Yesterday was my first "training" marathon. Sounds odd to most people, but if you are going to run the 89k Comrades Marathon, many of the long runs will be beyond marathon distance. This weekend, was my first.
I had a clear strategy for this run - it was a test to see if the pacing strategy would work. My goal for Comrades is to finish, preferably in under 11 hours and get a bronze medal, so a pace of just over 7 mins 20 seconds per km will get me there.
The Strategy
From past VO2 max tests - and associated blood lactic acid tests - I know that lactic acid begins to build when my HR hits 139. So to ensure I can get through the 89k run, my intention is to run at a pace that limits the build up of lactic acid.
On this run, I ran until my HR hit 142, and then walked until it hit 132... and then run until it got back to 142... and so on. So it was very much a run / walk strategy.
The Course
The course I chose around the hills of Mt Eliza had a vertical ascent of 695m. This is a pretty good approximation of the Comrades course which climbs 1175m, most of it in the first 60km.
The Body
I have had a chest cold for a couple of weeks and have been on anti biotics for two days to get over the cold. Hopefully the body will be in better shape on Comrades race day.
The Weather
It was warm and mid 20's with reasonably high humidity for this training run. This will be in sharp contrast to the Comrades start which will be in the dark and cold with a temperature likely to be between 5 - 10 C. So my HR should be a little higher for this run than on race day.
THE RESULT
Marathon completed in 4.49.35 with a max HR of 148 and average HR of 137. The legs felt great but I was a little tired at the end due to a lack of Gu's ingested on the run. I must have a nutrition plan that provides 70g of carbohydrates per hour for each hour of the run. I was a bit short on this yesterday.
Overall, while it would have been nice to be a bit quicker (my only "real" marathon was done in 3.51 in October last year), I am confident that this strategy will work to get me through Comrades. And, as my endurance and fitness improves, I will be able to run for longer at these HR levels, thus increasing the average speed.
Can't wait for the next long run "test"!!!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Maroondah Dam 30km Trail Run
Having completed a long run of 33km on each of the last two weekends, I was feeling quite prepared for the 30km trail run. Sure there was 1000m of climbing, but how bad could that be...(the training runs had 500m of climbing)??
After registration, we caught the bus to the start area and then I found out that the 30k was so hilly, the time to complete the run is usually the equivalent of your marathon time. Oh crap... I may have underestimated these hills.....
There was a reasonably large group for the 30k run - another group started earlier for the 50k run, and happily I was smart enough to realise I wasn't yet ready for that run!!
So after we received the race briefing, the clock struck 10am and we were off!! The forecast was 34 degrees so it was already getting warm as the event started, and to make it nice and tough from the start, the run started at the bottom of a nice big hill!!
While the run climbed 500m in the first 6km, there was some lovely scenery to run through.
The hills though... were brutal.
After the brutal hills though, the course was really enjoyable.
After a slow start to keep the HR down... the pacing was working and I was running myself through the field.... until about 10 of us took a wrong turn on the trails... which cost us about 4km and 40-50 minutes. And of course, the wrong turn we took was hilly. The pic below is the group of us trudging back up the hill to the course...
Getting back onto the course, and around the corner we saw the pink ribbons we should have been following. Grrr it would have been nice if they had been BEFORE the corner and not 100m after it (when there were orange ribbons on the turn off).
Never mind we were back on the trail, but the drinks were running a bit low now after the detour. But the 2nd age station came and went and then it was up (yet again), this time off trail to a telephone tower. Here the going got really tough, just walking up this hill got the HR to 90% of max....
Photo below is about 2/3rds of the way up the hill, and it was all this steep!
And you can imagine how steep the down hill was! Even more brutal than the uphill. It was so steep I could barely walk down it, let alone run down the hill.
And here is one of me having fun on the down hill... actually really just looking happy that I hadn't fallen flat on my bum!!
Finally, after all the hills, and some more uncertain intersections where we had to guess which way to go as they weren't marked, it was a lovely downhill curling bit of track. I was getting pretty tired by this stage, but I didnt think it was far to the finish.
Unfortunately it wasn't the finish, just the third (and final) aid station.
