Constantia Hohenort 15k
16 January 2010
Second race of the year! Unlike the first race on relatively little training, this one I attempted after a fair amount of training - certainly a lot more than completed on holiday. But strangely enough, I had a really bad run! Struggled from the very first few kilometres all the way to the end and finished a whole 10 minutes slower than last week's race of the same distance. The course was through the affluent suburb of Constantia, tree lined streets with beautiful houses, but very, very hilly! I walked most of the hills and shuffled the rest of the way, feeling a bit dejected at what seemed to be a lousy run. But in retrospect, it was great training, just to be spending "time on feet", as they say. And I was chuffed that my total mileage for the week was nearly a whole marathon over 7 days:-)
I still haven't figured out if there is any scientific reason for having a good or bad run/ race - and I define a good run as feeling good throughout (getting into a 'disassociative' zone where your feet just pad away), as well as finishing in what you consider to be a good time. This time round it was lack of sleep - having been in Joburg on Thursday and Friday; and possible over-training, increasing weekly mileage much too quickly.
Either way, this is not a race I will do again next year, my main issues with it being: too few water/ coke tables, water not cold enough, runners rationed water (my friend Andrew was told he couldn't have more than 2 sachets!), no cups at the 12k coke table, and worst of all, no medals!
This week's log looks like this:
Sunday 15k race
Monday - rest/ swim
Tuesday - hike 1hr
Wed 6.5k run plus swim
Thurs- 5k run plus swim
Fri - rest
Sat - 15k race
I am meeting my trainer this week as I embark on triathlon training, so looking forward to seeing some positive spinoffs into the running. The next race is Lion of Africa on 6 Feb - still not sure whether I feel ready to tackle my first 21 for the year, but conscious that I need to up my game before 2 Oceans! And somewhere between all the training I need to find the time to make use of my brand new (and very expensive) Mountain Club of SA (MCSA) membership!
Second race of the year! Unlike the first race on relatively little training, this one I attempted after a fair amount of training - certainly a lot more than completed on holiday. But strangely enough, I had a really bad run! Struggled from the very first few kilometres all the way to the end and finished a whole 10 minutes slower than last week's race of the same distance. The course was through the affluent suburb of Constantia, tree lined streets with beautiful houses, but very, very hilly! I walked most of the hills and shuffled the rest of the way, feeling a bit dejected at what seemed to be a lousy run. But in retrospect, it was great training, just to be spending "time on feet", as they say. And I was chuffed that my total mileage for the week was nearly a whole marathon over 7 days:-)
I still haven't figured out if there is any scientific reason for having a good or bad run/ race - and I define a good run as feeling good throughout (getting into a 'disassociative' zone where your feet just pad away), as well as finishing in what you consider to be a good time. This time round it was lack of sleep - having been in Joburg on Thursday and Friday; and possible over-training, increasing weekly mileage much too quickly.
Either way, this is not a race I will do again next year, my main issues with it being: too few water/ coke tables, water not cold enough, runners rationed water (my friend Andrew was told he couldn't have more than 2 sachets!), no cups at the 12k coke table, and worst of all, no medals!
This week's log looks like this:
Sunday 15k race
Monday - rest/ swim
Tuesday - hike 1hr
Wed 6.5k run plus swim
Thurs- 5k run plus swim
Fri - rest
Sat - 15k race
I am meeting my trainer this week as I embark on triathlon training, so looking forward to seeing some positive spinoffs into the running. The next race is Lion of Africa on 6 Feb - still not sure whether I feel ready to tackle my first 21 for the year, but conscious that I need to up my game before 2 Oceans! And somewhere between all the training I need to find the time to make use of my brand new (and very expensive) Mountain Club of SA (MCSA) membership!
