City To Bay 2007

Pre- Race Ramble
Well, after an uncertain week leading up to the race, due to a calf injury, I managed to run the race according to plan. I experienced strong calf pain on Tuesday night after a pace run, and had to stop all exercise for the 4 days leading up to the race. Right up until the morning of the race, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to run, as I will still experiencing pain just walking. I had convinced myself that I may have to walk it, but would just wait and see.


Race Report
Race morning I got up at 5am and went for a morning stroll - to check out the race preparations (was staying right by the finish line). Drank a powerade, and then a diet coke at about 6.15 - following Jeff Galloway's advice re caffiene assisting with reducing muscle cramps/stiffness at the beginning and assisting with performance. We headed off for the bus at 6.30 am (all the family were running, plus 1 friend and 1 cousin - a party of 7 in total!)



Since we were early, there was plenty of room on the bus, and it dropped us off right by the start line. A quick trip to the toilet (followed by about 4 more later on!) and we went for a slow run around the Torrens area. Wasn't sure whether I should run to warm up or not - what if my calf only had 12 good kms in it - and the warm up would prove to be too much???? Well, decided this logic wasn't too sound, so gave it a go. Calf felt ok, so I was encouraged. Took some panadol for a bit more courage to run on it, and lined up for the race.



Bit disappointed there were no time markers for the line up this year- as it put everyone in together and I had no idea whether I was with people of similar running pace or not.

Any way, the gun went off, and about 10 mins later I crossed the starting line!



Had set the Garmin pacer for running the 12 kms in 72 mins, and was armed with the mantra "just stay ahead of the pacer, and you'll come in on time" The conditions were cool and overcast, quite perfect for running, and apart from weaving through the crowds, it is a relatively easy race - all being slightly downhill apart from the first 100m or so.



I stuck to my guns and ignored everyone sprinting off through the crowd, or those who were walking within the first 500 m or so ( and there were a lot of them!). Ran a good first few kms, not experiencing any stiffness or calf pain. At about the 3 km mark, someone tapped me on my shoulder, and it was my youngest daughter Tessa (11 years) and my nephew Luka (also 11). Its amazing how easily the young ones find this - I couldn't believe they had kept up with me (they had said something about running one km/walking one km) and then they sprinted off in front of me. Well, I guess I might just have to face the facts that I might be beaten by 11 year olds who hadn't even trained! But they stopped just up ahead for a drink, and I didn't see them again until the end.



In retrospect the first 8 kms were pretty perfect, I was slightly ahead of the pacer and doing quite well. But after that, I started to tire. Not surprisingly really, as I had set my pace at what I really considered my 5 kms race pace, and I knew a 72 minute finish was going to be a very big ask. But this was really the first race that I had planned to run as a real race.... all the others had been about pacing myself to make sure I could manage the distance. But this one, I knew the distance wasn't the issue, this time it was about how much could I push myself on the day to achieve a PB, rather than holding back to make sure I had enough to get to the end. So it was all about how long could I hold out on the pace, and could I push myself hard enough to just keep going. I was about 100 ms ahead of the pacer, and finally gave in to a brief walk. But I was astonished to see how quickly my 100m lead disappeared (about 10 - 15 secs I reckon), so as it approached a zero lead - I started running again. But from here on in, it was really hard work. I just kept picturing how much I would love to achieve it in 72mins, and how the pain would be so short lived, just hang in there and keep going. I started to feel the calf ( I think - or was this phychosomatic speak for an excuse to stop??), and I realised that I couldn't keep up the pace. The choice was to either stop and walk, or drop the speed. So I dropped the speed and stopped focussing on the pacer time, as I started to fall behind my goal. My main focus became just keeping running to achieve a reasonable time. I stopped once more for a brief 10 sec walk, and at the 2 km to go mark, tried to pick up the speed and regain my lost time. But I just didn't have it in me, as hard as I pushed myself, I wasn't making any gains, so I dropped my speed again, with the aim of a reasonable run to the end, and to look strong when I ran past my husband - who would have finished ahead of me and be watching me come in (Appearances are very important!)

Didn't watch the watch any more until I crossed the finish line, starting to feel a little nauseaus, and very glad to have finished.



And the unofficial finishing time:......



73.10



Very happy with that. I may have even scraped into the 72 min time as I didn't press the stop button hard enough when I finised, and had to stop it again a few seconds later, and I may have actually started it just before the start line - so I will wait and see.



In my head my goals had been:

72 mins - ultimate goal

75 mins and under - happy to achieve

less than 83 mins (last years time) - essential



My learnings from this year:

• The 4 days of forced rest were actually very beneficial. Usually when I start running I experience some minor discomfort in my legs, until they warm up and relax. I didn't experience any of this - this is was either due to the caffiene ( I'm not convinced about this) or the complete rest. I think I am normally experiencing some levels of fatigue from whatever exercise I have been doing over the previous few days - so I think I may repeat this sort of taper in future.

