A lake and two bridges

Working down in our Hamilton office until Wednesday this week.

Went for a different run before work - this one went around Lake Rotoroa, crossed the Waikato river over one bridge and then came back again down another bridge. This sounds like quite an epic adventure but it was only 8.25km.


I didn't get this close to the water but its quite a pleasant spot.

Weather was pretty humid and misty, sedate pace (38:59 for 4:49min/km), but quite a nice run.

Boxing Day Hill Climb

Boxing day yesterday and went for a hill climb up Mt. Eden. Have to say it was pretty tough up the summit road - conditions were getting hot at around 10.30. Saw a few other runners out and about certainly a good day for it.

At the summit, while recovering from jelly legs, had a chat to a couple of Canadian tourists. Played tour guide pointing out all the (extinct) volcanoes - think that scared them a bit.

All in all 11.64 km in 54:52 (4:43min/km) - the route is great for developing running strength. It's tough!

Weighed in this morning - getting back into the physicsdiet daily recording - 85.6kg.

If the shoe fits...

First run in the new shoes today. Felt quite a bit different to the old pair - quite a bit more cushioning, the support seems about the same.

Started off at a normal pace but felt pretty good so upped the tempo a bit. 5.55km in 23:48 (4:16min/km). Yes running fast was a bit rash for a first outing but I put it down to the excuberance of new shoes. They fit very well "out of the box" I have to say.

I plan to do two or three shorter (and probably slower) 'fun runs' just to break these shoes in properly before the end of the year by which time it'll be 2009 when training begins in earnest.

I call the route Mt Eden South Short Straights. Gentle rolling terrain - and best of all no traffic lights!

New Shoes : Asics GT-2130

Reading the local paper and saw that Smiths Sports Shoes in Dominion Road, Mt Eden were having a pre Christmas sale and the prices looked good on the specials.

So I headed in and looked for something comparable to my soon to be retired pair - Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8's. The Brooks had served me pretty well logging just over 900km's including a number of races. However I think knee niggles and other aches and pains are a pretty clear sign they are dead.

Thinking about it now I probably should got new shoes a month or so ago - but was a bit weary of breaking them in so close to the ADRA half. Lesson learned though - will start to keep better track of how things are going.

My feet are quite wide and I have moderate over-pronation (apparently normal?) so go for stability shoes.

In the end after trying a couple of comparable pairs on I settled on a pair of Asics GT-2130 on special for $169. Wearing them now in the house and plan to go for a short 5km 'try-them-out' run in the morning. Looking forward to get back into the running! Haven't done a lot this month.

Race Photos (and some answers)

Race photos from the half of two weeks ago.



First photo was at around the 13km mark or something. Quite possibly the worst sprint finish ever - not smiling at the end - it was more HTFU to get over the line.

Haven't run much since the race. 4 shorter runs in December so far total of 27.44km - the knee is OK but I think it might be time to retire my current shoes soon. My normal running pace is averaging on 4:30min/km at the moment. I think I might need to start doing some intervals to improve. My next race is the 10km for Run Auckland - 29 March 09 - although Round the Bays might be something to do this year (a very crowded 8km fun run) on 15 March 09.

Christmas function season but the damage hasn't been too bad - weighed in this morning at 85.9kg. But I think its time to start logging daily again on physicsdiet.

Some answers to comments of past posts:

- The Tiger Beer, that is good after a training, is definitely the one from Singapore. We do have some good beers in New Zealand.
- I work for MRP as an engineer. I was quite often down in Kawerau earlier this year for the new power station there. Got in some good runs after work in nearby Whakatane. The current project is near Taupo so we'll see if I can get some lakeside training in.

Short Hot Run

Day off work today so went for a short run at around 4pm. 6.49km in 29:59 (4:37min/km) - no problems with the knee but it was warm, 23 degrees today, in Auckland. I wanted a freshup when I got home but settled for a Tiger beer instead. Fresh up is a fruit drink sold in New Zealand.



:)

ADRA Charity Run 2008 - Race Report

The ADRA charity run was run along Auckland's eastern bays. While being one of the most popular areas of Auckland to go running I've never actually run along here before. Running by the harbour is a novelty for me and it was great!



Interesting to note that this takes in some of the second part of the Auckland marathon course (my big goal for 2009).

Aside from a moderate hill in St. Heliers in the first third the rest of the course was pretty flat.



The Run

First things first - the weather was absolutely stunning. Even though my run finished just after 8:30am in the morning it had started to really warm up. Here is a photo I snapped on the way home of the start area. The weather was like this the entire time!



I started in the back third of the start area to make sure the start was conservative and was warming up properly before getting into a comfortable pace. My right knee had been given me problems in the week up to the run so it was an interesting mindset to race with. Trying to do your best but being a bit conservative and really watching for any pain or soreness.

The first km I passed quite a few people - clearly I was a bit too far back in the pack! - and passed the 1km marked in something like 4:45. The course had km markers which was really good. Going OK and no niggles.

At around the 3km mark I heard my name called out and saw my Irish friend D. He had turned up late and missed me at the start - not suprising given he had just done the round lake taupo bike ride the day before! Good to have some company and we chatted a bit about the ride (160km) and todays run. I think the pace was just about right as we could just about carry a conversation with difficulty. Before I knew it we had hit the 8km marker and the flat part of the course. Unfortunately for D his legs were fading and I went on alone (he went on to finish in a 1:52 which I thought was a great effort after the monster ride the day before).

From around 8km through to 13km I started passing a few people that had faded a bit from taking off too hard at the beginning. Chatted to a couple of blokes that were clearly having fun - they had been singing football songs earlier in the course.

Around the 13km mark my knee started to get a little bit tight which started to worry me - did my best to put it out of my mind and concentrate on keeping good form and distracting myself with the scenery.

However I ended up distracting myself too much - grabbed a powerade cup at the 15km aid station instead of water. Turns out that powerade is very sticky especially if you splash it all over your face in an effort to cool down. In fact you end up holding for the next aid station to wash it all off. Haha - lesson learnt I guess.

After the turnaround just after the strand it was 5 or so km back to the start. The knee wasn't getting any worse - just a bit tight - so it was all about keeping everything consistent. I think I was on about 4:30 pace or just under at this stretch. Tried to run the last km or so hard but not much left in the tank at this point - I think the "sprint" finish photo will be somewhat interesting when its available.

Great feeling to finish and get handed a goody bag and medal. All the half finishers got a medal while the goody bag had a blanket(!?!), chewing gum and the usual collection of brochures and stuff.



The Time

My net time was 1:35:13 which is a new PB! The gun time was 1:37:48 - took me over two and a half minutes to cross the start line but that's what you get for starting way back in the field! 13 seconds outside of my training "A" goal but given a niggly knee in the lead-up I'm more than happy with the outcome :)

The gun time was good enough for 57th out of 606, 50th of 285 males, and 19th of 104 in M30-39. ADRA used championchip to track results - here is the summary of mine.

ADRA is a great event and was well organised. The fact it was for charity was good too. I think I'll be back in the future! My knee is still a bit sore but I'm giving it a rest in the lead up to Christmas with just some gentle shorter recovery runs and excercises.

ADRA Charity Run 2008 - Pre Race Report

The results and photos are not yet out but I'm pleased to say I managed to complete the ADRA charity run half marathon with a niggly knee. It did get a bit "tight" at around the 13km mark - that's quite scary with 8km to go! - but I got through it in the end.

Felt very elated to have got through it after a weeks worth of worry over it.Starting off towards the back of the pack and easing into the run no doubt helped.

A full race report to follow. Hopefully the results are out tomorrow.