Sandown Classic

So the Sandown Classic was yesterday..and it was the best race I've ever had! I was a bit nervous going into the event, taper blues were hitting hard. Luckily, all my niggling niggles vanished on the day of the race, and after making the pilgrimage to Preston for some vegan post-race treats, I caught a train to Springvale and walked to Sandown Racecourse. Because you have to get there an hour early to register, I had a lot of time to kill. I did a fairly long warmup, jogging the whole 3k circuit and then did a few striders undercover to keep me warm (it was 8 degrees and pissing down rain).

With five minutes to go, I finished up downstairs and walked over to the start line, chatting to a few coolrunners who spotted my cap. I hadn't spotted Slim DJ, who I'd arranged to run with, and was starting to wonder whether the rain had put him off when another coolrunner cap appeared among the crowds. He was looking ready to race and reckoned he was in shape to do a sub 40 with me. It was good having him there, because I'd never done an aths vic race before and didn't really know what to expect. Everyone there looked bloody fit - the fun runners were tucked up in front of the fire. We were tucked in somewhere in the middle, with at least 200 guys in front of us, which is kind of amazing when you consider that at most fun runs I've done, I'd be standing in the front two rows. It was the right place to be when the gun went off. There was a bit of stumbling at the start because everyone was packed together so closely, but after about 200m, we had a fairly clear run ahead of us.

I was amazed how relaxed I felt. We chatted for pretty much the whole of the first lap and it literally was conversational pace the whole time except for the back end of the circuit where there's a bit of a hill and the wind starts kicking in. Thanks to Slim's forerunner (I miss mine so:S), we were running almost exactly to plan - at the 3k mark we were 12:10 or so. Going up the hill on the second lap we lost a bit of time and went through 5k in 20:30. Slim realised my chances of doing 40:00 were pretty small if we stuck together, so he told me to go on ahead. I fully intended to stay with him (and even said something to that effect:P) because my plan was to stay with him til 6k and then go off if I was feeling good, but going down the downhill that followed that annoying incline, my legs took on a life of their own and I found myself passing people like crazy. The next km went by in around 3:40 and it felt pretty good. I knew I only had one more lap after that, so it really wasn't hard to keep pushing and picking off one person after another. At the 7k mark, my watch read 28:11, and I could almost feel sub 40 coming back into the realms of possibility. At the pace I was going, I might've even managed 39:30....on a flat course that is. The hill sent me over the edge and though I was still on track for my goal, it was really starting to hurt. I failed to capitalise on the downhill and let out an expletive when I saw 36:18 at 9km - I had to run a 3:42 last km and I was shot!

If it hadn't have been for the amazing depth of the race, there was no way I could've got there.
When you're in so much pain, it's so hard to motivate your body to go faster, but when there are so many conveniently paced old dudes, you just chuck the lassoo and let them pull you along into magnitudes of pain that you'd never be able to reach on your own. Going down the back straight, I actually sounded like a V8 lol. I'd take three shallow, high pitched gasps and then take a long proper breath - all together, it sounded a bit like a turbo charger inlet valve:P My kick was pretty non-existent - it was all I could do to maintain the pace I was pushing. It was only in the last 50m that I really sprinted. With the clock reading 39:56, how could I not! As the guy yelled out 39:58, I pumped my fist in glee and couldn't help grinning:D I lost a few places in the line because I spotted Victoralias, the elusive sub 3:00/k activist . He looked pretty pooped and perhaps a little disappointed with his 33:57, so I commended him on doing his best and turned back to the line to give my wrist tag to the race official. Rohan and Tiger Boy were standing close to the finish line having both run amazing times (36:xx and 37:07 - a one minute PB!). Slim DJ finished a short time later, having run well with a 20:15 second half to finish in 40:45. Not quite what he wanted, but still a PB.

I'm so pleased with this result:). 10k races have always been my least favourite distance and I always ran slower than my 5k times would indicate, but yesterday was probably the most enjoyable race I've ever done. Normally I start too fast and experience an unsatisfying positive split where I feel terrible by the 6k mark, but at Sandown, I felt like I was building to a magnificent crescendo of effort, where it only started hurting when the finish line was in sight and was thus much more tolerable. Plus, even though it's only a 2 second PB, I've finally joined the sub 40 club! And it's essentially a 3 minute season best after my 43:xx 3 weeks ago. It shows that the decline in my top end fitness due to the high mileage has finally stopped and from now on, I'm just going to keep getting faster and faster:D My season goal of 35:00 is sounding feasible again:)

Next week it's back to a proper training week, which I'm looking forward to because wrapping myself in cotton wool for a race is always so nerve rattling. It looks like I'm not going to get sick either even though the symptoms were showing on Friday and on Saturday I did the following cold inducing things:
1. Ran a hard race in rainy conditions
2. Walked back to the station and then endured a 90 minute journey in quite wet clothes
3. Drank a bit of alcohol that night - the first I'd had in months
4. Walked home from South Yarra (15km = 3 and a half hours) because I was still too energetic to sleep and then felt sleepy after 15 minutes.

My resilience really astounds me:)

I was thinking about doing the Sri Chimnoy Half Marathon at Williamstown next Sunday, but I just found out it's $60! That's how much you pay for start to finish versions:S If it was a goal race I wouldn't mind, but it seems rather excessive. Oh well, if my dad is willing to pay for it I'll do it (he said he wanted to do it but he doesn't know about the cost), otherwise I'll just do a normal long run.