I was supposed to run my version of this race last week, but we were in Hobart moving furniture for our daughter and taking loads of rubbish to the tip. As a result of that I did my back in so that it was very, very painful to move or do anything. It was so bad that I had to get Val to take over some of the driving on our way home. Then on Thursday I had to have a tooth removed, and while it was totally painless for the rest of the day it is still tender to touch. It has only been in the last couple of days after starting some stretching exercises that it has really improved - but that might be a coincidence! So today was my first opportunity to have a crack at the distance.
I set myself a time I would like to complete the distance in (3 hours 45 minutes), though thought I might be able to do a bit better than that. Not having had a run since 5th March I was feeling quite fresh as I started off, knowing that I had to keep a steady and slow pace. The best laid plans of mice and men, at least for me, don't always come off and I found myself running at a steady pace but a little bit faster than I had intended. Still, I wasn't too perturbed because it was well within, so I thought at the time, my capabilities. At 8k I was running at around 6.30/k.
I had a litre of Staminade and a Winners gel for my run, as well as 4 bubbler stops for water.
I was still running along nicely at the halfway mark when I turned around - I sent Val a text to let her know but had to walk to do that which slowed me down quite a bit. I had a couple of slow sections until I reached the 24k mark, but then I really started to slow down. For the last 8k I found myself needing to stop and stretch my legs whenever they started to get a bit sore or tight. I was also needing to walk a little bit every now and again.
I plodded on and finally made it home in 3 hours 50 minutes and 12 seconds - a little bit slower than I had planned - but I completed the course. The only real downside was that my GPS watch was running very low on battery level (I should have fully recharged it before I left) and I didn't know if I would make it, so I tried to hurry it up a bit over the last couple of k, even though they included my steepest uphill sections. And when I arrived home I found that the watch hadn't recorded the altitude gain. At least I had checked it some days ago and found that the gain on my particular course was similar to the real race.
My darling Val had a hot bath waiting for me along with some chocolate, chips, nuts and a muesli bar. She also brought me cups of tea.
I'm still a bit sore from the run but pleased to have been able to complete the course, though I didn't pump my arms or anything like that when I finished. During the latter part of my run I found myself doubting my ability to run the marathon distance and especially to attempt the Bruni Island Ultra Marathon in December, which is not only double the length of today's run but it also contains many steep hills. These runs just seemed out of my reach as I was finishing off today's run. I know that I will feel differently about them in a day or two, but I don't know if I'll be able to get much jogging under my shoes while we are travelling and in WA.
Monday, 16 March 2015
Sunday, 22 February 2015
2015 "Nile 10 Mile"
At this time every year Evandale, Tasmania hosts the National Penny Farthing Championships. You can find out more information here: http://www.evandalevillagefair.com/
In conjunction with the Village Fair there is the running of the "Nile 10 Mile", but this is always on a Sunday morning. This morning I was preaching at Devonport for their Harvest Thanksgiving Service and used Psalm 117. So this afternoon I ran my lone version of this race on the flattest section of our local bike track. I've had so much time out of running over the last couple of years and, with my advancing years, I've slowed down a bit. Also I haven't run much in the way of long distances for a long time.
The temperature was still in the high 20's at 5.15 pm when I commenced running and it was fairly humid, being beside Bass Strait. I started out at what I thought was a slow and steady pace as I didn't want to go out too hard and blow up before the end. So I was surprised when I discovered that my slow pace turned out to be a bit over 6 min/k. But as it felt so slow and comfortable I kept plodding along to see how I would go. Fortunately there were some bubblers beside the track so I could get frequent drinks of water and saturate my running cap to cool down my head.
Much to my surprise I was able to run consistently between 5.55 min/k and 6.09 min/k for the first 11k, with the exception of one section where I stopped for a longer drink. It was after that that the heat and exertion began to take its toll and I dropped back to between 6.19 min/k and 6.27 min/k for the last 5k. Overall I averaged 6.10 min/k, with which I was very pleased because, before my run, I had only hoped to average around 6.30 min/k. It was in the last ½k that both calf muscles began to get some little cramps, forcing me to change my running style to being flat footed. If I had run the actual race there would have been 53 competitors and I would have finished in 47th position. Though if I had been there I probably would have been able to run a little faster over the concluding stages because of the encouragement of running with others and having spectators urge you on,
What I want to do next is a 32k run in two weeks time, but I will have to wait and see if I am up to that. Today's 16k run is a quarter of the distance of the Bruni Island Ultra Marathon I have set my eyes on for the beginning of December.
In conjunction with the Village Fair there is the running of the "Nile 10 Mile", but this is always on a Sunday morning. This morning I was preaching at Devonport for their Harvest Thanksgiving Service and used Psalm 117. So this afternoon I ran my lone version of this race on the flattest section of our local bike track. I've had so much time out of running over the last couple of years and, with my advancing years, I've slowed down a bit. Also I haven't run much in the way of long distances for a long time.
The temperature was still in the high 20's at 5.15 pm when I commenced running and it was fairly humid, being beside Bass Strait. I started out at what I thought was a slow and steady pace as I didn't want to go out too hard and blow up before the end. So I was surprised when I discovered that my slow pace turned out to be a bit over 6 min/k. But as it felt so slow and comfortable I kept plodding along to see how I would go. Fortunately there were some bubblers beside the track so I could get frequent drinks of water and saturate my running cap to cool down my head.
Much to my surprise I was able to run consistently between 5.55 min/k and 6.09 min/k for the first 11k, with the exception of one section where I stopped for a longer drink. It was after that that the heat and exertion began to take its toll and I dropped back to between 6.19 min/k and 6.27 min/k for the last 5k. Overall I averaged 6.10 min/k, with which I was very pleased because, before my run, I had only hoped to average around 6.30 min/k. It was in the last ½k that both calf muscles began to get some little cramps, forcing me to change my running style to being flat footed. If I had run the actual race there would have been 53 competitors and I would have finished in 47th position. Though if I had been there I probably would have been able to run a little faster over the concluding stages because of the encouragement of running with others and having spectators urge you on,
What I want to do next is a 32k run in two weeks time, but I will have to wait and see if I am up to that. Today's 16k run is a quarter of the distance of the Bruni Island Ultra Marathon I have set my eyes on for the beginning of December.
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