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‘There’s no such thing as a bad run’ – yeah, right!

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Lately ‘everything’s coming up Milhouse’ with my running. I’ve done PBs for marathons and 5k, my first ultra (with a surprise podium finish!) and generally just having the time of my life!

With no more big events on the horizon for a few more weeks, it’s time to focus on when it all goes wrong…

This year I can think of two clear examples of getting it very, very, wrong.

The first was a training run to which I may have alluded in a previous post. It was the day after Valentine’s Day, quite early in the Barossa Marathon 16 week programme. It was a hot, hot day – from memory it reached 36 degrees during the run, which was finished by 10:30am, so you can only imagine what the maximum temperature must have been.

I had been out the night before, celebrating Valentine’s Day in the only way I know how – having a few too many ciders with 2 of my favourite (non-runner) girlfriends! It wasn’t a super-late night but the thought of getting up at 5:30am the next day for a pre-run breakfast was horrifying to me, so I set my alarm for the latest possible time to allow me to get to the meeting point in time. (A later, solo run was not an option,  not only due to the anticipated heat, but also because later that day I was going to the much-hyped India v Pakistan World Cup cricket match.)

I hadn’t rehydrated enough. I’d taken a bottle of water to bed but, true to form, I’d fallen asleep straight away and not drunk a drop.

I made it to the start, 1.5 litres of water in my backpack (I usually carried 1L but due to the heat I thought I needed more). If I’d eaten anything it was just a nut bar – my usual pre-run fuel during the week but grossly inadequate for a run of about 23km.

So it’s hardly surprising that I had a crap run.

I wasn’t the only one. A few of my running buddies turned back early due to the heat. Our coach Chris told us it wasn’t worth smashing ourselves so early in the programme – there were plenty of weeks to go, and one abbreviated long run wouldn’t do any harm. However, I was determined to finish.

My average pace was 7:12 per km. There was a LOT of walking.

So what went wrong? Where do I start? Too many drinks the night before with inadequate rehydration. No breakfast. Not enough sleep. Carrying extra weight in my backpack (although the extra water WAS needed so I’m not sure if I could have done anything about that). The heat (the only factor I couldn’t control!)

On the plus side, there was a sense of accomplishment from having completed the run. And I took comfort from the knowledge that I was unlikely to have a worse run than this!

The other crap run that immediately springs to mind is the 2015 Clare Half Marathon, my first half of the year.

My preparation was good. I’d driven up the day before and stayed in nearby Auburn. I’d ventured into Clare to get a pizza that night (my favoured pre-race meal) and enjoyed it back at my motel with a cider or 2. I had all my gear prepared, and was up in plenty of time to eat breakfast, pack up all my gear, check out of the motel and get to the start line in plenty of time.

It was a beautiful morning. Clare can be chilly but I decided, on the way to the start line, to leave my arm warmers in the car – it was sunny and kind of warmish! I’d had my pre-race energy drink and toilet stop. I was ready and raring to go.

So what went wrong here, you ask? Well there were two things, but the biggest factor was pacing.

In most of my previous halves I have employed a ‘negative split’ pacing strategy. This means running the first half slower than the second, conserving energy for the back half. It has always served me well.

This time, for the first time, I had made a pace band. This was a strip of paper, laminated and made into a wristband, that listed the time I needed to run each km. I had opted for the negative split again. The only problem was that I had decided to try to run a half marathon PB.

My PB had been set at last year’s Greenbelt Half. Greenbelt is considered a fast course, being a net downhill point-to-point course, with a few undulations but nothing too nasty. Clare, on the other hand, is an out-and-back course, uphill on the ‘out’ and supposedly downhill on the ‘back’. I had successfully ‘negative-split’ this event last year so thought, why not try it again?

The problem was, my first 11km needed to be run at 5:00 min/km pace. Uphill. I made it to 11km in just under 55 minutes alright, but then I was spent. Not only did I not have the energy left to up my pace, I barely had the energy left to finish the race! (I had also neglected to bring any nutrition – that was my second mistake – I won’t go into that now, I think that’s a blog post in itself!)

The last 10km was not fun. There was a LOT of walking. (Somehow, an out-and-back course that was uphill on the way out, appeared to be uphill on the way back too!)

So far, other than the 6 hour event last weekend, that is the ONLY road race in which I’ve walked at all. I did have thoughts of quitting but I thought of the medal… I wasn’t coming all this way to walk away without any bling!

I did finish, eventually. Surprisingly it wasn’t my slowest ever competitive half, but it was close. And all because I got a bit ambitious!

I went for the PB again at Greenbelt just a few weeks later.  I used the same pace band. It didn’t quite come off for me that time either, but I only missed the PB by 10 seconds and overall had a fantastic run.

I WILL get that PB sooner or later, but probably not at Clare! And I WILL go back and run Clare again next year – unfinished business and all that!

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Running round in circles

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Last week I told the story of my experience at the Gold Coast Marathon. This weekend could not have been more of a contrast. On Saturday I ran in the Yumigo! Adelaide 6/12/24 hour event.

For the uninitiated, this is an endurance event held at Adelaide’s Uni Loop, a 2.2km gravel running track around the North Adelaide parklands. There are 3 events – 6, 12 and 24 hours. The idea is to cover as much distance as possible in the allocated time, running lap after lap. After lap.

I had had previous experience with a 6 hour event back in March – a social, non-competitive fundraising event to raise money for running friend Emma to fund her trip to Italy for the World 24 Hour Championships. I took it relatively easy, initially planning to run 30km (just slightly more than my long run was scheduled to be that day), then 42.2, then 45, then eventually getting to 46.9 thanks to Denis pushing me for one final lap before time was up! I had plenty of rests and I knew I had plenty of room to improve. From that day on, I had the Yumigo! event firmly in my sights.

Fast-forward to July. Having just come off a marathon, I had opted for the 6 hour event as the ‘sensible’ option. I had entered on the Monday, having wanted to see how I recovered from Gold Coast before committing. I hadn’t seen the weather forecast which was a good thing. I later found out that the forecast was for a cold weekend with rain, hail and thunderstorms (and possible snow on Mt Lofty). I probably would have given it a miss had I known, but having entered, I had to go through with it!

The week was a combination of recovery and tapering. I did 2 runs during the week, and 2 walks with my running groups.

A few days beforehand, I studied the event manual, and on race eve I collected my race bibs and timing chip from the start line. It was also an opportunity to see where I had to go, to make sure I allowed enough time to get there in the morning. I also got a few last minute helpful pieces of advice from ultra veterans and fellow 6 hour entrants Kym and Graham. (As an aside, Graham was the first person to tell me about this event, a few years ago. I told him I thought it sounded incredibly boring. And yet here I was, about to run it!)

My pre-event dinner was a carb-laden risotto with a group of running friends. It was a shame I had to leave at 9:30 while they were all still going but I had to be up in 7 hours and I still wasn’t packed.

With rainy weather forecast, I needed plenty of clothes. I packed at least 2 of everything… shorts, socks, shoes, calf compression sleeves, 3 long sleeved tops and towels, as well as a hat (to keep the rain and hail out of my eyes), rain jacket and a tracksuit and sandals to put on afterwards.

Given the likely requirement for clothing changes, I had opted to pin my bibs (front and back) to a Spibelt instead of to my clothing – this would mean I didn’t have to re-pin my bib even if I had to change my top and/or shorts.

