Running above all else is an honest sport and the marathon brings this to an extreme. What I mean is invariably you get out of it what you put into it. To me this is true in endurance running more than any other sport I know. To succeed in the marathon you must be extremely well conditioned aerobically. There are few people who simply 'decide' to run a marathon a few days or weeks beforehand and do well on natural talent alone. To be clear, what I mean by doing 'well' is also a relative thing - doing well for one person might be to run under four hours, or even to finish, whereas for some sub-elites a 2:30 might be considered a failure. In all cases though, success in the marathon is gained generally through months and often years of consistent preparation with new campaigns building on the successes (or failures and lessons learnt) of past campaigns.
So it is with this mind that I now come to the discussion of my most recent Melbourne marathon. First the buildup. Shortly after last year's marathon, I injured and subsequently developed tendinopathy in my left knee. Of all my body, my tendons seem to be my weakest link as I've also had achilles issues in campaigns past. The knee tendinopathy has been bothering me to a more or lessor extent throughout the year and in the most part has been affecting my ability to train how I would like to. Nevertheless, after two marathons in 2011 and 2012, I decided to have a relatively quiet year and just do the single marathon in October. This allowed me to focus on the cross country season and aim for a few personal bests over shorter distances. As it panned out, this year I ran a personal best for 10 km and surprisingly for the tan about three weeks before the marathon, but in most of my other races I was a bit off my best form. Of course, the race that gives you the best guide going into a marathon is a flat out half marathon, where at Burnley I came up short of a PB by about 30 secs.
My mileage was also down this year relative to 2012, so considering this and the lack of PB performances in crucial races, I was probably a bit down on confidence going into yesterday's race. However, my fitness was still 'there and thereabouts' - I guess I was riding a bit on a strong base from previous races and about four years of relatively injury free running, hence I decided to put it out there and have a crack at a PB anyway.
To my extreme fortune and good luck, in every single marathon I have run (now seven) the weather conditions have been excellent. Melbourne once again turned out brilliant running conditions with the temperature at the start about 12 degrees and the skies overcast, with only a slight breeze. There was the threat of rain, but I wasn't concerned about that, rather more if the breeze picked up.
So the plan was to run 3:56 per/km and go through half way in about 1:23, with the aim to bring it home about the same pace or slightly faster for a 2:46 and a new personal best. Things were looking good early on, I managed to get into a nice rhythm in a small group consisting also of two club mates (and fierce rivals) Kay and Rob, the kms were ticking away nicely at around 3:55 and I was feeling relaxed, as one should in the first half of the race. However, and this is of course very subjective - it didn't feel quite as relaxed as I thought it should. I was as it panned out, working just a little too hard to maintain this pace.
As we rounded out of the top of Albert Park at about the 10 km marker, Kay and Rob had decided to increase the pace slightly and they dragged most of the rest of the group I was in with along with them, so I suddenly found myself in 'no-mans land'. This is a bit disconcerting as you suddenly start to doubt yourself and your plan and wonder if you should follow. I decided not to and thanks to the constant feedback of my Garmin, I knew that I was travelling pretty well and on still on track to go through halfway at goal time.
The long stretch into the breeze up Beaconsfield parade was where I had my first 'bad patch' and the doubts were starting to creep in. However, I managed to regather my thoughts but my split times were gradually starting to extend and I wasn't feeling as fresh as I thought I should.
As I've said before, the wonderful thing about the modern course in Melbourne is all the switch backs where you get to run past a good part of the field on the other side of the road to you (both ahead and behind). So despite the fact that I was caught in no-mans land, it was great to hear the shouts of encouragement from other club mates in South Melbourne and the Crosbie Crew. In particular, I remember one shout out from Tim Frawley who during this stretch yelled out 'Good pace Brad', which gave me a bit of a boost when I was starting to feel like my pace wasn't so good.
I went through halfway (according to my watch) at a nick under 1:23 which was right on target but I was feeling far from comfortable and I think I knew at this point a PB was looking seriously doubtful. However, I managed to hold onto sub 4 min pace right until the turnaround at Elwood. Then I entered my second bad patch and all of a sudden I was running 4:05s and I could start to feel the 2:50 pacer breathing down my neck. I contrast this with last year where I felt quite strong and managed to maintain my pace. It does wonders for your confidence if you can hold your pace at this point of a marathon as this is normally when everyone else is starting to tire and you end up catching them, so you feel bulletproof. It was not to be for me yesterday and if anything the reverse was true with people starting to catch and overtake me.
Nevertheless, after climbing 'Mount Fitzroy' to the base of St Kilda Road I managed to recoup a little and got back to running a few sub 4 min kms. Then came the loop around the Arts Centre and Birdwood Avenue around the back of the botanical gardens, a section of road I have run hundreds of times due to it being part of Melbourne's iconic tan track and the main training base for the Crosbie Crew. There was nothing left though. The slight incline saw my pace drop to 4:10+ and I was starting to will on the finish time. It was now I knew the PB was out of the question and this sapped the last of my motivation to f*** my legs. The 2:50 pacer then stormed by me with about four km to go and I decided to make a deal with myself to hang tight with him and still nab a sub-2:50, which although not the PB I was after, would still be respectable given the year I've had. I hung tight with him right until the turnoff from Flinders Street where he briefly raced ahead before dropping back behind me to encourage a few others who were close to missing the 2:50 mark.
In the end, I entered the MCG knowing I had sub 2:50 in the bag and I was happy, although not ecstatic to cross the finish line. For perspective, it was my second fastest marathon and possibly my last Melbourne for some time as Asia and I are relocating back to Christchurch in January, so it was nice to put in a solid if unspectacular performance. My splits were 1:22:54 for the first half and 1:26:38 for the second half which makes for a final net time of 2:49:32 and a positive split of 3:44.
Ultimately, though, as I started this blog entry, the difference between this year and last year was the lower mileage and less quality long tempo runs leading into the race. I really did get out what I put in.
Thanks must go again, as always, to the Crosbie Crew along with coach and patron saint Tim Crosbie. Once again I have used the Tuesday night seasons as my regular quality work throughout the year and these have been responsible for keeping the sharpness in my legs. It has also been great to see the growth of the club as the new membership structure has been implemented. The crew just seems to get bigger and better every single year. I'll certainly miss everyone next year when I'm struggling through the Christchurch winter.
Thanks also to the team at South Melbourne. My running has reached new heights ever since joining the club and the regular racing along with supportive members has been a real highlight of my running life in Melbourne these last few years.
To my wife Asia, yet again you have taken another marathon campaign in your stride and your support at home and in particular on the course at nearly every event has been terrific. I love you darling.
So, we look to the future - I'll certainly be back at some stage for another Melbourne, maybe next year who knows? After all, I'm now halfway to becoming a spartan...
