Sunday saw me complete my longest single run in preparation for this year’s Comrades marathon.
A group of us headed up to complete the Canberra marathon, which also offers one the option of heading off and completing a further 8KM to manage a short ultra of 50KM.
The weather was appalling with torrential rain beating down for the entire event and temperatures falling – for someone used to running in sunshine, this is just downright unpleasant. Many of my friends who originate from England and Ireland however remarked that they found the conditions were good. I can’t quite get my head around things, but despite the fact that I wore my Paula Radcliffe dri fit socks, even they could not stand up to this torrent of water. They did hold out till around the 22KM mark and then gave up the ghost and as a result my feet were prunes.
As far as time was concerned, I wanted a decent stretch on my feet in prep for Comrades and thought that anything under 3.20 for the marathon would be acceptable in the conditions and given that I had a heavy week the week prior and no real taper (coupled with a few ITB issues the week before).
It pleased me then to cross in 3.18 and also help a few strugglers towards the end to get under the 3.20 marker. My belief is that the conditions did impact times as none of my mates came near to their bests on the day (and they had prepared well). My theory is that most seem to have missed by between 6 – 12 mins off their best and this is about accurate I think.
All in all a decent enough run despite the fact that it was raining and there was no food available at the end. Also a great weekend away with some fantastic friends.
50K in 4.09 – not a bad day in the office by all accounts.
Running together – stride for stride on a life changing ride. – Sean Muller
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