My first race as a V 50 resulted in a new all time
P.B. 1.17.55 chip time and AGE GROUP WIN!!!
It was in no way easy, after 7 miles I went to my shorts pocket for a gel, hoping for some much needed energy BUT my pocket was empty, I'd stupidly left the gels in the car!
As a consequence I started to struggle in the closing miles especially miles 10-12.
I'll do a full report when I see the results.
Thanks once again to Marius Bakken.
To set new P.B.s after 18 years of hard training and racing is an amazing achievement I hope you will agree :]
UPDATE
It was a bit of a grim morning with low cloud hanging over the city of Liverpool, not very inspiring for breaking records.
The air was damp and cold but at least there was only a slight breeze!
7500 runners entered the race, a new record!
I got right to the front of the start looking for a good start.
Just after 9.30 we were set off, many runners sprinting off in front of me!
I held back but still reached the 1st mile in 5.34.
We were now climbing up Parliament St, runners I'd been catching slowly started to gain a gap on me.
I shortened me stride and speeded up my leg speed, hanging in the best I could.
Once over the top I accelerated hard and went up a gear, I started catching the runners ahead again, feeling more comfortable as my speed increased.
I pulled alongside team-mate Steve Wilko who suggested we try and catch the group ahead.
The course weaved it's way through the parks of Liverpool which concealed some deceptive hills.
I went through 6 miles in 35.00 pushing hard, at last I reached the group ahead.
I reached for a energy gel only to find my pocket empty, dam I'd left the gels in the car!
Mile 10 came in 58.48
The course now followed the sea front weaving its way along over concrete paving stones with many tight corners.
My legs started to become drained of energy and the hard surface hammered my legs.
Each time my speed dropped below 10 mph i kicked hard trying to hold pace.
At last I reached the last mile and my central governor decided to ease its grip on my effort level and all of a sudden my speed increased and my legs felt good again.
I sprinted across the line in a new P.B. and first in my age group.
It had been a very hard effort but an amazing result!
GARMIN DATA
RESULTS
PHOTOS
Also there were some great times by fellow club athletes;
Dave Hamilton P.B. 1.14
Steve Wilko 1.17.23
Chris Dunn P.B. 1.17.51
Mark Ashby 1.21
Steve Lewis new P.B. 1.23
Keith P.B. 1.24
Matt 1.26
Neil 1.34 [I think]
Can't not agree!! Fantastic effort Rick! Very impressed! If you PB again I'd like to see some blood tests as well! Just to be sure ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Scott for your comments and support. CHEERS :]
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff - reward for dedicated effort. Which shoes did you go for in the end the Newtons again or Spiras?
ReplyDeletePJ
Modified Newtons [cut down heel for zero heel-toe lift] cheers :]
ReplyDeleteThanks, I took the insoles out of my Newtons as they were bulky - although the Newton insoles now seem much thinner, lighter and a quite different construction.
ReplyDeletePJ
Holy crap that's fast!
ReplyDeleteYou can't have been struggling THAT much or you would not have managed such an awesome time.
inspirational stuff, rick. many congratualtions
ReplyDeleteFantastic! WOW. You continue to impress. :)
ReplyDeleteFantasic, fabalous, fastest, fifty - fair f#uks!
ReplyDeleteYou're running on water Rick. After reading all about it in the London Times Ryan Hall said he's going to drop God as coach and hire Marius Bakken.
ReplyDeleteI'll give you a 1:16:59 if you'd had the gel. That's something for Scott Brown to chase!
Yes if you had that gel it could have really been one for the ages!
ReplyDeleteBut not to worry Rick. I'm going to learn from you and tape one to my arm the night before racing in future!
You know, I'm going to call this situation "Doing a Ewen!" as similarly...
Putting ones hand in ones pocket and coming out with nothing is a trick Ewen often pulls after a meal with friends!
Scott, yes I've heard about Ewen's bottomless pockets!
ReplyDeleteEwen,I think Ryan could turn things around if he went the Marius way :]
Rick, amazing result.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations.
Age Group Win... you are kidding.. that time is enough to kill most of M40 runners, for M50 is simply extra-terrestrial.
Now going sub 2h40' is not unrealistic
Fantastic performance Rick. The WAVA calculator has you doing 01:10:31 for a 25 yr old, putting you ahead of the winner by seven seconds! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteBeen thinking about your recent acheivement Rick and in a tribute to the "Desperado" in you I reckon the queen of hearts is always your best bet!"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BwOXlGbW6Q&feature=related
Again Well done!
Awesome Scott, I'll be 'Taking it easy' before 'taking it to the limit one more time.'
ReplyDeletecheers dude:]
Happy belated congrats! I think you're getting faster just to make sure I don't catch up. Awesome fast time.
ReplyDeleteYes Josh, I'm trying to keep ahead of you for as long as possible .
ReplyDeletecheers :]