This race was on September 4 and since then I've come down with a touch
of the dreaded 'man flu' — totally annoying, as illness and
injury are the two things to be avoided when building a base of fitness.
I planned to 'run through' this race (no taper and minimal recovery)
and it completed my biggest week of training this year, at a fairly
modest 61 kilometres.
I took a rest day on the Saturday and lined up on Sunday with the goal
of starting at around 5-minute kilometre pace. The plan commenced well
although the 50-minute pacers gradually disappeared ahead (moving too
fast it seems as my first splits were 4:56, 4:52 and 5:04 on the fastest
section of the course). As I ran up the gentle hill at 4k I sensed I
was catching my lifelong rival Jimmy and chipped away his 50 metre lead
until we were level at 5k. The split there was 25:32 at the high point
of the course. The Canberra Times is definitely a race for negative
splitting experts like Mark Watson. Unfortunately on this day I pulled
out a big fat positive split!
Jimmy flew past down the hill at 6k but I limited the damage by holding
the gap to 30 metres or so as we turned onto Kings Avenue. My race was
totally focussed on my rival, not on time. I placed a few runners
between us so I'd be out of view if he took a look back. It worked! He
seemed surprised when I ran up beside him on the bridge. Less than 2k to
go, so I forged ahead, running as quickly as possible to the finish.
52:01 for myself and 52:33 for Jimmy so I'll count that as my first
'win' since March. Looking forward to more of the same once I'm over
this annoying cold, ah, I mean flu!
I've been breaking in a pair of new Saucony Kinvaras from The Runner's Shop - nice light shoes!
9 comments:
Ha! Congratulations on the big win! :) Made even sweeter by the lack of race fitness while battling the dreaded man flu.
Weel done. Glad those competitive juices are flowing.
Massive win Thomas! Man flu is almost as bad as pneumonia ;-)
Thanks Bob. The competitive side of running can be very satisfying.
Nice win Ewen. Onwards and upwards.
"I have a plan so cunning you could stick a tail on it and call it a Ewen". Bloody masterful tactics my friend. So happy you're back to your strategic best. No rest for the wicked. Jimmy will absolutely be plotting his revenge so be on your guard. Thanks also for the shout-out. Viewer statistics way up which should trigger a call from Nike.
Well done. Your tactics rival the cunning of Bannister in the Vancouver Mile. Had Landy learned race tactics in the wily world of Canberra athletics rather than the gentlemanly interclub scene in Melbourne, how different might have been the outcome of that glorious race.
Good to hear from you Grellan. Thanks!
Haha Mark. Don't sell out if you get the call from Nike. Planning my next strategy already (swapping to a different shirt at half way).
Canute, it was pretty much like that Vancouver Mile. Jimmy looked over the wrong shoulder! He's always looking back during races - I'm amazed he hasn't pulled a muscle in his neck (or tripped over a kerb).
Congrats on the win and glad you are over the flu.
And now.... ready for a november full of rugby matches.
Thanks Stefano. Go Wallabies!
Post a Comment