I'd heard on the grapevine that the quicks at tonight's 3km were only going to race the first 2km. Plus a couple of my normal sparring partners were injured/sick. Their 2km pace was too quick for me so I was left with the prospect of an out and out time trial running Hans Solo...
I did a 4km warm-up and caught up with Baz for a chat. I changed into my spikes and ran some strides and before long we were under starters orders.
Lets go back a step, I was thinking low 9 for tonight. Conditions were pretty good with a bit of a headwind on the back straight. As always, there was some sub 9 banter before the race with the lads but I was very much talking it down. I'd go out hard the first km and see what happens....
A quick first 200m in approx 32 secs, then settled into my own race with Mark and Cale running up front. I went through the first km in 2:55 which would give me a chance of a good time. The middle km is what lets me down and true to form I started to slow with my 2km split being 6 mins exactly (a 3:05 km or 10 sec slowdown). I was getting a fair bit of guidance from the sidelines and knew that the last 2.5 laps were going to hurt. With 800m to go, I needed to lift and I probably ran a 72 second lap which left me needing a 69 second last lap to break 9. Well I kicked as hard as I could and with 200m to go I lifted my cadence (more coaching). The last 100m was a blur but I crossed the line in 8:58.29.
A very unexpected 3 second PB. Another goal achieved. Plus I won the race with Mark and Cale dropping out at 2km!
A great confidence booster just before the marathon. A much better run than Saturday's race. Easy running for the rest of the week with plenty of rest.
I am a sub 2:40 marathon runner. I am a sub 2:40 marathon runner. That's my mantra for the remainder of this week.
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