Day 109: Sydney Half Marathon

Sydney Half Marathon: Time [1:21:39], Age-Group [30th], Overall [131st]

Going into the race, I wanted to have one foot firmly planted in reality, and the other foot dangling in optimism. As I said in my earlier post, I've done lots of mileage but very little speed work. The gun went off and I told myself just to start running and let my body dictate the pace. About 2 km in, I glanced around me to check out my company-a woman who appeared to be in her early 50's, and three guys who were talking about how much they drank last night. Time to pick up the pace. I went through the 10 km mark in 38:15 and I felt steady and in control. At the halfway mark, I heard the announcer say that I was on 1:20 pace- cool, as I really felt comfortable and in control. I was running with a group, and I remember thinking to myself, boy, all of these guys are breathing really hard. They are running at such a hard effort, now why can't I do that? Oh yeah, I just did an ironman, all I have is medium and steady. With 4 km left to go, my lack of speed work caught up to me, I felt that twitch in my calf. Uh-oh, time to take some deep breaths and change the stride up a bit. My calf was cramping on and off for the next two kilometers, and looking at my split, I am amazed that my second 10 km split is almost the same as my first. Just before the 20 km mark, I glanced at my watch and saw 1:16 something. Though my calf and quad were cramping, I thought if I could just push it, I could still finish just over 1:20. But the coach in me said why? Why risk a calf/quad strain for a tune-up race for Hawaii 70.3? Having recently turned 39 years-old, I can say It is true that we get wiser with age. I pulled the plug and jogged the last 1 km to the finish. Later that afternoon, I went and swam 4.5 km, finishing up what I call the Mini-Mikelson (Ian ran a marathon and swam 6 km on the same day). This race confirms that I have the aerobic fitness but not the speed. The days following the race confirms this as I'm walking rather stiffly, and I only get sore when I'm not in race shape. But, both the miles and the race effort are banked and both will serve me well in two weeks when I race the Hawaii 70.3. Now if only I can get back into biking shape. I had hoped to ride Sunday post race but my inability to bend my legs prevented that from happening. And it has been raining the past three days and I don't ride in the rain. Nothing is ever easy is it?