It did not start to well with the littlest h vomiting at home, and once on the trip up. He was ok but mum and dad were a bit wary.
I went up the coast not expecting a great deal from myself, after the GC the main goal was to run the entire distance. I had a few demons to get rid of after the GC and was hopeful, but was realistic that GC had to have taken a bit out of me and it was not that long ago.
It was 6am start and as per almost always 5:59am I needed to pee, the first section took us up to Mooloolaba which gave me the opportunity to go the "Loo with a View" a must do on any visit to Mooloolaba. As we hit the top of the hill the sun broke the horizon, and was a very spectacular way to start the day.
 |
| Mooloolaba Sunrise |
I decided to start out about 5:30min per k and then make decisions based on how i was feeling along the way. For some reason the 4h pace runner was doing the same pace which was great for me as it gave me a good pack to run with. I started chatting to a guy in BBT singlet, Gerry. It was fantastic running the first 14k at the pace I wanted to, chatting away to Gerry and really enjoying being out there. It was at about this time that the 4h pace runner must have checked his progress and realised he was going just a little bit quick and backed off. I kept going at the same pace and was feeling really good so decided i would try to lift just a little.
 |
| Chatting away |
The course was 4 laps at first I thought this would be a bad thing, but I actually found it really good. It enabled me to see my support crew 8 times as I went round. they were amazing, i forgot my sunnies in the morning but they were delivered to me no worries as were some ice-poles, high five's and big cheers. Never mind the finish line I would never get to the start without the support I get.
 |
| Me and my Support Crew |
 |
| Coming in for a high five with my biggest fans |
As we were on lap 2 the half marathoners started to go through, I also found this helpful as they all seemed so fresh and gave off good energy. On the 3rd lap I found myself going through the tail of the half marathoners as they finished. I found myself encouraging them to finish, enjoy the experience and celebrate the achievement of finishing when they get there. This really helped me keep my mind on the job especially as I approached the 32-34k mark. This is the point in the previous marathons that I have started to fall apart.
When I got to this point I started to go past other marathoners who struggling, I tried to encourage them on. I would tell them they had done the training and that they could do it, they only had 5k to go which they can run easy and things like that. Quickly I realised I was telling myself these things and they were really driving me on. My last 10k was fantastic. They hurt, they felt fast, I ran them strong and finished feeling all the satisfication and pride that I was hoping for.
 |
| Powering to the finish |
I ran the course in 3:45:15.
This is a 14min improvement on my best time and a 35min turn around on the GC just 7 weeks earlier.
My friend Chris also ran his fastest time 2:57something, and as you can see from the pic below we were both pretty happy with ourselves.
 |
| Happy runners |
It was the first ever the Sunny Coast marathon and was a great day of running. They had 2.5k, 5k, 10k, half and full marathon events. It all seemed to run very well and I would recommend it as an event to enter.
So the trip up to the Sunny Coast was well worth it and I am feeling great.
The bridge to brisbane is Sunday which should be enjoyable without being quick.
Then it is back into Tri training with Noosa only 68 days away.
