Not my day

The day started perfectly - we were out the door on time, I was dropped at Town Hall with my entire family blowing me kisses and sending me love, and I lined up at the start a few metres from the start of the A2 group 90 minutes before that start.

After a quick trip around unsuccessfully searching for a drink I came back to the start to find sfGnome and a Coolrunning Lurker whose name escapes me. Later we were joined by Belinda, and that provided excellent company for the wait until the start.

It was a delicate balance, preparing for the start. It was obviously going to be quite hot, so I needed fluids; there was also the 90 minute wait for the start, so I needed to make sure that I didn't lose my place at the front of the pack by needing to urinate. In retrospect I probably didn't drink enough.

Eventually the hooter went for our start. The A2 start is set back a fair distance from the start line, and so it took me 40 seconds to pass the start, but after that I was able to settle into my own pace quite quickly.

This meant that I churned out the first 2K at a little short of 5 minutes. I was feeling OK, but not great. The first hill tested me, and I slowed a fair bit. From 3 through to 5K I consolidated, and then I hit Heartbreak Hill.

By the time I hit the top of HBH I had run the last 2K in 11 minutes, but there was no petrol left in the tank. At halfway (which is roughly at the top of HBH) I was on 37 minutes - so I was right on pace, but at that point I pretty much knew I was done for. I took a 15 second walk break to catch my breath, but I didn't have any more 5 minute Ks left. I jogged the rest of the course as best I could in about 6 minute Ks. Eventually I stopped my watch at 77:41 (the official time was 78:00).

So what went wrong?

I probably got my fluid intake wrong, and was dehydrated by the middle of the race. This was an easy mistake to make - my bladder was reasonably full at the end of the race, so that was always going to be a tough one to get around.

I have been eating indiscriminately over the past 3 weeks, and I'm probably 2Kg heavier than I should have been for this race. I can't explain why this lapse took place - I just know it did.

The other thing was that I didn't eat dinner the night before the race. It's something I very rarely do, but we had a huge lunch of rich restaurant food on Saturday, so I guess the nutrition for the race could have been upset by this.

I have to say this is probably the most disappointed I have ever been after a race. I'm not usually given to post race disappointment - I learn my lessons and I move onwards and upwards, quickly setting my sights on the next race. I guess the fact is that I have no target race now, and it will be a year before I get another crack at the C2S, so I'm a dog without a bone.

In eleven weeks DJ goes back to work. When she goes back I will be working part time for the following 5 months. Initially I will be working 2 days a week and looking after the kids for the other 3 days. I've got no idea how my training will fit into this lifestyle. It won't be my highest priority, but I might find that I'm able to fit more in - we will have to see how it pans out.

Part of the problem of picking the next race is that I'd love to have a go at the Black Stump run on New Year's, but I'm not sure I can justify the investment of time required to get myself ready for it.

So the next few weeks I will just try to sort out some priorities and work out what my next serious race will be. I'll let you know when I do.