if i were a cockatoo i'd be one in the blue mountains

heat therapy

grand canyon walk (birds)

wentworth falls (birds)

three sisters (birds)

Mocko picked me up at 5:30am, making us the first runners on the scene and had to hang around in the cold + dark for an hour. At least we weren't late.

Didn't have a goal time, just wanting to finish. At the start thought I'd cruise along with the 3:30 pace group, but the 3:20 was more comfortable (around 4:40) and stuck with them all the way to the top of the hills (17km - 200m elevation from the start of the course), where I dropped them in the descent. I was trying to hold back but was easier to let my legs roll. Dropped 75m on K19 in 4:07.

Passed through half way in 1:40, still feeling good. Was trying to take in gatorade (urgh) to keep electrolytes up, and someone handed me a banana around K25. Good for a few mouthfuls but not ripe :/

Hit the wall solid at 32.5km. Could not keep moving. My pace had dropped ~10s for the last few Ks, but here I lost it. Stopped for a break, 5:42 for the K.

From there really struggled. Stopped at least once every mile, running ~5:20s. Noted I am terrible at running slow - my comfortable death shuffle is still 5:00 pace. Need to fix that...

Tried a GU but couldn't get through it. So sweet :( 3:20 pacer reeled me in with around 8km to go, as he had been doing with rest of the group we ascended with - everyone took off on the descent. I tried to stick with him but that only lasted a few hundred metres.

Had a few good Ks from 38-40 when the elevation started fluctuating a bit, legs needed the mixup. Really hurt starting the forties though. Took another two breaks, then finally the finish revealed itself (600m late by my count!) with a couple of hundred metres uphill to go.

Put it into gear and hammered it home, left nothing on the course.

Aside from my body temperature spacking out afterward (too cold! too hot! nausea!) I seem to have come out rather unscathed injury wise. Appropriately sore though, and wasn't until three hours later I could start taking in food.

Meanwhile, Mocko - stopping for a bathroom break half way - won with a course record (2:28 something), beating the relay team by a clear minute, and picked up some tidy cash and return flights to Hawaii. So I guess I have a bit of work to do.

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Xavier Shay

Oakland Running Festival Marathon

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if i were a cockatoo i'd be one in the blue mountains

heat therapy

grand canyon walk (birds)

wentworth falls (birds)

three sisters (birds)

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