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!
You may have been a trifle disappointed but I'm one proud wife and I love you :-)
ReplyDeleteSteve,
ReplyDeleteto manage a pb on a "bad" day means that it's all coming together nicely (though if the only benefit of running is that you can now do the mowing, then I'd call that a pretty poor return on investment :-) ). Do take it easy for a couple of days to give your muscles time to recover (walking is good - pity you don't have a dog!).
Your splits tell an interesting story, don't they? I know that you tried to slow down at the start and found it difficult, but it's something that you're going to have to get under control if you want to run longer distances. Next time you do longer run (ie >8k), pick something slower than you'd normally do like 5:50. Don't try to chase the pace on the Garmin, but just run a steady pace that 'feels about right' for the first k and then alter your pace based on the time that took. End of the 2nd k, do the same and so on until you find yourself at the chosen pace.
I'll be pacing the Sydney marathon, and the easiest way to drive the runners nuts is to keep changing pace every 30 sec based on what the watch is saying. I don't mind being 10 or 20 seconds up or down over the first 10k, and by then we're all settled into the right pace, everyone is feeling smooth (apart from those that think it's too slow and run off ahead, but we'll see them again later), and we can settle into 20k of conversation and 10k of silence... :-)
Most of all, keep enjoying it!
Bruce