• My heart rate is always higher in races. Here's some interesting readings. My resting heart rate is generally around 42 bpm (have even seen it as low as 38). On the bus into the city, my HR was 78 and I was sitting down. Standing in the line waiting to start, my HR was 108 - and I was doing nothing! And over the 12kms - (and I didn't look at this until after the race) my HR averaged at about 178bpm (about 95%). and no, that's not normal for me. I guess it shows how much race anxiety or even just the adrenaline rush makes a difference. This is what caught me out in the half marathon, so I made sure I didn't look at it during the race. But it does also tell me that I was working as hard as I could expect to, and that a faster time than what I achieved was probably not in me.

• If I hydrate well the few days before and the morning of the race, I don't need to stop at the drink stations for a drink on a relatively short race such as this (at least when the weather is cool)

• Running a near 5km PB (29:30) is really not advisable in a 12km race, and probably should have told me that I was running too fast. One day I might perfect the art of negative splits! or set more realistic times.

• Training pays off (duh!) My husband finished in 64 mins - improving his time from last year by 2 mins. His training consisted of going to a few football practices and a couple of runs beforehand. But he did learn from last years race to pace himself better - probably led to the 2 min improvement. But I improved my time by 10 - 11 mins, and I'm closing the gap between our results. Last year we finished 17 mins apart, this year 9 mins apart. If I keep improving my fitness - maybe I'll beat him one year after all!

By the way - the rest of the family did as follows

Tessa and Luka - the young ones - about 90 mins - WOW

Tara (my eldest - 20 yrs) 100 mins ( has done very little exercise this year, but wanted to give it a good go, and did)

Kaelia (my 17 y.old) and friend from school - about 2 hours something - apparently they gave up at the 3 km mark ( I originally thought she meant at the 3 kms to go mark, but no - she meant near the beginning) and decided to walk it all.



Regardless of their times, I am really proud of them all for just giving it a go - I love having the family all involved.


Post Race Ramble
For my active recovery, I got up early this morning for a walk. Tried running a few times but the legs really just weren't ready for it. But as I walked around geocaching, with no time restraints, didn't realise that I ended up doing 13kms over 3hours (see I kept it nice and slow!). Not sure how the distance will affect my recovery though!



Any way - that's it for this year's C2B. To finish off, here are my C2B times over the last 4 years:



2003: 2:20 (trained to be able to walk this for 6 months, was terrified I wouldn't make the distance, and originally thought it would take me 3 hours as 4kms/hr was my top speed!)



2004: 1:57 (trained hard again to walk it, thought I was a lot fitter. 6 kms/hr was my dream speed that I aimed for, and my goal was sub 2hrs. Achieved this, but my HR was over 100% for the entire race, and I had to lie down for an hour afterwards before my HR returned to normal)



2005: Did not compete - was in Europe



2006: 1:23 (my first race as a runner. Followed a 12 week training program to the letter, and was in awe of the distance -would I ever make it?)



2007: 1:13 (maybe I 'm a real runner now? hope to scrape into the top 1000 female runners (about the top third))

And yes Jessie, there is another plan...

The City 2 Bay may not be done and dusted yet, but OF COURSE I've set my sights on a new challenge!

I've been wanting to do the Oxfam Trailwalker for some time but a) its interstate (costs too much) and b) I don't know three other weird people who would team up with me to do it. (Actually I don't know even one other person who would)

But the other day as I was looking up something on the South Australian Road Runners Club site, I came across something along the same lines - the Adelaide Trailblazer! Its held at the end of October, and in teams of 2 or 4 you can sign up to 18kms/34kms/50kms/100kms. And I've started trying to convince my hubby that we could pair up and do the 34 kms. 18kms - well I know I can do since doing the 1/2 marathon - but 50 would just be too much too soon - so 34 sounds just about right - and you can walk the whole thing if you want - so sounds quite achievable with moderate training. Now I just have to get him to sign on the bottom line... perhaps I'll cover the page with football piccies and he'll never know.....


Anyway - the other news of late is that I've been experimenting with the virtual trainer on my Garmy. What this does it that you tell it how far you want to run and in what time, and as you run it puts up a split screen on the watch showing how you are running compared to the "pacer man" (stick figure pictures) and at the bottom it tells you how many metres ahead or behind you are of the required pace to meet your goal. I've only used this once before with disastrous results. This was in a 5 km fun/run at Victor Harbour, and because I had never used it before, when it told me in the first km that I was 60 odd metres ahead of the pacer, I didnt realise how significant this was, and how fast that meant I was running. Subsequently I had gone out too fast and nearly didn't manage to finish because I was exhausted. (It did still provide me with a 5km PB - but it was one of the hardest runs of my life!)

