By the 10am start time, the day had warmed up enough that it was pretty comfortable - in hindsight, that's not a good thing - it just means it's going to be too hot later! The first half of the race was pretty comfy - I was trying to keep the pace really comfortable, hanging around the 4hr pace group - they were behind me to start with, then eased ahead. The only speedbump in this section was a traffic cone around the 5km mark - I was looking behind to see where the pace group was and tripped over it. Oops. No damage done though.
By halfway, we'd climbed the first of the two big hills - Hamurana. And I was getting a little twinge in my calves and hammies. Not a good thing. I made sure I eased gently down the hill - there's nothing worse than flying down a hill, only to discover that you've just hammered your quads completely.
The rolling back section of the lake was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. By the time I got to Mourea Hill at around 26km, I was feeling rather tired. I managed to hold it together for another 8km, but by 34km I had nothing left - my legs were burning and I felt like I would have thrown up if I'd had anything left in my stomach to throw. It was also along here that there were 3 runners collapsed and in need of an ambulance - I haven't seen that before in a marathon. By this time, the sun was blazing down and the course was sheltered from any breeze - even though it might only have got to 19.8C, trust me, it felt HOT. The 4hr15 pace runners went past me somewhere in the last few km, and I had nothing left to try and keep up with them. I did manage to jog the last few hundred metres, but that was about it.
Surprisingly, despite really struggling in that second half, my legs recovered pretty quickly to being able to walk properly - unlike last time at Rotorua. And a few big drinks of water fixed up a bit of dehydration.
Looking back at my 5 marathons, this is my second-worst. Only my first was slightly slower:
Gold Coast 05: 4:27
Gold Coast 08: 4:19
Rotorua 09: 4:24
Auckland 10: 4:18
Rotorua 11: 4:26
Oh well, maybe next time for that PB!
PS: The full details are here. You can see the two big hills (the spikes around the 2hr and 2hr30 marks) and can see exactly where I started walking!
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2 comments:
Thank you for your running commentary I enjoyed your thoughts and feelings of the race I am keen to try a full marathon sometime want to start a program will do a 30km race first spent whole afternoon chatting to my uncle that has done a few marathons and ultras. Was helpful chatting to an experienced marathoner. Well done Peter I think completing a marathon is an accomplishment- need a strong mind which i remember you had in school even though you didnt do your pb you finnished and you finnished well! regards Shirwa
You are consistant. Only 9 minutes between fastest & slowest times. For a 42k event that is great pace. You are due a fast race next.
You seem to be alternating.
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