History Never Repeats

Traralgon Half Marathon, 2015

History never repeats,

I tell myself before I go to sleep...

                Split Enz - History Never Repeats

Just over a year ago, I lined up for this race with high hopes of finally breaking a long-standing, and frustrating PB. "Weather good, track flat", as they may say in horse racing language, all the signs were good for a fast time. The only variable not factored in on that day was the object above the shoulders; having a race plan is one thing, executing it properly is another....

Lead Up

Having cocked up last year, I was determined to front up and atone this year, which also meant having to prepare physically and mentally. Hills, tempo work, more hills. Get those legs into shape. A few runs in the Dandenongs, a 30k trail race at Mt. Macedon, etc., etc. The main thing was to not only build up the mileage, but run it consistently, 50 and 60+ k weeks not unusual. For the most part I avoided pure speed work, one eye still on the main prize at the end of all this, the marathon. But saying that, I have been a regular at my local parkrun in Inverloch, and recently getting my 5k time down to 21 minutes with a bit of spare change. In a way it has changed my training, in that my normal 3k time trial has been replaced with the 5k sprint on a Saturday morning.
In the fortnight leading up to the race, my training started to show significant gains, I reckoned I was ready.

Race Day

Before the race

Marathon runners milling before the race start.

A group of us (Kate, Bill, Tony, and Jacqui) had organised to leave from my house early in the morning. 6:30, still dark, and cold, cold n dark..... Fog in the valleys, temperature was about 1 degree in Leongatha as we left, not the most inspiring start to the day. Felt better once we arrived in Traralgon, fog cleared, lots of blue sky (although still quite cold), and no wind. Conditions were absolutely ideal, no excuses for a good run.
Met up with a number of other runners (Melbourne
Marathon, and RIOT, Running is our Therapy) before the start of the marathon, and our race an hour later. Curiously, I was feeling quite calm. Usually before a trail race I am calm, but nervous as all buggery before a road race. Suspect it is because in a road race, there is nowhere to hide if it all goes pear-shaped! But on this day, I was calm, confident, but not cocky. I had done the work, I was happy with my preparation.

Race 0 - 5k

After what seemed like the longest race countdown in history (called to the start line nearly 12 minutes before we needed to go), we got to 10 seconds to go. Watch was on, satellites located (always a bit hit and miss with my Garmin), and I had warmed up my body and HR. Then we were off!

Ryan, myself, and Bill all smiles
before the race start.

Last year I started out too hard, 22:14 for the first 5k's, which is essentially a pretty handy parkrun time! Problem being, I usually don't have to run another 16k's afterwards.... So this year, start conservatively. That was the theory, the reality was quite different. First 5 was 21:53, not only faster, but way faster than had planned. I felt fine, but knew I had also felt that way last year. Eventually I just settled myself into what I though was a comfortable pace. The only hill of any note is at the 3k mark, gentle gradient, it is enough to make you know you are working, and drop a few seconds per k off your pace, but really is quite straightforward to run. Turn left onto the Maffra road, and gently drop down again. By now I am still running 4:25 or faster and spying a group of 10 runners ahead that I wanted to get on the back of.

Race 5k to turnaround

Realising the pace was a bit hot in that group, I held off, and watched as one-by-one runners peeled off, huffing and puffing as I passed them. The weather had warmed a bit, the road offers no shelter, but in the midst of a winters day, that is not an issue. After what seemed a very long time, we turned off the main road, and onto a gravel road. Thankfully this year, nowhere near as rutted, and potholed as previously. Tony and Bill were by now a few minutes in front of me, and I could only just make out their red singlets along this section of road. The first runners were returning, making a half marathon look like a Sunday morning social group run. Only conciliation, they were hurting as much as we were, just doing it faster....

Left turn, then a right turn towards the turnaround point. Glenn Sullivan (fellow Inverloch parkrun RD), had already passed me on his return, brief nod and a grunt from us both, we travelled on. One thing I noted this year, the turnaround seemed to be much further along this final section of road. More about that later.
Bill and Tony pass me heading back, I passed one final runner along this stretch (also saw another runner perfectly lob a half drunk cup of water across the road into a garbage bin, basketball style!), then hit the turnaround. Quick peep at the watch, still averaging 4:26 overall. Knew I wouldn't keep that up, but also felt quite happy that I wasn't struggling at all.

Race turnaround to 16k

As always happens when on an out and back course, white line fever hits and you suddenly put on a burst of speed. Slowed it a bit, and concentrated on form, cadence and my breathing. All seemed in good order. Last year I didn't enjoy the section on the gravel road, seemed to go on forever, and was hard to maintain a pace on. This year felt marginally better, but was still relieved to get back on the main road and the bitumen.

I was trying hard along here not to look at my watch, and just run. For the most part succeeded, but every now and then, I would look at the overall pace. hovering around 4:27 along the main road, I knew I was running better than last year. But also realised that at about the 13/14k mark last year, the energy just drained from my body, and along with it went any chance of a PB. Hit the 15k aid station, still running strong (and told that by a vollie. Thanks, whoever you were!) and started to line up the hill that would take us back to the side ride back to the finish line. Along here, I had spied a woman running in a yellow shirt, and was slowly pegging her back. Not actively trying to catch her, just realised that she may be flagging, and I was still running at a good pace. Mentally it helped me to focus on maintaining my forward progress.