The morning of the run I got up at 4:30, ate my usual breakfast and finished getting ready. Food-wise I didn’t need much… the event supplied plenty of food and drinks… but I took a few bits and pieces that have served me well in the past. I had a chocolate spread sandwich, Gatorade, almonds and Lifesavers.

I arrived at the start at around 5:40. Already the street parking was filling up, and I had to park further away than I’d hoped… something I would regret later in the day when I had to walk back to the car! Still, I made it to the start line in plenty of time, dropping my bag off in one of the tents and deciding at the last minute to go without the gloves and rain jacket… something I would soon come to regret…

We started at 6am sharp. My first goal was 42.2km… that would mean 2 marathons inside a week… I wasn’t sure if and when I’d ever get the chance to do that again! That was very doable… so I set myself a second goal of 50km… which would be my first time reaching that distance. Then, I could call myself an ultramarathoner!

It was cold, and the rain soon started, and hail not long after that. Fortunately the hail was only short-lived… this was my first ever time running in hail, and I was very thankful for the hat!

I had opted not to do the portaloo stop before the start… my experience in marathons has been that I always go before I start, but still always feel like I need to go again just before the start of the event. In my 3 marathons and however many halves, so far I have never needed to stop. That suggests to me that it’s all mental, and/or that I don’t drink enough! However, on this occasion I still needed to go about half an hour in, having already received one soaking from above. Given that it was a 6 hour event, I knew I’d have to stop at least once so I thought now was the time.

I don’t want to venture into ‘too much information’ territory but suffice to say cold numb hands and soaking wet Skins shorts does not make for a quick pit stop! I think it took me a minute just to lock the door and probably about 5 minutes altogether! I definitely should have put the gloves on before the start, but it was too late now. I pushed on…

The 6 and 12 hour runners started together, so we spent our full 6 hours running with the 12 hour runners. We had bibs front and back, mostly with names on them, which was a great touch as it meant we could give encouragement as we ran with/past others on the course. It was great to chat with fellow runners, discussing previous experiences in similar events, what our goals were for the day, etc etc! It was especially great to get encouragement from race ambassador Wayne Calvert who was running the 12 hour. He ended up finishing second in that event, so he was obviously going at quite a pace, but he still found time to encourage those around him which was awesome!

Regular running buddy Sarah came and ran with me briefly. She asked me if I had a ‘run/walk’ strategy. I replied “Yes… I’m going to keep running until I can’t run anymore. Then I’ll walk”.

I did walk at times. Mostly when I was eating. My nutrition consisted of sandwiches (my own chocolate spread one, and peanut butter ones supplied at the food tent – never before has peanut butter on white bread tasted so good!) and delicious brownies made by the legendary Maurice. Oh and a packet of chips early on, that I couldn’t open myself because my hands were so cold! Hydration-wise I didn’t drink a lot of water but I did finish my 1.5L bottle of Gatorade before leaving the course.

The turning point for me undoubtedly came when James arrived with a piping hot long black for me. He had offered the previous day to come down with a coffee for me, but given the weather conditions I would not have blamed him for not coming. But he did, probably around the halfway mark, and boy was I glad to see him! (OK maybe it was the coffee I was glad to see more so than James. Sorry James!)

He and fellow running buddy Dean walked with me around the track as I sipped that beautiful, beautiful hot beverage. Not only did the caffeine give me a huge boost but the hot cup helped warm up my cold hands. By the time I’d finished it, my energy level had skyrocketed and I quickly slipped back into my running rhythm again. From then on I felt amazing! I swore he must have spiked it with something!

Despite my bag full of clothing, I really could have used more. I changed tops just before the halfway point, with just one long-sleeved top left (to put on at the end). Not 10 minutes later, the heavens opened again, so I was stuck in wet clothing for the duration.

A lot of people I spoke to including Kathleen and Clodia had the goal of running a marathon in the 6 hours. It is a really great way for someone to run a first marathon… very safe, well supported, facilities every 2.2km, and a guaranteed medal even if you don’t complete the full distance. It was great to see both of them achieve their goals!

I’m not sure exactly when I reached the marathon distance but according to Strava it was a touch over 4 hours. From then I knew the 50km was definitely on. Given the weather, I planned to stop and walk after that, or possibly even stop altogether if it was really raining heavily. In fact I could have walked from that point and still made 50km. But I was running strongly… still hanging around the 5:55 minutes per km mark, so kept going.

In my previous marathons I have had left hip soreness around the halfway point. I did feel that again during the 6 hour (probably about 2 hours in) but had forgotten to pack the Voltaren, and I didn’t want to try any different drugs, and it wasn’t impeding me too much, so I pressed on, and eventually it went away!

That was the only real ‘injury’ concern I had, although one of my toenails had become a bit inflamed during Gold Coast, and I really started to notice it in the last few hours. I was dreading taking my shoes and socks off, because I was fully expecting to see either blood or detached toenails, but was pleased to see neither!

50km came just before 5 hours. My pace hadn’t dropped, so at that point the goalposts shifted and I was going for 60km!

I really enjoyed the last few hours. The 24 hour super crazies started when we had 2 hours to go, so I got to see regular running friends Karen, Tory, Jonathan, Emma, Barry, Michael and Marc start their event, and also met a lot of new people including Sean who was over from Tasmania, and Tracey who had recently done 20 laps of the Snakepit! (The Snakepit is a torture chamber of sorts near the beach in Adelaide’s west – a 500m sand track including some nasty little hills. I’d managed 11 laps that day… 20 was unthinkable!)

I managed to hold my pace in the final hour and crack the 60km mark. My Garmin showed 62km but my official distance was just over 60. Still, I wasn’t complaining… it was WELL beyond what I expected! I went like a maniac in the last 15 minutes… my Garmin showed a couple of sub-5 minute kms right near the end!

Looking at the photos, I’m smiling in ALL of them. And they are not fake smiles like the ones in some of my marathon photos. I was genuinely enjoying myself! And that is another point of contrast (along with the weather) between this event and Gold Coast. Despite it being a fantastic event in perfect weather conditions, and despite getting a PB, my run at Gold Coast was the least enjoyable of my 3 marathons. At the 6 hour, despite the weather and the potential monotony of running the same 2.2km loop 27 TIMES, I had a ball from start to finish!

Regular running buddy Gary, who had covered about 1km more than me despite being troubled by leg cramps late in the event, told me I might be in contention for a podium finish! I was shocked… I never would have expected that! After a tense wait while the final distances were added up, I ended up finishing 2nd female out of 30, and 12th overall out of 55 starters. I was particularly happy to find that along with a sweet trophy to go with my finisher medal, I got a magnum of shiraz thanks to the sponsor Fox Creek Wines! The first place finisher, Marlize, was a few km ahead of me, and I couldn’t see where I could have found any extra kms to knock her out of first place, so I was over the moon with my runner-up finish.

After the presentation I was lucky enough to be treated to a guest pass at a city health club, from Shannon, who had also completed her first 6 hour. Shannon had told me, when I had told her I was aiming for 50km, that I would get closer to 56km! Little did I know that she was right! Along with a few other fellow 6 hour finishers we enjoyed a lovely hot spa and not-so-lovely cold plunge pool… such a relief after the 6 hour slog in the cold and rain!

After dinner in town with Gary and other running friends (curry… my new go-to post-event meal after recovering so well from Gold Coast), we headed back to the Uni Loop to watch the 24 hour runners for a while. We didn’t last long… it was cold, wet and windy. Mega respect to those runners. And the volunteers/pit crews. I’m convinced that their jobs are WAY harder than running!

