GAME ON
Tomorrow is the Bruges 15k. I'll be running it for the fourth time, I think. Last year I finished in 1h16, a really good time for me. Would like to better it this year, but I doubt I will.
I have this race scoring system, to establish how well I have done in a particular race. It works like this. I take the time of the race winner, multiply it by tow, take off my time, divide what is left by the winner's time, and multiply this by 100. With this system, my score in the Tervuren 16k was 35. In a formula:
(2w-m) / w x 10
with w being the winner's time and m being mine. Theoretically, this formula gives me a score of 100 is I finish in the same time as the winner (meaning, if I am the winner). It also gives me a zero score if I take twice as long as the winner, and a negative score if I take even longer.
Let's see if I can beat that 35 tomorrow...
Saturday, 3 May 2008
Sunday, 13 April 2008
GOOD PROGRESS
The day after my previous post, I ran my 11k hilly training loop in under one hour and took over three minutes off my previous best time on that track. That was seriously encouraging, especially as it came only two days after attempting to run 14k.
Training continued at a slightly lower rate than normal, as Sanna and I were driving from relative to relative and friend to friend in Holland, on our own Thelma and Louise road trip. I did get to go for a jog with Sebas though, in Deventer where he lives.
On Sunday, I went to Tervuren hoping to run the 9k race there, advertised on some websites as the altenative distance to their 16k. Once there, I found that the choice was between 6.7 and 16k, and even though I was not trained yet for the longer distance I registered for it, feeling that a run under 7k was not worth the trouble.
My target for the upcoming 20k of Brussels translates into a pace of 11k/h, or 5:30 per kilometer. The Tervuren race was through hilly forests (indeed, there was not a kilometer that was more or less flat), so I did not think that pace was feasible yet. Therefore, my thinking was, in an ideal world I would finish this race in 1h28 (target pace), but I will settle for a time under 1h36 (6 minutes per kilometer).
The first kilometer, slightly uphill, I did in 5:10. Too fast, I had to slow down. But I felt great so I decided to stay around 5:30 for a while, allowing the kilometer times to ondulate with the landscape. They stayed between 5:10 and 5:40, and I passed the 11k mark in exactly one hour. The rest of the race I managed to keep my pace, and I finished in an unexpectedly fast time: 1:27:07.
That is seriously good news for the Brussels 20k. But I'll have to keep training hard, especially at getting through the point where my body will switch from burning sugars to burning fats, a point that typically comes after an hour and a half and which reveals itself as hitting a brick wall.
So, for today I have drawn a 18k track on Google maps. If I manage to keep running all the way, however slowly, I'll be well on my way for achieving my pre-summer goals. They are: the Bruges 15k in under 1:20 (in two weeks) and the grand Brussels 20k in under 1:50 (in five weeks).
The day after my previous post, I ran my 11k hilly training loop in under one hour and took over three minutes off my previous best time on that track. That was seriously encouraging, especially as it came only two days after attempting to run 14k.
Training continued at a slightly lower rate than normal, as Sanna and I were driving from relative to relative and friend to friend in Holland, on our own Thelma and Louise road trip. I did get to go for a jog with Sebas though, in Deventer where he lives.
On Sunday, I went to Tervuren hoping to run the 9k race there, advertised on some websites as the altenative distance to their 16k. Once there, I found that the choice was between 6.7 and 16k, and even though I was not trained yet for the longer distance I registered for it, feeling that a run under 7k was not worth the trouble.
My target for the upcoming 20k of Brussels translates into a pace of 11k/h, or 5:30 per kilometer. The Tervuren race was through hilly forests (indeed, there was not a kilometer that was more or less flat), so I did not think that pace was feasible yet. Therefore, my thinking was, in an ideal world I would finish this race in 1h28 (target pace), but I will settle for a time under 1h36 (6 minutes per kilometer).
The first kilometer, slightly uphill, I did in 5:10. Too fast, I had to slow down. But I felt great so I decided to stay around 5:30 for a while, allowing the kilometer times to ondulate with the landscape. They stayed between 5:10 and 5:40, and I passed the 11k mark in exactly one hour. The rest of the race I managed to keep my pace, and I finished in an unexpectedly fast time: 1:27:07.
That is seriously good news for the Brussels 20k. But I'll have to keep training hard, especially at getting through the point where my body will switch from burning sugars to burning fats, a point that typically comes after an hour and a half and which reveals itself as hitting a brick wall.
