Gold Coast

After three of weeks of lethargy since the Canberra Marathon I have decided to start putting in a bit of effort. I do not want a repeat of last year's dismal Gold Coast marathon performance. It wasn't so much that it was my slowest marathon to date, it was the the dreadful experience over the last 5 or 6 K's which I don't want to experience again. Last year I dropped my bundle between Canberra and GC marathons and simply didn't put in the K's during the week. The Sunday long runs were not too bad because I was running with friends but I found it hard to summon the willpower to consistently do the runs on my own during the week.

Last week I ran on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday (yesterday). My 14K circuit that I used during my Canberra training has had to be altered due to some major road works. My new circuit is now 14.5K. Benefits of the altered circuit are more lighting and more paths which is much safer.

On Sunday I went of to Park Road with intention of running an easy 26K. However, I didn't allow for the fact that Tegwen had invited a couple guys, much younger than me, with whom she runs during the week. Craig is training for his first half and Ben for his first marathon. We set off to Newstead along the river. Craig didn't need to run 26K and Ben wanted to do 2.5 hours. It took us 1:15 to do the 14K to Newstead. That was nice and easy.

At Newstead it was decided that Tegwen, Craig and Cathy would head back to Park Rd via Victoria Park giving them 21K all up. I decided to head back the way we came with Ben to make up a total of 28k. I was quite prepared for Ben to ramp up the pace and leave me behind as he had told me that he is aiming for a sub 3 at the Gold Coast. We did ramp up the pace right from the start. As we chatted along the way, Ben told me that his training schedule was determined by the business which he owns. "What busines is that?" I enquired, "Personal training" was the response. Hmmm! I thought, this is going to be interesting.

So much for my easy run. I know I didn't have to stick with him and possibly he could have easily left me behind but Ben seemed happy enough with the pace we were doing and we setteled into a steady rhythm. We were doing under 5 min K's. By the time we got bact to the City Gardens my legs were tiring but I still felt OK. Under the Riverside Expressway we picked up the pace a little and by the time we were past the Grey Street Bridge I was thinking if I keep running at this pace I am going to throw up. We got back to Park Road in 2:22 for 28.3K, an 8 minute negative split.

Upon checking my Garmin, I found that the 26th K, the one where I felt I mght throw up, was run in 3:28. Maybe I should train more with Ben. Then again, probably not, I might have to pay him.