Ran the Bellarine Rail Trail yesterday in perfect conditions. I knew it was going to be a bit of a slog and that's exactly how it turned out. This was my first long run since the Sri Chinmoy 30k run on July 15 and a real test if I could still do the Melbourne Marathon this year in a decent time.
I Ran with Eat 'Em (Mark) at the back of the 5 minute group for the first 5km but then I knew that if I wanted to make the distance I would have to take it a little easier. I eased back just a little bit and tried to get myself into a rythmn but it wasn't working! I went through 10km in 51.05 and was struggling this early only. My legs were sore already and my hamstrings felt really tight. I actually started thinking about how I could pull out but logistically it didn't seem possible. I took my time at the 16km 'aid' station and had a good drink and a Leppin. Chatted with Kevin Cassidy (who was annoyingly taking photos!) and headed off again. The next 4km were just terrible. Both hamstrings felt really tight and sore and I had pain down the outside of both knees.
At 20km (1:44) the trail seems to run downhill so I picked up the pace thinking that the sooner I get to the end the sooner I can stop! Ran well through to the 24km aid station where I paused again for a few minutes to finally remove some stones from my shoe - blood on my sock told me I should have done it 10km ago! The last 10km were just hard work and I never felt good. There were two walking periods here and everything was sore. I finished bang on 3 hours by my watch - 9 minutes slower than last year!
Brett and his family and friends are just fantastic people to put on a wonderful event for nothing. Great to chat with so many CR people.
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2 comments:
This event was my highlight last year but I gave it a miss this time around due to lack of fitness. Maybe next year??
Nice catching up again, as you say a great day and very well organised. Considering lack of training and/or long runs the main thing is that you finished. To put a positive spin on it, the long runs should get easier, you know you can do it.
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