Gold Coast Half Marathon

Well the day finally arrived. After three months of training, covering 350kms. We were well prepared.

Before I start I should mention our target goal times for the 21.1km race.

Me - 1:45
Sarah - 2:11
Suzy - 2:20

We drove down around lunchtime on the Saturday and checked into our hotel in Broadbeach, the lovely Le Chelsea Apartments. We stayed with another couple Suzy and Russ along with their son Oliver. Suzy was also running the Half Marathon. After check in we walked down to the main shops in Broadbeach and begun our carb loading at Sushimoto Sushi Train. After lunch we began the bus journey to Metricon Stadium for the Gold Coast Suns v Collingwood Magpies game. The game was ok despite my team playing poorly. More of a disappointment was not being able to enjoy the beers and especially the Cider bar right behind us.

After the game we headed back to the hotel for an early night and some pasta. A 4am wake up awaited us.

Sunday
4am

Early preparations are underway. A small breakfast of oats, a shower and putting on our marathon gear including our official marathon numbers. We decided to drive and try our luck and getting a park near the start line. We passed some really big bus lines on the way. We needn't have worried though, plenty of free parking at Australia Fair, a short walk from the start. It was there we met up with my mate Jorgo who happened to bring his awesome 7D Cannon SLR Camera. Although it was still dark at this time (5:30am) so the lighting prevented any decent pre-race photos.

This photo was taken with my phone. After we gave all of our gear to Jorgo we headed off to our starting positions. Suzy to the 2:20 group, Sarah to the 2 hour group and myself to the 1:40 start group. It was nice and cold at this time of the morning, but with so many people in one place (around 9000) it didn't feel too bad. I had a quick chat with a couple of people around me, trying to shake the nerves. After a while the crowd started slowly moving forward. I was about 2 minutes from the start line. I did some last minute checks on my GPS watch, turned on my iPod and hit the line running.

The Race
6am

Well I would like to say I started off running, but with a huge amount of people at the start line, it was difficult to get moving despite the fact I was supposed to be in the 1:40 group. Dodging around a few slower joggers I couldn't seem to find an opening. Then my sunglasses fell off, so I nearly got run over trying to rescue them. As soon as I was settled I realised that the pace was started to feel a little slow. I waited for the 1st km marker to check my pace. It was 5:20! Immediate panic as I needed at least 5 minute kms to get under 1:45. I started to pick up the pace and even resorted to running on the pathway, dodging some of the cheer squad to get around the slower runners. I hadn't seen the green balloons of the 1:40 pace runner yet, so I knew I had some ground to make up. The second km flew by in 4:11. So getting closer to my pace. The sun was just starting to peak over the horizon. I felt the group was still a little slow, so back up on the pathway again. Before I knew it, I was 5kms in. My pace was back on track and I started to get glimpses of the 1:40 pace setter. I rounded past my mate Killer who was on target for a 1:45 and tried to catch up to the pace setter. After a small hill climb I reached them. I settled in behind the man in the balloons next to a bloke who was blowing pretty hard. I was finding the pace a little easy, so I jogged up next to the pacer for a little chat. He advised to pick up my pace if I was finding it too easy. There is no point in leaving anything in the tank after the race.

 



Thanks to Jorgo for the above shot. So after leaving the 1:40 group, I was starting to feel like I could push a little harder, so I set off looking for the next group of people. After a few kms, I started to see balloons on the next pacer. For a split second I entertained the idea, that is was the 1:30 group, but as I got closer I saw it was another 1:40. There was a different 1:40 group for each section. Not knowing which section was mine, I aimed to beat this group to the finish. It was along this strip that I saw Sarah heading back in the other direction. She seemed to be travelling well and in front of the 2 hour group.

The last 5 kms started to get a little tough, but I couldn't see any pacers in either direction. I was below my goal times for the kms splits that I had noticed, so I thought I was in a good place to beat my 1:45 goal, maybe even get close to the 1:40 time. I put my head down and ran the last couple as fast as possible. The crowd noise was terrific and I was very pleased and surprised to see the big clock reading 1:36 as I crossed (adjusted time was 1:34:10 minus the time it took me to cross the start line).

My stats:

After my initial goal was to get under 2 hours 6 months ago (adjusted to 1:45 after my training), I was ecstatic with my time. As you can see in this video (around the 1 minute 55 second mark).

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/the-harsh-truth-about-what-its-really-like-to-run-the-gold-coast-marathon/story-e6freon6-1226981516399

After grabbing a drink I drifted back to the finish line to see how Sarah, Suzy and a few others I knew running the race. I missed the girls, but was able to cheer home my mate Cougar over the line.

After finding Russ we waited to hear how the girls went. Their times were:

Sarah - 1.57.57 (her goal time was 2.11)
Suzy - 2.13.58 (her goal time was 2.20)

Understandably everyone was very happy with their results. We spent the rest of our time on the coast at various pubs to celebrate.

12 Week Challenge Completed

Wow what a long 12 weeks! But we made it. 10 kgs for Sarah and 16 for me. We smashed past our pre challenge goals and are keen to continue the new lifestyle (after a few celebratory beers of course). We must thank our lovely personal trainer Sami for all her guidance. Sami gave us a continually changing diet and exercise routine and continued to monitor, motivate and push us all the way along the 12 weeks. We also had some help from our training buddies Pete and Adrian. Both did remarkably well in this challenge. Adrian lost a staggering 31 kgs and surely is a favourite to take out the national title.

During the 12 weeks Sarah and I have also been training for the July Gold Coast Half Marathon. We have been able to get our training distances up to 16K and setting new personal best times along the way. The 21K is our immediate goal at the Gold Coast but we might see what challenges we can reach by the end of the year. Maybe even a full marathon one day, who knows?

After the challenge we took some photos to compare against our old selves. Here is me from 2007 and today.

YNB Challenge

Apologies for the big gaps in my blogs. I keep forgetting about this page.

So anyway the end of last year was pretty crazy. Our big trip to Phuket was followed by 4 days at the Ashes test at the Gabba, a trip down to Sydney and Albury for Christmas to visit the relos and also a trek up north to Agnes Water for new years with some mates. These big trips included a bit of indulging and plenty of drinks to undo some of the work Sarah and I had done in our weight management for the year. So we decided to shake things up.

First we said goodbye to our loved, but small Jetts gym and signed up with a larger one. Genesis Lawnton. Around 10 times the size, this gym also appealed with added classes, more machines and a specialised spin class RPM room. They also had a new program coming up in the new year called the Your New Beginning (YNB) Challenge.

The YNB challenge runs for 12 weeks starting on February 17. So we signed up, paid our fee and met our new trainer Sami B. Sami set out our goals, designed our meal plans, provided recipes, organised our training exercises as well as taking us for a personal training session once a week. The program also included group PT sessions every Saturday.

So for the next 12 weeks, Sarah and I had to give up alcohol, takeaway, soft drinks and anything that is basically bad for you. We also have to work out every day. We also took this opportunity to sign up to the Spartan Sprint and Twilight 10km. After Sunday's Twilight run, we will look to register for the Gold Coast Half Marathon.

So far Sarah and I have lost 4 and 7 kgs respectively. 4 weeks down, 8 to go.

Head to www.fraserland.com to follow our progress