Last in the ACT Cross Country Championships

I knew when I looked at the sign-on sheet that I had last place sewn up. Thommo was the second slowest runner and he's in 20-low 5k form. I was resigned to a solo 12k time trial on Stromlo's undulating grass track. David ran with me for the first k (he'd raced 5k earlier that morning in 19:45) before taking off and winning the M55s in 54:00.

My laps progressively got slower but I didn't feel awful at any stage. My 25k per week running legs survived! My heart and lungs had been comfortable enough — average heart rate of 145 and a maximum of 154 as I pushed to get under 59 minutes. I finished 18th and last in 58:44, Thommo ahead, almost out of sight, running 57:05.

If you race a lot, one day you'll start a race as the slowest runner and finish last. If a 15-minute 5k runner started in a 5000 metre heat at the Olympics he'd get lapped and finish last. Aside from the memorable placing I was quite pleased with my race. Beforehand I'd been nervous about the step-up in racing distance from 5k to 12k but it didn't turn out to be so bad. As I was running I enjoyed the sunshine, my niggle-free legs and the mild (for winter in Canberra) temperature. It had been a good day.

I make sure my Garmin is working for my longest run in more than a month. The 12k race was won by Joshua Johnson in 36:39.

Treadmill running in slow motion

My treadmill has been working overtime lately — no, I'm not going soft (I hope!), just not feeling inclined to run in the dark and cold after I've cycled to and from work. According to Strava my cycling mileage is averaging 189 kilometres per week. My running mileage over the past six weeks has averaged 26 kilometres per week — scarily low for a person who used to thrive on 80 to 100 kilometres per week. I'm sure the cycling mileage is preventing my aerobic condition from declining, while I'm doing just enough running so the legs don't forget how to run!

The video below shows me running on the treadmill at a speed of 12 kilometres per hour (5-minute ks). I normally run intervals, strides and short tempo runs on the treadmill. With the machine set at a steady speed I've been playing around with varying my cadence and stride length. A fast cadence (180 plus) feels rather stressful on the treadmill. When I run with a slower cadence, pushing harder off the belt (not over-striding) I feel more relaxed and less in danger of flying off the back of the bloody thing!

I'm still racing okay — 6k at Stromlo yesterday in 28:40 at an average heart rate of 143. I ran a bit soft in the last 2k lap as I wasn't being challenged from behind and Speedygeoff was almost out of sight ahead. The course was slightly long as rope barriers were in use on two corners to give the trampled grass a break. Lap splits had been 9:26, 9:26 and 9:48. Next Saturday I'm racing 12k on the same course — man is that going to be hard!