Race Report: Sandy Point Half Marathon
In one word cold. Thermals, extra thermal layer, double gloving, thermal headband, beanie and yet I was still cold pre-race. The coffee vendor wasn't even ready before the race so no help there. At least it didn't rain during the event. It took a long time to warm up for the race and I competed with an extra top and gloves.
My sinuses were much better, so the rest seemed to have done its job. There was a chance that the start was going to feel too easy, better take that into account. The coldness seemed to put a dampener on the excitement and without fanfare the race started.
Today I wasn't wearing my heart rate monitor. No point after a week off. The numbers wouldn't mean much today. Plus the straps battery is flat and I've delayed getting it replaced. I'll just run a solid, but comfortable pace and see what happens.
The course was good, nice, moderate rolling hills. Nothing steep enough to break your rhythm, but enough of a change to keep things interesting. For the half marathon it was a two lap affair. For the first portion some of the field strung out ahead over the first couple of kilometres, but around the 5km mark I found I was steadily passing a few of these. I was feeling really good. Very comfortable and averaging flat on 4:00/km. Heading in towards 8km I was on track for around 1:24:xx race time and decided that is probably too much of an improvement. I backed the pace back down to 4:10/km just to be safe. I can always pick up later.
Arrectores pilorum:
First lap down and the plan was working. Soon I crossed the 12km marker and became aware of just how cold it was. I noticed the runners on either side of me had goosebumps and we were all breathing out big puffs of condensation from out our mouths.
Unfortunately something else I noticed was the building sensation of burning in my legs. Calves, hamstrings, quadriceps and all the muscles in between. The pain wasn't bad, but it was a definite sign much of pace was being met through anaerobic metabolism. My legs weren't hurting, but if I didn't pull back a little and stay at around or a bit under that lactate threshold (or whatever you want to call it) I may have trouble later.
H+ + HCO3- = H2CO3 = CO2 + H20
Despite backing off a little more, trouble hit at around 14km. The burn increased exponentially. My legs felt somewhat fresh, but the obvious accumulation of anaerobic byproducts had reached the level of forcing a very big slow down. My breathing rate increased, my legs refused to fire properly. I had hit the wall.
Despite a brief recovery for between 16-18km, the rest of my race was trying to limit the damage. I can't remember being passed by so many in the last 2km of any event before. In the end I finished in 1:30:20, 44th overall. My slowest this year. I think being sick for the week actually helped to a faster time that I would have run anyway. This has reinforced my recent concerns of my training. Time for a change.
My sinuses were much better, so the rest seemed to have done its job. There was a chance that the start was going to feel too easy, better take that into account. The coldness seemed to put a dampener on the excitement and without fanfare the race started.
Today I wasn't wearing my heart rate monitor. No point after a week off. The numbers wouldn't mean much today. Plus the straps battery is flat and I've delayed getting it replaced. I'll just run a solid, but comfortable pace and see what happens.
The course was good, nice, moderate rolling hills. Nothing steep enough to break your rhythm, but enough of a change to keep things interesting. For the half marathon it was a two lap affair. For the first portion some of the field strung out ahead over the first couple of kilometres, but around the 5km mark I found I was steadily passing a few of these. I was feeling really good. Very comfortable and averaging flat on 4:00/km. Heading in towards 8km I was on track for around 1:24:xx race time and decided that is probably too much of an improvement. I backed the pace back down to 4:10/km just to be safe. I can always pick up later.
Arrectores pilorum:
First lap down and the plan was working. Soon I crossed the 12km marker and became aware of just how cold it was. I noticed the runners on either side of me had goosebumps and we were all breathing out big puffs of condensation from out our mouths.
Unfortunately something else I noticed was the building sensation of burning in my legs. Calves, hamstrings, quadriceps and all the muscles in between. The pain wasn't bad, but it was a definite sign much of pace was being met through anaerobic metabolism. My legs weren't hurting, but if I didn't pull back a little and stay at around or a bit under that lactate threshold (or whatever you want to call it) I may have trouble later.
H+ + HCO3- = H2CO3 = CO2 + H20
Despite backing off a little more, trouble hit at around 14km. The burn increased exponentially. My legs felt somewhat fresh, but the obvious accumulation of anaerobic byproducts had reached the level of forcing a very big slow down. My breathing rate increased, my legs refused to fire properly. I had hit the wall.
Despite a brief recovery for between 16-18km, the rest of my race was trying to limit the damage. I can't remember being passed by so many in the last 2km of any event before. In the end I finished in 1:30:20, 44th overall. My slowest this year. I think being sick for the week actually helped to a faster time that I would have run anyway. This has reinforced my recent concerns of my training. Time for a change.
That was a big wall.
ReplyDeleteThe half marathon is long enough to show up any lack of endurance, or low lactate threshold.
Looking forward to seeing the new plan.
Half marathon is just a brutal race. The cold doesn't help much.
ReplyDeleteAs Ewen said, I'm looking forward what changes you are going to make.
Good effort after a sinus infection, that's nasty.
ReplyDeleteHi there
ReplyDeletejust read this article...good effort! i have just got a sinus infection 9 days before my first half marathon> i have been given antibiotics which last for 8 days...What should i do? do i race or not? any help appreciated