Gold Coast 2022, July 02

Probably woke up about once an hour so didn't need an alarm clock, but didn't feel too tired once 4:00am finally arrived.

Tried something a bit different and just had some Gatorade and lollies before the race, usually have some breakfast biscuits or muesli bars but found they don't always sit well afterwards.

It had been raining all night and conditions still didn't look good from the window. I walked down to the tram station in a singlet at around 4:45am, it was freezing cold so I was relieved the tram (or light rail) came along soon after. The tram took 30 minutes to get to Southport but was full after about three stops - the exact reason why I booked a hotel at Broadbeach this year. I'm still not sure how those people actually make it to the race on time.

Got to the event start at about 5:30am which was good timing, there was a bit of room for a warmup but I also didn't want to miss getting a spot near the start of the race, so only did 1.5 kilometres. I was lining up where the fence was supposed to be opened up for Group A to enter, then people just broke open the fence further ahead on their own.

I still got to about the third row behind the elites and preferred runners - need to be at least 1 hour 17 minutes to make the second of those groups, which is a bit exclusive. Soon we were off but I was stuck behind people all over the course running slower than four minutes per kilometres. Since it was so dark it was a bit more difficult to navigate through, so I just waited until the gaps appeared after a couple of minutes.

For the first few kilometres my hamstrings in particular were feeling a bit sore, possibly suggesting I hadn't had enough rest before the race, which was a worry with so far to go. That problem went away then I started to have my knee problem which had been happening for the last two months during any fast runs. Somehow that came and went quickly and I was able to run through the first half with most splits around 3:45 to 3:50 per kilometre.

The best part of the race is probably seeing all the elite men and women coming back the other way at the turn around point, by this stage they were at least one kilometre ahead, if not more.

I skipped the early drink stations but then decided to get some in the second half, around about the time I started to have my first challenges at the 13 kilometre mark. I was starting to find the same speed harder to maintain but was able to fight through it and stay under 3:50 per kilometre.

Only at about 18 kilometres I really started hurting again, and just had to try and make it through one kilometre at a time. Somehow again I managed to maintain the same speed, each kilometre trying to calculate if I was under 1 hour 20 minutes pace - which is my long term goal, but I didn't expect to reach it today. The Garmin watch was about 100 metres ahead of the course markers which also made things a bit uncertain.

After I got to 20 kilometres I was confident I could make the finish and also get under my target time - even the gun time. I crossed the finish line with 1:19:37 on the clock, but official time was 1:92:28.

Picked up the finished medal and a free Asics t-shirt at the finish line, and some brand of electrolyte drink. I didn't hang around too long and then got back on the tram to the hotel.

I was considering doing a short run when I got back but my left achilles was feeling a bit sore and tight so skipped that - apparently it can be a small side effect of these high stack 'super shoes' which I don't wear often.

Back to Pacific Fair before lunch to the Doughnut Boss shop for some great donuts, and got some different varieties of flavoured milk drinks - not that much different to Melbourne. Dropped that stuff off at the hotel and then back on the tram to Surfers Paradise to walk around for a bit and get some lunch. Bumped into Trent near the Cavill Avenue sign while he was preparing for the marathon the next day.

The usual Surfers Paradise sign.

Two remaining donuts - custard beats jam any day.

Picked up a gingerbread Mountain Dew on the way, which was really disappointing, far too much cinnamon taste. Finished the day a bit early since my legs were complaining from doing too much walking after the race - a good lesson for next time.

Staying hydrated.

Watched the live stream replay of the half marathon while eating dinner, the coverage was good, not sure if I was on the other side of the road when they were filming the leaders on the men's and women's race, but at the finish they were on a commercial break when I would have been crossing the line.