233 replies to this topic

[Brick]

Still in two minds what to do.
Try for a 3:20 on my own or go with the 3:30 pacer and just try for a sub 3:30.
I will decide on Sunday morning.

Brick

[deadcat]

...oh, and i agree with Scurry about the inherant problems with having a marathon the week after easter..

hmmmm.. chocolate as a training aid??  there's a study to be done, i'm sure  

For the chocoholics out there visiting the nations capital may I suggest a luuurvly cafe called Bruno's in Mawson..

[tallguy]

Brick, on Apr 13 2007, 09:18 AM, said:

Still in two minds what to do.
Try for a 3:20 on my own or go with the 3:30 pacer and just try for a sub 3:30.
I will decide on Sunday morning.

Brick

Brick, if you can't decide on 3:20/3:30, why not stick with the bus till half way or 30km, then switch on the turbo if you're feeling strong.  Better to start easy and have reserves later than to go out too hard and suffer.

[Bartman]

Brick, on Apr 13 2007, 08:18 AM, said:

Still in two minds what to do.
Try for a 3:20 on my own or go with the 3:30 pacer and just try for a sub 3:30.
I will decide on Sunday morning.

Brick

Hey mate,

I'm aiming for the same time, 3.20 but 3.30 will be great... whats are your splits... here are mine;
1hr = 12km @ 5min/km
2hr = 23.5km @ 5min/km

Next 7km @ 5min/km
2.35hr = 30km

Next 5km @ 4.30 – 4.40min/km
2.50hr - 3hr max = 35km

Next 6.219km @ 4.30 – 4.40min/km
3.25hr = 42.19km

[nite_time_runner]

i will sticking by 4 hour pacer ( hopefully! ) and if i have anything left, go a little harder at the 37km mark - but thats a maybe.

[DRFC]

Hi,

Good luck to everyone on Sunday.

Deadcat, if there isn't a 3:45 pacer then start running ahead of the 4:00 hour pacer and start chatting to others runing around you. Chances are that you will find someone else with 3:45 as their goal.

I did this in 2003 for my first marathon. I found someone and we stuck together till about 32km when I had a couple of bad kms. The other guy came in at 3:44 and I recovered by 34km to finish in 3:47.

[Anth]

scurry711, on Apr 13 2007, 07:28 AM, said:

I am definately going to run with the 4 hour pacer, at least for as long as I can.

Can we have a show of hands of how many others will be running with the pacer??

My hand is up.

I haven't been able to run for the past 10 days due to a bad knock I copped at soccer training, so I've been on an enforced taper. I'm sure that's far from ideal, but hey, I'll grit my teeth and battle it out. As I've grown fond of saying to the missus, "it's all mental, and I'm mental!".

Roll on 11am on Sunday morning.

[Muzman]

I am definitely with the 4hr bus, although I have worked out my splits to run an even pace and finish about 3:55:xx.

If the bus driver takes off quicker to put time in the bank (as I believe he is going to) then the bus will get ahead of me early, but I hope to catch up by 30km).

If I stay in touch - great, but I am sticking to my plan.

Good luck to all if I don't get to see you before the start.

To those whom I haven't met but are looking for each other at the startline, I am tall, bearded and confused-looking.  

MuzMan

[Guy Incognito 98]

I gave the strategy and pacing some thought and have decided to stick with the 4 hour pacer.  Otherwise I would find it too tempting to run too fast early and blow up.  As per NTR the plan would ideally then involve a surge ahead of the pacer later in the race.

To help identify me I am 6 foot, short brown hair (so physically probably similar to a large percentage of the field) and will be wearing a white Nike Dri Fit singlet.

[deadcat]

while we're on the subject...

i'm easy to spot!  Got tattoo's on both my arms (swirly black design) and another on the inside of my left lower leg.. i've noticed not too many tattoo'd up runners.. running is apparently not a popular choice with the bogan commmunity  

[Anth]

No tattoos or facial hair, but I'll be (one of many?) wearing the CR singlet and cap.

Apparently the apparel will make a big difference to my time.....

[Mouse]

Good luck everyone!!  I will be cheering with the CR cheer squad, complete with pom poms and 3 kids!  

The kids are not old enough yet to be embarrassed about cheering so I may paint them blue and gold and we can use them as mascots.  We shall see what NTR says about that one though....    

