The PB tumbles in our nations capital! (ntr)

warning: long post. get coffee and comfy now...

In Canberra on Sunday, i ran the marathon in 4:17:30 - this is a 37min PB! Of course I am disappointed not to have broken 4 hours ( that was the goal ) BUT i am stoked with 4:17!

Mouse, 3 mini runners and I got to Canberra with about 20mins to spare before Mouse had to run the 10km run - that time pressure, plus mouse having left her running pants at home, lack of access to the motel ( the only con of staying literally 10 metres from the finish area is that the roads are restricted! ) meant the mood before that was a little stressed! While Mouse ran a hard 10km, i registered myself and the kids in their event, and then we met other CR's in the cheer squad and i started getting toey for a run, seeing the 10km runners go past!! Mouse finished feeling drained, and we recovered this by checking into the room, and going out for a pizza dinner. Unknown fact about Canberra: you can get a chocolate pizza!! how good is that...

Race day...after having an early breakfast, we all went over the road at
6:30. Had a good chat with Otter and took mutual before shot photos, thanked the new 4 hour pacer, CR Digger, before the race, as I was not sure how i would feel afterwards! Mingled with a gaggle of CR's ( Rags, sfGnome, Mango, Scurry711, GoGirl, LuLu and others ) before hitting the start line with Muzman, Anth and Scurry. The race is on.

Felt very good and restrained for the first half - stayed ( just ) in front of the pace group with Scurry711, at 5:35-5:40 pace - all as planned. I really enjoyed running past the parliment houses, the tent embassy, over the bridge, along the tree lines streets - it was the most scenic urban course i have ever run. At this point, the 4 hour group all had 10 mins in the bag, allowing for a 6min pace for the second half of the race. All was well, until right before the turn around point. I started to feel cramps in the quads, and instead of being just in front of the pace group, was just behind them. It was awesome to see the CR squad, and my 3 kids in Kids Marathon shirts complete with medals ( the hi fives they gave me gave me an unnatural boost for sure!!! ) and mouse cheering on!! That corner was a very special moment in the race.

After that though, the wheels started falling off. I was cramping at 27km - and I was so mad at my muscles!! Cramp at a later stage sure, i have not done that many long runs, but not at 27km, and not whilst I was doing a pace SLOWER then what i did the 30km smc with rags a month ago, and not whilst i taking salt tablets, eating bananas and beroccas leading up, all in an attempt to keep cramps at 30km+ at bay. I was feeling so dirty! Not upset, not deflated, but just dirty on the situation!

OK - situation assessed as crap. I had two options. Walk and finish in 5 hours again, or open up a can of "toughen up" ( you had to bring your own) and get going. I got going. I took the 2 panadol i carry, my last gel, and finished the GU drink i was carrying. I decided i will take take as much sport drink, water and gels at it as i could and soldier on.

It was tough. When the cramps would subside, i could run nicely at 5:50average pace, but then i would feel them coming, and transition delicately into that walk - you know the walk if you have been there..not knowing how far to bend, straighten or stride - i spotted quite few people like this out there unfortunately.

I saw scurry run past on the other side of the track at about the 31km mark - felt low then...that where i wanted to be! Soon after, the 4 hour pace group passed. Getting low again. Then, out of the crowd of hats and headbands, i see the word "kato" rise above the rest. Now i have met Kato for about 5 seconds before at the start line, so I hardly know him, although i do know of him ( from CR posts and my lovely Mouse purchased Succeed from him ), so i say "hey kato, got any salt tablets? please......" and he goes "No Problems", and deftly slips me two tablets in a little plastic bag - in a dark alley it was seem so dodgy!! I apologised for being rude and presumptuous, took the salt, and struggled on. ( thanks Kato! )

The last 10km were basically run, cramp, walk, run, cramp, walk. They were tough, but i gritted my teeth and kept going. I was not going to bomb out of this! Instead I chatted to people that i passed, and those that passed me. The mad lady of the lake who i thought was a scream was dressed in cow inspired dressed with a sign telling us to keep Mooooving, also met a guy from Italy in ACT for the run ( spoke little english, and no watch, so was desperate to know the time! ), and got some encouragement from who I deemed to be "Poster Runners" for Sydney striders - their uniforms were immaculate they both seemed so very relaxed - i didnt recognise it was CR Auntie K, and now i know DazzaK!

And there it was....40km mark. Time to run, soak it up, visualise the finishing chute and the roar of the crowd. I started to run, encouraged someone else to visualise the end and run too, so we ran the last km together taking it in. The final turn was fantastic - the CR squad was there, and the kids came out and ran me up the finish line. Mouse was there ( thanks babe, love you!! ), and it was great. I heard the announcer call my name, commenting that i owned the support crew coming with me! And i made it. 4:17:30.

So i did not make my 4 hour goal ( what are goals:realistic yet challenging targets...and it was that! ) , but am stoked at so many things this weekend. The kids marathon, and how Mouse managed to get the 6yr jnr to run over 2km, and the shirts and medals the kids are so proud of now. The CR squad - always supportive, before, after and during the race. The mad lady at the lake - went from dressing gown and sign "not a morning person" to a cardboard cutout bikini and sign "you are all Kenyans to me" to the final cow inspired motif!. The good and gutsy efforts of other CR friends are all inspirational to me, even if they didn't meet their own targets, they are still massive efforts.

I am proud of myself for pushing through those bloody cramp ( just ), and knocking off 37min from the previous effort! Today i will enter the Cities marathon.....guess what my target time will be...you guessed it...4hours!