The Great Ocean Road Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Apollo Bay, Victoria
Australia
13C / 55F
Precipitation
Total Time = 2h 28m 29s
Overall Rank = 989/1200
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

We drove down on Saturday afternoon to Apollo Bay and made it to the pub just in time to pick up my transponder. Made a booking at a restaurant I never need to return to and spent the evening in the pub hanging out with the boy. Just water thanks.
Event warmup:

To say I slept badly is an understatement. I saw every half hour. I couldn't get my mind to quiet. It was a relief to get up. I dressed, made my breakfast, drank some juice and walked down the road to get on the bus to the start. I was almost ill on the bus due to motion sickness.

There's a good hour wait before the start of the run at Kennett River, so I took a seat, tried to calm myself down, ate breakfast and watched Daniel McPherson stretch. Got breakie down ok, went to the bathroom before the queue got too long and with 15 min to go stripped down to my running gear and made my way to the start line.
Run
  • 2h 28m 29s
  • 23 kms
  • 06m 28s  min/km
Comments:

There's not much I can say about this run that I haven't said before. This was my third GOR half marathon. It's worth coming back.

Initially I had planned to incorporate my suggested training plan into this run. But it's incredibly hard to keep one's HR down on a hill that lasts 5-6kms. So I ditched that plan. And decided to go for it, or hold on at least.

Again there were koalas as spectators, awesome scenery, lots of hills, lots of people, enough rain & wind to keep things interesting.

At the first aid station I grabbed a water bottle, I couldn't open the top and missed out on a drink. Not long after I met up with Linda from Briz Vegas who liked my pace, we stayed together until about the 18km mark. It was good to have the company, it was good to have someone who was pushing me and it was good to have someone to distract me from the rain, wind & wanting to hurl my guts up at the 15km mark.

At 18km to go, Linda made a move that I couldn't follow. Which gave me a chance for some breathing space. I was worried that my HR was too high and that I'd aggravated my ITB. My left hip was killing me, like a stabbing pain. But I did the maths in my head and knew if I picked up the pace I could do a PB for the 21km section of this run. So I did, I pushed myself 5 beats higher to 180 (eek!) and ran through the half mary time at 2:15:xx, 2 minutes better than last year. Happy with that.

Then I had to slug it out for the last 2kms. Mentally this part of the run is just so tough. But I knew I had a chance of going sub 2:30, so I didn't want to give up. Nor did I want the full marathon winner to pass me. I saw the boy cheering for me as I ran into the chute for the finish, crossing the line just under 2:30. A PB for this course!! Woo hoo. I felt as though I'd worked for it.
What would you do differently?:

Wear a fuel belt, so I could hydrate & eat at times determined my me, not by the aid station set ups.

Train on hills some more - I say that every year.
Post race
Warm down:

The rain took care of me cooling down. I picked up my gear and threw that on and cheered home Kenyan Charles Muturi winner of the full marathon in 2:44 or so. Crazy fast!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Talent. I am no natural born runner.

Event comments:

Spectacular racing, under some tough conditions, culminating in a strong sense of achievement at the finish line. Fabulous to have so many interstate and international runners supporting this event.




Last updated: 2009-02-22 12:00 AM
Running
02:28:29 | 23 kms | 06m 28s  min/km
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/1200
Performance: Good
Course:
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5