So we come to the last hurrah of 2016, but what a way to go out. Why end the year with a boring pancake flat speed course (sorry City2Sea advocates) when you can spend a nice Sunday morning strolling up some 1270 metres above sea level to the top of Mt.Wellington. This was my second crack at the Point to Pinnacle, but unlike last year when I set myself time goals, injuries from Melbourne and the subsequent lack of training meant that the only goal was to finish.
At least this event caters for walkers and runners, meaning that there is no shame in a runner stopping to walk. When you encounter some of the gradients on the climb, particularly after the 14km marker, it’s very understandable that only the very best would run on the steepest parts. Certainly if this was a stock standard flat half marathon, I wouldn’t have bothered to make the trip down let alone attempted to finish.
After a seamless process at bib collection (even though some were disappointed that there wasn’t a shirt for this year, they got a running beanie instead) and listening to another inspirational tale from former cyclist Louise Padgett (nee Yaxley, one of the young Australian Women’s road team that was involved in a tragic accident in Germany 10 years ago) at the pre-event dinner, I actually slept for longer and better than I had before any other event this year. Not sure if that was a good or bad omen for the next day, but perhaps laying off the ice cream may have also been as good an idea as getting a good nights sleep.
Race morning dawned into a gorgeous morning without excessive breeze and in cool but certainly not freezing conditions. The target for the 3000 participants was clear for all to see, which I sure contributed to the bubbly mood at the start line. Everything was calm enough from my perspective, the layers of clothing gradually peeled off, I found a good spot to see off the walkers and for paraplegic Paul Pritchard in his special trike. My warm up was done with concerns over my legs seemingly gone, even if I had to dodge some others late in the piece. I had plenty of time to make sure my makeshift gear bag (my laptop bag) went on the right bus. Everything was set for a positive experience, and perhaps I would even get a decent time despite the low priority it had.
Just after 8AM the runners set off at a decent tempo. I was trying to run within myself on the hilly approach to the mountain, knowing that I would need as much grunt from my legs as possible. For the first few kilometres I stationed myself behind the 2:30 pace runner, although I dropped off the pace reasonably quickly. The lack of training came to pass I was constantly having occasional pauses on the approach to make sure my legs were in decent nick before getting back on the horse to go again. Naturally in most other races over a half marathon distance I’d never have to contemplate stopping and starting.
Despite all this I was going OK until about 13km, just as the uphill climb really took hold. As I was jogging between groups of walkers, occasionally stopping to inquire as to how they were traveling (the majority were saying they were “just going”) the knee problems that saw my efforts in Melbourne fall short resurfaced. I found I couldn’t run more than about 10 seconds at a time before needing a prolonged walking period. Fortunately with plenty of time to reach the Pinnacle before the cut off time applied, I was able to walk alongside many of the walkers on the way to the top.
Towards the very top of the climb I had to be cautious of the buses that were ferrying those who had already finished back to the Wrest Point. Communicating to other runners behind whose vision may have been obscured was an obligation I felt I needed to uphold. Fortunately I was able to reach the top with a clear road, and despite a slower finishing time compared to last year, I was still able to perform a cartwheel across the finishing line to amuse the onlookers.
The sign says it all. If you make it it’s all worthwhile!
With the medal collected, obligatory snapshots taken and gear collected off the bus (it was with some reluctance that I left the warmth of the bus, despite the clear skies it was still a little cold at the Pinnacle), it was a nervous wait to see if Paul Pritchard would make the finish line before the time limit expired. Just as many of us contemplated heading onto the last buses back down the hill, and with a matter of 40 seconds to go before the time would be up, a lone figure on his hand trike struggled over the last few metres to cross the line and confirm his legendary status as a finisher of the “World’s Toughest Half Marathon”.
So with another medal now nestled among the collection the end of my running year had come. It may not have been what I had expected, in fact it was well below what I had anticipated. But with 2015 done and dusted it’s onward to 2016 to see what that year brings.
With only one more event to go on the 2015 schedule, the Point to Pinnacle this Sunday in Hobart (usual pre race and post race stuff planned so stay tuned), the thoughts may quickly go to a tentative schedule for 2016. Naturally looking so far into the future has its difficulties, especially when many external factors haven’t been considered. However it’s very important to start planning ahead on what’s to come with travel, accommodation and training all to consider.
Whilst a final schedule should be tentatively confirmed on this site in a matter of weeks (and certainly before Christmas), I can confirm a return to Canberra for 2016. However this time I’m not going to run the Canberra Marathon, instead I am taking the plunge into running the 50km Ultra event instead. The challenge of going further than before is part of the reason for doing this, although I’m certainly not going to neglect the traditional 42km distance for the balance of the schedule. I also feel that with a goal in 2017 of doing other events of this nature, albeit over even longer distances, this would be a great way to test the waters and see how I fare rather than relying on the same old marathons. I also think that crushing this distance on what is largely the same course of the Canberra Marathon (of course there are an extra 8km to run) will make up for the disappointments of the cramping in 2014 and the unscheduled pit stops this year.
I’m certainly aware that training for this will need to be a little different to other years, so expect some sort of a guideline to what I hope to do before the start of specific training in mid January. I was always going to start training a little earlier this year than the usual week of Australia Day start. Maybe I was spooked by the lack of training post the Cyclone this year, when everything was going very nicely. Again the plan will involve gradually increasing the long runs on a Saturday or Sunday morning, which as a guide this year was an extra 10 minutes each week. With the extra distance I may need to increase it by 15 minutes or so per week, but that will be determined later.