After a decent night’s sleep (despite the disappointment of Australia’s capitulation in the first Ashes Test) I headed back to the Uni Loop to see the 24 hour runners finish. It was still cold and wet… I was again VERY happy to have ‘only’ run the 6 hour! At the presentation, some of the runners were struggling to walk the 10 or so metres to receive their medals, and some had the medals delivered to them. Again… what a huge effort from those people in such difficult conditions!

I think maybe I might like to do the 24 hour one day. Just once, to say I’ve done it. I won’t be looking to set any records like the remarkable Lee Piantadosi who covered over 200km to take out first female (and first place overall). I’d like to do it in a team, I can’t imagine doing it on my own! And I think I’d need to sleep, at least for a few hours, unlike many of the higher placed finishers.

Thanks to Ben Hockings for putting on this fabulous event… I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to set themselves a challenge! I will definitely be back next year… the only question is, which distance?

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Lion or tiger?

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Running in groups, or running alone? Many people have very clear views on this. They either prefer to run in packs, like lions, or solitary, like tigers. There’s no right or wrong of course… it all depends on what works best for you. (Much like the early morning vs afternoon/evening debate)

Up until recently, I was firmly in the ‘lion’ camp. Why else would I want to get out of bed at arse o’clock when it’s 2 degrees outside with the possibility of rain thrown into the bargain? Or on a Sunday morning on a stinking hot summer day after a night out drinking with the girls and only a couple of hours sleep?

I love running in a group. I regularly run with 3 weekday morning groups, plus my parkrun on Saturdays with 250+ of my closest friends, and on Sundays it could be any of: a long road run, a trail run or a race (all, again, as part of a group). Some mornings I really look forward to the run itself, sometimes it is the ‘therapy’ that comes from chatting with fellow runners along the way (NEVER underestimate the power of a little ‘run therapy’), and to be honest sometimes it’s just the thought of the coffee afterwards that gets me out of bed! I did once make the mistake of turning up for coffee without running… my fellow runners gave me so much (good-natured) grief for that, I decided never to do that again!

Running CAN be boring… but if you’re running with a group that can take your mind off the monotony. There’s generally a range of paces in the groups which means that everyone should be able to find someone to run with. Sometimes I run in the middle of the pack, sometimes I just feel like an easy ‘jogette’ (eg in the post-marathon week) and sometimes, somehow, I find myself running with ‘the fast guys’ (admittedly only when they are tapering, injured or recovering,  but still…). In any case I always have good company.

The traditional post-run coffee is a way that all of us get to catch up,  regardless of pace. It’s a big part of the whole experience and I’m always disappointed when work commitments mean I have to dash off straight after the run. Fortunately my work is flexible and for the most part I can make my own appointments and therefore make it to coffee!

The thought of doing a long run on my own filled me with dread, particularly in the early days. I did my first 30k on my own last year, only because my soccer team had a pub crawl scheduled on the Saturday night and I wanted to be able to enjoy it without having thoughts of the next day’s (probably hungover) long run popping into my head. So I drove to Paradise on the Saturday morning, with the intention of running 15k along the river and then back again. It wasn’t an enjoyable run but it was broken up a bit when a friend from one of my running groups, Gary, happened to be running on the same track and ran with me for 4k. That was a godsend… although he is a fast runner… I certainly couldn’t have sustained 30k at that pace, but it was great to have some company if only for a short time.

The rest of my long runs happened on Sundays, even when I had to dash off to play soccer straight afterwards. I just hated the idea of running on my own!

Recently,  though, things have changed. I have had a few positive experiences running on my own that have made me realise it’s not so bad!

Solo running lets you run at ‘your’ pace, rather than that of those around you. I thought that running solo would make me run slower, but actually the last time I ran on my own, I ran faster than expected!

It also allows you to concentrate on things like breathing and cadence/stride length, which is hard to do when distracted by conversation. Sometimes I’ll use my iPod (volume low enough to hear the sounds of the outside world) and other times I’ll be mentally composing my next blog post.

And sometimes it’s just great to have some time to yourself especially when life gets a bit chaotic! This year, 1 week out from the Barossa Marathon,  I ran a lovely 20k in Katoomba. It was not easy… lots of elevation, but such amazing scenery on the trail. No music for me that day… just a small pocket of serenity on what was a crazy weekend!

I’ve done solo runs at other times when away on holidays either alone or with non-runners… in Sydney (how can you possibly have a bad run when Sydney Harbour is the backdrop?), Queenstown NZ (Wow. Just wow!), and also in London and Liverpool in the lead-up to my first marathon (the London runs were SLOW mostly due to having to stop every 30 seconds to take a photo!). The novelty of running in a new place and being able to combine a run with a little sightseeing made these runs most enjoyable.

More recently I slept in on a Sunday after a late night out… the 5.30 alarm was quickly silenced and I somehow managed to turn off the 6am one without waking up. I knew, when I saw sunlight when I woke up about an hour later, that I had missed my group run. So I got up and had breakfast while trying to plan out a suitable loop from home – one that was long enough that I wouldn’t have to repeat it too many times,  and short enough that I wouldn’t need to carry too much fuel… just a hand held bottle (which I could refill when passing by home) and a pocketful of Lifesavers. As it turned out my loop was the perfect length – 3 loops made 26k which was the same distance as the group run. It was a cold morning so going out a little later meant the sun was out and it was maybe a few degrees warmer. Pace was good… comparable to recent long runs despite the nasty little Greenhill Road hill (Feathers Hotel to Hallett Rd if that means anything to you!) being part of the loop, hence by the third ascent my legs were starting to complain! I actually enjoyed this run, I did run with music this time and I certainly think that helped. It’s good to know that if I do need to do a long run on my own in future, it’s nothing to be dreaded!

So I guess that settles it. I am a liger!

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Race Report – Gold Coast Marathon 5 July 2015

image I’m writing this sitting on the plane heading back home to wintry Adelaide from the sunny Gold Coast. 6 weeks ago I had just completed the Barossa Marathon, my second marathon EVER, in PB time and I was in Struggletown. I wondered why, and how, I was going to run another marathon in 6 weeks time.

I went out for 2 slow runs during that week and by Saturday I was back to normal… managing a reasonably fast parkrun that day. In the following weeks, I started running better than ever. It seemed to be less of an effort, and I often surprised myself with the pace I was running… it was a lot faster than it felt.

Things were looking promising, even my long runs were done at a good pace. I even managed to get in a few Sunday trail runs which were a nice change of pace (I did have to hold myself back a bit on the trail runs… the last thing I wanted was to fall over and injure myself so close to a big race).

In marathon week I did a couple of easy paced morning runs on Tuesday and Wednesday, before departing on Thursday morning. After being picked up at the airport by former Adelaidean, now Gold Coast local, Vanessa, I got my first sight of the beach over coffee and cake at one of the many surf clubs along the Coast. After lunch it was time to get down to business… to registration and the Expo.

The apartment where I was staying was conveniently located within walking distance of the Convention Centre. Registration done, it was time to check out the Expo. The way it is laid out, all participants have to walk past every stand (and there were a LOT of stalls) to get out. Great exposure for the companies with stands there! My credit card managed to get off relatively lightly with an $80 purchase from Skins just as the expo was about to close for the day. Back again the following day, I spent $60 at Rockwear. I think anyone that was there would agree that I was very restrained… it was all quite overwhelming and very tempting!

