(Almost) Going the Distance

Long run day today.

The route was similar to my last long run but I tacked on a 'prologue' west of Dominion Road to bump the distance up. The ending was a bit different too cutting through the cute little Centennial Park down my road.

Naming the route a safari was overstating the truth a little but Cornwall Park does have some animals - sheep, cows and a few tame roosters.



Here is a brief breakdown of the run:
0 - 2km : Suburban Balmoral/Sandringham Streets. Basically flat.
2 - 6km : Leafy Epsom Suburbs. Some very nice looking houses here and quite pleasant running conditions. Slightly rolling terrain.
6 - 10km : Entering One Tree Hill/Cornwall Park. My favourite section has got to be the Twin Oak Drive with dirt trail adjacent to the road. Love running this stretch.
10 - 12km : Intestinal fortitude required for heading up One Tree Hill. Some shuffling ensues but I didn't stop. Great view.
12 - 14.5km : Nice and flat heading out the park. Got to do the Twin Oak track again!
14.5km - 19.1 km : Suburban streets. Some downhill. Welcome relief after that climb :)

Kept the pace very relaxed and did the 19.1km in 1:37:07. This is around 5:05 min/km.

That'd have me doing the half marathon distance (21.1km) somewhere around 1:47-1:48. Not too bad considering the hill and still gearing up to that distance.

Check out the elevation.
max: 154m
min: 40m
ascent: 126m
descent: 124m

The hill climb had my running turn into a sort of shuffling part up but I got a second wind from the downwards part. Wasn't easy at all.



This sort of distance is really new territory for me and my body is still getting used to the idea. Actually I think its more my legs that start feeling it near the end the breathing is still OK. Need to watch fatigue setting in and maintaining good running style.

In other news for May I did a total of 96.1km in training and racing.

For June I'm going to mix it up with one long run/week, some hills, and some tempo runs. My next 10km race (Run Auckland 5) is in 3 weeks so need to balance the longer distance training with shorter speedy runs. Looking forward to it.

I hope training with these hill climbs is going to pay off come race time.

Rest day tomorrow - yay!

It's Queen's Birthday (a public holiday) here in New Zealand on Monday so may plan to go for a shorter run. Depends on a weather a little though and what the "organiser of non work time" (aka wife) has to say about it.