On a serious note, I know how NTR has trained for this and how much time and dedication it has taken so well done all of you and I look forward to seeing you all at the finish line by 3:59:59  

[SpartaJen]

Mouse, on Apr 13 2007, 01:20 PM, said:

The kids are not old enough yet to be embarrassed about cheering so I may paint them blue and gold and we can use them as mascots.  We shall see what NTR says about that one though....  

Now THAT is a fantastic idea. Alot can happen in 3:59 & NTR will be too ecstatic & stuffed at the finish to care. Hehehe  

[Johnny Dark]

Brick, on Apr 13 2007, 08:18 AM, said:

Still in two minds what to do.
Try for a 3:20 on my own or go with the 3:30 pacer and just try for a sub 3:30.
I will decide on Sunday morning.

Brick, it seems we're facing similar dilemmas. I was also hoping to go 3:20, but as I'm nowhere near the same runner when the mercury begins to rise the threat of warm conditions has me a little spooked.
Like yourself I'll make a decision on Sunday morning, fallback plan being a ride on the 3:30 bus with tallguy and co.

JD

[scurry711]

I'm easy too, look for the lilly white legs! If I wear a cap it will be a CR or 6 Foot Cap, but I'm pretty sure NTR will be wearing a CR cap and I'll probably be chatting to him prior to the start. Simon

[nite_time_runner]

beside the CR cap, i look remarkably ordinary! i am hoping to get a before and after photo of contributors here who have made the individual sport of running into a (virtual) team effort! See you all soon. Best of luck.

[scurry711]

Well how did we go sub hr bus riders??? It was great to meet Muzman & Anth at the start line and catch up with Nite Time Runner and Kato. The pace runner turned out to be CR Digger after initial reports it was to be Bob Fickel(spelling?). I stayed with Digger for the first 9 kilometres and he kept everyone amused with his funny tales, his wit and great advice. After 9kms I had a bit of a surge and was soon joined by NTR. We ran together until about 21k. We tried to put some distance between ourselves and the 4 hour pack and also on NTR's garmin, but every now and then we would hear Diggers voice looming up behind us. We didn't know if Digger was accelerating or not because we felt we were holding a good pace.  

Around about halfway I lost NTR and I felt really good so I decided to go with the flow rather than go for steady splits. I had a great run between 21k and 32k and overtook a lot of people and put a bit of distance on the large 4 hour pack. As they say the second half of the marathon starts at 32k and this is where I started to get tired. The second run down the highway to the turn-around and back seemed to drag on forever and I could see a few walking wounded on this part of the course. I started to tire a bit and Digger caught me at the aid station with about 3.5k to go. I said to Digger "Aren't you ahead of yourself" but he assured me he wasn't and that only 6m km's would ensure a sub four finish. This gave me the jolt I needed and I managed to get in front of him again. The last two kilometres were tough but I got over the line in 3.58.06 holding onto my two kids who ran out to join me at the end. A great day.

Caught up with NTR, Muzman and Anth at the end who all ran PB's. Good effort. Also managed to thank Digger, although I didn't run with him for most of the run he was always my yardstick. Look forward to this run again next year. Cheers, Scurry.

[Digger]

Bob Fickel was carrying an injury, and not confident he would survive at 4hr pace(and he was right), so on Sat AM, PC asked me to pace the 4hr group.

Here is a break-down of the 5km splits:

5km:  28-05
10km: 27-53  55-27
15km:  28-00  1-23-57
20km:   27-39  1-51-36
21.1km:  1:57:25?
25km:  27:56  2:19:29
30km:  27:52  2:47:21
35km:  28-53  3-16-14
40km:  29-00  3-45-14
42.2km:  14-37  3-59-51

2nd Half: 2-02-26

Hope everybody had a good day.

[deadcat]

good on ya scurry!  and all the 4 hour bus.. sounds like your pacer did exactly the right stuff..

I had trouble finding the 3:45 bus at the start but got caught up by him a couple of k's out.. CR Horrie.. who i stayed with until 37k and then pushed on to finish in 3:41:XX.  Horrie was terrific.. very encouraging and cajoling when he needed to be..

