No outfit post today - I decided to keep my germs (mostly) to myself, and slept for most of the day. Bliss. But you don't need to see me in my pjs. After publishing my post on the Great Ocean Road half marathon, I then realised I'd missed a few things that were really Firsts for me, so here we are.
1. I now appreciate the value of hill running as part of training. In preparation for last year's Gold Coast half marathon, I ignored the hill running recommendation. However, my half marathon time here was only 2 minutes slower than my Melbourne time, and 4 minutes slower than my Gold Coast time, and this was definitely a much harder course. Aside from that, the hills I was using to train were quite steep going up and down, so the much gentler hills of the race were much easier for my brain and body. And, even better, hill running burns energy like nothing I've come across before.
2. I had never caught a V-Line bus before, or caught a train in regional Victoria. Every time I've come into Southern Cross Station I've thought that would be nice, but usually I'm in Melbourne to visit Melbourne people, so this hasn't been on the cards. This might change.
3. Pre-race day nutrition. This wasn't great. Carbs, yes, but healthy... Not so. And I'm half blaming my current unwell state on the lack of vitamins those 2 days. I was craving apples by Sunday afternoon, if that's any indication.
4. Eating alone. This might sound weird, and I know (quite) a few of you will not be shy in telling me what an idiot I am, but this is a problem for me. When I travel - usually alone - the evening meal is a tough one. I haven't yet managed to eat in a place that is not a cafe or similar. I realise that, for someone who is not a people person (shall we say), having problems eating out alone is odd, but there you go. However, I narrowed down my Saturday night dinner choices to 2 - the bistro in the hotel, or a noodle place I'd passed in the afternoon. The bistro was rather busy, and had nothing that really appealed. I braved the cold, and went to the noodle place. And I'm so glad I did! For less than the price of a bistro meal, I had a massive serving of noodles as well as a glass of wine. The seating was communal (long tables), the food was great, and I didn't feel like the oddball.
5. Warm running gear. A few weeks ago, I did a morning run from home. I was freezing, and it was a toasty 14C. I knew that I would have problems if I didn't sort out some warmer running clothes - it was forecast for a mere 7C in the morning. I bought some long core stability pants, and a long-sleeve top with a high collar and zip at the front. At first I wasn't too keen on the zip, but I realised that I didn't want my neck freezing, and it might get rather warm as I ran, so I went with the zip. I am so glad I did! There were a few parts where I thought I might need to make my top less warm (zip, or sleeves) but then we'd come around a bend and it would be chilly again. I saw some people start the race in shorts and singlet (yes, they looked cold), and others run the whole race in long pants, t-shirt and jumper.
6. Post-race wind down. A short stretch on the grass while I drank a coconut water (standard), but then I followed it by a walk along the beach. Not standard, but the best thing ever. I even put my toes in the water! I was not the only one taking advantage of a wide beach and sunlight to do some post-run recovery. This was especially great as for the last few kilometres all I could think was, I want to be on the beach.
7. Post-race clean up. I knew that washing myself afterwards would not be easy. Not really the weather to rinse off in an outdoor cold shower (at least, not for this Queenslander). And as it was a one-way race, I wouldn't be able to return to the hotel and use their shower (especially as I finished after 10). During the week beforehand, though, I saw an ad for the new Libra fresh wipes. Which sounds pretty awful, but the idea is for a wet wipe type of thing, and just what I needed. I packed the whole box. I didn't end up using all 10 - in the end, only 3 - but they made me feel far less grotty and sweaty and smelly.
Last night, I put in my (earlybird) entry for the Gold Coast half marathon - and I'm so excited!
Showing posts with label GORM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GORM. Show all posts
Thursday, 23 May 2013
Monday, 20 May 2013
The Great Ocean Road Half Marathon
...aka The Most Beautiful Run of My Life... aka The Longest Run of My Life (So Far)... aka The Most Painful Run of My Life (ugh... So Far)... Anyway.
I did it! My hilly half marathon is done! I have such a sense of achievement.
Running weekends are, I think, my favourite type of weekend. And this one was stunning. In more ways than one! Oh, and this whole trip I took SO many photos. I'll only put up my top picks, promise. Like this first one - I was so excited for the leaves in Jeannie's street.
