I turned up to the start area an hour before the gun went
off, did my usual warm up run, then half an hour before the gun was set to go,
ate a banana, then 15 mins prior, ate a gel. All normal, and everything was
feeling good. I then made my way to the start line, wearing clothes I had worn
during training feeling confident with my ability to succeed in my goal. I put
myself near the 3-hour pacing bus, which was at the front of the runners, only
second to the elites. That meant it only took about 5 seconds to cross the start
line after the gun went off, where I pressed start on my watch and I had begun
my journey.
On this run I carried 1L of Trail Brew, 5 Vfuel gels and a
double shot expresso Clif Shot, with the goal of drinking a mouthful of water
at each aid station (which were situated about every 2ish km’s), maybe more if
it got warm. Luckily for me, race morning was the coldest yet for the Gold
Coast winter, and I didn’t have to worry about the heat.
The first 1.5km’s were quick, after being pushed a little
bit by the runners behind me when everyone was still congested. I ran over a
bridge and turned a corner that made us run along-side the beach when I finally
realised that I was running too quick, luckily only about 2km’s had passed by and
it was a lot less congested, so I slammed on the brakes and waited for the 3
hour bus to catch up, and was then able to get into a rhythm. Every half hour
eat gel, swish it down with Trail Brew, drink some water at each aid station,
see bitumen, see buildings, hear spectators, repeat. I’ll admit by kilometre 15
I was bored, this is the point I probably would’ve put headphones in, but
unfortunately I left those back in Brisbane. By kilometre 16, just 4 and a bit
minutes later, my glutes and hip tendons were starting to hurt from the
constant pounding of the bitumen. Each new step from this point onwards was
also new territory, I had never ran this far this fast before. But by kilometre
18 my race started going downhill.
 |
| Gold Coast Marathon pace |
The ache of my glutes had been pushed to the back of mind,
replaced by the much more painful ache of my feet. My peroneal tendonitis had
returned. This injury usually only flares up on uneven trails, and is helped by
doing some strength exercises and taping up my feet. Before this race I had
done a 2 hour 40 mins training run in the shoes I was to race in, with no
issues with my feet. This meant I went into this race without taping up my feet.
Perhaps not a smart decision. Up until my 18th km I was maintaining
about a 4.15 min/km average, by kilometre 20 I had slipped to 4.30min/km. From then
on I slowed to a crawl, before finally at kilometre 24 I accepted defeat, took
off my shoes and made the decision that I wouldn’t make it to the finish. I
then walked in my socks for the next 5km’s seeing pacing bus after pacing bus pass
me, when my feet felt a tiny bit better. I tried putting on my shoes and taking
a few steps, before the pain returned to its previous levels. I then took my
shoes off again before walking another kilometre back to the start-finish area.
Race over.
 |
| Easing the pain in my feet by putting them in icy cold water after the race |
Failure
I’ve been running competitively since I was about 14 when I joined
my local athletics club and since then I don’t think I can say I’ve ever
experienced failure. Disappointment? Sure, there’s been plenty of times when I didn’t
quite get a time or position I wanted, but failure? I don’t think so.
Hindsight is one of those great things that I wish I could have
before a race. I mean looking back on this race, should I have taped up my feet
even though I was confident they wouldn’t be a problem? Yes. Should I have perhaps
been doing the strengthening exercises that my physio has given me more often
then I did? Yes.
I was lucky to have a supportive friend at the finish line
who reminded me that (hopefully) I’ll be running competitively for the next
10-15 years of my life, and that I’ve only been doing these sort of distances
for the past year and a half. This has definitely put things into perspective
for me. While this is my first DNF, I’m sure that going forward, it won’t be my
last.
After the GC race I’m pressing the reset button and trying
something new. I’m taking a bit of a break this week, but will be finding out a
few crucial bits of info. What my heart rate max is and what my one rep maxes are
for a number of different strength exercises. I’m doing an exercise and sport science
degree, and what I’ve learned over the past semester is that a training plan has
to be tailored to an individual. I.e. From here on out I won’t be using a
training plan found off the internet (what I did for this marathon). I’ve also
found out that all aerobic training intensity should be based off heart rate,
not off pace. So for this first time ever, my training plan won’t feature pace
but percentage of max heart rate. And lastly I’ve also found that strength
training can boost performance, and with my next race being a 50km ultra
featuring 1500m of elevation, I figured getting a bit stronger couldn’t hurt.
So over the next twoish months, I’m hitting the gym, a lot, and trying to maintain
my current running fitness. It may work, it may not, but I’m excited to give it
a try!
And finally to all of you who are reading this, liked my
running posts and commented your support. I thank-you. It really does mean a
lot to me having a great number of people backing me, through the thick and thin.
The TRN.
