An Early Christmas Present

The last fortnight has seen the introduction of a new series of runs in Sydney on Friday nights. Coolrunner Colin has started the Summer Twilight Series. There are 5 and ten K options. We've had about ten turn up to both races so far.

The first one was a fortnight ago at the Bay Run. I went out to aim at 52 minutes, but got carried away with myself and ended up running the 10K in about 50:34. It was a pleasing run; I wsn't expecting anything special and it turned out to be my second fastest time and my fastest for over a year.

The next race was on Friday night, and it was on home turf: starting at the Silverwater bridge and running back towards my place along my beloved Parramatta River path with a turn into the magroves at the ferry terminal to a 5K turnaround.

I announced on Coolrunning that I was going to have a shot at my PB (49:58), so this started a sub 50 bus. Cliffold and Haggis Basher joined me for the ride, and as the bloke with the Garmin I became pacer. I'd hydrated beforehand, as I knew a bubbler stop would slow me down too much.

We were in the teeth of a strong headwind for the first 2.5K, but we still managed to go out a bit hard, and the first K split was 4:46, so I told my comrades we needed to slow. That's when the magic happened. I'll let the figures tell the story: here are the Garmin's full 1K splits for the race:

4:46
5:00
4:59
4:56
4:59
4:55
4:59
4:56
5:03
4:35 (943m - 4:52 pace)

It was pure magic. at about 4K Cliffold stopped for some water but caught up quickly and was never far behind me. Just before the 5K Haggis Basher took off on us (I think he was toying with us anyway), but my race was perfect. I felt the legs starting to really fatigue at about 6K, and I made the decision at 8K to have a slower K; I knew the PB was in the bag if I didn't blow up and I wanted to make sure that didn't happen. I did slow, but I guess 5:03 was as much of a break as I needed.

In terms of pacing myself this has to be my best performance ever. I am really astonished by how even the splits were, and even more astonished that I ran the 10K in 49:11 - a 47 second PB. Cliffold finished three seconds behind me for an even bigger PB. I honestly didn't believe I had it in me, and a 2P said to me after the race "If you don't crack 1:50 in your next half I'll have to kick your arse"; I've got to be ready for it. I'm even having sneaking thoughts about having a serious crack at the SMC in January.

Now I must admit to a concern about course accuracy: my Garmin rarely measures short, and it doesn't drop out in this area. I'm still claiming the PB unless it's proved otherwise - I ran too bloody well not to.

So that's my early Christmas present: a brand spanking new 10K PB of 49:11.

The next few days will be manic. It will be my first Chistmas with the girls and it promises to be very special.