Last "long" run on the schedule before Canberra and you could not pick a better STaR to do it with. Starting in Concord you proceed straight through Olympica Park, then along Parramatta River crossing at Silverwater Rd, back along the northern shore and then across to Rhodes on the way home.
I wanted to have a pretty hard/fast hit out today and so decided to go out with the 6:20 group. Pretty much straight away the pace was one and after about 10km the group split into about 3 sub groups. I stayed towards the back and ended up running with Action, Luke Skyrunner and vat_man. We had a great time chatting and joking as the km steadily ticked by and I just started to struggle a little as we headed back through West Ryde/Meadowbank. Popped a gu and held it together as we too the short option "B" and headed back through Rhodes, just hanging on on some of the inclines. The guys knew I was being stretched but thought I should step up the pace on the way home. With a couple of km to go Luke offered to run with me at my actual Marathon Pace and we took off from the others. As it happened we only has about 1.5 km before a overpass to cross the railway line but we really turned it on and actually went a bit faster than MP, and just before the bridge headed up a slight hill I was really going for it!
Got back to the finish a little knackered and sore but very happy with the workout
26.3km in 2:04:06 (avg pace 4:43min/km and avg HR 163)
EDIT : Action dropped me a note saying his calculations make it 27.1km which then makes it an avg pace of 4:35 min/km!! Who am I to argue with a certified course measurer... (makes the run even more pleasing)
After cooling down had some good chats with different people at the finish and on reflection am very happy with this run as a last long hit out, the groin is still a bit sore but some rest and care should sort that out before race day. Some real sharpening this week as the focus shifts to intensity and rest rather than distance.
2 comments:
You have hit form at exactly the right time Dave. This will give you great confidence in reaching your goal in Canberra.
A 5km PB this weekend and (I suspect) a 10km PB this coming weekend. You are in great form for Canberra Dave. I'm not leaving until next weekend but I wanted to wish you all the very best for Canberra. Enjoy the rest of your taper and the big day. I will be sending you good thoughts on the big day from somewhere in Chile !
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