One thing that I NEVER enjoyed was running. Mostly due to my lack if cardio fitness and just the negative thoughts that I couldn't do it or looked stupid trying to do it. I viewed it as such an achievement when I could actually run from one set of traffic lights to the other down King William Street! When my fitness started to get a little better I started running (trying to) home from the gym, the whole 2kms! At the beginning I couldn't even make the whole distance! I used to set myself a challenge to run from the first street light on the path to the other end. This was about 500-600m in length! Gradually I managed to extend my distance and soon enough i was making it the whole way from the gym to home!
In the past 10-12 months I have found myself becoming more and more comfortable running and was regularly doing 5-8km runs relatively comfortably, coupled with consistent gym work and pushing myself a little more on my bike my next, and first "official" running goal was the 2013 City to Bay fun run. With a couple of training runs I finished in just a smidge over 1hr (see My City to Bay 2013) . After that run I thought this was my maximum distance! Although i finished pretty well and not overly sore i couldnt see myself going any further than that!
Fast forward 6 months and i am in the rhythm of doing approx 10-12km runs consistently and feeling good. I was now in serious training for True Grit Adelaide 2014!
One night after a tough few days at work and a fair bit of pent up general life stress and the battle of the black dog I went out for a run in anger and before I knew it I found myself at Brighton after running the Hallett cove/Marion board walk to Brighton and across 6kms of soft sand. when i stopped and checked my strava i had come 18kms! This has been the first (and thankfully so far last)Hmm good True Grit training at least I thought!
After completing the True Grit race I felt like i was in decent nick. As i was scrolling through my FaceBook feed i came across the Barossa Running festival which incorporated a half marathon. Bugger it I'll give it a crack! why not! I had just over 3 weeks to get run ready! Considering my longest run thus far had been my 18km angry run i was going to have to cram hard to get through 21kms!
2 weeks out from the event i was doing a planned 6km run from a drop off point on my back from the office to home when suddenly i got pain and tightness in my left achilles tendon and up through my calf! 2kms out from home i had no other option than to hobble through. When i got home and stopped my left leg from my knee down was in intense pain and seized up. Straight on with the ice pack, voltaren and deep heat but this did little over the next 2 days. Somehow i managed, ok my wife managed, to find a physio that i could get into immediately for an assessment. After some exercises along with some poking and prodding on my leg he put it down to achiles tendinitis which usually required 2-3 weeks of rest and no high impact exercise other than a short walk here and there. After explaining that had registered for the Barossa Half he said, unexpectedly, that he would do his best to get me right(ish) for it! 8 sessions over the next 10 days with some deep tissue massage and a range of exercises and i was feeling good. The only down side was that i was only able to do a short, 3km, run in 10 days! Luckily i got no pain during or after that but after 3kms I was hardly warmed up so how would my leg react after 10 or 15kms?
Run day!
The moment of truth!
I was up and early for the 90min drive from my place to Tanunda in the Barossa Valley. I was lucky that mum volunteered to come that early and that a good friend of mine was completing the half as well as part of her preparation to complete her 2nd full marathon in August! We got there with about 25mins to spare and after a short warm up and some stretches we were ready to go! The mass start provided a bit of congestion but at the 3km mark i had found some clear air but had lost Kathy! We had promised each other that if either of us felt strong to just keep going so I kept my pace up and got in to a good space mentally and physically. I managed to find 3-4 runners that i could pace myself with which was helpful. The course itself was spectacularly beautiful but i caught out and lulled in to a false sense of security with the course map! The straights were a lot longer and lumpier than the map detailed! A rookie mistake i made was thinking that the half marathon looped past the start twice so i took on board 1 gel and left one with mum at the start/finish line thinking that i would grab the 2nd one on the way past. 2 mins out from the start and Kathy informs me that no it is an out and back one loop. damn. Gonna pay for that one! I wore skins so not even any pockets to stash the gel in!
