2006 October Archive at Comrades Marathon Blog

Monthly Archive for October, 2006

VOB Grape Run Half Marathon

Published
by
Andrew
on 29 October, 2006
in Uncategorized
.

I just finished the Grape Run this morning. After being warned several times about the severe hills in this course, I really did expect the worst. So I set out slowly, aiming to conserve energy. And then hills came in, one after the other. However, the scenery was absolutely amazing, and I don’t remember thinking once, “I wish this hill was over soon.” I slowly edged my pace up, and really made an effort to make up time on the downhill’s, which from about 8km to 13km, shared some of the route from last weeks, Tokai Forest 15km. I quite liked the graph I jigged together from last week, so here it is again:

Grape Run Route Profile

Click the graph to get an enlarged version.

You can gauge how those hills had an effect on my times by looking at this graph. I again had a strong finish, although I perhaps pushed a bit hard too early, as I didn’t have the energy to make the last 2km in under 4 minutes/km.

Otherwise, this is a fantastic race, run amongst some truly amazing scenery, thanks to the wine farms, (Groot Constantia, Buitenverwachting, Klein Constantia, Constantia Uitsig, High Constantia, Steenberg Vineyards, Constantia Glen… too name a few) Check out the pics of last years race, and I’ll definitely be back next year!

Update: I forgot to include my time: 1:35:18, with an average heart rate of 161. I’m very happy with it, and hopefully will be able to break 90 minutes on a flatter course.

Update 2: Results are in. I came in 48th out of 1119 finishes, not too bad me thinks. Another runner & blogger, Meijer-the-b, also ran the race. Read about it here.

Tokai Forest 15km Route Profile

Published
by
Andrew
on 24 October, 2006
in Uncategorized
.

Tokai Forest 15km Route Profile

I’ve been playing with graphs again, and above is the result. The red bars represent my times at 1km marker during the 15km, and the blue line is the altitude. I think it shows pretty clearly how my pace increased, as I started to run downhill, finishing the last km in 3:30! My average pace was 4:25 min/km with an average heart rate of 169, or 87% of my maximum. Eesh, that’s working quite hard. However, this compares favourably to the Gun Run 21km where my average heart rate was 167, at a pace of 4:21 min/km, and that was a flat route. I think it’s safe to say my fitness is improving, but the acid test will be the time trial this Wednesday, where I hope to reach under 18 minutes for 5km!  

Trail Races Rule

Published
by
Andrew
on 21 October, 2006
in Uncategorized
.

I just ran the Acustat Tokai Forest Trail Run 15km this morning, after having being recommended to run by everyone except the Pope. So you could say I had high expectations, but wow, what a race. Being a free race, they ask you to make a donation to the Victoria Children’s Hospital Road, so that makes you feel good.

This race is about the route, not the goodie bag, medal or whether there’s coke at the water stations, just the amazing, hilly, route. After a gentle start, you climb and climb for 6 km, and then you drift up and down the for the next few kays, only to have the last 5 odd kilometres a welcome downhill. I managed to run my last 5kms in 19:30, so that just shows how good I was feeling! I finished the race in 1:06:26, which isn’t a PB for me, on that route, I’m very happy with that time.

I’ll post a profile of the route soon, with my splits as well.

First week of new program

Published
by
Andrew
on 17 October, 2006
in Uncategorized
.

So, first week of training is over, and it’s time to look back. Here’s my log for the week 9/10 to 15/10:

  • Monday: Started off with a bang - Rest day
  • Tuesday:
    • Goal: 11km @ 5:06
    • 11km along Table Mountain - 54 min.
    • Pace: 4:54 a little faster than expected, but close enough
    • Avg HR: 153 (Quite a bit of wind, which probably raised it a bit)
  • Wednesday: Rest, although I did play time keeper at the club time trial, which was fun.
  • Thursday:
    • Goal 10km tempo run with 1.5 km warm up, 7km @ 4:16, 1.5km cool down
    • Did the 7km in 29:25 which works out to 4:12, which is a little fast again, but close enough.
    • Avg HR: 162, including warm up and cool down, 170 for just temp run.
  • Friday: Was supposed to run, but there was a lot of wind… and my duvet cover was insanely heavy. I also played action cricket the night before, so figured my legs needed the rest.
  • Saturday: Since I skipped my run on Friday, I ran on Saturday instead.
    • Goal: 10km easy pace @ 5:06
    • Result: 10.4km in 50:57
    • Pace: 4:53, again, too fast, will work on this next week.
    • Avg HR: 145 (No wind this time)
  • Sunday:
    • Goal: 19km Long run @ 5:06
    • Result: 21.4km in 1:49
    • Pace: 5:06, wow, spot on.
    • I did the same run I did 2 weeks ago, a few subtle differences though. A bit longer than anticipated, but enjoyable nonetheless.
    • Avg HR: 147 (Massive hills pushed the average up)

So that’s 52.8km in 4:17, which works out to an average pace of 4:53, this figure will be increasing slowly over the next few months.

Perspective

Published
by
Andrew
on 17 October, 2006
in General
.

While my training has been going well, it’s important for me to get some perspective. The Comrades Marathon is 89km, over 4km more than running 2 standard marathons back to back. The furthest I’ve run at the moment is 30km, which is a third of what I will need to run on 17 June 2007. This makes me realise how much training is required for this immense race, and why it’s important to remain humble in my approach to it.

However, I have a plan and I’m on track, (expect a post about this soon) and this should build my confidence for the marathon, then go on to a sub 5 hour Two Oceans, and hopefully, a Comrades Bill Rowan.