I did actually have a bit of a break from running events after the IAU Global Run, but all too soon the Canberra marathon was upon us - and I'd agreed to pace some of the guys as they were very keen to try to break 3 hours. I knew that I had been doing too much as I couldn't get excited about the run myself, though I was keen to see so many of the club run after all the hard work that everyone had been putting into targeting the event. I was actually really worried that I would not be able to run fast enough to pace them, so had a few sleepless nights worrying that I would let everyone down. We had a breakfast confab before leaving the Central Coast, and I suggested that I would get them to halfway in just under 90mins and then see what happened after that. Luckily 2 other guys had also offered to help out, so that took a bit of the pressure off me :-) 
Breakfast confab before leaving Terrigal
A group of us staying together traveled down in two cars, meeting up for lunch halfway there, and it was really relaxing to get there at a decent time on the Friday and just chill out knowing we weren't running until the Sunday. The timing was actually perfect for me as my (second) cousin Eddie was due to pass through Canberra that evening on his epic India-Pacific Ride (a self-sufficient bicycle trip from Perth all th way across Australia to Sydney). I looked at the route and worked out where I could intercept him, and then jogged off into town to do so.....without having really taken into account that he might also be meeting other people along the way and so not be travelling as fast as his tracker predicted.
This led to some dodgy hanging around the centre of Canberra as it got darker and darker, frantically watching my phone battery run down as I followed his tracker and kept in touch with his wife (who was back in Wollongong but trying to keep in touch with him). I feared that he would then fly past me in the dark, but luckily I managed to speak to him on the phone and so went to where he was due to see his work colleagues. I was surprised at how well (if skinny) he looked - not at all as if all he'd done for the last few weeks was to constantly cycle eastwards on his bike!!
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| Eddie and his bike arriving in Canberra |
On Saturday I somehow persuaded the guys to come to parkrun with me, and for many of them it was actually their parkrun debut (I should be on commission!!). It's hard to tell how you'll feel the day before a marathon so the guys were mostly taking it steady or even walk-running, but I thought I should run a decent pace to see how I felt for pacing duties the next day. It wasn't the easiest of courses - undulating and on gravel - but it also wasn't as tough as it felt. I started off running with Mark (one of the other guys pacing the sub-3 group) and he commented that it felt like a nice, easy relaxed pace......I felt like I was dying and then realised we were actually going way slower than 3hr marathon pace - eek! I couldn't even blame the freezing temperatures as that was the forecast for the Sunday too.
It was an out and back course with more downhill on the way out so I think I picked up speed somehow, as I found myself running alone in about 3rd place overall and at the turnaround I saw that Mark had dropped a little way back. Unfortunately this meant that the way back was mainly uphill, and so I did question why I was putting myself through the effort, especially with a more important long run coming up the next day. My doubting mind won out and I decided to take a few walking breaks on the inclines and then run the flatter/downhill sections. When I was actually running rather than walking, I must have still been going at a decent pace, as nobody overtook me, although the guy in front did disappear out of sight. I somehow still finished in 3rd place....and could've kicked myself for not taking one fewer walking break when I saw the results later on, as I'd been all of 2s off the LV45 record :-(
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| The parkrun posse |
We chilled for the rest of the day, picking up our numbers at the race expo, going to the movies, cooking lots of pasta....and the "piece de resistance"......talking one of the lads (Tom - who wasn't up for trying to set a PB himself) into joining in with the 3hr pacing effort, which took the pressure off me a bit.
Sunday morning was clear but so cold, hence I only ditched my outer layer right before the start gun went off. Never the less, everybody still took off rather fast so it took a few hundred metres for me to slot into position with Mark and Tom, leading our little band of runners. A few more of the guys had decided to come with the "sub-3 bus" and when other runners realised that was what we were aiming for, they decided to join in as well. I didn't feel too bad, considering, just "comfortably uncomfortable". I was slightly amused that Mark was running about 10m ahead of us and making encouraging comments about how we were a few seconds up on our planned pace etc, without noticing that he was talking to thin air, as there was no-one running with him. He dropped back as soon as he spotted the gap and we all ran together, though I felt like I was being the windbreak, leading the group slightly. A couple of random runners broke our pack up a bit by cutting in between us, and one nearly took me out a few times, trying to cut corners and so jumping on and off the pavement.
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| Chilly Trotters just chilling... |
We started with a loop around the start area and so it was nice to have a few cheers from club members who'd either come to watch and support, or were doing shorter races and hence starting later. There were also a couple of places to spot runners ether ahead or behind you, so you could shout encouragement to those that you knew. I was a bit surprised to pass a couple of runners that I knew, as they'd said beforehand that they were aiming to run 3 hours, but when Tom and I checked our watches, we were spot on with the planned pace.
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| Brrrrr......Mark with gloves and no vest!! |
We suddenly noticed that Mark was no longer with us, and so Tom and I took it in turns to run wide of everyone else and look back for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. At the time we joked that it must have been too cold for him (as he always runs without wearing a vest) but as it turns out, he sensibly stopped when he felt that his sciatica was starting to play up. This meant that the pressure was back onto the two of us, but I felt comfortable in taking everyone through halfway in the planned time of 1:29 - 1:29:30 (though unfortunately there was no timing mat at that point so the distance was a best guess from our watches).
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| Pacing the crew |
Stu (another Trotter, running the half marathon) shot past soon after and told me that I would need to get running again as "the boys need you". I gave myself a talking to, and started to run when the first of the lads caught me up. I ran just ahead of him for a way, but he seemed to be going well himself, and so I moved back over to the side and my walk of shame recommenced.
Tom and the next 2 guys came past next (they were the original two that wanted the sub-3) and though one of the (James) looked like he was still full of running, Mark (yes another Mark - I think it's the most common name in the club) definitely had a slump in his posture and appeared to be fading. I ran a bit with him and then stopped to walk further as I'm ashamed to say that I just couldn't make myself keep going when my heart wasn't in it. I could see Mark dropping further back from Tom and James, so I would run again to catch up with him, and then slow to another walk.
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| Celebrating my friend Krystie's debut |
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| I'm not sure Mark wants to hear me "encouraging" him ever again!! |
We had another couple of places where we passed runners going the other way, so although I tried to cheer on the other Trotters by name, several of them said they just heard me encouraging Mark. It was so close, but he had nothing more left to give......he kept the effort up all the way to the line, and although he just missed the sub-3 by a whisker, he still ran a big PB in front of his proud cheering family!
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| The sub-3 bus :-) |
It was a great day for the club as I think everyone (except the pacers) ran a new PB, and I managed to sneak in first place in my age category and take over 20 minutes off the NSW V45 marathon record, so celebrations all round!!!
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| Celebratory drinks back on the Coast |
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