Marathon #6: Melbourne Marathon - 12 October 2014

Melbourne Marathon: Run as One

I decided to participate in the Melbourne Marathon again, a week after I finished the Great Ocean Road Marathon in May 2014. I ran my fastest marathon yet at the Melbourne Marathon in 2013, and since it has one of the easier race routes that I've run on, I thought I can try for another PR this year. 

http://melbournemarathon.com.au/

The Training Plan

I set my training plan through the Adidas micoach app, with a finish time goal of 4 hours. I know, this was a little bit ambitious, but I wanted the extra challenge thinking that by training harder, I'd be able to train my body to sustain a consistent fast pace for the whole duration of the race. I wasn't really gunning for 4 hours, but if I can finish in less than 4 hours and 30 minutes, I'll be a happy camper.

Aside from the running training plan, I also signed up for the "8-week program for Busy People" of Fitness Blender. It's a 6 times a week workout program that only takes up 30 minutes or less of your time. It is run by a married couple, both of whom are professional personal trainers, via their youtube channel. The way they do it is they write up the whole program and reference the free youtube videos in the book which you purchase and download. For just a very small amount ($10), you get 8 weeks' worth of coaching which I found very effective since I can do all the workouts from the comfort of our home without any other extra fees other than the amount I paid to download their book - this was worth every cent I paid. And at the end of the 8 weeks, you can do it all over again without paying anything extra - how cool is that?



I added the Fitness Blender program in the last 7 weeks before the race and it actually did me a lot of good, since this encouraged a level of discipline that I haven't been able to motivate myself to keep before. So aside from my running plan, I was also able to focus on my core strengthening, and improve my overall fitness, thanks to Fitness Blender.

The Race Expo

Starting Thursday of Race Week, people who didn't make the registration cut-off, can start picking up their race kits at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). This was also where the Race Expo was held which allowed the various sponsors to setup pop-up shops and sell their wares. I picked up my race kit over lunch, and since it was the first day, many of the pop-up shops haven't been fully set up yet. Since I needed to go back to the office right away, I didn't mind.

Race kit pick-up Tent

The pick-up process was very organised and it was easy to find where you needed to go to get your race kits from. You also didn't need any form of identification - just tell the person at the window what your race number was and you're all set!

No long lines during the first day of picking up the race kits

I also like to pick up my race kit on the first day since it was most likely that the crowd is very small and you avoid having to queue up for hours just to be able to conclude your business there. By the way, if you sign-up for the race very early (I think by end of June) and you have an Australian address, you can have your race kit (which essentially is just your race bib) delivered in the mail. You still need to go to the expo to claim your race show bag which contains your complimentary race shirt and several vouchers. Last year's show bag actually had a lot more of goodies, which included a cap, towel and sample products - there were none of these this year.

There were short queues too at the Race Show Bag redemption area

Race Day

As with all my other races, I was giddy, nervous, excited and anxious as race day got closer. I was also extra nervous because I wasn't fully faithful to my running training plan. My longest run was only 2 hours long, so I wasn't sure how I would fare during the second half of my race.

Despite that, I still wanted to run the race so I just reset my target finish time to a more conservative one, which was to finish it in less than 5 hours.

Race attire in different shades of orange!

I woke up at around 4am on race day so there's enough time to take a shower and have a light breakfast, which consisted of a banana, avocado, blue berries, a hard-boiled egg and a cup of Milo. Since I didn't want to repeat my almost-fainting-spell during the race last year, I also packed 2 more pieces of banana - one I will eat 30 minutes before the race, and the other I plan to consume after 10 kilometres.

All ready in my bright and colourful get up!

My sister and brother-in-law dropped me off at the MCG again, and I was immediately off to look for the warm clothing drop-off area. Since it was still early in the morning, the temperature was a little bit chilly - around 16 degrees at 6am - although it was expected to warm up significantly during the race reaching the mid-20s. This was comparably warm spring weather, compared to last year's when it was cloudy and the highest temperature during the race was 16 degrees. Since I did my last 4 long runs in toasty weather between 12 noon and 3pm, I wasn't too worried about getting beaten by the warm temperatures expected that day.

Running with a Pacer

Much like the previous year, there were volunteer pacers once again during the race. I decided to join the slowest pacing group again, with a target of 4 hours and 30 minutes. The pacers from last year were really a good boost and reliable motivation during the race which earned me my PR, so I had high hopes that by keeping up with a pacer this year I would achieve the same or better results. It is also a nice way of meeting new people who have similar goals like you do.

4:30 marker at the start area

Since it was the slowest pacing group, majority of the people in the group were running their first full marathon race which is actually amazing considering that if I was running this race in the Philippines, I'd be one of the faster runners. The people in Australia take running very seriously, but come to think of it, they have this same attitude towards fitness in general!

