Last weekend Morv and I went to Melbourne for the weekend, for the Melbourne Marathon. Morv did the MaraFun 7.5km event in an impressive time, and I slacked off by 36 seconds compared to my performance in the Adelaide Marathon this year.

Melbourne Marathon October 8th 2006 – 3:26:46
Adelaide Marathon August 27th 2006 – 3:26:10

Considering I had only done literally one run since the Adelaide Marathon, I was hardly trained up for the Melbourne Marathon. In this respect, I’m extremely happy to have just finished let alone got so close to my best time!

The problem I had with the Adelaide Marathon was dehydration, so for the Melbourne Marathon I supplemented myself with the usual electrolyte drink containing sodium and potassium for a few days beforehand, however this drink I tried now also contains magnesium, which particularly helps to hydrate the muscles. I’ve also been taking regular glycosamine supplements, which is pretty much nutrition for the joints. So hopefully I won’t have to have a knee reconstruction before the age of 30!

The problem I had with the Melbourne Marathon wasn’t dehydration, but going too hard at the start. The reason I went too hard at the start was because I met this guy Andrew at the start line who was the most motivating person I’ve ever met in terms of running. He convinced me I can do that 3:15:00 time I’d been hoping for. I sat on a 3:12:00 pace for about 28km until I realised I wasn’t going to be able to finish if I kept doing this pace. By about 30km Andrew passed me and spurred me on for another km or so, and then by 32km I was walking on and off! I possibly lost it mentally when my GPS lost reception and didn’t pick up again. It really motivates me seeing whenever I start to decrease in speed slightly, so not having my little virtual training partner abusing me when I started to slip really didn’t help. Also, I didn’t have my DNB music this run because I realised at the start line that I didn’t have the extension piece for my earbuds of my mp3 player to reach the actual mp3 player! That was a huge setback.

It’s been just over a week now since the run, and I’m feeling pretty well. I think this has been my best post-marathon recovery to date. I even did the corporate cup 7.2km run on Wednesday (3 days after the marathon) albeit in 50 minutes rather than the usual 30 minutes!

Apart from the run, I had a great weekend with Morv. We met up with her friend Susan during the day and did some shopping. That afternoon we went to the MADsens house for an early dinner. I love seeing my cousins – they’re coming here for Christmas, and it’s going to be the best Christmas ever! Sunday morning was the run, and after passing out in the hotel room for a few hours we went to Lygon St. for dinner, and came home. I was so hungry by the time we got to dinner and here’s the photo to show it! I even saw my dream motorbike. What a weekend!