Well I did it - couldn't help myself. As expected it was a tough morning on the trails.
Saturday night I made my appearance at the family Christmas Party, got to sleep about 10, up at 2.
It was a hot morning in Perth, luckily a little cooler in Dwellingup, about 16C at 0430 start, 25 by the time I finished - but felt pretty hot in the exposed sections in the last 10k
My race went probably as one would expect - good speed from the good year, lacking endurance.
Starting up the long hill of the first couple of km, I fell into 5th/6th place with Nate - similar to last year. Just as per last year those in front of us - this time Big Kev and Brett, missed a turnoff. I missed it too - but Nate was close behind me and called me back to make the turn. This put us in 3rd/4th (somewhat undeservedly)
The 23k station was 1hr52 - 7 minutes faster than last year, and nate caught me there. The next few km we played yo-yo as Nate passed me up the hills ( I walked up) then I pulled back to him over the down/flats.
I made a little gap at Oakley dam and tried to push on to the second drink station ahead of him - in 2hr45 again about 7 min faster than last year.
I really started to struggle from here on in, walk-jogging the rest. I had a scare with 3k to go when I saw someone about 400m behind me. I mustered up all my remaining energy and finished ahead of them, ony to find out it was the leader of the 11k race, and that Nate was several mintes behind me - needn't have hurt myself so much.
Overall time 4hrs3 minutes -about 6 minutes slower than last year - I dont really believe I lost 13 minutes on last year in the last 10k - unfortunately I lost all my Garmin data from 08 so I can only go by what I wrote on my blog.
I feel sore in the calves, quads and hammies, but luckily no specific tendon or loint niggles (had a stiff feeling knee during the week)
Kudos to Dave for winning, Bruce for second despite cramps, and Nate for fourth. Commiserations to Kev and Brett - I'm sure they would have beated me had they run the 5k less.
On an entirely different front I went down to Perth's new runners store this week and couldn't go past the KSwiss Kona in Australian flag design - as seen in last RFYL magazine. First impressions are light and firm, quite stable for the weight. I've had brief thoughts of running Boston in these, but they might lack a bit of cushioning. Need try them on some longer tempos
I also bought a Nathan brand fuel belt style water carrier with 2x300ml bottles. Wore it today and found it surprisingly good. Much better than camelback and the Target waist pack I used last year. I may even try it on a long run rather than carrying the Powerade bottle
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6 comments:
Great effort.
I'm glad to see we've now got a specialist running store in WA. Bring on the Chrissie money and then I'll go and take a peek.
Yes, great effort considering the absence of consistent mileage and long runs.
Merry X mas!
Top effort - you have a great endurance base to build on for Boston.
Hope to catch up in the New Year
Crazy man! As Biscuitman said, a good start in your training for Boston... another couple of those and the marathon will be a piece of cake.
Well done!
Another outstanding effort, despite not really targeting this one much by the sounds.
Sounds like there was at least one major route issue this year, although a lot of it was very well marked. Feel sorry for Kevin and Brett.
Great to see you there, would have been missing something otherwise, and that running centre is going to be a frequent destination for many of us.
I ditched the hydration pack this year too, although I had it in reserve at aid station 2. Just seems lighter and more synonomous with faster running to do without that...
You are now the member of an elite few who has completed this tough challenge 3 times or more...
That and Everest has to help your Boston plans...when you are on a winning formula stick to it...
Outstanding effort
All the best to you and your family at Christmas, and may 2010 build on some of the outstanding efforts in 2009...
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