City to Bay half-marathon
I took a bit of a break from triathlon training over the last month, to focus on two 'pet' events which have been the focus of my early season. I treated them both as 'A' races, despite the fact that they were only a week apart, and despite the fact that my 'true' A race is the 70.3 in 5 weeks time. The first of these was the 2018 City to Bay.
City to Bay 2018
For the first time this year, the C2B has offered a 21.1km event, as well as their usual offerings of 12k, 6k, and 3k. Looking at my calendar, the half-marathon was perfectly timed in terms of my 70.3 training, being about 6-8 weeks out. I figured that it would give me a really good indication of where my form was, especially since I'm more worried about the run than any other leg.
One of the huge benefits of the C2B is that the offer free running training workshops, for the 12 weeks prior to the race. This year, I managed to make all but one of the sessions, and as with every other year, they have been incredibly helpful.
Last year, mainly on the back of these training sessions, plus a weekly ParkRun, I managed to complete the City to Bay in 54:35, at an average pace of 4:33/km. This was such a huge achievement for me, given that the year before I had only just managed to squeak in under 60 minutes. So, I knew that these sessions worked! Mostly they were intervals, including ladders, fartlek, and bog-standard intervals.
Notably, the coach, Jane, got us to run a 3-lap time trial in our first week, and again in our 2nd to last week. Although I wasn't feeling great in the last week, I somehow managed to take 9 seconds off my time, possibly because I just ran steadily, instead of going too hard at the start. I was quite surprised, because I felt well below par on the day.
Now, 21.1km is still a very long run for me. I had only run the distance 3 times previously, twice in 2017, and once, very slowly, a month or two ago. I decided to have a go running the distance the weekend before, partly to test out my legs, partly to test out my hydration pack, and partly for the training impetus. Now, Jane was horrified that I ran a 21.1km the week before an 'A' race, but I did this before my first half-marathon last year, and whilst I felt awful in the week between the run and the race, I felt amazing on the day.
The run the week before the race this year was great. I went out with my sister for the first 8km, running at a manageable 6:00/km. Catherine dropped out at 8km to finish her 12k by herself, and I went on to make up the 21.1km by myself. I picked up the pace a bit, and actually managed to get the average pace to 5:23/km by the end of the run! That would have been a PB, but for the rest stops I took, and the time chatting with Catherine at the car before I finished. I was pretty pumped, therefore, for the race itself.
The final week before the City to Bay was another test for me, because I was trying to carb-load for the first time. I decided that since I was aiming to be done in under 1:55, I didn't need to do a 6-day load, so I started eating everything in sight 3 days before the race. I went through the usual strategy of eat everything on day 1, more carbs on day 2, and nothing but easy carbs (white rice, white bread, juice, powerade, etc) on day 3. I have never felt more bloated in my life!
Breakfast on the day of the race was my standard - porridge with frozen berries and honey. I set an extra-early alarm, so that I could get my food into me well before the start of the race.
Amy dropped me off at the start line at 5.45, with 30 minutes until the start of the event. It was freezing cold! So cold, that it didn't want to take off my jumper until the last possible minute. However, needing to warm up, I had to drop all my kit in the truck, and therefore had to keep moving from then on.
My warmup was very simple - 10 minutes of slow jogging, interspersed with some 'knees-up' and kick-backs, and a few short accelerations to get the legs moving. I was running in long sleeves, gloves, and I had a hydration pack and some gels in a belt. I saw most people were running without water, and I could probably have survived without it, but given I am aiming at a tri, and I wanted to avoid cramping, I had extra salt tabs in the pack, and didn't want to give them up.
I was aiming at taking at least 3-4 minutes off my PB, and that meant running at between 5:10/km to 5:20/km for the whole race. However, right at the start, I found myself running with the 5:00/km pacer with no difficulty. In fact, I was finding that pace almost too easy, and wishing I could push on a bit. Knowing the distance to come, I decided to stick with the pacer, and see how I was feeling with 10km to go.