I felt strong at the end and managed a bit of a surge to the line which is nice  

but the last 5k's where i was pushing were deffinatley the worst  

But.. I achieved all my goals in my first marathon and am looking forward to Sydney in September..

well done everyone

[Horrie]

deadcat, on Apr 16 2007, 04:21 PM, said:

good on ya scurry!  and all the 4 hour bus.. sounds like your pacer did exactly the right stuff..

I had trouble finding the 3:45 bus at the start but got caught up by him a couple of k's out.. CR Horrie.. who i stayed with until 37k and then pushed on to finish in 3:41:XX.  Horrie was terrific.. very encouraging and cajoling when he needed to be..

I felt strong at the end and managed a bit of a surge to the line which is nice  

but the last 5k's where i was pushing were deffinatley the worst  

But.. I achieved all my goals in my first marathon and am looking forward to Sydney in September..

well done everyone

Fantastic news deadcat. That was an awesome debut marathon. Congratulations!

[scurry711]

Deadcat, it was a pity not to meet you on the day, at one stage there was a tattooed bogun sighting on the course but I missed it. Congrats on your time, you did great. Good luck for Sydney, but I think its a lot harder than Canberra and not good for PB's. Will we see you at Cities???

[deadcat]

i saw two other tattoo'd up dudes on the course.. one with long long hair plat who i passed about two k's out with LOTS of heavy ink on his arms, and a spainish looking guy with heavy arm tatts.. who i passed with about 5k to go (i remember him cause i passed him with about 3k's left in the Weston Creek half marathon that was held here about a month or so ago..)

not sure what you mean by Cities.. city to surf??  when is it?

(i'm still on a bit of a high from finishing.. ready to take on the world!!  Funny how you can finish so strongly but then a couple of steps over the line and you're done.... just done..  I was really struggling to keep it together.. i got really teary!!  Just felt like i wanted to bawl)..

[scurry711]

I mean the Cities Marathon, Prestons to Blacktown.

I got a big rush going down the final chute knowing I had achieved my goal, but there was no way I could have taken another step!!

[Muzman]

Just home from Canberra and quite satisfied despite missing my time goal of sub 4.  My own fault for running better than I felt after the 36km mark and falling to the cramp monkey.  When he climbed off my back I was running 5:40 k's again as if nothing had happend, but alas! it was too late.

As Scurry mentioned, I did manage a PB of 4:06:46, so the sub 4 will have to wait till Mudgee.  As usual, I learned a lot!

Thanks to Scurrie for his support, also NTR, Anth and Kato (well done, all! Great to meet you.).  

Big thanks to Digger for the great job as pacer, and the great company/advice.  I soaked it all up.

Also great to meet Runitloveit (we have much to talk about yet, RILI) and Queen Bee at the finish line.

Thanks to all Cool Running cheer squad members (you know who you are) and not a few CR vollies!

I really enjoyed the course and the atmosphere - the hot air balloons were an awesome bonus, and I will be back there again for sure.

[nite_time_runner]

Please to report i ran a 4:17 marathon - not quite the sub four i was quietly confident of, but the cramp monkey as muzman puts it, was on my back very early on. Actually it kicked in badly at 27km which was frustrating, given i trained past this numerous times with a hint of cramps. Anyway, i am chuffed at my time. a 37min PB ( thats what you get when your first one is close to 5 hours...a chance to get a good PB second time around!!! )

Highlights included having the intimate support crew there - Mouse and 3 kids!, the CR support crew were great ( sfgnome, mango, jen_runs all came down purely to support...if that does not prove the value of friendships formed in online communities and CR in particular, i don't know what does! ), the hot air balloons around the course, the mad lady of the lake....

I ran with Scurry for about half of it, and Muzman and Anth for good part of the first half - well done to all of you on great efforts and achievements!!  I too spotted some bogan tats on the course   ...i am afraid deadcat needs to be more specific next time!!  Digger - thanks for taking on pacing duties! I am glad i thanked you before the race as i did not finish with you at the end :-(  

After the race I pigged out on Maccas - i am sure that got salt back into my tired legs!! But of course i only went there for the kids.....

The dream lives on for me - a sub 4 hour marathon...next opportunity...Cities Marathon - July 29!!

Edited by nite_time_runner, 17 April 2007 - 10:31 AM.

