Rocky River Run Half Marathon & Week 3

Well I am now half-way through my 6 week Gold Coast Marathon program. This week had a slightly reduced training load and a half marathon test in the form of the Rocky River Run. I didn't want to fully taper for the race, opting instead for a slight reduction in volume and no tempo runs so that I could test my progress in the half.

I got up at 4:30am this morning and tried out a new breakfast to see how it would digest / sit in my stomach in a race environment. My normal breakfast routine for a race is to eat weetbix or cornflakes at least two hours before the start. I have read articles claiming that milk is not a good idea on race morning and tends to have a negative effect leading to stomach upset. So with my history of stomach problems I tried 3x pieces of white toast with canola spread and NZ honey (sorry to my Aussie readers but the honey in NZ is far superior). I also drank a bottle of Gatorade and had a banana about an hour before the race. I intended to have a gel 30mins before the gun as well but decided against it as I felt more full than I expected at this time.

I got to the start line with half an hour to go and caught up with a few friends and had a very short warm-up. I intended to do 2km but time got away on me and I did about half that. Going into the race my plan was to run an average of 4min/km for a total time of about 1:24. I was hoping for a top 10 position and even a top 5 depending on who turned up. As it turned out there were quite a few good runners at the start line so a top 5 was going to be very difficult given my lack of speed. Weather conditions were almost perfect with cool, calm conditions and no sign of the rain the plagued the entire day yesterday.

To the sound of a somewhat subdued starters horn we were off. Immediately a group of four runners hit the lead with another four in the chase group a few metres back. I was sitting in 9th / 10th position running shoulder to shoulder with Jacob, whom I have run with on various training runs around Rocky. I checked my Garmin GPS watch after about 500 metres and realised that we were running quicker than I wanted, sitting on 3:46 pace. I have run this pace and quicker in shorter races but my current form meant that this pace was far too quick. I tried to settle into a good stride and work on steadying my breathing in the hope that the runners ahead would come back to me after starting too quickly.

The lead woman came past after the first kilometre or so and looked very strong. She stormed past and easily bridged the gap to the chase group as I picked up the first casualty of the fast early pace and moved into 9th place outright. I ran strongly through the first 6km with times of around 4min/km but I was starting to tire. At about the 5km mark we hit some soft mud and dirt sections before traversing the boggy soccer fields and more dirt roads until 7km where we rejoined the road. My kilometre times were extending out to around 4:08min/km and I could feel the strain. Things were not going to plan and about to get worse.

I was slowly catching a runner in front who had dropped off the chase group but I could also hear the ominous sound of rubber hitting bitumen together with the tell-tale laboured breathing of another runner behind me. Up ahead of me I could see Michael (the defending champion and regular training partner) and the lead woman but something was wrong. They had gone past the right-hand turn and were heading towards the bridge. I had read the course description and checked the map the night before and was aware that we were required to make a right hand turn into Goodsall Street. Two more runners missed the turn and I could see the SES marshall fold up the sign and move it away from the corner. I was a little confused but thought that the course must have been altered due to the heavy rain yesterday. That was until I saw Michael and Anna, the lead woman, turn around. I wondered if there was a little out and back loop near the bridge to correct the course distance but Pat and the runner I had been gaining on turned around. I stopped where I was. I stopped my watch. Michael continued towards me. I turned around and could see Jacob and a few other runners heading towards the turn. So I started my watch again and began running back towards Goodsall Street. I figured I lost about 30 to 40 seconds but Michael and Anna had lost even more.

I didn't panic or get too worried as it was not my key race and it was not too much of detour (compared to my course transgressions in other races). As well as Jacob, the second and third placed females, Alice and Leah joined the group. The runners who had been ahead and behind me (before we missed the turn) had put some distance on me as Michael and Anna came roaring past. I was running very hard and could not match their pace as they ran towards and over the Fitzroy Bridge. I ran on with Jacob and Pat before slowly pulling away in my pursuit of 8th place again. The course loops back underneath the bridge before heading back towards the start / finish area and the beginning of the second lap.

It took me another 3km on the second lap before I caught the elusive runner, Peter, in front of me. I made the pass, gaining 8th place, on the railway bridge and he gave me a kind word of encouragement. Every breath was precious at this stage and I could not spare any to talk, opting instead for a thumbs up. I had been chasing him for the better part of 14km and now had no-one to key off as Michael, Anna and the runner in 7th were out of sight on this meandering part of the course.

As we headed towards the dirt and cross-country sections of the course I could see Michael and 7th place were over a minute further up the road. We made the right turn onto the mud and dirt sections and my pace slowed accordingly. I spied race leader Paul Tucker on the other side of the touch football fields having successfully navigated the mud and dirt and heading towards the finish. Where I had been running around 4:03-4:05 on the road, my placed slipped to between 4:09-4:18 for the next 6km. I was struggling.

I managed to put a little more distance between myself and Peter, the runner behind me, and was confident that I was guaranteed 8th place. I crossed the finish line in 1:26:42 for an average pace of 4:06min/km. I have mixed feelings of my performance. I am happy to have finished in the top 10 but am a little disappointed to have been two minutes slower than my pre-race goal. My time is over four minutes slower than my last half marathon (February 2009) and is about six minutes slower than my PB. My biggest concern was my lack of speed and race stamina at 4:00min/km pace and inparticular my fade to 4:18min/km for a couple of kilometres. I am also worried about my ability to hold a pace of 4:15 for 42.195km and hope that the gains I make in the next three weeks including a two week taper will help drag me along to my second Sub 3hr marathon.

Although my time was slow there are still many positives to be taken from the race. I had another top 10 finish and although my pace was on average six seconds slower than planned, I was still nine seconds a kilometre quicker than my required marathon race pace. The pre-race meal was a success and did not adversely affect my run and I got to test out my new racing shoes, the Asics DS Trainer 16. I also managed the run without a taper period and it was my first road race for over a year. Finally, it has only been three weeks since I started implementing faster tempo work since my 83km in TNF100, where all of my runs were considerably slower than 5min/km. If I can keep up that progress towards the Gold Coast Airport Marathon and manage my pace correctly I have a good chance of Sub3.

A big thank you to all the volunteers, marshals and officials who put on a great race and congratulations to all my friends, training partners and work colleagues who ran in the various events. Some great results out there and too many to list here, although special mention must go to those that raced the full and half at Challenge Cairns the week before and did the half today, one week later. And I thought I was crazy!! Check out the link which will take you to the results page.

There is a saying that you are only as good as your last race, so I can now finally put The North Face 100 to rest and look towards the future.

Week 3

Monday - 12.51km - 1hr 04mins 43secs - 5:11mins/km - recovery run
Tuesday - 18.06km - 1hr 26mins 48secs - 4:48mins/km - moderate run
Wednesday - 12.50km - 1hr 03mins 55secs - 5:07mins/km - recovery run
Thursday - 16.05km - 1hr 17mins 46secs - 4:51mins/km - group run with 4x stride-outs
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - 8.05km - 41mins 18secs - 5:08mins/km - easy run
Sunday - 21.17km - 1hr 26mins 42secs - 4:06mins/km - Rocky River Run Half Marathon + 2.27km warm down

Week 3 totals - 90.61km - 7hrs 12mins 45secs - 4:47min/km average pace

Keep running.