Later on Friday afternoon it was off to Main Beach for an informal parkrun. That was an enjoyable, casual paced 5k trot along a lovely, varied course. Australian running royalty, Robert de Castella, was there, along with the current crop of runners from the Indigenous Marathon Project, who would be running the half marathon as part of their training for the New York Marathon. The parkrun was followed by a few drinks at the local surf club (why can’t every parkrun end like that? Never mind the fact that they are normally held on Saturday mornings!)

Saturday was a running-free day… no running, no expo. I had my traditional pre-marathon dinner of pizza and cider, and then it was back to the apartment to get the gear ready for the following day. I opted for the same outfit that had served me well at Barossa, minus the arm warmers (hardly needed here!) and with blue calf sleeves instead of pink. Oh, and a new hat compliments of the Garmin stand at the expo – I only wore it in the race because it was identical to the one I had worn at Barossa, only with a Garmin logo printed on it. NEVER try something for the first time in a race, not even something as small and seemingly insignificant as a hat. I had new shoes too… identical to my previous ones, and nicely broken in with 42km of mainly parkruns (including 2 PBs – they were fast shoes!)

Race day came.  I got up at 5am and had my usual breakfast… Weetbix, muesli and chia with rice milk. Dressed and armed with my (not-so) secret weapons – a handheld bottle of Gatorade, Lifesavers, energy drink, energy pills and Voltaren, I put on my 5 pace bands (my 3 from Barossa plus 2 I had picked up at the Expo) – ranging from 3:30 (dreaming) to 3:45 (realistic) and it was off on the tram to the start line!

I started in Group B, behind the 3:45 pacer. Previously I had always gone for a negative split so I always knew I’d pass the pacer eventually. I had seen Clive, with whom I had done a lot of my Sunday runs, on the walk to the start, but I didn’t see any of the other Adelaide people I knew were there. I’d seen the finish chute and the ‘250m to go’ sign… how good a feeling would it be when I saw that sign again later in the morning? I was hoping for 3:30 but that was a big jump from my previous 3:39 so I never really expected it. It’s always worth setting an ambitious goal as long as you don’t beat yourself up too much if you don’t achieve it! A PB would be nice though…

My mojo had disappeared and I felt quite flat in the leadup and at the start line. But I’d come this far so there was no way I wasn’t going to give it 110%! There were so many people (5276 finishers, and presumably more than that at the start) that the first km was a bit slow for my liking!

I had chosen, right from the start, to ignore ALL FIVE of the pace bands I had put on. So they really served no purpose other than to give me some interesting looking tan lines! My first 5km was completed in 5:06 min/km average pace. WAY faster than planned! (My next 2 5km splits were both identical at 5:08. Very consistent. I wasn’t used to this!)

I’m not sure exactly what point in the race, I spotted ahead of me a blue Running Domain singlet. At last! A familiar face! (Running Domain is the group with which I have done my Sunday long runs this year) I quickly caught up to Amanda and we ran together for close to 20km. We hadn’t actually run together before and only really chatted via Facebook so it was nice to run with someone new! Amanda was going for 3:45 which would be a PB. Pace-wise we were well ahead of where we needed to be.

We ran with a couple of guys for a while, Luke and Adam, who were hoping for sub 4 hours so they were quite confident when they heard what times we were aiming for! I left Amanda just after the halfway point (I like to call it the ‘Bon Jovi moment’ – we’re halfway there!) and really just tried to hold on from that point! My left hip had started to niggle around the 18km mark so I’d had 2 Voltaren and after about half an hour it didn’t bother me again.

Hydration was a new experience… my 2 previous marathons were run with bottled water, whereas as a non-elite runner in such a big event, today I had to make do with the cups of water supplied at the drink stations. I didn’t want to change my sports drink so I brought my own Gatorade, and being a warmer climate than I was used to, I thought I’d get too hot if I wore my hydration vest. It took me a while to get used to drinking out of cups. I’d already perfected the technique of grabbing them on the run, but I usually ended up wearing more of the water than I drank. Paper cups are definitely easier than plastic and after about the 3rd drink station I’d got my technique sorted… bending the cup to make a sort of funnel. I didn’t stop at all the stations…  I didn’t want to OVER hydrate and I also didn’t want to have to make a portaloo stop! There was plenty of time for hydrating AFTER the race!

I rationed my Gatorade, ensuring I would have some left at the end. If I needed a boost I’d have a Lifesaver… sugar I know, not ideal but it works for me!

I was trying to hold a consistent pace, something I’d never done before over this distance. Early on I was averaging 5:06 minute kms, and over time it slowly increased to 5:07, then 5:08. I really wanted to keep it under 5:10 as that would mean a new PB.

I had been warned by Amanda (who had run this event last year) that the 30km mark was nasty… a bit of a hill, and going past the finish line with still over 12km to go. She was right! And then I knew that I had to run about 6km more before the turnaround after which I would technically be on the home stretch. That was the longest 6km I think I’ve ever run! I thought a 2 lap course like Barossa would mess with my head but I think this was worse!

At one point (I think with around 5km to go) I thought “If I hear one more person say ‘You’re nearly there!’, I am going to punch them!” Luckily for that person, I was too far away and too buggered by then! With 12km to go, I tried to tell myself, ‘That’s just City to Bay… that’s nothing!’ It didn’t work. 12km after having run 30km is still a bloody long way!

Even with 5km to go, ‘Just a parkrun to go’ wasn’t cutting it! (At about the 2km mark, someone had held a sign that said ‘Only 8 parkruns to go!’ Cheeky bugger!) Happily, as I was waiting to see the 36km marker, I was surprised to see the 37km marker instead… I’d somehow missed the 36km! (Probably because I was running a lot with my head down at this point. This was a bit dangerous as a lot of people were walking along the left hand side of the road by now, and I could easily have taken one of them out!) 36km is a psychological barrier as that is the longest distance we do in our long runs. I was so glad to be 1km ahead of where I thought I was… normally it’s the other way round!

My pace was hanging around 5:07/5:08. It was a struggle but I’d come this far… I wasn’t going to stop now! Surprisingly the heat, which I had been warned about, wasn’t a big issue for me… I actually didn’t really notice it!

I got to the 40km mark and for the first time I saw the elapsed time (on my Garmin I had only allowed myself to look at my average pace, not the overall time). It was around 3 hours 30 minutes. With very tired legs, I couldn’t see myself completing the remaining 2.2km in well under 10 minutes… the PB wasn’t going to happen today! I was tempted to walk (I hadn’t walked at all up to this point) and did drop my head a bit, but within a minute or so it dawned on me… that was gun time! I’d crossed the start line over 2 minutes after gun time… the PB was still on!

I pushed on… I really was ‘nearly there’ by now!

The last km was a blur. I really felt like I was dreaming, it didn’t feel real! I was still sitting on 5:09 pace so I was confident of my PB. Then there was that magical ‘250m to go’ sign! I crossed the finish line and stopped my Garmin… mission accomplished! My watch showed 3:38:44 (my official net time would be 1 second faster) – a new PB by over 30 seconds!

I lay down by a tree for a while… big mistake! Both calves felt like rocks when I got up, so I went to the physio tent where I iced them for a while, then a quick walk in the water and some lunch.

Later in the day I went for a dip in the ocean near the apartment – not as cold as I expected! That was followed by a drink and curry with some fellow Adelaideans.

