Fraser Darcy

Summary:

• I tapered off my training this week by removing some afternoon runs from Wednesday onwards.
• Tuesday’s session, my Wednesday mid week long run and Friday’s session were all also a little bit reduced.
• Travelled up to Sunshine Coast on Saturday via Sydney. Pretty stress-free. Lost my wallet somewhere.
• Ran 1:07:29 for a half marathon and finished 10th. 85% happy with it.
• Travelled back fine and pulled up alright.

Expanded weekly report:

If you’re more interested in unpacking the above summary then it’s great to have you tuning in for another blog post. If you’re not interested in this expanded version of events, then what are you doing still reading?

On Monday I ran an easy 15km’s along the Sturt River. Wasn’t anything special, maybe I ran a bit quicker only coming off a 90 minute long run the day before. I jumped in the sauna, did some washing at home, some other jobs and then rewarded myself with a nice afternoon double. I ended up running 10km’s on this double trying to get some early km’s in for the week but also thought it mightn’t have been the greatest idea at the time. Oh well, I did it and I enjoyed it.

Tuesday was a session of ‘k’ repeats at RunAsOne. Always good fun to try and encourage a bit more intensity out of people with music and yelling at them on the bike. My own session a few hours later went pretty well too. I was given instructions of running slightly slower than I ended up doing but I felt my effort was right. The session was 2km, 90 seconds rest, 4*1km with 60 seconds rest between. Connor, Adam and myself also trained with another runner from another group, Isaac, who happened to be in the area at the time and joined us for our first 2km rep and cool down. I wore some new Alphafly 3’s and thought pre-session that with a tapered long run and some new shoes I might be ‘on’ for this session. Wasn’t to be really. Yes, I ran fast, averaging under 3:00/km for all the reps but Adam and especially Isaac had me covered. Was it the fact I was already thinking about Sunday’s race? Or was it also my stomach which was a bit iffy from breakfast that morning for some reason? Did it matter? I still ran faster than the prescribed paces and had fun doing so.

I also had fun running an easy run later that afternoon for the final time that week.

Wednesday. The taper is getting serious from here. Instead of the 2hrs I’d been doing on Wednesday’s I went for only 80 minutes this time. I find tapering difficult because I enjoy running so doing less of it is therefore less enjoyable overall. I find practicing tapering in readiness for my upcoming marathons makes it seem more palatable. I have to taper for those marathons so I may as well get used to the feeling this week in preparation for Sunshine Coast. I ran shorter on this run and felt my sore hip from the past couple of weeks was getting better. With no afternoon run on the schedule I had time to go climbing with my mate Liam who was down in Adelaide. We both climbed pretty well, I enjoyed getting back on the rock and we had a pub meal afterwards as it might be the last time I see old mate Liam for a while. All that climbing and eating helped distract me from the fact I was missing an easy afternoon run. You could argue that skipping a 30 minute jog for a few hours climbing and walking isn’t really tapering and I’d probably agree but the whole concept of not running in the afternoon was at least practiced for the next taper. And I wanted to go climbing too which was important.

Thursday. Easy hour along the beach, a sauna afterwards, a bit of computer admin and that’s about it for the day. Really not a lot going on Thursday. Even had time to go to the library and borrow a couple of books.

Friday. Still not a lot going on. Put the cones out for a tempo run at RunAsOne. All very easy, rode around on the bike for thirty minutes. Waited at the RunHouse afterwards for Adam to go for a shorter tempo run of my own (12 minutes worth of temp + warm up and cool down). Went out for lunch for Dad’s birthday for the rest of the day. Was a bit tired afterwards as a result but figured I’d use it as preparation for Sydney marathon where I’ll be in Sydney from Friday onwards for that race.

Saturday. Got up early for an easy 6km run along Shepherds Rill road. When I went to Brisbane last month on a similar 9am flight as I had organised for this trip I spent the whole day waiting for my afternoon run when I got to Brisbane. So instead, I went for a jog in the morning and was much more content throughout the day. I was travelling up with Jacob and met him at the airport, chatted a bit and then got on the plane to Sydney. Last time I flew I also left my drink bottle behind so I was doing my best to make sure that didn’t happen throughout the trip.

