5 km Waterfront Race

I didn't expect to walk today since it was the walkers turn to run the event. When I arrived there were plenty of helpers and I was encouraged to participate in the race. It was a warm, sunny evening with a moderate northerly wind. I decided to walk at a comfortable pace with a good effort. It was pleasing to be passing some of the runners early on and to get to the turn-around in 14:40.

I was battling the wind on the return leg and was 20 seconds slower, completing the 5 km in 29:40. This was a pleasing result given that I was pretty sore when I finished the half marathon on Sunday.

I forgot my Garmin today so there is no link to the race data.

The following video is for Theresa Large. My email won't allow me to send files bigger than 25 mb.

Sunday 28 October

Napier Half Marathon

It was good to catch up with many fellow race walkers before the start of this event. I planned to walk at 6:15 pace - the same plan as for the long distance champs. That pace put me in the lead female position from the start, behind Graeme, Eric and Harry who disappeared from sight before too long.

I completed the first 5 km in 30:48, almost 30 seconds ahead of schedule. The outward leg was into a moderately strong wind and I was making a good effort to maintain my pace. The second 5 km took 31:40, 25 sec behind schedule. The half way point came up in 64:46. I was relieved to turn with the wind behind me but it was clear I was going to struggle to maintain pace.

It was at the 14 km mark that Vanessa passed me and she pulled away from me within the next km or so.  I was hurting quite a bit but determined to work hard to maintain the second placing. My 15 km time was 1:33:33 which is a PB time by over 90 sec.  When I passed the 10 km walkers with about 4 km to go, it was a pleasant surprise to see Philip in the lead along with a female walker.

It was with some relief that I crossed the finish line in 2:14:14 - only 7 sec over my PB for the distance.  I was second woman, first in my age group and 6th overall. My average pace was 6:23 and average HR 160 bpm.

The sorest part of me was on both hips. I'm wondering if this is the top of the IT band.

Napier Half Marathon

Thursday 25 October

4 km Fartlek

This week I was to take it easy with one speed session to prepare for the race on Saturday.  I was walking into a strong wind on the way out and had the advantage of it behind me on the return. I was surprised at how much I loosened up during the session and was pleased with the outcome.

I was very slow over the first 500m but then amazingly quick on the next 500m. I don't know what happened here since I was trying to maintain an even effort.

My splits were:
6:13
3:15 + 3:03 = 6:18
3:04 + 2:52 = 5:56
3:02 + 2:42 = 5:44

Overall pace 6:03 (I was not wearing my HR monitor)

4 km Fartlek