Recovery Week - No Fast Running

Had some fare dinkum DOMS after the J2J Half and just did nine easy runs between 20/7 and 26/7 racking up 88k's in the process.

Redcliffe Jetty to Jetty Half Marathon

Jetty to Jetty Half Marathon - 2nd of 310 in 79:28

I stood on the starting line at the J2J not quite sure what to expect. This was only the second running of a new support event to the time honoured 10k event and once again, there were no big guns on the starting line that I could recognise and I realised that I would be a leading contender in the race. On the other hand, I had recently undertaken a three week taper for the Gold Coast Marathon followed by an easy 50k week as I recovered from the cold that torpedoed my GC hopes. Last week saw me return home from my honeymoon and immediately test out my fitness with a 4k tempo run on Tuesday arvo in a sluggish 15:07. Not good even allowing for the fact I ran just two hours after getting of the plane. Although a solid week of training followed, I was effectively running on a five week taper!!! The plan was to trust my marathon training base and run a smart race to dip under 78 with a slight negative split.

The gun went and yours truly was quickly in the lead following the motorbike and cameraman filming everything - stardom, here we come!! On a more serious note, I remained calm, gently easing through the first k in 3:45 waiting to see who would test me out. I was joined by Tim Toner who shared the lead with me to the 2k, reached in 7:28. At the 2k, Toner put in a surge and despite responding with back to back 3:37 kilometre splits, I lost touch with him but did shake off a rival who tried to stay with me, leaving me a clear second.

5k was reached in 18:33 and 10k in 37:27 as I kept Toner in sight about 200-300m in front of me. Although running the race for the first time, I had traversed the course many times by foot and bike having being a Reddy resident from 1988 to 2001 and the local knowledge was invaluable. The scenery was great, weather was cool and the wind was minimal so conditions were conducive for running fast times albeit on a course that undulated in places.

At the turnaround, Toner was still about 300m ahead while Adrian Pearce had moved into third about a minute behind me and was having a great run. However, I was quitely confident I had Adrian's measure and the speed to outkick him if needed, given he had run the Gold Coast two weeks prior and that had to have taken something out of his legs.

At the 13k my condition started to give out and I recorded a slow 3:54 split. I knuckled down after that and kept plugging away but was unable to go faster than 3:45 until the last downhill kilometre. Still in second place, I enjoyed plenty of support from the crowd over the last 4k's and could see Toner fading in the distance but his lead was too big and even Bekele could not have run him down at this point and he won in 78:30. I crossed the line second in 79:28 with Adrian third in 83.

Immediately after the race, I could not stop thinking if only I had toed the starting line battled hardened and in peak shape, then I could have ran sub 78 for the win myself. However, given the cicurmstances surrounding the five week taper, I'm satisfied with the time and result. Alas, I did not get some prizemoney to kick start my quest to chase after Glenda's career prizemoney earnings of $5000+. Maybe next time!!

Honeymoon week

PHOTOS - IN ORDER
- Matty and MJ
- Undara National Park
- Undara National Park
- Nearada Tea Plantation
- Four Mile Beach


Last Monday following my Gold Coast Marathon DNS was a tough day struggling with the cold during a plane flight to Cairns and a bus trip to Port Douglas. Fortunately, I over the worst of it by Tuesday morning enabling me to marry my beautiful bride and soul mate, MJ on the beach at Port Douglas. Eloping is great fun - I highly recommend it!!! We ended up having a great honeymoon with the highlights being Port Douglas, the Undara lave caves, Mossman Gorge, Daintree River, Cape Trib, the tablelands and on the the last day snorkeling on the reef, when we were lucky enough to have an 8m Dwarf Minke whale swim right beneath us - one of life's magical moments!

Running wise, I managed to scrounge together five runs totaling 50k's:

Wed - 45 mins, 9k's easy along the beautiful Four Mile Beach that doesn't have the significant camber other beaches do
Thurs - 30 mins, 6k's easy around Port Douglas
Fri - 30 mins, 6k's easy mid arvo run around the Nerada Tea Plantation near Mareeba
Sat - 45 mins, 7k dawn trail run at Undara National Park in the heart of the savannah land littered with granite and basalt rock. Was a great feeling being on a bluff lookout by myself 3k's from the camp amidst the beauty of the land.
Sun - 110 mins, 22k's easy run from Port Douglas out of town to the foot of the range and back.

Gold Coast Marathon

Gold Coast Marathon - DNS

Unfortunately, as most know I picked up a cold late on Saturday and was gonski come Sunday morning with a 5:45am jog around the block confirming my worst fears - that the cold was a full blown one that had spread throughout my body and left me with weak muscles and achey joints. The previous day I had a headache all day and that night I had taken three hours to get to sleep as my body became feverish with a yo-yo temperature and I was too hot under the bedsheets and too cold out of them. The worst part was running in to Cluffy and Jason late on Saturday when my body was starting to succumb to the cold and having to stay positive and try and make out that all was going well as there was still hope at that stage. After cheering on the great PCRG performances from outside my accommodation I went straight home and ended up sleeping most of Sunday arvo.

Doubtless, some would have pressed ahead and run anyway but a gutsy, heroic 3:10, 3:20 or worse against insurmountable odds is not my goal. Besides, I've been there, done that!