It’s that time of year again, Wings For Life World run, where the finish line chases you. This will be my third year doing this event in Melbourne. The event is unique in two ways, the first being the finish line and the second is that there are events around the world that all start at the same time. In Melbourne that’s 9pm on a Sunday night.
The aim is simple, run as far as you can before the catcher car passes you. As soon as it does you’re finished. The car starts 30 minutes after the runners start and incrementally increases its speed until everyone is caught. Some of the runners & chairs make it past 85km.
Heading down to the event hub just after midday on the Sunday to pick up my shirt, head torch and bib I managed to run in to a few familiar faces.
I registered my interest for this race at 1am after getting home from the 2017 run, then when registrations open a few months later I signed up. Somehow I ended up with number 74. Considering there around 100,000 runners worldwide, 74 is a nice low bib.

With bibs collected we chatted for a while, took a group photo and headed off to do our own thing until later that evening.

Getting back to the event hub at about 7:30pm I located TXR Runners and we did our group photo.

Then I found the insta runners for another group photo.

Paul was going to lead a group aiming for a half marathon (21.1km) before being caught. This was my A goal, it wasn’t really viable as holding that pace for 21.1km including hills was a bit beyond my abilities.
They started calling the different groups down to the start area. Fastest runners first. I was in group 3 of 4. I tagged on as group two headed down with a few friends and once on freeway ramp we made our way forward. The issue with starting further back is that the catcher car heads off 30 minutes after the start, if it takes you 3 minutes to get over the line then you’ve lost 3 minutes.

Soon after 9pm ticked over and we were off!

I stuck with Paul for 7km, and then the course got steeper and I got slower. I watched Paul disappear into the distance. I settled in to my running up hills slower pace. I also found out later that Paul may have got carried away and gone a bit faster than planned. Either way there was no way I was holding that pace on the night.

Basically the first 10km of the run is uphill. It changes to gently undulating after that. But if you’re done after the first 10km it’s going to be a tough.

My B goal was to get to 20km, this one still seemed within reach. My pace was still okay up to 14.5km then it dropped off a bit. The 20km goal was slipping away, but my quads had let me know they weren’t happy any more.

My C goal was to beat last years 17.42km.  This year when I first heard the catcher car beeping somewhere in the distance behind me I was at 18km, so I had beat last year! Unless you do this event you won’t really understand how hearing that car spurs you to a turn of speed you didn’t think you had.

I picked up the pace, back to around 5:00/km until it finally caught me at 19.37km. An extra 1.95km on last year’s result. Yes!

See you next year!

I woke up a bit sore, but given how the run went I was happy to be able to get up. After breakfast we decided to head into the city. Not being silly about my level of soreness a quick check of Google maps showed the bus stop was100m from the hotel would take us straight into the middle of the city. Coffee obtained, bus located.

I had my medal in my pocket and didn’t intend on wearing it. I was thinking about getting in engraved (I’d forgotten that I had paid for an engraved iTab to be posted to me). There were so many people wearing their medals walking around so after a while I decided to join the throngs of people who were proud of their efforts the day before.

We spent the day wandering around, checking out shops. All of the brand name sports shops had DJ’s in them. Keep you pumping whilst you empty your wallet on the good gear 🙂

Somehow we ended up walking back to the hotel early in the evening. Total steps for the day, 16405, which is around 12km.

I actually slept pretty well for the night before a race. Especially with it being my first marathon. It was probably due to me accepting that I had an injury and I’d done all I could to let it heal and strengthen it to prepare for the race. I’d decided to start the race and run as far as I could. My physio had said that the injured area was highly unlikely to rupture so it really just came down to my pain tolerance. Oh and just for fun I developed a head cold in the days leading up to the race.

Race morning we got up at 6am, I had my usual toast with jam (usually peanut butter as well) and walked to the train station for the short trip. No way was I going to waste any energy walking to the start even if it was only a couple of km.

I found my gate and stood around for a bit chatting with my better half until it was close to the corral closure time. I headed through security where one guard ran the metal detector over me and the other got me to do a twirl. I thought about using the toilets but the queues were massive. I’ll hold on for a bit.

My wave start time was 8:35am, but I didn’t cross the start line until 8:55am. I’d decided on a run/walk strategy to try and give the ankle/tendon plenty of breaks. I trotted along at a nice slow pace that was a bit slower than if I’d been able to prepare properly.

Within 2km my Garmin GPS watch was showing at least 1km too high. I’d heard this was an issue as you go through a tunnel in the first km and most watches have issues reconnecting on the other side due to all the buildings. I wasn’t really worried, the course is marked in miles and km and I didn’t have any goal other than to hopefully finish.

