2:49:47! I did it!

2:49:47. Ninth woman overall. 

Yes friends, you read that heading correctly.

2:49:47 in the Melbourne Marathon. 

A new marathon PB. More importantly, proof positive that I have conquered high hamstring tendinopathy and I am back and running stronger than ever.

At the end of last year I was told there was a chance I would never race competitively again. This ripped my heart out - not only did I love to run, but I had lots more I wanted to achieve with my running. The ensuing months of treatment and rehab and false starts and set backs are documented a little in this blog, although I refrained from posting about the really, really dark times.

Always, always at the back of my mind was Melbourne Marathon. My big goal for the year and, as the months progressed and recovery took far longer than I wanted, my ONLY goal for the year. I just couldn't write this entire year off - I needed something good to come out of it.

Crossing the finish line on the MCG on Sunday and seeing 2:49 on the clock was the most wonderful reward for all the work and patience and perseverance and the many, many tears that were shed whilst trying to get back to running.

Personal drinks ready to go. 

I can't even begin to express how utterly grateful I am to everyone who had a role in my recovery since last November. Without my wonderful husband Andrew, my family, friends, coach (Sean Williams), physio (Brent Kirkbride), doctor (Donald Kuah), massage therapist (Michael Viera - Complete Body Dymamics) and Mizuno I couldn't have done it. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

I know I'm going on as if I've won a gold medal at the Olympics or something, but I really need to express how much I appreciate everyone who has supported me. I love to run and, as much as I freak out before a race, I love to challenge myself by racing. I am so incredibly grateful and happy to be back at it again - and to be racing better than I ever have been before.

Wooooohooooo! Seriously! WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO! I'm sorry I can't be more eloquent - if you picture me running around madly waving my hands above my head you may have an inkling of how I'm feeling. 2:49:47!! YEAH!

The race went well. I wore the Mizuno Ronin - the first time I've worn them for the full marathon distance and they felt fantastic. No blisters, no bleeding and I still have all ten toenails. Excellent.

Early morning at the 'G'.

The weather wasn't as bad as I feared, although there was some wind and it started to rain a bit near the end. By about 9k I hooked up with two other women (Aarthi Venkatesan and Fleur Flanery) and we started to work together to maintain a pace of about 3:59/k. We were soon joined by some other women and a few men and our pack ran together quite strongly until that dreaded turnaround point near St Kilda Esplanade (25k). Not too long after that (I'm not sure where) we started to fall apart. Laura James and Hannah Flannery took off like they had jet-packs on - they both ran such strong, smart races and made it look so easy - while a few women fell behind me. I had a couple of bad stages but managed to hold a reasonable pace together until the 37k mark, where a hill and fading legs caused me to go from a 4:01km (@36k) to a 4:19km. Ouch. From there I had a couple of other bad splits which caused the anxiety levels to spike a little because I knew I'd be close to blowing the sub-2:50 time.

The last few seconds of the race, as I ran towards the finish and knew I was about scrape in under 2:50, were magic. A mix of utter relief and complete joy. The worst year suddenly became the best year, thanks to that little 42.2 kilometre run through Melbourne.

So happy. So grateful. So blessed.

2:51:27 - Melbourne Marathon

2:51:27!

A three-and-a-half minute PB!

OK, that's the short version. If you don't want to waste time reading the world's longest race report, stop here.

THE LONG VERSION
I flew down to Melbourne on the Friday before the race. After the previous week's hot weather it was a rude shock to wake up and find a grey, rainy, windy and cold day (it was snowing further up the mountain). My flight was scheduled for 12:15pm but the weather delayed everything so I didn't end up leaving until a fair bit later.

Finally landed in Melbourne and made it to my hotel (so easy with Skybus - had a nice chat to the driver when I was the last one left on the bus. I asked him to explain how to do a hook turn... I decided I'll never drive in Melbourne). Quick dash to a supermarket to get a couple of things then out for a short run. I was feeling so, so nervous.

