SMH half marathon, May 2017

Of all the races I've run in my life, this one is the one I've kept returning to year after year. It was my first half - way back in 2001 - and despite being a horribly hilly and difficult course, there's something about this race that I really enjoy. 

I'm not sure what that is, though. The course? Nope - it's full of twists, turns and short, steep hills: almost 400m of vertical elevation gain over 21.1km (for the unaware, that's quite a lot). The field? Not really - it's extremely competitive and the best I've ever managed is 9th overall (in 2014) and 2nd in my age group.

Whoever designed this course deserves a slow and painful death

It must be the location, then. Because there's no doubt that Sydney is my favourite city in the world, any excuse to be there for a weekend is a excellent one as far as I'm concerned, and a weekend of running is even better. The timing is good - enough time after Boston to recover but not so long that the benefit of all that marathon training is lost - and this means in general I don't have to do any special preparation for this race. So naturally I keep signing up, getting a seeded bib, and therefore having to try my best to conquer it once again.

Last year I ran a very surprising course PR of 1:21:43, just 19 seconds off my all-time PR (from a much flatter course in Bathurst in May 2013), but this year I'm not so sure what to expect. Boston was a tough day and I ran a far slower time there this year than last; I haven't done any speedwork whatsoever for longer than I care to admit. But whatever! It's Sydney and it's May - the details will have to figure themselves out.


The Training

Ah, no, not really. See above.

In fact, I did manage to ramp up my weekly mileage fairly quickly again after Boston. All of it was easy running and a lot through shorter daily doubles rather than single longer runs - but it was enough to top 80 miles (124 km) per week for the 2 weeks preceding race week. I can't recall (and am too lazy to look up) how much I ran last year before this half, but something tells me it wasn't this much.


Race Day

Fortified by a delicious dinner of ramen noodles the night before - in the company of our running buddy Nigel and his sister Michelle, who tomorrow will be running her 2nd-ever half - we are up bright and early on race morning. In fact, courtesy of some very hot chicken ramen that he consumed at lunch in Chinatown on Saturday, Joel has been up most of the night. He's still lying in bed moaning when I'm fully dressed and ready to rumble, but gallantly decides to come with me despite the very real possibility of significant GI distress during the race.

We head off, therefore, for Hyde Park right on 6am with some trepidation about what lies ahead. The weather at least seems right on target, the rain that was forecast has stayed well away and it's perfect running weather, really: about 12C with light cloud cover and no wind at all.

The start

There's an elite tent this year again (hooray!) and an enthusiastic Keith Hong in charge of it (double hooray!) so we have no problems depositing our stuff and then heading our separate ways: me to warm up a bit and him, predictably, to find a bathroom. I jog my 2 miles and return to stow my jacket in the tent; somehow there's no time left for strides or anything so I head for the elite corral at the front and hang around randomly chatting to people I know. Fiona from last year is there, so there goes an AG win for sure (bloody 10 year age groups are so unfair), but I'm not terribly fussed really. Honest, I'm not.

Pat Carroll - the very enthusiastic race MC - is bellowing out all kinds of announcements as usual and one of them is about how the new start procedure is guaranteed to reduce congestion. There definitely seems to be less people in the elite/preferred corral today than in previous years, so that bodes well I suppose. In no time at all there's a 10 second countdown and then BOOM! The usual manic stampede towards Circular Quay takes off.


Miles 1-4: 6:12, 6:17, 6:04, 6:03 (pace in min/mile)

Almost immediately the "less congestion" claim is thoroughly quashed as a runner from behind literally climbs over the top of my right shoulder in his fervour to get ahead. At the first corner onto Macquarie St there's a guy on the ground already; he picks himself up and starts running again but man, that had to hurt. Less congestion? I'm totally not convinced.

The pace is predictably wild for the first half mile but then things settle as we turn left and back up away from Circular Quay. I'm expecting to turn right again back down towards the Rocks but instead we continue on Bridge St and I find myself facing a sizeable incline that definitely wasn't there last year. My brain is in shock: THEY ADDED ANOTHER HILL? To what is likely already the world's hilliest road half marathon?! It's unbelievable.

That's an awful lot of hills to fit into a 21.1km course

Threading my way along Harrington St there's finally the turn I was expecting, right and back towards the water, but another close encounter of a blokey kind hits me from the left and once again the claim of reduced congestion seems laughable. "Sorry!" he exclaims as I flail my arms to stay upright. As if this race wasn't hard enough already...and off we go on the more familiar part of the course around under the bridge.

The 5K mark comes and goes in around 19:40, which is not that fast but will have to do for today. Turning onto the Eastern Distributor there's a guy ahead of me with shorts that read "Triathlon Attitude". I'm amusing myself wondering exactly what that might mean when I realise suddenly that right now it means "Running too slow in front of others." I accelerate to pull past him and wonder idly if I'll see him again today at all.


Miles 5-8: 6:05, 6:05, 6:24, 6:26

I'm managing to hold things together through the flatter parts of Pyrmont but when the hills start I'm really starting to wonder why I keep on doing this bloody race. The male leader has gone past WAY ahead of the chase pack and I've seen Cassie Fien go past well ahead of the next female as I make my way to the turnaround point. On the way back I spot - and wave enthusiastically to - first Nigel and then, surprisingly close behind him, Joel. I know Nigel is gunning for sub-1:30 and it seems amazing but very possible that despite lack of sleep and (more importantly) serious training, Joel will be right on his heels. Hooray!

Heading back towards the city I find myself going through the halfway point in 40:47, which means I'm on track for a similar time to last year. Well, I am if I can avoid a significant second-half fade, but that's an awfully big IF. I'd rather not think about what is coming up, because the second half of this race is even hillier than the first. Sigh.