As for other events, whilst I have a number of smaller events in mind and perhaps even an overseas sojourn to consider, I’ll only tell you that there are 3 other definite locked in events that I’ll be at. Certainly a 3rd appearance at the Gold Coast is on, particularly after this year’s debacle. A 4th try at Melbourne as usual can be all but confirmed given the love of a home town event. The schedule will also allow for another appearance at Perth’s City to Surf in late August, although I’m still tossing up over which distance to run. Given that there’s ample time to decide which direction to go, it’s a decision that I’m sure I won’t rush into until that time comes sometime next year.
REPEATING AGAIN: A final tentative schedule (schedules are always tentative) should be on the site sometime before Christmas, and hopefully be up before December starts.
By now I’m sure you’ve all seen the videos from the varying pre-event locations (either in Brisbane or in Melbourne) that document the feelings before a morning of getting down to business. Therefore I’m not going to rehash what’s been recorded on the video, but I’ll pick up the story with about 40 minutes prior to race start, after stretching and the pre-race toilet break where the queues were somewhat shorter this year (although I’m certain that the lines would have increased in the minutes after I did what I had to do.
It all looked relaxed enough heading down for the warm-up in the Melbourne Park precinct, but the area choice could have been better. I felt some moisture on my back, not because I lost my footing but because the surface chosen was damper than I had anticipated and the back of the top was slightly grubby. Still by the time I finished my final sharp run throughs across the road from “Eddie’s House” (the Holden Centre), the body felt relaxed enough and I still had a little fluid in the bottle to top up with in the start zone.
After anticipating the charge of the light brigade in the first kilometre I actually found the start to be rather sedate. Runners obviously were conscious of the distance remaining and the space needed for everyone to get through. The only contact I made with other runners in a physical sense was down St.Kilda Road as many merged to get into the right lane after crossing the tram tracks, but even that was minor if anything. Everything went according to plan in the first 10km in terms of fluid intake, where I replicated the previous years plan of taking my first gulp of water at about 8km. Everything was going BETTER than anticipated in terms of time, for I was near the middle of the front 3:50 pace bus through the checkpoint at 10km.
Figuring that everything was going well enough and with a plan of increasing the tempo from the mid point, I decided to slow just a little heading northbound along Beaconsfield Parade. It seemed to relax me given this was the first year where I wasn’t overly anxious to see the turning point, and the fact that I had decent company around me told me I was well on course to achieve the goal of a sub 4 hour. I was hitting the pace I wanted to run as I collected the first of my 2 personal drinks (Orange Lucozade) at 23.5km, where the attendants were very much on the ball in finding what I wanted.
Just after the 31km mark was the first sign of trouble. After slowing a little though the 30km station to take on board a little water and to dispose of the Lucozade bottle, I started feeling a cramp in the right hamstring. Whilst it isn’t the first time I’ve suffered cramping on a marathon course (Canberra 2014 comes to mind), it meant that I would probably need to slow my pace to manage a decent finishing time. After a couple of minutes of stretching to sort that issue, the major pain reverted to the left knee. It was at this time that Digger Hargreaves, one of the 8 “Spartan Legends” remaining on course wobbled past. Figuring that I could keep up with his pace (or more to the point, him keeping up with my pace given he had put in a big effort to get within 4 hours as well), the next 5km was a mixture of running, walking, limping, conversation, listening to the onlookers who knew him as well as their next door neighbour and generally trying to ignore the increasing pain.
It came to a head just after the final personal drinks station, which according to my planning would be my final drinks stop for the day. But it wasn’t the fluids that became an issue, instead the fact that I can only struggle to put any pressure on my left knee became a burden to great to overcome when it came to reaching a time goal. As I slowly wobbled away from Domain Road and headed back to Federation Square, all I could do was limp around and try not to get in the way of the 4:00 and eventually the 4:10 pace buses as their ever dwindling numbers trudged past.
By the time I made the last turn into the MCG, the pain in the knee almost saw me screaming “NOT NOW” as onlookers wanted to shout their encouragement (although when struggling I never see it as encouragement, I tend to see it as a put down, it’s probably just me more than anything else). It was almost a case of hopping towards the line on the matting indicating the final lap of the hallowed turf. By this stage the 4:19 on the clock and the fact that I yet again failed to deliver on my expectation didn’t matter, I was more concerned about how I was going to be mobile for the short term. Fortunately there were St.John’s officials on the scene to assess the damage as I crossed the line, although I’m sure my case was less important as those who were suffering dehydration or other ailments. I saw at least 3 runners on the side of the road being attended to on course between 34 and 40km, and as I was wheeled into the visitors dressing rooms at the MCG, there were at least 15 others in the room with varying medical issues.
The assessment made by the trainee nurse was that she thought I had a small meniscus tear, and the knee was bandaged for the next week as I limped around. It meant that the post event massage was curtailed for removing and reapplying the bandage was placed in the too hard basket. However the on course strapping probably could have done with reapplication for it almost ended on the floor by the time I reached my base later that afternoon. Fortunately the knee has improved to being in decent condition today, meaning that Point to Pinnacle is still on the agenda when for a time I thought that could be in doubt.
Naturally it would be foolish to suggest that I should give up after this failure to focus on shorter events. I need to complete another 7 Melbourne Marathons to reach Spartan Status, which proves mental toughness and longevity and is a club I aspire to join one day. Add to that the ambition to do the 50km event in Canberra next year and the longer distances remain more than a passing interest. Just one more event to complete this year (Point to Pinnacle in Hobart in 3 weeks) then a short break before resuming run specific training in mid January is the plan from here.
Random thoughts that the sane don’t repeat at 5:20 AM without copious amounts of alcohol! Split into 2 parts in order to fit the time limits on YouTube.
MHJeffrey027 Running 