This morning my legs were a bit stiff when I got up but they quickly loosened up. I went for a fairly brisk 5km walk along the Esplanade with no issues… stark contrast to my last marathon! (Must have been the curry – that will have to be my post-race dinner of choice from now on!)

Overall I was quite satisfied with my run yesterday despite ignoring my plan… there’s still plenty of room for improvement!

What’s next on the agenda? This coming Saturday I plan to do a 6 hour event, running around a 2.2km loop. Sounds crazy? No. There is also a 12hr and a 24hr event. I am one of the sensible ones!

No more marathons for me this year. Well, maybe the Great Barrier Reef in November. Apart from that… no more marathons!

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2 marathons in 6 weeks… what was I thinking?

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At the time of publishing, I am less than 1 week out from my second marathon in 6 weeks. A tad ambitious given that my first 2 marathons were 1 year apart!

5 days after Barossa Marathon, I thought I would be looking at just finishing the Gold Coast Marathon and getting some more sweet bling for my growing collection.

I ran the Gold Coast half last year, 6 weeks after my first marathon. The race was sort of an afterthought… I wanted to have something to look forward to after my overseas trip in May/June, and wanted to visit friends who had recently moved to the Gold Coast. It would be silly NOT to go on marathon weekend, wouldn’t it? And if I’m there, I might as well enter the half…

I went in underprepared, having had a full 3 weeks off running after the marathon and I had not run anything more than 12km in the 3 weeks immediately before the half. Not only had I spent 3 weeks not running, but also at the same time I was eating and drinking my way across Ireland. To top it off, I fell 5 days before the Gold Coast half, at the end of a training run, and banged up my left knee and shin.

Everything went well on the day. The half started in the dark at 6am (meaning a 4am alarm to get my brekky in, and a 5am taxi ride). The atmosphere was incredible and I managed to get a few high fives in towards the finish (I have a ‘thing’ where I have to high five at least 1 kid in every race otherwise it doesn’t count). Surprisingly I was less than 30 seconds away from a new half marathon PB… very happy with that! It’s a fast, flat course and the heat was not a factor as I was done by 7:45 and well amd truly brunching before any of my friends who were running the marathon had finished. It was getting pretty warm by then! Before that though, I got to watch from the grandstand as the first 3 placegetters finished the marathon, including the winner in a new record time for marathons run in Australia, which was an added bonus! Oh and let’s not forget the bling… it was a sweet medal, but then I saw one from the marathon which was twice the size, and I decided I needed one of those! One day I would run the Gold Coast Marathon, one day…

So what on earth made me decide it was a good idea to run 2 marathons in 6 weeks?
To answer that I need to go back 6 months or so. Around Christmas time last year, I went on a group ‘trail’ run which happened to be on the beach. I’m not accustomed to sand running and I seem to remember not enjoying it a great deal! It was an ‘out and back’, from Grange jetty to Largs jetty and back. I walked most of the way back.

On the way out, taking my mind somewhat off how much I was hating running on sand, I was running with an interesting guy who seemed to be pretty accustomed to running on sand (I soon found out he had done a desert ultramarathon) and also the whole ‘talking while running’ thing, something that at the time was not my strong point.  I seem to remember not contributing a lot to the conversation other than the occasional “uh huh” or similar. I think it was that day or soon after that he told me about the ultramarathon he was planning to do in the Himalayas in August… up and down mountains. If you want to know more check out his website:
http://kieronultrarunner.com/
and blog:
https://kieronultrarunner.wordpress.com/

How does this relate to a flat flat road marathon in Queensland in July? I’m getting there.

We have run together many times since then. Trails, roads, short, long, day, night, you name it. And over time I have been able to contribute more to the conversation than the occasional grunt… a sign of my improved fitness (if I could get a word in, that is!). My times improved and running began to feel easier.

Let’s get back briefly to that mountain ultra. What better preparation for a hard ultra in the Himalayas,  than a fast, flat road marathon a month or so before?  No, I’m not joking. He wanted to run a sub-3-hour marathon (something well beyond my reach even now) and Gold Coast is known for being the fastest in Australia. Naturally, being easily influenced (and it happens a LOT in running circles), I was more than happy to go along for the ride. Even though at the time I was building up to my second marathon about a year after the first. We entered just before the earlybird cutoff date and it was on!

I had to tweak my training. Did I continue to follow the training programme for Barossa and use Gold Coast as an ‘add-on’, having a short break after Barossa and doing a few 28-30k runs in between? Or did I shift my focus to Gold Coast and treat Barossa as a training run? In the end I decided to go with the former and I’m happy with that decision. I got my PB and if all goes well I’ll have another one in a week.

Right now I feel totally ready. I am running better than ever. I bounced back quickly after Barossa, running a reasonably fast parkrun the following Saturday with no evidence of any soreness. Since then I have run 2 parkrun PBs in consecutive weeks (after going more than 2 years between PBs) and doing my long runs at a good pace. The benchmark I aim for in my long runs is to complete the half marathon distance in under 2 hours – I’ve been hitting that mark very regularly lately.

I can’t explain why things seem to have fallen into place for me now but whatever it is, I hope it continues! I think my diet definitely could use some work – I’m sure I’m not getting enough protein, mostly due to the fact that I follow a mostly vegan/vegetarian diet. I plan to do something about that after the marathon… I certainly don’t plan to make any dramatic changes beforehand!

I don’t really have a plan yet. I am quietly confident of a PB (something I wouldn’t have even contemplated 5 weeks ago!) but haven’t quite got my pacing strategy worked out. I haven’t even got my race day outfit sorted yet but it won’t be too different from Barossa… it’s too late to test out any new kit now and be sure that it won’t cause me issues on the day! (I probably won’t be needing arm warmers this time!) I have a couple of pace bands (the same ones I used at Barossa) but not sure yet if I’ll use them. I have visions of chasing down the 3:30 pacer but that might be a bit out of reach…

All I can say now is… bring it on!

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“Ultramarathon? Me? No, never. Well, maybe one day…”

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2 years ago, if you mentioned the word ‘ultramarathon’ to me, I would have been picturing the old Melbourne to Sydney races from the ’80s, with the likes of Yiannis Kouros and Cliffy Young. I can safely say even now that I would NEVER  attempt something like that… that’s just plain MAD!

Of course, I know now that there are many different types of ultras which vary greatly in terms of both distance and terrain. Basically anything over the standard 42.2km marathon distance is considered an ultra.

Which brings me neatly to Yurrebilla.

Yurrebilla Ultra Marathon (YUM for short) is a 56km run from Belair Railway Station to Ambers Gully at Athelstone, taking in some stunning trails along the way. Being in the middle of Adelaide suburbia it’s easily accessible and very well supported, so it’s not necessary to carry a lot of gear. It started in 2007 when a small group of runners decided to see if it would be possible to run the entire Yurrebilla Trail (an existing trail). And YUM was born! YUM is actually an apt acronym because Yurrebilla is known as ‘The Gourmet Ultra’ due to the amazing spread at the checkpoints and at the finish. I will freely admit that when I first decided I was going to run YUM, it was the food that got me! In what other run would you get to eat PIZZA along the way?

