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Mar 2019
3:01pm, 3 Mar 2019
6,858 posts
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larkim
A little sub-par at the 5-and-a-bit mile race today, but happy enough with 6:27 pace around a twisty course in parts. Made a poor start then tried to reel in a teammate on the next couple of laps but gave up on the 3rd and 4th when there was little to play for in terms of new places to be gained. Left hamstring feels a little odd (maybe this is what “tight” means) so we’ll see what tomorrow brings in terms of stiffness.
I see Chris has logged his run via his watch - interested to hear race feedback.
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Mar 2019
3:03pm, 3 Mar 2019
14,126 posts
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Chrisull
Well the wind did for me in the end (it was very awkward throughout 25-30mph constantly buffeting, and also in our faces in critical parts). Luck also was not running my way, two shoelace failures, one an epic one where the double knot stayed tight while the rest of the loop had come undone, which cost me best part of a minute. Also building works in the car park at the hotel meant we were rerouted for the last mile, back over an entirely horrible hill that we only normally run down, and straight into the head wind that had picked up, and that broke me, I lost 2 minutes on that hill at the end (plenty admitted having to walk it).
Really I was nowhere near 2.31.52, but my time checked against other runners who raced against me in races earlier this year, shows an interesting story, times were WAY slower than most previous years Duchy 20, and runners who ran 1.05 in the January 10 miler, and 38 minutes in the 10k finished behind me, and not just one or two of them but three or four. The guys/girls who ran my target pace today, were guys/girls I cannot normally touch.
I was 7.21 pace til 16 miles, and blown to an absolute standstill on a short sharp hill near 17 (I swore at the weather then, but the wind just stole my words), had a shoelace failure at mile 19 and still got a 7.44 out of that one. Ok some runners will have been doing the race at a marathon pace rather than true race pace, but I can tell you the guy I beat in the last mile (1.05/38 min) was blown, I tracked him for a mile or so, overtook him, stopped for shoelace, then caught him 2-3 minutes later and there's no question I was stronger than several of the others. So slightly gutted, but I also feel that it was a damn good performance and the time just doesn't tell the whole story of what went on today.
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Mar 2019
3:18pm, 3 Mar 2019
30,568 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Sounds like a though day but a strong performance Chris. Well done.  G
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Mar 2019
3:21pm, 3 Mar 2019
14,114 posts
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Bazoaxe
Yes. It does sound like a pretty decent run given the conditions. And shoelaces. Well run Chris.
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Mar 2019
3:25pm, 3 Mar 2019
1,559 posts
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Uyuni
That sounds like a right battle Chris so well done toughing it out.
My 10k “race” was a total farce. It used to be a low key council run event in my village that I do every year. Council passed it on to an event company and they wanted to increase numbers so changed the route from a perfectly serviceable 2 laps of the country park to a twisty turny nightmare. So we had alligator teeth at the exit of a car park to negotiate, two-way running across a narrow footbridge, a slalom through some metal gates and a total free for all round an industrial estate with cars parked everywhere. The lead bike couldn’t keep up with the lead runner who then got misdirected a couple of times and ended up doing an entirely different last 2 miles to everyone else!
I ran it at my hoped for HMP for next weekend at 6.25-6.30 m/m so could enjoy the carnage and dodge the obstacles. Not sure that I could have gone round again at that pace, but hopefully an easy week should see me right
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Mar 2019
3:53pm, 3 Mar 2019
6,859 posts
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larkim
Sounds like a great performance (minus the shoe lace tying, obviously) Chris - despite my protestations about not racing for position most of the time, if you do understand relative performance levels between yourself and other runners you can make a good estimate of how well you did even if the clock doesn’t paint the same picture. A bit like XC I suppose.
Uyuni, that sounds bizarre!! Good pace nonetheless.
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Mar 2019
10:48am, 4 Mar 2019
14,130 posts
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Chrisull
Well done Uyunni, I hate poorly organised races, and for the lead runner that must have been a nightmare.
