GOLD COAST MARATHON : 2.59.40

This maybe a longer post than usual as it has been 5 years since I last ran under 3 for the marathon and I thought I might just reflect a bit.

Off course I am delighted but more surprised because while you never give up the hope of fulfilling a dream on occasions common sense says it will occur. This was my position for some years and even though my mind said common sense was right my heart would not quite let go of the dream.

After GNW in November I looked back over some of my training schedules and decided to follow closely the one I used when I ran under 3 in Canberra in 2002. I followed it almost exactly but if anything cut down on the intensity of the speed session and reduced the distance of the long runs. It gave me a 3.09 that was the best time I had run for many years but it did not fulfil the dream. I ran about 92/97 splits and considered that I had not developed enough endurance base to be able to maintain the pace over the second half. This also resulted in a slower first half than was needed to even go close to

After Canberra I decided to eliminate all speed work. That meant dropping the 3 x 3k etc that had been included in my program for while. I decided to just train day in and ay out with runs of various length but really never shorter than 13k and always aerobic. That meant somewhere between 4.30 – 5.00 minutes per k and for 3 weeks before the Herald half they averaged about 135 per week.

The first test for this training came in the came in May in the Herald Half that I think was around 89.30. This was a pace of 4.14 although no training had been done at this pace.

After the Herald Half there were another two weeks of 142 and 141. Again all the runs were in the 4.30/5.00 minutes per k range. I had developed a knee problem with a 65k run 10 days before the Macleay River Marathon

Eased of for few days in the week of the marathon and managed 3.03.53 with 91.30/92.23 splits for a 4.21 pace per k. I was not aggressive in pushing the pace that probably resulted in a time slower than what was possible.

The knee continued to cause problems but I could still easily manage 100 a week at the same pace but some were slower because of the pain. I have not done any speed work since before Canberra.

I was not sure of my fitness level going into the Gold Coast Marathon but I was sure of one thing - I was going to push harder than the previous marathon and ensure I got to halfway under 90 and then rely on the endurance I hoped I had built up in the last few months.

With that in mind I started just behind the 3 hour pace group and was watching their pace closely. It was just a bit faster that I would have run but it was comfortable and I went through the half in 88.19 which I was very happy with and I was feeling very comfortable.

But I know in a marathon you can feel that way and in a few steps be reduced to a wobble. It was now a matter of intense concentration on maintaining the pace as the fatigue become greater and greater and the temptation to ease off increased with each stride. Soon after the halfway I let the 3 hour group move away as I wanted to run my pace and not theirs.

It then become critical to maintain the concentration and I was then anxious as the 25/30/35 & 40 k markers came as they would be confirmation that I was either still in front of or was starting to fall behind that imaginary 3 hour pace line. At half way I had 1 minute 41 seconds in the in the bank. I needed to maintain 21.20 for each 5k split.

From 20/25 it was a 21.09 split and I had picked up a precious 11 seconds.

From 25/30 it was a 21.16 split and I had again kept ahead of the line by just 4 seconds. But the marathons starts at 30k and all I had done so far was get there on time as feeling as comfortable as I could have expected. The next 5k split is the hardest mentally on the course because it takes you to the turnaround at about 34k and it is so difficult at that stage to be running away from the finish and their seems a huge sense of relief as you make the turn and head for home.

Also you get to see the runners coming the other way and it seemed like the s hour group was a long way ahead and I thought I might have lost too much time. As I passed the 35k mark I was reluctant to look at my watch because my dream would either be shattered right there or it might be still possible. I ran past it clicked the watch and hesitated – the split 22.08 and I had lost a precious 48 seconds and was now eating into the time I had at halfway but I still had 1 minute and 8 seconds in the ‘bank’.

It was really now a matter of what would happen in the next 5k split. This was difficult to maintain the pace I could feel myself giving in to fatigue and then rallying the effort for a few more paces the then slip back and just wanting to slow down just so much. Is not a matter of just watching the runners upfront and staying with them because they could be slowing as well you must just relentlessly drive on. This time I needed the 40k marker to come and I needed to look at the watch as soon as possible because I wanted to get the uncertainty over with it was either possible or impossible depending on the split which was 22.20 and I had lost almost my whole bank and I had just 8 seconds buffer.

I might add that the 5k split times are in my head – I know them down to the second.

And the reaction – oh hell !!! I am in no mans land. I have just 9 minutes 32 seconds to cover the last 2.2 k and I know that to do that the pace must go up to 4.15 per k to cover that distance in 9 minutes 24 seconds. I begin to increase the pace from what has been the case over the last 5 k’s but not by much as I still have 2.2k to cover and I don’t want lactic acid too soon – I want it in the last 200/300 meters.

It took and age to get onto the road to come over the rise and I could see the left turn to the finishing chute. I had no idea of the pace and imagined that time was getting away but I was not sprinting yet too soon. I just wanted to get within sight of the finishing line and the clock over it. It was not use looking at my watch because time and distance were impossible to compute. I was into the finishing chute and expecting the time to have clicked over 3 hours. I then heard Clairie give a yell to say you can do it. That made me think maybe it was still possible.

I then sprinted with all the energy I had and absolutely no style but who cares at that time. The finishing chute has a slight curve and I needed to know the time it was 2.59.25 with about 70 metres to go and I knew I would make it. Then I could see one runner crawling over the line on all fours and another staggering with just meters to go so I though maybe this isn’t over yet. Some how I just focused and sprinted and thank heavens made it. I covers the last 2.2k in 4 minute per k pace. I guess it shows what can be done when it really has to be done.

2.52.51 gun and 2.59.40 chip.

I am now firmly convinced that too many runners include too much speed work in their weekly schedules and do not take the time to develop a strong endurance base – that is the Lydiard ‘marathon training’. Do the speed work but only as a sharpener close to some special event but it shouldn’t clutter up a program in the build up stage. For some like me it seems just plain marathon type training can give me very pleasing results. I am still reading on Lydiard’s theory and will give some detailed thoughts soon.

I have recovered well and the knee is not problem today. A few weeks’ easy marathon training weeks and I plan to run the Hunter Valley Marathon. That maybe fast depending on how I recover and the course. After that I will run some more marathons with a bit of luck I will make 11 for 2007 but they will form the basis of the training for Glasshouse 100 miler in September and off course GNW 100 miler in November.