A good negative...
A negative split that is.
I couldn't believe it, Melbourne Half Marathon probably was the equivalent to all the running I have done in the previous 2 years (excluding the last few weeks) and some how, not only did MJ & I manage to run the whole thing without stopping, albeit very slowly, we actually did a negative split, despite headwinds, hills, heat and general fatigue.
I had a great time in Melbourne, although it got off to a slow start thanks to Qantas and I didn't arrive at the apartment I was sharing with Matt & MJ until about 1.30am Saturday morning. I managed to get about 6 hours sleep that night, in the morning MJ & I went to check out the expo and then wandered around town, stopping for a pasta lunch and some sweet breads to munch on later that day. That evening we checked out the local restaurants and ended up at an Asian place, very nice it was too, I kept away from the spicy stuff and had the special 'pineapple' fried rice to keep on the safe side, it seemed to do the trick.
On Sunday morning I was awake at 5am, but being in such great proximity I didnt get up until closer to 5.30am. The usual routine of getting ready and then MJ & I were off. Toilets and bag drop completed we had discovered on our way to the start line that my Garmin had chosen that moment to completely go haywire, so we were without any watch, our game plan was to find the 2.10 bus and try and keep near it for at least a little while to give us an idea of pace. According to McMillan, we should have been aiming for 2.17hour based on our Bridge2Brisbane time. I was quite happy with this aim, considering it a long-run rather than an opportunity to break any records and was more than content that a couple of walk stops may be needed to achieve the run. The run started well, although the corner at Flinders was a bit tight and I was quite concerned for some runners who seemed to be playing chicken with the trams which at that point were still moving (I sent in some friendly feedback to the organisers on this and a couple of small points, whom were nice enough to respond to me and thank me for it; I made it as friendly as possible, I know how hard these things are to organise and then execute!). MJ & I just plodded on slightly behind the 2.10 bus, which we overtook at the first water stop and ran ahead of all the way around the lake, it overtook us at the next water stop which we had to walk through to get a drink, it didn't worry me, we were aiming for 2.17ish and were almost half way with the 2.10 bus, everything was going fine, although I was having a few gut problems, perhaps a reaction to the gel I had taken just before the start, or perhaps a coincide and totally unrelated to anything 'running'. As we plodded our way along the water we seemed to be picking off a few people, I guess this was around the 12km mark and the heat and wind was starting to get to some; as we split from the marathon pack, I mentioned to MJ that I might to walk at some point, but otherwise was going okay. The walk never happened, and although we played a game with the 2.10bus, going slightly ahead and slightly behind, and although despite hydrating really well and drinking at every water stop, and carrying some Gatorade I was feeling quite thirsty, and although my legs (and I found out afterwards, MJ's) were starting to really feel it, by the time we got to the 18km we knew all we had to do was keep going for a little longer and we were done. The 2.10bus pulled away from us (or we fell back) as we went along St Kilda Road, it didn't really matter. I managed to find a little something as we were going along Flinders and the MCG came in to sight and we gained on the 2.10bus. Running in to the MCG (and the crowd goes wild!!?) was pretty cool, it seemed a long way around however, but we finished probably 10meters behind the 2.10bus, which was great, as we knew we hadn't started more like 50meters behind it and hoped to scrape in under the 2.10mark after all.
The usual chip collection, disappointing goodie bag (literally just a bag in this case) and drinks were done, as well as the medal of course and we headed down to where we'd seen Tesso and gang to say hi and wait for Matty to come through from his marathon run.
Unfortunately Matty went to first aid for some hydration assistance and MJ was with him, after 2.5hours I went back to the apartment to wait for them as no one had any phones. I ran a small cold bath and sat in it while having a shower, that, and the fact I put my skins on as soon as we had got our bags afterwards I think helped a lot. Soon after Matty & MJ made it back, Matty full of pride, as he should be, at his sub 3 hour effort. A steak and egg sandwich later and I was heading back to the airport. I felt a bit odd at the airport, I think it was the exertion of the run, but a lot of water later and back in Brisbane and I was only feeling tired and sore.
The Half times were amazingly online on the Monday, and even more amazingly we had managed to complete it in 2:08:56, a minute quicker than we thought and 8minutes quicker than we had predicted on a good day.
The recovery has been okay. I was very sore on Monday and did a 30minute walk followed by 30minutes stretching that night. I had a massage, the ITB on both legs was near excruciating and a couple of times I nearly had to tell her to stop. I did nothing on Tuesday, but this morning I got up and went for a 20minute run (jog) and feel a lot better. I will head the gym on Thursday morning and on the weekend I think we might go for a long bike ride as I am still determined to cross-train more, rather than only run as before.
A great weekend though, and wonderful to see so many people who I've not seen for so long too.
posted by Chelle @ 15.10.08
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