Week - 36k
Month - 36k
YTD - 529.5
It's been just under 3 years since I competed in my first 1/2 marathon race. August 2004 saw me line up in Townsville after deciding to do the event on no training the day prior. No much has changed since then, my spontaneous nature of entering events on little training still occurs and is a facet that I should change. However I did learn alot from that race some of which I have applied to my training some I haven't. After that race and realising that something like that should never be attempted on very little training I made it a goal of mine to improve over that distance.
In saying that, since then I have competed in a few races over that distance with the most recent being Sunday. Below are the events I have run including the Townsville run with my times
2004 - Townsville 1/2 - 1.48
2005 - Warwick 1/2 - 1.37
2005 - Toowoomba 'Hilly Half' - 1.43
2006 - BRRC 1/2 marathon Champs - 1.29.58
2006 - Warwick 1/2 - 1.37
2006 - Noosa 1/2 - 1.31.13
2007 - Warwick 1/2 - 1.32
2007 - Gold Coast 1/2.............................Read on :-)
Sunday saw my mate and I enter our first GC half. In fact it was my mates first crack at a half marathon. We both weren't sure of what we would achieve but given the way the last few weeks have gone we decided to head off with the sub 1.30 group.
Lining up I ended up being slightly closer to the start line than my mate who was a good 20m behind me. Pat Carroll was the pace runner for this group however he didn't line up until very late. When he eventually took up his position I was a fair way behind where I wanted to be in relation to this group.
As soon as the gun fired and I eventually crossed the start line Pat and the 1.30 group were miles ahead. It took me a good 2 odd km to finally catch up with them and settle into the run.
The run itself went pretty well, I passed the 10k mark in 41 mins and was feeling strong. My mate was just behind us at the 1/2 mark but quickly caught up to us by about the 15k mark. Although he was feeling the effects of his first 1/2 he was still running a good pace and didn't slow down much for the remainder of the run.
Myself on the other hand felt strong until about the 17k mark where the wheels began to fall off. I tried to keep my mate close and had all the intentions of picking the pace up in the last 2k but that never happened. Instead I hung onto whatever momentum I had going and just focused on finishing.
By this stage we had left the 1.30 group and were running by ourselves. My mate crossed the line about 50m in front of me, however the overall result was that he got me by 50 secs as he started behind me.
I am in two frames of mind about the run. On one side I am happy with my result but pretty disappointed that I didn't finish strong at all. The last 3k was shocking so I need to work on that for the next race. Overall I crossed the line in a time of 1.27.34, a PB of 2.24.
So to wrap up, I am pretty happy overall as to how my aim of improving my 1/2 marathon time is coming along. As I said it is almost 3 years since my first race and now with my new PB I have improved over 21 minutes for this distance.
9 comments:
Shane that is ace!!! Congrats on a great run and I'm sorry we didn't manage to catch up at the finish!
Well done mate!
I wish i could do that off the bat!
Sensational Shane! Congratulations. I'm only sorry that we didn't get a chance to meet up. Oh well, next time!
I called that Shane! Well done old son you have some talent now you should try to go into one of these half marathons with some good training behind you just to see how well you can go.
Nice report I didn't expect that "good news" at the end. By the way what was your time for the last 2 kms?
Excellent effort Shane!
The 90min group went past in such a blur I didn't see everyone that was in it but thought you would be amongst them.
I am amazed at what you achieve on your training. Imagine if you were injury free for a year, had some good consistent training and did speed work. man you'd be representing us all at Bejing!!!
Hope you are recoverying well - wonder what condition your mate is in?
You should be more than happy with that result.
I agree with Scott. You must have a lot of natural ability to do such good times on limited preparation. With some good training you are going to blow this race apart.
Well done Shane on a pb, can never complain about a pb. I'm sure with some adjustments to training, those last few k's, for future runs, will not be a problem. Sounds like there are further pb's to come.
As for your first HM in 2004, on little training, that's not a bad time.
Congrats on the PB Shane. Sorry I missed catching up with you.
I can relate to the slow last few kms. Not much you can do when it's hurting. You didn't fade that much - 86.30 pace at 10k. You're just lacking aerobic training as you probably realise. You have the talent to run faster - sub-80. Good luck with the next one.
Fantastic result Shane. Wow, a huge PB!
Maybe you didn't finish strongly because you gave it you all. Must be sort of satisfying knowing you have nothing left in the tank at the finish line.
I'm with Ewen, sub 80 for you my boy!
Post a Comment