Run Forrest

gramar

With a 10 km coming up on Sunday I got home Friday and headed out for 5 or 6km.
Started off easy enough and did the last two at what I hoped would be race pace on
Sunday at around 4.30min/km.

Belorado 10km

I was hoping for a cool day for the run but while it wasn’t boiling like last year it was still quite warm.
I spent around 15 minutes trotting around the town along the marked out route. Last year year it was 4 laps
this year it was changed to a different part of town and 7 laps. I wasn’t fully sure in which direction it was going
but what I was sure of is that it was very up and down and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

I set off at my target pace of 4.30min but knew before 2kms this was going to be tough and I was giving serious
thought to calling it a day at 5km. I had no real idea of the pace due to the narrow streets though great for some
shade were playing havoc with the GPS and the few times I looked it was anywhere between 4:05 and 5:15.
If ever I need someone to pace off it was today and I latched onto one or two but found I was stronger on the
climbs and ended up on my own each time.

As the laps went by I eventually found some sort of rhythm but the goal was simply to get around and finish at this stage.
A bottle of water down my back had the desired effect and gave me a bit of a boost as one lap finished and I began to climb the next.
I lost that rhythm somewhere around km 7 and even on the downward slopes I couldn’t do any more than maintain my pace
just trot along to the end of the lap where finally I saw the '1 to go' sign. A fella I’d passed earlier was now beside me and we stayed
together to the finish and I benefitted again from having someone to run alongside with.

The finish line was to the left of where we had been finishing the laps so it was the first time I saw the time on the clock and
it was a bit of a wtf moment as it read 40:3X as I crossed. That close to 40mins? If I’d known that I’d have given everything to get
under 40min instead of just finishing. But seriously...40:xx for 10km? this heat? the climbs? Me? Rather than celebrating a massive
PB on a tough circuit in tough conditions my first reaction was that something was very amiss. 8.32km on the watch. It’s always off
around the streets but that far off? Someone else’s showed 9.08km so the real distance is probably somewhere in the middle but
definitely nowhere near 10km.

Later I measured the course we’d run on google maps and it came it at about 1250m more than likely meaning as we thought that
there should have been 8 laps which would be 10000m instead of 7. A bit of a fcuk up if ever there was. It was a bit like the end of
the Lions v NZ match with nobody knowing how to react. What was certainly true though is that there were quite a few who knew
bloody well they hadn’t done 10km in that time.

The official times are just up and I thought it might have been adjusted for the distance but it stays the same at 40:29.
Assuming the distance was 8750metres adjusted for 10km it would be 46:20 and an avg 4:37min/km pace.
The winner was 28:55 turning them into an olympic 10000m runner.

gramar

Warm evening and sweating buckets.
4km to warm up even more – 5:11 5:01 4:50 4:45
Somewhere around the end of km 2 a pigeon flew out here from the edge of the track.
One wing damaged so it made it about 20 yards a foot off the ground before crash landing.
Contemplated putting it out of it’s misery but there are plenty of foxes and eagles around to
do that.

I had 4km left to go back so did 500m repeats with 90secs walking recovery.
Didn’t push too hard on these but still didn’t feel easy. Sluggish legs.
2:10 2:06 2:06 2:10 2:07 2:03.
With tractors and harvesters on the track the top surface is a bit looser and
there is less grip than usual. Shortcut home but meant 250m up a steep field.
Not sure it was worth the effort.

gramar

Out Saturday morning before it got too hot.
2km easy to warm up then 6x500m. Decided not to go too hard at these. The first 3
were with the wind and whatever bit of a slope there was in my favour and went a
bit faster than I'd planned...2:05, 1:58 1:55. Back into the wind and for some reason
not even known to me I went faster again 1:52 before easing off a bit 2:01 and 1:57.
2km cool down and up the hill to finish. No sign of the pigeon.

Sunday morning it was to be a longer slow run but I only had about 45mins so it was just
a slow run. 7.52km with lots of ups and downs. I was fully intending to do a whole 8km but crossed
paths with someone and I had no choice but to do a 'spot and chat' so called it a day there.


On a blog by a local runner who did the "10km" last weekend he reckons it was 8.400m and
based on his calculations it's hard to argue with him. Turns out the watch wasn't that far off after all. The bad
news is that had I ran 10km (assuming I'd have maintained that pace) I'd have been nearly 40 seconds slower
than last year.

gramar

After 9 going out last night and at least the wind had died down a bit.
3km at just over 5km/min pace before 6 x 30sec hill repeats with 90sec rest
which by chance was the time it took to walk back down . Loose surface
made this a bit harder and there are better hills to do it on. 3km back then to
finish. With about 500m a combine turned onto the track ahead of me so I
chased it down but not quite catching it covering the last 500m in 1:59.

