My 2012 season has started off on the right foot!!! I PB'd at the Chilly Half by just over 2min from my previous best half marathon time which I set last year at the Montreal half! And I am ecstatic!!!!
I went into this race seriously under-trained and really just wanted to get this long run in and prepare myself a little more for Oceanside 70.3 coming up at the end of the month. I decided race morning to run at or near the race pace I ran at last year's Chilly for as long as I could until I blow up and then just hang on to the end. I decided to run with a friend who had a very ambitious goal and see how long I could run with her. I figured the goal pace was about 5:15-5:20 based on a 1:55 half marathon time. And I also figured that I could not hang on to this pace time for 21.1km. I ran a total of 20km for the whole month of January and only 20-30km a week for the whole month of February (only one week I hit 30km total mileage). My longest run was the week before at 16km and all my other runs were in the 8-12km range. I had to back off the mileage due to my injuries and was really just getting back into training after taking time off in December and going away in January. So I honestly was not expecting much from myself. Well did I ever prove myself wrong!
We started the run and the first km was a bit congested and was the second slowest km for me. And I think that actually helped a bit. Then we were running pretty much side by side and I felt pretty comfortable. We were running about 5:14-5:20s and I decided if my friend wanted to go faster I was going to let her as I was feeling pretty good and comfortable. Well, she was struggling to hold the pace we were running and by about 12km she told me to go ahead and she was going to slow down. I turned around and asked her if she was sure and then I told her she may end up catching up to me when I blow up. When I dropped her I decided to then push the pace a little more. I was still feeling pretty good and figured why not. I did take a Redbull shot at about 11km and had a gel at about 15km. At 15km I was just waiting for the combustion to happen. I started calculating what time I would finish if I dropped to a 6min pace. And I did this at each km. But I was still feeling good and continued to push the pace. Last year I fell apart at 19km and I was just waiting and waiting for this to happen. Nothing! I targeted a guy ahead of me and I kept focused on him and did not let him get too far away from me. I still felt good so I went even faster. I ran a 5:08 and a 5:06 from 19-21km and passed many other runners. I ended up crossing the line in 1:51:33!!!! Woohoo!!!! I wouldn't have ever expected that!!! My dream goal is under 1:50 but I was not considering that yet!
The only thing I could figure that got me here are the weekly speed workouts I have been doing with the UTTC Masters club! I have been going pretty consistently every week, once a week. I get pushed and it looks like I am actually getting faster! Last year at this time I had just joined the club for about a month. I have now been with the club for a year and I can see the results! Wow! Thanks guys!!! I have managed to maintain my fitness while getting faster! No doubt the swimming, cycling, and yoga has been helping too. I have been logging about 12-13hrs a week of training and something has to be said about that! I just honestly didn't think I could pull this run off like that! Yay!!! :):):)
No comments:
Post a Comment