SBR and AHM, 26th August 2007

Army Half Marathon 2007

Have had a long lay off from racing after Chicago last October, due to BAD ITB problems. Thankfully, have had a few things occur that have made it right recently. 1) Saw my chiro, which isolated the problem, 2) Saw a sports medicine specialist, who got my foot type checked correctly and recommended the right shoes, and 3) Attended a sports injury talk at CGH, which finally gave me an insight to what the whole issue was.

Suitably prepared, I targeted the AHM as my first competitive run for the year, despite a less than good impression of the route and organisation last time out. Also this time, no pussyfooting and making this merely an LSD training session. If I were going to pay money and get up at 4 in the morning, it had better be worth it!

The difference in my training this time was a more focussed attitude on quality of training as opposed to quantity. As long as I got 1 LSD and 1 tempo/hill, and one or two "fitness maintainers" in a week, I was going to be happy. I believe this was very effective for me.

Week before the race, struck down with flu. Had one 12 clicker in at the start of the week before the flu got bad, and was simply laid up for the rest of the week till Friday. Snuck out for a light 4 clicker on Friday evening. Total mileage for the week....16km! Yuks!

Race Day. Flu lifted, legs feeling bouncy. This was going to be a great day! Indeed, it started well. Timed the toilet visits well, got myself to really near the front. Horn blows, away we go. Running by myself (which I prefer), I am doing 5:05 pace for the first 2km, it is too fast and I deliberately slow it down. No choke point going into ECP this year, which was a real morale buster last time. Hit the upslope, then saw the 2:30 pacer, running at close to sub-2 pace! Poor fellow, must have kenna arrowed by his CO or something. Distance reading on Polar is underestimating a little, its ok, this round foot pod calibration is a little off, as long as its by fixed factor, I can recalculate mentally. Down the bridge and I arrive at the 7km water point, my first stop. Typically, I would stop every 4-5km during training. This time out, with cool weather and good prior hydration, I was going to try a 2-stop strategy. So far so good, looking at a sub-2hr finish.

Turn into Fort road, heading into the parkway. Are those runners coming back down the other way ALREADY??!! Oh my Goodness!! Humbling to say the least. Nevertheless, in the zone now and chugging along. At around 10km, toilet stop at one of those park toilets. Now if you ever have to stop in the middle of run to urinate, BE CAREFUL! Being the highly trained athlete you are, your vagal tone is mighty high. Stopping suddenly to urinate may drop your heart rate and BP drastically.

Ok, more than halfway, still on course and feeling good. At 15 km, 2nd and final water stop. Sun up for a bit already and the air is warming up. A little later, foot pod goes wonky. Grrrrr........not the first time it has happened during a race! Garmin, here I come. Anyhow, pace info not really important anymore, run according to heart rate. Had been chugging along at 5:40 pace, HRM now going at 160. Told myself I will not allow it to get higher than 170, no matter what. Too much risk for an old ticker to bear. Little did I realise the poignancy of that thought at that time. Push for the last 2 km, finished at 1:59 according to stop watch. PB for the half, and plenty happy for it. It was a nice run. Route was good, no choke points, no traffic interruptions, plenty of water/isotonic stops. Well down Army.

Took a couple of bananas, had my drink, and headed straight for the train station. EZ-link card and cash is in my arm pouch, hate the idea of bag check (good decision, as it turned out). Home by 8.30, gave my medal to the elder boy (he's 4), and still got to church only a little late.

Had a late breakfast with church friends later. "How was your morning?", they asked........

"It was GREEEAAATTT!"