Gritting my teeth just a little bit

Adding further to my woes, Triathlon Attitude chooses this moment to sail past. Wait, what? I'm inspired somewhat to pick up the pace and stay with him, of course, and that keeps me going as we head into the concrete jungle and my Garmin - predictably - loses its mind and starts recording bizarre splits that make no sense. 5:26 minutes for a mile? I don't think so. Not even downhill with a tailwind, and neither of those elements are in attendance today, unfortunately.


Miles 9-12: 6:26, 6:34, 6:13, 5:59

The course zigs and zags its way through Observatory Point and the uphill towards the Harbour Bridge is, as ever, enough to make me think about stopping. When finally I find myself spat out onto the Cahill Expressway that runs above the ferry and train terminals at Circular Quay, I'm definitely starting to feel fatigued. Triathlon Attitude is opening a gap on me and it's giving me a fair dose of Annoyed Runner Attitude, but my legs couldn't give a toss.

Just keep running, don't think about the two massive hills that lie still ahead, goes the refrain in my head. The incline back up past the Conservatorium onto Macquarie Street isn't all that bad, in actual fact, or perhaps I just feel that way because I've let myself slow down considerably. Bah.

I haven't seen or passed any females for a long time but there's suddenly one up ahead; she looks to be barely jogging so SURELY I can get her, can't I? That thought is enough to inspire a faster mile 11 and then a blisteringly fast mile 12, courtesy of a dash past the finish line (Liam Adams has just won by over 2 minutes) and the long downhill past the Art Gallery.

<glares menacingly at opponent ahead>

As always I'm trying my best not to consider what lies ahead - the final, mostly uphill mile of torture - and, as I go around the turn at Mrs Macquarie's Chair, I'm trying my best to look photogenic for the photographers who inevitably lie in wait there. But it's not much good: I know what I'm about to have to do, and I just can't find any way of looking forward to it.

wait for it, wait for it................................. ugh, NOPE

Mile 13, 0.1: 6:26, 6:42 pace to finish

I round the turn and there she is, completely unsuspecting. Right! I pounce on the chance and blaze past her, although a glance tells me clearly that she's definitely not in my age group and really, says the part of my brain that is still getting enough oxygen, there's no need to take on the young chicks as well as the old ones, is there? But whatever, I'm ahead of her now and I have bigger fish to fry, namely the final hill that is coming right up.

It hits me like a ton of bricks and I completely forget my ambitions of staying ahead of Young Chick; it's all I can do to keep my legs going now. It feels like I'm crawling as I make my way up, up, up back towards Hyde Park. And of course towards the top of the hill she appears suddenly beside me before powering ahead again, and even this isn't enough to really get me going. Automatically I give chase, but in a half-hearted fashion without any real hope of passing her again.

I see her, but can I be bothered catching her? Yes, maybe I can after all --- wait, nope.

The final stretch of this race is always very enjoyable - probably mostly because the rest of it is so awful - and I'm almost smiling as I charge across the intersection towards the finish inside the park. Young Chick is not having a bar of being caught again and as I make the sharp left into the finish chute right behind her, I look up and see the clock reading 1:22 already. Bugger, slower than last year!


Finish time: 1:23:07 (6:20 min/mile, 3:56 min/km)

Placement: 13th overall female, 2nd in AG (F40-49)


Young Chick has beaten me by only one second - easily accounted for by the at-least-20-year age gap, really - and I don't have long to wait until Nigel appears (having crushed his goal with a 1:29:42) and shortly afterwards so does Joel. Excellent results all round!

There's not a lot more to say about this race; my time is probably an accurate reflection of my current fitness, and I'm still not sure why I keep coming back. It's a trial by fire and I've only once really come through relatively unscathed: last year, and for reasons that remain unclear. But no doubt I'll be fronting up to the starting line again next year for another dose of punishment, so I guess I'll report back then!

So relieved to be done that I'm actually asleep

SMH half marathon, May 2016

Ah, gorgeous Sydney. There's nothing quite like running the world's most beautiful city, where the almost-complete lack of straight or flat terrain is made up for (sort of) by the wonderful scenic views. I have always loved running this particular race but was quite surprised to realise that 2016 would be my 7th time - I guess I'm getting to the stage where I really have been around for a while. Long enough to know that the Sydney Morning Herald HM is most definitely NOT a fast or flat course, but long enough also to not really care. It's a great race despite its difficulty, and one that I will definitely continue to run as long as I am able.

It also happens to be held around 4 weeks after the Boston marathon, which is the perfect time frame in which to recover properly while still retaining the fitness benefit from intense marathon training. Case in point: my all-time PR from Bathurst in 2013. Plus of course, any reason to visit Sydney is a good one, and reasons that involve running are generally excellent. The course, naturally, is anything but.

Demented doodle aka course map

To recap my previous results:

2001 - 1:26:24, debut HM and 16th overall female

2010 - 1:29:48, first time back under 1:30 after the damage wrought by major injury and two babies (you guess which was worse)

2012 - 1:23:29, 14th female

2013 - 1:22:16, 12th female

2014 - 1:22:25, 9th female

2015 - 1:23:19, 14th female

Again it's obvious that I peaked in 2013/2014, in both years having just run a sub-2:50 marathon at Boston a few weeks earlier. Last year I had the incentive of chasing Joel, but for 2016 I had no major expectations other than to do my best on the day and see what happened.

That's a race strategy that is deliberately in equal parts undemanding and perfectionist; it allows me to stay casual ("I'm just going for a nice run, no expectations, la la laaaa") and yet focused, with no pressure to perform other than to do my best on the day, whatever that turns out to be. This sort of mental trickery keeps me calm - I'm not obsessing over hitting a particular time goal or pace - and intense all at once, and it has worked very well for me in the past few years of racing.


