Auckland Marathon 2007
I had unfinished business with this marathon; my first marathon was here last year where a number of things did not go well so I came to this marathon determined to make good.
I had run the Wellington Marathon earlier this year. Unfortunately, that marathon had a very strong Northerly wind on the day and I wasn't well prepared for that. I finished in 4:37 which was slower than Auckland (4:26). In fact, that marathon was so bad that when I was coming around Point Jerningham with about 5km to go I had two walkers check if I was alright and then suggested they could call someone to pick me up. I politely refused...
That bad race was the impetus to abandon running programmes from magazines and get a real coach. Fortunately, my running club, Wellington Scottish, has a free coaching scheme with some very good coaches so I convinced Todd Stevens to help me out.
He gave me a programme which initially scared me as it had hill runs up to 2 hours during the week and two runs around the Makara Loop. Makara Loop is one of the iconic runs in Wellington. It's 33.5km of mostly rural roads and (depending on the direction) two step hills; rather intimidating if you've never run it. However, I set a moto of "coach says, Ed does" and got on with it.
Finally I was ready for marathon day itself. I spent the day before eating as many carbs as I could manage - including litres of Grapetiser. I set my alarm for 2:30am and got up to have two slices of toast. I knew from experience that eating too much before a long, fast run would cause issues. My mother and I headed off to the ferry nice and early, had a relaxed trip over (even talked to a few Scottish members on the boat) and then settled in to wait at Devonport.
The wait took a while but was quite pleasant. Last year I'd been stressing over actually getting to the start line on time so it was good to be there and prepared. I just read the paper and waited around for Kate to turn up.
It was a good day for long distance running. The night before had had some short but torrential rain and the day itself was overcast. There was a shower or two during the race but nothing to worry about.
The plan was for Kate and I to start near the 4 hour pace team but to run our own race. However, after making the final Portaloo stop we couldn't find the balloon but did start near the 4:15 balloon. I'd done a few training runs with Kate, including the aforementioned Makara Loop, so we knew we ran roughly the same pace and didn't annoy each other...
Finally, the race started and we were off in sprint!
Er, no, the whole crowd shuffled over the start line and we got started about 5 minutes after the gun time.
The start of Auckland is always a bit annoying. There are lots and lots of walkers or slower runners all mixed in which one needs to work through. You also have the half marathoners to worry about. It makes for a bit of a mental challenge to find a useful path through the crowd without getting over excited and going too fast. The first half is also fairly hilly which adds to difficulty in pacing.
Fortunately, I had my trusty GPS watch so I knew what the pace was reasonably accurately. I was really enjoying myself; the pace felt easy, all my special drinks turned up when I wanted them, and, before long, we were over the bridge and through the halfway mark. Surprisingly I was still feeling good. One of my left glute muscles was starting to get painful but otherwise fine.
The race plan was to do the first half in 1:55 to allow room to get in under 4:00. Halfway was not marked on the course although every K was. On the watch we hit 21.1 at about 1:56.
At this point Kate had a bit of a marathon moment. Everybody gets a point where they want to stop so I tried to gee her up - however not very effectively. She told me to run ahead so I did, a little reluctantly though.
The second half progressed well. Last year the start of the second half had been somewhat depressing because of all the half marathoners who got to finish. A team mate of mine for the upcoming Molesworth Run described how he'd enjoyed the first lap of Christchurch with the half marathoners because for him it was an easy run and he could get energy from the halfers digging deep around him. I used that same attitude this time around and it worked quite well.
In the second half there was a bit of an Easterly head wind for the 3rd quarter. Compared to a Wellington wind it was very mild so I could just ignore it. My coach had suggested pacing every 5km section and trying to do it in 27 minutes or so. Even ignoring pacing benefits it was a useful mental benefit for the second half. I just focussed on each 5km section and left the rest of the race to worry about itself.
Before long, I realised I was well ahead of time and still feeling good. I kept myself in check until the turnaround at St Heliers (about 32km) and then just went for it. It was all flat except for 2 road bridges. I remember the 2nd bridge being a bit annoying as it required a rhythm change and then a pick up back to race pace. I really relied on my watch at that point as it showed 6:40 min/km after the bridge. I had to mentally kick myself up a gear to get to 6:10 min/km and then another one to get back to 5:40 or so.
When I got through the 40km mark at about 3:40 I just started having the biggest smile on my face. I knew it would take a lot to do 2.2 km in more than 20 minutes so my goal was practically done. The last bit was getting through the windy section through the viaduct. Bizarrely Brendon Johnson, the scary looking ex-marine from TV3's Money Man, was there with his family cheering people on.
I got to the finishing shoot and just sprinted along with a big smile on my face. I was coming in just under 4 hours since the gun so the announcer was revving the crowd up to cheer every one home. It was a fantastic feeling. I had chills up my spine and a huge smile on my face with this crowd just cheering wildly.
In the end, net time was 3:53:39 so my goal of sub 4 hours was well and truly smoked.
At the park we came past the NZ Army tent. I, stupidly, commented on the whiteboard advertising a press up competition. Kate promptly got down on the ground and did some press ups which forced me to get done and do at least one more than her as well. Now that was painful...
All in all, a fabulous day and a fabulous race. Wellington is a great place to train for running and full credit to my coach Todd Stevens.