I had first heard of this event 2 years ago when my friend Denis was running it (after having completed his first 2 marathons in the 2 months prior. I thought he was mad!). I had good intentions of going to watch him but celebrated Hawthorn’s Grand Final win a little bit too hard the previous day, so unfortunately I didn’t quite get there…

Fast forward to 2014. Early in the year, I was training for my first marathon. I happened to meet a few crazy chicks (I’m talking to you, Hoa and Rula!) who tried to convince me to enter YUM that year. I was adamant that I wasn’t ready for an ultra despite their best efforts to convince me otherwise. Apart from not feeling prepared for such a daunting challenge, I was also trying to maintain my soccer ‘career’ at the same time as my marathon training. I realised very early in the soccer season that running 30k in the morning then dashing off to play soccer was not sustainable and in fact pretty risky… I was lucky not to have any injuries. Often we would only have the bare 11 players so there was no option of sitting on the bench, and as a midfielder there wasn’t a whole lot of down time. I therefore made the decision not to play until after my marathon. As the soccer season ended 2 weeks before YUM, if I were to commit to the second half of the season I wouldn’t get to do the required training for YUM. To avoid getting talked into it, I quickly put my hand up to volunteer at YUM.

So the marathon came and went, the soccer season ended and it was YUM time! As it again fell the day after the AFL Grand Final, (and as it turned out the mighty Hawks featured again) I had requested an afternoon job at YUM. I was allocated to the finish line. As per YUM tradition I decided to dress up. I went with the Snow White costume I’d recently worn to a Disney-themed 21st. That night had been bitterly cold. This day couldn’t have been a greater contrast. Unusually hot for September, and windy as, I was glad I’d stuck to my guns and not been talked into running!
From the time I arrived earlier than planned at 10am, to the time the first finishers started to come through (the first in a gobsmacking 4 1/2 hours!), most of our efforts were concentrated on stopping marquees, flags and cups from blowing away! (I was so glad I had worn my Skins shorts under my verging-on-indecent length dress… otherwise modesty would have been out the window! Thanks to fellow dresser-upper and MC extraordinaire Karen for the wardrobe tip!)

I spent most of the day on Coke duty… if I had a dollar for every runner that said, when I offered them Coke, “I never drink Coke… but YES PLEASE!!!”… well let’s just say I would have had a nice little pay packet that day!  I had to be the bad guy on several occasions and tell people they couldn’t get any Coke for their kids… that was for runners only, and even so, we still ran out for a while… you should have seen the disappointment on the runners’ faces when that happened! There was also LOADS of food which I did enjoy (there was WAY too much and we ended up having to throw a lot away) and, fortunately, given the weather conditions, no shortage of water.

I got to see a lot of my friends finish, and for some it was their very first ultra. I couldn’t get over how happy Tania and David were to join the ultra club… for months afterwards, you couldn’t mention Yurrebilla to Tania without a massive smile lighting up her face!

I stayed until the end – YUM is not over until the last person finishes – and then helped pack up before going to the traditional post-YUM buffet dinner.

It was such a fantastic experience and I knew right then that I just HAD to run YUM in 2015.

This year I’m taking every opportunity and taking in all the advice I can get, to ensure my best Yurrebilla experience. When it comes to trail and ultra running, I am a sponge! I am lucky to have a lot of very experienced trail and ultra runners around me who are more than happy to offer words of wisdom… it’s a fantastic community! I went to a dinner recently with a small group of YUM virgins (and some not so virginal!) with race ambassador Tymeka Warburton who gave some really helpful advice including a lot about nutrition (probably one of my weakest areas). What really stuck in my mind was what she said about slowing down in the finishing chute and just taking it all in, and actually remembering it! For someone who has a tendency to break into a full sprint when the finish line comes into sight, that will be a big change for me, but I know I will do it! I get chills just thinking about that moment!

I’ve recently also completed the first of 3 big training runs, which combined, make up the entire course. Once I’ve done all 3, there will be no surprises on the day! (I’m yet to decide if that is a good or bad thing!) Beck, Grace and I (plus a whole lot of faster runners we didn’t see much after the start), set off just before 6am to complete the ‘back and out’ of just under 36km. It was such a great morning, the weather was perfect, great company and the surroundings were stunning! I can’t wait for the next run… it will be hard to resist doing another ‘back and out’!

And now for the unsolicited plug. If you’re thinking about running YUM and don’t feel you’re ready to tackle it this year, I strongly recommend that you either go support someone you know who is running it (I’m happy to accept any support I can get!) or put your hand up to volunteer. It’s an amazing experience and trust me, if you’ve got any inclination to run it, after experiencing the atmosphere, you will be hanging out for next year’s event!

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Becoming a Runner

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I was never sporty as a kid. Not even at all. I wished I was! I did well academically but sadly sucked in the sporting arena. Not for want of trying! I tried every sport I could think of in high school. I sucked at netball for 5 years despite my obvious height advantage… it seems that height alone does not a netballer make! Same goes for basketball as it turns out. I had a go at softball but that wasn’t for me either. Plus I hated the coach. Soccer was a sport I took up in Year 12 and was immediately shoved into goals (possibly due to my height and more likely due to my fairly obvious lack of skill and agility on the park) and had a spectacularly unsuccessful season there. Curiously though I did enjoy that and many years later did go back to soccer again (albeit not as a keeper!). Cricket I did enjoy despite being an equally shit batsman, bowler and fielder and the coach hating me because I may have been a little bit of a smart arse… mainly because most of the players in the team were my friends and I loved the game (and still do). Clearly though I was more cut out for watching sport than playing it.

PE classes were another chore. I clearly remember one day we had to do an aerobics class in the sports centre. With a few willing allies, I went to the bathroom only to climb out the window and never return. I don’t think the PE teacher noticed.

From the time I left school at 17 until after I got married at 24, I did very little in the way of organised physical activity.

There were a few hints that running might be in my future. At my first school sports day at the age of 5, I was leading a race (I believe it was one of those races where you have to put on clothes along the way… an ‘Early Morning Race’ or something? The memory is a bit hazy) by a long way. Clearly my competitive spirit hadn’t kicked in yet because when I realised how far ahead I was, I stopped and waited for everyone else to catch up!

In about Year 10 a few friends and I decided we might run the City to Bay (mentioned in my last blog post, for the uninitiated) so we went to the info session that the school put on. I can still remember the look on the PE teacher’s face when she saw the 4 of us rock up (“You mean YOU lot think you’re going to run the City to Bay?”) which made us all the more determined to prove her wrong. We trained after school in the hilly Eastern suburbs and all was looking good. Sadly I had to withdraw due to a knee injury but I believe the rest of my team completed the run and did quite well.

MANY years later, after I had started working out regularly at the gym, I thought I’d give this running caper another go. I think it was 2003. I planned to give the City to Bay another crack. This time I trained on my own, running laps around my block to avoid road crossings. The block was 1.1km and after 6 weeks I had got up to 2 full laps without stopping when disaster struck! I was in town buying my then-husband a 20kg dumbbell set for his birthday. I was carrying it back to the car and tripped, and with all the extra weight I was carrying out front I couldn’t stop myself falling (Warning: slightly graphic description ahead). Unfortunately for me I was wearing thongs (possibly part of the reason I tripped and also possibly not the best choice of footwear when carrying a 20kg dumbbell set, but let’s move on) and in the process of tripping also managed to rip one of my big toenails off… That was enough to derail my City to Bay plans (bear in mind at this stage it was only March and the race was 6 months away… shows you how committed I was…) and I didn’t try running again for nearly 10 years!