The Training

I think I might possibly be getting better at recovery - more sensible, or perhaps just older and lazier - because this year I certainly was much more able than I usually am to back things off and let my body bounce back from Boston. I took the day after the race entirely off (apart from a moderate amount of walking and rather too much backwards-stair-descending) and baulked at running in the rain on my final morning in New York (yeah, I'm getting soft too), which meant that with the travel home I had almost 72 solid hours off running: the longest I can remember since the last time I was injured.

As a result I found myself enjoying my return to the roads once home in Australia, but I deliberately kept my mileage lower than normal. My legs had more spring in them than usual - the 10K in Canberra certainly proved that - but still I took things easier than usual in the lead-up to our trip to Sydney. This would prove to be a decidedly sensible strategy and one I probably should use more.


Race Day

The weather in Sydney is nothing short of perfect when we arrive on Saturday, and it's going to be similar on Sunday morning: cool but not cold, no wind and maybe a bit of light cloud to block the sun's lingering heat. Rising at 5:15am is a bit much though for Joel - who will turn out to be brewing a nasty head cold - he declares he's staying in bed and I'm up, dressed and have decided to skip breakfast well before he has moved at all. We set off on our 2 mile warm-up shortly after 6am and are at the start line with plenty of time to spare.

Looking around at the elite and preferred runners warming up in front of the start, I realise suddenly I'm looking at a sizeable part of our Olympic distance running team: Lisa Weightman and Michael Shelley jog past looking very relaxed, Eloise Wellings dashes up at the last minute (she's pacing someone, or so I hear) and just about every other fast chick that I know of seems to be there as well. It's going to be a speedy race! I'd like to place in my AG (or even win it for once, dammit) but next to me as we wait at the start is a woman whom I'm sure I've seen at other races and yep, she's in my unfair 10-year age group for sure. We chat a bit about how everyone who is anyone in running is here today; turns out we have similar time goals (1:23, 1:22 if all goes well) but she warns me she always goes out too fast so I tell her "See you at 10K then" and we wait nervously for the gun to finally go off. Why is this taking so long??


Miles 1-4: 5:54, 6:29, 6:02, 6:14 (pace in min/mile)

The first mile of this race is like a red flag at a bull that loves to go out waaaaaay too fast: it's downhill all the way to Circular Quay and with the race day excitement and nerves it's impossible not to charge madly down Macquarie Street like it's Pamplona and the bulls are after us.  Some of my fastest race splits ever have been in this mile and that used to inspire a mild panic, but I've done this enough times now to know that it's fine - things will flatten out (briefly) and even out soon enough.

Everyone around me is still flooring it and I'm getting passed a lot during mile 2, but I'm not worried. That is, until a pacer appears at my right shoulder - it's Brendan Davies and I have a minor freak-out that he's pacing 1:25 and I'm in serious trouble already. But no, he is wearing a flag declaring "1:20" so it's the opposite scenario: there's no way I should be here and going this fast! I slow down deliberately then the uphill starts up Sussex St and I begin passing people back.

5K split: 18:58

I'm going too fast and I know it...<sheepish grin>

Miles 5-8: 6:02, 6:17, 6:10, 6:04

Onward into Pyrmont! The first nasty hill doesn't slow me down too much, thankfully,  and I'm still feeling good despite knowing I'm probably going a bit too fast. I'm also passing quite a few people who have been creamed by that hill - one of them is a bloke in a white shirt who was standing just in front of me at the start. He's about 2 feet out from the kerb and I'm plotting my trajectory past him and around the upcoming corner when it happens: he decides to cut over onto the pavement and veers sharply to the left. I've got nowhere to go and he slams hard into my right side. Oooof!

It's all I can do to stay upright and my shock quickly turns to fury. "You can't f$%^ing do that!" I snap, and he shoots back "Don't tell me what I can't do!" Oh, great, now he's probably going to trip me or something lovely like that. I consciously pick up the pace and push harder than I want to, just to get away from this twit, and thankfully he's fading badly already so I get away without further incident. Phew!

I should probably be rattled and put-off by this little altercation, but in fact I quickly forget all about it and focus instead on how I'm running. Pretty soon the lead cars appear on the other side of the road and there's Michael Shelley, all alone and miles ahead of the next bloke. I'm watching for the first woman as I round the corner and there's Lisa looking strong - but now the sharp hills demand my attention. Heading back I spot Joel on the other side, waving and looking fine, and soon I'm on my way back into town.

10K split: 37:48

At the halfway mark I check my watch and realise wow, that's a bit fast. But for whatever reason I'm not too worried - I know how to judge my pace fairly well now and I still feel okay. "Reasonably hard" is how it should feel at this stage, and it does. Back past Darling Harbour and into the concrete spaghetti jungle I run, just waiting for my Garmin to start freaking out.


Miles 9-12: 5:59, 6:39, 6:12, 6:02

But it never does, although the next mile split seems suspiciously quick and the one after unexpectedly slow. Mile 10 is mostly uphill, really, including the long rugged stretch up onto the Harbour Bridge and into the Cahill expressway, so it make sense that it has been one of the slowest miles every single time I've run this race.

15K split: 57:50

I happen to glance at my watch as I pass a flag marking 15km and my mental arithmetic is not great at times like this but wow, isn't that a bit fast? Warning bells start quietly chiming in my brain - I'm starting to feel like I'd rather not be doing this anymore, thank you - and the feeling intensifies as I contemplate what lies ahead. Hills, hills, and a final mile that is probably the most unpleasant final mile of any race I've ever run. My face is a study in grim anticipation as I approach Hyde Park again at last:

no no no no no I want to stop nooooowww

The only good thing about knowing that the final mile is all uphill, is that the second last mile is mostly downhill. I'm frankly amazed that I can still manage to pick up the pace the way I do for mile 12, but catching Julia (who beat me in Canberra last month) after probably 2-3 miles of chasing her is probably what does it. I've also been looking for Fiona - my sandbagging friend from the start line - for a really long time and it's only just now that I can finally see her ahead; I won't be able to catch her, so there goes the AG win. Oh well.

