Didn't notice the wind so much in the half this morning, but boy was it humid. I was sweating like a pig in a sauna out there. I'd made up my mind last night to transfer to the 10k instead of doing the half because I was worried about how my leg might handle it, but as my dad and I walked up to the G, the massive crowd of runners got me excited and that along with the 2 and a half hour wait changed my mind again.
Ended up missing the start because of the crazy toilet queues and made a mad dash to the start line at 3:15/k. Probably wasn't the best warmup I could've had:P. Tried to follow my strategy after that and keep a steady 4:00/k, but it was pretty tricky once I caught up to the pack and started having to pull out my dodging maneuvers.
Went okay until the 5k mark, and then started having trouble breathing and saw the race dropping away from me. Gritted teeth and stubbornness kept me at 4:20/k until the 10k mark, but I couldn't keep it up. Kilometres 10-15 were pretty tough - stopped to walk twice: once on Beach Rd and for almost all of the Fitzroy street hill.
Latched onto a lovely co-member of Team Monash on the top of that ghastly hill and ran the last 6km with her, trying very hard to maintain the conversation so I wouldn't get dropped:P
Ended up finishing in a personal worst of 1:42:56, barely able to walk afterwards. Not a fantastic result, but I am really happy that I was able to complete the distance without feeling any pain in my leg. After having not run for 2.5 weeks, it was always going to be a hard slog, so I'm not too fussed about the time. It can go up in the log as a long run rather than a race I think:P
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I am a touch worried at exactly how slow it was though. I didn't have an ideal lead up to the event: no running in 2.5 weeks, not enough sleep the two nights before, doing ~1k at <3:20/k immediately prior to starting the race; but even so, I can't believe how hard I was finding it at the tail end of the race. It wasn't just my legs being unused to the act of running, I was finding it really tough aerobically. I averaged 5:10/k for the last 5km and it was destroying me. My heart rate was way up and I was breathing heavily. Considering my aerobic fitness should be better than ever at the moment, I just don't get it..
Been feeling really tired the last two weeks for no reason, to the point where I can't get through a day without caffeine, so I'm starting to worry about my iron levels. I was planning to get a blood test soon anyway, so we shall see. It could just be a viral infection or something..
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Forgot to mention that my dad had an awesome race today and got a 23 minute PB, finishing in 2:02:04. Maybe that's a sign that I should invest my energy into coaching rather than training:P
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