Sun - Noosa Half 9th of 950 - 78:47 PB
The last few days of the taper went well and I arrived at the starting line relaxed and ready to go despite just a few small last minute hiccups:
* I booked accommodation at Marcoola Beach only to find they didn't have a microwave to heat my dinner and heat pack for my back in the morning. No problem - I took my own, strolling casually through the plush lobby with a big silver 1000 Watt microwave!
* There was no cutlery in the unit. No problem - I ate my stir fry using the scoop from my container of Gatorade.
* I forgot to lace up my timing chip until three minutes before the race when I should have been doing my strides. No problem - just lace it up calmly and do my strides on the way to the start and join the field from the front, being the last person to do so.
Lining up in the front row, I was surprised at the lack of depth with only Michael Reeves capable of going sub 70. I shared a few jokes and good lucks with the boys and girls and we were away!!
The plan was to churn out 3:44's and go sub 79 with sub 80 the B goal and like I did at Brisbane and the Gold Coast, I nailed the first split with a dead even 3:44 settling into about 17th place where I was soon joined by team mates Pete and David J - both with 79 min Halfs to their credit. The first five kilometres were uneventful and reached in 18:37 after reeling in a few bunnies. By now, I was aware that I was a strong chance for a top ten finish and was counting my way up the field as I passed runners talking to myself "Currently 14th.....currently 13th"
Pete, David and I were working together but after taking two turns at the front of our trio, I realised that I kept pulling away from them so decided to relax and run my own race in front of them concentrating on steadily reeling in the runners in front of me. I reeled in a few more runners and went through 10k in 37:20, right on pace. Running at the pointy end of the field alone by myelf, it was noticeable how much encouragement the crowd offered - moreso than I get running further back in about 20th or 30th place. Going through the starting line again at 11k to start the second lap I got a big cheer from the PCRG cheersquad led by Tess and a commentary from Coach Pat who was MCing - Pete and David were about 20 metres behind me.
Things started to get a little bit tougher about 12k when I felt just a little depleted as if I had eaten just a tad too little in the lead up. I convinced myself that over a years worth of Sun and Wed runs on an empty stomach would hold me in good stead and a big swig of Endura at the next Endura stop would top me up. Shortly after, a shadow became visible at my feet - I did not look over my shoulder to see who it was but it looked like David and I concentrated on staying in front of the shadow's head. By now I was repeatedly chanting my race mantra in my head - "The pain of hard work or the pain of regret - you choose." After poor splits of 3:52 and 3:56, David caught up to me. Almost instantly, I was energised and felt a lot better as he went past and I slipped into his wake. The competitive instincts stirred and I thought about how no competitor had passed me after the half way mark of a half marathon this year and I decided I wanted to keep it that way.
Running with David got things back on course with a 3:47 split and I moved up to run alongside him resulting in a 3:40 split. Got my long awaited cup of Endura and instantly felt better. Looking at my watch, I saw there was less than 20 minutes to go and I vowed I could bloody well hold this pace for that long. As the 17th k passed in a strong 3:39, i decided to stick with David until 19k and then try and kick away from him. However, no sooner than I had made than plan, David seemed to slow whilst I was full of running so away I went moving ahead and passing another runner to move into 11th. Squinting into the distance I could see the familiar gait of team mate Glenda about 100m ahead - I had a target!! I started visualising Deek powering to the line at Rotterdam in 1983 and quickly ate up the distance to a slowing Glenda passing her just after 20k was reached with a 3:35 split and gave her a "C'mon" as I went past to ensure that she held on for 3rd female. A top ten position was almost in the bag so long as nobody passed me and former team mate Peter James was the next target - he was running the race of his life after being fourth early on but with less than a k to go the hurt was starting and I didn't think I could make up the 30m gap unless he slowed down big time. I gradually inched my way towards him getting within 10m with less than 200m to go when Peter slowed just a fraction to high five the PCRG Cheer squad. Instantly, I pounced, surging past him and rounding the bend into the home straight. Peter did not respond and I gave a few fist pumps as I ran to the line giving MC Pat a big high five before running under the clock bearing those magic numbers - 78:47. You beauty!!! I immediately sank to the ground trying to steady my breathing and fight of the nausea that usually comes with a gut busting finish but I was smiling. A beautiful day, fantastic supporters, great team mates, great competitors, a well executed plan, some tough patches, a big finish - a massive PB. Yeah, i love this game!!!