On Friday I flew to Melbourne, and had dinner with Jeannie at Fire Chief, followed by dessert at Kakao Green (my first time for both). Saturday morning, I took a small backpack of necessities and headed off to Southern Cross for the train to Geelong, then the (rather delayed express) bus to Lorne. I played 'Spot the Runner' which kept me entertained while my toes froze. I did the Great Ocean Road - in a car - a few years ago, and I kept having flashbacks. The weather, until Saturday afternoon, was about the same in mid-May as it was that January (grey, cold, raining). I still had a lovely walk along the beach before checking into the hotel, then picking up some of the things I wasn't going to transport all that way. And a toothbrush. A short nap, then I went for a walk up to the pier and a bit further before returning as the lights started to twinkle. Later, DVD Sam arrived - he was there to do the full marathon. His first. (CRAZY!!)
Race Day. Some reflections:
Sights: Amazingly beautiful. That was a given, really. And a good thing too, as I look at scenery to keep myself going. Bonus - I saw more rainbows this weekend than the whole past year (not that I was counting, but there were so many of them!). And the light. Also, having such a curvy course was an unexpected plus. Instead of looking ahead and seeing a hundreds and hundreds of runners as a block in front, you could just catch glimpses here and there, and see how steep an approaching part would be.
Sounds: Surf. Birds. Those are my overwhelming impressions - and they're so different from other running experiences. It was more like having a holiday, a whole lot of time out. The other stand-out sounds were only 2: one sniffer - I mean, every breath was a sniff. Thankfully we weren't close by for long. The other was a really heavy breather, about 2/3 through. That was actually enough, after about 50m, for me to pick up the pace (so thank you, heavy breather!). Oh, and one more - on the shuttle to the start line, I was in front of 2 blokes from the same town. One of them had done both the full and half, and commented that the first hill after Kennett River was just horrible, so steep... I beg to differ. (Although, if that was half-way through a marathon it would be a killer).
Sensations: For the first 14km or so, I was in that "I love my life! I love running!" zone. And then I began to notice my left leg having problems. This made me walk for a total of about 300m which was a bit disappointing, in some ways. However, I had to remind myself that I went into this run expecting to walk a bit. Last year, I felt I was in pretty good shape and well-prepared for my runs. Having a concert 2 weeks before this one meant that I had far less time to prepare, and had 2 weeks of intense training. But hills... I was thinking I might have to walk up the hills and run down, carefully. These hills were not very much like the ones at home, though, which are short and sharp and steep. These hills were much more gradual and curvy. So I didn't have to do any walking up them. We had to run on the left side, though, and I think that's what did me in - as well as the extended gradual climb of the second hill. I needed to run downhill sooner! Oh well. More gradual hills for me in future. At this stage I'm still walking funny...
Staff: In contrast to the Melbourne Half, everything was so well done here. They provided us with plastic bags for clothes (my backpack just fit in), and a friendly woman gave me 2, just in case. As our shuttles got there about an hour before the start, they had an aerobics instructor to warm us up. Hydration was ready and well-marked, and they also had jellybeans, fruit and toilets. Crossing the finish line, a medal was immediately around my neck, fluid was ready, and a few people directed me to where my bag would be.
More Sensations: Because this was a long run, they had a marker for the full marathon and the half marathon, and then the real finish line. I got to the first of these, and thought it was the half, and had that spurt of 'only 2 more ks'. And then I got to the half marathon marker. Oh, now it's only 2 more... And that was really painful. Looking at the results I actually picked up a lot here, and if I'm reading this right (and I'd like to think that I am) I overtook nearly 200 people. Once I saw the finish line I was determined, and ran as fast as my left leg allowed.
More Sounds: I overheard some ... interesting... things. 3 women in front of me in the toilet queue were chatting. One of them runs for the calorie burn (so she can eat chocolate), but her dad is a serious runner. Her mum disliked him training and would sabotage his efforts, feeding him a huge dinner before he had to sneak out at 11pm to do a long run. This woman herself had done 2 Tough Mudders, and when she was about to do the second her mum had said "oh you're not doing another one of those motherf***ers are you?" During the race, there were many people from the same team (I won't name them...) and as I overtook one group of them, I heard "So what's your dirty sex story?" - I didn't speed up. I didn't stick to them the whole way, but was near enough to hear a whole lot of stories and relationship talk. Very. Interesting.
For most of the last 7km all I wanted to do was be on the beach. Once I'd stretched and had a coconut water, I headed to the sand. There were many people with the same idea. I even went in the water! Only up to my ankles, but still. So nice.
