The Chocolate Marathon

15 January 2017

I was anxious in the lead up to the Cadbury Marathon; probably even more so than before my first marathon and with good reason as Friday morning, two days before this marathon, I woke up with a massive cramp in my left calf. To try to starve off the pain, I rolled out of bed and gently stood up - the spasms subsided but my calf was really tight. Nonetheless, I warmed up and went for an easy 5km jog (the last scheduled in the tampering phase of my training plan). I could feel the tightness in my calf, while running, but it wasn't painful. Rest and a good night's sleep, and hopefully I would be right....

Not so! Saturday morning, my calf was tender - it felt like there was a big knot in the middle of the muscle - and I had a slight limp, especially if I had been sitting for awhile. Now I was worried - we were flying out to Hobart just before lunchtime and I was supposed to be running the marathon tomorrow, crap!! 

Kerryn and Ben, my usual marathon 'pit crew' were coming with me, but this time they were running too - the 5km race - incentivised by the promise of the Cadbury's finishers pack! On arriving in Hobart, we picked up the race packs (bibs and timing chips) then had a late lunch before checking into our accommodation. Then a stroll to catch the end of the Salamanca markets before an indulgent afternoon tea at Daci & Daci Bakers - carb loading was Ben's excuse:

Walking around Hobart, my leg seemed to improve but once I stopped and rested for a bit, it was back to limping! Could be a slight muscle tear or just a bit of inflammation from the cramp, I thought. I took a dose of ibuprofen and reassessed my race plan: I was aiming to PB, but now..... I didn't want to come all this way to DNS and, even if I had to walk, I didn't want a DNF either.... maybe under 4:30 might be possible, I hoped.... Pizza for dinner then another dose of ibuprofen, before a very early bedtime (as the race was starting at 6am).

The hotel was noisy, so I didn't sleep very well, but woke to my 3:50am alarm for pre-race feed of 4 pikelets with jam and honey, a banana and an Up&Go. I was really pleased, and hugely relieved, to find that my left calf was feeling pretty good and that the knot in the muscle seemed to have eased but I took another dose of ibuprofen anyway, then got my running gear on and had a strong coffee with (3 tsp) glucose at 4:30am before walking up to the nearby Best Western Hotel for a 5am bus transfer to the Cadbury factory in Claremont (about 20 min drive out of Hobart).  Some apple juice and a gel around 5:30am, then bag drop off and some dynamic stretching to warm up and I was good to go!

Around 5:50am we were marshalled to the start line at the Cadbury enterance but, as it was a small field (around 250 runners), compared with other marathons I had run, there was no 'chutes' or time markers to set up the start sequence just the race coordinator announcing that slower runners should be towards the rear of the start group. But this seemed to work ok, with the gun going at 6am, the pack quickly sorted itself out with hardly any jostling (nice!)...

Two laps of the streets around the Cadbury factory then downhill to the 4km mark - crap I thought, as I ran down the hill, as this was an out-and-back course, it was going to be a nasty little 600m uphill to finish!

The course was a little undulating, following the Derwent River, and was actually out-and-back twice! From Cadbury in Claremont we ran down Cadbury Rd onto Main Rd through Berriedale and past Mona then onto the Brooker Hwy. Turned at GASP (Genorchy Art & Sculpture Park) to run beside the Elwick Racecourse onto Goodwood Rd to cross the Bowen Bridge for the turnaround, to head back on the same route, a little up the East Derwent Hwy. Turnaround for the second out-and-back was, thankfully, at the bottom of the hill up to Cadbury. 

There were three drink stations fairly evenly spaced along the course, so 12 opportunities to hydrate and fuel. I took half a gel and half a cup of water at most stations, but was feeling a bit hungry on my final lap. On top of that, I was struggling with a bit of lower GI discomfort (but did manage to get through race without pitstop); so I guess that I haven't quite nailed my pre-race fuelling!

Despite my grumbling guts, I was running comfortably throughout the race and had no problems with my left calf (much to my relief and amazement). While the final return lap (from around 32 km) was hard work, I seemed to be 'in the zone' and, unlike previous marathons, at no stage was I really hurting bad. In fact I was still relatively comfortable at 39 km, so was able to pick my pace in the final kms to the finish - maybe "bank a bit of time" before the hill finish, I thought.

