I'm not sure what manner of sadist was responsible for labelling this race a "fun run", for that it certainly was not. Two tough hills each run twice made this one of the hardest 10km runs I can ever remember running. And now (the following morning) my screaming quads and nervous anticipation anytime I approach a set of stairs give away my lack of hill training.... but, for all that it was a fantastic race that I ran really well.
Race day was the first day out of daylight saving for us down here, so we all got an extra hours sleep which was nice. The only disadvantage was that the late start time of 8:15 meant it was already quite warm by the time we got underway, and the mist sprays and small kids with water pistols did a brisk trade in cooling us all down along the course.
Nearly 700 runners lined up for the 10km event, a good 200 of them wearing bright orange cancer funding charity vests which was nice to see. The race wound its way through the leafy streets of affluent Roseville and Lindfield, with patient BMW and Mercedes drivers waiting good-naturedly at the many road closures along the course.
Being an early season race there was a large number of serious club runners looking for a good hit out before the larger races kick off in a few weeks time. I therefore took my usual position at the rear of the starting pack and let the hounds race on ahead. As usual, I took off well within myself and ran a very conservative pace ... or so I thought. According to my trusty Garmin the first kilometre was indeed reasonably sedate, although this was mainly due to congestion on the narrow streets. The second km was much faster, but after that we hit the undulations and I stopped looking at my watch in order to concentrate on surviving the brutish hills. There were two major climbs - the first steep and twisting, then second less steep but unrelentingly long. And we had to do them both twice.
I'm not sure what time I passed through the half way point but I noticed I hit 6km in under 30 minutes, which given the slowness of the course was very surprising. I had figured on the race taking me somewhere between 70 and 75 minutes, but clearly if the hills didn't defeat me I was going to come in well under that. Time to knuckle down and see what happened...
It was interesting to see how much gear some people carry with them for a mere 10km event. Water belts, camelbaks, full back packs ... all manner of nasty, heavy, chaffing things. I couldn't figure it out but I suppose people have their reasons. Meantime I was beginning to regret wearing my dark RC colours. Attention grabbing as the big old purple foot is, the basic black is really too warm for such a day as we had for this race. Still, with plenty of drink stations and kids with super-soakers it was OK.
I caught up with one older runner wearing a Six Foot Track Marathon 2011 t-shirt (the Six Foot is a scarey looking mountain marathon here held in March) and had a bit of a chat. As we jogged slowly up the steeper of the hills he said "it's not the race that's hard, it's all that bloody training we have to do" ... rather well put I thought. Anyway he unsurprisingly pulled away at about that point and I didn't see him again.
Somewhere up the fourth and final climb I thought I was going to have to give in and walk to the top, as most of the people around me were doing (and I'm afraid to say were nearly as fast as my running), when the top of the climb came into view and I figured I could hardly cave in there so I perservered and pretty soon I was regathering some strength and speed for the final slightly downhill kilometre sprint to the finish.
It now looked as though I could break 60 minutes (despite the hills and the heat!) but I was too done in for a real sprint finish so fell in behind a couple of others running a steady pace and let them drag me to the finish, crossing the line in 59:45 ... seemingly very near the back but according to official results I placed 390th of 664 finishers and I am in fact very pleased with that time.
So that was a really worthwhile little test race. I now have six weeks to prepare for the Sydney half marathon. This has a cut-off time at the 11km mark of 75 minutes, but at least now I can be pretty confident of getting through that and then I can cruise on to the finish. It's a pretty flat course so in terms of training I can just concentrate on endurance and speed for a while more before switching my attention to the hills I so desperately need to run before November. If yesterday's 10km race showed me one thing, it's that I've forgotten how bloody tough hills can be - especially on a warm day.
Anyhow to help celebrate this small race/training milestone I had three Scottish friends for company last night ... you might know some of them. They're all from Islay, surely my favourite Scottish island.
(02-04-2011, 09:24 PM)marathondan Wrote: Assuming it's a morning race I guess I've left it too late to wish you luck for the 10K, but I hope it was an enjoyable and uplifting day out and you got a decent workout.
Not at all - I checked RC before the race and saw your kind message - many thanks!
(02-04-2011, 09:24 PM)marathondan Wrote: Your success in training your brain to want to exercise reminded me of this recent post by Scott Adams - see the paragraph entitled "exercise".
Here's the section in question:
Exercise - When I've exercised in the past day, almost nothing bothers me. And I sleep like a pile of moss. If you think of exercise in its usual way, as one component of health, or as a way to lose weight, it's easy to skip your hour at the gym. If you think of it as the difference between a good day and a bad day, it's easier to make it a priority.
EC has written about this very thing before. I don't see it quite the same way as I believe other things can enhance your day too, and there are plenty of happy people having good days without exercising, but there's no doubt it's true that I find running makes it easier to have a good day. And a healthy one, too.
Nearly lunch time. It’s Monday, the day after my 10km race, and I’m more than usually famished and wondering if the race has something to do with that. No doubt the race has everything to do with my screaming quads, which make it difficult to get out of my chair, let alone contemplate the stairs. It’ll be the elevator today, I think.