Until Saturday, November 10, 2012. I remember the date clearly because up until then it was my wedding anniversary. Now it is the anniversary of the day I made one of the BEST decisions of my life. I was hiking Mt Lofty (for those not familiar with Adelaide it is the highest peak in Adelaide but only about 400m high. Occasionally we get snow there in winter. It’s where EVERYONE in Adelaide seems to go on weekend mornings.) with my friend Sara and she mentioned that she and her partner Denis were doing a fun run. She was doing the 5k and wondered if I might like to join. Oh and it was 8 days away and I hadn’t run in nearly 10 years. What did I say? “Sure, why not!”

I thought I’d better see if I could ACTUALLY run 5k so the following Monday I did a gentle 2k run from my house. Later that week I managed 5k without stopping and I was good to go.

Sunday November 18 2012 was my first running event – the Henley Classic 5k. I was running in cross trainers… I thought they were pretty light until I invested in my first pair of running shoes!

Sara and I ran together for most of it until I decided to take off with about 500m (I think) to go. (I seem to make a habit of that!) I finished in 26:29 and I was stoked.

Immediately after the run, Sara and I vowed to run City to Bay (my third ‘attempt’) the following September (ie 10 months later) and we both did it!

I was hooked. I was a runner!

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parkrun

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Having recently completed my second marathon, I now take you way back, not quite to where it all began, but to not long after that! It was late November 2012 and I had not long ago taken up running, and completed my first 5k event (more on that later!). I wanted to keep the momentum going, because I’d decided running could well be my thing! I was casually Googling “Adelaide running routes” trying to find a 5k course I could run on the coming Saturday. Something called “Torrens parkrun” came up. I was curious so I clicked on the link. The rest, as they say…

For the uninitiated – (firstly, where have you been?) parkrun (lower case ‘p’ ALWAYS) is a global movement, which started in the UK a little over 10 years ago, and reached Australia in 2011. In a nutshell, it is a FREE, WEEKLY, TIMED event that occurs around the world on a Saturday morning.  For more information, and to see if there is a parkrun near you, check out www.parkrun.com

All you have to do is register online, print out a personalised barcode (the parkrun motto is ‘Don’t forget your barcode” or #DFYB – without it you won’t get a recorded time) and come out and run! Later on the day you’ll get an email with your results, and each run/walk you do counts towards milestone T-shirts (I have my 50 and am only weeks away from earning my 100 club shirt!)

Anyway, I was suitably intrigued so I headed along for the 8am start (it wasn’t long before running at 8am on a Saturday was a habit and not something I even had to think twice about). There were 44 people there that day for the very first Torrens parkrun, some of whom are still regulars to this day! I ran my fastest 5k time to date, and then a week later took a second off my PB. (My current PB is 21:50, which has stood for 2 years – I don’t seem to be able to get close to it now!)

In my first year I was pretty much a fixture at Torrens parkrun, hence I was lucky enough to win the inaugural Torrens parkrun female points prize! It was my first trophy for running (other than finisher medals)! Since then I haven’t been there quite as regularly, but I still try to get there whenever I can. It is THE BEST way to start the weekend!

In the beginning it was a way to get myself motivated to keep running. Somewhere along the way it became a place to catch up with friends and the run was just a bonus! I have even managed to convince my mum to come along a few times (a work in progress… she has PB’d every time so far!) There are so many wonderful people I have met through parkrun that I now count among my closest friends.

I’ve done 6 different parkrun events now in 3 states. Whenever I am going to be away from home on a Saturday I always try to sneak in a parkrun – it doesn’t always happen but it’s a great way to meet new people in a new place! Even so, Torrens is still #thebestparkrunintheworld without question! (I MAY be biased)

And parkrun can indirectly take some of the credit for me becoming a marathoner. Not only did it keep the momentum going in the very early days, but the seed was first planted in at parkrun. I can’t remember exactly when but I think it was within the first few months. I was chatting to fellow parkrun regular Ros, having recently read about her Berlin Marathon experience in the SA Masters Athletics newsletter. I found out she had only completed her first marathon in her 60s! I decided then that I would, one day, run a marathon. I set myself a fairly conservative goal – to do it by the age of 40. (I was 36 at the time). In the end I got a bit excited and ended up doing my first marathon a little over a year later, at the age of 37.

And now for the advertising spiel (and no, they are not paying me to say this!).

parkrun truly is for everyone. Elite runners, new runners, fast runners, slow runners, walkers, kids, prams, dogs… really, if you have a parkrun nearby, there is no excuse for not giving it a go! (And if you don’t want to do any of the above you could always volunteer!)

I started writing this post earlier in the week. It seemed timely as I had recently been honoured to be asked to join the Torrens parkrun Run Director team (one time dubbed ‘Run Direction’) and I had little hesitation in saying yes. I look forward to giving back to a community that has given me so much.

There’s another reason why this post is so timely. Just 2 days ago, Brian Wyld, SA running legend, the Father of parkrun in SA, the man who brought parkrun to our state, sadly passed away after collapsing during a run. As I have said earlier, I owe parkrun a great deal so I owe Brian a lot too. Not only for bringing us parkrun but also for the role he played in my first City-Bay Fun Run (SA’s biggest running event, attracting around 40,000 participants). I had entered the 12km run (coincidentally I had been lucky enough to win a free entry through parkrun) and I was chatting to Brian at parkrun the day before the big event. He asked me if I had a sub-60 bib. I told him no, as I had not run it before (you need to have run sub-60 minutes the previous year to be eligible) and he told me to come and see him at the expo later that day and he’d sort me out. Sure enough he got me that sub-60 bib which got me into the second start group (behind only the elites), a huge advantage as I didn’t have to contend with ‘Sunday strollers’ getting in the way of my goal to run sub-60. And of course I now HAD to run sub-60, to repay Brian who knew I could do it! I finished in 57:32 (as I didn’t have a watch at the time, I didn’t really know how I was tracking until I saw the clock as I rounded the final corner. I screamed in delight and powered home!) I had done it! In the moment I forgot to look around and thank Brian but later watching my finish video I heard his voice calling my name at the finish line… he had seen me do it! I emailed him during the week and thanked him again… I don’t think I could have done it without his help!

RIP Brian. Thanks for everything. You leave behind a wonderful legacy.

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Race Report – Barossa Marathon 24 May 2015

This is my first race report (one of many to come!), written 2 days after the Barossa Marathon. Hope you enjoy it!

This time last year I completed my first ever marathon in Liverpool UK. It was an amazing experience – there were 2307 finishers and I placed 562nd overall in a time of 3:42:56 – well beyond my expectations. (I had expected sub 4 hours, and HOPED for sub 3:45. I was stoked!) It was quite surreal because I was in my hotel getting ready for bed on the Saturday night, reading all about my friends and training buddies’ experiences at the Barossa Marathon, knowing that my big moment was yet to come! Although on the day I didn’t see anyone I knew cheering from the sidelines, I had met a group of runners the day before on a Beatles walking tour, who I met up with again before the start of the race. I also knew that a lot of friends back home were following my progress online, so I really did feel like I had friends there with me! And of course, as with all big races, the crowd lining the streets were more than happy to give me, a random stranger, a big cheer! (I did get quite a few comments on my stripey arm warmers… aka socks I had bought the previous day!) And I did get a SWEET medal that no-one else I know has!