It crosses my mind now that I could glance at the total time on my Garmin and have a reasonable idea of what I'm likely to finish with, but the thought is gone as quickly as it came. All I can think of is the uphill that is coming next. That, and trying to look good for the cameras that are always present at the final turn, but I'm almost too far gone for that (alas).

gasping for air like a dying fish but at least I look really tan 

Mile 13.1:  6:29, 5:50 pace to finish

This. Hill. It's not really all that steep (except in one part) and it's not really all that long (although it seems to go for miles) but it's just plain wrong to have this as the final stretch of a race. Lisa Weightman was on her way back up - for the win - as I was coming down and her face looked every bit as agonised as I now feel. This fact gives me a small measure of comfort but by the time I reach the Art Gallery I've given up on thinking and instead am counting my steps in the manner I use for speed work: one/and/two/and/three/and etc. The cadence seems way too slow, I feel like I'm crawling instead of running, but at least it keeps me going and I'm still inching my way closer to the finish line.

I pop out the top of Art Gallery Road and once again feel enormous gratitude that the race directors took out that awful, tortuous out-and-back on College St right before the finish. It means I can head straight for Hyde Park and the final turn to the line - and it also means I get at least one photo where I actually look happy, even if it's only because I get to stop running very soon.

Nearly done, in more ways than one

I can see Fiona really really close now and this inspires me to put on a pointless burst of speed that carries me along the final 0.1 mile stretch and as I make the turn I have seriously no idea at all of how much time has elapsed since the gun went off. I look up to see the clock above the finish line: it reads....what???

1:21:30 has just turned over as I skid around the 90 degree turn and lift my eyes to the clock - that's just 6 seconds slower than my all-time HM PR - my brain springs into life and yells at my legs "GO!!!" And go is what I do: I throw myself at the line with all the energy I can muster. This will make for some very unattractive finish chute photos, but I'm totally past caring and even thinking now; and then, finally, I'm done.


Finish time: 1:21:43 (6:14 min/mile, 3:52 min/km)

Placement: 10th woman, 2nd in AG (F40-49)

No, really, this is my "I'm thrilled" face

Wow, my 3rd fastest half marathon of all time! And on this course? The other two were much, much flatter and were 2 and 3 years ago respectively; I'm in some serious shock here. Another piece of evidence to add to the "I'm not done yet" pile that is mounting up fast, and another reason to think seriously about giving Gold Coast a serious shot this year.

I loiter a while to talk to some of the fast chicks who have finished around me, and congratulate Fiona on what turns out to be a shiny new PR for her, then it's time to head back to the hotel via the Elite tent where my stuff and, after some searching, my tired husband await me.

Who would have thought I'd come away from today with my 3rd sub-1:22 half in the books? I wasn't expecting it but it seems like further proof that I'm rather fit at the moment, and it seems like a good idea to take advantage of that while it lasts. So...watch this space.

Sydney Marathon, September 2015

After 7 times running the Blackmores' half-marathon in September, you'd think I'd be ready for a shot at the full distance in Sydney, but this has never actually been the case. The course for the half is challenging enough - hilly with plenty of hairpin turns - that I never felt the need to double the distance.

Hairpin turns, anyone? Thanks, I'll take a dozen.

I had entered for the half once again in 2015, and it was my husband Joel's idea to change distances: fretting over his apparent lack of running during the American summer, by which I mean he never once ran over 100 miles in a week (appalling, I know), he thought the idea of a supported long run made more sense than trying to do the half and add on miles before and after.

How could I disagree with that? Accordingly I quickly embraced the idea of a marathon as a training run, and talked it over at some length with Benita with regards to how doing the full distance in Sydney could double as a specific long run in the buildup to Melbourne. We settled on a quite exact pacing plan for the whole 26.2 mile distance, and on Friday before not-race weekend Joel and I headed to Sydney with great intentions - chiefly of having fun and enjoying the lack of pressure that "not-racing" would surely bring.

Race Preparation
It seems unnecessary to talk about "pre-race training" for what is going to be essentially a supported long run, so let's talk instead about the preparations that took place in the days leading up to the event.

We arrive relaxed and hungry in Sydney and are soon on the hunt for food; ideally this would include carbohydrates of some sort, but after months of deprivation in Wagga (on my part, at least) we're really not that fussy. Walking to our hotel through World Centre we spy a sushi place and OMG it's the best thing I've ever tasted. Plus, rice is carbs!

Joel then announces that we are meeting our fast friend Neil for dinner and drinks later - seems like a good excuse to continue carb-loading with beer, which is fine by me - little do I know that the dinner part will be forgotten and the drinks part will turn into full-blown pub-crawl that will end in an enormous basket of chips at City Extra at 1am.

Now we're upright..............(5 beers).............now we're not

Saturday morning is a complete write-off but it seems like a great idea to laze around the day before a marathon, so we embrace the idea and only emerge for a jog and brief (underwhelming) visit to the expo, then it's time for carbs and early bedtime. Getting up at 5am to get ready and head over to Milsons Point is no trouble at all, and it's quite perfect weather too. I spy my fast friend Kelly - she comes over for a hug as she's heading out with the other elites to warm up - despite our stated "training run" intentions, Joel and I are lined up at the very very front of the A corral. It's nothing like the ruthless, pushy half-marathon A corral; I've been trampled and squeezed to within an inch of my life in there more times than I care to remember. But here we're casually standing around chatting when the call comes to move up, and even then people take some encouraging before moving forward. So civilised! Let's see how this goes, then.


