Brisbane marathon 2022

This one wasn’t on the radar earlier in the year but after Canberra I was pretty keen to continue the build up to the three marathons later in the year. We’d committed to a holiday break in Darwin for 10 days in May which was fantastic and reminded us of just how cold and miserable Melbourne gets in winter. What it didn’t allow for is the long runs necessary to prepare for a marathon. I managed several runs of 12-15 km and a pretty sweat soaked parkrun before returning to Melbourne and completing a Virtual half marathon in 93 minutes the week before Brisbane.

So, we toed the line along with the half marathon runners at 6.00 am on Sunday morning, still dark and about 9 degrees C. Pretty good conditions for distance running.

The first challenge is the climb up the Storey bridge. An icon in Brisbane it sits well above river level necessitating a short sharp climb on the North side but a longer more gradual climb from the south. Two laps of 21 km means four climbs.

Coming off the bridge there’s a nice little section along the River walk and then back into the burbs but at about 11 km there is a nasty little climb that immediately had me worried for the second lap. Bit of suburban running out to New farm and then return. Didn’t have to go up the nasty hill on the return which was nice. I was still running comfortably and had a momentary lapse of reason when I saw the 3 hour pacers on the way back. I thought if I could negative split this might be the day when 3 hours was in sight. Silly me!

Went through the half in 92.30, quicker than I’d run for 21 km the week before. I’d been trying not to get caught up with half runners who were finishing and therefore going harder.

Second lap, up the bridge, down the other side, turnaround seems a bit further away, down the steep down off the bridge onto the Riverwalk going ok. Hit the nasty hill, had a drink, chugged up the hill and started to really feel the effects. At between 33 and 34 km the wheels started to come off. Anyone who read my previous blog on ”the wall” this was one of the bear jumping on your back ones. So from here it becomes a mind game. I negotiated a couple of extra kms out of the legs but when the 3.15 pacers came past I couldn’t hang on to them. One extremely difficult rise up off the river at 41km and then into the finish. In at 3.16.04. I dropped about 20 places over the last 10 km and about 8 minutes I think but finished 60th of 569 and won my age group, 1st of 12 old blokes.

So overall? I would have liked a stronger finish but have to be realistic about the preparation and poor pace judgement. White line fever strikes again. I was 1 and a half minutes quicker than in Canberra in April and am still around the competitive level for my age, so several positives. I still think there’s a quicker one in there so we’ll keep working. From the adventure standpoint I demonstrated that I could run a solid half marathon and back up a week later with a marathon. A bit sore today Tuesday so need to look at better recovery to get the third marathon. At the same time there is no time pressure forthe three marathons in Sept -Oct so a bit more pace discipline will help.

Memories of Chicago 2016

Chicago is a very pretty city sitting on the shores of Lake Michigan. In 2016 we flew in from Dublin having completed the Berlin marathon. There was a two week gap between them which we filled in with a visit to a friend in Poland and a couple of days in Dublin. Unfortunately I picked up a fluey bug in transit somewhere (I still blame the bus back to Berlin).

We stayed with family in Chicago and enjoyed the city getting out for a run and generally seeing the sights of the North side. The marathon ran out of town up past where we stayed before traversing several of the neighbourhoods including a quite raucous run through Chinatown. The event finishes adjacent to the start and features a very relaxed after party in the park. I had a similar experience to Brisbane but much slower. Started well, ran until I couldn’t go as hard and finished in 3.28. Hoping to go better this year.

Chicago is probably considered the third of the three majors held in the United States after Boston and New York but it has it’s own appeal. It is scenic, flat and fast and a little easier to get into than the others. There is also a beer at the end. Chicago can also be deceptively cold. In October when the event is run even sunny days can struggle with warmth.

Cheers.