Race 16k - 21.1k

As we approached the climb, the 10k runners and walkers were joining us on the road back to the finish. Hit the climb, tried to maintain as much pace as possible, but factored in that a 5 to 10 second per k drop-off here wouldn't be too bad. Just as I crested the climb a runner came flying past. Dion Finocchiaro, eventual winner of the marathon, made me look like I was standing still! Yes he is younger, but he also had another 21k's on me! Quick shout out to him, a waved acknowledgement, and I watched him mow down runners in both the 10 an the half on his way to a 3:31 finish.
Turned off the road, and hit the downhill. This was where I thought my race could potentially derail. Having put in the effort to climb up at a good pace, had I put too much effort in that would tip me over the anaerobic threshold, and burn me for the remainder? Seemingly not. Hit the bottom of the downhill, and just kept going. Difference was, that now to hold the same pace, the ease of effort was gone. I had to really push hard, it was starting to hurt, and the mental battle had begun; here the mind tries to outwit the body that it can do this. And I kept telling myself that I could do this; I just needed to keep running, the faster I ran, the sooner I finished... Simple really!

Michelle and I with our finishers medals, grinners and winners!

Weaved around a few 10k runners, then there was only myself and 3 other half marathoners heading for home. Started to feel the form drop here, hips rocking, shoulders slumped, my arms not swinging very well at all, but the mind was still pushing the body along. Focused on the runner ahead, realised I was catching him, and made a note to do just that. Caught him with less than a k to go. Mentally celebrated a little win, then watched as someone I had passed at the 9k mark, came back and passed me with less than 500 metres to go. Bugger...

Passed a photographer taking official shots (or so I thought, they have never seen the light of day. So glad I didn't do a jump for them!), then the final turn for home. Put on a final spurt, run up the finish chute and hear friends call out to me, and the announcer call my name, and that I was the 3rd in my age group! Didn't care about that, only cared about the time, 1:36:22 on the watch, PB!!!!!

Aftermath

Bling, very unexpected!

It took me a good 2 minutes to even breathe properly, let alone acknowledge my friends who were already at the finish line. I wasn't necessarily spent, but the raw emotion of running to plan (roughly!), getting the PB and just being able to run again after my injury lay-off, was suddenly very overwhelming. Went for a walk around the finish area, partly to clear the head, partly to loosen the legs up, and found a $10 note on the ground! Could the day get any better?
Stood around the finish line waiting for fellow runners to come in. One-by-one they came; Kate, Leah, Matthew, and Ryan from Inverloch parkrun, all running their first half marathons (well done all), and the two Michelles from RIOT (and LTR), both trying to get under 2 hours. Michelle Acorn did, and in doing so broke her PB significantly, Michelle Harris missing by 5 minutes after having a real struggle on the back half.

Getting my age group award.
(Photo credt: Michelle Harris)

Caught up with a number of RIOT people afterwards, group photo, then all I wanted to do was go find coffee and junk food. Jenna from RIOT reminded me that I should stay for the awards, having finished 3rd in my age group. Not sure about whether I would get anything, I hung around anyway. Lo and behold, 3 of us won awards, Glenn Sullivan, Ali Moxham (10k), and myself. Nothing like a bit of age group glory to cap off a great race.

Post-Race Analysis

After a few days, I sat down and compared GPS plots of this and last years races. Interestingly, my assertion that this years race was long, may only be part of the answer. Plots of both reveal a marked difference in lengths on the road at the turnaround. So, was this year long to make up for last years short course? May never know, but better a race to be fractionally long, than short.

So, was 2014 short, or 2015 long? Or both? Look at the final leg at the top of the course.

Time over the last 5k's tells the real story of the day. Last year, having run nearly 16k in 1:14, I took 25:46 to cover the last 5k's. This year, at the 16k mark in 1:11, then the last 5 in 23:09; quicker to get to that point, then negligible slowdown as I finished. Even better this year, no splits in the 5min/km.

But the overall impression of my race is that I won the all important mental battle on the day. Physically I should not have been in the same shape as last year, and leading in I had that in the back of the mind. But, I had prepared well, and was confident enough to have a go, knowing full well it could, once again, lead to a spectacular meltdown. Last 6k's I was just telling myself to keep going, was the only voice of many in my head that I paid attention to!

Members of RIOT (Running is our Therapy) at Traralgon. L to R, Michelle Harris, Michelle Acorn, me, Carly Williams, Jaye Chin-Dusting, and James Alexander (Photo credit: Jaye Chin-Dusting)

And Lastly....

Finish time, when plugged into a race calculator, gives me a time well within 3:30 for the marathon. This assumes applicable training for the event, something I have spent a bit of time making sure I will do.

Next event, You Yangs 30k trail race. Returning to chase last years time, mojo is back!

Until next time.....