On Sunday there’s a 3mile run. Again it’s on at high noon and a fairly up and down
course from what I can see. It’s two laps of 2.400 metres so I’m guessing the organisers
won’t make a balls of it this time but you’d never know.

gramar

Strong blustery wind out yesterday evening. Again. The only thing it’s good for is drying clothes and windmills.
After a bit of a warm up I set off to do 3 x 2km intervals. With a race Sunday I didn’t want to go too hard
so I thought 4:30/km pace would be fine.

The first with the wind couldn’t have been easier. 90sec walking recovery which was hardly needed and I turned
back into the gale. Good Christ how I hate running into the wind. The effort levels went well up here to keep the
4:30 pace and gusts of wind were constantly knocking me off stride.

For the last repeat the first km was with the wind and the second back into it. I didn’t feel too bad after turning maybe
as I had the momentum from the first km and was definitely more comfortable this time.
8:45
9:01
8:51

Back up the hill to finish. Exactly 200m which averages out to be 8.5% with the last 50m about 14%.
I’m sure it’s of some use anyway if only to get me home quicker.

gramar

Friday 21st – 5km in 23:51…started off around 5min/km and picked it up as I went along.
Back into the wind but not as bad as the day before.

Sunday 23rd Castroviejo – 4800m. Not sure why they wouldn’t make it a round 5km as it's not like they'd
run out of street. This village is on the side of a hill so it was going to be anything but flat around 2 loops of 2400m.
It was another midday start so it was hot enough but not so hot for it to be a factor over a short distance.

I was probably a bit too conservative on the first loop. I wasn’t sure of the amount or gradient
of the climbs ahead so held off a bit.

I began to push a little more at the start of the second. After the first climb of the second spin
I was passed on the downhill stretch by a fella in white who gained about 10metres on me and
we had a little battle from here to the finish. I drew closer on the next uphill part and on the third
climb of the circuit shortly after I went past him. Again however he was faster on the next downhill
and got another 10 metres on me. This brought us onto a fairly flat 400m to the finish and I got to
within 3-4 metres but like a fella with premature ejaculation the finish line came too soon.

20:30 on the watch. 20:34 gun time. I think I could have done a bit better had I known the profile
beforehand and pushed a bit more downhill. It’s a hard but fair race and enjoyable and overall reasonably
pleased. On a flat 5km I’m probably capable of getting under 20mins again which is where I want to be.

gramar

8km in 41:12 taking in a few hills along the way.
Picked it up for the last 500m in 3:47 pace and then up the hill and home.

gramar

2km with the wind to warm up. Easy enough for the most part and gradually went a bit harder
for the last 500m or so.
This was followed by 6x400m. I aimed for 1:30 for these which I thought would be ok but made it
a bit harder with just 1m 20sec recovery. The first two were a breeze mostly because I was running
with the breeze and ever so slightly downhill and kept having to ease off...1:30 and 1:28.
Back into the wind and now slightly uphill and it was a different kettle of fish. Had to push here
for 1:34 1:32 1:32 and 1:36. Wound it up with 1.5km cooldown. I'd no real interest in doing
a cooldown but seeing as I was a mile from home I thought it would be time well spent.

gramar

Long run Saturday. I was thinking of a long loop taking in about 4km of road and
hoor of a hill about 9km in. Because of the road this is one of the few times I haven’t
taken the dog and after getting excited when he saw the runners and watch on he wasn’t
a bit pleased when I left him at home and he didn’t talk to me for the rest of the day.

A simple but infinitely logical suggestion made me rethink the route. A steep climb of 1km with
9km already behind me didn’t appeal so I did the loop in the opposite direction. This meant the first
km was a gradual uphill and the hoor of a hill was now a handy downhill jaunt about 20 minutes in.
13km in all and kept it handy all the way in 1hr 10 mins and all done by 10AM.

gramar

A 2km warm up in just over 10mins followed by 800m repeats.
I've read a few times that for 5km you should do more or less the same distance in repeats as the
target distance. Fair enough for 400/600/800/1km but probably not practical for 200m.
Based on that I did 6x800 with 4min/km the target pace and 2min walking recovery.
5 of these were running into a breeze which made them a bit tougher but I dug in when I had to
and I felt it was one of the best speed sessions I've done. The times were:
3:59
3:57
3:58
3:55
3:58
3:57

A few days away coming up and I'll pack the runners and intend to get a couple of runs
around Prague and Vienna which will make a change from the usual country tracks.

gramar

Yesterday I was out at 8am to some park with grapevines near the hotel. Lovely spot but on the side of a hill so climbs were inevitable and all I wanted was an easy trot. I spent half an hour going around stopping for a few pics and a squirrel who perched on my shoe but thankfully didnt go for my nuts. Humid and harder than I'd planned.

