12k & reflecting on my first 10 marathons

Saturday Ran 12km in 74min Hr 165.
Hilly bitumen course. Was a bit sluggish early on pushing into headwind, and didnt really start to find good rhythm until about 20 minutes into it. Ran well for about 40 minutes or so, and drank my 400ml water bottle. Got to top of hill near lake, then had some soreness in left knee, walked for a bit, then got going again, It was 24 degrees when I started and 27 degrees when I finished, so started to notice the heat a little in the last 10 minutes. Should have taken more drinks...

37.33/ splits. Nice to negative split.
Wasn't expecting much, just trying to get something going again after 5 days off following the Marathon, and celebrating wedding anniversary in Busselton.

Was planning to run a 20km-25km today at Walyunga around 7am..., but got called in for a 2000-0400 shift at work last night (which I couldn't afford to say no to, with the struggle to pay rent next week, partly due to me taking a week off work for Melbourne trip, and wedding anniversary overnighter), and by the time I finished that I'd been awake for 22 hours, and was very tired, needed sleep desperately, and am going to have to ramp up the night work I think in the next few months to catch up on bills, so its not going to be possible to maintain the same focus I had for Melbourne, but can still try and hold onto the momentum, and try and build towards next year...John Gilmour 10k track race in a few weeks, peninsula 5k or 10k, and maybe 6 inch 45km in December are the only goal races on my horizon for 2009. If I had the money I'd go over for the Great Australian Run 15km in Melbourne on November 29th. Some short triathlons, or maybe some track running might be options for the summer, or maybe some mountainbiking...

My first 10 marathons finished in chronological order;

3.55.02 secs (Perth 2004) good focused training for this one

4.32 (Rottnest 2004) 3 weeks prep for this hilly one as mates were going over for it

4.02 (Perth 2005) seriously went after PB but came up short,fiancee and brother there

4.18 (Perth 2006) got married a few months later, didnt really do enough prep

4.33 (Perth 2007) trained well, but major blister break(20min) wrecked it

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4.10 (Melbourne 2007) could have trained better but solid prep, perfect race

3.55.10 (Perth 2008) trained well, excellent race, missed PB by 8 seconds

4.41 (Perth 2009) wasnt really ready, had a go, but was in terrible condition

4.42 (Perth City to Surf) first 20k ok, kings park hills walkfest, solid finish bit of a training run/funfest...

4.11 (Melbourne 2009)Excellent training, 16min toilet, 4min blister breaks, first 14k good, maybe should have been more PRE-ish 8k onwards.

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If I can 1. keep the body from breaking down under the load of injuries I have accumulated, especially in 2008/2009, 2. hit similiar but slightly better training to what I did in August to October 2009, 3. build on the lifestyle and fitness improvements in August 2009-October 2009, 4. get it right on raceday (race pace fast enough but not too fast, toilet issues, blister issues, chafe issues, drinks and maybe gels strategy,)
then surely sub 3.30 and maybe even sub 3 hours is there for the taking.
Reckon I was in 3.30-3.50 condition at least for MELBOURNE 2008 (DNF at 23km due to ankle "explosion"), and MELBOURNE 2009...

Getting married in 2006, our son being born in July 2007, ankle injury October 2008, new night job from December 2008 onwards, moving house in February 2009, hammy injury in early 2009, have been some major events that have made it hard to keep staying focused, and have involved some mini-comebacks for me trainingwise. I'm conscious of the need to work towards buying our own house, and doing some career development, as our family needs both of those, especially the career development for me, and the weekly struggle to pay the bills and pay rent has been such a challenge for us in 2009, we have gone from living from pay to pay, to an even worse situation. I am very grateful to my parents for helping us out during the tough times this year. Hopefully better times ahead.

Interesting article in current edition October/November 2009 of R4YL magazine on page 54 by Cindy King called "Baby on board the fathers perspective", one of the things mentioned is the importance of a supportive wife.
Thats something that doesnt always happen by accident, its usually something you have to work hard at, developing, encouraging a supportive wife. A lot of what God says about marraige rings true here, for example if you are to truly love (i.e take action to encourage the best outcome for another) see 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 for example , and truely be at one with them they need to actively share in what you are doing in some way, especially when it is a major interest.

