A week after
the Rotorua marathon my recovery has gone really well and I couldn’t be
happier. I employed an ‘active recovery’ approach which began with a small
trail run around the Blue Lake in Rotorua. Just ticking around this really made
me upset that I haven’t, yet, run the Tarawera Ultra. The area seems incredible
for trail running!
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| Blue Lake |
So it was
back down to Christchurch and onto the Ports for a lazy Monday couple of hours.
My legs felt tender on the downs but good on everything else. Plenty of
stretching, relaxed running sessions with no intensity, cold water bathing and
eating good food saw me get to the start line of the New Balance 15km Road
race.
I went into
this race blind, no plan or goal time. If anything I was still buzzing from last
weekend and saw it as a great mental test which I’m sure will be beneficial
come Christchurch Marathon time. I was expecting the pace to be pretty rapid
from the get go so quickly convinced myself to just try and hang on as long as
possible. So I suppose that was my hastily thought of race plan. A group of 4
of us put a little bit of distance on the main bunch, this included Sam Wreford
(great to see him back in NZ and in top nick), Nick Rennie and Dave Ridley. We
ran together for a while until Sam and I put a little more distance on them. I
tried to stick with Sam for as long as I could but he edged further and further
away from me. By the end of the first lap he was clear by 30-40 seconds. I kept
pushing hard through each km but gradually my legs seemed to get very tired.
Anyway, I got home in just under 48 mins for the 15km. A solid hit out post
Rotorua and really pleased with how it all panned out.
After this
it was a quick change at home and into Hagely Park to watch the NZ 100km
Championships. I’d been keeping an eye on http://backcountryrunner.co.nz/ with
its live updates so had an idea of what was happening. Down there it was great,
little 2km loop course which housed competitors tents, food and aid stations as
they went by. Great performances by all who competed and in particular Marty
Lukes who brought it home in just over 7 hours. Also Glenn Sutton, who won the
Northburn 100 mile, only about 5 weeks before, coming home in 3rd. I
always gain loads of inspiration from events and athletes like this so it was
great to get there, support and hang out!
This weekend
Rose and I are up to Blenheim with Jess and Duncan as we are in the half
marathon around the Saint Clair Vineyard. Rose and Jess are in their first ½ and
we’ll be supporting them through it. This is going to be great and I also saw
that it’s a full on sell-out, 2000 people, look out Blenheim. They haven’t seen
the likes since the late 90’s and infamous Marist Div 2 end of year bus tours.
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| Saint Clair Vineyard |
From around
the region this week and upcoming weekend:
Wednesday:
Leeston
Wednesday Night Road Runners, Leeston, Canterbury.
http://www.ellesmereroadrunners.co.nz/index.php?page=wednesday-handicap
http://www.ellesmereroadrunners.co.nz/index.php?page=wednesday-handicap
Saturday:
Parkrun, in
Wellington but love the concept of these, they have really taken off in other
parts of the world. It would be great if they worked here too.
Saint Clair
Vineyard ½ Marathon. I’ll be there, as a supporter and encourager!
Sunday:
Mother’s
Day Fun Run in Kaiapoi
Few stats from
the week:
Distance: 103
Time: 8
hours 40 mins
Enjoy it!
I just signed up for parkrun near where I am in Sydney. Gonna go along tomorrow. Should be fun!!
ReplyDeletePete