I considered trying to get up to the front. This is a risky thing to do because your opponents could be starting several minutes behind you and could have a quicker net time without ever passing you.
I was a bit fatigued from my week's training and didn't think I was likely to get a good time so I picked a starting position near the 2:10 mark with some other walkers. It took almost 30 seconds to reach the start line where I started my Garmin. Walking felt relaxed and easy at the start so I was surprised to find I was doing 6 min pace. My aim was to average 6:20/km and I knew this fast start might tell on me later. I got to the 5 km mark in 30:23 and the halfway point in just over 65 mins.
The wind was at our backs for most of the return journey. I was feeling tired but was motivated to work hard since I knew our team would be pushed to beat the Taranaki walkers and every second could count. With 3 km to go I realised that I would get a PB time by going under 20 min which helped me to lift my pace a bit. My son was at the finish to cheer me in for a gun time of 2:14:42 and a net time of 2:14:04. (Average HR 157.) This is a PB of around 2 min and a 1:30 improvement in my age group record for this race. Bettering the record was one of the goals I wrote down for the winter season. The improvement would have been greater if I had believed in myself and started up the front. I am in this group for another 5 years so I will just have to go for an even better time next year!
Wellington Half Marathon
Friday 22 June - 3 x 2 km + 2 x 1 km with 2 min recovery
With a race on Sunday I didn't want to go 100% on this workout but I felt bad about missing the 10 km on Thursday so wanted to make a reasonable effort. I said to myself 6:15 when I started but I was actually thinking 3:15 per 500m or 13 min per 2 km. I was pleased when my first 2 km was less than that and managed to get faster as I warmed up and then had the wind behind me for the last 4 km. My splits were: 12:46, 12:11, 12:07, 6:04, 6:10 for an average pace of 6:10 and average HR 157 bpm.
I was pretty tired when I got back to the office and it occurred to me that Jim had written down 16 km for Sunday so hadn't realised I was doing the half marathon. He probably would have given me something a bit less strenuous. I should have checked that one out. (I have just checked the training programme and found that my eye had slipped forward to the following week. I was supposed to do 5 x 1 km @ 85%. Duh! Jim did have the Half Marathon in there. Luckily he's given me a lighter week next week so I can get some energy back.)
3 x 2 min 2 x 1 km with 2 min recovery
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