SMH Half Marathon
21.1km | 100:16 (gun time) | 100:05 (my watch)
20:15 course PB
08:13 1/2M PB
I arrived at The Rocks with my partner in crime from Albury CR Ripley not feeling particularly confident. My lack of mojo from last week had continued into the weekend, so come Sunday morning I was basically prepared to "float" the course and be happy with whatever time I get. I was confident to do better than last year, so at the very least I could manage better than 120 minutes.
Ripley and I muscled our way up to the start line, popped my first GU and waited for the gun. Soon we were on our way and getting carried along with the wave. I settled into a comfortable pace into Circular Quay and up Hunter Street for the first time. 
Without any GPS (mine NEVER works in the city) and me always missing the KM markers, I was very much in the dark as far as pace was concerned. I had my splits printed out for a 105 finish but as I entered the Domain for the first time had no idea how I was progressing. Coming out of Mrs Macquarie's' Chair I ran up to CR Nicho. I asked him if he had seen any KM markers and he said that we had just passed the 6km flag (Doh! Look for the flags Marty !) and that we were at 96 minute pace ! "Arrgh, I don't belong here !" I said to him. I had gone out way to hard and was fearful that I would blow up big time and maybe even fail to finish the race. Nicho told me to relax and run the rest of the first 10kms at a comfortable pace and worry about the last 10kms later (wise head on young shoulders that fella).
I took advantage of the downward Macquarie, Hunter & Pitt Street legs to down a heap of Gatorade and prep myself for the first climb into Argyle cut. By the time I got down into George Street I saw that I was a whole 5 minutes ahead of my PB goal. That worried me again, so I took Argyle cut very easy and watched hundreds of runners pass me.
Soon I crossed the 10km marker in 45:50 which is only 30 or so seconds off my 10km PB. I did some soul searching along the flat Hickson Road stretch and took another GU (Cappucino Love, hmmm caffeine). I decided to stick to the 5:00/km pace that I had originally planned and aimed to finish somewhere near the 105 minute mark - if I could hold on for that long.
Hunter Street the second time around seemed easier than the first. The Domain felt pretty cruisey and Johny Dark appeared from the rear, gave me a few encouraging words and moved on effortlessly. I soon picked up CR Papa Luigi about St Mary's cathedral (I knew I was having a good race if JD & Papa was about). I tailed Papa until Argyle Cut and saw that my splits were still about 5 minutes ahead of my goal time. Papa zoomed up Argyle Cut leaving me for dust and I tried to run it as smoothly as possible. At the top I started to feel a bit wobbly and scoffed the rest of my Gatorade in my fuel belt. As it was only 3kms from home, it was time to use up what was left in my tank and go hard for a big finish.
With about 200m or so to go I could hear the PA guy saying that there was only X seconds left if you wanted to join the "100 Club". That was all pretty surreal for me because finishing at anywhere near that time was never really a consideration. The PA guy counted down the seconds to 100 minutes as I sprinted home and I missed it by about 15 or 16 I think. Not that it really bothered me at that stage to be honest. Who knows, my chip time might sneak me under.
From everyone that I caught up with yesterday, it seems that there were plenty of PBs all round. Special mention to Ripley with his 10 minute PB, Go Girl, Nicho, Superflake on his return, DJ (I saw you around the Art Gallery mate) and my Saturday training partner SydneyGal who finished her maiden 1/2M with an impressive 110 minutes (well paced Blkbox). Sorry to see that your injury caught up with you in the end too, 2P.
I did take a few more pics on the fly, but they all ended up to be either sky, feet or trees. Obviously my concentration was not at its best at times !
Right now I'm walking like a cripple and weezing like a 100-a-day smoker, so a few days off sounds just perfect to me.
Mood: ---> 
I arrived at The Rocks with my partner in crime from Albury CR Ripley not feeling particularly confident. My lack of mojo from last week had continued into the weekend, so come Sunday morning I was basically prepared to "float" the course and be happy with whatever time I get. I was confident to do better than last year, so at the very least I could manage better than 120 minutes.
Ripley and I muscled our way up to the start line, popped my first GU and waited for the gun. Soon we were on our way and getting carried along with the wave. I settled into a comfortable pace into Circular Quay and up Hunter Street for the first time. 
