2009 Cities Marathon

For the past three years I have been targeting this race. In 2007 I got sick in the taper and had a poor race finishing in 3:21. Last year I had a poor lead up due to sickness, so decided not to race. This year I had decided to again make it my target race with the aim of going sub 3:05.

As race day came closer, I toyed with the idea of trying for a sub 3. Training had been going really well and May's half in 85 mins and a 10k PB really gave me confidence. In the end I decided not to go for a sub 3 and it was definitely the right decision.

Being the 3rd time I have done Cities, I knew exactly where to go. I drove out to Blacktown and caught the bus to the start. I had a good chat to Horrie on the way out, but we ddn't arrive until about 6:40. Horrie and I were at the back of the bus and so everyone got to the check-in line ahead of me. No worries I said to myself, I will make use of the facilities. Oh no, another line! By the time I registered, I had about 5 mins to change, put my bib on as well as my timing chip. If it wasn't for Jen_Runs turning up to help out I would've missed the start. But the stress hadn't finished. Just as the gun had gone off, I realised that in my haste to put my bib on, I had done a poor job and it was flapping all over the place. So the first 200m was trying to run whilst redoing safety pins! Bah!

The plan was to run 4:20 pace (21:40/5k) which would give me a sub 3:03 time and I had the splits for this printed out around my wrist. I knew the first half was harder than the 2nd, so was trying for as close to even splits as possible. I was running with Rod (who was doing the half), and at about the 1k mark the 3 hour pacer came past, with Blue Dog right behind. Boy, I was glad I wasn't heading out at that pace I thought to myself. 5 secs per k is a big difference.

Rod and I soon found ourselves all alone and knocking out the 4:20's, running through 5k in 21:34. I was right on target, but there was a few more hills than I remember from previous years and things were not as comfortable as I was hoping.

Soon the big hill at 7k approached and Rod let me go. It wasn't so bad, I tried to keep the HR below 170 and keep a lid on the effort. I did this but lost a bit of time going through the next 5k in 22:11 and there was still some of the hill to climb. Watching the 3 hour pacer as well as Blue Dog disappear into the distance was disconcerting however I knew there was some good downhill running after the crest of the hill which rolled all the way to the half way point.

The 3rd split which was over the top of the hill and the start of some down was done in 21:52 and I was now 37 secs behind 4:20 pace. The course, whilst still rolling does generally go downhill from 15-20k and I was running at sub 4 min pace at times. 20k came around with a split of 21:13 which was pleasing and then through the halfway point in 91:37. This was 11 secs down on the plan, but I was feeling good.

The next 10k or thereabouts is relatively flat, although it seems that you are always going slightly up or slightly down. I was churning out consistent k's at around 4:20 pace. My fastest k from 20-30 was 4:07 and the slowest was 4:22, but lots around 4:20-4:21. The 5k splits were 21:26 and 21:44 for an elapsed 30k time of 2:10:00 which when I looked at my wrist band was EXACTLY what it said for 30k. I also had just passed Blue Dog, so all in all I was feeling good and ready for the all important 12k.

I was really enjoying myself at this point. I was right where I wanted to be, things were starting to feel uncomfortable, I was all by myself, it was just me and the marathon. I didn't know whether I was going to fall apart or stay strong till the finish. A challenge that I was relishing. From 30k there is a downhill section, before a couple of k's of flat before the turnaround which is a short sharp hill. I didn't really pick up any time on the downhill but lost 19 secs on the turnaround k with a 4:39 k. Another slow k going back up the hill meant a 5k split of 22:20. I was 40 secs behind and there wasn't anything to be done about it other than grit the teeth and finish it off.

The last 7k was simply digging as deep as I could to maintain the pace. As hard as I tried, I simply could not go faster than 4:20 to pick up the lost time. I was counting down the k's before finally enjoying the last k down to the stadium and around the track. The announcer called my name out as I ran the bend, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I crossed the line, totally spent in 3:03:46. The second half was done in 92:07, so a 30 sec negative split. A little behind the 4:20 pace of 3:02:52, but not too much.

A very pleasing run which was just on a 15 min PB from 3 years ago. I am glad I didn't chase the 3 hour time as I am sure that 3:03:46 was all I had. An almost perfect race. And running the sub 3 will give me something to chase next year.

Lots of catching up with CR's and lots of fatty food topped off a very satisfying morning.

Some interesting HR data showed my effort was pretty constant.

5) 21:34 (165)
10) 22:11 (168)
15) 21:52 (169)
20) 21:13 (166)
25) 21:26 (167)
30) 21:44 (167)
35) 22:20 (166)
40) 21:57 (167)

1st Half: 91:37 (167)
2nd Half: 92:07 (167)
Total: 3:03:46 (167)