The hill up to the finish line at Cadburys was a bastard, but I still had a bit in the tank and was able to kick hard to the crest then finish strong on the last 200m, in a time of 3:40:20. While my training plan had me looking to break 3:40, I was rapted anyway with a new PB!!! 

By this time, Kerryn and Ben had finished the 5km race so where there to cheer me over the line and rushed over to meet me, which was really nice. 

Great run and we all "took home the chocolates"!!!  

Earning my Christmas Pudding

24 December 2016

Next marathon on the 'bucket list' is the Cadbury Marathon in Hobart in mid-January 2017. This morning I did the last long run in the race simulation phase of my training plan - 37 kms in pretty testing conditions, with the first real burst of warm summer weather arriving in Melbourne today. 

I set off in warm sunny conditions, wearing sunglasses for the first time this year, to run the Eastlink trail to Jells Park, with fully loaded with drink bottles and gels in the hydration belt. I had run this route many times and knew it was good for warmer weather conditions as there are a number of drinking taps along the route. 

By the time I got to the bottom of Jells Park storm clouds had swept in, blocking out the direct sun, which gave some relief. Then the rain started, heavy at first and continuing lightly as I headed back along the Dandenong Creek trail. While the light rain was cooling, this pushed the humidity up, so even though I was drinking plenty of water, I was struggling with leg cramps in the last few kms of the run - coming up the Heathmont hill from HE Parker Reserve was a real bastard with my calves screaming!

Hopefully mid-January in Hobart won't be quite so warm and humid for the marathon, but post-Christmas taper should have me ready to line up at the Cadbury Factory on 15 January.

Trailing fueling on these long runs has been useful. Pre-run pikelets with jam and honey, and a banana, work well. Also little sachets of honey during the run are a nice alternative to gels, however the cherry flavoured GU gel was totally disgusting, tasting like horrid medicine! I'll save the Cadbury chocolate for post-run treats :-)

BBQ eggs and bacon was the post-long run "breakfast of champions" with the family, and I reckon I've earned a guilt-free serve of Christmas pudding with custard tomorrow!

When a marathon goes wrong, sometime you can get lucky.....

Here's an incredible story from the Queenstown International Marathon, via Stuff.co.nz

Australian doctor comes to the rescue during Queenstown Marathon

Jo McKenzie-McLean

Emergency physician Domhnall Brannigan based in Hobart, Tasmania, who is attending an emergency medicine conference in Queenstown, found himself helping a fellow marathon runner who collapsed during the race on Saturday. 

The Queenstown Marathon took an unexpected turn for an emergency physician who stopped to help another runner who collapsed during the race.

Dr Domhnall Brannigan, who is based in Hobart, Tasmania, is in Queenstown attending the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. 

"I took the opportunity to do the Queenstown Marathon while I was here because it was the day before the conference. This was my first marathon, in fact, I only decided to do it when booking my flights for the conference. It was 12 weeks before the conference and I saw the ads when i was on the Air New Zealand website and thought 'why not?'."

He had the typical nerves and excitment at the start line, and was "gunning for a solid four-hour" time. 

"I went out a bit too quickly as most people do probably. I was pretty happy with my pace and I had managed the first half marathon in pretty good time. I had just done first hilly section and was coming along a straight piece of road and my race took a slightly unexpected turn. I ran past a young man who was looking a little bit unsteady on his feet, which was surprising that early in the race I guess. But it was a warm day, I'm not sure what was going on but he didn't look great.

"As I passed him I looked at his face and he looked pale and I said, 'are you OK?'. He looked right at me and said, 'I'm OK'. So I thought OK and kept running because you see people in these events struggling and most ultimately look OK. I was about 150 metres further on and heard a shout for help. I glanced over my shoulder and there were four or five people already there and I thought, that's fine, they don't need me, so I kept running. Then I heard a second call and it sounded much more urgent and I thought I'm going to have to help so I stopped and ran back. There was a young man...he was in a bad way." 

The man was lying face down completely unconscious, had struck his head and was obstructing his airway, Brannigan said.

