Over the hill

Göppingen Winterlaufserie 3. Lauf

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Location:

Baden-Württemberg,Germany

Member Since:

Oct 29, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Age Division Winner

Running Accomplishments:

Started running in 2004.

PR's

10k 37:44 Sülzbach May 08

Half 1:24:22 Bottwartal Oct 06

Marathon: 3:06:18 Antalya Mar 08

Short-Term Running Goals:

Train consistently.

Sub 37:30 10k

Finally break that longstanding 1/2M time

Run a sub 3:00 marathon.

Have a crack at a 5k, an uphill only race, a 50k.

Long-Term Running Goals:

2:55 marathon

37:00 10k

1:22 1/2 marathon

Place 1st in my age category.

Personal:

I'm a Brit living in a small town in the south west of Germany, on the edge of a nature park, the Schwäbisch-Fränkischer Wald. The landscape is very hilly with vineyards & orchards on the lower slopes merging into forest above. 42 years young, married since 1997 to my lovely wife.

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Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00

Sat, Feb 09, 2008

Race: Göppingen Winterlaufserie 3. Lauf (6.2 Miles) 00:38:00, Place overall: 17, Place in age division: 5

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	6.20	0.00	6.20

Final race in the winter series. A sore throat and headaches have plagued me all week and Sat morning was no exception. I was n’t sure if I should race but it would have been such a shame to miss out the last race. I had a headache right upto race start and kept the warmup very short and easy. I placed no expectations on myself and my only plan was to try and tuck myself behind the M40 3^rd place runner in the series and keep up as long as possible. Conditions were good, warm and sunny with a slight wind but muddy. The course was as the previous two races, 2 x 5k rounds on woodland trails, start is flat/gradual downhill, then gentle uphill, flat, a steep uphill, then wavy with a downhill/flat finish.

The 1^st k was frighteningly fast and I only just kept my rabbit in my sights, because of the fast start though I had no problems with being blocked on this race and could run my own pace. I ran my hardest constantly to keep up with my rabbit, for once not thinking about the overall distance I had yet to complete. Everytime I felt I was starting to fall behind I pushed myself harder to close the gap again. On the 2^nd round I was directly behind him and on the steep uphill overtook him briefly until he overtook me straight away again on the flat. From there it was about 2k to the end of the race and despite my efforts the distance between us got bigger. I hadn’t looked at my garmin at all during the race and was shocked at the end to see the time. A PR by 34 secs. I shook hands and thanked my rabbit for his unknown help. Throat raw afterwards, back home to continue with saltwater gurgles.

The garmin recorded the course as 10.08k. Km splits as follows:

1^st round 3:23, 3:47, 4:12, 3:41, 3:48,

2^nd round 3:37, 3:59, 4:10, 3:46, 3:37.

Total result from the 10k winter series:

1^st Race 39:05

2^nd Race 38:45

3^rd Race 38:00

Cumulative time 1:55:50 giving me 16^th place overall and 5^th place in the M40 class.

I’m obviously pleased and surprised with the PR. Reasons perhaps, as I’ve been feeling lousy all week I’d eased back on the mileage and especially on the intensity giving myself some good recovery beforehand. I had no anxiety before the start as I didn’t expect anything from this race. During the race I solely concentrated on keeping up with someone who is faster than me.

Comments

From Benn on Sun, Feb 10, 2008 at 08:35:17

Awesome progression, Ian. When is that spring marathon again? I think You are only getting faster by the day!

From Benn on Sun, Feb 10, 2008 at 08:37:09

OH and KUDOS ON THE NEW PR! Didn't realize until after I hit 'post' that it was your new PR! :-D!! Look at how you almost knocked off your sub 38:00 goal. I bet you could easily after just doing a speed oriented resting up type of week. Have you thought about restating your 10k goal? I bet a 35 is a realization for sometime this year or next in my opinion.;

From Tom on Sun, Feb 10, 2008 at 09:32:13

Super race today Ian, especially considering the week you've had not feeling well. Seeing your improvement over the 3 winter races is very inspiring and gives me extra motivation to shoot for that 38:00! Pretty nice when you can be already be gunning for those long-term goals this early in the year. The sub-3 marathon should be a piece of cake for you, I'm thinking sub-2:55 or even 2:50 looks doable.

From MichelleL on Sun, Feb 10, 2008 at 10:32:40

Congratulations on your PR, your race strategy was awesome! So I think you are in shape for a 2:50 marathon, but given your "respect" for the marathon, I'm betting you will be targeting 2:55 pace or so, and assessing how you feel as you go?

From Dale on Sun, Feb 10, 2008 at 15:43:17

Wow, great race and great finish to the series. Your times makes it really easy to see how well you're progressing, and so quickly. I truly think the sub-2:55 is within your grasp for this upcoming marathon. Rest up and shake that bug that's got you in it's grasp, and I'm sure you'll keep on improving right up to marathon day.

Oh, and great way to push yourself....not worrying about lasting the distance is really hard for me to do, but it obviously paid off for you. Great work!

From Brent on Sun, Feb 10, 2008 at 18:03:24

Ian, thanks for your comments, 100 commando points for your PR. Your race report is very enlightning. I certainly share your approach to race anxiety. I have run my best races when not setting goals, not looking at my watch and just running hard to keep up, chase, etc. We are all different, but, just running like when you were a kid does say something. By the way, another 50 commando points for setting a PR on a semi-muddy course. Congradulations.

Stay Cool, keep muddy (why not if PRS) B of BS Rools out

From jtshad on Mon, Feb 11, 2008 at 10:33:04

Congratulations on the PR, even while running sick! Your mileage has been very impressive lately and it is paying dividends in your fitness and pacing. I agree and believe that the 2:55 is within your grasp.

Great race!

From Lybi on Mon, Feb 11, 2008 at 11:33:45

Great job, Ian! I can't believe you PR'd while you were sick! Hope you feel better soon, and thanks for the great report. I'm gonna have to try that "focusing on a rabbit" technique.

From Ian on Mon, Feb 11, 2008 at 14:12:47

I appreciate all your comments, thankyou. I had such miniscule improvements all last year I was wondering to myself if I'd topped out. This race was a real welcome confidence boost.

From Adam RW on Tue, Feb 12, 2008 at 21:30:02

Great work Ian. It is amazing how your times kept lowering. Keep that up and by this time next year you'll be under 32:00...

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