I slept in late on Saturday because I was worried I'd have a restless sleep that night and I wanted to be as rested as possible. Eventually headed out for a very brief run on which I started to feel... fantastic. My legs felt strong and I was full of energy. Phew! Good thing that taper decided to kick in!

I had to be at the MCG at 1pm for the elite athlete briefing. Took my time getting there, dropped my personal drinks in then had a look around the expo before meeting with the other runners and the competition director, Tim Crosbie.

It is truly a privilege to race as an 'elite' runner in this race. I've been lucky enough to do it three times and it is such an amazing experience. The title 'elite' is a bit misleading - yes, there are some real elite athletes involved, but there are also runners like me who have some solid results and are racing as part of their state or territory team.

 The 'elite' group has access to facilities under the MCG on race day - before and after the race. Any runner knows how valuable that is - we have toilets, space to warm up, showers, water, sports drink, bananas and people to help us. No lining up for anything, no waiting in the cold. It's awesome.

Tim and his staff do such a great job of looking after all the elite runners - not just the super fast ones - and I am so appreciative of all their work.

The briefing was pretty standard - an overview of the rules and info on the course, drug testing and the schedule for race day. We got our bibs and we were on our way.

As anticipated, I had a lot of trouble getting to sleep that night. The alarm was set for 4am (three hours before race time). Eventually I nodded off, but I woke a number of times - frantically checking the clock to ensure I hadn't overslept.

When the alarm finally went off I felt OK. Nervous, yes, but ready to race. Breakfast, shower, dressed (NSW uniform and Mizuno Elixir), more breakfast (lucky raisin toast) and some anxious pacing around my room.

Early morning MCG.

I got to the MCG about 5:40am. Plenty of time to warm up, go to the bathroom (a million times) and get into 'race mode'. This part of the day is, as I said before, such a privilege. Everything is so easy and you don't need to waste energy worrying about queues, getting a good start position, being cold, getting rid of your warm-up clothing... it's all taken care of. About 35 minutes before the race started I took a tablet to stop my dreaded 'toilet stop'. (As an aside, I think I may now know what causes this - supplements that contain a high dose of magnesium).

THE RACE
It was a relief to hear the gun go off - finally I was underway and I knew that in under three hours I'd be home and hosed (I refused to entertain the idea of running over three hours!). I planned to go out at 4 minute ks - a strategy I've followed in the last few marathons I've done - go out at 4 min k and see how long I can last.

This time, thankfully, I held the pace for much longer than usual. Although I detest racing in my Garmin (it stresses me out) I knew the split information would be valuable in analysing the race so I wore it (and forgot to turn off the sound so the stupid thing beeped at me every kilometre).

I settled pretty quickly and began ticking off the kilometres fairly evenly: 3:47, 3:54, 3:57, 3:56, 3:58, 3:56, 3:57, 3:55, 4:02 (oops), 3:57. The official race results say I went through 10k in 39:41 (my Garmin didn't match with km markers so better to use official timing).

16k marked the point where I started doing a few more four-minute kilometres, with some sub-4s interspersed.

At about 31k a piano fell on my back and the ground turned to quicksand for a while. I felt like I was running in slow motion - at 33k I ran a 4:09 km and at 34 I ran 4:08 before dropping back down to 4:02. The hill between 36-37k threw a spanner in the works - I ran a slow 4:14 then a horrendous 4:23. Ouch!!

The results give my 10k splits as follows:
10k: 39:41
20k: 40:26
30k 40:21
40k: 41:45

My Garmin has my halfway split at 1:23:48 (it's odd that the race doesn't record a half split).

When I crossed the line, in 2:51:27, I had nothing left in the tank - I was exhausted and so, so happy about it. I really believe I gave it everything I had.

I was thrilled. And relieved! After focussing on (and worrying about) this race for the past 11 weeks I could finally relax. The thing that made it even more wonderful was the knowledge that I had trained really hard to achieve that time, and it had paid off. Yahoo!

I had a massage after the race (during which I had one of those awful foot cramps where your foot curls up like a claw and won't release). I was feeling pretty sore. Back at the hotel I flooded the bathroom by having a epic-long shower then sat by the window overlooking Jolimont Avenue and watched the procession of runners continue. Those people are champions - I don't know how they keep going for hours and hours and hours.

