Move over Sally Field

Yesterday was the Launceston Ten, so today I ran my version of it along the Bike Track.

It was a pleasant 13-14 degrees  and the pouring rain held off until I had arrived back home. There were a few sprinkles but not much to worry about - though there were a number of puddles I had to negotiate because of the rain from the last couple of days. The only thing that made the run hard - basically, though not completely, on the homeward bound leg - was the 50k+ buffeting winds along the exposed sections of the track and also, at times, to the tunnelling effect it created through parts of the bush.

This is the third time I have run this "race". In 2009 I ran it in 1:02:34. Last year I ran it in 56:59 and, having done a number of LSDs of late, I initially hoped that I might better that time (especially as I am in my taper period before I "race" in the Gold Coast Half Marathon in just over a week).

When I started out at what I thought would be a good pace I was shocked to see that, after the first couple of hundred metres, I was running slowly at around 5:40/k. Oh, well! However, I kept striding along and gradually my Garmin began to show a more realistic rate. At one stage as I was running along the track with bush on either side I could feel the wind almost lift me off the ground, just like Sally Field, in "The Flying Nun". It was only the once but it did indicate how strong the wind was at that time.

After about 3k my legs told me that I was running more strongly than I had anticipated and I began to muse over how slow the return leg would be into the wind. Well, I turned around at the 5k marker and was hit front on by the wind and could feel myself struggling to keep going. I began to calculate what pace I would need to run at, for the return 5k, to be able to have roughly the same time as last year.

I kept at it - though on the open sections of the track I took a battering from the wind as it blasted straight into my face. However, on the more sheltered spots I could again lengthen my stride and raise the pace.

I reached the end of the course and stopped the clock (my Garmin distance was out of kilter compared to the course, but, then again, I usually find that the out distance differs from the return distance when it is exactly the same distance both ways).

I came in at 54:50, which is a 2:09 PB AND it was fractionally under 5:30/k. Very pleasing considering the conditions. According the the MacMillan Running Calculator I should be able to run the half marathon in 2hrs 2mins, which is getting closer to what I want to achive. However, time will tell.

You can find my splits at http://connect.garmin.com/splits/93631151