Anyway, this year, we only had one pacer in the 4:30 group. There were supposed to be two, but it seems the other one wasn't able to make it. John, who has the responsibility of pacing us that day was running his 25th Melbourne Marathon race! When you've completed at least 10 Melbourne Marathon races, they have a special group called "Spartans" and people who qualify to become a member of this group get to run with a special "Spartan" singlet. During this year's race, there were 10 people in the full marathon crowd who would be completing their 36th Melbourne Marathon that day - which means they've run all of the 36 Melbourne Marathon races!

John - the lone 4:30 pacer of this year's Melbourne Marathon

The first half of the race

This year, the Melbourne Marathon drew over 35,000 participants running in various running events, 7,000 of which were running the full marathon.

7000 full marathon participants waiting for the gun start

Since we were almost at the back of the pack, it took us two minutes before we were able to cross the start line. Our pacer set a strategy to run the first 21K faster, considering that we'd later on slow down anyway because of the expected warmer weather at the latter part of the race. My strategy was to keep close to the group to make sure that there was someone who can push me forward in case I significantly slow down during the last few kilometres.

The first 21K was enjoyable. The people in the group were chatty. There were a number of British folks who were sharing their marathon stories. We were observing the other people who were running the race - several of them were wearing really interesting costumes that had me confounded sometimes. 

Photo-op with a pair of running squids!

Our group was able to pass the 10km mark at 1 hour 3 minutes and everybody's spirits were up high in the air. As we turned into Fitzroy Street, the pack leaders were already on their way back to the finish line and we gave them a huge cheer.

Fans of the race also lined up the streets cheering us on. Some were even handing out treats like jelly beans,  gummy snakes and cans of coke for runners who needed a quick sugar fix. There were also little kids who had their hands out for a quick high five, it was too cute to resist! I also noticed a couple of teenage girls who setup a sound system and were providing live entertainment by singing a pop song as the participants passed by.

As we made the U-turn at Port Melbourne, I sped up a little bit to make a quick trip at one of the public toilets. I was hoping to make a quick catch up with the group after the body break, but they were faster than I anticipated. They were about 600-800 metres ahead of me, and since I wanted to keep to my original strategy of keeping with the group, I ran at a faster pace for the next 2km until I caught up with them again. At this point, we were about to cross the half marathon mark, and I noticed that the size of our group has significantly shrunk. I can still recognise at least 4 familiar faces, including John, the pacer, but it seemed like the group had begun to disperse.

The Tough last Half 21K

The second half of the race became a lot more difficult as the temperature continued to rise. We were running along the road next to St. Kilda beach, and the air was getting a little bit dry. Shade was also becoming rare. Our group quieted down significantly too since most of us were trying to focus on keeping a steady pace while trying to ignore the weather which was getting a lot warmer. Even John who initiated a lot of the short chats earlier with various people in the group wasn't talking anymore.

As we made the U-turn that would take us back to the finish line, a lot of the original members of the group have gone their own way, running at an easier or a more aggressive pace that suited them the best. I still tried to keep up with John, but he too was starting to struggle. After passing the drink station at the 28th kilometre, I completely lost sight of him as he stayed a while longer to cool down while I continued on.

So it was just me for the next 5 kilometres, trying to keep a steady pace, trying to ignore the heat, trying to stay focused on keeping my feet moving forward. At the 33rd kilometre I caught sight of John again, but when I tried to start a conversation, he immediately told me off, saying he was too tired to talk. I still tried to keep him in sight but when we reached the 35th kilometre, I couldn't keep up anymore. 

With the sun bearing down on us, the last 7 kilometres became a chore. And it wasn't just me who was struggling since I ran past several participants who were nursing cramps because we were all getting dehydrated at a significantly faster rate. The road we were running on was also getting hotter and I can actually feel the heat through my shoes. I began to take short walking breaks several metres at a time until the 40th kilometre marker. It was so hot that by the time I passed the last 2 drink stations, they've totally run out of cups to fill with water or Hydralyte (the official sports drink of the race). There was even one drink station where the volunteers were recycling cups that have been thrown away by runners who were there earlier - talk about getting desperate!

After a quick stop at the 40th kilometre drink station, I made myself run the last 2.2 kilometres straight, even if it was at a very slow pace, as long as I was still running. 

Still smiling despite the hot weather!

The finish line was outside the MCG this year (last year, we ended IN the MCG), and we had to run the last 200 metres up a small hill. Seeing the road marks that indicated that the finish line was near gave me a short boost to make a last push for a strong finish.

The sprint to the finish line

A huge crowd lined up the street during those last few metres to the finish line - most of whom are families or friends of the runners. The cheers we received were so heartwarming it made my sprint to the finish line a breeze and I was able to cross it at 4 hours and 56 minutes gun time. My official time was 4 hours and 54 minutes.

It was not the time I was aiming for, but I was still very happy for finishing the race under 5 hours. To be realistic, it was still a very good finish time considering I wasn't able to run more than 2 hours during my training.

So I guess I will keep the same goal for next year when I run this race again. I really need to be very diligent with keeping to my training plan to make sure that I get the optimal results out of it. Discipline is key and that's something that I continue to work on as I work my way through the next 37 marathons I've still to run!