Miles 1-4: 7:37, 7:10, 7:10, 7:38
5K split:  23:06
As usual it's quite impossible to hold back adequately during the stampede up towards the Harbour Bridge, so I'm not worried when the first mile is considerably faster than planned. There are plenty of miles ahead in which to get it right! But the second sees an inexplicable acceleration taking place; Joel is still right with me and we decide run together over the bridge at least. Mile 3 is no better really, then finally during mile 4 I decide to make an effort: as per Benita the first 10K are supposed to be at 8:00 pace or slower, and frankly things are a bit out of control right now. I feel a sense of achievement when I see 7:38 on the Garmin, then the course turns steeply downhill towards Mrs Macquarie's Chair. Oh dear. Three guesses at to what is going to happen next?

Oh dear.

Miles 4-8: 7:16, 7:31, 7:20, 7:10
5-10K split: 22:51
Yes, that's right: we speed up yet again. Joel is still beside me but at the end of mile 5 he decides he needs a toilet stop; he is still insisting that he's running 3:30 today so he bids me farewell and good luck as I head back up and away from the harbour. But within the next mile he pops right up next to me again, having run 6:49 pace UPHILL in order to do so. "I thought you said you were running slow today?" I remark casually, and in return he shrugs and says "Whatever". Ok then, it looks like we're in this together after all. Wheeee!

Whizzing through Hyde Park, completely ignoring the race plan.
(photobomber bib #10262 will turn out to be someone we know)

Somehow the pace keeps drifting inevitably back down towards 7:10 - I can't explain it, but it FEELS like I'm running easy pace, so I just go with the flow. We whiz through Hyde Park and head up Oxford Street; "Nasty hill here" I tell Joel but we make our way up it without slowing down at all.

There's a weird out-and-back along Moore Park Road and during the "back" section of it we are greeted by a Kiwi accent from the other side of the road: it's our good mate Tony, out for a morning jog! He seems to have been swept up in the race somehow (hmmm) and pretty soon he appears alongside to keep us company for a while. Cool!

Then not long afterwards a bloke running nearby says to me "Didn't I meet you at RunCamp last year?" and look at that, it's Ben. Our group has swelled to four members  - I introduce everybody and spend some time catching up with Ben about his recent races and his hopes for today. Turns out it's his first marathon and he only trains 3 times a week! If I wasn't concentrating on running too fast I"d probably fall over at this news; instead I simply tell him that the last 6 miles are going to be interesting, and our little group powers on towards Centennial Park.


Miles 9-12: 6:57, 7:15, 7:11, 7:05
10-15K split: 22:50
More confusing hairpin turns and loops all over the place - somehow we now clock our fastest mile of the race so far (oops) - perhaps I've lost concentration because I'm just too busy chatting, who knows. The social side of this "racing-while-not-racing" gig is marvellous and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself at this point, despite the marked lack of interesting scenery.

Inside the park Ben is still with us and I've sort of decided that since I was supposed to be running a bit faster this 10K section of the race, I'm not going to worry about trying to slow down anymore. Tony engages in a bit of banter with a bloke in a grey singlet who seems QUITE offended at the realisation that Tony is effectively a bandit, although it's also possible that he's just offended at being effortlessly passed by a chick in a pink singlet, who knows? We leave him behind without anybody coming to blows, so at least there's that.


Miles 13-16: 7:14, 7:00, 6:58, 7:04
15-20K split: 22:25
Halfway: 1:35:34 (on pace for 3:11:08)
We go through halfway in a tight little group and I remark to Ben that we're on track for a finish time of around 3:10 or so. For his first marathon he'd be pretty darn happy with that, as it turns out, and I'm  just hoping that he'll be able to hang on. Because I intend to speed up from this point; this was in Benita's original plan, to speed up from 20-30K, and I figure I should try to do at least part of what I was told to. That's much better than nothing, right?

The next few miles see us passing quite a lot of people really now, and my competitive side is pleased to see that a few of them are women. At this rate I might even place in my AG...not that I'm racing or anything....no, nothing like that. Mile 16 takes us out of the park again and Tony peels off to head elsewhere; we three now start making our way back towards the city.
20-25K split: 21:55


Miles 17-20: 6:56, 7:07, 6:47, 6:47
25-30K split: 21:41
We pound the pavements in silence for a while and the course takes us back down Oxford Street - the downhill is helping maintain a faster pace and just when I'm wondering what has happened to Ben a voice pipes up behind me "I'm still here....", which makes me laugh. Joel is running strongly after seeming a bit less enthusiastic inside the park, and it's obvious his claims of intending to slow down in the later miles are not going to come to much.

The 30K mark brings me an interesting dilemma: as per Benita I am supposed to slow down again now for the final 12km. Although she did say "Run as you feel" - that could be used to justify about ANYTHING really. Cheered by this realisation, I decide to just keep going and see how it feels. Our two fastest miles of the race so far are the immediate result.


Miles 21-24: 6:55, 6:59, 6:57, 6:54
30-35K split: 21:54
We're back down at Circular Quay now and heading out towards Pyrmont for a final out-and-back loop, complete with obligatory hairpin turns and few nasty hills that I won't mention to Joel yet. Thankfully there's a lot of distractingly beautiful scenery to take in; we've run this part of the course a few times together in past trips to Sydney and it's all very familiar.

Heading out along Hickson Road we see Kelly coming back in 5th place - I pretty much go nuts at this and use all my available energy to jump up and down screaming her name - she's on track to run a huge PR and win the Australian Marathon Champs. How wonderful!

