Year in Review

I have not run a marathon since Carcoar so there was nothing to say at least about marathons.

2015 in review

Well what happened to 2015.  I have got into the routine of at this time of the year reflecting on the last 12 months of mainly what was done in regard to running and life in general. It was a year in some respects I would have preferred not to have happened but so be it.

The running year was one again kicked off with the Australia Day marathon in the heat a humidity of Brisbane.  A 5.03 that was much slower that in the past or that was expected. The a few days later to Caboolture the marathon that starts at 4.00 pm and is 84 laps around the historical village. Those laps do my head in and more so this year than in the past. So 90 minutes slower that usual and the only satisfaction was that it ticked off marathon number 197.

Before long it was April and as has been the case for the last 15 years there was the trip to Australia’s capital and the Canberra Marathon. All my family travelled down to see me finish my 200^th in a respectable 3.40. I also ran my 100^th marathon there. The first 100 took 12 years but there was a pleasing negative split for the second 100 that was achieved in 6 years. Not sure if I can repeat that time for the next 100 marathons. Although the more relevant concern might be if I can run another 100 let alone consider how long it will take.

The marathons plans for midyear were significantly interrupted by an operation to remove some lymph node cancers at the start of May. It was expected to be 5/6 days but complications had me in hospital for more than 3 weeks.  So the May/June marathons were missed.

I ran my next on the 12 July at Dolls Point with very little training. More like fast walks as training and anyway who knows my fast walks are slow at the best of time. So walking training for a marathon was not that helpful but still I managed 5.26.

A few weeks later at the start of August I ran (and I use that word rather loosely) the Centennial Park Marathon that was part of a larger ultra event. It involved many laps of the park that is forever changing things to see with other runners, bike riders, families, walkers, families enjoying picnics and horse riders. Lucky there was a lot to see and watch, as it was the worst marathon of the year in 5.50. I never felt ‘good’ from the start and soon adopted a run/walk approach to just survive and finish.

There were then three more marathons in successive weekends. The Tan in Melbourne, Glenbrook Trail Marathon in the lower Blue Mountains just out of Sydney and then Mudgee. The times were great but they were improving.

Then the following week off to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland for the 6^th marathon in 6 weeks and fitness for running was going well. I finished in 4.09 for the quickest of the year and an age group win and a pair of running shoes.

Dubbo was the next weekend for the 7^th in 7 weeks. Something was not quite right for a disappointing 4.54 and somewhat of a struggle.

Since the operation in May my PSA was being measure every 3 weeks and since the operation it had been stable. The in early September it doubled in a month. This raised concern. So deep and meaningful conversation with my specialist took place and it was decided that it was time to have hormone therapy. This had been talked about a while ago but we both thought it was years off but because it now became the next option.

So I received the injection a few days before the Sydney Marathon. It is given in the backside and it was still painful for the marathon and for the first time in 14 Sydney marathons I was over 4 hours in fact a 5.25 where I was walking before 20k. One that is best forgotten for the time but one to be remembered for how I just stayed focused on a finish no matter what it took and it took a lot. It was just a minute faster than my comeback marathon at Dolls Point in July. I was back where I started post op.  

I ran another 4 marathons to complete the year at Western Sydney (4.40), Melbourne (4.44), Batemans Bay (5.13) and Carcoar (5.19). Each was a challenge as the side effects from the hormone injection took hold. Loss of energy easily fatigued and weight gain. All these effects were working against training and running marathons.

In all 20 marathons for the year finished on 215.

The hormone injections will continue each 3 months. In the New Year I will start chemotherapy that has its own side effects. So it maybe quite a challenge but I plan to be at the start and finish of as many marathons as I can. I may have to resort to a run/walk race plan but if I believe I am still able to finish I suspect I will be at the start.

It has been an interesting 2015 that presented some challenges and no doubt 2016 will present a few more. I hope I am able to overcome them and enjoy some events with my many running friends.