The first 12km were pretty uneventful, my ankle was feeling fine, I enjoyed the run, the crowds cheered it was great. I saw my wife twice as she was dashing around trying to get to spots to cheer. Then the ankle started to twinge, my first thought was I’m not even going to make it halfway. I couldn’t believe it, after almost a year of planning and training I was going to have to pull out. Every other time it has gone from twinge to pain in a few hundreds metres.  It stayed as a twinge for another 10km or so before it flared into pain. I hobbled to a stop and tried a couple of techniques my physio had said should relieve the pain for a bit. It helped!

It was really started to get warm now. I’d originally planned to use my gels and only drink water as you can’t get the course supplied drink in Australia and as everyone knows, nothing new on race day. But I knew with the very warm conditions I was going to need all the hydration assistance I could get. I walked through every aid station. The aid stations are huge. I’d drink one or two Gatorade cups walk through to the water area and drink a couple of them then resume running.

By this stage I was stopping every km or so to massage and stretch the ankle to relieve the pain. Each time the relief was for a shorter period. Any hills no matter how gentle also caused the ankle to flare up.  My lack of training in the last 6 weeks due to the injury also showed as the legs just weren’t used to working for so long. I was now past the 20 mile marker. Only 6 miles (10km) to go. I was starting to believe I could actually make it. Trying to do the math in my head I figured I should make the 6 hr 30 min cut off (just) even if I walked the last 10km. I continued to run as much as I could. Some of the roads were so hot, being in full sun with no shade to run in. I was just thankful that I didn’t have any cramps.

I walked more than ran the last 5km. I wanted to run but the legs and ankle said no. Then I saw the 400m to go (or was it yards) sign? I’ll run that I thought. No you won’t, the first 200m are uphill!

I ran over the line for a time of 6:04.59. It’s about 1 hr 15 minutes slower than I’d planned 6 months earlier. But I finished! First marathon done.

We arrived in Chicago on the Friday night, spent a night near the airport then moved to our city location on the Saturday morning.

We headed to the race expo early in the afternoon to pick up my race pack and have a look around. Wow, this expo is serious compared to the ‘large’ races back home which are usually in tents outside.

This one is in a hall at the convention centre.

The queues were nice and short so I picked up my race bib and shirt and had a walk around all the exhibitors. I may have purchased another shirt… They had samples of the race day hydration drinks.

I have been doing a little research on my injury and the causes.

This led me to investigate the different heel toes drops of my various running shoes. I was of the belief that they were all pretty much the same. I knew that my ASICS, Salomon and Brooks all had a 10mm heel to toe drop.

Today’s research confirmed this except for the new Sauconys, they have a 4mm drop. I’m pretty sure the guy in the shop said they had a 10mm drop, which is why I was happy to go for a 30km in them straight up. If I’d known they were 6mm different I would have started off with a few much shorter runs.

When I was in the shop looking for new trail shoes I first tried on a pair of Invo-8 shoes which felt very heel down and weird, the guy said they were a low drop, 0 or 4mm. I said I didn’t want to go through the hassle of changing drop at this stage, with a marathon coming up change is bad. He grabbed out the Peregrines because they were apparently a higher drop. They felt better but in hindsight probably because overall they have a thicker sole, and I had after all just been walking around in another low drop  shoe so they wouldn’t have felt so weird. But as it turns out they have a 4mm drop which is the same drop as the Invo-8 shoes.

So now I’m wondering if they have contributed to the injury. There is a fair gap between the 30km trail run in the Peregrines and the injury showing up. But I guess it could have aggravated things.

These are the longer runs leading up to the injury, there are a number of shorter runs including track sessions and road running in between them.

20 Aug – 30km in 4mm drop Sauconys

27 Aug – 21km in 10mm – Race

30 Aug – 13km in 10mm

31 Aug – Bicycle ride – Ouch

I assume that the bike shoes have a 0mm drop as (I assume) it’s not important once clipped in. In fact bike shoes without a sole at the heel would have a negative drop when walking due to the clip mechanism at the front.

With the 30km of trails to aggravate it, then with the higher km of marathon training to not let it heal, followed by walking a little bit in bike shoes and maybe even starting the ride on a hill, might have tipped it over the edge.

Currently it’s taped to relieve some of the stress on it and I have some ankle strengthening exercises to do, as well as icing, foam rolling and massage. No running for 48 hours after seeing the therapist. Then I’ll start with a slow flat 5km run to see how it feels.

26 days until Chicago marathon. Not panicking at all…

From the highs to the lows, with only 4 days in between. Sunday I ran a road half marathon and got my sub 2 hour goal.  Monday was rest day, Tuesday was a track session followed by a 13km slow run on Wednesday. No issues at all.