Landed in Sydney, got some lunch, sat around chatting for an hour or so, all pretty cruisy. Got back on a plane to fly to Maroochydore, relaxed on that flight too. Got off the plane, thought I haven’t seen my wallet since Sydney, don’t tell me I’ve lost that this time…Yep. No wallet. Ah well. What’s gone is gone. I wasn’t too stressed about it knowing there was just replaceable cards in there and no cash. Yeah, a bit annoying but something I always console myself with when I’m worried I’ve lost anything is at least I still have all my body parts right? I can always find a replacement phone, wallet, clothes, shoes etc. A bit morbid to think about it but as long as I’ve got my body then I’ll be able to sort out any problem.

Which I did. I locked my bank card and will wait to see if some friendly soul hands my wallet into lost property at Sydney airport. If not, I’ll just get a new one and try not to make the same mistake again. Back on land in Maroochydore Jacob and I grabbed an Uber, checked into the hotel and then went for an arvo jog. I might’ve not needed this easy jog but I was keen to see some of the course and stretch out my legs. Turned out to be a good idea as I saw the big hill early on in the course and was able to recalibrate what I expected of it.

Back at the hotel we watched the end of the Men’s Marathon and then went out for dinner. Again, I wasn’t too stressed about what I was having for dinner or what the plan was. My nonchalant attitude was probably due to the fact travelling with someone you know makes things a lot easier (and more enjoyable) and also I was using this trip as a test trip for Sydney Marathon. If I could remain relaxed throughout the travel and logistics for this race, and then race well, I would be confident leading into Sydney. For dinner in the end we ended up wandering out of the hotel on the lookout for some pizza, saw the RSL, stopped in there, didn’t see any pizza on the menu but found a couple of options, learnt they’d sold out of the options we were interested in so went for two kids meals each of Pasta with Napoli sauce. Brilliant result in the end! We smashed that, back to the room to watch some of the Bombers game, I already knew we were going to lose (and we did with a goal after the siren, classic Essendon) so turned it off at half time without any stress wasted on watching them.

Sunday, race day. Up at 3:50am to watch the Men’s 5000m final. Result was as expected. Two piece of plain white bread (no toaster facilities available) and a black coffee for breakfast while we watched the Women’s 1500m final. Result was as hoped. Jess Hull came second. Couple of visits to the toilet after the coffee and then it was on the elite bus at 4:55am. The bus took us about two minutes down the road where we were stopped by the road closure and had to walk to get into the elite athlete room.

Pretty cool experience getting to hang out in the elite athlete room with others about to race the National Half Marathon Championships or even in the marathon. There were a lot of people whose results I constantly see in big domestic races so to be in the same room as them was cool. Jacob and I warmed up with another SA girl (who ended up coming 3rd), did our strides and then got to the start line. I had been tossing and turning on my plan in the week leading up to the race. On one hand, my main focus has always been running well at Sydney Marathon so I have trained a lot with that goal in mind. On the other hand, running well over the half marathon would be a great confidence booster so finding a compromise between freshening up to race well and get a new PB and still training a lot for Sydney was another tactic. Some of my recent results had given me confidence that I was in PB shape and could maybe run somewhere in the 66 minute range if I had a great day. The uncontrollable’s of the weather would also play a role in that as would my second goal for this race… to actually be in a race with people. Too often in races in SA I end up time trialling, and doing well at it I might add, so wanted to get some experience at racing a half marathon properly.

With all that in mind, I wound up standing on the start line with the following idea in mind. Get in a race with the second pack as first priority. Don’t average any faster than 3:05/km (65 minute pace) as that’s my ultimate ceiling. Try and hang on for a PB. And finish Top 10.

