Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon

I am a little late posting about this race, possibly a reflection on my feelings of slight ambivalence. I had a goal of 100 minutes and I did 99.29 gun/99.18 net so I was happy. But it was a struggle and I did not feel like I was running very well. But I didn't really train for the race so what should I expect right? Anyway, it was a lovely day for a run and there is nowhere else I would have rather been.

Kirk came up for the race, just like last year. On Saturday night we had a yummy pesto lasagne for dinner then watched the crossword doco Wordplay until the dodgy pirate dvd gave up, so we went to bed nice and early. In the morning we got an early train and arrived at the start about 6.40AM (7.30 race start). We did the portaloo thing and dropped off our bags and then we lined up.

The first few kilometres Tom and I ran together. We went too fast for a bit then settled down to around 4.30 pace. We did 10k in 45.55 (possibly a new 10k PB for me) and I felt pretty good on the first lap.

It all started to feel pretty hard on the second lap, I lost sight of Tom and after passing the Mrs Macquarie's chair turnaround the second time I really started struggling. The kilometres started to get closer to 5 minutes, a couple even went over 5 - I exclaimed "shit" out loud after one.:)

For the last few k's I knew it was going to be fairly close for the 100 minutes, but I had nothing left to pick up the pace. In the final k, 3 seperate people came past me and said "not far to go now", or "nearly there", so I must have looked pretty bad. I was glad to cross the line and get my (crappy, ribbon-less) medal.

On reflection I think I have worked out why I did not enjoy it as much as I usually enjoy races. It was not a big goal race that I had worked hard for so my heart was not fully in it. As I was going around I was telling myself that I did not really "deserve" to meet my goal. But at the same time I had set myself a (arbitrary) goal and it was one I had to stretch for, so I did not let myself just race at a nice easy pace that did not hurt and enjoy myself. I have not figured out what I have learned from this - I guess its just a different part of the whole journey.

I was VERY happy that Tom met his goal and ran 98.10 - well done! :) Kirk did not do his fastest time but was happy with a solid 95.xx following his LA marathon earlier this year.

Thanks to CR and blogger sfGnome for the photo above - it is much better than any professional race photo I have ever had.

First time on the podium

Wow, what a red letter day! Today I got 3rd place in the 5km at the Hague Royal Ten fun run. I got flowers, and a trophy and even 10 Euro prize money. I was totally stoked. It was not a big field, maybe 250 people altogether, as the 10k is the big deal. While I was disappointed not to do the 10k, I was very glad with the outcome. I felt like a star.

It was a bit of a stress entering, dropping off my bag, renting Championchip etc, all without a word of Dutch, but I made it to the start line. It was a completely flat course and a cool day. I started out quite quickly and did the first 1k in 4.02. I knew that was too quick.

After that there were not many people around and I was looking ahead at a women in a yellow singlet (YS). She looked like she was not out of my league, ie she did not have that great running form and she was lean but not super toned or muscled, so I decided I could try to chase her. I caught up to her and decided to try and stay with her.

There was a turn around at about 2k and I (incorrectly) counted that there was only 1 other woman ahead of me and YS, so figured we were in 3rd and 2nd. Shortly after that I moved ahead of YS and thought I would just do my own thing. The next k was 4.13 and then 4.30 - I was flagging abit but told myself it was only 2k to go.

With just over 1k to go I could hear people coming up behind me and looked and saw that it was YS and a man. As they got right behind me I realised the man was not in the race and was pacing YS. They ran just behind me for a little while, and then I thought hang on, I don't want her behind me where she can make a sneaky move, so I slowed just a fraction.

They moved right next to me and I saw him signalling with his hand for her to 'hold'. Two thoughts went through my mind quickly. First was, give up, let them go, I don't care, she can take it, I'll probably still get third. But then I got angry and thought I don't want to let her beat me when she had this guy helping her, I am going to give this everything I have and see what happens.

We came around a corner into the final straight and there was 400m to go. Pacing man pulled off the course, I gave him a filthy look and then I started going as fast as I could. I kept looking back to see where YS was, but she did not keep up with me. With about 100m to go it was really hurting and I told myself to block it out.

It was a great feeling coming across the line and knowing I had "won", not the race, but the race with YS. She and another fast finishing woman were just behind me. I forgot to stop my watch but I saw the time 21.12 on the clock when I crossed the line.

I was given a little finishers medal and rose and an official told me the ceremony would be in about 15 minutes. I spoke to YS briefly and she said there were actually 2 women in front of us and so we were 3rd and 4th. Then I was even more pleased that I had not given in. There was a little ceremony, all in Dutch ofcourse, I just stood on the podium and smiled and waved my bunch of flowers for the photographer. It was pretty cool!!

