As it was the last race of the Striders season, I decided to give this one a go as it is my favourite course and where I set my 10km PB. Having not seriously run any distance since Melbourne, I wasn't really sure what to expect with the legs still tired after a hard week on the bike and in the pool.
On a warm morning, I arrived nice and early to register and trot through an easy warm up. No familiar faces meant it was going to be a lonely race! Plus, with the Run 4 Fun the day after there wasn't as many on the starting line as usual.
So the gun went off and I was away quickly, keeping the 40 minute pacer in view for the first couple of km's whilst feeling relatively fresh.
Up scribbly gums and the pacer started to get away from me, on to the annoying flat part and the split road, and from this point I knew it was going to be a hard race. Despite feeling ok, the legs were already tired and people around me with whom I usually run at the same pace, were starting to get away.
I didn't lose any more places up to the turnaround spot (I even took a few on the last part of the hill), but on the downhill part, and when I needed to pick up the pace and push on, there was just left nothing in the legs to go with those around me. To be fair it was pretty warm by this point, but still I was hoping that there would have been a little something to push the last 4km or so given that it is largely downhill.
Despite this, I managed to hold on and didn't get passed by that many people, even managing my customary sprint finish to cross the line in 42.54. A disappointing time really given what I was expecting and my times this year.
Still, it was nice to race again and push my legs for the first time since Melbourne. Looking at the difference between my building up to North Head and this race, it is clearly the longer runs that are lacking at the moment. For me, it would appear that these longer runs (even at a slow pace) more often than not result in quick 10km times.
Time: 42.54.
No comments:
Post a Comment