I had run the Wellington Marathon earlier this year. Unfortunately, that marathon had a very strong Northerly wind on the day and I wasn't well prepared for that. I finished in 4:37 which was slower than Auckland (4:26). In fact, that marathon was so bad that when I was coming around Point Jerningham with about 5km to go I had two walkers check if I was alright and then suggested they could call someone to pick me up. I politely refused...
That bad race was the impetus to abandon running programmes from magazines and get a real coach. Fortunately, my running club, Wellington Scottish, has a free coaching scheme with some very good coaches so I convinced Todd Stevens to help me out.
He gave me a programme which initially scared me as it had hill runs up to 2 hours during the week and two runs around the Makara Loop. Makara Loop is one of the iconic runs in Wellington. It's 33.5km of mostly rural roads and (depending on the direction) two step hills; rather intimidating if you've never run it. However, I set a moto of "coach says, Ed does" and got on with it.
Finally I was ready for marathon day itself. I spent the day before eating as many carbs as I could manage - including litres of Grapetiser. I set my alarm for 2:30am and got up to have two slices of toast. I knew from experience that eating too much before a long, fast run would cause issues. My mother and I headed off to the ferry nice and early, had a relaxed trip over (even talked to a few Scottish members on the boat) and then settled in to wait at Devonport.
The wait took a while but was quite pleasant. Last year I'd been stressing over actually getting to the start line on time so it was good to be there and prepared. I just read the paper and waited around for Kate to turn up.
It was a good day for long distance running. The night before had had some short but torrential rain and the day itself was overcast. There was a shower or two during the race but nothing to worry about.
The plan was for Kate and I to start near the 4 hour pace team but to run our own race. However, after making the final Portaloo stop we couldn't find the balloon but did start near the 4:15 balloon. I'd done a few training runs with Kate, including the aforementioned Makara Loop, so we knew we ran roughly the same pace and didn't annoy each other...
Finally, the race started and we were off in sprint!
Er, no, the whole crowd shuffled over the start line and we got started about 5 minutes after the gun time.
The start of Auckland is always a bit annoying. There are lots and lots of walkers or slower runners all mixed in which one needs to work through. You also have the half marathoners to worry about. It makes for a bit of a mental challenge to find a useful path through the crowd without getting over excited and going too fast. The first half is also fairly hilly which adds to difficulty in pacing.
Fortunately, I had my trusty GPS watch so I knew what the pace was reasonably accurately. I was really enjoying myself; the pace felt easy, all my special drinks turned up when I wanted them, and, before long, we were over the bridge and through the halfway mark. Surprisingly I was still feeling good. One of my left glute muscles was starting to get painful but otherwise fine.
The race plan was to do the first half in 1:55 to allow room to get in under 4:00. Halfway was not marked on the course although every K was. On the watch we hit 21.1 at about 1:56.
At this point Kate had a bit of a marathon moment. Everybody gets a point where they want to stop so I tried to gee her up - however not very effectively. She told me to run ahead so I did, a little reluctantly though.
The second half progressed well. Last year the start of the second half had been somewhat depressing because of all the half marathoners who got to finish. A team mate of mine for the upcoming Molesworth Run described how he'd enjoyed the first lap of Christchurch with the half marathoners because for him it was an easy run and he could get energy from the halfers digging deep around him. I used that same attitude this time around and it worked quite well.
In the second half there was a bit of an Easterly head wind for the 3rd quarter. Compared to a Wellington wind it was very mild so I could just ignore it. My coach had suggested pacing every 5km section and trying to do it in 27 minutes or so. Even ignoring pacing benefits it was a useful mental benefit for the second half. I just focussed on each 5km section and left the rest of the race to worry about itself.
Before long, I realised I was well ahead of time and still feeling good. I kept myself in check until the turnaround at St Heliers (about 32km) and then just went for it. It was all flat except for 2 road bridges. I remember the 2nd bridge being a bit annoying as it required a rhythm change and then a pick up back to race pace. I really relied on my watch at that point as it showed 6:40 min/km after the bridge. I had to mentally kick myself up a gear to get to 6:10 min/km and then another one to get back to 5:40 or so.
When I got through the 40km mark at about 3:40 I just started having the biggest smile on my face. I knew it would take a lot to do 2.2 km in more than 20 minutes so my goal was practically done. The last bit was getting through the windy section through the viaduct. Bizarrely Brendon Johnson, the scary looking ex-marine from TV3's Money Man, was there with his family cheering people on.
I got to the finishing shoot and just sprinted along with a big smile on my face. I was coming in just under 4 hours since the gun so the announcer was revving the crowd up to cheer every one home. It was a fantastic feeling. I had chills up my spine and a huge smile on my face with this crowd just cheering wildly.
In the end, net time was 3:53:39 so my goal of sub 4 hours was well and truly smoked.
At the park we came past the NZ Army tent. I, stupidly, commented on the whiteboard advertising a press up competition. Kate promptly got down on the ground and did some press ups which forced me to get done and do at least one more than her as well. Now that was painful...
All in all, a fabulous day and a fabulous race. Wellington is a great place to train for running and full credit to my coach Todd Stevens.
posted by Edward Sargisson at 11:50 am
3 Comments:
Go Ed!!! :-D
good job ed:)
That was surprisingly interesting to read. :) Always nice to hear a story of triumph over adversity. What's your target time next year?
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