Fast forward 12 months and I’m standing at the start line in Tanunda – this time among many familiar faces. This time, instead of the civilised 9am of last year, we started at the ‘ungodly’ hour of 7am (albeit with the backdrop of an incredible sunrise). I was so prepared this year. I had put in all the training. Well, I had also done that last year, but unlike last year, I started the 16 week programme with a lot more running under my belt, and with the knowledge that I had already completed one marathon and of course I could do it again. (Last year I started behind the eight ball without having even done one half marathon. This year I started having already completed not only one full marathon but 4 official halves, one unofficial half and countless training runs of over half marathon distance.) I have been fortunate too… other than a number of falls during training, only one of which was serious enough to stop me running for ANY length of time (that being 2 days), I have (touching wood as I write this) been remarkably injury-free. I wonder if it’s just luck or if it’s partly smart training… even though I love running and am often tempted to run more than I should, I hold myself back, keeping my ‘eyes on the prize’. If I’m a bit sore I’ll skip a run or just take it easy. Maybe it’s a physio thing? Anyway, whatever it is, I didn’t think I could have been better prepared for the 42.2km (or 26.2 miles as I ran last year in Liverpool) that lay ahead of me.

I had my kit sorted days before. The only difficult decision was which lululemon skirt to wear… the decision was eventually made to go with the black and white rather than the plain black, because the black skirt had been worn for the only race I’ve done that I would describe as ‘terrible’ – the 2015 Clare Half (nothing against the race, just the way I ran it!). I’d purchased a SWEET new pair of stripey socks to wear as arm warmers – a somewhat brisk 7am start made those a necessary part of my kit. I’d prepared drinks – bottled water and slightly watered down Gatorade (tried and tested in training – I wasn’t about to take any chances with a different brand of sports drink) and had them placed at the drink stations with bright pink tape around them to make them easy to spot. I also had a handful of emergency Lifesavers, some energy pills (nothing dodgy!) and a couple of Voltaren for ‘just in case’ (I had needed them last year around the halfway mark due to hip and knee niggles, and was taking no chances). I’d spent ages making up pace bands based on the same formula I’d used last year (I used an app called ‘FeelRace’ which works on the principle of starting slower and gradually increasing the pace throughout the race. No better feeling than passing people near the end that had passed you earlier!) I had 3 pace bands: one for 3:40 (sub 3:40 would qualify me for the prestigious Boston Marathon which would be amazing), 3:42 (which would be a PB) and 3:45 (although not a PB, still a respectable time if things didn’t go according to plan). The idea was that I’d aim for 3:40 initially, and if that became implausible I’d move on to 3:42, etc. If it all fell apart I’d just go by feel, the bare minimum of course being to finish and get my hands on a medal!

There was nothing left to do but run…

All was well at the start. I started running alongside a few of my training buddies but soon realised I was running way faster than my plan. Stick to the plan, I told myself. I’ll catch them eventually! I forced myself to slow down, as hard as that was! Along the way I ran with Neil for a few km (who had only entered at the last minute and wasn’t even sure he could run the whole distance – he did!) and also Chris who seems to run a marathon every few weeks so his goal was just to finish (he did, but not without injury problems). Eventually I caught up with Kay with whom I’d done quite a lot of my long runs, both this year and last (although this year I hadn’t run much with her, she was far too quick for me!) We ran together for quite a while, past the halfway mark. The 2 lap course did my head in a bit! I said to Kay, “OK that’s over, let’s run a half marathon now!” (It always helps to break a race into manageable chunks!). Everything was going according to plan. The drinks worked well, I had Gatorade just when I needed it, and more water than I could have possibly used. Bottles work for me better than cups, that way I can hang onto my drink for longer, potentially even until the next drink station. For some reason, just after 22km, I decided to ditch the plan altogether. Maybe it was the energy pills I’d downed just after the halfway point. Maybe it was the confidence that comes with having done it all before. Whatever it was, the plan was out the window and I was now running by feel. A scary and unfamiliar place to be! I left Kay behind (she didn’t end up finishing that far behind me, and she ran a PB, so I didn’t feel too guilty!) and just went for it. I was averaging 5:10 per km on my Garmin so I figured I’d just try to stick with that and maybe try to take it up a notch right at the end (no matter how crap a run I’ve had, I always try to do a sprint finish… looks great in the photos!). I was too scared to look at my overall time, lest I discover that my desired sub 3:40 was off the cards. No, I was going to run blind. Around this time my left hip started to niggle a bit so I quickly got out the Voltaren and downed them. Within a few km all was good again.

I thought I hit the dreaded ‘wall’ at 30km but that turned out to be just a speed bump. By about 34-35km I was feeling great and still maintaining my 5:10 pace. My only real drama was that 2 of my 5 Gatorade bottles went missing along the way (I was assured they were there pre-race!) so when I really felt I needed some sugar/electrolytes etc, they weren’t there! Thank f*** for my emergency Lifesavers… they really were a godsend!

I found the course in one way was a bit of a headf*** – 2 laps with multiple turnarounds – but it was mercifully flat and I LOVED passing other runners coming the other way (in all events – 5km, 10km, half and full marathon). It was so good to see so many friends running along the way and be able to give them encouragement. It was especially great to see my friends who were tackling their first half and full marathons. They were all looking strong and like they were having just the best time. Awesome!

The last 5km were a bit of a blur. I was constantly checking my watch, interested only in the ‘Average Pace’ which continued to hover around 5:10 (at one point it dropped to 5:11 but I had enough left at that stage to bring it back up to 5:10). The legs were really starting to hurt by then (which was not really surprising). My calves were the biggest issue… nothing that would stop me finishing, but even now, writing this 2 1/2 days later, they are still letting me know they’re not happy with me! The calf compression sleeves I wore definitely helped – whether placebo or actual science, I wouldn’t run more than 20km without them! I’d worn compression bandages on both knees as a precaution, but thankfully had no real knee issues during the race.

And now to the best bit… the finish! I guess it was just before 42km I heard the cheering and started to lift. The street was lined with people, many calling my name as they recognised my stripey arms! It was such a great feeling. It definitely made me run faster! I didn’t have time to soak up all the glory though because I had a race to finish, a PB to beat! I yelled at a couple of people who walked across my path as I approached the finish chute to “Get out of my way!!!”. They did. I hope they realised it was good-natured! I saw the finish line and I went for it! Through the timing gate, past the person with the paddle, stopped the Garmin, got my medal, and a big hug for Karen in the tiger suit she had borrowed from me the previous day! I looked at my watch and could hardly believe it… I had achieved my sub 3:40! 3:39:26 to be precise, a good 3 1/2 minutes better than a year ago! (The official results were better yet, 3:39:21). Overall, I finished 84th out of 245 finishers (13th out of 82 women) and 6th out of 19 in my age group. So that means 5 of the top 12 women were in the very tough 35-39 age group!

I’m still in recovery mode – I took Monday off (I was incredibly sore – I don’t remember being that sore last year!) and had a nice cruisy beach walk (including walking in the water for about 10 minutes) which I’m sure did me a lot of good, and this morning I managed an easy ‘jog’ with my regular Tuesday group and did a BodyBalance class this evening.

Now I’ve got the Gold Coast marathon coming up in less than 6 weeks, so I can’t take it easy for too long! I’m yet to decide how I’ll tackle that one but one thing is for sure, I won’t be trying for another PB. That took way too much out of me and 6 weeks is nowhere near enough time to get me back into PB shape!

Overall it was an amazing experience and one I’ll never forget, thanks to all who made it possible and so memorable!

If you’re thinking about running a marathon, and you have the time to commit to training, stop thinking, and to plagiarise a popular sports brand, JUST DO IT!