I went back this morning and after 10 mins of easy running I went all Rocky on it and started going up steps. After I did a heap of push ups and burpees followed by 8 x 30sec strides up a path. Sweated buckets again while noticing that Czech dogs favour attractive female owners.

gramar

I continued my holiday runs with more early morning excursions on Sunday and Monday in Vienna.
After 20mins of push ups, squats and burpees I set off for a an easy 5km around Belvedere gardens.
It started raining about 10 mins into the run so that added to the novelty and I quite enjoyed it.
5km 26:39

Monday I went back to the same place and after another 20mins of exercises I did a tempo 2km
@ 4:20min/km pace. Downhill one side and back up on the other so was made to work for it.

With nothing but a glass of water any of the days before I left I felt fine during the runs. I felt even
better though after a shower and a buffet breakfast.


This morning I did 9km at about 5min/km pace. 4.5km out with the wind and then back into a gale
almost as bad as the one on Coronation St. 45:48 and felt fairly fresh throughout. Nice as it was to run in
more different surroundings for a few days I felt a certain comfort to be back on more more well trodden tracks.

gramar

With an idea to do a LSR on Saturday I went out Friday evening with some easy repeats in mind.
Nothing to strenuous that would make me regret it today. After a mile to warm up it was 10x400m.
I kept these at 4min/km pace and felt easy enough throughout.

This morning I was out at 9.30 to do the long loop I did a few weeks back but in reverse meaning I had a
1km uphill stretch after 9km. It was all flat till then and I was going fine at about 5:20min/km pace
just ticking of the km's until I took on the hill. It was worse in my mind than actually doing it and
the effort levels were 'comfortable' despite a 5% progressively difficult climb. The next km took me up the
highest point on the run past the ordance survey marker and then down the slope to home.
13.5km 1:13:18

Good run today and pleased that though easy the repeats last night didn't have any effect.
I think I might actually be something approaching fit!

gramar

Sunday night I headed out about 9 in evening after the heat had abated.
6km in just over 30m. Started out at about 5:20 and took a few seconds
offe each km up to last one which was 4:27.

Most likely nothing till Saturday when I hope to do a Park run and improve
on 21:17 last year. Tough course in KK though with the same hill having to
be tackled 3 times.

gramar

Kk parkrun...decent warm up and down to the start. I positioned myself at the front as its a bit of a bottleneck with a sharp right about 40 yards in. Plain sailing for the first loop and felt ok and was doing reasonably well until the second run up the hill which knocked the stuffing out of me.
Really had to grind it out for the last loop. I had a heavy breather about 10 yards behind me for the last km or so and though I pushed as much as I could up the hill it was not enough to fend him off and he passed me with 50 yards to go which was good running from him it has to be said.

The time of 20.53 was about 25 seconds under my best there so a decent run and essentially a sub 20 run for effort just not a sub 20 course for me but I know on a flat run I can do it.

Out earlier...an easy 6km...3km out up a few easy hills and back down again. I'd have gone further but there was a puddle stretching right across the road and I didn't fancy sloshing through that and with a sore back I didn't need further encouragement to turn back. 32mins.

I might get to do the parkrun again saturday though I doubt i'll make any impression on Saturday's run.

gramar

Tuesday I did some speed work comprising of 8 x 400m with 90 seconds recovery
The first 3 were on a gravel track with a slight incline and a lot of tree cover. The watch struggled to keep track, with one of he repeats coming in at 1:49 which must have been closer to 500m so I hit the road for the next 5 doing them between 1:23 and 1:31.

Thursday morning I did 11.5km in just under an hour. Enjoyable run on the road with plenty of ups and downs. I put the foot down with a km to go when it flattened out and floored it for the last 500m doing that in 3:40 pace.

