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.
