I went for a half hour row in the gym tonight. I just wanted to row for the whole 30 minutes, because I found it hard to sit for that long rowing last time and it would be an easy move back into training. I wasn't worried about making a distance target. As it happened, I got over 7,400 metres, which is still ok for this row.
I prepare for the row mentally by breaking it down into 15 x 2 minute pieces. It doesn't take much to row for two minutes and I only need to countdown 15 of these, so it feels manageable. Similar to long distance running, part of the method is mental.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
Last Sunday, I ran in my second Amsterdam marathon. This was my first marathon, back in 2003, when I got a time of 4 hours and 28 minutes. I was happy to be going back to the same place, 9 years later, to do my 6th marathon.
I was very happy with the result: 4 hours 1 minute and 47 seconds. I felt like this was going to be a turning point for my marathon running. If I were to have a race similar (in performance) to the recent Paris marathon, then I may have thought that I would never break 4 hours again. As it turns out, I improved my time by over 40 minutes and I am in a confident frame of mind as I get back into my training. I am planning to run the Vienna marathon in April next year and I will be targeting a personal best.
The course had changed from what I remembered. Barely 2km into the race, we were running through Vondelpark. We would run back through the park at the 39-40km mark. There were also parts around the 30km mark that I couldn't remember. I was telling myself about a hairpin turn that was coming up, but it never came. The main section of the course - the long section alongside the Amstel river (and back) - hasn't changed.
I set off at a slow pace: I covered the first 5km in just over 30 minutes. I think the only reason why I ran at this pace was because I had told Angel that I would be running at a 6min/km pace so she could predict where I would be on the course at what time. Aside from right at the end, that was the slowest part of the race for me. I would maintain a steady 27-28 minutes for each 5km from that point on. Throughout, I had been targeting a 4 hours 14 pace (which I think is almost exactly 6 min/km pace) and I would work out how much of a time buffer I had at each km mark. (This was easy because I just needed to remember the 6x table.)
Unlike the Paris marathon, Angel saw me a few times in the race: at around 7km, 27km and 37km. It is great when you recognise support in the crowd and it gave me a boost each time.
From around 15km, I noticed a girl in a yellow top running at what seemed like a good pace, so I decided to pace myself against her. She steadily passed people, so I kept up with her. I kept up with her until the 30km mark, when I went to the side of the track and did some stretches.
From the 30km mark onwards, I tried a psychological trick of pretending that I was out on a 10km run. I literally kept saying to myself "This is a 10k run... this is a 10k run, so you will run at 10k pace and pass all these slow runners". It definitely worked. In the last couple of marathons I had hit the wall at this point, but I seemed to maintain my pace, perhaps run even faster than I had in the first 30km. Sure, my legs were sore, but I wasn't mentally affected by the run, which is the greatest danger in the second half of a marathon. I passed the girl in the yellow top at around the 36km mark.
Just as we got into Vondelpark, at around 39km, I hit the wall mentally and pretty much decided that I couldn't run further. I had cramp across my shoulders and my calf muscles felt like they would burst. I walked for the next 200m, resigned that I might be walking for the next half an hour, at least. But a runner past me called out for me to keep trying, and then the girl in the yellow top caught up and told me to "come on!". That was the push I needed, so I started running again. It was a slow jog, more like 6'30 or 7min/km pace, but it was still much faster than walking. Also, it was probably better for my recovery to keep running, rather than walk and get cold.
I checked my watch at the "1km to go" milestone and saw that I had taken 3 hours 55 minutes and 30 seconds. I decided that it was too hard to try cracking the 4 hours and I just maintained the same pace. I wasn't too worried that I didn't beat 4 hours. I was just pleased with the big improvement from last time.
While I was waiting for Angel at the agreed meeting spot, I kept my legs moving and did stretches. I could still walk properly which was another great improvement compared to Paris, when I didn't do this after finishing that race.
I was very happy with the result: 4 hours 1 minute and 47 seconds. I felt like this was going to be a turning point for my marathon running. If I were to have a race similar (in performance) to the recent Paris marathon, then I may have thought that I would never break 4 hours again. As it turns out, I improved my time by over 40 minutes and I am in a confident frame of mind as I get back into my training. I am planning to run the Vienna marathon in April next year and I will be targeting a personal best.
The course had changed from what I remembered. Barely 2km into the race, we were running through Vondelpark. We would run back through the park at the 39-40km mark. There were also parts around the 30km mark that I couldn't remember. I was telling myself about a hairpin turn that was coming up, but it never came. The main section of the course - the long section alongside the Amstel river (and back) - hasn't changed.
I set off at a slow pace: I covered the first 5km in just over 30 minutes. I think the only reason why I ran at this pace was because I had told Angel that I would be running at a 6min/km pace so she could predict where I would be on the course at what time. Aside from right at the end, that was the slowest part of the race for me. I would maintain a steady 27-28 minutes for each 5km from that point on. Throughout, I had been targeting a 4 hours 14 pace (which I think is almost exactly 6 min/km pace) and I would work out how much of a time buffer I had at each km mark. (This was easy because I just needed to remember the 6x table.)
Unlike the Paris marathon, Angel saw me a few times in the race: at around 7km, 27km and 37km. It is great when you recognise support in the crowd and it gave me a boost each time.
From around 15km, I noticed a girl in a yellow top running at what seemed like a good pace, so I decided to pace myself against her. She steadily passed people, so I kept up with her. I kept up with her until the 30km mark, when I went to the side of the track and did some stretches.
From the 30km mark onwards, I tried a psychological trick of pretending that I was out on a 10km run. I literally kept saying to myself "This is a 10k run... this is a 10k run, so you will run at 10k pace and pass all these slow runners". It definitely worked. In the last couple of marathons I had hit the wall at this point, but I seemed to maintain my pace, perhaps run even faster than I had in the first 30km. Sure, my legs were sore, but I wasn't mentally affected by the run, which is the greatest danger in the second half of a marathon. I passed the girl in the yellow top at around the 36km mark.
Just as we got into Vondelpark, at around 39km, I hit the wall mentally and pretty much decided that I couldn't run further. I had cramp across my shoulders and my calf muscles felt like they would burst. I walked for the next 200m, resigned that I might be walking for the next half an hour, at least. But a runner past me called out for me to keep trying, and then the girl in the yellow top caught up and told me to "come on!". That was the push I needed, so I started running again. It was a slow jog, more like 6'30 or 7min/km pace, but it was still much faster than walking. Also, it was probably better for my recovery to keep running, rather than walk and get cold.
I checked my watch at the "1km to go" milestone and saw that I had taken 3 hours 55 minutes and 30 seconds. I decided that it was too hard to try cracking the 4 hours and I just maintained the same pace. I wasn't too worried that I didn't beat 4 hours. I was just pleased with the big improvement from last time.
While I was waiting for Angel at the agreed meeting spot, I kept my legs moving and did stretches. I could still walk properly which was another great improvement compared to Paris, when I didn't do this after finishing that race.
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