter with lots of Asics stuff for sale. Personally I find their stuff fairly average...and prices way above average.We got to taste what we will be given to drink on course tomorrow. Endura. I tried that pineapple one which they labelled it will be the race drink...It tasted like diluted cough syrup. I hope they won't serve this flavour...

This wall was my favourite part of the expo. This was where they placed everyone's name, in alphabetical order, onto the banner. It wasn't too difficult to spot mine. We were meant to find our name, and I am glad they have lined up all our names in alphabetical order.

The expo overall is not too bad. It's fairly basic and does the job. There are some good stores and some good bargains (e.g. I saw some race belts for $10 and bottles for $3). I wasn't keen to buy anything as I can only do a carry-on bag, but it is a potential haven for bargain hunters.

Afterward we made a beeline to our apartment at the Q1 on Surfers Paradise. (my review is here) It was the tallest building in Australia at one stage, but now it is only the tallest on Surfers. Nice apartment with lots of natural light which I liked. The Pool is nice too, but it's really just for the eyes only. Unless, of course, you would like to give the 'ice bucket' challenge a go, hotel pool style.

The weather is expected to be a pleasant 10C tomorrow. I am glad. Everything has gone right so far so I believe tomorrow will be no exception.

 

Happy new running year and my shot at a BQ

Chomping a macaron outside Marie Antoinette's place

After the Berlin Marathon and the obligatory post-race post-mortem brouhahas, the natural next question is: what’s next love?
I have a myriad of possible races I could do, but, what do I really want? During my stay at Paris after Berlin, thinking about my race plan over a macaron…naturally…I thought – you know what? Let’s give Boston a shot! It is the next "big" marathon out of the big 6 if you rank them alphabetically....!

I will need to improve by a minimum of 15 minutes from my Gold Coast PB. Is that even possible?

Let me finish my macaron first…

I have no plan of attack. I have heard speedwork will make you faster, but  I have no clue of what they mean. To improve of my current marathon time of 3:49 I will need to reduce around 35 seconds per KM over the course of the marathon. I have no idea how to achieve that. I know how to run more, but clueless otherwise.
Over a catch up with my running buddies one fine day at our regular club runs, my good friend G heard my desire to get a Boston qualifier, and my cluelessness in achieving it.  “You should get a coach if you can afford it.”
That has led me back to a while ago when I had some running analysis done earlier in the year (the dude said I am a bad runner because my quads are out of proportionally large ha ha!). He also mentioned I should get coaching if I want to improve. And so a coach it is.

And so I signed up to a coach to train towards a BQ started in late October, about a month after Berlin. My first session with him was a shock to the system. It was on a boiling 40C day (the hottest October in 2015!) and Mr Coach said “we will do a 5K tempo run around the oval”. Oval? 5K? at 5min pace? 40C day? I wanted to faint before he even finished explaining the workout. 10 laps later I was down to walking speed so he just told me to finish this lap and move on. It was shocking in every way possible. But I was determine to make it happen.

Fast forward to Patriots' Day on 18 April 2016…

    

I have a very good friend who currently resides in Boston, and I always fancy visiting her as well as a desire check out what Harvard is like. Running marathons has given me an extra incentive to go travelling. Knowing that I am keen to run Boston, she venture out to the side line on race day 2016, and took some snaps of the leading man (centre and right) and woman (left). The lady wasn't leading until mile 20 (I think!). I like her grittiness.

After thanking her for her photos, my Boston friend replied: “See you in 2017 :-)”

My interval running buddies

By then I am around 6 months deep in the training phases with those 30K long runs and speedwork. As I reside too far to training with the squad on a regular basic, I invited some of my local running friends to join me during my weekly interval sessions (photo on the right) . They happily obliged, and were especially enthusiastic with the hill sessions…NOT! It was fun doing intervals with them, not only for our weekly catch ups but also taking the sheer pain in doing speedwork. It was also nice to be speaking to other human as opposed to just me and nothingness at 5AM. Usually it is just me and the occasional bird and unleashed dog.

And so now I am waiting at the airport lounge waiting to board my flight to the Gold Coast – in 24 hours time I will know whether all these training was able to get me to where I want to be.