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Monday, August 29, 2005

Too darn hot! - Marathon PB... just!

Woke up on Sunday morning to a stinking hot northerly, this was a bit of a worry as it seemed to be a bit too hot. Found out after the race that the minimum was 19 degrees! Anyway, I went out really hard for the first 10km or so with a couple of guys who were aiming for sub 3 hours. We were running at just over 4 min kilometers which was obviously way too fast for me. I went through halfway in about 1:28 then really started to slow down with the heat, it was going to be a huge struggle all the way to the end. Thankfully I had put heaps of sports drink out on the course, and I drank almost all of it. I got a second (third?) wind at about 10km to go but it didn't last long. I even had to walk up a couple of steep little hills near the end. It was looking like I might not even get a PB with 2-3km to go so with 2km to go I put in one final effort and sustained it to the end, coming in around 3:19.20 - a PB of exactly 6 minutes! I had hoped for a much faster time of under 3:25 which may have been a bit too ambitious, but the heat definitely shelved that idea. The cold from the week leading up to the race may have played a small part too, but I felt pretty good by Sunday morning. So under the circumstances, I am pretty happy with the result.

The aftermath. After the finish I almost collapsed as I left the finishing area, I steadied myself, got a few drinks and went and laid down for 15 minutes. I went and chatted with a few SARRCs and CRs after my lie down, watched the presentation, then went back to my parents house to recover for the rest of the day. I went and picked up RunCarly from the airport last night then went home and relaxed some more. I managed to get a fair bit of chafing and a couple of minor blisters, but I have also sustained some bruising or muscle damage to the outside of my left foot. I'll have to monitor this injury, it is very tender at the moment and is preventing me from walking comfortably. Other than that my legs feel quite good today.

Sore and happy,
RunDave.

1 comment:

Carolyne said...

You done good, Dave!