Hello again!
As promised/threatened/feared, I didn't do much running this week. With a race coming up on the Saturday, then Christmas looming large and the advent (see what I did there?) of my marathon training plan, it made sense to back off and rest up a little. Which was convenient, because it's exactly what I felt like doing.
So I did no more midweek than two 7-mile runs, the second of which including some strides at the end. I do these in a little park nearby which is perfect as it has a gravel, 150-odd metre straight. It even has a kind of turning circle at the far end, which you can just see in the photo.The trouble with it is that it's a popular place for people to take their dogs for a w...well, I was going to say for a walk, but from what I've seen, it's mainly used as a canine toilet. The park also has a small playground for kids, so that must be lovely for them, rolling around in the shitty grass next to it. And then of course, when a dog sees me jog up to the end and then sprint back, it thinks to itself "here's fun!", and comes bounding over to play. So basically, if someone turns up with a dog, that's the end of the strides session for me, as was the case this last Friday, when I could only get six of the planned eight done thanks to a dirty-looking Alsatian. A dog, I mean.
The good thing about a Saturday afternoon race is that you can lounge around in the morning guilt-free, so that's what I did. However, I did make the mistake of looking at my stats for past editions of the race and so fell somewhere between despair at the near-impossibility of getting close to those times and self-delusion involving what might be possible if everything went my way.
The day before, my friend (the one who had uncharitably beaten me in a half marathon in May) had texted to tell me he was racing, too, and would I like a lift? Well, of course I would, so at 3.00 he picked me up and off we drove to the town of Piedras Blancas, some 25 miles away. It had been quite cold all week, but today it was windy and warm - too warm!
We parked up and went in search of the race numbers and timing chips before sitting out on a terrrace with a pre-race coffee. It was 22ºC, so I sat in a t-shirt and shorts, with sunglasses - and had to keep reminding myself that this is mid-December!After a two-kilometre warm-up, we made our way to the start area, which was already very congested and it became clear that getting anywhere near the front was going to be impossible. 1,600 were taking part and the road is quite narrow, so when the gun went it was a mad scramble, and it took me a while before I had any sort of a clear run. The first two or three kilometres are pretty much downhill and I know from experience that it pays to bank some time here while also getting into a good, fast pace. That idea was scuppered from the start, and I passed the first kilometre marker in 3:59, easily 10-15 seconds down on what I could/should usually expect. Of course, my friend had gone off like a shot, and that was the last I saw of him!
By the second km the field had become more strung out and there is a good-sized hill to go down, so my pace picked up accordingly. We then entered the tunnel which goes through the cliffs on the headland, and subsequently emerged in the pleasant seaside town of Salinas.
At this point, despite the inspiration of the coastal scene before me, I started to slow and my breathing became a bit laboured. There was a big crowd gathered in the centre of the village so I kept up appearances as best I could and gritted my teeth - but this was going to be tougher than I'd allowed myself to think...
We continued on for another kilometre or so before reaching the halfway point, going round the block and heading back to the tunnel again. The slight incline meant my pace slowed even more, but my legs still felt reasonably good, and I was still overtaking people, which is always encouraging.
Once you go through the tunnel on the way back, you are faced with two kilometres uphill, relieved only by a couple of short downhill sections which are actually too short to really get any time back on. No wonder, then, that kilometre 6 was my slowest by far, 4:27, which is shockingly bad, but at least I knew at that point that the really hard work was done and there remained less than ten minutes of slogging it out - and even I can manage that!
A long, straight road leads you back up to Piedras Blancas, and then just after the 8-kilometre mark you take a sharp right and there in the distance, at the bottom of an inviting hill, is the finish. Here, too, people had turned out in large numbers, and I turned the corner and steeled myself for a final effort...It's amazing that even though midway through a race you feel as if you're about to die of sheer exhaustion, you can still find the energy from somewhere to sprint to the line. And so it was again this time, as I gave it all I had and managed to beat two or three runners in the last 50 metres, to the cheers of the massed ranks of spectators!
In the end, 8.5kms in 35:30, chip time. This works out at 4:12/km (6:45/mile), which is obviously much quicker than I'd have done in a training run, and if I count this as another tempo run, it was both longer and much faster than the previous week's.
On the other hand, it was a good 2 minutes slower than last year. I choose, conveniently enough, not to dwell too much on the reasons for this, and rather, to focus on the steady progress I am nevertheless making toward my spring marathon goal.
 |
| All smiles (nearly) back at the car |
I met up with my friend, who had come in some 40 seconds before me. I expected this, but it is one more dent in my already wounded pride... He said he'd gone off well, but had completely detonated two kilometres out and practically crawled to the line!
It was already getting dark by the time we got back to the car so we lost no time in getting changed and driving back to Oviedo. Not an ideal day for either of us, but we both felt fairly satisfied at having been the best we could be on the day, which in the end is all you can do, really.
In the evening I had my work's Christmas dinner, which dragged on longer, and was ultimately far more alcohol-sodden, than I'd anticipated, so Sunday's planned evening run was scrapped. Instead I lazed around the house, put the Christmas tree up and then went up to the city centre and did some shopping. Yes, I know - on a Sunday. I do feel guilty...
I work until Wednesday night, and then I'm off until 7th January. It's going to be a strange Christmas this year, though, because such has been the upheaval in my personal and domestic life that I'm going to be completely on my own for the holiday period. I would have like to have gone back to England, but I had to hold on to see how and when things would resolve themselves, and by the time they had, it was too late to book flights. So, all a bit sad, really.
However, I am determined to make the best of it, and I'm going to do a full-blown Christmas dinner regardless. I've had to scale down the buying of Christmas Alcohol, but there's at least a couple of nice bottles in the cupboard that I fully intend to enjoy. With a bit of luck, I'll be in a fit state to drag myself out running a good few times, as well!
Once again, many thanks for reading. I hope you have a very happy, peaceful Christmas. See you on the other side!
No comments:
Post a Comment