I don't think I have ever known Devonport to be so windy as it has this year, and that didn't make it easy for today's run along the exposed Bike Track from home to Tea Tree Lane.
In spite of the conditions I pushed ahead with my planned run, taking into account the invaluable advice I have received from my unofficial mentor/trainer/personal coach. I set off with the decided intention of not running my splits any faster than 6 mins. I held myself back as well as I could until I eased into a steady pace. However, as you can see from the splits all but three of the first fourteen were under 6.00/k. Oh, well! At least I wasn't pushing myself too hard. Perhaps I should say that the outward 14k was wind assisted (50 km/h gusting to 72 km/h) - but that's not totally correct because I was still getting blasted by cross winds that supposedly came from the west but seemed all over the place.
As I was running by the GPS for distance I went further along the route than last time until the 14k ticked over. Then I turned and really felt the force of the wind, which slightly picked up its intensity though the gusts didn't go above 70 (not that that means a great deal when you run uphill over the exposed Victoria Bridge and so much of the journey was into those buffeting winds.
I passed through the half marathon distance in 2:04:56 (1 min 33 sec slower than last time). On the previous occasion that was where I had had enough and then jogged/walked the final 7k home. Today, however, I kept up my steady pace that still felt comfortable. Just before the 23k mark I had to duck into the toilets near the Viet Vet memorial site and, though it was a stop of less than 2 mins, I could feel my muscles and joints begin to tighten up. Starting up again it was into the gusting wind and I was no longer able to get my rhythm going, meaning my final splits were much slower than I had been running.
I thought that I would walk the final steep hill but didn't need to - though a couple of tourists stopped and asked for directions. That didn't deter me and I kept plodding up hill to finish in a time of 2.51.34.53 or 6.07.66/k. That bettered my previous attempt on that course by 4:58, which shows the benefit of trying to run a more even pace.
I'd love to say that I came home to a big hug - but it was not to be. However, there was a lovely hot bath awaiting for me to relax in while reading Karl Barth's "The Church and the Churches". Far easier to understand than William Wilberforce's "Practical Christianity" which I am trying to plough through at the moment.
Splits can be found at: http://connect.garmin.com/splits/97785191
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
A Disappointing Half Marathon
This week has been a taper week, having run just 15k in two outings during the week and only 25k in three outings since my version of the Launceston Ten. During the week I was getting itchy for a run because I wanted to be fresh for today's half!
Well, today was the day I intended to coincide with tomorrow's Gold Coast Half Marathon. I decided it would be best if I used the Bike Track, as it is the flattest of my courses. I intended to ignore the distance markers and run by the Garmin, which turned out to be more than the distance markers anyway (which is what I have used in the past).
In the morning I mowed the front lawn and was aware that I am able to push the mower around our flat lawn without puffing and panting like I used to do before I took up jogging. If nothing else, at least I can do the mowing much more easily now.
Having loaded my fuel belt bottles with Staminade and my pouch with jelly babies I decided to warm up by walking the kilometre from home to the start of the Bike Track (with its hill). My McMillan Running Calculator told me, based on my recent 10k run, that I should be able to complete today's half in 2.02.01 or 5.47/k. However, being a bit optimistic I though I might like to have a crack at breaking the 2hrs for the run, meaning that I would need to average 5.42/k. With this in mind I planned to run between 5.40 and 5.50/k.
I set off with my Garmin initially telling me that I was running a bit too slow. I tried to adjust my pace to what it should have been but just couldn't get it right - so I gave up and tried to run at an even pace, even if it was a bit faster than I had planned. By the time I ran through the 12k mark (a longish incline) I was starting to feel the effects of my run, but I wasn't about to give in - at least not yet.
I began to slow and remembered Bruce's advice about not running too hard at the beginning (a bit late now) so that the last bit becomes a hard slog and you feel like not wanting to run again. I kept going as best I could and stopped the clock at 21.1k in a time of 2.02.39 or 5.48/k. It is still my best time for the half (beating my 2.06.22 for the SMH half back on 13 May and my 2.03.23 as part of a 28k run 11 June), though I don't have the ability (mental toughness they call it) to push myself when I get to the closing stages of a run.
At the moment I am still a bit sore - but definitely wanting to do it again. At this stage I don't know whether just to concentrate on half marathons for a bit longer (another one coming up early in September) rather than trying to run a full marathon. While running I did feel that I was having a bad day, and would have appreciated a pace car to help me be consistent. My problem is that at the beginning of a run my pace seems so easy and it isn't till I get towards the end that I realise that I still don't have the endurance I need to keep up that pace. By the time I have the necessary endurance I will probably be repeating the same mistakes but at a faster initial pace.
Even though I have called this blog "A Disappointing Half Marathon" because of how I ran it and the final time I recorded the overall result was not disappointing as it is a PB.
Anyway, I have a 28k and two 36k LSD's coming up over the next three weeks before a crack at the 14k City2Surf. I'll just have to wait and see what I do after that.
My stats can be found at: http://connect.garmin.com/splits/96190258
One happy plodder!
Well, today was the day I intended to coincide with tomorrow's Gold Coast Half Marathon. I decided it would be best if I used the Bike Track, as it is the flattest of my courses. I intended to ignore the distance markers and run by the Garmin, which turned out to be more than the distance markers anyway (which is what I have used in the past).
In the morning I mowed the front lawn and was aware that I am able to push the mower around our flat lawn without puffing and panting like I used to do before I took up jogging. If nothing else, at least I can do the mowing much more easily now.
Having loaded my fuel belt bottles with Staminade and my pouch with jelly babies I decided to warm up by walking the kilometre from home to the start of the Bike Track (with its hill). My McMillan Running Calculator told me, based on my recent 10k run, that I should be able to complete today's half in 2.02.01 or 5.47/k. However, being a bit optimistic I though I might like to have a crack at breaking the 2hrs for the run, meaning that I would need to average 5.42/k. With this in mind I planned to run between 5.40 and 5.50/k.
I set off with my Garmin initially telling me that I was running a bit too slow. I tried to adjust my pace to what it should have been but just couldn't get it right - so I gave up and tried to run at an even pace, even if it was a bit faster than I had planned. By the time I ran through the 12k mark (a longish incline) I was starting to feel the effects of my run, but I wasn't about to give in - at least not yet.
I began to slow and remembered Bruce's advice about not running too hard at the beginning (a bit late now) so that the last bit becomes a hard slog and you feel like not wanting to run again. I kept going as best I could and stopped the clock at 21.1k in a time of 2.02.39 or 5.48/k. It is still my best time for the half (beating my 2.06.22 for the SMH half back on 13 May and my 2.03.23 as part of a 28k run 11 June), though I don't have the ability (mental toughness they call it) to push myself when I get to the closing stages of a run.
At the moment I am still a bit sore - but definitely wanting to do it again. At this stage I don't know whether just to concentrate on half marathons for a bit longer (another one coming up early in September) rather than trying to run a full marathon. While running I did feel that I was having a bad day, and would have appreciated a pace car to help me be consistent. My problem is that at the beginning of a run my pace seems so easy and it isn't till I get towards the end that I realise that I still don't have the endurance I need to keep up that pace. By the time I have the necessary endurance I will probably be repeating the same mistakes but at a faster initial pace.
Even though I have called this blog "A Disappointing Half Marathon" because of how I ran it and the final time I recorded the overall result was not disappointing as it is a PB.
Anyway, I have a 28k and two 36k LSD's coming up over the next three weeks before a crack at the 14k City2Surf. I'll just have to wait and see what I do after that.
My stats can be found at: http://connect.garmin.com/splits/96190258
One happy plodder!
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