Sunday, October 22, 2006

Well, at least it wasn't a disaster

But as I foreshadowed in the last post, the race-pace run didn't go as
well as it might. Or put another way, as well as the comparative run
during last year's preparation.

I ran a warm up lap (5k) with Satohi in 27 minutes. Then we did the
next lap at her marathon pace of around 4:40/km. Actually, we were 10
seconds fast for the lap, so pretty good. She went on to complete her
five laps and only went a little slower than target for the last two
laps, otherwise she was pretty much on the dot. So her preparation is
looking on-track.

However I was supposed to speed up to 4:15 and really, just never got
there. The lap average paces for the four laps were: 4:20, 4:18, 4:22,
and 4:20. Apart from the bit of leg fatigue, my tummy was also a
little out of sorts as I think I ate a tad too much last night in my
carbo-loading attempts. But that actually settled down, and I think if
I can blame anything (other than lack of condition that is) it would
have to be the lack of fresh legs. And not only was I off the pace,
but the run took its toll. It was a hard run and I was glad to get to
the end of it. And that was only 20 km of race pace.

So, at this point, I'd have to say that sub 3 is now looking a little
out of reach. But that's OK. I don't have anything to prove. And hey,
there are still a couple of weeks of training left!

5 comments:

Tesso said...

Hey, don't go talking about that sub 3hr goal being out of reach just yet! Team J is relying on you to give us something to brag about ;-)

Clairie said...

What do you mean out of reach?

SNAP OUT OF IT STEPHEN!!

Do you recall any of my posts' pre Canberra? I could not run anywhere near my race pace and I was very much lacking confidence.

However you, Tesso, and every other bugger in the world assured me I would be fine come race day.

So....

Stephen, you will be fine. I have full confidence in you. You have done the training and avoided injury for a while now (which is good for you!!) so I really believe you are going to get this goal.

You don't have to prove anything to anyone but I think you would like to do this for yourself. AND YOU CAN.

So keep the training going - drop the mileage and pick up the speed. Focus now and watch your diet and DON'T TRY ANYTHING NEW.

I want to visit this blog tomorrow and see lots of positive stuff.

BTW.....you did a solid run on Saturday. Did you really think with all the marathon training and distance that you would be able to do an easy few kms at your planned race pace the very next day? tsk tsk tsk. You been very bad.

Now lots of stretching and I hope you have a pair of skins on when you read this to assist the body to recover in preparation for this weeks speed. *big hugs*

2P said...

Boy are you ever in trouble with the girls.... talk about getting sent to the naughty corner.

Never mind mate - I slip you a gumball at recess ;-)

My twopennys worth is - you're right it wasn't a disaster and a couple of short sharp runs to work the thresholds and a good taper over the next couple of weeks will leave you in the best possible shape for race day - whatever the outcome - but I'm betting on a sub 3 :-)

PS love the Marathon Festa Countdown - good to see different code ;-)

Ewen said...

Can I borrow Clairie for my next 5k attempt?

I'd only say that it's hard to have exactly the same conditions for 'comparative runs' - the previous days, how you're feeling, conditions on the day etc. I think you're close enough that 4:15s won't hurt, but we'll see!

Robert Song said...

That was an excellent training run considering the session you did the day before.

Never underestimate the power of the taper. Get to the start line with fresh legs and great things can be achieved.