15Km Event, Results, And Next Steps

Well, I completed my first 15km event yesterday, after a week of TOTAL inactivity. While I did mean to taper a bit before the race, events in Christchurch (my home town) have kept me preoccupied. My folks happened to be staying with my in Melbourne at the time, but my in-laws and lots of my friends are displaced. No reports of serious injuries at this time.

Anyway, I hadn't run at all since MONDAY! So it wasn't terribly surprising that while I got lots of rest, I was a bit rusty come race day. The race itself was wet, which meant that my shoes and gear were heavy, which was kindof a drag. But no excuses. I went out reasonably (too?) strong, with 4:30-4:40/km pace for the first 6km. Then it started to drop, and boy did it drop! Off to 5:13/km by the 13km marker, with the last km being the only one since 9km under 5:00. Oh dear! Going out too fast? Or just outright lack of fitness. My ever-increasing heart-rate seems to indicate the latter - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/70260879

Anyway, final time was 73:27, just inside the 73:45 that I have been aiming at for the last six weeks. On the upside, my 10km split was 48:38, which was about a minute inside my event PB (doesn't count, however).

http://results.racetectiming.com/MyResults.aspx?CId=16&RId=162&EId=1&AId=75329

So... I'm a bit disappointed with the time, but still achieved my goal. I need to take a leaf out of Davekyn's book - and just keep getting those km in. I'm still too heavy, and unfit to run every day, but will aim for 3-4 runs/wk in March. And hopefully get back to the gym in between (haven't been all year) Recovery day today!

Finding motivation a bit hard right now. My running-mates have fallen by the wayside. Hmmm...