I made the park run again Saturday morning thinking i'd probably be 15 seconds either side of last weeks time. I paced it better this week pushing on the downhill parts and easing off a bit uphill though I still caught up and passed a few on this part.

About 2km in I was just behind the fella who passed me at the finish the week before.
I didnt recognise him but his breathing was unmistakeable! Anytime I edged alongside or ahead he pushed on which suited me fine if he wanted to set the pace. I was feeling the effort but comfortably and happy to sit on his shoulder. Going up the second climb I went ahead as it wound its way up and that was the last I saw or heard of him. I reeled in two more on the loop and caught them on the hill to finish in 20:37 and 1st for my age cat.

The main assault on a new 5km PB will be in 3 weeks and I'm fairly confident on a flat and fast course I can put a dent in it.

gramar

Sunday was going to be an easy 6km but it turned into something very different. After 5:10 for the first km I heard a 4x4 coming along
the track behind me which instead of passing kind of settled into my pace about 30/40 yards back. For some reason this seemed to
push me on and I did the second km in 4:35. Just after, they drove on ahead and I decided to make it into some kind of progressive
5km tempo run. This was followed by 4:28, 4:23 and 4:04. I could feel a little fatigue in the legs and still notice it a bit today.

There is a mile race on Saturday evening I'd forgotten about. I haven't run a mile in quite a while but have done a few decent long runs and
plenty of 400m sessions. My PB is 5:52 so might have some chance of getting close.

gramar

Tuesday evening 9km...4.5km out and 4.5km back in 46min and change.
It was only yesterday but I don't remember much so I suppose not much
worth remembering happened.

My legs have felt a little tired the last few days getting up though not
from lack of rest so I think it might be the race pace runs on Saturday and Sunday.

With a mile in mind on Saturday I thought doing 200m repeats to get an idea of the
pace might be useful. My PB is 5:52 which is 3:38km pace so I thought I'd go at 3:30 pace
and do 8. After the first I reset the watch as the 1:30min rest was way too much so I started
again with just a minute. I went faster on the first 8 of these and they were anywhere
between 3:09 and 3:25 pace with most of the variance due to running with a strong
enough wind or against it. I decided to do two more and slow it to 3:38 or so and see how that
felt and it did seem something that might be manageable for a mile, something I'll find out in
a few days time.

gramar

With Saturday's mile Friday was a straightforward out and back. 7km in just under 35min.

The mile on Saturday was an 8pm start. An easy 10mins jogging and then a few strides
to get me up to pace and it was time to toe the line for 3 and a bit laps.

A bigger field than last year and everyone set off at a decent jaunt so I was up to race pace
fairly quickly. The only negative is having to turn back on yourself 7 times over the course of the mile
which means time is lost due to this plus I found it a little difficult to get into a rhythm as no sooner
are you up to pace when you have to slow down around the bollards and accelerate again on the other side.

That aside I made it to the line as the clock was hitting 5:42 which matched the watch so a 10 second
improvement on last year. I wonder if on a staight course or if on a running track I'd get close to 5:30
and it's something I might have a go at one of these days. There's another mile on next Sunday but
it looks like another course with sharp turns and will only be more of the same again.

I was home about 25 mins after and felt like I still had some running to do so went out for 4.5km
before calling it a night.

HigginsJ

That is a cracking mile pace with all the switchbacks, fair play

gramar

Thanks J, happy with how it went and it continues the slight improvement compared to last
year around this time. The switchbacks are a pain in the backside and I’d like to know how close I could
get to 5:30 if it was a straight line run or a track and I’m seriously considering going to one during the week
to see what I could do even if it’s not race conditions. Results in but no times so I’ll go with the watch
for the race time.

After a bit of a warm up last night I set off to do 8x500 at around 4min pace. Even in the build up to
the warm up I knew this was going to go badly. No aches or pains or tiredness just a body that had no
interest and a mind that wasn’t prepared to convince it otherwise. I did 5 repeats in the end which
was very close to being just one after the first attempt.

2:01
1:52
1:57
1:59
1:58

A little all over the place which was unsurprising. A km to warm down and good riddance.

gramar

A bit of an improvement on Monday.
2.5km at about 5 min pace followed by 4x500 at about 3:45/50min/km
and about 80-90seconds walking rest.
With 2.5km left I decided to do this around 4:20 pace and I did until
I succumbed to an almighty stitch after 500m. Ages sinces I've had one
and there was no running this off so no choice but to stop and breathe
and stretch it out. 2km left and so started easy for the first and increased
then to 4:24 and 3:57 for the last two 500m.

gramar

Today's race was a 3 mile run. I had thought initially it was only 1 mile as it had been for the last few years.
I wasn't very enthusiastic about it as it's a village on the side of a hill so I was expecting it to be a tough run.
As I approached it looked even steeper than I remembered and had it been built on any more of an incline it
might well have toppled over by now. As it turns out and much to my delight the run was down by the river and
was as flat as a pancake.

