In 2017, I was very inconsistent with the blog so I’ll try
and be a bit more regular in 2018. It was a bit of a frustrating fall/winter
with regards to training setbacks, and as we soon enter spring, I’m trying to
right the ship. Just when I think I’ve turned the corner, it seems like just
another setback - the latest being some tenderness in my right knee late
December/January. So I backed off the training for a few weeks to let the knee
recover. Then after slowly trying to increase the volume running again, wham
the flu – no training for a week leading into the Mesa-Phoenix Half-Marathon.
So if you had asked me the goal for Mesa-Phoenix in the fall, I would have told
you 1:12; if you had asked me the goal before the race, it would have been sub
1:20. It’s frustrating, but that is where my fitness is at.
Anyways, I flew into Phoenix on Thursday evening and once
again stayed at my friends Jonathan and Sue Coffen. It’s always great catching
up. Friday morning, I did a light run (my first run in a week) and it was
evident that my fitness wasn’t there and despite the flu symptoms being gone I
was still not at 100%. After the run I headed to Cactus pool for a light swim,
then met up with John to go pick-up our race packages.
Saturday morning came way too quickly and early. I was up at
0245hrs as we had planned to leave the house at 0330hrs. After a quick
breakfast of scrambled eggs, a banana, and a latte, we (John, Sue, and I)
headed out for the 45min drive to pick-up John’s colleague, Jen, and then make
our way to Mesa-Riverview to catch the bus to the start. We had planned to
catch a bus around 0415hrs as the last buses were scheduled to depart at
0445hrs. The ride to the start was uneventful and at the start everyone was
crowded around heaters as it was a brisk 4°C. At 0600hrs we were off. The
first hour of the race was in darkness. I opted to wear an Under Armour Base
Layer under my singlet as I wasn’t convinced that running in a singlet and arm
warmers was going to cut it at 3°C and with a light breeze. In
retrospect, I might have been fine with just the singlet, but this way I was
comfortable but perhaps a tad warm.
I planned to start the race at 3:50/km and then go by feel.
Once the race started I held myself back and quickly realized a small group was
forming. We went through the first km in 3:41/km and I figured that was close
enough. I stayed with that group of 6-7 athletes for the first 15kms and we
hovered between 3:40-3:44/km. I could tell my lungs weren’t up to the task, but
my legs felt very good. At around the 15k point I started struggling keeping
contact with the group as my right quad and hamstring started to tighten up. I
struggled through the last 6kms struggling to hold a sub 4min/km pace but as I
came up the finishing shoot and saw 1:18 on the clock I knew I could get under
1:20 if I pushed a little so that’s what I did.
Final time 1:19:58. 59th OA and 15th
in M30-34.
All things considered – exactly what I expected. Certainly
not happy with my fitness level, but it is what it is. A quick review of my HR
file revealed exactly what I suspected…my hr was ~7bpm higher this year than
the equivalent pace last year -> my body was still recovering from the flu.
I guess the sub 1:12 will have to wait till next year! I’ll
be back!
 |
| Finisher's Medal & Shirt! |
Up next a week long TriSutto training camp in Scottsdale with #teambarnes!
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