Anyway - figured if I could get used to using it, it may be good for the C2B. So tried it out on Tuesday - and told it I wanted to run 5kms in 30mins - which is my planned C2B pace. What I found though was that although it worked well, because I was determined to stay ahead of the pacer man, I still ran the 5kms slightly too fast, averaging about a 5:45/5:50 pace instead of a 6:oo pace. And it was hard. And I'm sure I couldn't have kept it up for 12 kms - actually felt a slight twinge of nausea at the end of the 5kms -nothing too much , but a sign that it wouldn't be manageable over a longer distance. Why didn't you just go slower when you were too far ahead I hear you say? A very good idea, but one I didn't manage to achieve. I kept telling myself "slow down", and consciously tried to "slow down", and then checked my watch and found myself yet another 10 metres ahead! I don't know what my problem was - but I just didn't seem to be able to do it!

Came in for the 5kms about 80 metres in front of Mr Pacer, and in 29:28. That may not sound much faster than a planned 30 mins, but if you multiplied that out for a 12 km run, that would see me finishing in 70. something minutes, when I'm aiming for a PB of 72 minutes. That's actually quite a lot. So I'm thinking I might try it again but set the speed at slightly below 10kms/hr (say 9.9) and then if I aim to stay just ahead - I should be about right. Or I could keep the speed the same, and if I'm too far ahead insert walk breaks to make it more manageable. Don't know - will try out a few of these strategies over the next week leading up to the race.....

By for now - oh and by the way - if you've noticed I've been absent from posting comments on your blog - I'm having problems with my computer. Whenever I go to post a comment, the computer keeps asking me if I want to display the "non-secure" items. I keep saying yes, and it keeps asking me, repeatedly! and so fast that I can't even type a word before it interrupts me again. I'm very frustrated. If anyone knows what setting I need to change, please let me know. I've tried out a few - but nothing seems to work!

The "7 km Mistake"

Well - whilst in Adelaide last week - took the opportunity to do some running along the beach front, and on Saturday - a "long run" partly in training for the City Bay on 16th (12 kms)

Adelaide has a "linear park" - it is a path/trail that follows the River Torrens from the hills, through Adelaide and on to the ocean inlet at West Beach. I've run a fair bit of it from Athelstone in the foot hills to Adelaide (about 20kms for the 1/2 marathon) but never the stretch from Adelaide to the sea.

So this was the plan for Saturday. According to Mapmyrun, its about a 10 km stretch, and I was keen to see it all. Set out at 6.15 am - drove into the city and parked the car - and headed off for the run, a little unsure of exactly how far I would go and how much I could fit into the morning, as I had promised my parents I would be back by 10 am. Headed off with thoughts of running 5 or 6 kms, then turning around and heading back, but as I went along - I realised that I really would be quite disappointed if I didn't get to follow the path all the way to beach, and "see it all".

So decided I would run the full 10kms, and then catch a taxi back. Didn't have any money on me, but I had money in the car, and could pay the taxi driver when I got there.

The running was fine, and just when I was wondering how much further it would be, I turned the corner and saw a magnificent site of river disappearing into the sea, in the distance. Ahh - nearly there. Spurred on by this, ran for another km or so and reached the ocean. Checked my Garmin - only 10kms as predicted - well 12 will be a much nicer number - after all, the C2B is 12kms - perhaps I'll head north along the beach down to Henley Beach square - lots of taxis there in this eatery/restaurant hub. So I did. Reached HB Square - a little more running required to bring up the 12 kms - so ran along the jetty and back. Perfect. 12 kms. Hit the stop button on the Garmin - very proud of myself - and headed off to the taxi stand.

Well - this is where things went a little pear shaped.

What taxi.

Yes, there have always been plenty of taxis when I've been there before IN THE EVENING. Not 8.00 in the morning!

There was no taxi to be found. I would have been quite happy to walk the 12 kms back to my car, but based on my promised 10 am return, the clock was now ticking.

I really had no choice now but to head back, and start running again, whilst looking for a taxi.

2kms back along the esplanade - and still no taxi. I was now at the point where I had to make a decision about heading back via the linear park, or head towards Glenelg where the big hotels would guarantee a taxi. But how far away was Glenelg I wondered? 6, 7 kms maybe? It was only 10 kms back along linear park, and if I ran the 7 kms to Glenelg, I still had to find a taxi, and pay for the trip - to save me maybe 3 kms of running????

So I decided that I could probably run the linear park in an hour, and meet my 10 am deadline so I headed off. It was hard going though, and I was tired. Although I have run further than this before, I have run this sort of distance in a quite a few months and it really showed. A few kms later, I crossed a major road, and had a thought. If this was the road I thought it was - then if I headed right - I would reach the airport - and there is no shortage of taxis there. So made the decision, headed off, and a few more kms later, managed to flag down a taxi on the airport road.

I'm not sure what the taxi driver thought. I wasn't really your typical frequent flyer in business suit with luggage, instead a sweaty, red faced girl in exercise gear. I briefly explained my situation as he listened in amazement as to where I had been, and when he returned me to my car he said - So you started your run from here???? and shook his head.

Well I returned to parents right on 10 am, but the search for the taxi had taken an extra 7kms and brought my long run distance up to 19kms - A little further than planned for the day!