Wednesday, August 24, 2016

32 City to Surfs

I was so happy running down the last hill into Bondi Beach on Sunday 14 August, my 32nd City to Surf about to be completed. Two months ago I was carefully resuming running following a long break for the injured left calf. I put in my entry thinking that I'd be doing a lot of walking (which I did) but ended up completing the race quicker than expected — 85:06 for the 14k, an average of 6:05 per kilometre. Last year I ran 70:17, just failing to qualify for the 'Red' start group so I was a long way off that, but still happy.

My pre-race plan was to run to the bottom of 'Heartbreak Hill', walk up the hill before jogging and walking to the finish. That's pretty much what happened. I love it when a plan comes together! So, 5:27 ks on average to the 6k mark at the bottom of Heartbreak, then walking and jogging while taking some video of the race with my phone.

Since the City to Surf I've continued to gradually build my mileage (it's now around 50k per week) and as that's happened, my race fitness has improved. I ran in the Wagga Trail Marathon 5k on Saturday (which I think was longer than 5k) and was pleased to run the first 3k at under 5-minute pace. Splits went 4:53, 4:52, 4:57, 5:17 and 5:08 plus 1:17 for the extra bit. A sub-25-minute 5k is the immediate goal, then perhaps something close to 23 minutes by the end of the year.


Phone video of my 32nd Sydney City to Surf

12 comments:

TokyoRacer said...

Yes, running to plan is a very satisfying thing. Glad you're firmly on the way back.

Rachel said...

Going well, Ewen! I hadn't considered that the 5K was long but you are probably right. That would explain how I ran 21 minutes despite not being too far off 4:00 pace most of the time.

allrounder said...

woo hoo! you'll be back on my tail soon enough!

Ewen said...

Thanks Bob. Very satisfying even if it's a very slow process :)

Thanks Rachel. I figured you'd be running 4s even with the marathon the next day. I recall the 10k from last year being pretty accurate. Not too fussed as we have plenty of good 5k race opportunities in Canberra.

That's a goal AR, so watch out!

Running Raggedy said...

Mate, super editing work in that video. A bit bumpy to start but thankfully your pace fell away drastically to the point I no longer felt motion sickness ... A nasty hill there but boy what magnificent views in such popular race. Thanks for sharing Ewen and congratulations on number 32 ... legend.

Black Knight said...

I'd have loved to take videos during a race but I was too competitive to make it. I didn't want to slow down my pace and now ... I don't have such memories.

Ewen said...

Thanks Mark - I was thinking about viewers when filming so attempted to keep the phone steady. Next year I'll lug a whole DSLR steadi-cam rig to reduce the shakiness ;-)

Stefano, if I was seriously racing, no way would I film or photograph during the event. On not-so-serious races you should try it - for future memories.

Janene said...

Looking good ET. Glad it's all coming together :-)

Anonymous said...

You are progressing well. 32 City to Surf’s is impressive. Your video captures the nature of this iconic event well.

Ewen said...

Thanks J - I think it's more satisfying when it takes a long time. Or a very long time in your case ;-)

Thanks Canute - my goal for #33 is NOT to be running with a camera :-)

strewth said...

Thanks for videoing C2S Ewen. I missed being there this year so it was great to see this. Good to see you back at training tonight. :)

Ewen said...

Thanks Ruth. You'll have to schedule C2S next year amongst all your OS travel :)