Woke up just before the alarm and had a couple of cups of coffee, a Le Rice and half a banana. I decided to head down to the hotel lobby at 5:30am so that I could get a taxi to the MCG.
I met this lady in the lobby who was looking a little flustered. Her husband who was supposed to be running the marathon with her had been vomiting all night because of food poisoning. She wanted someone to share a cab with so I was happy to oblige.
Upon arrival to the MCG I headed to the media room where the elite athletes were to meet. After getting changed, applying vaseline, etc, we were soon ushered down to the start area. We were able to wear our jackets which was handy as it was quite fresh. These would be returned to the MCG by the elite athlete co-ordinator. Very handy. I met up with my wing-man Sax and we were almost ready.
Deek gave his usual pre-race speech but to be honest I wasn't really listening. I was trying to focus on the job in hand. The weather seemed to be perfect and I was full of nervous anticipation.
The gun went off at 7am precisely and we were off....
It's a bit of an uphill start, and with the crowd at the start, a slow first km is to be expected. Well I spotted the first km marker and the time on my watch was 3:54, perhaps a little too slow but early doors. Settled into a nice group with Sax and didn't spot another km marker until we rolled through the 5km point in 18:21. That seemed about right, felt fairly comfortable, and we were in a nice group of 6-7 runners so everything was looking good.
I enjoyed the section round Albert Park, it's as flat as a pancake, the weather was cool and there was a slight breeze. Excellent for running. The pace must have quickened slightly and that was not intentional. We went through 10km in 36 flat with the group still tightly formed.
The next section had us exiting Albert Park and moving onto Beaconsfield Parade. We were still running in the group, taking turns up the front and we rolled through 15km in 53:19. The turnaround point on the parade was at approx 17km and the change of direction made no difference to the km splits, that was a good sign that wind would not be a factor today. Come 20km we were still tightly grouped and the clock read 1:11:45. Much quicker than planned pace but still feeling comfortable.
Halfway came in 1:15:46. Wow, that was over 30 seconds quicker than the same point in London. Surely I was going to pay for this. At the 25km mark, we were at the southern turnaround point. The time was 1:30:06. My wheels were still attached and I was feeling good.
I've never experienced running in a group like this before. Here we were working together, helping each other out at the drinks stops, it felt like a proper race. In the past I have often found myself running large sections of the race solo. Not today. This was a new experience and made for a more enjoyable race.
The 26km mark was an important one as that was the point in London where it all went ugly. Not today, I was still running smoothly. It was a case of setting mini-targets, and trying to run strong through to these points. So the focus was 28km, still felt okay, then 30km as we moved onto St Kilda Road, still feeling okay. This wasn't normal. The time was 1:49:05. Still way ahead of schedule.
At the 31km mark, the group was still formed, and then the lead 2 females went past. I think that sent a few shockwaves through our group as they looked to be running really strong. At this point I made the decision to try and stick with them. Well the group soon splintered and left me and Sax trying to hang on to the girls. More on this, there was the Japanese runner and Lisa Flint from the NSW team. Lisa was chatting to everyone, looking really strong. She was having a big race and was running just behind the Japanese girl.
Still running fairly well, the 32km mark arrived. So 10km to go in round numbers and time for the countdown home. I can't recall how long we hung on to the lead females, maybe a couple of km. Anyway, they gradually worked away from us and that left myself and Sax as the only survivors from our group.
By 35km, I was still running well under 4 minute kms. We had slowed a bit but not to the extent of my previous 9 marathons. I digress, the time was 2:07:56. I was starting to think sub 2:40 was a real possibility. A quick bit of mental arithmetic, so we have 32 minutes to run the last 7.2km. Surely...
By this stage we were running around the Botanical Gardens. There were a few hills to contend with that I recall, nothing too bad, and quite nice in a strange sort of way. The lead 2 females were still in sight and to my surprise I think I gapped Sax somewhere at this point. Upon exiting the Gardens, we were on the run for home. To my amazement, Sax had worked his way back on to my shoulder. Perhaps I was slowing? The 40km marker passed in 2:26:47. Sax mentioned I still looked strong and that if I felt good I should just go. Good was not a word I would use to describle how I felt at this point....time to grit the teeth and work the last section.
When you can see the MCG, you get a lift. Here we were, Sax and I, still running stride for stride. The 41km mark quickly passed and at this point Sax got away from me slightly. I think he could sense that the Japanese girl was slowing. As we approached the tunnel for the "G", I put in a real effort to catch the both of them. The 3 of us pretty much ran onto the oval together. At this point Sax seemed to take off and I was left to savour the final run home.
Coming round the oval I had gapped the Japenese runner and I could soon see the finishing clock. It started with a 2 and then a 34. I had the seconds on my side so I could do some show-boating and still sneak under 2:35. So the Freddie Flintoff celebration was on show and boy did that last 100m feel good. The time as I crossed the line read 2:34:49.
So that's it. Goal achieved. Sub 2:40. But the time, wow. To run a sub 2:35 was something I never dreamt was possible. I still can't quite believe it.
Here is a quick summary of the 5km splits:
5 00:18:21 00:18:21
10 00:17:39 00:36:00
15 00:17:19 00:53:19
20 00:18:26 01:11:45
25 00:18:21 01:30:06
30 00:18:59 01:49:05
35 00:18:51 02:07:56
40 00:18:51 02:26:47
42.2 00:08:02 02:34:49
Here are the weekly training kms in the 12 weeks up to and including the marathon:
1 77.6 kms
2 76.4 kms
3 57.6 kms
4 70.5 kms
5 93.0 kms
6 97.3 kms
7 88.2 kms
8 100.8 kms
9 70.3 kms
10 92.9 kms
11 67.8 kms
12 64.2 kms
Total 956.6 kms
Average 79.7 kms per week
My nutrition was spot on for this race. I ate much more than I normally would in the couple of days preceding the race and I think this made a huge difference. On race day I took a Powerade gel 30 minutes before the race, then during the race I took a further 4 of these at roughly 30 minute intervals. I only consumed water on the course and stayed clear of the sports drinks. Worked a treat.
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