Qld Half Marathon
The 'A' goal today was to run sub 1h40m, the 'B' goal sub 1h45m. I did a three km warmup before the start, not really to warm up but because the physio has said I can start doing longer runs :-)
The first 14 or 15k were going okay, I was just slightly under target. But after that things started getting tough and it was a real effort. At around 18k the 1h40m pack caught up to me, and Steve L (the pacer) gave me a tap on the arm and some words of encouragement. It was just what I needed, and I hung in with them.
At 20k I was shot. Thank goodness Langy was out on the course warming down and saw how much I was suffering ... so made me suffer more and dragged me that final stretch before turning into the grounds of the racecourse. From there it was just a 'sprint' to the finish and I crossed the line in 1:39.20 or 21.
So I was more than happy with my time, but certainly not happy with how I felt, especially in the closing stages. It was almost akin to that feeling you get at the 35k mark in a marathon. Without the encouragement of fellow PCRG-ers Celeste (who finished about 10 seconds in front of me), Steve L and Langy I doubt if I would have achieved my goal, so am very grateful to all of them.
On the bright side I came 2nd in my category.
And it was a course PB.
And once again rather than a finisher's t-shirt we got a towel, way more useful.
And I got to listen to lots of great music - started with The Saints "Swing For The Crime", finished with The Strokes "Hawaii Aloha".
And my new in-ear earphones worked a treat - no more elastoplast holding the bud types in!
But best of all I got to give both Speedygeoff and Robert Song a post race punch in the belly :-)
The first 14 or 15k were going okay, I was just slightly under target. But after that things started getting tough and it was a real effort. At around 18k the 1h40m pack caught up to me, and Steve L (the pacer) gave me a tap on the arm and some words of encouragement. It was just what I needed, and I hung in with them.
At 20k I was shot. Thank goodness Langy was out on the course warming down and saw how much I was suffering ... so made me suffer more and dragged me that final stretch before turning into the grounds of the racecourse. From there it was just a 'sprint' to the finish and I crossed the line in 1:39.20 or 21.
So I was more than happy with my time, but certainly not happy with how I felt, especially in the closing stages. It was almost akin to that feeling you get at the 35k mark in a marathon. Without the encouragement of fellow PCRG-ers Celeste (who finished about 10 seconds in front of me), Steve L and Langy I doubt if I would have achieved my goal, so am very grateful to all of them.
On the bright side I came 2nd in my category.
And it was a course PB.
And once again rather than a finisher's t-shirt we got a towel, way more useful.
And I got to listen to lots of great music - started with The Saints "Swing For The Crime", finished with The Strokes "Hawaii Aloha".
And my new in-ear earphones worked a treat - no more elastoplast holding the bud types in!
But best of all I got to give both Speedygeoff and Robert Song a post race punch in the belly :-)
posted by Tesso at 5:34 PM
18 Comments:
Hey Tesso
Nice race, course PB, and all. Can you think of any particular reason why you did it so hard today?
Sometimes these things are difficult to understand. Still, your hammy didn't seem to get any worse and with that time you must be happy moving forward.
Geez, you were so close to getting a rare victory over Speedygeoff. I'm glad you were able to give him the CR ab test. Just hope he forgets to pass it on.
Can I borrow that time for the Gold Coast?
Well done. Not a bad effort at all. Looking good for 4 weeks time. Lets pull up well this week.
Plu
Are you coming to PMC Tesso?
R2B
Excellent run when you are not supposed to be running much. Course PB, 2nd age group and an A goal. Huge!
Great run, congratulations!
I thought Robert Song was supposed to be punching you in the guts. Hmmm, something went amiss there.
Waiting for me a the final turn to run down to where we enter the gates was Keith. He helped me along that 400m stretch and it seems there is a growing habit of PCRGers doing this.
Sub 1:40 is a good run when you think about the last month of your training and shows you are on the way back to your best form.
Feed the woman meat!!!!!
Maybe that and all those exercises you have been doing will give you the strength you need to get to and through Gold Coast.
You have a week or two where you can increase the distance a bit so the marathon won't be that much of a shock to the system - you have a massive base you will be able to draw on but yes like you said it will be tougher than usual. Isn't that why we keep running them - to challenge ourselves?
I can't believe I left and didn't see you get your medal. I didn't even think anyone was going to get medals. Well done and hoooorrrrraayyyy belated from me.
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Nice run Tesso! I reckon it's all that much sweeter to get the time you want when it hurts that bad - once the pain finally wears off....
I reckon your huge distance base will help you out for GC. Should I be putting in more k's so that I can keep up?
Congrats on some more race bling! A few more weeks of regular training will see you get your stamina back I'm sure.
Lots of things to smile about there :-) Now a towel....thats a good idea!!!
congrats on the course PB Tesso. don't worry how you feel if you get your goal time ;-)
i'm with you to one extent on the short vs towell. got my mum converting teh brissy half short to a running singlet. perhaps you could tunr your towell into a running skirt? get back to me :-)
Hi Tesso
I wanted to tell you that we also get towels when we finish events here.
I have run in about 50 events so far and I've never had a medal of any description including any finishing medals.
But do I have some towels and T-shirts. I think I could dry the whole of PCRG after a shower with what I have. Not that I've ever thought about doing this!
Awesome result Tesso - congratulations!
Aside from it feeling so tough - well done. You must feel happy with that run given your lead up.
I like the towel idea too.
I think I've missed something about this post-race-boxing-training stuff, but remind me to not get too close to you next time we run together... :-)
Gnome
I'm positive that it was the 90mins of physio that made you do it tougher on Sunday.
And all those pushups after speedwork that gave you the toughness to get the job done :)
Well done!
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