National 50km Championships - Donadea Forest Park (very unhappy Garmin)
3:33:17
9th place
Splits: 20:35, 20:42, 20:45, 20:30, 20:49, 20:43, 20:53, 21:15, 22:34, 24:30
Marathon Split: 2:56 and change
I dont remember much of the race but it might come back to me in the next few days.
Started off well and felt like I was moving ok but with not that much effort so kept ticking over and getting water and fuel from my crew (Mum, Dad and Zac) on each lap. After the first few laps I was inside the top 10 and still feeling ok. It went like this to about 35/40km. With 15km to go I really started to feel the pinch and things started to tighten up but Zac kitted out and jumped in for the first 1/3 and last 1/3 of the loop to keep me company, he did this for the next 2 laps too. Dad was out on the course too offering support and fuel. GPS had a meltdown and clearly miscalculated the distance and really messed up the lap splits so I knew I was slowing but had no idea by how much. Annoying it doesnt say 50km or even particularly near it but I did do all my laps! Checked my watch near the marathon distance and it was, from what i remember, 2:56 and change. I'm counting this as my first sub3 marathon. Really struggled on the last lap. Everything felt really difficult and the little hills from the first laps felt like mountains. Kept moving forward even if it was slow and ugly. Real feeling of relief to see that finish line for the last time.
Target time was 3:44:59 which is 4:30min/km and I ran ~12minutes inside of this and at 4:15min/km. Now that I know what the pinch at end feels like I can for sure learn a few things for the next stupid challenge I decide to take on.
1st December 2018 - 5km PB
9th February 2019 - 50km PB
Results
More than just a sprint specialist :-D