Monday 1st December 2008

Greetings from an internet caf in Florence.  Only had time to glance back, so sorry for highlights I.ve missed, but Happy significant Bday to MikeS and commiserations to AF seem to be in order.

I had a strange race (Florence marathon) on Sunday and can.t  ( don.t know where the apostrophe is on this Italian keyboard!) make up my mind whether to be pleased or disheartened,

anyhow...  it was very cold and then poured with rain before the start, and although huddled in a little tent, for about an hour, mostly at least I was sitting on a stray beer crate; then followed over 30mins standing in the start pen, so I along with everyone else was freezing cold by the time the gun went off.  The first mile was everso slightly uphill but then followed 3 or 4 miles downhill which should have made for a brilliant start, but even with the downhill I couldn,t get up to planned race pace ie 8min\ml.  I later found that lots of people had the same problem, so I think it must have been the cold.  Anyhow I worked at what felt like marathon effort, though my HRM also seems to have objected to the cold and never got going.   At halfway I was nearly 5mins behind schedule though working really hard at being positive and relaxed.  Then the sun came out a bit and my legs felt easier and I had the courage to work really hard, and from then on I was getting faster and faster and working at what seemed like 10k effort.  Apart from slowing a little in the last 5k when we were back in the centre of Florence and running quite a bit on hard stone slabs, each 3k was 3-5 secs per km quicker than the one before, and a one min  overall negative split from half way.   I can honestly say I,ve never worked so hard in a marathon, or concentrated so well.  So all that has got to be really positive.  Only problem was final chip time was 3:38.2x, so to far off my 3.30 goal t be too happy.    And they haven.t yet put the age categories onto the results, so don.t yet know where I was in the my cat.

I can thoroughly recommend the race though, as the course was great, and apart from the downhill start and 2 bridges was completely flat, and ideal size field, well organized etc etc, and of course a great place to spend a long w\e.   I.ve still got all tomorrow to play here, before coming home on Wed morning

Bravo TmR. I was thinking of you on Sunday. Congrats for staying positive. I think that is a really tough thing in any relatively long race (oddly enough, similar situation with sailing - just got to put the past behind and keep concentrating). Cold may be good for running in, but I certainly don't think running from frozen is a particularly good start to a race. I think it can take a very long time before you stop fighting your own muscles (trouble relaxing the opposing muscles that need to relax). Having an inefficient first few miles is going to cost something. You didn't have quite the perfect prep, although that may have paid dividends in stopping you fretting about whether it was going to be a perfect run.

I guess what one wants is a day which starts sunny and warm and gets a little colder. Not sure that can be arranged.

Me? Idle. One more week of term..

take care all.

TmR: well done from a cold start- it certainly can't have helped in the early phase of the race.

Is it that time again for the headphones debate? The only races I wore them were my first (a 5k) and I figured I was missing out on something. The second was the Duchy marathon, because there are miles and miles of running on your own with nobody to talk to. As soon as I found a victim to exchange a few words, or a marshal, I took the earphones out and talked with real people. Half maras can be a bit long without some distraction if you're just looking to finish, but it certainly can be done. On training runs I mainly listen to podcasts and catch up with some short oriental language classes, as it is often the only time I have to do that.

Stats for Nov: 38 miles but off the injury bench now. No races
Today: what: nothing
Why: no time+ osteo-puncture session

I'm off to my parents tomorrow for the rest of the month, so if you don't hear from me, it's because I am clocking up miles in Flanders' (flat) fields. I'm sure I'll miss these devilish hills!

Well done TmR - sounds like a good race and good effort.

Well done TmR. Couldn't of been a good start with the cold

Tinebeest - Enjoy your time away see  you in 2009

Well played TmR

Sharkie - good session!

Clink - pear or pair ? I like a nice juicy pear (or pair ). Woof woof !

Swimbling and pedalling for me.

TMR - great stuff  - very well done. I'd be very happy with that time. Enjoy the rest of your time there.

AF - sorry you didn't get what you wanted, but it is hard to get the training/racing thing right.

Mike - welcome to the niffy fifties!

ssing - hope you get sorted quickly.

The headphones thing - I don't have any, so certainly don't run in them. I usually have a song in my head though. I think they can help new runners block out the pain and help them get to the finish, so whatever gets them through, I think is fine. I don't think it is a problem, unless they aren't listening to race info before the start, or if it's a lap race, and they can't hear the runners coming from behind. Think they must be a hazard when training though - not being able to hear what is around you.

What: Not very much running I'm afraid. Been away since Friday with husband and gkids. Done heaps including swimming in the sea, sand surfing down big dunes. Must admit I almost had to have my eyes closed and a push off because I was so scared, and I dug my feet in to slow me down! Not eldest gdaughter or husband - they loved it. The trek up the dune was the hardest bit though.

Must run today.

Good running everyone.

Well paced and executed TmR.  I guess you might have been on the website that shall not be named and seen that 3:38.2x gives you a top 10 marathon ranking for the year

What...Athletics Data? Oops...

Fine effort TMR.

Forgot my November stats...

Miles run - 270 miles
Non-running days - 2
Races - 2
Races won - 1
PBs - 1 (9.36 for 3k)

Good hill session tonight in the company of some of the country's top hill runners. Session was 7 reps of a hill in one of the local parks with jog down recoveries. Hill was apparently 480 metres or so and was covered in icy patches. Happy to run consistent rep times ranging from 1.55 to 1.59. With a long warmup and cooldown, it was a very worthwhile and enjoyable 9 miles or so.

Have a good night.

evening

en route to bed having fallen asleep in the living room......

....but well done TmR - the circumstances of the start didn't really give you much chance of hitting your target time really.

what: 5.5 miles d&d lunchtime in 38:24
why: only time available for a session

night night