One happy CJ!

Today's session - Weston Creek half marathon

Time / weather - 7.30am / 19*c, cloudy to begin with but then very warm and sunny
Distance - 21.1km
Time taken - 1hr 38.13min
Av pace - 4.36min/km
AHR - 170; MHR - 178

After a couple of days of feeling slightly below par I woke this morning feeling a bit better. Had some toast with honey and banana for breakfast (plus the obligatory caffeine hit) and then we headed down to the Irish Club in Weston for the annual Weston Creek half marathon. It was an overcast morning to begin with, however the clouds were soon to burn off exposing a very hot sun. Saw FD, Aki, speedygeoff and Strewth before the start. I strapped on my trusty Garmin and ipod and went for a very short warm up before the start. Yep, didn't feel too bad.

Kilometre times:
1 - 4.37
2 - 4.35
3 - 4.39
4 - 4.37
5 - 4.43
6 - 4.48
7 - 4.36
8 - 4.38
9 - 4.34
10 - 4.42
11 - 4.39
12 - 4.34
13 - 4.27
14 - 4.25
15 - 4.18 (!)
16 - 4.20
17 - 4.26
18 - 4.34
19 - 4.38
20 - 4.42
21 - 4.57
330m - 1.35 (av 4.49min/km)

I thought I started conservatively though when I look at my kilometre times it doesn't look that way. However I did run at a consistent pace most of the time. I grabbed water sachets at every drink station that I went through and had an Espresso GU at the 10km mark. I made a game of trying to catch up with the person ahead of me and then passing them - this got easier in the second half of the race when many people were tiring. It was a helluva lot warmer in the last 10km because the cloud cover had burnt off and the sun was hot. Also there is little shade out there and in the last couple of kilometres the course does undulate a bit.

While in the first part of the race I checked my watch every kilometre to make sure I was under 5min/km pace, for the last half of the race I never checked my watch so didn't have any idea of what my time was until I rounded the bend at the end and saw the large time clock. Yay - not quite a PB (although a PB on this course) but I had run under 100mins so I was one very very happy CJ! And I won the W45 age group!
And what's even better, Mr CJ had a cappuccino ready and waiting for me! (He knows me so well!)

**************************************
Looking back - Road to IM 2004
28 days to go

Workout - long run, Lake Burley Griffin
Time - 7.30am; overcast, humid and no wind
Distance - 30km
Duration - 3hr 6.46min

It was difficult running in the first lap - my legs were very tired after yesterday's cycle. I ran the 16km loop, then 7km to Scrivener Dam and return. JD joined us for the first lap. Anyway the run did improve and I felt better in the final 14km.

A month to go!!!!