It's all enough to keep me speeding along at a pace that may or may not be appropriate at this stage of the game, but at least it feels good. The heavens have decided to bless us with a sprinkling of rain, which is not unwelcome actually, and before we know it we're back on the Western Distributor on our way to the finish at the Opera House. A good time for a little game of assassin mode? Because I can see at least 2, maybe 3 women ahead whom I would quite like to pass. Let's go!

35-40K split: 22:04

Miles 25-26.2: 6:55, 7:07, 6:24 pace to finish

Slowly but surely we haul in one, two, three female runners. To my great surprise, each says something nice to me as we pass: "Good job" or "Great running", which is great sportsmanship really and I warmly congratulate them each in return. Only one tries to fight back by surging as I pull alongside her - she tries it twice but I'm relentless and she's got nothing left the third time I pull in front. This brings us to within sight of the Opera House, and the obligatory photo opportunity. Thank goodness we both have enough energy left to smile and wave! The resulting photo is definitely a keeper:

Bonus points awarded to anyone with enough energy left to be photogenic at mile 25.2

We are so nearly there! The final mile beeps on my Garmin - somewhat prematurely, it seems, but whatever - as we dash through Circular Quay to the home stretch. Another female runner appears ahead and both Joel and I lose all self-control, which means we start flat-out sprinting. Another couple of runners are within sight and with the way we're flooring it now, they are quickly also behind us. It's beyond exciting to feel this good at the end of such a long run, and at risk of posting way too many pictures, it most definitely shows. Plus, Joel and I have never before run a whole marathon together. This is major!!

OMG OMG OMG too exciting!!

We dash up the ramp to the final 100 meter finish chute and Joel grabs my hand - together we sprint to the line as the announcer yells our names and the crowd (damp and a bit scanty, but enthusiastic) goes nuts. It's in fact my third slowest road marathon ever - not an issue since I supposedly wasn't racing, ahem - but you'd be forgiven for thinking I've just run a 30 minute PR, I'm that excited and enthused.

Finish time: 3:08:11 (7:06 overall pace)

Placement: 118th OA, 14th female, 3rd in AG (F40-49)

A 3 minute negative split?! This is only the second time I've ever done that (the other being CIM almost 4 years ago) and it feels fantastic. We wander over to get our finisher shirts and when we return, here's Ben who has just run an impressive 3:13 for his debut marathon. He's happy but semi-delirious with exhaustion; we exchange congratulations then head up to the Recovery Village while he looks for somewhere to collapse.

A dead heat - but look at the overall placement, snigger snigger

 Analysis

Ok, it's sort of unclear right now what effect today will have on Melbourne, my goal race that is only 4 weeks away. Last year I ran 2:53 in Melbourne just 3 weeks before New York  and I still suspect that might have damaged my performance in NYC, although the 60kph headwind probably didn't help either. Then again, I had been injured for a month in August last year and only been back running properly for a few weeks before Melbourne.....another factor that could easily have played a part in how things worked out.

An easy week of recovery is on the cards and then I guess we will see what happens; all this racing is sort of fun, in a slightly masochistic sort of a way, and having fun is as important as running well, isn't it? Hmmmm. At some point I may need to make a choice.

SMH half-marathon, May 2015

The SMH half-marathon was my first ever race of this distance, way back in 2001, and for some obscure reason has always been one of my favourites. Not because it's fast or flat (trust me, it's not) or easy to run (hairpin turns, anyone? Thanks, I'll take a dozen) but because somehow it's so very Sydney. The city where I grew up is without a doubt in my mind the most beautiful city in the world - despite being hilly and congested and therefore not exactly a running paradise - so running a big race there is always something I enjoy.

See?? It's gorgeous!

I've raced the SMH half quite a few times now - my worst outing being 2010 (coming back from years of injuries and babies), my best 2013 (narrowly beating 2014, both years following a sub-2:50 marathon at Boston) - and while I knew that 2015 was very unlikely to be a fast year, it presented the perfect opportunity to show Joel around my hometown. So I signed us both up!

Past results

The Training
Well, not so much training as recovery, really, after our Boston 2 Big Sur extravaganza. Both Joel and I were very surprised to discover how good our legs felt the morning after Big Sur - I'm still not sure how that happened, although I suspect it was the vast quantity of food that I ate in the hospitality tent immediately after finishing at Big Sur - so it wasn't much trouble to run 44 miles the week after, and kick straight back up into the 70s the week after that. All easy jogging, no workouts (I've given Benita the month off, or perhaps it's the other way around?) and all very relaxed and fun. Apart from last weekend, ahem. But that's another story.

We head up to Sydney with the kids in tow and spend the days leading up to the race doing touristy things, which is a lot of fun but of course involves a lot of walking that probably isn't too advisable with a race coming up. Dad comes to stay with the kids overnight before the race, as he has done several times before now, and it's only a mile to the start so we don't even have to get up all that early, really. Both of us are in the preferred start group and I've even managed to score myself a seeded bib this year (after being rather miffed at never having one the past 2 years when I was probably much more deserving!) so we jog a short warmup, wave hi to Neil and then insert ourselves into the crowd forming behind the start line. I have seriously NO idea what my legs are capable of today, but here we go!

A demented spider crawling on my map? No, it's the half-marathon course.

Miles 1-4: 5:59, 6:15, 6:36, 6:07 (pace in minutes/mile)
As usual everyone takes off like a pack of maniacs and we all tear down the first mile to Circular Quay - I'm a bit surprised that the end of the mile now seems to have an uphill in it somehow - but whatever, this is fun, wheeeeee! I slow down without realising it during mile 3, however, and Joel appears grinning beside me once again. Oh no you don't, I think, and take off again like my shoes are on fire. He's going to have to work for it if he thinks he's going to beat me this weekend too!