I ended up chatting throughout the first 10km with the pacer, and found that the 5:00/km was easily sustainable, all the way into the city.
Reaching the turnaround was such a huge buzz. The 12km starters were lining up just down the hill, and we could hear the energy from them as they warmed up. Going back down out of the city was incredible, with a slight downhill, and a tailwind all the way!
I remember seeing the '8km to go' banner, and thinking that maybe I had underestimated my fitness. I said goodbye to the 5/km pacer, and started pushing a little bit harder. My Km times went from 5:00 to 4:50/km, to 4:40km, and I was feeling absolutely fantastic, other than a blister on my 2nd toe.
I began to start feeling some fatigue with 2km to go, but was also beginning to get such a buzz from the event. I started upping my pace again, and did most of the last 2km at 4:30/km. Finally, making the last turn down towards Jetty Road, I kicked up again, and just about sprinted the last 600m or so at faster than 4:00! My adrenaline kick was just about burning itself out as I crossed the line, but I felt absolutely incredible!
I had completed the run in 1:43:17, which was more than 10 minutes faster than my PB, at nearly 30s/km quicker!
I discovered after the race that I had neglected to pack a spare tshirt, and so I had to wander around in my soaking running shirt until it dried. I met up with Catherine, who had done the 12k, and with a few old colleagues who had also run, and had several beers, before driving Catherine home.
Other than a massive blister on my 2nd toe (I tend to 'scoop' with my toes when I get fatigued), I felt pretty spectacular! I smashed down a SIS Rego Recovery drink immediately after the race, and that always prevents most of the 'crash' that I used to get after a race. I definitely felt sore in my quads over the next week, but once that wore off, I was fine!
I'm absolutely thrilled with my time, and can't wait to see what I can do at the end of a 70.3! I'm still aiming to average 5:30/km in the triathlon, but I have a sneaky suspicion that that won't be achievable. We will see.
Finally, my goal for next year will be a sub 1:40. If I keep up my current training, I should smash that, but there's a lot of pavement between now and then!
City to Bay 2018
For the first time this year, the C2B has offered a 21.1km event, as well as their usual offerings of 12k, 6k, and 3k. Looking at my calendar, the half-marathon was perfectly timed in terms of my 70.3 training, being about 6-8 weeks out. I figured that it would give me a really good indication of where my form was, especially since I'm more worried about the run than any other leg.
One of the huge benefits of the C2B is that the offer free running training workshops, for the 12 weeks prior to the race. This year, I managed to make all but one of the sessions, and as with every other year, they have been incredibly helpful.
Last year, mainly on the back of these training sessions, plus a weekly ParkRun, I managed to complete the City to Bay in 54:35, at an average pace of 4:33/km. This was such a huge achievement for me, given that the year before I had only just managed to squeak in under 60 minutes. So, I knew that these sessions worked! Mostly they were intervals, including ladders, fartlek, and bog-standard intervals.
Notably, the coach, Jane, got us to run a 3-lap time trial in our first week, and again in our 2nd to last week. Although I wasn't feeling great in the last week, I somehow managed to take 9 seconds off my time, possibly because I just ran steadily, instead of going too hard at the start. I was quite surprised, because I felt well below par on the day.
Now, 21.1km is still a very long run for me. I had only run the distance 3 times previously, twice in 2017, and once, very slowly, a month or two ago. I decided to have a go running the distance the weekend before, partly to test out my legs, partly to test out my hydration pack, and partly for the training impetus. Now, Jane was horrified that I ran a 21.1km the week before an 'A' race, but I did this before my first half-marathon last year, and whilst I felt awful in the week between the run and the race, I felt amazing on the day.