Some of what God says about marraige can be seen in Song of Solomon which is an entire book of the Bible detailing an intimate relationship between Lover (Man) and Beloved (Woman), or Proverbs 31:10-31, or the origin of marraige in Genesis 1:27 and 2:24. Genesis means beginnings. Much other relevant wisdom from God our Creator and Redeemer in the Bible....
Ephesians 5:22-33 has some good thingsto say about the marraige between the Christ and the Church, and some spin-offs on how marraige between Man and Woman should work.
My favourite Perth band Grave Forsaken writes about church groups that have lost sight of what God wants in one of their best thrash metal songs Mother of Harlots...

Thats why I felt it important when I got married that Kathryn learn to run a bit, and she raced the Rottnest 5km and Fremantle Half 5km support races in 2005. Having a baby and problems with her knee injury, have caused problems there, although I attempted to help her resolve the knee injury with a visit to Sportsmed this year. Unfortunately they were unable to identify the problem, and recommended physiotherapy, something we have not been able to afford as yet, but hopefully will soon.

However she has still been a part of things in 2 races in 2008 and 2009, as she took young Jacob in the pram in the City to Surf 4km both years and also got young Jacob (2 years this year) to walk the 5km on the Melbourne Marathon weekend. I think they enjoyed the experience a lot more this year, as last year he was too young to walk all the way, and they went a lot faster in the City to Surf this year too.

When I was doing sports science units in the mid to late 1990's at Edith Cowan Joondalup university, while looking for references for an assignment I came across a very interesting book called "I'll meet you at the finish" (1987, Human Kinetics, Chris Pepper Shipman)which talked a lot about these sorts of challenges, of how serious athletes combine that strong interest (some would say obsession) with their marraige successfully.
Chris Pepper Shipman is from California, USA, and she became a bit of a runner partly due to her Marathoning husband...So it highlights the importance of giving your wife opportunities to run with you, or help with race support, so thats something I have been trying hard to do better in the last year or two...

Have invested the majority of my tax refund on Melbourne Marathon attempts in the last 3 years, and 4.10/DNF /4.11 is a worthwhile return, but still waiting for the big breakthrough. If that was the end of my marathoning (the 2009 Melbourne Marathon), it was a decent way to finish, and to share it with my wife Kathryn and 2 year old son Jacob, and for all three of us to get onto the MCG (photos coming soon) and share the exhilaration afterwards, are moments I will always treasure as something special no matter what happens in the future.

Will we have another shot in 2010/2011, well I'd like to, but I am not sure if we will make it in 2010, as I feel the main goals i wanted us to do as a family have been achieved. The disaster mof 2008 has been erased now, so there is a sense of closure and satisfaction,contentment there mentally for me. job done. mission accomplished.

That said, getting a PB doesnt seem so important, however I still want it and I still want sub 3 hours, maybe better (sub 2.45 for a preferred start would be my wildest dream at the moment with marathons) and might make a lightning dash over for Melbourne Marathon again in 2010 or 2011...

It would be good to explore some other races too, maybe 6 foot, Canberra marathon, Alice Springs mara , Bunbury mara, Great Ocean road, Townsville mara, Sydney Half mara, a 12 hr or 24 hour race, Kep Ultra, or track running, Triathlons, mountainbiking, hiking the Bibbulumn Track, climbing Mountains, going surfing at the beach, playing tennis and golf, Australian Open tennis, my wife wants to go to Bathurst, (holden fan that she is), AFL game in Melbourne, Chicago Marathon? etc etc etc etc If i ever got the knees fixed, maybe even another shot at making an Australian team as a racewalker or runner, although at present I wouldnt make a state team, so a long way to go, if that is still a chance...What does God want me to do, what is best for our family, lots of questions to consider. Are my injuries concerns becoming to serious, has my fitness declined too much to reverse things enough...what about work/family/friends balance...lots of things to consider...
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In fastest time order;

3.55.02 secs (Perth 2004)

3.55.10 (Perth 2008)

4.02 (Perth 2005)

4.10 (Melbourne 2007)

4.11 (Melbourne 2009)

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4.18 (Perth 2006)

4.32 (Rottnest 2004)

4.33 (Perth 2007)

4.41 (Perth 2009)

4.42 (Perth City to Surf 2009)