I was rummaging around in my backpack for a letter I knew I’d put there and needed to mail – and there it was, encrusted with undecipherable stains that are undoubtedly a broad mix of rain and my inadequately wrapped lunch from a day last week when I was caught in a storm on the way to work. But hello, what’s this? A folded piece of A4 paper – something I’ve no doubt printed to read on the train home falls out of my pack and triggers a little bell in the brain. Ah, yes, of course: “Notes from the ledge”, one of my favourite pieces of El Cuckoo writing from April 2008 where he’s contemplating a return to the running life from the dangerously high “desolate attic of fulfilment”.
I sufficiently identify with his torment, and love to bits (and am not just a little bit jealous of) his ability to put it into such elegant prose. He may be mystified as to why his writing inspires people like me to run all the more, but the truth is his writing does get me out onto the streets, entering races and generally enjoying all the benefits this running life gives. He is not so much a runner who writes, but a gifted writer who runs and as I love both running and literature, for me it is a very happy combination.
More than that however, all the regular RC contributors inspire with their encouragement and their own tales of success (or otherwise) in their running lives. I have often considered joining a “real” running club, but have never found one that really appeals to me. RC on the other hand, suits me fine. As EC said, and it’s worth repeating...
“We’re not a big gang, but we write, we fight, we run – sometimes together, sometimes apart. I’ve met so many inspirational people here. Perhaps that’s the single best thing to emerge from all this: the proof that people (well, runners anyway) are essentially good and interesting, and that the adventures of other people can so easily become our own, if only we are prepared to let them.”
As others have noted, some of us have been venturing into Facebook and Twitter in recent years and this has perhaps eaten into our energies for RC. I see things like Twitter as the “chocolate biscuits” of social interaction – immediately appealing and momentarily satisfying, they are perhaps not exactly a wholesome diet. Trolling through old pages of RC musings I am staggered again and again by how much wisdom and inspiration I find there. I just don’t get the same thing however from Facebook pokes or Twitter’s retweets and Friday Follows.
I am perhaps more guilty than most for my inconsistency in posting to RC forums. This is almost certainly in direct proportion to my inconsistency in running. Running daily is now helping overcome that to a certain extent, but what always draws me back to the running fold, and I mean always, are the folks here at RC. This is home, you are my tribe and you keep me running.
And I have more reason than usual to be optimistic about my running future just at the moment. The messiness of the last few years of MLCM’s life has largely been settled and I now have a permanent home, a reasonable routine (or at least as close as I can get to a routine) not crippled by too frequent interstate travelling or major projects. My kids have all grown up and lead independent lives and I can now focus on my running to a degree I’ve not been able before. With that I’ve returned to (nearly) daily running and I really think this is helping. Being in reasonable health and not suffering the litany of injuries I used to get has made a huge difference, too. I’m genuinely excited about the rest of the year and beyond and hope a few of you might share this with me.
But first I need to let my quads recover. I promise I won’t be too long...
Nice work on the 10k there MLCMan. I find hills in a race add food for thought, offer a cerebral as well as physical challenge. They ask questions, just as your fourth climb did, and we have to dig deep to find the answers.
An admirable time too, not that you were looking for one. It all bodes rather well for Sydney.
I've signed up to your prescribed daily outings. The pups have to go out for 15 - 20 minutes early each morning, so today I strapped on my runners and took off in the spring sunshine, banking 2.2 kilometres in 17 minutes. Leisurely perhaps but I felt great afterwards, sipping coffee under a rising sun, first beads of perspitration instantly soothed by a cool breeze as light and gentle as a lovers' whisper.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
An excellent achievement MLCM, you'll be flying along in your halfling mara. Sorry about the quads, but they'll settle down, it's funny how an adult can sudenly be frightened by the sight of stairs - particularly the downward path;-) I think we've all been there.
I echo all your feelings about RC and its merry gang of comrades, its all the running club I could wish for and more besides.
Good luck in your triaining and in your future running path, sounds like you are set up for great things.
Well done on beating the hour over a tough course, MLCM. You seem to be really rocking along, it sounds like your first half will come at just the right time. Keep it up!
Another trio of runs to report: after Sunday's race, my quads were too sore to permit a run on Monday, so a rest day was enjoyed. Tuesday evening they were still complaining, so I took them on a very gentle 5km "recovery" run, i.e. jogging about as slow as I can go without actually walking, all on the flat. That did an amazingly good job of blowing out the cobwebs and I felt great on Wednesday, so hared off on a tough little 6km tempo run. Well that made the old left knee creak and groan and whinge a bit, especially after I jarred the same knee shifting some furniture, but by today (Thursday) it was all pretty much OK again so I squeezed in an easy 8km into the schedule.
With a 16km long run on Sunday, I'll be looking just to do a couple of easy short runs Friday/Saturday so I don't overdo the mileage and risk any problems. But so far it's all going pretty well. I just need to be mindful of not pushing the pace too fast too soon, as this is what can cause me some grief. So for the moment I'll focus on building the endurance and dropping my weight. Speed and hill work can come a little later.
