Sydney Marathon - 2.59.34 ! (33rd place)

15.55 min P.B. Woohoo !

12 weeks of solid training plus 3 weeks of taper/sharpening paid off.

I was looking at my training diary today and I thought I would note a few things just to give a bit of perspective.

I've averaged 95k/week since the start of the year.

112k/week during the 12 week marathon training period with the biggest week 130k.

I've run seven 10k races at Striders with the best 37.41 and the worst 38.41 since February.

P.B's in 10k, 21.1k and C2S and now the marathon.

I ran 2 long runs a week - 24k on Wednesday and 32-33 on Sunday.

Didn't miss a day of training until the taper period.

Completed at least 2 speed/tempo runs per week and except for Fridays easy run, tried to never run slower than 4.30/k pace. My theory for this is that come race day when a runner gets tired at the end of a marathon they will default to their slowest pace that they have trained at. I can't back that with any science but it worked for me.

I will also add that you have to make your long runs count - no 5 min/k stuff. Running with Striders on Sundays is a great way to do this. Trying to keep up with Springer, Fats, D.B, the Truscott's, J.J, Silverfox, Leftie, Sue Kelly, Ray W and others is the best way to train for a marathon - each long run with Striders was a high quality effort.

Now to race day.
Plan was to go thru halfway in 87 and back in 90-92.xx for a sub 3hr finish.

Caught the train from Newtown to Milsons Point with Denis and Nick. The usual nervous banter with Denis questioning my Carbo-loading approach after I complained of feeling really full and bloated. Had to go to the toilet twice before the race so spent an awful lot of time in a queue. Not much time for a warm-up, got a few strides in and a bit of a jog up and down the hill near the pool and finished off my bottle of sports drink.
Right from the start I could feel my foot wasn't right but it didn't seem to matter much. Got a good position at the front and after the first 200m was running quite freely. Went thru 1k in 4.10 - great, felt easy. Thru 4k in 16.00 flat and not long after the eventual winner sprinted past. Feeling pretty comfortable in and out of Mrs Macquaries chair and back up thru Oxford street with it's niteclub attractions ?
Got to Centennial Park and received a cheer from W.T on her bike and then saw Jo and Jenny and got another wave. Thru 10k in 40.41 and had to take a pit stop for about 20 secs - lost contact with the group I was running with but at least I felt better now. Back out thru Randwick and Anzac parade going thru 15k in 61.49. It was now that I could see where I was in the field - with the front runners already turned and coming back the other way and then me turning and seeing everyone else. It was now very much single file and with a bit of a headwind and fully exposed to the sun it was starting to get a bit tougher. Went thru half way in 86.57 and was starting to question my pacing strategy and not long later 2 Striders went past me (chris? and Paul ?) They were running well so I tried to latch onto them which I did for awhile. It was nice to get back into the city shade and away from the wind although each twisting turn thru here was giving my right ankle grief. I was starting to get blisters now on my left foot as well. Memo to self, don't wear new shoes in a marathon unless fully worn in. Thru 25k in 1.43.47 and 30k in 2.05.08. Still on for a 2.56 finish here but with the tough leg out to Leichhardt and return still to go. Saw Guz and then Uncle Dave flying back thru Pyrmont and gave them a cheer.
Did a quick calc and I needed to do the last 12.2k in 55 mins which was bang on 4.30 pace - here's where my theory kicks in re slowing down to your slowest training pace. I was exactly where I wanted to be and hopefully could hang on. I had lost touch again with the 2 Striders who were a little ahead of me. Like them, I had started to walk thru every drink station but was pretty much running at the same pace otherwise but with a lot more effort. Got a great cheer from the crowd at Leichhardt and then Tim popped up on his bike to give me some encouragement. He called out "it's just an easy Bay" now and not long later I finally saw Nick heading in the opposite direction and he said something similar. Thru 35k in 2h.27.30 and was now doing 4.25-4.30 each k - so new it would be a tight finish. I started to pass a few people including the 2 striders who had both slowed drammatically. Back thru Pyrmont and Hickson rd, up the Grassy Knoll where Easy Tiger was helping everyone up that hill. The 3hr pacer had gone past me at about 36k but the other pacer was a fair bit behind so I wasn't panicking yet. Thru 40k in 2h50.16 and less than 10 minutes to do 2.2k. Down over the Cahill Expressway to a rousing Coolrunner reception (THANKS GUYS) and into Macquarie st. Sprinted down the hill passing Dimitri who had cramped up and thru the finish chute for my fastest 2k of the day.
Got a huge bear hug from Vat and a kiss from my wife and back to the recovery area to wait for all the other Striders.

Splits were

5k 19.59
10k 40.41
15k 61.49
20k 82.22
21.1k 86.57
25k 1h43.47
30k 2h.05.08
35k 2h27.30
40k 2h50.16

Finish 2.59.34 .

Looking at the splits you might think that I started out too fast but I had to get some fat built up as I knew the back half would slowly bleed time away even if I kept the same effort up. From 30k on onwards I thought I would do it as I wasn't feeling any worse than I felt during my long runs but you never know. The 3hr pacer went past but I never let him get more than 30m ahead - it was a blessing in disguise because he was running so strong and I just hung on.

Just want to thank Vat and Silverfox for all the training runs and shared advice plus all the Coolrunners, Striders, Runclubbers and Bloggers who've given me support along the way - you know who you are - I'll get around to thanking everyone personally, eventually.

A big thankyou to Freespirit (who always sees the glass half full), A.A, Macca and Daz - BayBoys rule !