Sunday - BRRC Half Marathon 1:35:20
21.1k 1:35:20. HR Avg 164 Max 178 Avg Pace 4:31
Course: BRRC Half Marathon.
Start Time: 6:00 am Temp 21C.
Session Type: Half Marathon Champs
Last night I decided that I was not going to race this one flat out. I would start out in the HR 155 - 160 Zone for at least the first 11k and then just try to keep that pace going without having to put in too much extra effort and then just run how I felt for the last 5k.
The weather didn't seem too oppressive at start time even if the BOM says it was 21C and 80% humidity and I didn't feel like it hampered me throughout the race either. The first 1.1k was a little quick at 4:26 pace but I quickly settled into a rhythm once starting the 5k loops.
My lap times and avg HRs were
1.1 k 04:51 146
lap 1 22:40 157
lap 2 22:52 163
lap 3 22:51 166
lap 4 22:05 172
So the first lap was to plan and I slowed a little in the second lap as my HR was going a bit above my plan. The third lap I stuck with the pace even though it meant a little rise in HR and the last lap I was feeling strong with lots in reserve so I steadily cranked up the pace to come home strongly. This was actually quite easy to do as I had caught up to a runner just before that last lap and I could tell he was determined to stick with me. I slowly just kept getting a little faster and to his credit he kept with me. I was surprised when he made a move going up the incline near Pauls and I let him get a 5 meter break but once we got back on the flat I just motored by him and he tried to go with me but he was spent.
For my effort, I was lucky enough to pick up a 2nd in my age group today.
As an indicator for Canberra, today was encouraging. On the run I thought I was putting in a bigger effort today then I did in the corresponding race last year. My memory of that was of a cruise for the first 15k and a big sprint finish for 1:36:05 time. But looking at the details, in every lap today I ran faster and at a lower Hr than I did last year. On that evidence I would have thought that I could at least make a modest improvement on my time (3:27) from Canberra last year.
McMillian is a bit more optimistic and his calculator gives me a predicted 3:21:04 for today's time. Given that I didn't go all out today then this or something slightly better may be possible. My only worry is that I did a lot more 36k+ runs last year and come the business end of the marathon I may be a little short. But in my favour is the fact that I did zero quality sessions for Canberra last year and ran purely on aerobic base training. This time I have already started doing some faster sessions and with four weeks to go have enough time left to get some real boost from this work. This must help.
So I am thinking at the moment that something between 3:18 and 3:25 is in the realms of possibility.
Course: BRRC Half Marathon.
Start Time: 6:00 am Temp 21C.
Session Type: Half Marathon Champs
Last night I decided that I was not going to race this one flat out. I would start out in the HR 155 - 160 Zone for at least the first 11k and then just try to keep that pace going without having to put in too much extra effort and then just run how I felt for the last 5k.
The weather didn't seem too oppressive at start time even if the BOM says it was 21C and 80% humidity and I didn't feel like it hampered me throughout the race either. The first 1.1k was a little quick at 4:26 pace but I quickly settled into a rhythm once starting the 5k loops.
My lap times and avg HRs were
1.1 k 04:51 146
lap 1 22:40 157
lap 2 22:52 163
lap 3 22:51 166
lap 4 22:05 172
So the first lap was to plan and I slowed a little in the second lap as my HR was going a bit above my plan. The third lap I stuck with the pace even though it meant a little rise in HR and the last lap I was feeling strong with lots in reserve so I steadily cranked up the pace to come home strongly. This was actually quite easy to do as I had caught up to a runner just before that last lap and I could tell he was determined to stick with me. I slowly just kept getting a little faster and to his credit he kept with me. I was surprised when he made a move going up the incline near Pauls and I let him get a 5 meter break but once we got back on the flat I just motored by him and he tried to go with me but he was spent.
For my effort, I was lucky enough to pick up a 2nd in my age group today.
As an indicator for Canberra, today was encouraging. On the run I thought I was putting in a bigger effort today then I did in the corresponding race last year. My memory of that was of a cruise for the first 15k and a big sprint finish for 1:36:05 time. But looking at the details, in every lap today I ran faster and at a lower Hr than I did last year. On that evidence I would have thought that I could at least make a modest improvement on my time (3:27) from Canberra last year.
McMillian is a bit more optimistic and his calculator gives me a predicted 3:21:04 for today's time. Given that I didn't go all out today then this or something slightly better may be possible. My only worry is that I did a lot more 36k+ runs last year and come the business end of the marathon I may be a little short. But in my favour is the fact that I did zero quality sessions for Canberra last year and ran purely on aerobic base training. This time I have already started doing some faster sessions and with four weeks to go have enough time left to get some real boost from this work. This must help.
So I am thinking at the moment that something between 3:18 and 3:25 is in the realms of possibility.
posted by Robert Song @ 11:50 am
7 Comments:
At Sun Mar 18, 01:46:00 pm AEST,
Rob said…
Boy Oh Boy Robert Song! What a great run you had today. You are understandably pleased with the result. It certainly would have given you an excellent boost for Canberra.
Congratulations on the 2nd in the Cat.
At Sun Mar 18, 04:00:00 pm AEST,
Toasty said…
That assessment would be exactly what I would come up with (hopefully that means I have been learning something). On a good day in Canberra a sub 3:20 would be on the cards. I noticed the humidity drop of late which has certainly helped. I particularly like the finish against the battler, so wise there is a lot for me to learn from you here.
If there is anything I might question is the lack of the big runs being a factor. Considering you are running more efficiently at this pace you would less likely deplete energy as quickly as last year?
I am becoming a running geek aren't I? ... Too late? ... Maybe Katy is right about this.
At Mon Mar 19, 10:29:00 pm AEST,
Samurai Running said…
Hey Robert
been silently reading of your build up to Canberra as your time is going to be similar to mine and your approach is helping me work out a better way for this marathon that will be run on the same day as Canberra.
Good luck with your last runs before the big day I'll be watching with interest.
At Tue Mar 20, 08:08:00 am AEST,
plu said…
Hi Graham,
That is a very solid last 5km heartrate. So I guess the heart rate naturally goes up with each successive 5km split. How do you plan to manage it in the full?
cheers PLu
At Tue Mar 20, 08:57:00 am AEST,
Tesso said…
Well done! Love the strong finish, there's nothing like that to boost the confidence.
I think the fact that it wasn't hot and that much of the course is in shade made it seem less humid than it actually was. I didn't notice much at the time but after the race I was wringing wet with sweat.
That sub 3:20 bus could be crowded.
At Tue Mar 20, 07:59:00 pm AEST,
Ewen said…
I agree the faster sessions from here in will give you a boost. The HR data compared to last year is promising!
3:20 is possible. I wouldn't bank on a negative split race (due to the lack of 36k runs), so it would be great if you were running 3:17-18 pace and feeling comfortable. Won't know until the day.
At Fri Mar 23, 11:09:00 am AEST,
Mat said…
Great job on the 1/2 there. Well done!
Confidence level rising :-).
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