4800m which was 3 laps that took in gritty sand, tarmac, clay and grass as well as 3 switchbacks
which were quite slow as they were on gritty slippy surfaces. The warm up started an hour and a half
before when I did about 2km easy and a few 400m repeats. I did another 10 minutes beforehand and
felt in reasonably good nick and I think an easy early warm mightn't be a bad idea for future races.

Standing in line at the start the gun went off without any warning and we were away before I'd had time
to start the watch. Decent pace to start with but tight enough as a narrow road was divided for the out and
back part and it wasn't easy to get by. As usual this sorted itself out and I settled into the race and began to
move past a few.

With tree cover the watch wasn't overly reliable for the pace but there were some open stretches and generally
seemed to be around 3:55-4min/km. As usual in the 5km the first half felt ok and then from there on it's less about
your legs and more about your head convincing yourself to keep going and particularly after the last switchback on
the last lap I really had to work hard to get back up to speed. That said I think I felt worse after I stopped than when
I was running.

The watch said 18:11 when I crossed the line which I knew wasn't right as the watch only kicked in 30/40 metres past
the start. Not believing it walked back around to the line to look at the race clock which still hadn't hit 20mins. Christ
almighty how fast did I run? The official time is 18:23 which I'm taking with a grain of salt and a big one at that. I'm sure the
time is right but I have my doubts about the distance. Had it been a 5km that's a 19:08 time and theoretically a 37sec PB.
With a dolly mixture of surfaces, 3 switchbacks on each lap, giving it 98% but not quite everything, either I'm in better shape
than ever or the course measures short and the course measuring short gets my vote.

I'm in good form none the less but now my targeted 5km for next week is not going ahead. I hadn't seen a dickybird
mentioned over the last few weeks and now my fears are confirmed. A pancake flat fast 5km to set a new PB and the
buggers pull the plug on the race. There are two others so now it's either the 7th or 22nd of October or possibly both.

gramar

Monday...5km out and back in 25mins. Nothing much else to say.
Now I remember I did a few strides. And I ran up the hill to finish.
Last night it was 8km in just over 40 mins and I had a slightly achey
arse after it. I haven't felt that for a while.

There's a mile race on Saturday. Not sure it's worth driving an hour to do
it though. Add it up and it's basically 3 hours to run for just under 6 minutes.
The same as a few weeks ago it's 3 and a bit laps with switchbacks
around cones so I think I'll leave it.

gramar

Thursday - 4km to warm up a bit, Did 2 x 1km after at about 3:40 pace.
Another km to warm down and that was it.

Friday - 7km…up and down hills most of the way. Felt very comfortable and enjoyed this.
To finish 10 x 25sec repeats at around 3min/km. These were done on grass and was a
welcome change from the tracks.

Sunday – straightforward out and back 10km at between 5:10 and 5:30 pace. Probably
felt a little more effort than it should have but grand all the same and at that pace I felt
I could have gone on. Up the hill to finish.

gramar

2km warm up with the second done at variable speeds. This was to get me ready for a pyramid session
of 200 400 600 and 800. This went fairly well and and I felt quite good after.
The paces were:
3:01
3:30
3:36
4:00
4:04
3:53
3:24
2:46

I'm not sure how much rest I had but the session took 40mins of which 24:30 was running. 8 walking
recoveries so about 2 mins avg between each.

gramar

Friday...not last Friday..the Friday before. Easy uphill warm up and 10x30sec hill repeats.
Fast forward to Saturday morning because there was nothing done in between- 6km in total.
The first 5km were easy enough then 4:30 pace for 500 and 3:50 for the last 500m. I hope to
get out Wednesday eve. Race on Saturday and my preparation has been pretty shít. Horrible
head cold the last few days won't help and I'm wondering if I'll bother.

gramar

Out yesterday evening instead of today. Not sure how far but I think about 6km easy. This was with someone I know and the first time in a long time I had ran with anyone other than the dog outside of a race. Conversation pace until I had to turn back and ran fairly hard for 2km at about 4min/km pace, I think trying to convince myself I'd be ok for Saturday. The cold is still lingering and feeling it slightly in my chest today which I wasn't feeling yesterday so it mightn't have been one of my better ideas.

gramar

With the race the next day I headed out Friday for a few easy km’s, 4km + a few strides to keep
my legs ticking over and see how my chest was for running. I’d been a bit congested for a week and
I could feel it moving downwards. That went ok so if I wasn’t any worse in the morning I’d give it a go.
No point driving an hour for if I wasn’t going to be able to run it properly.