Without any GPS (mine NEVER works in the city) and me always missing the KM markers, I was very much in the dark as far as pace was concerned. I had my splits printed out for a 105 finish but as I entered the Domain for the first time had no idea how I was progressing. Coming out of Mrs Macquarie's' Chair I ran up to CR Nicho. I asked him if he had seen any KM markers and he said that we had just passed the 6km flag (Doh! Look for the flags Marty !) and that we were at 96 minute pace ! "Arrgh, I don't belong here !" I said to him. I had gone out way to hard and was fearful that I would blow up big time and maybe even fail to finish the race. Nicho told me to relax and run the rest of the first 10kms at a comfortable pace and worry about the last 10kms later (wise head on young shoulders that fella).
I took advantage of the downward Macquarie, Hunter & Pitt Street legs to down a heap of Gatorade and prep myself for the first climb into Argyle cut. By the time I got down into George Street I saw that I was a whole 5 minutes ahead of my PB goal. That worried me again, so I took Argyle cut very easy and watched hundreds of runners pass me.
Soon I crossed the 10km marker in 45:50 which is only 30 or so seconds off my 10km PB. I did some soul searching along the flat Hickson Road stretch and took another GU (Cappucino Love, hmmm caffeine). I decided to stick to the 5:00/km pace that I had originally planned and aimed to finish somewhere near the 105 minute mark - if I could hold on for that long.
Hunter Street the second time around seemed easier than the first. The Domain felt pretty cruisey and Johny Dark appeared from the rear, gave me a few encouraging words and moved on effortlessly. I soon picked up CR Papa Luigi about St Mary's cathedral (I knew I was having a good race if JD & Papa was about). I tailed Papa until Argyle Cut and saw that my splits were still about 5 minutes ahead of my goal time. Papa zoomed up Argyle Cut leaving me for dust and I tried to run it as smoothly as possible. At the top I started to feel a bit wobbly and scoffed the rest of my Gatorade in my fuel belt. As it was only 3kms from home, it was time to use up what was left in my tank and go hard for a big finish.
With about 200m or so to go I could hear the PA guy saying that there was only X seconds left if you wanted to join the "100 Club". That was all pretty surreal for me because finishing at anywhere near that time was never really a consideration. The PA guy counted down the seconds to 100 minutes as I sprinted home and I missed it by about 15 or 16 I think. Not that it really bothered me at that stage to be honest. Who knows, my chip time might sneak me under.
From everyone that I caught up with yesterday, it seems that there were plenty of PBs all round. Special mention to Ripley with his 10 minute PB, Go Girl, Nicho, Superflake on his return, DJ (I saw you around the Art Gallery mate) and my Saturday training partner SydneyGal who finished her maiden 1/2M with an impressive 110 minutes (well paced Blkbox). Sorry to see that your injury caught up with you in the end too, 2P.
I did take a few more pics on the fly, but they all ended up to be either sky, feet or trees. Obviously my concentration was not at its best at times !
Right now I'm walking like a cripple and weezing like a 100-a-day smoker, so a few days off sounds just perfect to me.
Mood: --->
This entry was posted
on Monday, May 22, 2006 at 7:18 AM.
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fantastic effort Gronk! that's just awesome...!!
Wow! your post on the message board didn't do your effort justice...well done!
nicely done gronk!! if that was a cruise - imagine if you decided to go out hard! i like the sound of this coffee flavoured energy gel - sounds like the best of all worlds!
Congratulations mate that is a huge drop in the PB. Wait till we get you up to the flat Lake Macquarie course and you can push 95mins.
Go Gronk!!! What a massive PB. Good to see all that hard training pay off.
You are looking very dangerous for C2S. I'm afraid.
I was a terrible cheer girl... I has so much trouble spotting people! I was looking for you but did not see you until you cruised by right at the end, but too late to give you a cheer. You looked good!!! Awesome effort! What a pb...brilliant.
Nice report Gronk, and fantastic race!
Mate - what a fantastic result great job mate....
I'm with Flakey - you are going to scorch the track at Lake Mac or CC this year!
That's great Gronk, a huge PB so soon after the Albury race too.
There's no stopping you at the moment Gronk. You are on fire. Good to see all your hard work in training being rewarded with the results you deserve.
Huge PB gronk!!! Congratulations mate - as you said, the chip time might get you under the 100 - if not, it's only a very small amount of time before you'll be well under it :)
Congratulations, that is a fantastic result for you.
TA
Great work Gronk, it's great when everything falls into place on race day!
Well done on your pb. And you were doubting yourself.
Brilliant PB Gronk. Good reading a report of someone who goes for it from the start. The course must have felt dead flat after Nail Can!
Thanks for the photos.
Who needs a watch when you're running with the likes of Nicho, JD & Papa! Looks like you'd better leave the watch at home more often...
Gnome
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