Gold Coast Marathon 2014 - Race Recap

My alarm went off at 4.15am on Sunday, July 6 and I woke up with a jolt, it was Marathon day!

I was so glad I'd slept through the night, I usually toss and turn and have a terrible sleep the night before a race! I was still feeling fairly calm, which again, is really unusual for me pre-race but I wanted to try and save my mental energy for those last 10km’s, so I did my best not to over think things…which usually leads to stressing out for me!

I jumped out of bed straight away, got my brekky from the fridge (rice, Chobani, cinnamon & blueberries) and ate it in bed while listening to some tunes on my iPhone to pump me up.

It was still pretty early by the time I finished breakfast but I decided to get ready anyway and made sure I was covered in Body Glide to make sure I didn’t get a repeat of the epic chaffing I got from my Camelbak on my 33km run (I never ended up mentioning it in a post but the damn thing left a nice big slice in my shoulder) and plenty of time to check, double and triple check I had everything.

Dad dropped Mel, Lisa, Ronnie & I off at the race precinct at about 6.30am, which gave me plenty of time to do all my pre-race activities, dump my bag at our tent, go to the toilet, quick warm up, Camelbak on and a dose of Voltaren. I decided against taking another Voltaren with me as I expected to only be running 4 hours or so...and it's meant to last 6-8 hours right?

I made my way to the start line and found a spot in the crowd just behind the 3.45 pacer - may as well be optimistic right?
Ronnie stood next to me behind the gate at the start line and I did some quick stretches, he gave me a kiss good luck and all of a sudden, the gun went and we were off!

As I crossed the start line, I remember thinking, "Well this is it, you're running a marathon!" 
I glanced across and saw Mel sprinting along next to the start line, she ran up as far as she could before yelling "Go Bec!" and then I was off on my own.

I looked down at my watch (which was actually Mel's watch), I was obviously a bit excited and was running close to 5 min per km so I slowed my pace down to my target pace of 5.30 per km and tried to get into a rhythm. I was feeling pretty good at that point, the temperature felt comfortable and pace felt fairly easy. I was enjoying the view as we headed into Surfers Paradise and the crowd started to build the closer we got. Mum and Dad were waiting for me at the 7km mark, I gave them a wave and they cheered me on as I headed for the Burleigh Heads turnaround, just over 8km's away.

As I headed into Broadbeach, I noticed my body was easing back to a 5.40 pace and I really had to keep an eye on my watch to keep myself at 5.30. My first 10km split was a little slower than I targeted for but I figured it would've helped save energy for later so I wasn't too bothered by it. The plan was to try and stay at 5.30 for 32km's then do my best to hold on and not drop under 6 min per km for the last 10.

I picked up the pace a bit after that, making sure I stayed under 5.30 and was going along well until just after I passed the 15km marker. It was then that I started to feel slight tightness in the outside of left quad, just above the knee. I'd never felt any tightness in that area in any run prior so I figured it would just sort itself out. We turned around at Burleigh Heads at this point and just after I passed the 16km marker I started to feel the same tightness in the right leg. I did my best to ignore it and keep going.

My pace was still on track for a 4 hour marathon as I approached the half way point, but by then the tightness in my quads had become painful. I continued to push through it, sipping my Endura from my Camelbak and I found that combined with the Dextro tabs I was taking every 15 mins, it would help ease the pain for a bit.
By the 25km point, the watered down Endura I had in my pack was no longer helping so I decided to grab a cup of Endura from a drink station. It helped slightly and I continued on through Surfers Paradise for the second time. It was then that the 4 hour pacer ran past me and I knew I had no way of being able to keep up.

As I ran past the Surfers Paradise sign along the beach, I heard Kelly and Hayley from our running crew call out to me, I gave them a wave and a smile, their cheers definitely lifted me up at the point!

I kept plodding along, the pain was continuing to get a bit worse with every step. I grabbed another cup of Endura and focused on putting one foot in front of the other, doing my best to block out my screaming quads as much as possible. My pace had slipped to 6 min per km but I didn't care, I just wanted to keep running. At the 29km point, I honestly thought the muscles were going to pop out of my skin so I stopped quickly and stretched both quads out before continuing on. I was definitely regretting not popping the extra Voltaren in my pack earlier! The stretch definitely helped relieve some of the pressure and I focused on getting to the 32km mark where Mel would be waiting for me.