Saturday was race day and while not feeling my chest any better it wasn’t any worse. I arrived about
and hour before the off and went collect my race number. When I was asked if someone might have
collected it for me earlier I knew something was amiss. They’d gotten their numbers mixed up and
given my number out to someone else and now I had no choice but to take theirs. She told me they’d take
note and swop the race times. I have little faith. All this happened before she was there of course. She'd
just arrived. Of couse you have.

Time for a warm up…there was still 45mins to the off. Or so I thought. Wrongly. I’d been thinking all along it was a
6.35pm start but heard 6.15pm mentioned and when asked it was confirmed. I wanted to be at the line 15mins
before to get away reasonably quickly so 10 mins warm up had to do and I headed for the line. Standing in the one spot
for 15min listening to two announcers roaring their heads off before the off isn’t great preparation but starting way back
and having to navigate hundreds of runners would have pissed on any PB chances so it had to be done.

Away we went and despite being only 4 or 5 rows back it was still a stampede. Down to the roundabout and a left turn
and I began to push into little gaps. I had a race to run and seconds lost here because of a slow start would not be recovered
over a 5km race.

I’d set the watch to show me the overall time. I can’t trust the GPS for pace or distance with narrow and tree lined streets
so knowing there were km markers the idea was to check the overall time as I passed. Km 1 was around 3:54…ok so far.
500-600 metres into the second I felt the effort rising...christ a mile in and this was already getting tough. Passing the km2
marker the watch was showing about 7:50…good but fcuk this was getting hard. Just past this I remember passing a fella
with a Billy Ray Cyrus mullet and a pair of camouflage combats. Dafuq?

Back to the bridge, turned right and down a short slope where I passed the km3 marker. Still under 12 mins. A speed bump here marked the start of the only climb of just over 200m. 60m according to the organizers but I drove up it a few weeks ago and it’s a dirty lie. I went too hard up this last year to made sure to pace myself and get back up to speed as soon as I could at the top. Back
to the flat and I had 1800m left.

Along here I wanted to stop. That wasn’t an option..I’ve never not finished a race and never not given everything in a race I was actually racing so I kept going but this will be the last time I told myself…PB here and I’ll never make you do this again…oh but it hurts…shut up and run… ok brain…I’m running. The road curved around and I knew there’d be a left turn and we’d pass the 4km marker. 15:48 I think was on the watch. Ok a 4min km and you’ve done it. How was I going to do that?....I already had 4km done I was bollixed and I needed a 3:55 to get around under 19:45 and set a new PB. My brain had a few more choice words for me so I pushed on...passed a few…I’m guessing they were doing the 5km as they tried to react…good luck with that…a straight flat stretch…just running from bollard to bollard…left again...another straight..more bollards..just keep getting to the next one…c’mon…around the corner just ahead and you’re there...I’m fcuking dying….turned the corner…an inflatable arch..thank fcuk…oh no..there’s another…oh ffs…there’s a third one…the finish line…sadistic bastards…looked miles away…the clock came into view..18:15 I saw…Christ! gonna break 19 mins….fcuk it’s 19 not 18. I’m delirious ..ah well….crossed the line…19:33 on the watch. Stewards guiding us to the right to go back up to the finishers area…get away from me I need space to breathe! Job done and all I wanted to do was get the hell out of there.

Checked the results Monday – the number mix up wasn’t rectified and someone ran 27min plus change in my name. They must be pleasantly surprised with their sub 20 and most likely a decent PB.


Sunday evening ..6km easy.

There’s another 5km in two weeks. Flat and fast. Under 19:30 or bust. Either way I’ve told the brain that it’s the last time.

gramar

Left the car in for a service so had to run there to pick it up.
Started out at about 4:30min/km pace which i hadn't intended and
kept it going. 6km in 26:05.
4:30
4:25
4:21
4:22
4:17
4:06

Felt strong..enjoyed it..maybe all the more as I knew I'd be driving home.