So my first half in a few months. I had to ride to the start line due to the early start, and was feeling a bit jelly legged. Can't really complain though after seeing this guy, who I'm pretty sure took part in the half, running from about 6k away at what I clocked at 16kph! Unless he's a 70 minute runner, that was his race right there, I suspect:P
Legs felt a bit better after walking around for a bit and doing a strider or two, but things went a bit haywire when the going got going. My race strategy was to do 4:00/k for the first 10k and then pick it up if I was feeling good. Things didn't turn out that way though..
It was a case of white line fever for me I'm afraid. Started a bit too far back in the pack and got caught off guard by the gun. Had to run fairly hard to get into a decent position and then when I was where I wanted to be (4:00/k), I got too eager and overtook another 100 people or so for kicks:|
Was running below my 5k PB pace for a good while, and predictably blew up. I guess I was hoping for some 80:00 magic after having not raced in a fair while, but it wasn't to be. Was still on track for 1:24 at the 10k mark (7 second 10k PB hah!), but then my abs started to complain and I knew my race had ended there and decided to just treat it as a long run. Jogged the next 2k at 6:00/k until Slim DJ caught up, and ran home with him. Ended up finishing in 1:33:xx, with a satisfying last 100m, edging out another bloke my age:P
Not really disappointed with this because I know I could've broken 90 minutes (not by much though) if I had tried over the last 11k. It was my first run over 15k in a good 6 weeks, so it was always going to be a struggle. Really stupid pacing (especially with the forerunner giving me the pace info!) but I know what kind of shape I'm in now, so it won't happen again!
Looking forward to smashing that mark next weekend in the SC half, round what's roughly the same course.
I found it interesting that I placed better in this race than in the Sandown 10k despite having performed worse...
Had a really good chat with Victoralias (he did 1:19) after the race that lasted longer than the race:P He's an absolutely fascinating guy. To be honest, I had this mental image of a socially awkward weirdo, but he has a completely different persona to what his blog might suggest. I was riding back to the city after we parted ways and came across him trapped in the GE money carpark (he'd taken a shortcut to the train station). The fence round this place was at least 2.5m tall and had two layers of barbed wire up top. I would've given up and walked back around, but he just clambered up a light pole, easy as can be, and jumped down. I thought that was so cool:P
I caught up with my Wednesdaily training partner, Stefan, after the race. He did 72:56! Fucking hell! If you'd asked me before the race, I would've said he'd do maybe 80 minutes at best. But after having not done a run over 10k for months, he goes out and does the first 10k in 33:xx (he must've been not far off the lead at that stage) and still manages to finish in that time. I really cannot believe that, it's absolutely incredible. I knew he was a 30:xx runner in his prime, but he's in his 40s now and he's not running far off that with barely any training. I can't work out whether it's just that he has a big base from so many years of running and cycling or whether it's pure talent shining through.
It's kind of demoralising to be honest. I work so much harder than him, and it doesn't seem like he's that much faster than me when we train together, but he can just go out and do that. If he stays uninjured, I reckon he'll have a shot at breaking 2:30 at the melb marathon (his first) and probably being one of the first across the line.
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Did another 83k on the bike after the race. It was fun riding in the rain, even on my shitty old bike. My legs were absolutely nackered though! About 7k away from home, when it was starting to get dark, the left pedal fell off my bike! One minute I was powering up this hill and then, bang. Tried fruitlessly to put it back on. Think I probably lost a nut or something. So that put a stop to the ride. Luckily I was right next to a station, so it wasn't a huge problem.
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Amusing anecdote:
On Friday I went to the bike shop to pick up a $500 load of shiny, new parts (bar ends, drink bottle holders, slick tyres, SPD pedals, shoes, lock - picture below).
I'd never used clipless pedals before, so I had a few rounds of the carpark with the guy from the bike shop ready to catch me if I fell, and thought I had the hang of clipping in and out. Eventually rode off, was really enjoying the power of being able to pull the pedals up on each stroke, and soon got to a set of traffic lights. Clipped out, put my foot on the ground and waited for the lights to go green. They did and I'm not exactly sure what happened next, but as I tried to simultaneously push off from standing position and clip my left foot back in, I lost my balance and just fell sideways! There was a driver next to me, who saw it all and they must've been absolutely cacking themselves! I know I was (not literally:P) hahaha. I just lay on the grass (good thing there was a nature strip there or I might've broken something:P), laughing, finding it funny beyond words, especially because I'd told the bike shop guy that it was going to happen to me:P
I was careful to leave my right foot clipped in, not my left foot after that little incident:P
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