A Respectable Performance
I ran the Clayton Police Half marathon in Clayton, St Louis today, finishing, 2nd in my age category (50-54) and 49th overall in a time of 1:31:30. No excuses today the weather was near perfect possibly a little warm at 63 degrees, sunny, with light winds and a competitive field of around 1,500 runners. The course is a tough course with some challenging hills around mile 5, 7, and 10 and 12!!!
In every event I take part in I learn something new or more about running today was no exception. My race plan on reflection was a little ambitious; this resulted in me running the first half way too fast. I was through 5K in 19:00 min 10K in 39 min and 10 miles in 67 min, after reaching the 10 mile point my ability to sustain any pace vanished, it was a tough last 3 miles.
The learning points from this race are:
- Race strategy must me realistic; step improvements don’t always come as giant steps!
- I must do more work (start to work) in the gym to build up my core strength
- Review my training plan and adjust the timing of tempo / speed sessions around race dates better.
- Don’t beat myself up to hard! 1:31:30, for a half marathon, having only been running for 1 year is not bad for a 51 year old geriatric!!! (I remember struggling to run 5k on the gym treadmill this time last year).
Finally, a big shout out to my running team mates and friends at Big River Running and St Louis Track Club for there encouragement and cheers today, the support was really appreciated.
Now it is time to plan my training schedule in the run up to my next race!
David Carruthers 2nd November 2008
I ran the Clayton Police Half marathon in Clayton, St Louis today, finishing, 2nd in my age category (50-54) and 49th overall in a time of 1:31:30. No excuses today the weather was near perfect possibly a little warm at 63 degrees, sunny, with light winds and a competitive field of around 1,500 runners. The course is a tough course with some challenging hills around mile 5, 7, and 10 and 12!!!
In every event I take part in I learn something new or more about running today was no exception. My race plan on reflection was a little ambitious; this resulted in me running the first half way too fast. I was through 5K in 19:00 min 10K in 39 min and 10 miles in 67 min, after reaching the 10 mile point my ability to sustain any pace vanished, it was a tough last 3 miles.
The learning points from this race are:
- Race strategy must me realistic; step improvements don’t always come as giant steps!
- I must do more work (start to work) in the gym to build up my core strength
- Review my training plan and adjust the timing of tempo / speed sessions around race dates better.
- Don’t beat myself up to hard! 1:31:30, for a half marathon, having only been running for 1 year is not bad for a 51 year old geriatric!!! (I remember struggling to run 5k on the gym treadmill this time last year).
Finally, a big shout out to my running team mates and friends at Big River Running and St Louis Track Club for there encouragement and cheers today, the support was really appreciated.
Now it is time to plan my training schedule in the run up to my next race!
David Carruthers 2nd November 2008
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