Chevron CityToSurf Marathon 2011 recap. Yes, I know I’m a bit late with this, but sitting in front of the computer after this marathon is not what I wanted to do. I you are still interested, keep reading. This was one of these marathons that I’ve enjoyed running. Why?
- Achieved my goal: I shot for a 3:20 finish, and finished in 3:18.
- Followed the plan: had 3 different paces “tatooed” with a sharpie on my forearm: for a 3.15, a 3.20, and a 3.23 finish.
- Drank at every water station (without stopping). No dehydration issues.
- Almost even first and second half. I felt good on Kings Park, and finished strong on Oceanic Dr and West Coast Hwy.
- Perfect weather. Very cool but not cold, a bit overcast, a light breeze. What else could you ask for?
- No rashes (used plenty of vaseline), no blisters, no cramps.
- A very happy upbeat finish.
Unplanned matters and sins:
- Not enough toilet time before the start. We were 5 carpooling and I was distracted about starting the race with an empty gut.
- Mother nature, LOL! 30 minutes into the race, I had to go. With no toilet in sight (I knew the course and had no hope), I had to get off course and visit mother nature. Positive side: I didn’t wait much to decide, I just went; I came back to the race feeling very alleviated; I got a 1 minute rest!
- Coming back, I started passing buddies who I knew had less ambitious goals.. I could see the runner who I was running with far ahead. I started to play catch up, slowly. Not in the plan, that freaked my out a bit.
- Looking back… too fast downhill. I could have been I bit more conservative running downhill.
The aftermath:
- Free massage at the Chevron tent with my friend Ali (Vibrantlife Massage) from NZ -GOOD!!! Free food, like a feast, chit chat with Big Kev (2:49 finish!) and friends. And a 2 km to the car to go pick up my car! That sucked!
- An hour after finishing, carpooling back home, my left hip flexor (LHF) started to hurt pretty bad, to the point where it was difficult to walk. No big deal, most marathons are like that in general… or not?
- At home, got from the waist down into the cold pool. Helped everything but the LHF.
- This has been the longest recovery from a marathon. After 7 days, LHF still hurts. Can walk, but with a limp. It is slowly getting better though.
- What makes my LHF pain worse: sitting, standing still, balancing on my bad side.
- What alleviates it: warm pads, spinning, keeping active. I haven’t been able to go to the pool, but I bet swimming would help, without kicking too hard.
- Haven’t tried nor plan to run yet. But I do have in my plans to runthe Fremantle Half Marathon in a few weeks, and the Melbourne Marathon on Oct 9th.
Stay tuned, and if you want to visit a good physio web site, go to PhysioAdvisor.com
Gilly's Blog 