The usual story: I'm all laser-like focus while he's having way too much fun

Miles 5-8: 5:58, 6:18, 6:16, 5:59
We wind our way out through Pyrmont and I'm astonished to see some really inappropriately fast mile splits popping up on my Garmin - sub-6:00 pace this far into a half marathon? Really?? But I feel good, surprisingly good actually, and I can't see Joel anymore (heh heh) so I might as well go with the flow. Liam Adams heads past in the other direction and he's waaaay ahead of the guy in 2nd; the flow of runners coming back starts to increase as I see Neil storming past in 7th place, then it's around the turn and ooh, there's Joel about 30 seconds behind me. Let's chuck another sub-6:00 mile in there just for fun!

Near halfway, working my way past an unhappy gaggle of blokes

Miles 9-12: 6:10, 6:38, 6:15, 5:59
The course heads back through Pyrmont and so far the blistering pace doesn't seem to be hurting me -  I hit the 10K mark in around 38:30 which is a fairly remarkable split considering what I've put my legs through in the past month. But the short, sharp hills that greet me on the way up to the Cahill Expressway are a nasty shock and I slow down enough for Joel to catch me again - just as the mile 10 split beeps he eases up alongside me, waves cheekily and accelerates past.

Ugh! All I can do is watch him pull ahead as we burn through the tunnel and out along the Expressway above Circular Quay....our mutual running buddy Tony is standing on the left and yells out "Watch it, Joel, she's catching you!!", but he has it completely the wrong way around. Oh well!

Being caught again inspires me to speed back up again and even the painful hill up Macquarie St doesn't slow me down too much; what's more surprising is that I've got enough left to really pick it up on the final downhill mile around Mrs Macquarie's Chair. Another sub-6:00 mile, whoopee! But I know what's coming.....

Is she catching me? Oh god, she's catching me!!

Mile 13-0.1: 6:32, 6:47 pace to finish
The final mile is uphill. Seriously, whoever thought this out needs a stern talking-to. I round the turn at the end of the point and Joel is about 10-15 seconds ahead, but I've given today's race everything I've got and there's not much left with which to battle. I'd love to catch up more - I'm catching all the people between us, in fact - but it's not going to happen. The only pleasant surprise at the end of the very painful slog back up Art Gallery Road is that this year they've eliminated the final, soul-destroying out-and-back along College St (must have been that extra hill at mile 1-2, hmm)  so when I hit the top the course pretty much makes a beeline for Hyde Park where the finish line awaits. Thank goodness for small mercies.

Rounding the corner to the finish, I look up to see the clock just turning over 1:23. Good grief, that's a lot faster than I was expecting! I throw myself at the line with every ounce of energy I've got left and pull up where Joel is standing, very pleased but also rather unpleasantly close to throwing up. Ooog.

"Wheeeeee!!" vs "Uurggghhh"

Finish time: 1:23:19 (6:15 pace)

Placement: 14th female, 1st in AG (F40-49)

He's beaten me by 13 seconds, a much narrower margin than at last week's 10K and this reflects what we already know is true: the longer the distance, the better I get! It's been suggested to me that I should try ultras, and as soon as a day contains 30 hours instead of 24, I'm sure I will have time for that.


Analysis
Less than 60 seconds slower than last year! It's comforting to know that I apparently haven't lost all that much in terms of fitness, despite the random training and of course being a year older. And maybe I *was* in shape for 2:50 or so at Boston - bloody Weather Curse, I can't wait til that one wears out.

Joel declares the race "the hilliest and toughest half I've ever run!" but agrees it was a great way to check out Sydney, and I'm rather excited to find out that although the field was stacked with fast young things, I'm officially the fastest old chick of the day. My first AG win in this race, hooray!! And probably a guarantee that even though it's hilly and tough, we will both be back next year.

Run4Fun 10K, November 2012

Last year this 10K was the scene of a tasty PR (almost a minute off my old one from 2007) and when an email arrived from the promoters announcing the race for 2012, it did not take much thought before I signed up. In doing so, I discovered that my time from 2011 earned me a seeded start! Would I like that? Of course I would!

But when the bib arrived with "STANTON" emblazoned across it, I had a moment of horror: all I could think was "but, but, but.....I suck at short distances!" If I crashed and burned, how embarrassing would that be, with a seeded bib on? Ugh. It did not bear thinking about, so I just put down my head and went on with my marathon training, which had become rather overwhelming of late.


The Training
Once again I was mid-way through a cycle of Pfitzinger marathon training, and the race probably could not have come at a worse time, sandwiched as it would be in the middle of 4 consecutive weeks of over 100 miles. I shifted all the heavier days to earlier in the week - running my 22 miler on Thursday morning starting at 4:25am - and attempted a taper of sorts, but even so had 95 miles on my legs already for the week going into race day.

Also, I was not reassured by the fact that I had struggled to hold pace under 6:20 minutes per mile in a recent tempo run; but what the heck, a child-free running trip (however short) is nothing to be turned down. So off to Sydney we went, since I had registered my husband for the race as well (oops).


The Travel
The location of this race - in and around the Olympic Park where the Sydney Games were held in 2000 - is absolutely fantastic. There are a number of hotels right there and I'm able to get a free night's accommodation at the nicest of them, setting us up for a lovely relaxing race prelude.

We fly out from Wagga in the afternoon, meander around the CBD shops and go to the movies (carb-loading on popcorn is perfectly acceptable for a 10K, right?), then make our way to the hotel where we enjoy a lovely meal in the on-site restaurant. Compared with my usual pre-race routine, which involves focusing enormous amounts of energy on the needs and demands of two small (but wild) children, this is pure bliss.


Race Day
Through our window on the 11th floor I can see the start line, and at 6:30am when I get up there are a lot of people already milling around down there. The forecast calls for clouds and16C/60F at the start, so I head out for a warm-up run at 7:15am dressed in shorts, singlet and a throw-away Gap sweater that I've had since 2007.

