Anyway, i'll continue to work on my speed over the next month and hopefully i'll be able to have another go at that 3 minute kilometre at the end of it.
Enough of that, now to the races. First off it was a 6km 'cross country' race on the beach. I was only just recovered from my hamstring strain when this one came around I so took it fairly easy. I finished in 39th place of 137 runners and was 11th in my category. It was a two lap race, I got around the first one in 13:15 but picked things up in the second, getting round in 12:25. It was my first experience of running on sand, for a first effort I think I did ok, it was hard work and at times very difficult to stay up right but all good fun and I'd imagine it counts as good strength training.
The link to the GPS info for the race is here.
Next up it was an urban 'cross' in Elche, Cross de Carrus. It was just a 15 minute run around, a 4km race. I finished in 15:17, in 30th place of 165 runners and in 10th place in my category. It was a nice little run and well worth the €5 entry fee, I got a running vest for my troubles which will definitely be made use along with some other assorted goodies. I was pleased with it, I was well under 4:00min/km pace despite the debilitating heat so it bodes well for the future. You can see the details here.
Finally there was the Mitat Mitja Marato de Torrellano, basically a race of a little over 10 kilometres. I completed this race two years ago and enjoyed it alot. This year the course had changed completely, it was 400m shorter and was now on the opposite side of the town, but it was still just as enjoyable, and more so because I felt I ran well. One of my goals is to run sub 40 minutes for 10k, and I was wasn't far off that in Torrellano, my pace over the race was 4:02 min/km, so only 20 seconds from my goal and given a better starting position I think I could have easily ran 20 seconds quicker in the first kilometre.
I finished in 49th place of 559 finishers, while I was 30th in my category (of 271), a satisfactory result and one I think I should be able to improve once I get the troubles I've had with my back resolved. I've have had problems for months now, things start to improve and then I can't control the urge to play football and it gets worse, now I have a month without playing football so hopefully that will let the injury recover properly. Basically it comes from the sharp stop starts and turns in football, running alone doesn't seem to aggravate things. Back on topic, you can see my run in Torrellano here. Torrellano was also only €5 and probably even better value than the 4k in Elche, the goodie bag wasn't so full but I still got a useable running vest and you expect to pay more for longer races.
Last weekend I was without a race, but this Sunday I have another, and although I haven't signed up yet I'll probably run the following week too. They are both beach races, its difficult to target a time for running on sand, if the course is on flat wet sand its very different to running on dunes, but I'll be aiming to improve on my finishing position each time, so for this week its 38th or better.
I'll let you know how got on on Monday, until then, happy running!
The link to the GPS info for the race is here.
Next up it was an urban 'cross' in Elche, Cross de Carrus. It was just a 15 minute run around, a 4km race. I finished in 15:17, in 30th place of 165 runners and in 10th place in my category. It was a nice little run and well worth the €5 entry fee, I got a running vest for my troubles which will definitely be made use along with some other assorted goodies. I was pleased with it, I was well under 4:00min/km pace despite the debilitating heat so it bodes well for the future. You can see the details here.
Finally there was the Mitat Mitja Marato de Torrellano, basically a race of a little over 10 kilometres. I completed this race two years ago and enjoyed it alot. This year the course had changed completely, it was 400m shorter and was now on the opposite side of the town, but it was still just as enjoyable, and more so because I felt I ran well. One of my goals is to run sub 40 minutes for 10k, and I was wasn't far off that in Torrellano, my pace over the race was 4:02 min/km, so only 20 seconds from my goal and given a better starting position I think I could have easily ran 20 seconds quicker in the first kilometre.
I finished in 49th place of 559 finishers, while I was 30th in my category (of 271), a satisfactory result and one I think I should be able to improve once I get the troubles I've had with my back resolved. I've have had problems for months now, things start to improve and then I can't control the urge to play football and it gets worse, now I have a month without playing football so hopefully that will let the injury recover properly. Basically it comes from the sharp stop starts and turns in football, running alone doesn't seem to aggravate things. Back on topic, you can see my run in Torrellano here. Torrellano was also only €5 and probably even better value than the 4k in Elche, the goodie bag wasn't so full but I still got a useable running vest and you expect to pay more for longer races.
Last weekend I was without a race, but this Sunday I have another, and although I haven't signed up yet I'll probably run the following week too. They are both beach races, its difficult to target a time for running on sand, if the course is on flat wet sand its very different to running on dunes, but I'll be aiming to improve on my finishing position each time, so for this week its 38th or better.
I'll let you know how got on on Monday, until then, happy running!
No comments:
Post a Comment