Race report - Wokingham Half.
After last week`s successful progressive run at Bramley 20 I have been wondering what time I should really aim for at London so this week`s race was the perfect opportunity to test out a pace.
Woke up early, only to see what the weather was doing........it was lashing down with rain – great...but ok as it could be raining at London, like a couple of years back..
Got there, well the car park anyway in plenty of time & stayed in the car as it was still chucking it down – mmm could be interesting !!! Decided to brave it & wander down (i.e. hike) to the start.
Saw Jock, Gymfreak & Debby & later mlamden. Massage & bag tents were packed full of folks staying dry. Saw Liz Yelling standing in cold, like us normal folks, in the huge loo queues – respect.
After getting changed & dropping the bag decided to go for a warm up. Forgot to start the garmin – opps.
A quick wander down the starting area. Heard the klaxon go off – we were off slowly. At least they didn`t delay & keep us waiting in the wet.
The name of today`s game was steady – 8.23`s
That meant a 1hr 50 mins half today and 3 hrs 40 mins for a marathon...plus I had one of those 1.50 pre-printed pace bands :-)
As I was going around I tried to remember the course from last year but one thing I did notice was that after a few miles no-one really past me. I did seem to be moving steadily through the field without much difficulty. Also I did notice SarahL a fair few times, cheering and supporting along the way – how did she do that..came to the conclusion there must be 5 Sarah’s!! Also said hi to a few fetchies along the way (names on tops please)
Got slightly annoyed at mile 5 – 8.05 – I did not want to see a 7.xx mile – slowed it down for the next few. Thought about posture and form during these miles – leaning from the ankles rather than the waist. Also noticed a tighten hamstring :-( not too bad really, just something I`d rather do without (must do more yoga this week :-) ). Gel during mile 9. Saw the sign for Mile 10 – great 5Km to go. Saw Liz Yelling coming towards me on the other side doing her cool down – talk about smooth. Didn`t mean to but sped up during the last two miles but did – opps. Back in and under the arch.
Splits - 8:29, 8:25, 8:20, 8:22, 8:05, 8:28, 8:21, 8:30, 8:12, 8:20, 8:11, 7:50, 7:48, 0:45 (0.11m)
Total time (garmin) – 1.47.02
A pleasing day – a controlled run. Good postives to take away.
Q. Can I really do 8.23`s for 26.2 miles?
A. Don`t know yet, maybe not seeing as it`s my first time out & it`s at London but I`ll keep asking the questions.
Other stats – seeing as I wore it.
Heart Rate Zone Summary
====
HR Zone: 80-147bpm (Sub 70%): 75.9%
HR Zone: 147-151bpm (71-75%): 13%
HR Zone: 151-156bpm (76-80%): 3.6%
HR Zone: 156-161bpm (81-85%): 1.1%
HR Zone: 161-166bpm (86-90%): 0.1%
HR Zone: 166-170bpm (91-95%): 0.6%
HR Zone: 170-175bpm (96-100%): 0.5%
HR Zone: undefined: 5.4%
Back in time for the gym..well steam & jacuzzi anyway (weight 12st 2lb)
Ohh - And it didn`t rain once whilst I was out there.
Next race – Moonlight challenge – a 6.55M lapped course (max of 5 laps = 32.5M) in Kent. Starts at 6.00pm next Saturday..may be my first DNF as 3 laps sounds ok – it`s meant to be a LSR not my 3rd ultra attempt. Good practice for the Thunder 24 hour run. (team of 5 on a 10Km lapped course running for 24hrs). Batteries for head torch are on charge :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment