After chatting with Brian from Sporting Spirit last Monday for about 15mins regarding my marathon plans, I was sent a full program dictating all the training I'll need to be doing between now and Sept 18. I was also able to attend a seminar about marathon preparation that took place the following Monday. It was mostly stuff I'd already read but helped reinforce a fair bit. We got a showbag at the end - no Bertie Beetle in it but a copy of Runners World, a running gel and an energy bar aren't to be sneezed at!
I'm really hyped about making this all happen. The downside of it is that I'm told I shouldn't be playing indoor soccer anymore. Too high a risk of injury. So I've got one more indoor soccer match and that's it until after the big run.
Sri Chinmoy Williamstown Half Marathon
Last Sunday I ran my second half marathon. I remember my first half marathon - I was so nervous in the week leading up to it. Fear of the unknown I guess. This time I wasn't too concerned. Partly because I had done it before and so knew what I was in for, and partly because I knew I wasn't going to be aiming for a record therefore I wasn't placing so much pressure on myself. The idea of this run was just to run it comfortably. Running too hard would require too long to recover. Anyway, I saw Brian (the guy who wrote my running program) in the warmup area before the run and his advice was to just run it by feel. See how it goes.
The weather was perfect for running. Cool, overcast and no wind. Plus there wasn't a massive crowd of people to get in the way. Within about a kilometre or two of starting, my heart rate monitor - which usually wraps around my chest, started to slip down. Before I knew it I was wearing it as a belt! I kept raising it back up but it had loosened I guess and so kept slipping back down. In the end I had to remove it, figure out how the strap works and adjust it while trying to maintain a decent running speed. I eventually got it sorted and then got down to running.
I don't know whether it was the great conditions or me just feeling in the zone or a bit of both but I ran reasonably fast for me but within my ability. Next thing I knew, I was about 16kms down with about 5kms to go and suddenly I realised that my average time of slightly under 5mins/km was going to get me to a PB! At that point I stepped it up a little and was able to maintain it to the end where I crossed the line with a time of 1hr 45mins 34 secs. My old time was 1:48:20 so I was pretty happy with that. Beat my old time while not really trying too hard! A great confidence building run.
I saw some interesting things while running:
1. I overtook a woman running with a pram early on in the run. As I cruised on by I glanced back to have a look at the baby. All I saw was hair! Yep, she had a little dog in the pram! Happily enjoying being ferried around Williamstown! If I wrote for the Herald Sun i would probably use the term "pampered pooch" right now but nah, too easy. Perhaps "hirsute hell-riding hound"?!
2. I saw a skinny dude running along who had sizeable man boobs. I had to look twice to be sure of what I was seeing and yeah, they seemed real! Odd thing to see.
3. There were a couple of guys who I was running with at around the 12-13km mark. One of us seemed to surge ahead, then someone else would. I don't think any of us was really racing each other, it just seemed to work like that. Anyway, shortly after I had overtaken this one bloke, I saw his wife and kids get out of a car parked near the track and he raced over and gave them a hug. Obviously very happy to see them. Suddenly he's flying along as if he'd just downed a massive dose of caffeine! Overtook me easily. Some time passed and he seemed to tire and I overtook him. Then further along the course, i saw his wife and kids waiting for him again. Sure enough, 30 seconds later there he goes flying past me again, full of family generated energy! If only that stuff could be bottled! Eventually he tired again and I over took him and didn't end up seeing him again but I've gotta say that I really enjoyed seeing how much the mental boost from having his family there translated to him forgetting feeling a bit rough while running. Goes to show how much of a mental game running can be.
Ok, that's it really. Sunday's run was a lot of fun and very satisfying. Seem to have pulled up alright as well.
I know it's half way through week 2 of my program by I think I'll note down each week my total kilometres per week.
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