"He had an obstructed airway with a locked jaw and wasn't really breathing very effectively but he still had a good pulse...I placed him in the recovery position and held his airway open with a jaw thrust manoeuvre which any first-aider will know. I had no equipment with me so I tried to keep his airway open as best I could providing a jaw thrust."

Brannigan got a bystander to make a call to emergency services, sent messages to the aid station and co-ordinated other people there to help, he said.

"Several people came forward with skills that could have been helpful but it turned out because we didn't have much equipment there wasn't much they could do either. I actually had two anaesthetists, a cardiologist and registered nurse at the scene within a few minutes. A couple were in the marathon and a couple were spectators."

After spending 30 minutes at the scene, he turned around and finished the second half marathon.

  - Stuff

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/86704864/australian-doctor-comes-to-the-rescue-during-queenstown-marathon

So Domhnall was one of the doctors attending my organisation's conference in Queenstown and I was lucky enough to catch up with him and get a bit more of the back story to his 'rescue mission' in the marathon.....

The good news is that the young man survived but was still suffering concussion a few days later. Apparently the young guy had run a few 5kays and had decided to have crack at the marathon, with no training plan, no preparation and no idea - he was a disaster waiting to happen somewhere on the 42km course, especially as he went out hard and fast (at 5k pace)!!! Lucky that Domhnall was around when things suddenly went seriously wrong for this young man....

More running in Queenstown

22-23 November 2016

In previous blogposts, I have mentioned that, when I am travelling for work, I like to pack my running gear and get out for an early morning run in cities I am visiting. So being in Queenstown for a week, for my organisation's annual conference, gave me some great running opportunities, as well as the chance to run the HM in Queenstown International Marathon.

Instead of running past impressive buildings and iconic capital city landmarks, the Queenstown Trail, beside Lake Wakatipu, had me running past glorious views of the turquoise green lake and spectacular Remarkables.

An easy "5k" run around Queenstown Gardens and docks, a coupe of days after the HM:

Then out and back to the mouth of the Kawarau River, for a fast 14k:

Loved it - could run this trail any day not not tire of it!!!

 

Queenstown Half

19 November 2016

The annual conference for the organisation I work for happens to be in Queenstown, New Zealand this year and (un)fortunately it coincides with the Queenstown International Marathon! While my organisation has been concerned about availibity of accommodation and venues for the conference, due to the clash of events, I have only been able to see an upside - being able to start a busy week working at the conference (away from my family and friends) by signing on to run one of the events in the Queenstown Marathon.

  

Having recently run the Sydney Marathon and half marathon at Melbourne Marathon, and with a busy week at the conference ahead, I choose to register for the half marathon here in Queenstown. 

The course was point to point, so we were bused out to the starting area at Speargrass Flat (about halfway to Arrowtown, where the marathon start point was located). This transfer was very well organised - I walked down from my hotel (after pre-fuelling on a banana, Up&Go and coffee with glucose) to the Queenstown Recreation Ground at about 6:30am and was able to get straight on to a bus. 

Bananas were probably the biggest import to Queenstown this weekend! I had visited the local Big 4 supermarket yesterday specifically to get bananas along with a few other pre- and post-race supplies (Up&Go, chocolate milk and yoghurt). The supermarket had a huge stack of banana boxes and was full of people (including me) with 2 bananas in their shopping basket. The girl at the checkout wished me well for the marathon - heh, how did she know....

Glorious blue skies but quite cold at the start area, and had a bit of a wait for the 8am start, so I was glad that I had gone with a long sleeved top. The starting shute was seeded, based on estimated finish time and, while there wasn't a lot of race marshals, this was well signed with runners seeming to get into the right sections as I didn't encounter any problems with people stopping to walk, in front of me, in the first few kms of the race.

The course was mostly flat on a mix of road and smooth hard packed trails, which made it interesting. Started on the road for first 4-5kms or so, which meant the field could spread out a bit before we hit the trails. It was easy running so I was able to take in the views, which were spectacular with lots of remnant snow on the nearby mountains. The first section of the trail started with a steep downhill and rocky under foot, so I was very cautious of taking a tumble or, worst, spraining an ankle; but this soon flattened out to smooth trail alongside the Shotover River. The trail was wide enough for two or three runners, which was fine at this stage of the race, and I was able to maintain a good pace for the rest of the race.  

