[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5tWYmIOWGk&w=560&rel=0]
Was really excited about this morning, haven’t raced a proper actual event since November last year!
Heading into it I looked at my half marathon time, the 12k city to surf time and the fact I’m now just about able to get under the hour for a 10km. So I decided that a decent race pace for 16km would be 6:00 per km, which would give a 1 hour 36 minutes time for 16km.
In a nutshell, I set out too fast, got swept along with the other runners, was doing about 5:40 and felt comfortable. It’s the classic trap – what feels comfortable at the start doesn’t translate to being realistic for the whole race!
My first 7 1km splits were between 5:40 and 5:50 – after the I slowed to 6:10 and this progressively slowed to 6:40. At about 15km there was a final water station – I grabbed a cup, and my plan was to have a strong finish over the final 1km of around 5:50 pace. But I suddenly felt very light-headed and my legs wobbled a little.
I stopped dead, and walked through it for about 500 to 600m before easing into a slow jog and then building up. I picked up pace over the final 500m, and stormed the finish line as per usual.
Just for full details… I ate cereal and 2 pieces honey toast with a coffee and orange juice at about 4:30am. I stayed hydrated yesterday, and this morning, as per usual I stopped drinking water 1 hour before the race.
15 minutes before the start I took a gel, I took another at about 11km. At the same point I also put my earphones on, and plugged into music to help me through the last 5km.
After the race I got a little dizzy and light-headed while stretching – bit of a cool headrush LOL.
Recovered quickly as I usually do these days, legs, knees and joints sore, feeling very tired now – but again they are all symptoms of a race well-run and run hard.
I am pretty sure if I had held myself back to 6:00 at the start, I could have held that for the whole race – and probably with a slight negative split.
Was a bit angry/frustrated at having to walk again – albeit only 500m, but happy I got going again, and managed a “signature” strong finish (once I see the finish line, I really do charge it like a bull LOL)
Time was 1:42:23 according to the watch – and overall I am very happy with things!
Here’s the Garmin and Strava stats
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/445780803
http://www.strava.com/activities/113571908