After a few years of not running much and with very little training I ran the SMH half and whilst my time of 1:51 was not a PB I was delighted to be back. Shaving a few minutes off at the Gold Coast Half Marathon at 97:48 I then set my sights on some goals I have had for years but never really got there. In the year I turn 40 I wanted to break 60 minutes in the City2Surf, Break 90 in a half marathon and complete my first marathon. Having missed out breaking 60 minutes in the C2S I nervously lined up at start line of the Blackmores half marathon a few rows from the start line. My GPS was talking a little longer than normal to find a satellite. Maybe it was because there were a couple of thousand people trying to do the same thing at that time.
The GPS kicked in just before the gun and we were off. I had my eye on the 80 minute pacer who was just ahead of me and hoped to keep relatively close to him for the first few k to have some time up my sleeve. The first two km went pretty fast at just over 4min pace enjoying the run across the harbour bridge. Taking advantage of the little bit of downhill the next two were sub four before settling into a steady pace. At the 7-8 km mark I could still see the 80 min pacer in the distance with what I thought was the 85min pacer behind me. Suddenly the 85 min pacer sprinted past me. He must have been late. I briefly felt sorry for anyone who may have been following him before settling back in to my own race wondering where the 90m pacer was. At 17km I had slowed a little down to 4:30 for that km my slowest one and at 72 minutes into the run wondered if I would make my target. I had a flashback of the C2s just gone and the regret that if I had believed in myself and pushed for the last four km rather than the last 2 I may just have made my goal. I made a decision that I was going to do it and ran my last four km in 4:25, 4:24, 4:16 and 4:03. As I ran towards the opera house I heard the commentator saying if you want to finish in under 90 you need to hurry. I sprinted towards the finish line crossing as the clock turned over to 1:30:00 – net time a PB of 1:29:44. Thanks to Sean for the online coaching and tailored training program to help me achieve this goal. Melbourne marathon next. Two out of three is not bad and see you next year C2S.
Joe Moran