With the sun out, I was beginning to wonder about my choice of long sleeve top, but there were plenty of aid stations along the route so I kept well hydrated and tipped water on my head and back to stay cool. Back onto road for a bit then rejoined the trail beside the Kawarau River. A steep pinch at the 9-10km mark was a real test, which reduced a lot of people to a walk, but I just managed to keep running all the way up but was blowing hard at the top. 

Near Franktown, we joined the trail along side Lake Wakatipu and followed this all the way into Queenstown, skirting around the Queenstown Gardens, through the streets of Queenstown to finish at the Queenstown Recreation Ground. Huge piles of bananas, bottles of poweraid and water was available at the finish - which was great! 

Fantastic course - interesting and the views were spectacular - and a really well organised event. My time was 1:44:26, which was not a PB but I was happy with this, as I had really enjoyed the run and managed to sneak in under 1:45 (which was kind of my goals for this race).

Half Melbourne Marathon

16 October 2016

The Melbourne Marathon was my first ever marathon - I ran it in October last year (2016) and that's a story for another post - but having ran the Sydney Marathon in September I wasn't planning on entering for Melbourne this year... That is until Ina Graham asked me to run to raise funds for the Lentara Asylum Seekers Project. Ina can be very persuasive and, while I prefer not to run to fund raise (I don't like the idea of always asking my friends and family for donations, when I am running because running is just something I enjoy doing) this was a really important and worthy cause, so I signed up for the half marathon (too close to the Sydney Marathon to contemplate having a crack at the full 42kms) and got my fundraising webpage set up....

Joel also joined me in the fundraising efforts, taking on the 10k course....

Starting in Batman Avenue, we headed up into Flinders Street, theninto Swanston Street, over Princes Bridge and then south along St Kilda Road. At St Kilda Junction, we turned  into Fitzroy Street then into Lakeside Drive and do an anticlockwise lap of Albert Park Lake, Then headed up St Kilda Road into Southbank Blvd, Sturt St, under the St Kilda Rd, along Alexandra Ave into Linlithgow Ave loop[ing back into St Kilda Road. Then turning for home at Princes Walk through Birrarung Marr overf the William Barak Bridge, to take a hairpin turn on to Jolimont St to Brunton Avenue for final turn into MCG and do a lap of "The G" to finish.

It was quite windy during the race which made some sections quite challenging, particularly around Albert Park Lake, but overall very enjoyable and I managed a pretty good time of 1:41:21.

Joel comfortably finished the 10k in 51:02 then went off to play premier cricket in the afternoon (taking 3 wickets too). Between the two of us we raised over $2,100 for the Lentara Asylum Seekers Project - big thanks to all our supporters!!!

Run Maroondah

25 September 2016

My 12 year-old nephew, Sam, heard about my marathon escapades and told his dad that he would like to run a marathon too! Sam's dad, my brother Trev, did the math and suggested Sam have a go at a few fun runs first, and signed up for Run Maroondah. We registered too, to make it a family event.

Run Maroondah is organised by my local council, and is held on a picturesque section of the Dandenong Creek - a favourite training route of mine. From HE Parker Reserve along the creek to the Marlborough Street footbridge then back along the bike path on other side to the footbridge at the Reserve. One lap is 5k, twice around for 10k. A 1.2k Kids Dash around the oval was also on the program. 

My little niece, Laura, took on the Kids Dash with short-lived enthusiasm then a fair bit of walking and a big sprint finish. With our loud cheering and medal around her neck, she wore a grin for the rest of the morning.

Sam took on my Ben and Kerryn in the 5k run. Sam did pretty well for his first fun run, finishing in 27:04 ahead of both Ben (31:40) and Kerryn (34:35), but later declared that he thought he was more of a sprinter, so I guess his marathon plans may be on hold for a few years! 

Joel and I ran the 10k with Trev. It was a slow steady jog for me, as I was still a little sore from running the Sydney Marathon the previous weekend, but nice to run most of the way side-by-side with Trev, until his calf cramped up, late in the second lap. I finished in 52:07, with Joel out in front (51:14) but a tad disappointed to not break 50 minutes. Trev still managed a respectable 54:15, on his bung leg. 

A pancake brunch to refuel the family after our run efforts rounded out a fun morning....