Eventual race outfit

My legs feel better than they did yesterday, at least, but I'm still feeling far from zippy as I plod through my two miles. I'm trying to come up with an excuse to use in the event that I can't even break 40 minutes today, but nothing springs to mind. Better probably just to not think about it....and the irritating song my son has been making me listen to all week comes in very useful now: my mind goes blank and I just potter along humming its inane lyrics to myself.

The sun is starting to break through now, and although it probably won't be as warm as last year, I'm still way overdressed. So after my warm-up I shed both the sweater and singlet, re-pin my bib to my bra and head down to the starting line. On the way I down a vanilla GU (for luck as much as for anything else) and find a water fountain to wash it down with. There's a nice coolish breeze but the sun is warm; at the preferred/seeded runners' area I stand in the sunshine and it's really quite lovely. I make small talk with a couple of other women - some of it about how we're surrounded by blokes - as we stand about 4 rows back from the line, and then the gun goes off and ugh, time to try to run fast.


Mile 1: 5:58 (pace in min/mile)
Heading up the slight incline past the main stadium, I feel like I'm putting in quite a lot of effort. At the 1km mark I look at my Garmin and realise why: it reads 3:34, which is 5:44 min/mile. Ah, I can ease it back a bit then - and although I do, the next part is a gentle downhill and the first mile passes in sub-6:00 pace. Cool!


Mile 2: 6:00
Wow, I actually feel quite okay running at this pace. The second half of this mile is a gentle uphill back towards our hotel and although it feels tough, it's not unmanageable and again I'm pleasantly surprised when my Garmin beeps to inform me of my pace. The big question is: am I going to be able to hang on the whole way? Hmmm, I have no idea really.


Mile 3: 6:04
Halfway through this mostly flat mile I check my pace and it's still around 6:00. Impulsively, I make a decision: even though I suspect I'm going too fast, I'm definitely not going to slow down deliberately. I want to run at least the first 5K at this pace, and if that means I die in the second half, so be it. My 5K PR (only having raced, um, one) is pathetically soft and I feel I must improve on it even if nothing else comes out of today.

So, the 3rd mile goes past in similar fashion to the first two, and I hit the 5K mark in 18:47 by my watch. A much more respectable PR and I'm claiming it for sure!


Mile 4: 6:12
Small loss of focus here, possibly I relax a little after the 5K marker is behind me. It's starting to feel hard now, this level of effort, but it helps that I've only got 2 miles to go.


Mile 5: 6:03
Right at the start of this mile, I see a woman ahead of me with a dark ponytail and tan lines on her back that make me think she's probably a triathlete. It's hard to tell from behind, but there's something about her that is familiar.

I've picked up the pace a bit again, and soon I pull alongside, then pass her. I hear her grunt something and then she passes me back - we go on like this for most of the mile, although I'm deliberately not letting it phase me - I know there are plenty of other female runners ahead of me so it's not like we're duelling for an overall place or anything.

Finally there's a slight uphill stretch and I leave her behind. Immediately she's out of my mind because I have other issues to focus on: the memory of this final mile from last year, and it's not pretty.


Mile 6: 6:13
This is the part that goes on a gentle uphill past the main stadium, in full sun, before making a right hand turn and heading towards the final stretch into the stadium. Last year it sucked, and this year is no different. I'm passing quite a lot of men now, and a few are inspired to start sprinting to stay ahead of me - normally this would probably make me snigger and speed up more, but I'm too deep in my own head to pay much attention.

The two thoughts going around are "KEEP IT GOING" and "god, I'm never running a 10K ever again", and at the time I mean it. This is really hurting now - the slight downhill around the back of the stadium is a small relief, but I'm not surprised when my Garmin informs me I just ran my slowest mile of the race. At least the suffering is almost over.....

Finish: 5:54 (0.3 miles by Garmin)
Around the corner I go and into the tunnel that will bring me into the Olympic Stadium. There is a timing clock by the road and it has just clicked over to 37:00 - this is the boost I need to keep it going - there's no way I'm not going to PR now.

But the tunnel is longer than I remember it, somehow, and it feels like forever before I pop out into the sunshine and onto the grass. Thankfully the finish line is relatively close, so I put my head down and give it everything I've got --- and it's over at last.

Finished!

Finish time: 38:13, 6:09 pace

Placement: 8th OA female (of 2167), 1st AG (of 518).


Crossing the finish line, it's an exquisite relief to stop running and I grab some water, since I haven't drunk anything throughout the race. A very skinny woman in purple, whom I vaguely remember seeing ahead of me for much of the race, comes up and congratulates me on a strong run. She says "I just couldn't stay with you on that final uphill" -- I laugh and congratulate her back, but she's not the woman with the tan lines -- what happened to her? I'm standing in the bleachers watching for my husband to finish (he ends up with 46:09, a very respectable new PR) when suddenly I see her, and to my extreme surprise she waves and says "You got me again, Rachel!" WTF??

Turns out she is the woman I sledged in Port Macquarie last March (around mile 4 in the report) and whom I also beat in the F40-49 age group for this race last year. I remember now she asked me about the 2011 Run4Fun after the Port Mac HM - where I beat her for 3rd place - I'm becoming something of a nemesis for this poor woman, and I can't even remember her name!

Stadium behind, smug runners in front

The Analysis
Well, if I can run both 5K and 10K PRs in a race during the most intense marathon training I've ever done, I guess that has to be a good sign. And 6:00 pace, or at least sub-6:10, seems a lot more manageable than it ever has before. Suddenly the idea of a marathon at 6:30 pace doesn't seem the wildly insane idea it was about 7 weeks ago.....and the planets appear to be aligning for something special in Honolulu on December 9.