Off the start line I went out in somewhere around 13th place, felt good and relaxed, looked at my watch to check it had started and shit, it hasn’t started. I pressed start and asked the bloke next to me how many seconds I’d missed (about forty five) and then looked up and realised there was an obvious lead pack with Jacob in it and then two other guys who I recognised as people with 65:30 potential or PB’s and then a small gap and then me and this guy who helped tell the time for me. Hmmmm, do I comfortably sit here with this guy or stick to my game plan of trying to race in the second group? Fuck it, let’s get to the second group. They had about five to ten seconds on me and I worked hard at maintaining the gap as we went up the only big hill in the course. On the downhill over the other side I let my legs go and caught up. Excellent, I’m right where I want to be. After a few km’s with these two guys I looked at my watch again and we were averaging 3:06/km. Even better. This is the group I had to sit in for as long as possible.

It felt like a perfect pace as well. We rolled through the first 7km’s still averaging around that 3:06-3:08/km mark on track for 66:30 at least. When you stand on a start line not knowing how it’ll all go, if you’ll get in the second pack, if you’ll average the pace you want etc. to then be 7km’s in and going fine was great. The only unknown from there was how it’ll feel in another 7km’s and whether the wind was going to pick up. The forecasted SE wind was meant to be giving us a tailwind on these next few km’s but it didn’t feel like that 100% of the time. The heat/humidity I was also concerned about after my last Brisbane experience didn’t bother me either. A 6am start with temperatures of 13-15 degrees helps but the 85% humidity was a bit of a test probably (I say probably because I never felt overheated so maybe the sauna sessions worked or it just wasn’t too bad?).

By now in the race we were rolling through 10km’s in 31:26. A minute down on my official PB over the distance and a pretty handy spot to be in if I was going to run 66:30. I went through a bit of a rough patch at the 11km mark feeling like I was getting dropped a bit by the group (which had grown by one from someone who had fallen off the front group). I picked it up to be still on pace comfortably at 14km but was definitely mentally feeling the challenge of running. How far until this bloody turnaround. That’s probably something to recognise for next time, try to stay a bit more positive for a bit longer.

At the turnaround we started running back south and straight into the SE winds. Ah yep, that’s a headwind. The three of us who had been running together from the start started to drift apart from here on. At the 15km mark it was probably only a handful of seconds. At the 16km mark, 5km to go, it was over fifteen seconds. I was looking at my watch trying to do the sums of how slow I could run the next five km’s and still break 67:30. I was also hoping that I was still in the Top 10 as that’s kind of a nice number too. With 4km’s to go I started to really hit the wall right when I was hoping to pick it up. The nice part about hitting the wall this far out is you know you at least gave it a crack trying to run 66:30 or the time you had intended. The bad part is of course you are 4km’s out from the finish and in this instance, without a group to run with and just battling it out to get to the finish. I was disappointed afterwards I didn’t tap into my usual mindset of I’m at my limit, revel in that and try and focus on just breaking through the limit. Instead, I was more just focused on hanging on for dear life. At the 19/20km mark I felt particularly cooked going through a slight bend and was almost worried for a second I wouldn’t make it to the finish. My chest also felt very tight like I was running a hard 5km so I at least know I was giving it everything I had. I just didn’t have enough to finish as fast as I hoped.

I did finish though in 1:07:29 for 10th place. Less than a minute behind the two guys who I ran with for most of the way and I wasn’t passed by anyone from behind so that makes me glad as that has been my downfall in interstate trail races. So from that context, I’m happy with my race tactics of choosing to bridge the gap early and not drifting too far back to let anyone pass me. I’m happy with my race efforts as well considering I pushed myself pretty well to the end. I did think to myself, it’d be nice at least in the scenario that even if I don’t get my goal time I at least can be recognised as someone who tried to go for it, fell of the pace at the end and still dragged the best out of themselves with what they had on the day. I’m not sure I’m happy with the conditions on the day. None of the other top 10 runners ran a PB which is an indication it was a slow day. Maybe it was windy, maybe it’s the hill, who knows. The effort and process is all that really matters. I think I’m happy with my training/taper process/strategy. If I was really targeting just this one race I probably would’ve liked to do more consistent weeks of 20-30 minute thresholds on Friday’s as opposed to running all of the different races I have. Those races are great and I enjoy them but they are all slightly above threshold so not quite the most specific training for a half marathon. I also might’ve tapered a bit heavier leading into the race but as I prefaced earlier, I’m also focused on my marathon preparation. Lastly, I’m happy with my travel processes which was a big tick from this weekend. If I put my climbing hat on, to fly to another state, get off the plane, tick a PB climb in a new environment first day of the trip would be unheard of. To do that in a running sense, in my first big interstate road race is pretty cool then. It’s overall a pretty cool way to spend a weekend, fly interstate, get a free hotel, free entry, $150 to help cover flights/food, run 67:29 for a half marathon. That’s all pretty cool. The time in the end would’ve been nicer to be in the 66’s but 67:29 is still an official PB. At the time I thought my PB was 67:26 as that’s what my Strava recorded my McLaren Vale Half marathon effort in 2023 as (which I am now even more impressed with as I also didn’t really train specifically for that event or taper for it, but it was in SA so that’s saying something…). However, on checking the official results from that event I was actually timed as 67:33, so my PB is now officially 67:29 (and for what it’s worth even though my watch started late, it still registered 21.1km’s so I set a new PB according to Strava of 66:46, which doesn’t count for anything as you can’t rely on the GPS).