The winner of the female race was Lauren Shelley in the stunning time of 2:36:29. Jane Fardell was second in 2:37:52. Both these women qualified for the world championships next year - amazing runs.

I finished 11th overall and 10th in the Australian Championships. A record number of women (22) ran under three hours. Go girls!

I spent the afternoon enjoying the Melbourne institutions of coffee and retail therapy with fellow NSW runner Magda Karimali-Poulos - one of the most consistently strong (yet unbelievably modest) athletes I have the pleasure of being friends with. She finished fifth in the fantastic time of 2:45:36 - and still had the energy to go running after a bus at the end of the day.

Unlike last year, when I flew back to Sydney straight after the race, I had allowed myself another night in Melbourne to kick back and relax. So lovely.

Felt surprisingly OK when I woke up on Monday. Sore and tired but not as bad as I had been anticipating. I thought I was supposed to do an easy 20 minute recovery jog so I did (turns out that wasn't on the program). It was lovely being able to run without thinking, "Will I do it? Will I run well in Melbourne?"

But the gods have a sense of humour and couldn't let the weekend go by without having a laugh at my expense. When I flew into Sydney I couldn't wait to jump in the car and get home. I'd timed it so I'd be ahead of peak hour traffic so I'd have a nice, stress-free drive. Ummm... no. My car battery was flat. Dead as a doornail.

This was a saga in itself, involving me asking the carpark office and every single car rental place if they had a battery charger pack before standing next to the pay machines and accosting everyone there. Without going into detail, my poor (and wonderful) husband was three quarters of the way to the airport when I was saved by a car park officer and sent on my way - three hours after my plane landed.

So there you have it.

2:51:27.

Huge thank you to my coach Sean - this wouldn't have happened without him. Also thanks to Mizuno for supporting me. Finally, endless hugs and kisses to Andrew who has done absolutely everything so I haven't had to worry about anything except eat, sleep, train and work.

Melbourne Marathon - 2:54:56!

20k, Melbourne Marathon.

Well, I've had a roller coaster few weeks, but I've ended up in a really good place.

Long version or short? Probably long, because I've avoided the blog for a while, so I'll need to fill things in.

Lets go back to the last blog entry - I think it was just after running 2:56:02 in Cities M7 and it said something like, "I want to go faster."

This was in anticipation of my 'A' race of the year - the Sydney Marathon. I had based my whole year around doing well in this race (even giving up a free trip to race in Noumea), and three weeks before it I was feeling on fire. Then, two weeks before it, I got the flu.

I missed the NSW half mara championships, which I wanted to do as a good hit out before Sydney, because I was flat on my back in bed feeling like death warmed up. It hung around for a while, then when the main symptoms had abated, the cough and congestion on my chest remained. The week before Sydney I knew things weren't perfect - I felt lethargic and my breathing (especially when swimming) was all over the place. Still, I went to Sydney thinking it might be OK, and maybe I was just being a little sensitive because I was nervous.

SYDNEY
On the start line I had the driest mouth ever. I was so thirsty, but there was nowhere to get a drink before the gun went off. I started OK - the front women formed a pack and were running at what would have been a comfortable pace for me, but I was feeling like shite and knew things were going to go pear shaped. By 10k I was about 40 seconds behind the pack and it kept going downhill from there. My breathing started to sound like Darth Vader and my chest felt like it was being squeezed in a vice. I walked - a number of times. I got to the top of Macquarie Street - about 31k - and it was all over red rover. I stopped, asked myself if I was actually about to get my first DNF, then walked off the course.

There were tears during that long walk down to the Opera House to find my husband.

Two days later, I decided I wasn't going to let it beat me. I contacted Athletics NSW and asked if I could be on the NSW team for the Melbourne Marathon. I've made the team the past two years, but didn't apply this year because Sydney was the goal. The race had sold out, so all I needed was an entry. They said yes, and I had three weeks to get my chest, as well as my mind, in the right condition to run well.

