I have been thinking about doing a park run for the last few weeks. Just a few confidence issues - hurting so much during and after a hard run is starting to put me off doing it. So a lot of visualisation and mental preparation was required.
I decided to give it a go
Arguably, it isn't a proper race - but it is competitive at the top of the field. And their aren't prizes.
I last did one in early March 2011. A quick look at Endo showed that I had done 281km of running since then. Most of it low intensity.
That, and the extra 3 or 4 kg, was going to slow me down.
So I set myself no particular target. Although I had an idea of what I might do.
I was going to run on feel - no pace or hr goals. I was interested in cadence, as I have been working a lot on running form.
Up at about 6 as I was very dehydrated from the week before - so wanted time for lots of sipping and slow ingesting of water.
Arrived at 8:30 for a thorough warm up. The left ankle had been pretty sore when I got out of bed - from the Achilles stretching up to the lower calf muscle. But the right calf, which has been plaguing me since November, seemed not too bad. Just a bit tight.
Hr strap was working. But the cadence pod which is strapped to the Newton race shoes wasn't. Well, the last time I wore them was back in August...
I usually enter the starting grid from the front, to make sure I am on the first or second row as I start fairly quickly. This is an old habit from XC days, when you had to sprint to the first gate, because if you weren't at the gate first, you could easily lose 30 secs + as everyone files through, and the race would be over. It doesn't make for good pacing strategy though.
Annoyingly, a cocky lad and his fat mate positioned themselves in front off me. I couldn't see either of them lasting. Anyone running in their football strip doesn't usually last much beyond 90yds.
The course is a tricky one to judge pace on. It's a big isosceles triangle laid on the side of a hill - a long downhill, almost double back, a long gentle downhill, a sharp bend, then a very steep short uphill bit. There are three laps. This makes each k very different. The first k doesn't have the hill on it, so is faster. There is little on the course that is flat. It is nearly a minute slower than the Leeds Hyde Park run, which is the only other park run I've done.
Started a bit quicker than I should have done. About 3:35 for the first K. hr was rising nicely - soon reached 160+ which I haven't seen for a year - not on a sustained basis.
Of the people in front of me, only one guy was fatter. I don't like being beaten by people who are fatter than me. But he was going well, and I knew that my pacing was all wrong.
The fastest woman usually beats me - and had seen her on the start line, so I was just waiting for her. She finally came past just before the 3k mark. And just before the start of the steep hill. As she weighs about 3st, I wasn't going to keep up.
I had managed to keep reasonable form for the first five mins, but fatigue was setting in. Best time to find out how you really run. If you can concentrate enough. Still a lot of work to be done.
By the second lap, you are starting to lap the social runners. You are aware of the differences - I was well above tempo pace so breathing hard. The slower runners are, even for them, running at a recovery/endurance pace - as you can tell from their breathing. The difference in times between front and back isn't just about fitness - but about how hard you run.
I was finding that has the HR went above 162 I was starting to through up - a sign of lack of fitness. I didn't want to scare the other runners, so eased back a bit to let the ht drop a few beats. This was quite a slowing by this stage - about 4k
Surprised that only two people had gone past, and pleased to see that fatter guy pulled out after the second climb, I was determined not to let anyone else past.
Up the last climb, and a lighter guy was catching me. I could hear his breath. Out of the steepest bit and just working one keeping the cadence going. Wind it up for a sprint to the line. I was nervous enough to glance over the shoulder. But I had done enough. Cross line, grab ticket, start retching. Isn't it fun.
Managed to hit the stop button. 2 secs over the time that I was expecting but withbetter pacing I could have gone a bit faster.
Legs seemed to have survived, which is the main thing.
Loaded the run up on Strava. An interested feature is that it does gradient adjusted pacing. Ie what you would have done if it had been flat. Very useful for working out pacing strategies on hilly courses.
Actual splits:
3:34, 4:17, 3:59, 4:32, 4:26 (the Garmin had it at a bit over 5k)
So the times are all over the place. On feel, I started off quickly, then gradually slowed, with a drop off in the 4th k, then a bit of a pick up in the last k.
Gradient adjusted times:
3:36, 3:45, 4:04, 4:08, 4:00
this is much more what it felt like - so quite an impressive feature. Would have been nice to have a go at a flat course
Easy day today (Sunday). Thought about a swim, but to tired to get there. And it's raining. And I have some work to do.
Lots of dynamic stretches, strides, and quick steps, mainly on grass, with the HR up to 155, and I was ready.