I have been ill this week, my lungs haven't been happy and I have been getting muscle ache from normal work outs, on Thursday as I gave up on my intervals after 3 of the planned 7km repeats, I was not confident.
On race morning I was feeling much better and my PB seemed on again. My PB is 1:27:35 but my recent 10k races suggest that should be destroyed! I woke up at 6:15am ate my omelette and porridge and left the house at 7:20. Pre-race 'preparations' went well and I got to the start line a few mins early. There was a 1:24 pace group which looked interesting to me, but after 2km in 7:50 I was still behind the 1:29 pace group!
I soon passed them and settled into a 3:55/km tempo which was fast for me, but felt comfortable and my HR was in a good zone. After what I thought was 5km I checked the GPS and saw 7km were done, another good sign. The ks ticked away and soon I was at 15km in 59:30, flying. The one incline of the day followed, I had been just behind the 1:24 group almost all the way, but after the hill I decided to push on ahead of them. The overpass next to Commerzbank Arena was the last tough bit and the long run round the stadium was quickly done.
The last 50m are in the stadium I gave a little sprint and stopped my watch – 1:23:40 about a 4 minute PB and 6 minutes better than last year!
All in all, it went well. My average HR of 169 is lower than normal, and I think that fully fit I might have had a few more seconds off my time, but I'm not complaining! This run sets me up nicely for a sub3 attempt in Bonn in 6 weeks time, that would be awesome!
It is also my second goal of the season reached, I think the 5k time goal is a sitting duck now!
Week review to come, but this was easily the highlight!