Still playing back yesterday's race in my head. Cross about the shoelaces (new shoes Nike Zoom streak), I'm normally more careful with them, the wet must have just greased them enough. It's interesting how wind plays with your perception and perceived rate of exertion. Running in up the hill into the wind prompted a HR rise measured with a pace drop, but the HR rise not as substantial as I feared it to be, perhaps I could have pushed harder. Wearing 2 watches (one that measured short, one that measured long) casts the race in a different light, as they have measured different mile paces out by .1/.2 a mile.
Two other things that played badly for me, one ALL of the mile markers were short, except for the finish. So I assumed I was further ahead then I was, and when the realisation hit me in the last mile on the steepest hill of the race (which I didn't realise we were running because of roadworks), my confidence, which had been hitherto excellent and indeed saw me track for a mile and pass several athletes later on, just completely buckled. The old last mile I've recorded 7.30ish for, and the new steep hill up, I recorded 9.23 for. Really there wasn't much I could do about it.
Also it was a no plastic race, so I carried a recycled cup. I stopped at the first three water stations, and that definitely impacted my time. First station at mile 3 I lost 20 seconds it looks like, but also then pushed my HR back getting that time back in the next mile, even though I must have just stopped for 3-4 seconds. That ALSO happens after the first shoelace failure, I put in my second fastest mile, the mile after but recorded my highest HR. So I'm convinced with better luck that's a 2.28ish kind of time. My HR stats (156), look very sustainable, and convince me that I've got a sub 7.30 pace marathon in me currently, if perhaps not a sub 3.15 quite. I'm leading the long runs for London training, and wondering whether a sneak entry into the Stratford/Shakespeare marathon is an idea. My legs aren't that beat up, I'm not that tired, feel like I still have something to prove.
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Mar 2019
11:13am, 4 Mar 2019
1,560 posts
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Uyuni
It was by far the worst race I have done, a proper shambles, and I’m just relieved that I did it as a hard training run for next weekend – far too dangerous to be racing it
The leader ended up doing about 6 miles and the marshalls got themselves organised by the time the rest came through following the “lead” bike. Two of my clubmates had a great battle for 2nd and 3rd and they weren’t too fussed about the short-cut he took as they were miles behind.
His mood wasn’t then improved by doing the 5k which followed an hour later – he came second in that, which measured 3.3 miles so one way or another he ended up running the 15k advertised, just not in the correct races
A festival of running my arse! Hope the events company get fired and it goes back to how it was but I have my doubts.
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Mar 2019
11:48am, 8 Mar 2019
14,166 posts
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Chrisull
Gone quiet here, nothing upcoming til Uyuni's April 7th in Rotterdam? How's training going for everybody? And for those who aren't, how's mojo or injuries?
Thanks to JDA for pointing out the Duchy 20 measured 2.0 on the SSS difficulty scale, and that was worth 2-3 minutes alone (which is actually what I thought, rerouting of the last mile and shoelaces alone cost me 3 minutes - and these are solid figure not just gut feel), and even then it was a -0.6 vSSS even so (which equals excellent performance) . It's important because it helps me determine, am I in the form to go for a marathon pb. Do you know I think I might be?
The case is now if I do target the Shakespeare marathon on April 28th, how quickly do I come back mileage wise in training after a hard a 20 miler. (I've done 5/5 and 6 this week). I have a training 20 on Sunday, that I am leader for... eek.
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Mar 2019
11:59am, 8 Mar 2019
14,141 posts
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Bazoaxe
Training for me going well, but sub 3 remains the target, albeit I could change that nearer the time depending on how I feel the training has gone with a fallback being to ensure I renew my GFA if I feel sub 3 is too much of a stretch. Ive had my fingers (quads, calfs, glutes hamstrings and ego) burnt by that mistake in the past !!!
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