The plan was for her, if she was able to get onto the course, to run the last 10km's with me to hopefully give me the push I needed to finish under 4 hours.

By the time I got to the 32km mark, I was mentally drained from trying to distract myself from my quads and the plan had well and truly changed at that point, I just needed someone to keep me going full stop! A time goal was definitely out the window, I just had to finish this thing. 
I saw Mel on the course and I ran over to her, told her about the pain in my quad and I stopped again to stretch and she quickly tried to massage them. Ronnie was also on the side line, I can't remember if he said anything to me or not but I pleaded asked him if he had Voltaren on him which unfortunately he did not.

I continued running again with Mel next to me and all of a sudden, coach Bec and Lisa were also running along next to me. Lisa unfortunately and much to both our disappointment, was unable to run the marathon that day due to her ITB injury. I remember asking her if she was ok to be running. She stopped after a few hundred metres but not before Bec's husband and crew member Steve snapped this picture of the four of us, my favourite picture from the day. It brings back so much emotion every time I look at it, I was truly so lucky to have so much support on the day.

I don't remember a whole lot from this point on but I know any mental strength I had had pretty much gone when nausea started to hit as well. I'm pretty certain it was caused by ingesting too much sugar from the Dextro and extra Endura, I'd had no plain water at all. 
Mel & Bec continued to run with me and were so amazing, getting me cups of water to drink and throw over myself and did their best to keep me running. I stopped to walk several times when it all got too much, and in that moment I honestly wanted to ground to open up and swallow me. 
There was this tiny voice still there inside me though, and it was telling me I had to finish this. So along with that tiny voice and Mel & Bec next to me, I finally ran past the RWL tent with 500m to go. That was the longest 500m of my life as I entered the finishers chute with Mel still next to me. I turned the corner and saw the finish line and found the energy to smile and put my arms in the air, I was going to do this!

I crossed the finish line 4 hours, 23 minutes and 14 seconds after I started. 
I bent over, put my hands on my legs and cried. It was a total mixture of emotions - so much relief that it was over, happiness that I'd finished, disappointment in myself and how it all went. 

Ronnie had managed to sneak into the finishers area and gave me a big hug and I continued to cry into his shoulder. I then tried to sit down and because my quads were still so sore, I kind of collapsed to the ground. All of a sudden a medical team were running over with a wheel chair, I told them I was OK and got up. It's pretty funny now that I think about it!

Once I'd had some water and my nausea had settled, I got up and hobbled through to pick up my finishers shirt and medal and back to meet up with the rest of the crew. More tears and hugs followed as well as photos with everyone.

A quick dip in the water was amazing relief for my quads and we then headed back into Surfers Paradise for lunch, ice cream and recovery. I thoroughly enjoyed that night and the next day, even though I was sore as hell, I ate my weight in food and loved every minute of it!

Once my post run brain fog started to fade, I started to dissect the run and how things went so pear shaped. I beat myself up about it for awhile after that, I should have been mentally stronger, I should have done this, I should have done that.
I know for a fact that I went out too hard so whether or not that caused the quad issues, I'm not sure. But there's no point in me continuing to over analyse things now.

At the end of the day, it was truly the hardest thing that I've ever done but I'm proud that I finished, I know I have learnt a hell of a lot and it will only make me a stronger runner. I'm choosing to remember the positives, like the photo of the girls running with me and the complete strangers on the sidelines who offered me water from their own water bottles during the last 5km's.

Thank you to everyone who has followed my journey to my first marathon, I was quite overwhelmed with all the wishes of congratulations I received on Facebook and Instagram.
Most of all I am thankful for the amazing support I received from my husband, sister, family, close friends and the Run With Life running crew including coach Bec, Lisa, Steve and Carly to name a few - I couldn't have got to that finish line without any of you.

Before I reached the the finish line, at approximately the 40km mark, I remember saying to Mel "I am NEVER doing this again!"

But you should never say never, right?

Countdown to the Gold Coast Marathon 2014

So I sit here now one week after running my first marathon.

16 weeks of training and preparation all came down to one day. 
More about that in a later post, you’ll have to stay tuned ;-)

It feels like a lifetime since my last post, now that all is said and done! 

