I seemed to be looser today than yesterday and not sore. It makes me wonder if I didn't try hard enough yesterday but I didn't have anything more to give.
10 km Fartlek
Sunday 3 March - NZ Masters 10 km Road Race
This race was a golden opportunity for me to break a Wellington age group record and have a good shot at the NZ age group record which is a time I broke a few times last year. I set my alarm for 5 am so that I could have a good plate of porridge and have time for it to digest.We got to the venue at Trentham in plenty of time for a warm-up and I was feeling pretty good. I finished the first 1.25 km lap in 7:30, right on schedule but unfortunately picked up a warning on that lap. Sue passed me on the second lap - I received a second warning and had already cut back my pace. I was 8 seconds over my schedule at the end of that lap. By the time I finished the third lap I realised I was tying up and needed to concentrate on form rather than time. I thought I was doing okay but my core was feeling very tight and it was a battle to keep it tucked under. At the end of the 6th lap there was one card up on a number similar to mine and I knew it must be for me. Unfortunately the number had been corrected and another two cards added when I came around the next time. I had to wear a red sticker and do a lap of shame to get a time of 63:40 for the event. Since Jim had given me a 20 km for this week I decided to keep going and make this a training day. I completed another 3 km to finish at the same time as the last competitor, the much admired 85+ year old Peter Tearle. With the 2 km warm up this counts as the 15 km with 2 x 5 min at 20 km pace. I will fit a 20 km in later in the week.
10 km NZ Masters Championship
Friday 1 March - 3000m NZ Masters Championship
I left work in plenty of time to get to Newtown Park an hour before this race which was scheduled for 4:20 pm. I had even made rice pudding to eat at around 11:30 as a good energy source that would not weigh me down. I was feeling pretty hungry by the time the race started which is a good sign.
We were arranged on the starting line in age order which put me in third position, me being such a young thing (not!). I was determined not to take off too quickly by I nearly managed to get myself boxed in. Luckily I was able to go wide on the bend and move into 4th position behind Sue. We got to the start/finish line in 1:04 which was much quicker than I planned. along the back straight I was tempted to pass Sue but I thought that I was unlikely to pull much ahead of her and would be better to tuck in behind. I could always pass later if I had any energy left.
We took around two laps to pass Serena who had started at a speed I had never seen her achieve before. Sue pulled a little away from me at times but I always seemed to catch up on the back straight. I think I received two warnings during the case but was very happy not to see my number on the board.
My aim was to achieve a Wellington record which meant going under 17:47. My PB was 17:48 so I though this was achievable. I didn't think I'd done quite well enough but decided to give all I could on the home straight. I stopped my watch on 17:44 but was aware that my form had fallen apart at the end.
When I checked the board there was one card from the chief judge, Peter Wrigley. He told me that this was due to what he saw in my last ten metres. I was delighted to find that I have a new PB, a Wellington age group record and I got past a judging panel including 3 A grade judges with only 1 card and 2 warnings.
3000m NZ Masters Championship
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