So, for today I have drawn a 18k track on Google maps. If I manage to keep running all the way, however slowly, I'll be well on my way for achieving my pre-summer goals. They are: the Bruges 15k in under 1:20 (in two weeks) and the grand Brussels 20k in under 1:50 (in five weeks).
Friday, 28 March 2008
PEEK-A-BOO
I'm back. And running.
After one failed and one aborted attempt, I'm getting desperate to complete a marathon. Promised myself I would do so before turning 50, which is less than a year away now.
I've signed up for Amsterdam again (19 October). This time I have running mates. Sebas registered, so has one of his colleagues, and I'm working on Luc. Nothing like creating a bit of peer pressure for pushing me through the hard bits.
But my first target is the Brussels 20k, on May 25th. I'm hoping to finish in under 1:50. Sebas is joining for that one, too.
I'm currently doing about 30k per week. Not enough, but if I look at my schedule for the near future it's not going to change significantly any time soon...
I'm back. And running.
After one failed and one aborted attempt, I'm getting desperate to complete a marathon. Promised myself I would do so before turning 50, which is less than a year away now.
I've signed up for Amsterdam again (19 October). This time I have running mates. Sebas registered, so has one of his colleagues, and I'm working on Luc. Nothing like creating a bit of peer pressure for pushing me through the hard bits.
But my first target is the Brussels 20k, on May 25th. I'm hoping to finish in under 1:50. Sebas is joining for that one, too.
I'm currently doing about 30k per week. Not enough, but if I look at my schedule for the near future it's not going to change significantly any time soon...
Sunday, 21 October 2007
Sunday, 9 September 2007
SURRENDER
Since 15 November: 120 hours 48 minutes, 1150.8 kilometers
Weight: 76 kilos
This is a sad post.
Ever since coming back from India/China, I've been feeling particularly not fit. The family's chickenpox epidemic seems to have affected me a bit, too, in spite of childhood exposure. The trip wore me out completely, because of the mad schedule and a horribly irritated right eye. My GP had stuck to his diagnosis of conjunctivitis, in spite of me telling it felt like there was a tiny object in my eye and in spite of seeing me again after his prescribed medication had failed to work. Finally, when I went to the hospital they removed the folded-over wing of an insect from my eyeball.
So I have been spectacularly weak for weeks now. It became fully apparent during the much-awaited 10k in my mother's town which had turned into a family happening: I struggled to get to the finish line in a bit over 56 minutes, whereas I've done a 10k previously in 50.
Also, I've lost the will to run. Knowing that this is the period where I should be doing my most extensive training for Amsterdam, but also realising that it is equally crunchtime for getting the new house in order for moving in at the end of October, there's only one solution possibly. I'm giving up on running the Amsterdam marathon this year. Sad, but necassary.
Instead, I will pick up running again slowly after giving myself a break, and I'll play a bit of football. I can still meet my target of running - and completing - a full marathon before I turn fifty. No need for pushing myself completely over the edge now.
Since 15 November: 120 hours 48 minutes, 1150.8 kilometers
Weight: 76 kilos
This is a sad post.
Ever since coming back from India/China, I've been feeling particularly not fit. The family's chickenpox epidemic seems to have affected me a bit, too, in spite of childhood exposure. The trip wore me out completely, because of the mad schedule and a horribly irritated right eye. My GP had stuck to his diagnosis of conjunctivitis, in spite of me telling it felt like there was a tiny object in my eye and in spite of seeing me again after his prescribed medication had failed to work. Finally, when I went to the hospital they removed the folded-over wing of an insect from my eyeball.
So I have been spectacularly weak for weeks now. It became fully apparent during the much-awaited 10k in my mother's town which had turned into a family happening: I struggled to get to the finish line in a bit over 56 minutes, whereas I've done a 10k previously in 50.
Also, I've lost the will to run. Knowing that this is the period where I should be doing my most extensive training for Amsterdam, but also realising that it is equally crunchtime for getting the new house in order for moving in at the end of October, there's only one solution possibly. I'm giving up on running the Amsterdam marathon this year. Sad, but necassary.
Instead, I will pick up running again slowly after giving myself a break, and I'll play a bit of football. I can still meet my target of running - and completing - a full marathon before I turn fifty. No need for pushing myself completely over the edge now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)