The PB run continues...

This morning I'm still beaming from another uplifting race weekend. After my 15km two weeks ago, I posted about the S-curve and were I felt I was in the scheme, and also the impending plateau when I'll have to start working a lot harder for just a few seconds gain. Right now though I need to just keep on training and just riding the crest of this crazy wave I'm on until it's loses steam.

To be honest, I haven't necessarily felt any faster since that 15km. I put in two quality speed sessions since then. On the  12th, I use what is possibly the only useful bit of flat on WITS main campus to do short intervals. It's approximately 300m. I did six repeats aiming for 60 seconds and I did them all in  59-61 seconds, jogging back to the start as recovery. This past week I was on leave so I took the opportunity after dropping my son off at school to do some quality. On Monday, I submitted my entry for the Runner's World 1km Challenge, doing that in 3:22. It surprised me actually how difficult one all out kilometre is but considering in February doing an 800m in 3:05 was too much for me it's a lot of progress. On Tuesday morning I hit the track, and did 5 X 400m aiming for 80s, and once again I was consistent doing one at 79, one at 82 and the remainder on the money. I finished off the session with an 800m and managed 2:44. On Thursday I headed back to Centurion for the Nike+ Run Club aiming to really let fly now that I know the course. I covered the ~3.5km loop in 13:14, 3:46, which I was chuffed with considering that at times when navigating the mall bits it's almost an almost course and there is some human traffic to contend with.

All that fast stuff did mean that I was a little jaded come Saturday morning when it was time for the Take 5 Team Relay at the Waterkloof Airbase. And when it started to drizzle on the way there I was feeling a bit gloomy. The rain cleared away and even though there was a chill in the air it was pleasant. And with the route being the flattest that I have ever witnessed at a race fast times were there for the taking. My only concern was the changeover area which as I guessed would get cluttered but thankfully I was doing the first leg so it wasn't going to be too bad.

The race was scheduled for an 8am start, another boon as the extreme chill of the morning was almost certainly gone. This was only my third 5km and I'm still none the wiser as to how to approach the distance. It's almost certainly too short to have a strategy but equally go out too fast or too slow and there are consequences. A 10km makes sense, steady for 4km, hit optimum pace to 7km then give it horns to the finish!

Once the gun went, there was the obligatory battling with walkers and joggers who had pushed to the front. By the time we got off the grass and onto the tar thankfully we had cleared them. There were some serious looking athletes and those pesky juniors that have endless pace, and I got sucked into that early pace. Then came the first panic. My watch hit 4:00 and there was no sign of the 1 km mark. But already I was breathing quite heavily. At 8 minutes so 2 km mark. My  Nike+ foot sensor is optimized for my easy training pace of around 4:55-5:00 min/km so it under measures at race pace so that was no use. The water point was coming up and that was supposed to be halfway but I check the time, 9:57 as I pass through. Now I'm getting tired and double my time is 19:54, surely not.

I soldiered on but the one glimmer of hope was that I still hadn't lost sight of the lead bike. It was starting to get further and further away but after 12 minutes I could see it at a bend in the corner of my eye. At 15 minutes I see the Sportsman's Warehouse balloons for the changeover point and I can here the announcer calling the team numbers. So close. As I'm about to hit the grass with the finish in sight, my clock hits 17:00. Another 'surely not' moment. I stride to the finish, I can hear my dad cheer me on, see my wife pull out of the change over area, hand her the baton and stop my clock.

17:49!

No freaking way!!!!! My first instinct is not to celebrate but to question the route. It must be short surely, must be. I play this silly game in my head until the end of the race. My father ran the last leg. He was recovering from a cold so didn't go all out but planned to hit 4:00 min/km and then finish strong. His experienced legs can dial a pace almost at will and sure enough he finished in 19:30, with no qualms about the distance.

So an new PB. I'm still over the moon. A 1:36 improvement and managing 3:34 pace over 5km is something I would not have imagined in February, never mind June last year. I think it might have just been once of those days, 1) weather was perfect 2) it was as flat as a pancake 3) the pace was hot at the start and I got into the mix and just hung on.

Of course I have been doing a lot of hard training and it's giving back now. My average for the last 7 weeks since the week of Wally Hayward and Jackie Melker has been 46km, with weekly totals ranging from 41 km to 51 km. That has been a mix of speedwork (intervals and tempo sessions) on Tuesday, hills on Thursday and 12-16 km long runs on Sunday. So while for me it has been conditioning and preparing my body for the rigours of the marathon training that is still to come, another way to look at it is that I have been doing an intensive 8 week 10km program like the sort you would find on Runner's World. Indeed I'm doing a 10km race on Saturday and this is now the 8th week since that double header week.

I'm looking forward to Saturday's race and like the last two races I'm going to give it my all and just let the legs go. Then I have another two weeks before I start focussing on the marathon from the 16th July.

Breaking the 4:30 min/km barrier

Finally the day came. It has been a long 10 weeks leading up to the Wally Hayward Half Marathon but it was worth it. Then just over 10 weeks ago, after nearly two months of inactivity, I decided to not go back on the pledge I made to myself to become a runner. Since 20the December 2011 I had been for a solitary 7km jog. It was now the 18th February after yet another 'come back' run. Instead of continuing with my initial plan of improving my 10km time, I decided to do something I had never done before, but realistic and achievable. So I set my mind, heart and body on running a half marathon.

