My plan for today was to run a ‘marathon pace’ training session. It was a beautiful sunny morning – perfect for running, but as it turned out, not perfect for marathon running.
At 1pm I lined up with Garry at the back of the pack for the ACT Cross Country Club Regatta Point 4km race. We ran evenly, gradually picking up a few people in the second half including Neil and Charmaine. The Forerunner was pretty much spot on showing the course as being about 30 metres long. Our GPS splits were 4:56, 4:49, 4:48 and 4:55. Garry was a bit quicker in the race as he put on a bit of a sprint in the last 300m to catch a couple of runners.
It only took a minute or so to have my name recorded then I headed back towards the Carillon. I was drinking from my trusty Thorpedo bottle but perhaps not enough. It was hot. The temperature was in the high 20’s.
Prior to starting I was thinking about running 14 to 16 kilometres at ‘marathon pace’. I continued on under Kings Avenue Bridge and wondered when I should turn back. My splits for the 6km after the race were 4:48, 4:54, 4:51, 5:01, 5:00, and 4:58. When I reached Duntroon I decided to ‘pull the plug’ on the session. Breathing was fine but I was not liking running in that heat. My legs were also feeling it a little.
At 1pm I lined up with Garry at the back of the pack for the ACT Cross Country Club Regatta Point 4km race. We ran evenly, gradually picking up a few people in the second half including Neil and Charmaine. The Forerunner was pretty much spot on showing the course as being about 30 metres long. Our GPS splits were 4:56, 4:49, 4:48 and 4:55. Garry was a bit quicker in the race as he put on a bit of a sprint in the last 300m to catch a couple of runners.
It only took a minute or so to have my name recorded then I headed back towards the Carillon. I was drinking from my trusty Thorpedo bottle but perhaps not enough. It was hot. The temperature was in the high 20’s.
Prior to starting I was thinking about running 14 to 16 kilometres at ‘marathon pace’. I continued on under Kings Avenue Bridge and wondered when I should turn back. My splits for the 6km after the race were 4:48, 4:54, 4:51, 5:01, 5:00, and 4:58. When I reached Duntroon I decided to ‘pull the plug’ on the session. Breathing was fine but I was not liking running in that heat. My legs were also feeling it a little.
I racewalked the last 4km back to Regatta Point averaging 8:10 per kilometre. Not very quick but I didn’t want to hurt the legs as I haven’t racewalked much lately. Back at the car, the Forerunner said I’d done 14 kilometres at an average speed of 5:49/km.
This session hasn’t exactly filled me with confidence for the marathon. I’ve learned that I definitely want to be outside 5:00/km pace early. I don’t want the old legs to be feeling sore after only 10 kilometres. Maybe they won’t. Here’s hoping!
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