Melbourne Marathon

We ran the Melbourne marathon last weekend, 42.195 kilometers of fun (and pain).

Kel:

They'll call me freedom, just like a wavin' flag.

As work had been extremely busy throughout September, my training had really suffered and I was simply hoping to cross the finish line. The race started at the “G” (aka, the MCG, as in the Melbourne Cricket Ground (Australians love to shorten words and use acronyms as much as possible)) at 7am and headed through the CBD (aka, the Central Business District), out to St Kilda (aka, our ‘hood). We turned into Albert Park, a course we’re quite familiar with as it’s a block from our apartment, popped back out in front of our place and headed for an out and back on the beach road. We passed our apartment again around 30k (aka, ~18 miles), and I was quite tempted to call it a day and crawl back into bed. But I persisted and journeyed back to the G. Ks 30 through 38 were extremely difficult, but once I realized I only had 5k left, I put the World Cup theme song (“Wavin' Flag”) on repeat and kicked it into gear while “singing” the lyrics and attracting quite a few odd looks. I crossed the finish line in 4:26:37, 9 whole seconds faster than my previous best time! I hobbled around until Thursday, when my legs finally decided to start working again. I’m still suffering from toenail issues. Gross.

Adam:

Awesome journey but still looking for the destination.

I developed some great friendships with the other runners in my training group. I didn't miss a long run. I banged out my tempo and interval runs. I felt absolutely great and am closing in on my college fitness level (less some fast twitch muscles). The 4 month journey of training gave me plenty of confidence for race day.

On race day I banged out 5:30km like it was my job (3hr 50min pace) for 30km. Spot on for my training, talking to all the other runners, and feeling great. However there were a few warning signs that the final destination of 42km wasn't going to be so easy... 1. A fairly consistent set of 25km gusts blowing the water stations over. 2. Not having enough saliva to eat a cookie waiting for me at the 28km mark. 3. Cramps. Damn you cramps! They seem to own me every marathon. And this race they were especially bad over the last 10km making the final hour of the run (or, in my case, hobble) an ugly mess.

Although I am very disappointed with the "results" of the destination, I am more satisfied with the journey of disciplined training, developing new friendships, and watching Kel cross the finish line with a new PR. I have a few more marathons in these legs and one of these days I'm going to solve those damn cramp issues...

We’re looking forward to tracking Dad, Sis and Damen as they run the Marine Corp Marathon on October 30th. Rest your aches and pains until then and have fun on race day!

Xoxo,

k&af