It was great having Sam there afterwards - although I could have done this on my own, having someone with whom to debrief later was great. And even though I'm limping a little, it's nothing compared to his post-marathon hobble.
The trip back to Melbourne felt really long, when all I wanted to do was curl up on a bed. But Jeannie met me at the station and fed me Panamax and a massive bowl of soup - best friend ever.
I did it! My hilly half marathon is done! I have such a sense of achievement.
Running weekends are, I think, my favourite type of weekend. And this one was stunning. In more ways than one! Oh, and this whole trip I took SO many photos. I'll only put up my top picks, promise. Like this first one - I was so excited for the leaves in Jeannie's street.
Race Day. Some reflections:
Sights: Amazingly beautiful. That was a given, really. And a good thing too, as I look at scenery to keep myself going. Bonus - I saw more rainbows this weekend than the whole past year (not that I was counting, but there were so many of them!). And the light. Also, having such a curvy course was an unexpected plus. Instead of looking ahead and seeing a hundreds and hundreds of runners as a block in front, you could just catch glimpses here and there, and see how steep an approaching part would be.
Sounds: Surf. Birds. Those are my overwhelming impressions - and they're so different from other running experiences. It was more like having a holiday, a whole lot of time out. The other stand-out sounds were only 2: one sniffer - I mean, every breath was a sniff. Thankfully we weren't close by for long. The other was a really heavy breather, about 2/3 through. That was actually enough, after about 50m, for me to pick up the pace (so thank you, heavy breather!). Oh, and one more - on the shuttle to the start line, I was in front of 2 blokes from the same town. One of them had done both the full and half, and commented that the first hill after Kennett River was just horrible, so steep... I beg to differ. (Although, if that was half-way through a marathon it would be a killer).
Sensations: For the first 14km or so, I was in that "I love my life! I love running!" zone. And then I began to notice my left leg having problems. This made me walk for a total of about 300m which was a bit disappointing, in some ways. However, I had to remind myself that I went into this run expecting to walk a bit. Last year, I felt I was in pretty good shape and well-prepared for my runs. Having a concert 2 weeks before this one meant that I had far less time to prepare, and had 2 weeks of intense training. But hills... I was thinking I might have to walk up the hills and run down, carefully. These hills were not very much like the ones at home, though, which are short and sharp and steep. These hills were much more gradual and curvy. So I didn't have to do any walking up them. We had to run on the left side, though, and I think that's what did me in - as well as the extended gradual climb of the second hill. I needed to run downhill sooner! Oh well. More gradual hills for me in future. At this stage I'm still walking funny...
Staff: In contrast to the Melbourne Half, everything was so well done here. They provided us with plastic bags for clothes (my backpack just fit in), and a friendly woman gave me 2, just in case. As our shuttles got there about an hour before the start, they had an aerobics instructor to warm us up. Hydration was ready and well-marked, and they also had jellybeans, fruit and toilets. Crossing the finish line, a medal was immediately around my neck, fluid was ready, and a few people directed me to where my bag would be.
More Sensations: Because this was a long run, they had a marker for the full marathon and the half marathon, and then the real finish line. I got to the first of these, and thought it was the half, and had that spurt of 'only 2 more ks'. And then I got to the half marathon marker. Oh, now it's only 2 more... And that was really painful. Looking at the results I actually picked up a lot here, and if I'm reading this right (and I'd like to think that I am) I overtook nearly 200 people. Once I saw the finish line I was determined, and ran as fast as my left leg allowed.
More Sounds: I overheard some ... interesting... things. 3 women in front of me in the toilet queue were chatting. One of them runs for the calorie burn (so she can eat chocolate), but her dad is a serious runner. Her mum disliked him training and would sabotage his efforts, feeding him a huge dinner before he had to sneak out at 11pm to do a long run. This woman herself had done 2 Tough Mudders, and when she was about to do the second her mum had said "oh you're not doing another one of those motherf***ers are you?" During the race, there were many people from the same team (I won't name them...) and as I overtook one group of them, I heard "So what's your dirty sex story?" - I didn't speed up. I didn't stick to them the whole way, but was near enough to hear a whole lot of stories and relationship talk. Very. Interesting.
It was great having Sam there afterwards - although I could have done this on my own, having someone with whom to debrief later was great. And even though I'm limping a little, it's nothing compared to his post-marathon hobble.
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