Rainy Day Blues

Monday May 31, 2010

Last day of autumn and it has rained on an off since my last post two weeks ago. I wonder if the persistent rain is responsible for me feeling bit down and blue although I do like to run in the rain. I have started yet another postural exercise program in an attempt to address running biomechanics. I have just completed a Foundation Physiocise course - which builds on the postural activation work I have done to date. The purpose of this program is to learn practices which will strengthen the weak muscles and stretch the chronically tight overcompensating ones. I have finally discovered what a glute med does and what it feels like when it is doing it. I have chronic asymmetry which I am hoping this program of exercises will address. In the mean time running has been just ticking over; I have run 105 km in the last 2 weeks including a mix of trail, hills and long slow road runs and one race. Last Saturday I ran the NSW Athletics Cross Country relay at Miranda. What a day of mud and glory. Our team finished the 4 by 4km event first in our age group in a time of 1:08. It was a lot of fun on a rainy cold Saturday afternoon which I would have otherwise spent cocooning with DVD (currently the Madmen series). It is rare that we as adults get to play in the mud and get a gold metal to boot was a bonus. Last Sundays Airport Adventure STAR was my longest steady pace road run for over a year. By the end of the 26km both glutes and hamstrings were feeling tight but I finished - in 2:35. It is time to do a few more of these steady long runs.

SMH Half Marathon 2010

Sunday, May 16 2010 (Race)
With a 7:30am race start I could afford to sleep-in this morning. Banana and poached egg for breakfast and I was ready. We drove in and parked in Woolloomooloo, only a short walk away from the start line. Beautiful sunny crispy-cool morning made perfect running conditions. Hammer and I lined up in College Street with about 20 minutes to the start after a quick visit to the port-a-loos and a drink of water. Chatting to a few Striders standing round us while waiting to start, the sandstone walls of St Mary’s Cathedral were reflecting the early morning light and it was great to be fit and healthy and living in the land of the runner.

The atmosphere reminded me of the City the Surf – we were lining up in College Street and the dense crowd stretching back along the street contributed to that feeling. An hour earlier I did not feel like doing this race but now that I was here I was going to give it my best. Two weeks ago I wrote down my dream race goal (1:48) and my realistic goal (1:52) based on training effort so far. In the last two weeks I ran a total of only 76km over eight days averaging a pace of between 5:20 and 6:50min/km on these runs. Nothing focused or specific, just ticking over kind of running. The gun went off and after standing around for so long I thought it would be hard to get moving. But I was surprised by how good I felt as soon as I started running – I felt light on my feet so I just ran by feel - but by 5km was a bit concerned that I may have started a bit too fast. I knew I could get to 10km at this pace but then who knows.

The second half of the race, the mind knew what was coming. Thoughts of pulling out danced in my head at this stage but I knew, that just like an addict, I needed to have that wonderful euphoric feeling of a runner’s high that finishing an event can produce. So heading out on Macquarie Road again I just focused on ticking off the hills and staying relaxed in between– Argyle Street, Hunter Street and lastly Mrs Macquarie’s chair. I told myself just focus on finishing each which will bring me closer to the finish and I can then simply cruise home for the last kilometre to the finish line. And so it was, I was feeling relatively strong at the beginning of each climb and ran though at the top trying not too loose any momentum. I crossed the finish line in a net time of 1:45:12 with pace at 4:59min/km for the first 10km, 4:58 for the next 10km and 4:58 for last km. It would have to be the most evenly paced race I have ever done – not sure where it came from. And a Half Marathon PB – who would have thought. Just like my first SMH Half Marathon 15 years ago – memories are made of days like this - and although the atmosphere of the race is different, it is all good.

Mt Solitary

Sunday May 2, 2010 (Walk -30km)
A glorious day for walking in the Blue Mountains: crispy, cool and brilliant sunshine. We left Sydney at 6am and were on the track at 8.35 starting from Katoomba Oval via the Furber Steps onto the Ruined Castle Track and then out to Mt Solitary. Reached the top in around 3 hours covering around 11km. We stopped on top for a short break. Jamieson Valley was still shrouded in mist and looking back it does not seem like we had come that far or climbed any significant amount. We headed down returning via Sublime Point Ridge track after crossing Kedumba River just west of its junction with Jamieson Creek. The road up from Leura Falls Creek was winding, steep and never ending. I ran out of water about 1km from the end having consumed 2 litres in 8 hours. We ended up covering 30km in eight and half hours. A stunning autumn day, we were back at the car just before 5pm and soon joined the traffic crawl to return home.

Sydney:10

Saturday May 1, 2010 (Race-10km)
I ran this race two years ago finishing in 48:18 and a stress fracture. So I approached today’s race with some concerns. The course was pretty much the same as the previous NSW Road Championship one but the start and finish have been moved. I had no expectations for a finishing time but on my recent form I thought I should finish in less than 52min. It was overcast and cool at the start with little wind – perfect running conditions. Getting a bit carried away I started out to fast and by the third kilometre started to wonder how I was going to manage the rest – thoughts of stopping and/or pulling out at 5km crossed my mind. The clouds darkened, it started to rain and I was not in a very nice place. So I did what I always do when in this position hooked onto the back of the person running just in front of me and just focused on staying with them for the middle part of the race and then seeing what happened. It worked, I got to 8km feeling better than I was at 3km so I let go of my “pacer” and got to the finish in 48:43. I finished in the back of the pack - 75th percentile - of the 663 starters. Lesson learnt – the first 3 km were 15 sec/km quicker than my average pace at the finish. This will be my goal at next months race – to run a more evenly paced 10km.