Another disrupted week with illness reducing my two best runs to just 15 minutes and would you believe, a miserable 2 minutes. However, after a huge night sweat two nights ago which felt like trying to sleep in a damp sponge and which (unsurprisingly) disgusted Mrs MLCM, I awoke feeling ... if not exactly recovered, at least better. So after faffing about for an hour or so I jumped on the treadmill with not a little trepidation and set off to see how I fared.
At this point, with only two weeks to the half marathon I was feeling somewhat apprehensive, with injury and illness doing their best to interrupt my training schedule and scuttle my attempt to run sub-2. And just as I had gotten over the annoying and potentially disastrous shin splints, along came this mystery illness that made running pretty much impossible.
The nice thing about the treadmill is that I can of course control things very carefully, and so I set off at a slow, comfortable pace and decided to do a bit of a tempo run - just slowly adding speed until it became difficult and then easing back just a bit. Well my hearties, it all went exceedingly well, and after an initially difficult first few minutes I was back to my old self and completed a respectable 15 kilometres in 93 minutes, with the last half hour pretty close to race pace, so I was happy with that.
All in all, I seem to be doing OK, and despite the interruptions, the prospect of a sub-2 half mara is still very much alive.
I'm sure you know this already, but the best way to fail to get to the start line is to try and make up for the training you've lost. Take it steady and start the race fresh. Good luck!
(06-09-2011, 09:56 PM)marathondan Wrote: I'm sure you know this already, but the best way to fail to get to the start line is to try and make up for the training you've lost. Take it steady and start the race fresh. Good luck!
(07-09-2011, 09:50 AM)glaconman Wrote: Give it some welly for a few days if your body is responding well; then easy down nicely for the race.
A nice gentle five (and a bit) kilometre lope at lunch time today seemed to go quite well, even if I did give it a bit of welly when two guys overtook me half way through. Feeling good though, and the pressure is off for the meanwhile. Just wanting to keep myself fresh for the race, so not too much hard stuff over the next week.
A straight-forward tempo quarter marathon today (10.55km), peaking at better than 5km PB pace (4:48/km) and feeling great with it. Total time was 66 minutes. To break 2 hours for the half next weekend I need to go twice as far and 10% faster. I think I can do that. I'll certainly be disappointed if I can't at least run a PB (2h05).
Anyway, I love these tempo runs - they're like a warm up/intervals/sprint/cool down session all rolled into one, adn this one felt great. I really think I've got my running mojo back. Just call me Austin.
A solid, comfortable 8km this evening. I ran the last kilometre at my "wishful thinking" half mara target pace of 5:30 ... it's one of those dangerous things to do because while it was reasonably comfortable, it left me in no doubt that I will require an awful lot of race day adrenaline to do that 21 times on the trot.
Still, I've given myself a good chance. Despite a couple of hiccups my training has gone quite well and I've given myself a great chance of going sub-2. We'll see what happens on the day. Six days to go!
Extra motivation comes in the form of #1 son, who is also running on the day - his first half marathon. Given his training times to date he should do well, but being his first race (of any kind!) he's simply aiming to finish.
I was listening to an interview with Bart Yasso on the Marathontalk podcast last week. He recommended taking the long runs steady and then speeding up to race pace at the end, so you get used to the feel of your target pace - as you have just done!
Don't worry, there will be plenty of race day adrenaline around...
I like reading this kind of post, especially slumped as I am now in a Mexican Cantina sucking down Cerveza Negra Especial listening to Beatles classics played on the Pan Pipes. Fear is not the enemy, it's the key, the catalyst to performance. Embrace it!
Like Dan I can only condone your endeavours. I like nothing better than a brutal carthorse slog through the hills topped off with a final kilometre or so taken at break-neck speed. Tired legs hammering down a hot dry track with the Devil at your heels. Ghad, there's no better feeling!
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
With four days to go I hit the streets for my last real training run before race day. I had intended just an easy 5km but the glorious day and a general "feeling good"ness set in and I completed 6.5km at the top end of my goal race pace of 5:30/km. And this on a tough, hilly course. I won't say it was easy - the hills were very hard, but it bodes well for Sunday.
My target is to complete all 21 kilometres between 5:30 and 5:40 pace, which will get me inside the 2 hours. It still sounds an onerous challenge, but everything to date suggests it should be possible.
Go go MLCMan!!! In case I end up banged away in a Mexican gaol in the next day or so (more probable than you might think) may I be the first to wish you good luck. Run like the wind dear boy, and no matter the result enjoy the bastard.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
(17-09-2011, 11:43 PM)Mid Life Crisis Man Wrote: 1h57m14s - my first sub-2hr half mara. Full report later - right now I'm looking for beer and sausages.
RIPPER!!! Go Aussie go!
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
(17-09-2011, 11:43 PM)Mid Life Crisis Man Wrote: 1h57m14s - my first sub-2hr half mara. Full report later - right now I'm looking for beer and sausages.
Congratulations, MLCM! That´s great!
I´d love to know the key of this fantastic success.
Thanks for the comments folks - I just tried for the second time to post a race report and lost the bloody lot. I now have to rush out the door for a road trip away, but I will attempt to post again somewhere along the way. Hopefully.
Congratulations MLCM! You've achieved something I (and others on this site) have been dreaming about for a while - getting under the two hour mark for a half. Obviously your hard work has paid off - well done!
September 2011 - The Fear Begins.
I just need to find a suitable race between now and PtP.
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