And here I am now, having done two of them and feeling very good. 

The Weekend Before

This weekend though things didn't look so rosy. After running Slow Mag I focussed on sharpening my legs, focussing on short tempo runs, speed sessions and working hills into my running. On Saturday however, as I did my last serious one, 7km with 2km at race pace, a final reminder, I didn't feel good at all. It felt to me like fatigue. I struggled ending the session and cancelled my 30 minute shakedown. While there was nothing remarkable about how much mileage I had done, it peaked at 50km/week and avergaed 40km/week, it was a serious bump compared to what I was doing last year. I was worried that my body had simply had enough.

My wife and son had also picked up something in the air and being surrounded by sneezing snivelling people, it was inevitable that I would be affected. Indeed on Sunday night I felt awful, my nose was runny and I was sneezing constantly. I had anticipated the possibility of getting sick and had got medication from the pharmacy. Thankfully it was just a head cold but I still felt awfully. Things improved on Monday but by the evening I wasn't sure if I would be at the start line on Tuesday.

I was concerned about the weather too. Monday was a scorcher, peaking at about 28 degrees celsius and the forecast was much the same for Tuesday. Fatigue, a head cold and unseasonablly warm temperatures. The signgs were not good.

Pre-Race

I was up way before 4 AM on Tuesday morning. I got out of bed at 4:15, had my usual pre-race snack of 100ml yoghurt and a piece of route. I was keeping hydrated with water and sports drink. Just after 5 AM we made out way to the Hoerskool Zwartkop (my mother was running the 10 km and my brother came along to help with carrying stuff and support).

Thankfully parking was not a problem considering the size of the race. I'm glad we didn't leave earlier as we had a full hour before the race once parked. The was a moderate walk to the start. The place was already buzzing, I really love the vibe at races. I did my warm up, gentle jogging and stretching and at 6:15 made sure I got a decent spot.

The crowd was very friendly. People were chatty and relaxed. I usually keep to myself, but I was enjoying the banter, which helped me forget my woes from the last couple of days.

After some announcements and usual protocols, the race started just after 6:30

The best race of my life

 I had a great run at Slow Mag, due to the lack of pressure, and the 'take it as it comes' attitude I had on the day. This was the one I had been working towards and I was nervous. I had made and saved pace bands for 1:35, 1:36, 1:37 and 1:38 times. I had created my own custom pace band by breaking the race into 10, 5 and 5 sections. I had studied the course, sourced information from people who had done it. In short I was obsessed. 

All of that went out the window once the hooter went.

Finding a rhythm: The first five kays

Steady was the order of the day. I wanted to ease into my pace and go conservatively but not as much as Slow Mag. I was targetting 4:45min/km pace for the first 5kms and just to find my rhythm before the hard work between 5km and 10km. The first two kms were comfortable and I felt good, going just below 5:00min/km. I met one of my father's runners from UNISA AC and since he was doing the full marathon I ran a few kms with him to stop me from getting ahead of myself. I went through 5 km in 23:40, 4:43 pace, so far so good.

The slow poisonous climb: 5 to 10 km 

The end aside, this was the part of the race I had identified as critical to me running a good time. It's not until 6km when it becomes obvious that you are climbing. It is a gentle climb but it's a kilometre long. I just put my head down and reminded myself that I had prepared for this in the previous two weeks. Once we crossed the N14 at the 7km mark I had a glance at my watch and realizing I was still maintaining a good pace, I began to feel for the first time that this could be a great day for me. I picked up the pace and worked at reaching 10km in my target time of 47:00. I hit 10km at 46:40, 4:40 pace, and knowing that I had navigated the toughest part of the course for a little while, I set about trying to bank time for 'Hakkin Hill', with a great opportunity to improved on the 1:38:42 I had run at Slow Mag

Time trialling: 10 to 15 km

My aim was to run negative splits and that meant having to really get going. The next 5km were something of a blur, as I ignored the watch and just worked on increasing leg turnover. I was delighted when I hit 15km  in 1:08:31. That split was 21:51 at 4:22 pace and overall now down to 4:34. I was now under PB time and now on course for not just a PB but 1:37 or better.

Run like the wind: 15 to 20 km

By this stage I was stuck in a groove and just thinking 'PB, PB, PB'. The obsessive time checking returned now. It was not just the PB that was weighing in on my mind but trying to figure out how much time I needed to bank for the last kilometre. I ran faster and harder than I have ever run, 4:08, 4:11, 4:04, 4:12, 4:12. I hit 20km in 1:29:18 at 4:28 pace, the last 5 km went by in 20:47 at 4:09 pace, the previous 10 km in 42:38 at 4:16 pace. Both times would easily break my current PBs for those distances. On beginning the 21st km, a new PB was safe and a sub 1:35 was suddenly a possibility.

