My left leg had tightened up completely after Wednesday evening and I suspected an IT band issue, so I spent the rest of the week looking for sore spots (with some success) and didn't run at all. Even walking was a struggle. At the same time, it didn't feel like a long-term injury so I was still hopeful of taking part in the half marathon, and by Saturday morning I had recovered sufficiently that I knew I would at least be able to start the race. I had intended to run a few fast miles towards the end of the week to sharpen up and wasn't sure what effect three days off might have. A minor club dispute had also escalated to the point where it had affected my mental preparations.
It appeared to have rained overnight but conditions in the morning were dry and windy. I had woken up with a slight headache but felt better by the time we set off. We got to the start with a few minutes to spare and I manoeuvred myself toward the front, eventually reaching the 7th row or thereabouts. I still had to dodge a few people along St Vincent Street but the field had already started to spread out by the first hill. I went through the first mile in about 5:40 and the second on the Kingston Bridge (not marked, but somebody's watch bleeped) at 11:30, which seemed OK but might actually have been too fast, taking the course profile and crosswind into account. Along Paisley Road West I was running with a small group but even without the Garmin I could sense that my HR was in the 170s which I doubted I would be able to sustain for long, and I began to lose a few seconds here and there. The supposed 10K point was on Dumbreck Road and I went through in 37:12, which wasn't too bad, but Pollok Park was a struggle and I started losing more time. Although the IT band had started to tighten up, it wasn't causing any major problems, so I thought I would certainly be able to finish, but I couldn't find any motivation at all and started going backwards.
I went through 10 miles in 1:01:30 and felt like I was running very slowly by that point, which probably was the case as I was being overtaken every now and then. Between 10 and 11 miles I felt particularly short of energy and thought I should probably have had a larger breakfast, but the psychological boost of knowing there were only 2 miles to go soon improved matters. Earlier on I had thought I might even finish outside 1:22 but without having to attempt a sprint I crossed the line in 1:21:42 for a 6:14/mile average, in 87th place overall (10th M40) and apparently second finisher for Garscube, although I suspected I was too far down the field to have helped us win a team prize. Although the race seemed to go horribly wrong, I was only two and a half minutes outside my time from Helensburgh which has a much faster course. It also felt like I was doing much worse than I actually did, so I can't really complain about the outcome. There had also been a significant risk that I would aggravate the IT Band injury, but that doesn't seem to have happened, as it was only a minor annoyance during the race and responded well to some stretching later on.
Weekly total: 26 miles
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Stephen although you don't seen too bothered with the result l think your defo in better shape than a 1.21 showing and maybe the marathon will show that hopefully.
P.S. l wish l was racing yesterday now maybe l would have scalped you rather than the other way about for a change.
Well JB
You would definitely have been miles ahead! I normally dodge the GSR and was just doing it for the league points so it was a success from that point of view. I don't expect the marathon to go any better so my main goal is just to get through it uninjured.
Post a Comment