Two shorties duly completed. Just tomorrow's long 'un to round out the week. Some left knee soreness however, so treading carefully. Might have to pay a precautionary visit to the podiatrist to discuss things.
I'm unfamiliar with Wizards in Winter so thanks for the intro.
An approporiate tdj given the title of this thread, what?
I am, sadly, rather more familiar with knee soreness. I get spiteful little niggles just under the kneecap (no technical jargon today, I'm just too knackered after a particularly busy working week). I hope your soreness indulges in sex and travel before too long.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
Well that settles it - 17km slow and steady safely banked this morning with barely a skerrick of complaint from the knees. In fact if I wasn't already well over my allocated mileage for the week I would have kicked on for the half mara distance, but as it was I packed it in after two hours feeling frustrated that I couldn't allow myself to go further. But that is, after all, a bloody good sign.
So the problem with the knees clearly has a lot more to do with speed than distance, i.e. I can cover the longer distances with little problem if I take it slowly enough, but race pace or tempo runs causes some grief. Guess I'll just have to sneak up on the harder speed work very carefully indeed.
Anyway, I'm delighted to have knocked off more than 40km this week... a good week's running by my standards.
And as I'm writing this, our Brighton marathon champions should be fast asleep getting nice and rested for their race in the morning. Best of luck everyone - I hope to get there myself one day. Time will tell.
So tomorrow's another week and another mixed schedule of short, easy, tempo, hill climb and long slow runs. Can't wait!
Good news that you are learning about how to read your body's feedback mechanisms. A great week's work. Also thanks for introducing us to skerrick - I think any post which expands the reader's vocabulary is a good one.
(11-04-2011, 08:39 PM)marathondan Wrote: Good news that you are learning about how to read your body's feedback mechanisms.
The funny thing is I've learned this time and again before, and have even written about it here, yet I don't learn. Well, perhaps I do. Anyway, today's scheduled intervals will not be "greater than race pace" as demanded but something rather less knee-damaging.
(11-04-2011, 08:39 PM)marathondan Wrote: Also thanks for introducing us to skerrick
Funny, but I'd always assumed skerrick was an English word (as in originating in UK). Apparently not! Now that I think about it, it's not a word I hear much anymore, but was common enough in years gone by.
On wordy matters, I wonder where our friend Mr. Shakespeare is? I see he's now pumping out his wares on Twitter but hasn't been here for yonks. Wherefore art thou, Mr. Will?
(11-04-2011, 10:15 PM)Mid Life Crisis Man Wrote: The funny thing is I've learned this time and again before, and have even written about it here, yet I don't learn. Well, perhaps I do.
Well that's going to be an interesting part of the challenge I think, because you almost certainly need to do some high intensity work to be ready for that big hill in November. Maybe focusing on hills rather than speed is the answer? I guess they both put extra load on the knees, but hills might be less jolting?
(12-04-2011, 06:48 AM)marathondan Wrote: Maybe focusing on hills rather than speed is the answer? I guess they both put extra load on the knees, but hills might be less jolting?
Yes, this may the best compromise. Hills are still hard on knees but not as jolting, indeed. And as we keep hearing, hills are "speed work in disguise"... this may be the ticket Dan, thanks.
So, two more really good runs to report. Yesterday, in lieu of the scheduled intervals session I took MarathonDan's advice and ran hills instead. 6 km of 'em to be precise, all done on the treadmill at a steady 4% gradient, followed by 2 flat recovery kilometres for a total of 8km for the day. And did I feel really good afterwards? You bet! There's nothing like a good hills session for a great blast of endorphins!
Today I had scheduled myself "5 or 6" easy kilometres, but by the 6km mark was trundling along so nicely that I pushed on for another 5km just to see if I could finish 11km inside 75 minutes, which is the cut off in the upcoming half mara. Travelling at my "easy" pace I reached 11km in 73 minutes and will undoubtedly go faster in the race itself, so am feeling pretty comfortable about the race just now. I very probably could have gone on to finish the 21.1 at the same pace, and might do just that on Sunday. All good news for the moment.
Three work days coming up now though, which will necessitate cutting back to the short 15 minute sessions. However three of these (done as hill climbs) and the long 'un on Sunday will still give me a good total for the week.
As long as all goes well, of course.
Track du jour: A runner sings about his training schedule...
Do you find that performance on the tready translates directly to performance on the road? (e.g. the road includes factors like wind resistance and uneven surface.)
It's like you've got yesterday, today and tomorrow all in the same room - there's no telling what might happen. (Bob Dylan)
Just about the only thing I hate in this running game is how when everything is going really well, something always comes along to spoil the party. This week an ear infection has curtailed much of my running, notably today's long slowie, which I had to throw the towel in on after just 2km... less than one tenth of what I set out to do.
Oh well, I still managed a reasonable weekly total and in the greater scheme of things a week lost is no big deal. I'll still be OK for the race in 4 weeks time.
April Cools
![[Image: x7298.jpg]](http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/x1/x7298.jpg)
![[Image: oswald%20ruby%20band.jpg]](http://www.sandarac.com.au/misc/oswald%20ruby%20band.jpg)