Met Will and Blkbox in a dark alley in the city at 6:30am this morning to drop our bags off. The centre was a bit slack, not letting us in till 6:45. Bolted to the start line passing Professor waiting for a fire truck on the way.
Scored a front spot on the left hand side of the line. Cool! Met Johnny Dark, Tesso, Razor and Duffman, Superman and this year R4YL man at the start. Generally kept over to my side and tried to relax.
The start was a bit of a shambles at the seeded and preferred wouldn't stay behind the line and they couldn't get them to go back. We moved just before the 9:25 start time and waited for the hooter. Started ok I thought going through 2k in 7:40 and then 3k in 11:00. One of those was wrong.
From there it was a struggle to run any k's fast at all. Had trouble running 4 min ks. So it just became a case of maintaining some form and keep running to the finish.
The 5k was 19:49 and a hurried toilet stop in Rose Bay losing probably 45 seconds doing so.
6k at the bottom of heartbreak was 24:25. The same time as last year but with an extra toilet stop this time. Bugger.
Up heartbreak hill and reaching the 7k in 30:03. 27 seconds quicker than last year. Well at least I had some good news for the race.
From then to the finish I tried to run faster along the flats and down hills but the legs just wouldn't go any faster. Small children were passing me. No super heroes at this stage but I could have done with the help.
Reached the 10k in 42:15. I was supposed to be running quicker to the finish but wasn't.
The cheer squad appeared at Nth Bondi Surf Club, and I really was looking to hide as I was not feeling good at all. The head was back trying to get some air in the lungs as they just were not playing the game properly.
The race was finally over in 57:59. A 6 second PB. But no where close to the 54 I wanted. Very disappointed with the race as I feel I'm much better than that. And really annoying as you only get the one chance a year to race it. Shite happens as Forrest Gump said.
The negative split this year was less than previous, a reflection on how fast I couldn't run even with the downhill aid back to the finish.
7k-30:03/7k 27:56. Only 2:07 this year.
Back to tackle it next year from the A1 start again. Sorry to disappoint anyone who thought I would run fast today.
You know I'm hard on myself. But without self assessment after a race you tend to accept things you don't want to and can't improve. Improvement in my running is what I'm all about.
And the drinks and snags in the pub were the best with all the other Cool Runners after the race. Plus meeting John Howard in his track suit.
9 comments:
Sorry to hear about your run Flake. One day this course will be conquered
Tough day out there, even we Qld-ers found it very hot.
Thanks so much for the Flake on the start line, it gave me a much needed hit.
PS You're still my favourite superhero :-)
Seems it caught a few people out this year. Next year mate.
sorry about your run mate - but as we've noted, the weather wasn't conducive to a great time. Next year we'll both go under 55 together - guaranteed
At least you got some coverage on channel 10. I noticed you at the starting line in the actual live coverage.
Something wrong there Paul. I thought you'd at least run sub-56. You could try again at 4am one Sunday morning - could probably use the road a bit that time of the day.
The 3k (always that intersection) is a bit short - I was 10:22 there in '88. The Garmin had it at 2.86k this year.
Sorry to hear that you had a rough day in the office Flakey. You did your bestest on the day - in no way have you disappointed anyone out there (here).
Hope the recovery goes well
Bad luck there Flake - shame you have to wait another year for a crack again.
I ran 56.10, 55.21, 55.02 before finally running 53 last year - just keep persevering.
All you can do is put it behind you and move on. You know that you are a better runner than that result.
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