Another one bites the dust!

A pretty heavy duty week...
- Pilates session Monday am
- Return to hill repeats on Tuesday for a lung and quad buster
- Start of Summer Series on Wednesday, one significant route choice mistake and went a bit too fast out, saw 9.7km in 46 min for net 500 points, dodged a massive downpour by about 15 minutes!
- Recovery run around the oval up the street with Daisy (the dog) on Thursday
- On Friday I did my Castle Cove loop run, a good mixture of trail, hills and road. Tried to cruise it and the legs felt a little dead, was surprised to see that I ran close to my fastest time for the route

So onto the Striders Half, called the Internal because Ewen as you mentioned members were not allowed to run the open event as they were needed for marshalls etc so I believe there was also an Internal version to cater for the members. This is a handicap start where runners get allocated a suggested half time which is then used to start runners in reverse order, ie slowest first, with the goal of everyone finishing at the same time!

So I got allocated 95 minutes, mostly based upon my 10km handicap. There were 3 in our group but straight from the start that was it, David Martin tore off and the second guy followed him, while I decided to try and stay on my goal pace (which as usual was to also try and threaten my PB, even on this tough course). I kept runner #2 in sight and we fairly quickly started hauling in runners from the groups before us. I caught runner #2 at the top of Scribbly for the first time and put a bit of a gap on the downhill. He went past again on the climb to the gate but on the downhill back I again gapped him and that was that. No chance of catching David but I was still hauling in people continually and also got a good idea as to who was running well from the faster groups.

I deliberately tried to ignore the garmin and splits, just montitoring avg pace and my HR. At the turn around I took a quick peek at the time (halfway) and was pleased/surprised to see that it was 44 something. Tried to keep the pace going with not blowing up on on the climbs. Near the top of Scribbly second time I caught a faster guy gapped him a little on the downhill but he caught me on the flat and we ran together still hauling in people. Another faster runner floated in front but I was struggling to drag him on. The guy I had already caught drew away from me on the climb to the gates but I again gapped him on the downhill (as I ran past he muttered something about bloody fast downhill runner). I drew within 5 metres of the other guy as we continued to haul in front markers, by my calcs David Martin was way too fast and far in front but everything else was up for grabs.

At about 2 km to go I was starting to slip from the guy I was trying to catch and the other faster runner caught me and went past us both. On the last hill I was really struggling but still managed to hold things together. The two guys just in front of me caught another runner who by then was second on the road. I pushed hard all the way, with no idea as to the time, only focussed on trying to haul in the 3 in front and hope no-one faster cam from behind.

In the end, I just could not get up to them and finished over the line in 5th, 3 secs behind 4th, 22 behind 3rd and 38 behind 2nd.

The best bit though was after the line when I checked my watch I had posted 1:29:56, not only had I managed to hang on and break my PB of 1:30:23, but also broke the 90 minute barrier. I was actually a bit gobsmacked at first, especially given the tough hilly nature of the course.

Anyway, a PB is a PB, especially one that has taken close to six years to best!

So the regime seems to be working, a half marathon PB on a tough course with no taper based upon 11 weeks of training. It will be interesting to see what I can do now to my 10km time in a few weeks...

On the weight front, I've now dropped to 78.5kg, so a loss of 6.5kg from the start of August.

Anyway, onwards for GNW prep, a pretty heavy week scheduled this week, culminating in the Bobbin Head STaR

Secret training trip

So for the last 2 weeks I have been on a family holiday in the South Island of New Zealand. We did a counter clockwise lap and I tried to get out as often as possible to see each location from a different perspective. The schedule went a little like this

Christchurch - a long lap of Hagley Park on the Saturday afternoon, legs still a little jaded from the marathon the week before, was a little surprised to post 10km in just under 45 minutes

Kaikora - about 3 hours north of Christchurch and best know for whale watching tours, went out for 2 runs, one a lap of the penninsula, very scenic, but a little hilly and the second day was longer and out into the country side, had to stop for a couple of minutes to let a herd of cows cross the road for their morning milking session.

Nelson - near the top of the South Island and wedged between Queen Charlotte sound and Abel Tasman National Park. A shorter recovery run around a large park

Franz Joseph Glacier - an out an back to the car park of the glacier from the van park. Quite cold as it was very near the snow. Really streteched it out coming home, just under 13km at around 4:25 pace

Wanaka - gateway to the ski slopes and Queenstown. A great scenic run along the lake with a few hills tossed in at the back end. Very windy and quite cold.

Queenstown - sadly missed out on running as we had skiiing and rafting lined up with early morning starts

Te Anu - Another lake run, from the van park all the way around to the start of the Kepler Track and a km or so along the actual start of the track. Really liked it here and may try to enter the actual race next year. Close to 13km at 4:25 average, another good stretch run.

Dunedin - Opted for a hard slog here and so planned a run into the hills at the back of the town. Wow, tough going with a vertical climb of over 600m in around 8km. Then a brutal descent down a gravel single track path followed by a tempo run back along undulating streets. Legs were very smashed after this effort. Not much in terms of views as the lookouts were in coud cover so I could really only see about 20m in front of myself at the top.

Oamaru - A few hours drive south of Christchurch and known for it's penguin colonies and viewing. A flatter tempo run given the hammering from the day before.

Back home in time for the Striders STaR on Sunday at Marsfield (Ryde Rambler). A pretty tough run with undulating road for the first 15 odd km and then a series of roller coaster steepish climbs all the way up to Thornleigh and then a technical descent and run along a very rocky trail before yet another climb back to the start.

Last time I ran this STaR was the week after the 24 hour rogaine and the April 10km race and was where the first signs of my dodgy back started to surface. Felt pretty comfotable, and the pace was a bit quicker on the tar than last time. The sky's opened up and bucketed down as we ran from Cheltenham to Thornleigh. I led out through the return trails section and really tried to push it home. Was quite surprised to finish up with an average pace of 5:10, the April run was bang on 5:30.

So all seems to be coming together, I am now below 80kg, despite having fallen a little off the no sugar wagon during our holiday. Need to keep a strong focus on October training to benefit the GNW attempt, but am going to continue the speed/tempo stuff as well as I'll thinking of having a tilt at the Central Coast Half as well.

The Striders Internal half this Sunday and then the 10km at Lane Cove in a few weeks will be good barometers as to my progress....