Gold Coast Marathon 2008

Mission accomplished. I took it easy, had a bit of fun, and got to the end in one piece. Hammy is fine, and hardly any DOMS to speak of. Though I do have a sort spot from the belly punch Ewen gave me at the 27k mark ;)

My only real problem was a blister threatening to form in the same spot that got me in Canberra. Stopping and adjusting my shoe and sock five or six times did the trick there. And it gave me a bit of a rest :) Better get that sorted before Melbourne Marathon.

I thought I'd finish somewhere between 4:00 and 4:15, and I did - a net time of 4:06.13. Its a PW, and over half an hour slower than Canberra, but I'm more than happy.

Quite a few highlights but the best part was running the last couple of kms with Blair, especially when we hit the CR cheersquad and then the PCRG cheersquad. Awesome does not begin to describe how great they were!

And that last km was my fastest of the day but I had to keep up with Blair ... he's claiming that he was just trying to keep up with me. Too funny!



At some point along the way



Blair forcing me to run faster .... he was trying to steal a koala kebab

Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown

News from the physio is the hammy tear is all but healed, though the muscles are still tight and the glutes need strengthening and the back muscles need loosening and and and ....

Anyway, he's basically given me open slather runningwise (not hills or short sprints though). Still, I'm erring on the side of caution and not going much faster than 4:45s for the time being.

Its been good to pick up the mileage again, with averages over 70k the past two weeks.

Friday morn was an 18k-er at the GC. Followed it up with 22k on Saturday back here in Brissie. Gotta say the Saturday run is the best I've felt since even before the hammy went. According to Blair's trusty Garmin we were averaging 5:20s - seemed slower which is a good sign. I felt like I could have kept going though was having a bit of a sock issue due to my shoelaces being too loose, and also I'd forgotten my sunnies. Amazing how quickly you get out of practice with the basics that are usually just routine.

Sooooo, after much procrastination I've decided to do the full, it will be my 19th standard marathon. Now to start worrying ....