.......so I went out at 4:10 pace in the Queensland Half Marathon today knowing I was nowhere near fit enough to maintain it on current performances but interested in how long I could keep it up for assuming that I could get on the pace to start with!
.......and the first four km were on pace, then reaching 5km in 21 mins flat which was perfectly satisfactory, halfway in 44 mins or so; well up on the time in Canberra three weeks ago and well on target for a sub 90.
......not sure what happened after that but just like Canberra the left hamstring seized up after 15k, however unlike Canberra the lower back was alright. And it was getting rather hot.
......at 17k was running about 4:35 pace, up and down a bit, and realised that I needed 4:25s exactly, from that point, to crack the 90 minute mark. So I tried to ignore the pain and make a race of it with the other runners as they continued to pass me.
......and I finished in a time of 1:29:55. Phew!!!!
.... silver in the M55.
Ron Vines (silver in the M60s) and John Diamond were also running, and also I enjoyed meeting (how's my memory?) Eddie, Tesso, Lady Jove, Cato, ILikeToast (resplendent in psychedelic tights), IHateToast, Robert Song, Beagle, Karisma, Run67, Digger, and a few more whose names elude me now.... meeting them all for the very first time. And many other coolrunners I didn't get to meet including a cool cheer squad of two (Davo and Cirque). Thanks to all of you guys!
postscript - I was 88th out of 499 official finishers. An M55 pb at the age of 58, and my second best time since the early 1990s. Can do better!
.......and the first four km were on pace, then reaching 5km in 21 mins flat which was perfectly satisfactory, halfway in 44 mins or so; well up on the time in Canberra three weeks ago and well on target for a sub 90.
......not sure what happened after that but just like Canberra the left hamstring seized up after 15k, however unlike Canberra the lower back was alright. And it was getting rather hot.
......at 17k was running about 4:35 pace, up and down a bit, and realised that I needed 4:25s exactly, from that point, to crack the 90 minute mark. So I tried to ignore the pain and make a race of it with the other runners as they continued to pass me.
......and I finished in a time of 1:29:55. Phew!!!!
.... silver in the M55.
Ron Vines (silver in the M60s) and John Diamond were also running, and also I enjoyed meeting (how's my memory?) Eddie, Tesso, Lady Jove, Cato, ILikeToast (resplendent in psychedelic tights), IHateToast, Robert Song, Beagle, Karisma, Run67, Digger, and a few more whose names elude me now.... meeting them all for the very first time. And many other coolrunners I didn't get to meet including a cool cheer squad of two (Davo and Cirque). Thanks to all of you guys!
postscript - I was 88th out of 499 official finishers. An M55 pb at the age of 58, and my second best time since the early 1990s. Can do better!
