While my darling busied herself in the kitchen and garden I took to the Bike Track to run a mock version of last Sunday's fun run - and a fun run it was too!
I set my Garmin GPS to record miles rather than kilometres and found that it was so much more difficult to run in miles - perhaps because the intervals are so much further apart and I am not used to them. Anyway, I wanted to run at about 10 mins/mile and started off at exactly that pace. However, the next mile was run at 9.14 and from there until the end of 7th mile I was running at around 9.20-9.40/mile. At that point I was feeling the pinch of some fast running so that the next miles were 9.59 and 10.20 with the 10th mile run in 9.27 as I pushed it to the finish line. In the actual race this would have put me in 44th position out of 55 runners - though in an actual race with competition I might have been able to hold a more consistent pace.
Towards the end I passed two young women who were walking and one of them had the following on the back of her top: "Why walk when you can run." I comment that it was an interesting slogan and they both gave a half laugh.
Anyway, I was very pleased with my effort as it was 59.70 secs faster that my previous best over this course back in 2011. The pleasing aspect of this time was that it was an average of 6.02/k, so I went awfully close to being under the 6 min/k barrier. If it hadn't been for the slower 9th mile, run into an increasing headwind then I might have done that as well. There is always next year - and some more mock versions of other fun runs later in this year.
Who knows, but I might even be able to finally get around to running a marathon distance!
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Thursday, February 13, 2014
2014 Run the Bridge Hobart
That will be next Sunday and I will not be there. So what to do?
Today a I did a mock "Run the Bridge" using Devonport's Victoria Bridge as a poor substitute. By "poor" I mean that Victoria Bridge isn't as steep as Hobart's - but it is the best I can do to keep in the spirit of the run.
In early January I had a couple of weeks off because of a virus and then last week I had vomiting and diarrhoea, both of which set me back a bit. Today I had some stomach pains, which hasn't been helpful. However, I'm not using this as an excuse for today's result.
I parked the car at Coles Beach and walked the 500m to my starting point. I set off at what I thought would be a reasonable pace, knowing that I would like to get as close as possible to my best time for this run. It was, when I saw the 1k split, a cracking pace for me. However, I decided that I would try and keep up that pace for as long as I could. By 1.5k my legs were telling me that I was running fast. At 2.5k I stopped at a tap and saturated my hat so I could cool down. My aim now was to make 5k in as fast a time as I could and then worry about how I would get back after that. I turned around at the far end of the bridge and made my way back over it, desperately trying not to slacken off my pace. By 7.5k I was thirsty so stopped at the drinking station for a long drink and to soak my hat again. I pressed on, but found it was getting more difficult to maintain my earlier pace. At 9.5k I stopped at a bubbler for a short drink and tried to step it up for the last little bit.
I hit the "tape" in 58.54.40, which far exceeded my expectations and bettered my previous time from 2 years ago of 1.01.59.18 by just over 3 minutes. With the setbacks I had a couple of years ago and all that time off jogging so that I only started back in March last year, this is the first time I have run a sub 6.00/k for 10k in over 3 years. I ended up quite pleased with my mock "Run the Bridge".
Then I had to walk back to the car.
Today a I did a mock "Run the Bridge" using Devonport's Victoria Bridge as a poor substitute. By "poor" I mean that Victoria Bridge isn't as steep as Hobart's - but it is the best I can do to keep in the spirit of the run.
In early January I had a couple of weeks off because of a virus and then last week I had vomiting and diarrhoea, both of which set me back a bit. Today I had some stomach pains, which hasn't been helpful. However, I'm not using this as an excuse for today's result.
I parked the car at Coles Beach and walked the 500m to my starting point. I set off at what I thought would be a reasonable pace, knowing that I would like to get as close as possible to my best time for this run. It was, when I saw the 1k split, a cracking pace for me. However, I decided that I would try and keep up that pace for as long as I could. By 1.5k my legs were telling me that I was running fast. At 2.5k I stopped at a tap and saturated my hat so I could cool down. My aim now was to make 5k in as fast a time as I could and then worry about how I would get back after that. I turned around at the far end of the bridge and made my way back over it, desperately trying not to slacken off my pace. By 7.5k I was thirsty so stopped at the drinking station for a long drink and to soak my hat again. I pressed on, but found it was getting more difficult to maintain my earlier pace. At 9.5k I stopped at a bubbler for a short drink and tried to step it up for the last little bit.
I hit the "tape" in 58.54.40, which far exceeded my expectations and bettered my previous time from 2 years ago of 1.01.59.18 by just over 3 minutes. With the setbacks I had a couple of years ago and all that time off jogging so that I only started back in March last year, this is the first time I have run a sub 6.00/k for 10k in over 3 years. I ended up quite pleased with my mock "Run the Bridge".
Then I had to walk back to the car.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)