Noosa Half Marathon
After travelling up to Noosa on Thursday arvo a Friday morning run was too hard to resist. Scotty, Little Tara and I set out just after 8am on a overcast morning. The National Park sounded tempting but instead we headed out along the river and did most of one lap of the official Half Marathon course (a 2 lapper). It was a very pleasant run at a nice leisurely pace.
*****
Sunday morning the sky was clear and the weather perfect. Well, perfect for standing around pre race, it wasn't at all cold. Clairie and I must've looked serious as along with lots of fasties we did some strides at the front of the pack :-)
We squeezed back into the crowd and stood near Owen, Lizzle and Scotty. A number of us had hatched a plan - stick to 4.30 pace for the first 5k and then see what happens. My goal was around the 95 to 96 minute mark and I was quietly confident.
Almost from the outset my quads were a little sore, maybe it was C2S coming back to haunt me. But it wasn't slowing me down, the 4.30s felt very comfy and I was consciously holding myself back from going faster.
I was looking forward to a quick drink at the first aid station, unfortunately it tasted like chlorine. Others agreed. It didn't bother me for too long though. And the ones after that were normal. What didn't sit well in my stomach was the can of creamed rice I'd had before the race (used it lots of times before), it just didn't settle and I felt slightly nauseous the entire way.
I finished the first loop running beside Clairie. This was great as Pat was on the microphone and called us by name and made some funny comment. After that my pace started dropping, soon it was more like 4.35s then 4.37s. At the final turn (about 15.5k) it was even worse, and there was a 4.51 in there. It was weird, as hard as I tried my legs just couldn't move any faster. Others who expected to do around the same time or better than me were also struggling, it was some sort of comfort to see that it wasn't just me.
Crossed the line with 97:55 on my watch, though the official clock said 98:06. Why do they having timing chips with no mat at the start??? It was a pretty disappointing result considering it was slower than my GC Half that I did after just a month back at training.
Thinking about it there was nothing major that contributed to my crap run, but probably just the combination of a few little things (C2S the prev week, the warm weather, the creamed rice threatening to reappear). I should have hydrated more on Saturday and skipped the rice and used my trusty Usana protein drink instead (I was too lazy to pack it to take up there).
The disappointment with the morning was shortlived. We headed down to Cafe Le Monde soon afterwards and got to meet the lovely Kerryn McCann. And then back at presentations we met and chatted to Monas. When he asked us (Clairie, Lizzle and I) how we went we just told him we were out there so long we got maximum value for our entry fee :-)
*****
Sunday morning the sky was clear and the weather perfect. Well, perfect for standing around pre race, it wasn't at all cold. Clairie and I must've looked serious as along with lots of fasties we did some strides at the front of the pack :-)
We squeezed back into the crowd and stood near Owen, Lizzle and Scotty. A number of us had hatched a plan - stick to 4.30 pace for the first 5k and then see what happens. My goal was around the 95 to 96 minute mark and I was quietly confident.
Almost from the outset my quads were a little sore, maybe it was C2S coming back to haunt me. But it wasn't slowing me down, the 4.30s felt very comfy and I was consciously holding myself back from going faster.
I was looking forward to a quick drink at the first aid station, unfortunately it tasted like chlorine. Others agreed. It didn't bother me for too long though. And the ones after that were normal. What didn't sit well in my stomach was the can of creamed rice I'd had before the race (used it lots of times before), it just didn't settle and I felt slightly nauseous the entire way.
I finished the first loop running beside Clairie. This was great as Pat was on the microphone and called us by name and made some funny comment. After that my pace started dropping, soon it was more like 4.35s then 4.37s. At the final turn (about 15.5k) it was even worse, and there was a 4.51 in there. It was weird, as hard as I tried my legs just couldn't move any faster. Others who expected to do around the same time or better than me were also struggling, it was some sort of comfort to see that it wasn't just me.
Crossed the line with 97:55 on my watch, though the official clock said 98:06. Why do they having timing chips with no mat at the start??? It was a pretty disappointing result considering it was slower than my GC Half that I did after just a month back at training.
Thinking about it there was nothing major that contributed to my crap run, but probably just the combination of a few little things (C2S the prev week, the warm weather, the creamed rice threatening to reappear). I should have hydrated more on Saturday and skipped the rice and used my trusty Usana protein drink instead (I was too lazy to pack it to take up there).
The disappointment with the morning was shortlived. We headed down to Cafe Le Monde soon afterwards and got to meet the lovely Kerryn McCann. And then back at presentations we met and chatted to Monas. When he asked us (Clairie, Lizzle and I) how we went we just told him we were out there so long we got maximum value for our entry fee :-)
posted by Tesso at 2:04 PM
15 Comments:
Cross creamed rice off the list!!! It was great to catch up with you last week... sorry I have been a bit slack on the blog front :-) I can't believe you backed up a week after those hills.... my legs were sore all week!!
Hey well done - still a good time even if you didn't manage a PB. Plenty of other opportunities! Maybe skip the creamed rice next time!
As for the un-Canberra comment - not offended in the least. I know exactly what you mean!!
Again, well done. Take care.
Better luck next time Tesso. Maybe the hills still in the legs from last week.
I love Noosa it reminds me of Airlie Beach from when lived in T'ville only it has much better sporting events to go with the atmosphere and scenery.
The past few weeks have been quite busy dont forget you did GH just 2 weeks prior to the C2S.
See you Sunday :)
Creamed rice=not good, sacre bleue!!!Looking forward to catching up at GH, for a few bevvies post race ;-)
Thank you Auntie Tess, for looking after my little boy.
I so wish I could have been there. Maybe my pom poms could have made up for the creamed rice.
"For anyone who hasn't run a race with these two (Clairie and Tesso) - do it before you die - it's like every single runner on the course is saying hi!"
hey tess - sorry to hear it wasn't the best race - but i feel it is just the "race you had to have" so that your next one can be HUGE!! take care!
E
A 97 is still pretty nippy by most runners's standards, Tesso, so great effort. It was probably just one of those days. And perhaps C2S is partly to blame as well. I know that I am certainly still struggling a bit after it; I just can't get into gear since that race.
Never in a million years will I understand why we do poorly some days when we have everything going for us, and others days, with very poor prep, we can have a blinder. Perhaps it has something to do with expectations and the subtle mental pressures we put on ourselves.
Sorry to hear that it wasn't the best run for you Tesso. Maybe you were just homesick for Sydney - or maybe I just borrowed your "great run" vibes for the weekend. If so, I'm really sorry but do you mind if I hang onto them for just a bit longer ;-)
You haven't put me off my creamed rice.
It sounded like a good weekend but it would not have been a good thing for me to run that race with the way my body is at the moment.
Are you planning to back up for BRRC 14k champs this Sunday?
That last line is mine!
I'd say there were a few Sydney hills still in your legs Tesso. You had a good pace going - the last bit was an aberration.
97 mins is still a good time, considering you got slower and slower. You should at least have confidence now that you'll beat your pb in the not too distant future.
Nice work Tesso!
It wasn't what you were hoping for but it seems a lot of people didn't get quite what they were hoping for.
Glad you got to meet Kerryn McCann i mentioned her course record in my latest post.
I'm sure the next race will be a good one. Pretty cool to meet up with Kerry and Mona's afterwards though!
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