Kilomathon England 14th March

aero2k

Kilomathon Nottingham-Derby 14 March 2010 - the Run-Sit-Run strategy.

Reasons for doing this:

• To be part of history as it was the world's first kilomathon (26.2 km, 16.3 miles)
• To get a PB (I was conscious of the fact I was guaranteed one, but it hadn't regestired with me that all finishers would have a PB, and that there would be 4 world records set in one race)
• To have fun
• To see how the Edinburgh prep was going.

Organisation

Overall excellent. Entry fee £29.50, goodie bag had a 475ml milk shake, 3 bars, 2 packs of flax seeds, a smple of Tetley fancy teas, about 4 sachets of various creams, and a litle tube of Nivea anti aging cream for men - around 20 years too late for me! The t-shirt was long sleeved combed cotton and almost devoid of sponsors logos. Unfortunately the race logo of 2 "K"s back to back looks almost like a Union Jack. This features on the very good quality medal as well. There was also a bottle of water and a banana for each finisher. Communication by e-mail in the lead-up to the race was excellent, the race pack was clear and covered everything we needed to know (I paid a bit more attention to this than normal as I wasn't familiar with the start or finish areas). The race number had the shuttle bus ticket in the form of a logo printed on it making it difficult to forget, and there was a tear-off strip at the bottom with the number repeated, which made into a luggage tag. The pre-supplied emergency contact information was printed on the front of the race number. There were loads of portaloos at the start, finish, and the 4 water/energy drink stations. Drinks were in flip top bottles.
Prior to the race start we were arranged in pens according to predicted finishing times. Around 8.20 (start was 9am) we were led across the road one pen at a time, and brought to the start chute. This was the only negative bit for me as they led the group from the opposite end from where I was standing. The start area was relatively narrow and despite my best efforts I couldn't get anywhere near the front.

The race:

My first point to point, from Nottingham University to Alveston Park in Derby. A mixture of city streets, country roads, and a very nice track through Elvaston Forest Park. The plan had been to try to average 6:15-6:20 per mile, maybe starting with a 6.30. The absolute goal was to do no worse than my half marathon average of 6:30 per mile.
Hanging around at the start and feeling the strong breeze from the west I knew this was going to be a big ask, but no harm having a go. Standing in my black knee-length PVC dress bin liner and throwaway long sleeved t-shirt, I looked around me enviously at all the long sleeved HH gear being worn under singlets and t-shirts, and wondered if I'd erred in leaving mine in my gear bag. "Don't worry", I said in my head,"if you're cold you'll just have to run a bit faster"...
The siren sounded bang on time, and we were off. I felt the pace very slow and the Garmin confirmed it was 6:55. I tried to pick it up but it was very difficult as we were confined to one half of the road which was about one car plus a bike lane wide. Managed to get the first mile away in 6:38, followed by 6:22, 6:18, 6:17, 6:18, 6:21. I was feeling pretty comfortable from a legs, heart and lungs point of view, despite the wind, however the next few miles were tougher at 6:29, 6:30, 6:33:and 6:37. Still, that got me to 10 miles at 64:23, about 30 secs better than my PB. I was also trying to keep something in reserve for a slight hill to come, and more windy conditions. Mile 11 was put away in 6:20, and I was still running well. However I now had a decision to make. I was feeling some intestinal discomfort, and having had a couple of near misses in the previous week - the knees-stuck-together penguin walk/shuffle is not the most biomechanically efficient- I thought it safer to visit the loo at the 18km water station. I stopped the Garmin and had a nice little rest then got back into it. I always hate stopping, even to cross the road in a training run, due to the loss in momentum, but my pit stop coincided with the start of the forest trail section which was relatively sheltered, so I was quickly back into a good rhythm. I was also passing large numbers of runners who had passed me while I sat, and they seemed to be having a tougher time than me, so that was encouraging. Miles of 6:36, 6:21 and 6:32 got me to 14 miles, and the fatigue was building up in the legs now as I continued to battle the wind. 6:34, 6:34 and 6:14 for the last .3 got me across the finish line. I had tried to speed up towards the end but couldn't, however I felt I could have managed a few more miles at that pace.
All in all a very enjoyable day, a good test of the training so far, and the feeling than a few good workouts should bring the cruising pace up nicely.
Details are here http://connect.garmin.com/activity/27055175
Official time was 1:50:47; I had it at 1:45:05 on the Garmin so 5:42 for the pit stop! The halfway split was 52:47, so reasonably evenly paced.

10 weeks to Edinburgh.....

misty floyd

Well done Aero. Thats great progress from your half in Dublin. Faster average and over a longer distance. The forest part sounds great. What were the underfoot conditions like?

A good confidence boost to carry you over the next 10 weeks I should think.

aero2k

misty floyd wrote: »

The forest part sounds great. What were the underfoot conditions like?

Very good on the packed earth trail - firm, smooth with no rocks or roots and easy to run 3-4 abreast, also excellent on the very smooth camber-free tarmac path that followed, and not too bad in the portaloo either!

misty floyd wrote: »

A good confidence boost to carry you over the next 10 weeks I should think.

I've been inspired and motivated by your log - looks like you're a few weeks ahead of me progress-wise, and I'll be hoping for a similar 10 mile time to your Craughwell epic later in the year.
TBH I was hoping for a better time, but it could have been a lot worse given the few things going wrong in the lead-up - those tight calves and the sore throat disappeared for Sunday morning - and realistically I suppose the wind added on a few secs per mile. The main thing was I felt comfortable throughout, pitstop notwithstanding. Also I started way too far back, I've seen the offical results since my first post and I'd have been in the top 40 without the stop, but there must have been a few hundred in front of me at the start.
If I can add one mile at that pace every week between now and Edinburgh I'll be very happy:D