The long long run & the good legs

After Run for the Kids and also getting back to work after holidays, this week I had 2 shortish runs of 7km & 8km and a 11k run. Which didn’t seem like much, given recent weeks my shortest runs have been around 10k. But I made plans for a good long hit-out on Saturday, a group was meeting at 3pm for a 15k or 90min run. So I figured that I’d stretch it out by running before them….a good idea in theory.

 

I left the Mt Evelyn carpark on the Warby Trail at 1pm, with the plan of an easy 2hrs to be back by 3pm to meet the group. I was constantly trying to keep the brakes on as I knew that coming back to Mt Evelyn the trail is a long grind up a slight incline. I got to the 60min turnaround and was feeling pretty good, but it was then that I remembered that before the long grind to Mt Evelyn, is the long grind up to Wandin……so for the greater majority of the 2^nd 60min it was a good work-out to ensure I got back in even time to meet the group.

 

2hrs in and feeling pretty good. I had time for a shirt change and a fuel stop – freddos / gatorade / snakes – before we made our way. The plan was to follow some cross country trails from Mt Evelyn to the Silvan Dam. I knew I’d be OK because the unknown trail meant the group had to stay together and I could play back-marker or go ahead depending on how the legs felt. At this point I was conscious of the fact that any technical ups and downs would be tough work on the legs, so I deliberately took these sections very easy. Along the way on the made trails and dirt roads the legs felt pretty good and my fitness was rarely challenged.

 

3hrs in and the group was thoroughly enjoying the outing and a longer route was proposed. A quick calculation and I realised that my 3hr30min run was going to quickly become 4hrs plus!! OK – sensible now, no heroics, just run within yourself and get home in one piece. At this point I was fending off the potential cramps by taking it very slow and sometimes walking the technical bits. They hovered under the surface and at no point did they grab hold. With the homeward stretch under way and the course hitting a dirt road I hooked up with a buddy and we found a steady rhythm to keep the legs ticking over. I did not want to stop/start too much from here. We started up a good hill and as it stretched out ahead and upwards I found myself feeling very strong which was extremely encouraging at this point leading up to 4hrs. We struck the top and found no obvious path to take – fork in the road. We stopped and waited and perhaps by good luck it turned out that we needed to turn-off about 500m further back…..rather than being pissed off or annoyed, I was actually glad we took the whole hill, reflection had this as the most satisfying part of the run.

 

4hrs in and we were definitely getting closer to home. From here I was just concentrating on making sure I didn’t trip / fall / jump etc to bring on an injury or cramp etc. At this point all reflexes and ability to deal with sudden change are gone. A couple of sharp climbs to get out that tested the resolve, but still at this point the fitness was holding up well. We had a gentle last km to finish which was nice. After more than 4hrs running I was done. Quickly into jumper and track pants, more Gatorade, some stretching and hot chips then in the car to get home…..

 

An approximate calculation has me somewhere between 40 and 42km – I don’t want it to be further than that because marathons are supposed to be leg shattering ordeals…..and this run was tough but not and ordeal. Even though I know it was stop-start and with breaks etc. It still gives me great confidence leading into both Puffing Billy and the Great Ocean Road.

 

2 days later and my legs feel fantastic, I have not run again yet, that should be tonight, but there is no stiffness and no niggles. I keep waiting for the injury to hit, but so far so good. One more long run and if that goes to plan, then I’ll sign up for my first marathon & ultra 45km race.

Run for the Kids 2006

I had the pleasure of running in the inaugural staging of this fun run.

14.7km, taking in several very unique running locations, including the iconic Bolte Bridge, the Westgate Freeway, the Domain Tunnel and several major CBD streets.

With the cap of 20,000 entrants reached well before the event, this was a much anticipated day. It did not disappoint.

Given this was the first attempt and the sheer size of the event – the biggest Melbourne has seen – the organisation on the whole was very good. We can always find things to pick on, but I will not do that here.

 

For me this race was a bit of an unknown, as I had not raced more than 8km in over 12 months with any training behind me, the last time was in May 2004. My race earlier this year and my training in general suggested that I would do OK. I went in with an optimistic goal of hitting 4.15 pace which would see me finishing in about 62m30s, but I would have been happy with anything under 4.30 pace.

 

The race was very packed at the start which I expected, so it fitted in with the plan to have a very gentle start. The thinking was to do the first 2km in 9min, but when the first km took 4m42s I figured that was well and truly slow enough and long enough to start to lift the pace. I quickly got into a 4.15 rhythm and that included going up and over the Bolte Bridge. At this stage I was feeling very comfortable, there were runners everywhere, I was passing a lot and not too many were going by me. On the Westgate Freeway there was a significant camber to one side which could not be avoided, so this section was a little disconcerting, but it quickly passed when you realised that we were running on a major road, that is normally closed to foot traffic. Up ahead there was a runner that seemed to be holding the same pace as me, for a good couple of km he neither went away or got closer. I figured at this point of the race a pacing buddy would be nice so I lifted to catch him, when there I discovered he was aiming for 62-63min. We ran together for a while, then we approached the Domain Tunnel entrance the downhill was nice and I was pleased that my buddy also liked to hit the downhill with pace.

 

The tunnel was a unique experience, the sounds were muffled but almost hollow too. The runners were a bit quiet so the paddle of rubber on road was the dominant sound until a jovial group decided a chant was in order – then there was a definite echo. The atmosphere was not as bad as I had thought it could be, I did not find it as uncomfortable as some others did, but the blast of fresh air when we exited was amazing. On the way out of the tunnel I used the uphill to attack the pace and I left my buddy and passed many others on the way up. By this point I had strung together several km at 4.0….something, a quicker pace than I had estimated. So I began to wonder when the wheels were going to fall off, but instead I felt strong and used the next rise up Batman Ave to attack again. This time I was coming up to a local running mate who usually starts fast, on Flinders I tried to encourage him to jump onto my heels but I was feeling strong still so kept the pace up while tackling the Swanston St hill.

 

The last couple of km was when the mental game was going to be won or lost, and I think the regular long runs of over an hour helped at this time, even though there was some small rises to finish I was able to either hold my pace or slightly increase it. With 700m to go a rough calculation suggested that I should go under 62min, but not wanting to take any chances I really dug deep here and went 100%, a small down hill to the finish allowed me to get a sprint in for the last 100m or so and I was able to pass people right to the line. Finishing in 60m40s on my watch, with 2m28s for the last 700m I was very happy. Unfortunately my watch was unable to store each km split as the memory was full so I am unsure what my splits were for the last 10km but each check saw me hitting low 4m pace right through so I was happy with the even pacing of the run.

 

Could I have gone any harder to lower my time?? That is only a question I can answer with more racing and by pushing the boundaries and allowing myself to fail in order to learn the thresholds, but today was not the day for that.

 

Checking the results in the paper I placed 545 out of 13300 runners in the 14.7k event. So a top 4% finish is very satisfying especially given the presence of the Melbourne Club Athletes which makes the number of fast runners much greater.  From a performance point of view this would probably be my most satisfying race to date. It would also be right up there with the most enjoyable runs that I have had.

 

Already looking forward to Run for the Kids 2007.