MELBOURNE
I kept it very low key - didn't talk about it much, tried not to think about it - I wanted to avoid all the nerves. My headspace wasn't right - I think I had told myself that Sydney was the last big race of the year, so it was hard to have to readjust everything when it went to pieces. Even as I arrived in Melbourne (on my own - no husband in tow) I really didn't want to be there.

Had the elite athlete briefing at the MCG on Saturday, and started to feel a little more motivated, and a little more nervous. By Saturday night, I just wanted to get it over and done with.

MCG - pre-race.

Warming up under the MCG.

Woke up at 4am. Breakfast (baby food and rice - works a treat and doesn't make me puke when racing). Electrolyte drink.
Checked a friend's progress in Kona - thanked the gods that I was only doing a marathon when he was doing Ironman!!

Checked in at the elite athlete room at the MCG at about 5.30am. Stuck mostly to myself - a couple of quick chats with friends, but I was mostly trying to get my mind in the right place.
Warm up under the MCG (very cool).
Walk to start.
A bit more chatter with the ladies - this was good as it kept things relaxed.

Bang.

Felt smooth from the start, which was a relief. I got into my rhythm early and it felt good. Temperature was great, it wasn't too crowded (until the dreaded merge) and I was consistently hitting 4 min/k pretty easily.

At 6k I heard someone come up behind me, "I'd recognise you anywhere!" - It was my Canberra Marathon buddy Keith. For the past three years we've ended up running together for a substantial part of the Canberra Marathon - although he'd caught up tp me early in this race, so I assumed he must be in good form. We kept each other company for a while, going through 10k in just under 40 minutes - a split I was very happy with.

Then, the dreaded 'uh-oh' moment. I needed to go to the toilet.

My pace slowed a little bit, and Keith pulled slightly ahead (great run Keith - I know you'll read this eventually. Congratulations!). I sat with the 2:50 pace group and our pace felt good, but I knew I was going to have to have a pit stop. So, just like in M7 Cities, I pulled off the course at 18k (yes, exactly the same marker as in Cities) and did what had to be done.

The bugger was that I lost the 2:50 pace group, which would have been really handy when we hit the head wind because I would have been able to tuck in behind the bigger guys and conserve a bit of energy.

Once I got into the headwind (25/6k maybe? Not sure), I hit a bit of a low patch. At this point I thought of my friend in Kona, and the conditions he would have been facing there. I had it easy in comparison!

The wind did feel pretty tough, and I began to worry it was really going to slow me down. I was feeling OK, but I wasn't sure how much time I was losing.

The merge with the half marathon runners was a pain, and is the only negative (and a big one at that) in what is otherwise a brilliant race. Many of them were wearing iPods, so they didn't hear you coming up behind them, and some stopped right in front of me. I copped a cup full of sports drink at a drink station when an iPod wearer stopped running and grabbed a cup as I was running through trying to get one. The worst one was the woman who stopped to pose for a photographer, causing me to nearly crash. At least I had it better than Kirsten, who won the Australian Championships. As she was coming through she was yelling out asking people to move aside (as you would if you're on your way to winning a national title) and one person turned around and told her to f*** off. Disgraceful.

But I digress. As I got closer to the end (and we lost the half runners for a while) I started to feel quite strong, and began passing a few runners. The next time I hit the half marathoners it was mayhem. This lot were running at a much slower pace so it was very difficult to move around them, and I've no doubt this cost lots of marathoners some valuable time. It wasn't their fault (although the iPods didn't help) - this aspect of the race just needs to be addressed.

Almost before I knew it, the finishing chute was upon me - in the last few seconds of the 2:54s. Cadence increased - I wanted 2:54, not 2:55!!

Finishing time: 2:54:56
Tenth place
Eighth (or maybe seventh?) in Australian Championships
Gold medal for NSW team with Kirsten Molloy and Magda Karimali-Poulos.

I've seen the finishing photos, and the relief at achieving what I'd originally planned for in Sydney is written all over my face.

Yep, pretty pleased right now. THAT was the race I wanted for my last marathon of 2011! 

Relief and elation!