GOLD COAST AIRPORT MARATHON
Through the eyes of Matt Phillips
"Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom"
General George S. Patton
GC
MARATHON - FINISHED 211th out of 1850 Finishers in
3:12:57(official gun time), 3:12:45(net time)
G'day all,
Well the
Marathon has been run and I can now call myself a member of that
exclusive club comprising of those who have tackled the Holy
Grail of distance running - a Marathoner. It was an eventful day
to say the least - some would say dramatic!!! Anyway, I'll cut
to the chase.
My
preparation to break 3 hours in my first marathon on six months
training, 10 years after last running in high school saw me run
between 70-105 kms per week for most of the last three months
training. However, injury preventing me from clocking as many
100km+ weeks as I would have liked.
My Lead-in races were solid
In the last
month, I managed a half in 87:55 and a 10km predictor in 38:43,
both at about 90% effort as I was unwilling to risk aggravating
minor injuries so close to the GC. In the last few days I was
spot on with the body in good order and getting plenty of sleep.
I managed to get about six and a half hours of sleep on race
night and rose at 4.30am on Race Day and arrived at the Race
Precinct in Southport in time to relax and stretch before the
race.
I kept Pat Carroll's group in sight
The gun went
off at precisely 6.50am and the field set off along the Gold
Coast Highway, heading south for Miami. Feeling good, I quickly
settled into my plan of running a steady rhythm of clocking
4.15min kms aiming to achieve my goal of breaking 3hrs. Pat
Carroll's Sub 3hr Pace Group was churning out some solid splits
in front of me and I was content to keep them in sight and avoid
the congestion, 50-75 metres in front of me and let them roll
along at that pace.
The 13km
turnaround was reached quickly and the field turned and started
heading north for Runaway Bay, 21kms away!! At this point I was
about 20 seconds under target pace at, drinking well at water
stations and concentrating hard on a relaxed stride and
preservation for the business end of the race.
On my way to meet support crew
I met my
support crew (comprising my brothers and my Mum) at the 14km
mark and accepted a large drink of Powerade and took my first GU
carbohydrate gel.
Pat lost
his balloons
A humorous moment around the 15km mark when
Pat lost the helium balloons he had tied to his back and they
floated into the air to be stuck in power lines - I grinned to
myself as I imagined Pat turning the air blue with some choice
profanities 70 metres in front of me!!
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