A Sub 1:50 Man

With apologies to Uncle Dave, from whom I stole this post title.

The Bathurst Half Marathon. I'd only decided to run this race a fortnight ago as a hastily organised replacement for the SMH Half, which looks shaky at best. I'd been eyeing it off, but with Digger due five days before the race it seemed a stupid idea.

When Digger came two weeks early it seemed to become the perfct opportunity to run sub 1:50 before the combination of working and caring for a newborn takes it's toll on my training. I go back to work tomorrow.

So with the twins at their fathers this weekend and well rested from a good Friday night sleep we (DJ, Digger and I) set off for Bathurst on Saturday morning. We got as far as Penriff before I realised I'd left my shoes at home, so I left DJ at a friends' we were visiting and doubled back. After the delay we made it into Bathuurst at 6:00, but spent half an hour tracking down the proprietor of the dodgy hotel we had booked through Wotif, and retired to our room. After a long trip a shower was in order, but the hot water lasted about sixty seconds.

When the restaurant we went to mucked up my meal twice we were starting to wonder at the wisdom of the entire excursion. The best, however, was yet to come. When we got back to our hotel Digger went into a feeding, crying and defecating frenzy that lasted until the sun came up. I think DJ and I managed about two hours of sleep each.

So it was a little the worse for wear that we fronted up for the half. At least there was decent coffee available, so I got my flat white and socialised with various Coolrunners.

Soon enough the start gun went and we were off. I settled into a good pace early, running the first 2K in abou 5:05. I met Coolrunner Paul C (who I had not met before, but had organised to run with) soon after the start and Yurtie, who again, I had not met before. I stuck with Yurtie until about 4.5K, when I just pulled away a little bit. By the 5K mark I was averaging 5:05. I knew I'd have to keep the average under 5:12 to break the magic mark, and this was to be the measure I wasd using. Yurtie warned me that there were hills in the second half of the course, so I knew I needed time in the bank.

There was a turnaround at 5K, and I really noticed the headwind after the turnaround. By this stage I was running by myself, and managing to put seconds in the bank. I hit 10K in 51:28 and I knew I was on track. Soon afterwars I passed Nite_Time_Runner, and gave him a rev up about not being on 1:45 pace. He put on a spurt, and we ran the next few K together. To 12K I maintained the pace, but after that there were a few inclines, and I started to struggle. We went through the next couple of K at about 5:25, and I really started to doubt myself. I was still averaging 5:09 for the race, but I'd been here before and the wheels had always fallen off. NTR was struggling more than I and took a walk break whilst I battled on. I went through the next couple in 5:20, and with 6K to go my average pace was still at 5:10. I started to think that if I could hold it to 5:20s for the next three, and keep my average pace below 5:12, that I'd be able to bring it home on adrenaline.

At this stage I drew back level with Paul C, who I ran with for the next 2K. I actually outdid my target for the next 3, running them in 5:20, 5:08 and 5:07, and for the first time I thought to myself "Holy shit - I might be able to do this!".

I knew at this point that all that remained was to not do anything stupid, because I wasn't feeling too bad. I ran the next at 5:12, and slowed to 5:18 for the penultimate full K. I knew I had it in the bag, so I opened it up a bit and ran through to the end at about 5 minute pace. I spotted DJ just before I passed the finish line and threw both hands in the air after stopping my watch on 1:49:13, and in afaltering voice proclaimed "I did it!".

For the next hour I stumbled around the finishing area hugging my true love, chatting to friends and grinning like an idiot. The full gravity of two years of chasing sub 1:50 was sinking in. I have had seven unsuccessful campaigns at breaking this mark, and by that I mean seven two to three month programs designed to get me to the start line of a race. This was quite clearly my greatest achievement as a runner.

Tonight I write this post with my son asleep in my arm and my legs screaming in pain. From here I intend to train as I can manage it for the next month before I start getting serious about C2S. I will probably run the Gold Coast Half, but that depends on some things that are still in the air at the moment. One thing is for certain - training gets tougher to manage from here on.