Saturday, April 17, 2010

Time Trial Time

About time I did another Lane Cover time trial. Top gate to bottom. Downhill running so should be easy.

My previous PB was 14:49 set on Feb 27th this year. I was thinking about that during my warm-up run and couldn't recall my exact splits at various points of the course. So I came to the conclusion that if I was somewhere near 5 minutes with 3km to go, I was in with a chance...

After a slow 5.4km, I was at the top gate for a stretch. Lets get this over with....the first km is all downhill. You must be running at sub 3 minute km pace. As you cross the river there is the first climb of about 200m. The trick is to run strong straight over the top and get back into your running. The first checkpoint came in 5:01 so I was in the ballpark. Only 3km to go.

The next km is pretty flat. So run hard and take the racing line. With 2km to go I was 8:16 and I knew that was quick. The next km has another nasty uphill of about 200m, but again there is more downhill after that to make up the time. With 1km to go I was 11:31 so I knew a quick last km would see me right. I had a battle with a couple of cars in the last km and probably lost a little focus. That said, I finished in 14:39 so a 3:08 last km and a 10 second PB.

Really pleased with that. That's 3:10/km pace which is quick for me on the road. Okay, the downhill does help but I still can't get the 3:05's that I can on the track...

A 3.5km warm-down. All up 13.5km.

A few beers this evening. I'm looking after both the little ones as Marion is out on the razz. Man Utd have just beaten Man City in the last minute so that opens up the door for the mighty Spurs!

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