I made it to the 10km mark and the first turn around point pretty comfortably and even managed to see Kathy on the way back, she was only about 5 mins behind so doing a great job herself considering she had been ill all week! Km's 10-14 were reasonably straightforward but just as i went past the 15km mark my hips and groins started to get really stiff and sore and my little toe which i slightly injured at True Grit started rubbing on my shoe and becoming quite painful. The people i had paced myself against the whole way started pulling away from me and i lost contact by 17km. Just before the 18km marker my worst fear came to fruition. My achilles and calf started to ache and strain with each stride. Thankfully it didn't get worse but certainly inhibited my last 4 or so. This was just a big of a mental challenge as physical at this point because stopping and/or walking was NOT an option for me. My kids had made support signs for me the night before and one of them said "go dad, No Stopping, No walking!" so i couldn't bare the thought of them seeing me walking across the line. Once i made it to the 20km mark i knew i would make it and i had a moment where i felt the emotions well up inside. I managed to suppress this as the job was still not done!
When I entered the finishing straight the crowd would have been 3-4 deep for the last 200meters. It was a beautiful sight and my pace increased slightly and i drew next to another runner. She saw this and lifted her pace as well. Before i knew it the 2 of us were sprinting the last 150 meters into the last corner. 50 Meters to go and i had pulled a decent gap on her and powered to the line, I knew my wife, kids and mum were on the sidelines and i could hear them but i barely saw them, i was so focused on getting to the end, sprinting, i nearly took out one of the marshals at the end who were swiping our numbers to get our finish times. As i was walking out the lady who i had sprinted with thanked me for the race and said she needed that last little push!
As i was making my way back to where my family was my mum came running up in tears and shaking telling me how proud she was. With her arm around me we walked back to my wife and kids. My son came sprinting up and jumped in to me nearly knocking me over and gave me the biggest hug. My daughter squeezed me so tight and a lovely kiss and hug from my wife almost broke down.
My focus now turned to cheering Kathy on as she crossed. After 10 or so mins he husband Michael said he could see her coming. As she rounded the corner we could see she was in the zone. More yelling and screaming and she acknowledged us and powered home!
A good hour of stretching, relaxing and chatting and we made our way to Tanunda for a well earned feed and a sneaky cider! Re hydrating is important!
Their support both in the lead up and during means everything to me, without them this would have been impossible.
I finished the 21kms in 1hr and 47 minutes clocking 4:59km spilts. I had set myself a goal of coming in under 2 hours so from that perspective yes i am happy and proud. I am however a little disappointed in the fact that my last 4-5kms were more about survival and getting to the end. I REALLY wanted to stick with the pace group i had for most of the day and would have come in around the 1hr 40 mark.
Overall for my first half marathon i am pleased. Some more (uninterrupted) training and a new pair of running specific shoes and if i decide to do it again next year....who knows.
Kathy was brilliant. She completed the same course in 1hr 58mins! under her goal of also sub 2hrs and for someone that was sick all week i couldnt be prouder. She was 2mins shy of her PB but this is also just a warm up/training event for her. Come the Adelaide Marathon in August she will be cherry ripe!
Big props to my physio Michael at Physio Direct on Greenhill road Adelaide! the guys is a genius (never letting him dry needle me again tho!)
So the day after and i have pulled up extremely sore through my hips and groins and am struggling to walk! My achilles is tight but not overly sore. I have planned to do a 5km trail race this coming Sunday with Athletics SA so recovery is the name of the game this week!
Will i do another half marathon? Honestly after the race my initial response was "hell no!" i have done one, ticked that off the list, now what can i do? with 24 hours to think about it and reflect, will i do another half marathon? My response now...."whats the point in setting a time and not giving myself an opportunity to beat it? how quick CAN i go"??.......
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| I haven't got many medals in my time. This one is very special. It's only a participation award but a lot of blood, sweat and a few tears went into this |
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| Before |
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| After - Still Smilin! |
