Earlier in the week I had been thinking I must check out the start time of today's race. On about Thursday Philip told me that he had contacted David Lonsdale and organised to be a judge. David had said to arrive by 9:00 am. I assumed that meant the race started at 10:00 am and wasn't particularly concerned when there were no other cars there at 8:55.
I went across to the local golf club to use the toilet and decided we should look around the other side of the course since we had seen people come over from there. Sure enough, everyone else had parked on that side and the start/finish line was there. I soon discovered the start time was 9:30 and I had barely enough time to go back to the car to pick up my Garmin and drinks before the start.
Knowing that I walk best after a 2 km warm up, I was pretty rattled by my lack of preparation for this race. I knew that I would not be competitive against Natasha who is well under half my age and regularly completes 10 km in under 60 minutes. It was important not to be disqualified today since this race is one of the three club championship races. I have won the other two races but a DQ in this race would potentially put me out of contention. That meant my priority was firstly to finish without disqualification and secondly to better my current PB of 61:00.
From the start my muscles felt a little stiff and sore - partly due to my increased activity on the squash court I think. It seemed too much to expect to get a good time so I tried to keep a steady pace and a good technique. The race was 8 laps of 1.25 km. I finished the first lap in 7:15, under 6 min/km pace. The second lap took 7:23 and the third a similar time which was a pretty good start.
At the 5 km mark which was completed in 30:30, I had one penalty on the board. A second penalty was displayed at 6.25 km. In my mind I flagged the idea of getting a PB time and really concentrated on being upright and pushing off my back toe. I was quite surprised to look at my watch near the end of the final lap to see a time under 59 minutes. I put on a bit of extra speed and completed the race in 60:35, a 25 sec PB. Luckily no more cards arrived so my result stands.
I was second woman in the Wellington champs and will get the club champion trophy at the prize giving later in the year. I am hoping I will feel more comfortable in the road champs in a couple of weeks time. Perhaps going under the hour might be possible. If I can repeat this pace next Sunday then I should achieve a gold standard in the one-hour race - another of my goals for this season.
The judges thought the cambour on the section of the course where I received my cards might be a factor but the cards came from the two most experienced judges so I'm not convinced. I will have to walk better than this in the nationals.
My watch measured the course as 160 m short but I am assured the course has been certified. Just before the far turn, the course goes under a roof for around 20 m and I suspect the Garmin loses signal momentarily. My average pace was 6:04 and average HR 163 bpm.
Wellington 10 km Championship
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