I attempted to sleep early so it would be easier to get up at 4:30am but it didn't really work, plus there was a lot of noise from cars even on the 21st floor. Overall though I managed to sleep alright except for waking up every hour, and didn't feel too tired by the morning.
Before the race I only had a few sips of a sports drink and an energy gel, probably not the best idea for sustained energy. Something I could definitely improve on is my food and drink intake for the night and morning before the race.
After getting ready it was a quick walk down to the tram station, quite cold but not nearly as bad as last year. The next tram was just showing up as I got to the station so I managed to get a seat before the tram soon filled up like usual.
Arriving at Southport station and walking to the race start there was a little over 30 minutes remaining, and they were already announcing the start area were going to be opened. I just got in a quick one kilometre warm up and then made sure to get a good spot near the start of the zone.
The wait for the race start wasn't too painfully slow or cold and then we were off. In the first kilometre it was a little congested so I was slowed down a bit to 4:00/km and also again in the second kilometre which was still over 3:50/km. The inside of my right shoe near the heel felt weird, like there was something loose with the material, but it soon went away.
By the third kilometre the road opened up a bit, and I tried to stay near the middle to avoid the slopes near the gutter. Finally I was getting my time down to 3:45/km or better as I hoped for, then got a nose bleed at about five kilometres, but it didn't seem to last for long.
At the small seven kilometre turnaround I was still feeling good and got through my first gel as we headed up to the halfway checkpoint and eleven kilometre turnaround point.
I was a little surprised to see my watch was a bit over 39:30 at the halfway, meaning I was a bit behind even the modest 79 minute target. After the turnaround my legs started to struggle a bit, probably from a bit of interrupted training.
As we got back on to the more open roads there was a little bit of wind to contend with, probably worth a few seconds, so that could have changed my times from 3:43/km to 3:46/km or so. I was in a bit of a battle again from fourteen kilometres to the end, and another gel and some drink stations didn't have much impact.
Despite the challenges I was still hanging on to about 3:45/km laps, but not quite the 3:43/km I was targeting, and my watch was nearly 200 metres behind the markers now. I thought I would still be quite close to 79 minutes but I didn't have much strength left to speed up at the end, only getting back to 3:40 for the last kilometre.
In the end that extra distance compared to my watch meant I ended up around 79:15 and just missed my second best time overall by a few seconds, although I wasn't aware of it at the time. I'm not sure what to make of these Puma race shoes yet, definitely more comfortable than Nike Vaporfly, but I'm not sure if they performed any better or worse. It's also possible I'm not running fast enough to get the full benefit of either of these shoes.
At the end I just grabbed a medal and a nice yellow and orange finisher shirt, then jumped back on the tram ahead of the crowds. Getting out at the hotel I was still able to walk well enough, but probably wouldn't be running for a while at least.
After getting changed I took a quick trip across to Pacific Fair to buy lunch then watched the half marathon stream on YouTube. The coverage across the men's and women's races was good, and the men's race in particular was close again this year. The 10km race afterwards wasn't very interesting, and they didn't even have any commentary for it.
After resting a little bit more I got back on to the tram to explore around Surfers Paradise for the remainder of my final afternoon already. Cavill Avenue had the usual overload of tourists, street performers and people walking near the beach. They were already setting up for tomorrow's marathon that passes through the area, and had a big screen replaying the half marathon race.
The first Wendy's store in Australia was in operation nearby so I stopped in for a frostee, but it was just like a cup of slightly melted ice cream with a spoon. After some more walking around and a stop at Coles I headed back to the hotel to watch the final Squid Game season 3, which was quite disappointing.
I had to do a bit of creative packing for the morning, in particular due to having an extra pair of shoes to fit in my luggage. With a very early start today and again tomorrow I needed another early night, with an optional quick run in the morning if I felt up to it.
27,841 steps with 22.2km
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