Melbourne Marathon: 3.39.00

I said I would be happy to sneak under 4 so I was more than a little surprised to run 3.39 even. Particularly as I had run 3.57 the week before on a flat course and in the rain.

That was my 13th marathon since Hobart on January and one a the quicker times. This year has really been all about:

• getting on top of the Achilles issues and they are much better;
• apart from the Achilles staying injury free and that has been the case; and
• keeping up the k's in training so that I have a big base for GNW in November and that has almost occur ed but when I run so many marathons the training is in recovery/training swings.

I went out conservatively but without being driven by a Garmin and pace so I wore a watch that just had time/splits but no GPS pace etc. I could keep a track of my pace but only on 5k blocks. They were pretty steady and I git to hallway in about 1.48 which was bit faster than 'just sneaking under 4 hours' but I felt okay.

I had a GU. I don't usually have any but thought I might need it. Because I rarely use them its affect was almost immediate and quite dramatic. I felt my energy levels rise and I started to run strong and was passing a lot of runners. I was not getting faster they were going slower. Anyway that feeling of strength stayed until the 35k and a bit of a slump to 38k and then I could sense the end and picked up the pace again.

Ran the second half in about 1.51. I was in about 1800th place at halfway and was about 1400th over the finish line. Not my quickest but again a very pleasing run because of the even splits and the strength I felt in the second half.

It finishes with about 3/4 lap around the MCG. Whenever I run that finish I always recall the finish of Kerryn MaCann in the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Its quite a strange feeling to finish a marathon running in the same space she did .

A few weeks off until the next one.