Last Sunday I participated in another Sri Chinmoy event. The one thing I love about these events is that it is cheap to enter ($25) and you get pancakes at the end of the run! Since I done the Melbourne Marathon a couple of weeks ago, I have continued to run 2-3 times a week, although I haven't run more than 12km in a session yet.
Whilst I am still deciding whether I am going to go for another marathon next year, I have decided I want to concentrate on shorter distances (when I say shorter I mean 10-15km) and aim to reduce my times for these shorter distances, which will then contribute to reducing my overall marathon time.
I decided going into this 12km event I would aim for a sub 65 minute time. I was basing this on the fact that in my last half-marathon I had run 10km in 54 minutes. I felt I would be able to achieve this goal but also challenge myself.
I don't think we could have asked for better weather for the Maribynong River Run. It was a clear day but not too hot, ideal for running. I had a feeling I could actually go sub 65 minutes.
I was aim to set into my pace quite quickly. The 4km loop was quite flat and given it was along the river, it was a lovely view to have whilst running. I only took drinks from every second station however, because my pace was faster than my training runs, I did find it difficult to take on liquids. On the final lap with about 2km to go, I noticed the time on my phone and thought I actually had a chance to go sub 65. A girl did overtake me and whilst I did try to keep pace with her, I was not able to.
I ended up crossing the finish line in 65:41. Just slightly over the time I wanted but I was happy to take that. At the medal ceremony, the girl that overtook me, ended up coming third in our age category. I was a bit upset because that could have been me! Oh well, if anything it has lit a fire because I really want to be able to place in the top three, so I will be aiming to do that at the next Sri Chinmoy meet in December in Altona. I ended up finishing 4th in my age category (18-39) and 5th overall.
The one great thing I got out of the run is that I was granted priority entry to City to Sea on the 17th November. This is a 14km race and in order to start in the front half of the field (and avoid the joggers and non-serious runners), you had to provide the organisers with official times from your run.
The event is just over two weeks away, so I don't think I will be able to improve my time too much, however I am going to aim for 76 minutes for this distance.
A couple of things I have noted from this run:
-My first pair of Lorna Janes which are a size Large (the rest I have are medium) are still good for the gym, not so good for running. Must stick to my mediums from now on.
-I don't usually run in singlets because I am scared of chaffing but I fund that wearing a singlet for this distance did not bother me.
