B2B - 10k & 12k PB

(Shot taken last year).

Had taken the last 2 days off with the reprise of my cold. Didn't sleep too well, visions of the race unfolding; paranoia about sleeping in; anxiety about my 'elite' entry & whether I could make the grade...

Made sure I got to the start early after last year's late effort. 'My' street was closed this year but no matter, extra warm-up time. Carried a bag of warm stuff to put on at the other end but this wasn't necessary as it turned out. Managed to put the bag on the baggage truck that left last rather than the one that was up front. Discovered a road that loops underneath the Gateway Bridge & managed to run a good warm-up there. Met a few other PCRGers. Noted Dickson Marwa was back to defend his title. He had a great couple of weeks last year when he won B2B, C2S & the Noosa HM. Started his campaign well with a 34min winning time.

Very nice to have a 'blue' entry. About 50m had been reserved & no one was lining up, everyone skulking by the sidelines. Saw Felicity Abram was back to defend her win from last year. Instead of the 6.50am start they kept us back until 7am. Managed to be 3 rows back & was pleased to be running freely unlike last year when I was dodging traffic for a couple of ks.

Surprised to see the 45min pacers catch me going down the bridge. I'm a shocker for going out too fast but these guys were right there, balloons in my face. Equally surprised to be overtaking Claire Geraghty around this stage, I was either having a blinder or she was having a shocker. (I had heard the Qld champ was injured / or had the flu so she was probably just using it as a training run). Had to move out of the pacer's way & go past them at the 3k mark & stayed marginally in front of them until 7k.

I had the 1k split times written on the back of my hand, a goal of 45min meant 3min 45 sec ks. Pleased to be right on pace, legs were good, just had to try & relax my breathing. Chris Gale, one of the pacers, was great with his encouragement & calling out the splits. A group of probably only a dozen. I love it when the pacers are able to talk during the race & regularly call out "Good morning" or "G'day" to spectators & friends. The rest of us are quietly grimacing & unable to talk...

I wasn't too phased when the group overtook me, I managed to hook on & use the peleton to draft me along - yeah right. 4ks to go is a milestone, it doesn't seem too far away & generally you know if you're still traveling at a good pace you should be able to almost maintain it until the end. Also, I tend to factor in a last minute surge/ sprint if possible.

Its hilarious really, but I was so focussed on the end result that I didn't even realise I had run a PB for 10k - 37.15. I haven't run a 10k race since Good Friday & my PB stood at 38.00 set last year at the River Run. I ran the Doomben 10k in June but the course ended up being 8.8k after a marshal turned us around early by mistake. I ended up with a none too shabby 32.32 & estimated I would've come in in the high 36s. Must've been a bit delirious at that stage & was dropping off by 10m or so.

1k to go & the fella next to me offered some encouragement, we were by now the back markers of the 45min group. I did manage to pick it up a bit. Unsure of the actual finish cos they'd changed the route again. Finally saw the clock & it was in the 43s, couldn't believe it, stopped my watch at 44.05 meaning the last k was run in 3min 5, highly unlikely. That last k definitely seemed short & I heard it mentioned that a Garmin measured the course as 11.75ks. Anyway, a big PB of about 2 & a half minutes on last year. Unlike last year I didn't have to stop for the stitch with 500m to go. Managed to avoid this scenario by steering well clear of the drinks stations & by not eating anything first thing.

Spent the obligatory half hour queuing for my bag & stood up on the bus all the way back. Back to the harsh reality - off to work, but at least I'm smiling.