The run the week before the race this year was great. I went out with my sister for the first 8km, running at a manageable 6:00/km. Catherine dropped out at 8km to finish her 12k by herself, and I went on to make up the 21.1km by myself. I picked up the pace a bit, and actually managed to get the average pace to 5:23/km by the end of the run! That would have been a PB, but for the rest stops I took, and the time chatting with Catherine at the car before I finished. I was pretty pumped, therefore, for the race itself.
The final week before the City to Bay was another test for me, because I was trying to carb-load for the first time. I decided that since I was aiming to be done in under 1:55, I didn't need to do a 6-day load, so I started eating everything in sight 3 days before the race. I went through the usual strategy of eat everything on day 1, more carbs on day 2, and nothing but easy carbs (white rice, white bread, juice, powerade, etc) on day 3. I have never felt more bloated in my life!
Breakfast on the day of the race was my standard - porridge with frozen berries and honey. I set an extra-early alarm, so that I could get my food into me well before the start of the race.
Amy dropped me off at the start line at 5.45, with 30 minutes until the start of the event. It was freezing cold! So cold, that it didn't want to take off my jumper until the last possible minute. However, needing to warm up, I had to drop all my kit in the truck, and therefore had to keep moving from then on.
My warmup was very simple - 10 minutes of slow jogging, interspersed with some 'knees-up' and kick-backs, and a few short accelerations to get the legs moving. I was running in long sleeves, gloves, and I had a hydration pack and some gels in a belt. I saw most people were running without water, and I could probably have survived without it, but given I am aiming at a tri, and I wanted to avoid cramping, I had extra salt tabs in the pack, and didn't want to give them up.
I was aiming at taking at least 3-4 minutes off my PB, and that meant running at between 5:10/km to 5:20/km for the whole race. However, right at the start, I found myself running with the 5:00/km pacer with no difficulty. In fact, I was finding that pace almost too easy, and wishing I could push on a bit. Knowing the distance to come, I decided to stick with the pacer, and see how I was feeling with 10km to go.
I ended up chatting throughout the first 10km with the pacer, and found that the 5:00/km was easily sustainable, all the way into the city.
Reaching the turnaround was such a huge buzz. The 12km starters were lining up just down the hill, and we could hear the energy from them as they warmed up. Going back down out of the city was incredible, with a slight downhill, and a tailwind all the way!
I remember seeing the '8km to go' banner, and thinking that maybe I had underestimated my fitness. I said goodbye to the 5/km pacer, and started pushing a little bit harder. My Km times went from 5:00 to 4:50/km, to 4:40km, and I was feeling absolutely fantastic, other than a blister on my 2nd toe.
I began to start feeling some fatigue with 2km to go, but was also beginning to get such a buzz from the event. I started upping my pace again, and did most of the last 2km at 4:30/km. Finally, making the last turn down towards Jetty Road, I kicked up again, and just about sprinted the last 600m or so at faster than 4:00! My adrenaline kick was just about burning itself out as I crossed the line, but I felt absolutely incredible!
I had completed the run in 1:43:17, which was more than 10 minutes faster than my PB, at nearly 30s/km quicker!
I discovered after the race that I had neglected to pack a spare tshirt, and so I had to wander around in my soaking running shirt until it dried. I met up with Catherine, who had done the 12k, and with a few old colleagues who had also run, and had several beers, before driving Catherine home.
Other than a massive blister on my 2nd toe (I tend to 'scoop' with my toes when I get fatigued), I felt pretty spectacular! I smashed down a SIS Rego Recovery drink immediately after the race, and that always prevents most of the 'crash' that I used to get after a race. I definitely felt sore in my quads over the next week, but once that wore off, I was fine!
I'm absolutely thrilled with my time, and can't wait to see what I can do at the end of a 70.3! I'm still aiming to average 5:30/km in the triathlon, but I have a sneaky suspicion that that won't be achievable. We will see.
Finally, my goal for next year will be a sub 1:40. If I keep up my current training, I should smash that, but there's a lot of pavement between now and then!
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