What a day.
The Sutherland 2 Surf was just a fun run but, still, I had a plan. First and foremost, finish and improve on last year's time of 65 minutes. Based on this year's half marathon I figured I should be able to do 61 minutes, however wasn't 100% confident having had a rubbish few weeks running while recovering from this year's Ironman New Zealand and Ironman Cairns.
But while expectations weren't high I still set myself a little "awesome" goal, that I didn't share so widely, thinking wouldn't it be fantastic if I could shave a minute off that half marathon pace and get in under 60 minutes.
Could I really do it?
St Pete and I had a stress free day on Saturday - easy walks and a nice early night, getting up at 5am Sunday with plenty of time for a bowl of porridge before we headed to the train for the journey down to Sutherland.
Worst thing about the day was getting there and waiting. We got to the start line in plenty of time but it was only 5 degrees! Yes, I know, soft Sydneysider...
Eventually, however, we had to make our way to the start line and finally the gun went off and we were into it. The conditions were perfect - no wind, clear skies, this was going to be great.
St Pete and I started out together and immediately had to start dodging and running around walkers. While they had been given different coloured bibs, for some reason the organisers hadn't coralled them at the rear of the starting area and so they were interspersed throughout the field. The only upside to having all these walkers to get around was that it slowed me down and ensured I didn't start too fast! Despite the positive angle, I sincerely hope this approach was just a one-off slip up on the organisers' part - it no doubt frustrated a lot of people.
Anyway, we got going and after the first kilometre St Pete said "adios" and headed off ahead of me. He didn't know it at the time but I had hatched a second plan.
Hang on behind him for as long as I could.
During the next kilometre I managed to stick to him pretty well - there were still a few walkers around and so that was no doubt holding him up and I made the most of it. At around the 2km mark we hit the first aid station and I slowed down to pick up a cup of water to have with a gel (I didn't have any water with me before the start so missed taking my gel - so planned on taking it at the first aid station instead). Although I didn't stop running, I lost touch with Pete as he simply ran through without even slowing down.
I could still see his bright yellow cap ahead, though, and so worked hard to stay in visual touch. By the time we got to the 4km mark I had almost caught up to him and at this point we hit the first and biggest hill of the course. It went for about 300m and so I put my head down and focused on staying strong to the top, hoping I would still be in touch with Pete at the top. Alas, by the time I got to the top he had gone out of sight and I wouldn't see him again until the finish line.
The rest of the run, however, went better than planned. I kept a bit of an eye on my watch and was amazed to be seeing kilometre splits all sub 5:30 and one split a 4:46! I knew I was ahead of my target pace, then, and figured I had probably technically gone out too fast. However as with the half marathon decided I just needed to back myself and hang on until the end, hoping like anything that I wouldn't blow up.
At the 8km mark we reached the crest of a hill and saw the ocean at Cronulla beach for the first time. It's always a great sight, however I knew that the last kilometre of this run is always tough. Sure enough, 1500m to go and we turn hard left at Cronulla and head parallel to the shore to the Wanda Surf Lifesaving Club, where the finish line is.
By this stage I was busy checking and rechecking my splits and average pace, which had been consistently sitting around 5:09 - a pace I never hit in training! But I was also suffering big time and this last section is really tough. It seems like there are never ending hills and it feels like the longest 1500m ever. Finally we turn right into the carpark and head around the corner and downhill again to the finish line, at the same time I'm continuing to run past people and chick a few blokes. That always feels good, but not as good as seeing my time as I crossed the finish.
No, I didn't do last year's time of 65 minutes.
No, I didn't do this year's half marathon pace of 61 minutes.
No, I didn't do my "awesome" time of 60 minutes.
I backed myself, pushed hard, and hung in there for 57 minutes 17 seconds.
Job. Done.
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