And that realisation was bad news. I became shattered, and needed a seat. Happily they had one, else I would have fallen on my bum!! :) A few snakes, orange slices and a water refill later, I began the relatively short journey to the finish line.
On the way to the finish line, an amazing thing was sighted on the Maroondah Dam trail run.... I found the Maroondah Dam!!!
Gorgeous views approaching the finish line...
And then it was done. 30km trail run (plus 4km getting lost) in about 4 hrs 47. The quads were cooked, the body dehydrated from a lack of drink on a hot day, and did I mention the quads?? Happily there was a (very) cold water stream flowing right near the finishing picnic area, and before I ate my finishers snag (but after I collected my finishers medal), it was time to put the legs in the icy water.
Admittedly it did take me a few attempts to submerge the legs into that icy water, but finally the quads were under the water, and all was beginning to recover.
The rest of the post race week was two massages, two stands in the bay, a few cold baths and a lot of doing nothing, and by the following weekend, I could run again. Which was a nice relief as I was so sore, I was worried I had actually done myself a mischief.
The endurance challenge of 2010 has begun... and event one... is done!!
After registration, we caught the bus to the start area and then I found out that the 30k was so hilly, the time to complete the run is usually the equivalent of your marathon time. Oh crap... I may have underestimated these hills.....
There was a reasonably large group for the 30k run - another group started earlier for the 50k run, and happily I was smart enough to realise I wasn't yet ready for that run!!
So after we received the race briefing, the clock struck 10am and we were off!! The forecast was 34 degrees so it was already getting warm as the event started, and to make it nice and tough from the start, the run started at the bottom of a nice big hill!!
While the run climbed 500m in the first 6km, there was some lovely scenery to run through.
The hills though... were brutal.
After the brutal hills though, the course was really enjoyable.
After a slow start to keep the HR down... the pacing was working and I was running myself through the field.... until about 10 of us took a wrong turn on the trails... which cost us about 4km and 40-50 minutes. And of course, the wrong turn we took was hilly. The pic below is the group of us trudging back up the hill to the course...
Getting back onto the course, and around the corner we saw the pink ribbons we should have been following. Grrr it would have been nice if they had been BEFORE the corner and not 100m after it (when there were orange ribbons on the turn off).
Never mind we were back on the trail, but the drinks were running a bit low now after the detour. But the 2nd age station came and went and then it was up (yet again), this time off trail to a telephone tower. Here the going got really tough, just walking up this hill got the HR to 90% of max....
Photo below is about 2/3rds of the way up the hill, and it was all this steep!
And you can imagine how steep the down hill was! Even more brutal than the uphill. It was so steep I could barely walk down it, let alone run down the hill.
And here is one of me having fun on the down hill... actually really just looking happy that I hadn't fallen flat on my bum!!
Finally, after all the hills, and some more uncertain intersections where we had to guess which way to go as they weren't marked, it was a lovely downhill curling bit of track. I was getting pretty tired by this stage, but I didnt think it was far to the finish.
Unfortunately it wasn't the finish, just the third (and final) aid station.
And that realisation was bad news. I became shattered, and needed a seat. Happily they had one, else I would have fallen on my bum!! :) A few snakes, orange slices and a water refill later, I began the relatively short journey to the finish line.
On the way to the finish line, an amazing thing was sighted on the Maroondah Dam trail run.... I found the Maroondah Dam!!!
Gorgeous views approaching the finish line...
And then it was done. 30km trail run (plus 4km getting lost) in about 4 hrs 47. The quads were cooked, the body dehydrated from a lack of drink on a hot day, and did I mention the quads?? Happily there was a (very) cold water stream flowing right near the finishing picnic area, and before I ate my finishers snag (but after I collected my finishers medal), it was time to put the legs in the icy water.
Admittedly it did take me a few attempts to submerge the legs into that icy water, but finally the quads were under the water, and all was beginning to recover.
The rest of the post race week was two massages, two stands in the bay, a few cold baths and a lot of doing nothing, and by the following weekend, I could run again. Which was a nice relief as I was so sore, I was worried I had actually done myself a mischief.
The endurance challenge of 2010 has begun... and event one... is done!!
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