SMH Half Marathon

On 16th May, I lined up with 8500 other runners for the SMH Half Marathon.
Having done the Sydney marathon in Sept 09 and that being my last running event, you would (well, I did) think the preparation for this race should be smooth and easy. When I resumed training properly around March, that wasn’t going to be the case! It was obvious that I’d lost all my fitness and was struggling even to do a 5K run or 10-15 laps in the pool..
Clearly our wedding in Feb, the honeymoon and all the good food and parties in the months leading up to it was the culprit :) - But loved every minute of it :)
It took a good couple of weeks to get back to a reasonable fitness and to convince my mind to sign up for the SMH Half.


On race day, I was feeling quite fit and ready thanks to the 4-day tapering. At the start line, I met up with a couple of the hills tri club boys. Some of them were hoping for a sub 1:40 time and I knew I wasn’t going to pace them. One of the boys (Gerald) was planning to do a sub 2hrs too so we decided to pace each other. Sub 2hrs was my realistic goal, even though secretly I liked sub 1:50 a lot better :)
It took us a long time (06:06 minutes) to just get past the start line. Once we passed the start line, Gerald and I managed to stick together and run at a decent pace…

The race was quite an enjoyable one…
The most exciting part of the run was running under the harbour bridge. I’ve done many lunch time runs around the city and on the Sydney harbour bridge, but it is truly an amazing feeling to be amongst thousands of runners and run under the Sydney Harbour Bridge and enjoy the view of Opera house and circular quay!!

My official finishing time was 02:00:34.
Average pace is 5.40mins/km.
Avg HR: 170 bpm
Max HR: 190 bpm

Was hoping for a sub 2hr finish. Had a great run but was forced to slow down at times due to the crowd (8500) at times - Not sure if that is what slowed my overall time or if it in fact helped me pace myself and gave me the PB!

Sydney Marathon – One week countdown

When I reached the one week countdown, I decided that I’m going to cut down my mileage and start saving my energy for the marathon (usually referred to as ‘tapering’). I spent and focussed my time on the following:

· Carb loading – This basically means eating more carbs and ensure my body is able to load up on crabs so I avoid HITTING THE WALL
"Carbohydrates that a person eats are converted by the liver and muscles into glycogen for storage. Glycogen burns quickly to provide quick energy. Runners can store about 8 MJ or 2,000 kcal worth of glycogen in their bodies, enough for about 30 km/18–20 miles of running. Many runners report that running becomes noticeably more difficult at that point. When glycogen runs low, the body must then burn stored fat for energy, which does not burn as readily. When this happens, the runner will experience dramatic fatigue and is said to "hit the wall" (Source - Wiki)

· More rest – I rested and slept as much as possible

· Designed my race day plan – including pace calculator (http://www.marathonguide.com/fitnesscalcs/PaceBandCreator.cfm)

· Dropped off my personal refreshment – Runners had the option to drop off personal refreshment in 8 drink stops in the course – 5.8km, 10.4km, 16.4km, 20.8km, 25.8km, 30.5km, 35,3km and 38.7km. I decided to drop off my personal refreshment ‘as a backup’ in 7 stops (I skipped the 5.8km stop).
I dropped off a bottle of Powerade, Banana, Energy Gel and a mars bar

· Familiarize myself with the intermediate cut-off times. These were the point in the course where runners were stopped and taken off, if you didn’t pass it within a certain time.