The weather forecast for Thursday was sunny and warmish so I decided to cross train and take the bike. I cycled the 2km to the station in the morning as this saves having to shower at work. I hopped on the bike that afternoon ready for the 17km ride home, I think I’d gone 200m when my left achilles tendon made itself known, and it wasn’t happy. I continued home on the bike, assuming it was just a bit stiff.

I didn’t really think anything of it. I gave it a bit of a stretch that night. Friday was a rest day. Saturday is parkrun day. I did a pre parkrun 2.5km slow lap and the tendon again made itself know. It wasn’t too bad, and quickly settled down to just being annoying. I finished parkrun and Saturday went on without any further issues.

Sunday morning was going to be a big run, about 32km with 800m of elevation gain was on loaded on the Garmin. I headed to Lysterfield for a 6am start. I found a friends car parked there with the interior light on, they were crazy and had started at 5:30am on a Sunday! I sent them a message to let them know and headed off. Everything was fine until about halfway up the first hill, then the tendon really made itself know. Enough that I had to alter my gait to get up the hill. I ran the flats and downhills, but all the up hurt, and it was getting worse. At 6km I decided to pull the pin and head back to the car. That still meant 4km more including a double hill. I walked up the hills!

I went to see a man about it on Tuesday.

It doesn’t appear to be a damaged achilles tendon. More likely an over use injury caused by my dodgy running style and the increased km. So with 32 days to go until Chicago I’m limited to 3 runs a week with a maximum distance of 10km. That’s assuming no pain when I run on the flat.

This one seemed like a good idea, it was going to be a month after Run Melbourne and it would be in a lower km week of my marathon training. It’s not a flat course, as it runs along Beach Rd which undulates a bit.

I got a good months training in between Run Melbourne and the Sandy point half. No illness or injuries, just quality sessions. The Sunday before Sandy Point I did a 30km long run as planned. I was a bit silly and joined a couple of running friends at 6am for an early run. It was silly because they were doing a double Wicked Wednesday loop. It’s called that because it has around 350m of elevation (climbing) over the 10km. Most of it in the first 5km, but there’s enough in the last 5km to keep you panting. I did the two laps with them then headed off for a 3^rd not so hilly 10km lap to get to 30km. I ended up climbing 866m over the 30km.

That was my longest run ever and my second most elevation gained.

My legs were so sore. What had I done? In theory it should have been an easy 30km mostly flat road run, instead I did a massively hilly trail run! But the company was worth it.

I headed to the recovery centre on Monday seeking some relief, I attended my Tuesday night track session as usual with lead like legs. As I was sort of tapering for the half marathon I moved Wednesday’s easy run to Thursday and got a massage, legs still sore, and rested on Friday and Saturday. There was also much foam rolling. They were still not 100% by the Saturday, but were feeling okay.

Race day!

Well the weather forecast wasn’t the best, showers, hail and wind. On a beach side road, what could go wrong?

It was WINDY! I kept my warm gear on until 1 minute before the start. Then threw it to my biggest supporter (hi Maggie) and jogged into the starting crowd as the gun went off. Thankfully it wasn’t raining. Yet.

I set off with the crowd, this is a much smaller run that the last event, something like 600 half marathon runners rather than 8000. My aim was to keep as close as possible to my goal pace. This was extra challenging with the strong buffeting headwind, especially on the hills. I kept checking my Garmin to try and keep to pace. It’s very easy in the first 5km to go too fast while you’re feeling good. I kept slowing just a little to keep on pace, then the wind would hit and it felt like you stopped mid stride.

I passed the 2:10 pacer in the first km, good, I can’t be behind them! At about 5km I could see I was gaining slowly on what appeared to be pacers balloon in the distance. About then it rained, with the added bonus headwind the water slammed into my front. Nice.

At about 8km the course turned left and the wind stopped, that was such a relief. It took another 2km to catch the 2 hour pacer. I tagged on with him and his posse just as we hit the turnaround point at 10.5km.

The pacer, we’ll call him Michael since that’s what someone going the other way yelled at him, was great. He kept encouraging us, chatting, telling jokes as we ran. He’s run a bit as it turned out, 15 Melbourne marathons I think he said at one point.

The course turned right shortly after that and the wind was still there, thankfully now a gusty tailwind. It was still raining at the same spot, a bit heavier and maybe with a bit of hail to keep it interesting.

As we passed 15km a few in the group started to surge past him. He called them back, telling all of us that surging at 15km is way too early. Unless you’ve trained for it you won’t be able to hold on for 6km until the finish. Some listened, some didn’t. My plan was always to hold a steady pace until near the finish.