[runitloveit]

Well done everyone, and congrats to Deadcat on a fantastic marathon debut, and to Muzman for the PB (bring on Busselton!!)

It was great watching the 4 hour bus coming over the finish line, including the girl who absolutely sprinted the last 100 metres to the roar of the crowd to corss the line just as the clock ticked over to 4.00

It was really inspiring to watch you all at the finish line - hopefully next year I will be over my triathlon bug and will be chasing down my sub-4 marathon goal.

BTW - the other tattooed guy with the long hair in a plait is Billy from Canberra who I think was also running his debut marathon - he finished just behind you Deadcat in 3.42.  Of his many tattoos is a great one of an eye on the back of his calf - I know this because I am often watching it watching me around the oval at Dickson during interval training!!

[BTONE]

Congrats to all for their performances on Sunday.

I've been following the thread for a couple of months now but didn't join because I knew that 4 hours was probably just beyond my reach - my target was 4h 15.

However I decided at the start to try and keep the blue balloon in sight for as long as I could, and managed even to be a few metres in front at the 34k mark, but then the legs started to tire and that balloon went slowly past and I waved 4hrs goodbye!

Finished in 4hr 10 so very happy.

Again well done to all - but isn't that second big loop a horror!!

[portrunr]

I'm very happy to have finished well under my 4 hour goal in 3:48:xx. I hung about half a minute behind the 3:45 pace group for roughly 2/3 of the race before walking the 35km drink station and dropping back further. The pace did fall off in the last few km, but not too much. That last couple of hundred metres is just magic!

[Phoenix]

Not the best of days for me i'm afraid.

In hindsight, did something fairly stupid in taking the kids camping a few days before the race.  I picked up a cold that got worse and by Sunday I woke with one of those raspy sore throats and was completely congested.  

I tossed up pulling out, but decided to give it a trundle.  My polar froze as the race started and no amount of re-setting could get the stopwatch to start.  I had a stitch inside 10 ks and by 28ks I was completely shot, despite having run up to 37ks 3 times in training.  Cramps in my quads, my calves, my groin, my hamstrings and a stitch on either side of my rib cage plus another near my kidney (or so it felt).

I coughed and spluttered my way to the finish in 4:24 but it was a real mongrel of a run.

Immediately after the race I thought about hanging up the Brooks.  I swore I'd never run another Marathon.  

I’ve just spent an hour browsing accommodation at the Gold Coast for July 1.  The dream of a sub 4 hour marathon lives.

[scurry711]

Phoenix, well done for finishing, as they say, if it doesn't kill you it only makes you stronger. I am sure with a better preperation and not being sick, you will give the 4 hours a damn good shake at GC. Wish I could be there.

[nite_time_runner]

Phoenix, on Apr 17 2007, 02:24 AM, said:

Not the best of days for me i'm afraid......The dream of a sub 4 hour marathon lives.

Phoenix - i hear you, i hear you, i hear!!  I share your pain!  I got a cold leading up the race ( got over it on Friday though..), and cramped up way before i was into "uncharted territory".  I got over the line at 4:17, so i am sure we passed it each other at the various turn arounds...i'm sure i'll see you around chasing that dream!

[Mouse]

Phoenix, on Apr 17 2007, 02:24 AM, said:

I’ve just spent an hour browsing accommodation at the Gold Coast for July 1.  The dream of a sub 4 hour marathon lives.

Do it!!  Gold Coast is soooo much fun, the CR contingent there (both competitors and cheer squaders) is huge.  Plus it is a really flat course, I am trying to talk NTR into heading up there to give his 4hr dream a good kick in the pants.  

Really, I just want the holiday and a chance to pull out the pom poms again

[Phoenix]

Thanks for the support everyone.  The really annoying thing was that I had run 37ks, three times in training without a hitch.  But that's the way it goes.  If it was easy, it wouldn't have the same allure.

[scurry711]

Mouse, on Apr 17 2007, 03:05 AM, said:

Do it!!  Gold Coast is soooo much fun, the CR contingent there (both competitors and cheer squaders) is huge.  Plus it is a really flat course, I am trying to talk NTR into heading up there to give his 4hr dream a good kick in the pants.  

Really, I just want the holiday and a chance to pull out the pom poms again

NTR, when you get a leave pass like that, you've gotta take it!