How to start this post? Always the question I ask. This post
is a reflection of the 2012/2013 season, or a wrap up of my first year of
blogging.
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| An epic way to wake up - getting out to run this trail! |
This is what I found:
12 months ago I started writing as thisfish and I set myself
some goals that I hoped to achieve:
·
To finish in the top 10% of each of the races I
entered.
·
To hopefully place in the top 10 of a race.
·
To work towards bringing my 5k time down to
break the 20 minute barrier.
·
To work towards bringing my 10k time down to
break the 40 minute barrier and
·
Run a sub 1:30 – 90 minute ½ marathon.
So, how successful was I in meeting my goals?
In the races I entered this year, I was successful in
achieving a top 10% finish in all of them except for three. In the 2013 Two
Bays run I finished 180th, a massive effort in my first real trail
run. In April I entered the Geelong Half Marathon after a week of illness and
finished in the top 50% and a month later I took 8 minutes off my 2011 Puffing
Billy ‘The Great Train Race’ time and finished in the top 13%.
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| It looks like thisfish is flying... |
Was I able to obtain a top 10 finish? Yes,in the Marysville 10km
race in November I finished 5th, my first taste of success.
Throughout the Rapid Ascent Salomon series I went from strength to strength and
managed two top 20 finishes, one that saw me place 9th in my
division and another that placed me 12th. To then finish the series
in 7th place overall was an
amazing feeling, and I’m already thinking about how I can push for a top 5, if
not a podium placing in next year’s series. I was a little behind the leaders
who ran some incredible times, but with a little luck and the right
determination I might just be able to take that next step.
Did I break the 20 minute barrier over 5kms? Yes, in training
I have achieved that three times, but it’s only official on my phone (and
mapmyrun account) and on the Garmin watch. Perhaps I might have to find a nice local
5km event and see what I can do on the right day.
Breaking the 40 minute 10km? No not yet but I can feel it
happening soon.
One thing I will take away this year is learning to run
faster through my initial experimentation with breathing techniques and timing,
and then taking it to another level with my Pose coaching experience with
Sally.
I can now say that I do know how to run fast. In my weekly
training I can regularly hit 3:25-3:35 minute/km during my interval sessions. Yes,
it takes considerable effort and focus on technique to get to that speed, but I
can do it in a fairly relaxed and comfortable form with just a little in
reserve, rather than the all-out exertion it required in the past. What I am
now learning to do and training my body to do is to push these out to 1.1k,
then 1.2 k to build my endurance with less recovery running or rest in between,
with the ideal outcome stretching these out to a 5k streak. I also love my
regular track work sessions.
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| Time to follow this advice! |
My goals for 2014 are to again finish in the top 10% of each
of my races, and I’m going to really push the desire to look for a few genuine
top 10 finishes in the trail racing scene, hopefully finding a podium finish
somewhere along the line. I’ve re-entered the Two Bays 28km run in January and will
rerun the Salomon Series in 2014, as well as looking to enter the Rollercoaster
run and a few of the Trails+ 10k events.
I've also put in my application for 'Team inov-8'
I've also put in my application for 'Team inov-8'
So, thanks for reading over the past year and I’m really
looking forward to seeing what next year brings and hearing about how all of
you guys are going as well.
Would you mind sharing your goals with our running community? Comment here on the Thisfishcanrun Facebook thread.
Cheers and happy goal meeting for 2013/14!
Lachie
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