We slowed a little on the hills and picked up the pace just a little on the downhills. Michael guaranteed us a sub 2 hour finish if we stayed with him to the end. He would be keeping a steady pace all the way, no surges, and no sprints.

At 19km Michael told those that were left that if you’ve got it, now is the time to go. Don’t go crazy, but pick up the pace a bit and hold on for 2km. So I did, I lifted my pace from the 5:40min/km we’d be averaging to about 5:15min/km. The pace wasn’t a conscious decision; it’s just what I figured I could do for the last 2km. I even managed a final surge for the last few hundred metres.

Time… 1:58.17. Yes! Done! Happy!

I got back to the car just as the rain and hail really hit.

The 30th of July rolled around and I headed into the city bright and early for Run Melbourne. I felt pretty good on the morning, I’d been clear of almost all cold symptoms for a week, except the mildly annoying cough that would take another two weeks to go away.

I figured that my goal was a sub 2 hour half, so despite a less than ideal last month I started the race as planned and settled into my goal pace of around 5:40km a minute. I felt strong, until I got to 11km, then the legs said nope. With 10km to go I knew there was no way I could keep that pace for that long not matter how hard I pushed. I backed off and changed the plan to just finishing. By 18km I was completely done. I had to walk up a couple of gentle hills! I managed a slight ‘sprint’ to the finish. Got to look good for the photographers; I didn’t.

I’d missed the sub 2 mark by 7 minutes, but somehow I’d managed a 2 minute PB!

I was so disappointed with not getting the sub 2 that I really didn’t care about the PB.

It was all the fantastic running friends, both online and locals and my wonderfully supportive, enabling wife that made me see that it was a successful run. A PB is a PB. There’s always another half marathon.

Funny I should mention that. Many months earlier, early enough to get the race number 83, I had signed up for the Sandy Point half marathon. I did the 10km race here last year.

I’ve been building my kilometres and fitness with the ultimate goal of the year being Chicago marathon in October. But along the way I had a 10km and two half marathons to complete.

On the 8th July I completed my local parkrun as the tail walker then headed straight to the airport to head for Sydney and the Sydney Harbour 10km. I attended this event last year and it wasn’t my best 10km run. Calf cramps struck at about 8km and I staggered the last 2km.

On arrival in Sydney I headed to the start line to grab my bib, I then spent a few hours wandering around Sydney. I was actually a bit worried about this as with the stairs, hills and bridge my legs were feeling fatigued the day before the run. I grabbed dinner, headed to my hotel and relaxed for the night.

This year the run started an hour later, but the forecast was for a cool morning so no crazy warm Sydney winter day.

The run went well, no cramps, great location. A 10km run is an odd distance, It’s not a quick 5km sprint, but it’s also not close to a half marathon. By 7 km my legs were feeling it, I was pushing but it felt like I was getting slower, I didn’t want to check my Garmin to see how much my pace had dropped off. I just kept pushing and gave it everything in the last km.

I finished with a time of 52:18, a new 10km PB by a minute. Colour me happy.
Turns out the last 3km were the fastest with a 4:22, 5:02 & 4:39.

The next three weeks were hell. Within days of getting back to Melbourne I had a cold, just as it was clearing I gave some family a lift to the airport, they all had colds, guess what? Two days later I had another cold!

I lost 14 days of training due to the double cold, probably a bit more as even when I could run again it wasn’t pretty. With Run Melbourne half now just over a week away I wasn’t very confident of my sub 2 hour goal. I’d missed my last long run and numerous other sessions whilst ill. Oh well, we’ll see what happens on the day.

Late in 2016 I saw a post somewhere saying that Chicago marathon entries were opening soon. I looked up the process and with more entries than spaces there was about a 1 in 8 chance of getting a place as an international competitor. What the hell, probably not going to happen, I signed up. A month or so later in December I got an email saying congratulations, you’re in! Oh shit.

I showed the email to my wife. She seemed to think it was a good idea to go. Chicago marathon it is. If you’re going to do one, go big!

I felt I should start training for it immediately, even though I was in the middle of Two Bays trail run training. In reality I could forget about it for months.

I had a couple of goals for 2017, one was to complete a half marathon in under 2 hours. My first half marathon was at Run Melbourne in 2016, so it seemed logical to aim for that one. It’s a flat course around Melbourne city and Docklands.

I decided to get a running coach to help with the two runs. Especially as there’s just over two months between the two runs. The plan called for two structured track sessions a week, a longer run, parkrun and a mid week easy run of some sort.

Now, with just over a month to go I haven’t run for four days. My longest non running period since I started in 2015. No injury this time, just a good old fashioned winter cold, courtesy of everyone at work being sick.