First race in a new age-group
The vacation to Wales & Spain is over and it’s time to get back into the normal work routines, home routines and training routines. Rock’n'Roll is only a handful of days away and the Marine Corps Marathon looms 9 weeks in the distance. I managed to run every day whilst I was away, but most of it was easy running for just a couple of miles at a time. I’m pleased to say the streak is still alive and currently stands at 271 days.
So after 2 weeks of easy training, I figured Saturday’s East Coast Surfing Championship 5k would be a good test of where my fitness is in the build up to October’s marathon. Lining up at the start I had no real expectations of a fast finish time. Breaking 18 minutes would be nice, but with the lack of speed work and/or long runs I figured I’d probably be lacking in endurance when we hit the boardwalk with well over a mile to go.
Anyway, at 8am the race promptly started and it felt good to let all the fast runners go. Today wasn’t the day for my usual “fast start and hang on for as long as possible”, so I was quite surprised to cover the first mile in 5:35 and still feeling good. Mile 2 was also a surprise (5:40) and at this point I decided it was time to kick for home. I didn’t check my watch at mile 3, but could see the clock ticking away in the distance……17:24, 17:25, 17:26 etc. I finally finished in 17:37 - my 3rd fastest 5k ever and enough for 8th overall and 2nd place in my new 40-44 age group.
Tomorrow I’ll hit the trails for a longish run (12 or 13 with any luck), and then plan the rest of the week’s training in the build up to Rock’n'Roll.
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September 1st, 2006 at 7:52 am
The results of the Merthyr Police 10 km are now up on the website and are conspicuous by the absence of a certain Stephen Spiers.
We gave you the big build-up each Thursday to a packed audience, and now members are asking me “does Stephen Spiers really exist or are all these results from Virginia Beach a figment of a very fertile imagination?”
Please contact us and let us know. The natives are getting restless and I can’t control them much longer……………………
Best wishes Mick
September 4th, 2006 at 6:53 pm
Hi Mick. All I can do is apologise to you and the natives. I had every intention of running the 10k on my return from a week in Spain. However midway through the holiday I picked up a nasty ear infection which made flying back to Cardiff a really painful experience. Not the best excuse in the world I admit, but it’s true, honest.
Saw the results and wish I could have taken part. Maybe next time eh?
All the best,
Steve