My last long run was a week before race day, I strapped on my trusty Camelbak full of water (to get a feel for the weight, I didn't use it the week before and didn't want to get used to running without it) and set off for 60 mins along our old route along the Dandenong Creek Trail at slightly quicker than my goal marathon pace. The run felt good and I felt ready to go. I stopped my watch at the end of the run and it was then I first realised the summary screen showed a pace approximately 15-20 secs out from what I believed I had run, according to the pace shown during my run. I figured I must have slowed down a bit at some point so didn't think too much about it.

Later that day,I had my last massage and dry needling treatment. My legs and hips felt great afterwards and I was feeling pretty calm and quietly confident. I then spent that night watching Spirit of the Marathon and felt overwhelmed with excitement and emotions, I will admit that I teared up while watching it. Surely I can't be the only one who finds running emotional at times? Although I am a bit of a sook and someone who cries easily! It was a crazy feeling to know that I’d be preparing for my own marathon in exactly one week!

Before I knew it, Marathon week was here! 
I wanted to make sure I was well rested that week so I chose a sleep in instead of my early morning weights session on the Monday morning and stuck with just going to my normal Monday night running session with the crew. My legs were still a bit tender from needling the day before, so I ran half the session easy and the second half hard. 
I ended up only doing the one (upper body) weights session that week on the Tuesday morning and had my final running session on the Wednesday night where we did 200m reps on the track. I was feeling pretty good at that point, I was happy with my speed and how my legs felt, fresh and fast (well fast for me!).

Then it was time to pack for our big running trip! Our flight was 8.20am on the Thursday morning so we were up super early to get to the airport in time.

After our flight was delayed an hour, we finally arrived on the Gold Coast. The weather was stunning, sunny and warm in the sun without being too hot. I was confident the heat wouldn't bother me too much on Sunday as it was forecast to be a few degrees cooler.
I was super excited to get to the hotel for a family reunion, my Mum & Dad and Mel who had been in the US for the last 3 weeks and had had flown direct to Brisbane earlier that morning. We had dinner together that night and caught up on all their holiday goss.

By the next morning, pretty much the whole crew had arrived so we meet up and headed to the Gold Coast Convention Centre to pick up our bibs and check out the expo. 

It was starting to feel very real at this stage but the nerves hadn't gotten to me yet!

The next day was the first race day of the weekend, with the 5.7km and 10km events. We had many members of the crew running the 10km, including Mel & Ronnie and my dad running the 5.7km. We had quite a big group up there this year so Mel organised a Run With Life tent for our team and we were able to base ourselves there to cheer on the guys 500m from the finish line. I loved being there the day before to soak up the atmosphere and this year was no different! I couldn't wait to get out there the next day after seeing everyone smash their runs!

Mel was the first 10k'er through, she killed her race even though she was still pretty jet lagged!

Ronnie had done minimal training this time around but still managed to smash out a 50 minute 10km, a time I've always had to work hard for! Very proud wife!

Our 10km crew! An awesome morning with PB's and first time 10k'ers!

The race precinct is approximately 3km's from where we were staying in Surfers Paradise so once everyone had run their races, I took the opportunity to shake out the last minute nerves and run back to our hotel. I figured I'd run the 3k's at marathon pace to get a feel for it and obviously used my watch to check I was at the right pace. I stopped my watch at the end of the run and once again, the summarised pace was showing 20 seconds more than the pace that was shown on the watch while I was running. I was pretty sure then that there was something wrong with my watch, I knew I'd kept an even pace so I decided to ditch my watch and use Mel's for the race. 

The rest of the day was spent 'carbing up', hydrating, resting my legs by the pool and a quick dip in the ocean before dinner.

I laid out all my gear for the next day and  had an early dinner of salty carbs (Nasi Goreng from Noodle Box!) and sat down to watch a movie to try and take my mind off the next morning. 

The marathon was to start at 7.20am so I had a super early wake up call of 4.20am to make sure I had my brekky 3 hours before. I was actually feeling pretty calm, very unlike me, who usually freaks the eff out before a big race! Thankfully, the nerves were kept at bay and I started to feel tired half way through the movie so headed to bed about 8.30pm and went straight to sleep.

And that's all for now! Race day re-cap to come! 
To be continued.....