The sting in the tail: surviving Hakkin Hill

I have gone over the last 1.1 km of this race as obsessively as anything  else but once after hitting Valley Rd with the finish in sight, the sheer enormity of the task that lay ahead hit me. With each stride my pace slowed and slowed. I refused to walk but the clock was ticking perilously close to 1:35. Finally the gate entering the school grounds was visible and I pushed. It was a brutal ending but I made it, unofficially in 1:34:53. It will be touch and go when official times are released but I'm certain I sneaked in under 1:35.

Wally Hayward was a great experience. It was easily one of the best organized races I have been to, everything from getting parking, the start, the many water points and the enthusiasm of the marshals and volunteers made it a very fun event. I hope to make it a fixture in my racing calendar.

Breaking the 4:30min/km barrier 

Breaking 45 minutes for 10km, or put differently 4:30 min/km was a shadow that I was chasing last year and  that's what drove me to almost stop running. I had run 48:00 in November and 45 min was right there. I trained myself into the ground and that last workout in December, I remember just grinding to a halt after yet another high intensity work. The general advice is that a significant portion of running workouts should be easy/recovery, but for me it was the opposite and for a relative beginner it was suicidal.

So when I finished the Wally Hayward Half Marathon as significant as just running a great time, way way faster than what I had initially set as a target, was that I had breached that psychological barrier that was turning into an obsession. I got close with the 45:44 at the Deloitte Pretoria race, but to have done it over 21.1 km fills me with a lot of joy.

So what now? I set myself three goals, that sub 45:00 10km, finish a half marathon well and complete a full marathon (no time target, just finish and finish strong). I have a few 10km races, and a 15km to keep me busy. I'm not going to obsess over the times, I'll just trust my legs. Then from mid June I begin an 18 week journey to that first marathon.

EDIT: official results are out and I missed out on breaking the 4:30 min/km by 5 seconds! Official time was 1:35:01

There's a first time for everything: Time to taper

I have finally got to the last week of my 10 week half marathon training program and it's time to taper. It dawned on me that this is the first time I have ever had a proper program and followed it through (almost) to the end. Okay so I kinda cheated by going hard two Sundays ago and doing a full 21.1 instead of the planned 19, and racing the second half, but this past week I took it easier than I had planned. I did a very easy 6km run on Tuesday and instead of the scheduled track workout I went on the road and did a fartlek session  and again didn't go all out. By the weekend I was feeling refreshed and did 6km on Saturday with a focus on hills and pushed hard on a 2km incline (at 4:30 pace) in the middle of the route. I cut my Sunday run from 15km to 11km and again added 2.5 km of hills split into a 1.5km climb from about 4.5km and a 1km climb at 8km. That is one thing I have been lazy with, hill training, but I still felt good pushing a bit, but it's something I have to start fitting into my workouts.

This week is a no nonsense week. a couple of easy 6s on Tuesday and Saturday, sandwiching a few 400m repeats on the track on Thursday. There is a bit of moisture in the air, so hopefully it holds out otherwise I will repeat the fartlek from last week just to get my legs turning. Then either on the Sunday or the Monday I will do a very easy 5km jog and then it is race day on Tuesday, the one I have been training for all along. I must say while I'm not feeling fatigued, I can feel that I have put in 334km since 18 February. Not since school days where I was doing 3 sessions a week have I stuck so resolutely to a plan. The 149km I put in last month was easily the most I have ever done but by the end of this month I will have done another 160. The most mileage I had put in since I started running again in June was 78 in November last year, and I doubt I have ever put in that much at any other time in my life so this is very new territory for me. I'm really just looking forward to slowing down, cutting down the kays and conserving my energy for an all out effort on the 1st.

While I really enjoyed the Slowmag and was surprised with how comfortably I cleared 1:40 (official time was 1:38:42) after initially shooting for 1:45 when I started training, I'm now slightly confused as to how I should approach the Wally Hayward. The first consideration is that the route is a bit tougher. Slowmag was relatively flat with a bit of an incline between 13.5 and 14.5km. The Wally Hayward has what is described in Runnersguide.co.za as "the slow and poisonous climb over the highway" from about 6km and it's a gradual climb but you never really stop until about 11km. Then there is the dreaded and famed Hakkin Hill at the end which I still remember from doing the 10km in 2006! Secondly as I said earlier, my pace for the Slowmag, ~49:20 for the first 10km and the same time for the following 11km, was perfect but a plan I stumbled upon by accident since I had begun with a training run in mind. Now do I push a little harder here maybe aiming for a very doable 47:30-48:00 for the first 10? Hakkin Hill expected, the last 10 for Wally actually look easier than Slowmag with a predominantly downhill path so 4:25 pace  as I managed at Slowmag for the remainder of the race is a possibility and I could be flirting with a good PB of between 1:36 and 1:37. But then again, with the slightly more challenging beginning, I might not have as much in reserve as I had a Slowmag to effectively run a PB for the last 10km (guesstimated about 44:15 for the last 10km).. By going out at 5:20 for the first 3km at Slowmag and then easing into my stride to only break the 5:00/km average pace only at 9km, allowed me to really go for it in the second half.


Decisions. Decisions.


Ultimately I just want a great run and know that If I enjoy myself and race intelligently, then a good time for the course will follow.