So after that discussion you can hopefully see how I came to be 85% happy with my result. If I had hung on to the two fellas in front of me for 66:40 that would’ve made me 100% happy. But I didn’t. And the fact I didn’t gives me more motivation to try again next time. The next time I race those guys mightn’t be till 2025 so that’s a bit disappointing but oh well, I don’t forget who I lose to in races and I very much enjoy trying to beat people who have beaten me before as it’s a good measuring stick.

I do hope to race this event again next year as the whole elite experience was very fun. After the race Jacob and I jogged back to the hotel, had a free breakfast and then I had a swim on the rooftop pool. That’s pretty cool for a Sunday morning. I’ll definitely put my hand up again to represent Team SA at the event and it definitely motivates me to try and improve my qualifying position in case others are desperate next year to be apart of it. If I do race it next year maybe I’ll read this blog again and put more emphasis on training at 3:05-3:10/km. I still believe in the training philosophy that as long as you’re getting in lots of easy running volume, hitting a fast workout (sub 3:00/km’s) once a week at least and racing often then you’ll be fit for no matter what event you aim for but it would be interesting to try a different strategy. Apart from that, and maybe easing off a bit more aggressively in the two weeks leading into the race, I wouldn’t change how I went about the whole race. The other overall overarching question of the experience was did it lead to me becoming a better runner? Absolutely. I am a lot more confident travelling to an interstate road race and being apart of the elite field now. I am also confident that I can pull a solid race together off the training I have been doing having now raced well over 8km’s, 10km’s XC, 21.1km’s and also 30km’s over the past month. This begs the question, how does it all translate to running a marathon well?

Well in just under two weeks now I’ll be finding out. I have entered the Adelaide Marathon in less than two weeks time and will be aiming to win that for the second year in a row. There’s an interesting mix of runners assembled and I may need to run a PB to win it or I may not, depending on how the other elites perform. I think the safest scenario to ensure I win is to race how I did in this race and Hills 2 Henley, by sitting with other runners and then hopefully running off the front in the last ten km’s. If I prepare myself to run a PB on the day then worst case scenario, I run a PB and don’t win. BUT! That’s not even the next race I have lined up. On Sunday is the State 5km Road Champs and I’ll be entering that at this stage to use it as my final fast hit-out before the marathon. Again, I don’t know if my recent training is specific enough to run a 5km PB and also given the fact I raced to my absolute limit at the Sunshine Coast whether I’ll be fresh enough to race to my limit again but I’m curious to find out how it will go and a race is always fun too (provided I go in with the right tactics, which I believe I’m making better tactical decisions than I did twelve months ago!). I think I’ll structure my week so I do one more long run between now and the 5k race, use the 5k race as my ‘Tuesday’ session of the week leading into Adelaide and then just jog and freshen up during marathon week.

Of course if you want to know how that plan eventuates, read along next week to find out. Until then, thanks for reading this week and thanks to those who flicked me a text or commented on my Strava saying congrats, very appreciated of it!