I watched the start of the 10k, it looked like some pretty serious runners at the front, Kenyans etc. Then I rushed back to the hotel to shower and change before chairing a meeting for 4 hours.

Afterwards I thought how it was really fun to "race" against someone, though its not what I usually do. I also thought about the pacing thing. It seemed sooo unfair to me, but I don't know. In triathlon its completely against the rules and she would have been DQd. But it seems like its different in running. I also thought about what I should do with my prize money. Probably frame it. :)

19 knots

That was the speed of the wind this morning at the beach at Scheveningen, where I chose to take my long run. It was also raining. The first half of the run was not too bad. I had a couple of old eps of Ironman Talk to catch up on on the iPod and I just plodded along. But when I turned around after about 9k I had to head straight back into the wind. The section on the waterfront was ridiculous, I could literally hardly move, it was blowing so strongly. I was also soaking wet by the end, and seriously questioning my sanity. But I had a reward to look forward to. I allow myself one morning of allyoucaneat hotel buffet breakfast and today was the day. It included a healthy portion of the Dutch speciality of chocolate sprinkles on white bread. Gotta love that.

Tonight we had dinner at a REALLY really lovely restaurant called C'est Ca. They only have a very small menu and it changes every day, depending on what is good at the markets. I had crab cake, butterfish with white asparagus and lobster risotto, and banana cake with rum sauce. The very nice (English speaking) waitress just loved that I called my coffee a flat white. Anyway, highly recommended as a special but not too expensive dinner spot in The Hague.

I was bitterly disappointed today because I won't be able to do the 10k on Sunday - I have a meeting instead! But I will be able to do the 5k I think, so that was a small consolation. Tomorrow I will have a rest day.

Dutch runs

So, the plan while I am away was to run evey day and alternate between easy runs and something more challenging.

On Monday I did 7k easy, just down to the beach and back. Total time was about 40 minutes, I did the last 2k abit faster - around 5min pace.

On Tuesday I did a session based around the Mona fartlek - intervals 2x90secs, 4x60secs, 4x30secs, 4x15 secs, you repeat the times for recovery in between. I did 10 min warmup, 1 rep of the intervals, 10 mins easy, another rep of the intervals, then 10 min cool down. This was fun and I enjoyed it, but I was not pushing the intervals very hard, especially in the second rep. Approx 14k.

On Wednesday I just did 10k easy down to the beach and along to the end and back. There is a sandcastle festival here at the moment. The battery on the Forerunner died before the end.

On Thursday I did this 10-20 session I read about. 20 minutes warm up, 10 minutes fast pace, 10 minutes recovery, 20 minutes fast, 10 minutes cool down. It went pretty well. It was a miserable morning, rainy and very windy. I did the 10 minute interval along the waterfront with a gale force tail wind, that was quite fun. I felt pretty tired towards the end. My right leg has been unspecifically sore for a few days. I could do with a swim I think.

The exciting news is that there is a fun run here in The Hague on Sunday afternoon, which I am going to do. It is called the Dutch Royal 10. So far I have not been able to interest any of my colleagues in joining me!

Den Haag long run

This morning I got up early to do a longish run before starting work. It is nice running in Den Haag, it is familar because I have been here and run here twice before, but also unfamiliar at the same time. I wanted to do 18k and decided to head down to the beach and then into the dunes to do it. The dunes area is world heritage listed or something I think and there is a nice hard gravel path wending through it. I was pretty slow and feeling a bit sore in the legs, but it was still a very enjoyable run. It was pretty early on a Sunday morning, so there was hardly anyone around and it was very quiet. I have now run 4 days in a row, total of 50k, so tomorrow I will do something short and easy I think.

Highland runs

I had 3 good runs in Fortrose in the past few days. I hope when I get home I will be able to load up a Garmin map or graph or two, but for now I will just blog the details.

Thursday morning I ran from Tigh-Na-Rudha down to the Point through the golfcourse, then around and along to Rosemarkie, up the stairs and kept going till I had done 5 kilometers, then I turned around and came back the same way. I was taking it fairly easy and I think my average speed was around 5.40.

Friday afternoon I did pretty much the same run, but did 10 minutes warm up, then 20 x1 min on, 1 min off intervals, then another 10 minutes warm down. I was not going to any particular speed, just trying to go fast, then recover. My plan is to try and do some of this sort of thing while I am away, rather than just running easy every day!

Saturday I decided to go somewhere different, and headed straight through the village, up the hill and along this quiet laneway for about 6k. I got to Killen and then turned around and came nack the same way. It was beautiful and I felt really good. It was kinda hilly so I figured that was enough.