Running with horses: December 2012

For the past few weeks I have been playing with speed in running. I have never really considered speed an important factor in ultra-running all these while as i have always thought that the fast ones will die fast too. Not until in recent times when you keep seeing ultra-running records come tumbling down. These records in 50 miles, 100km, 100 miles weren't just broken; they were smashed! A big reason to this is runners, athletes alike are paying more and more attention to speed work. Gone are the days where ultra-running is just about running really really long hours covering really really distance. Now the competitive scene in ultra-running is about covering really really long distance in the shortest time possible.

In my personal journey as a runner, i have never been fast. Prior to completing my 100km this year, i have never ran 10km under 40 mins. My best half marathon time so far is still 1 hour 29 mins and marathon time is 3 hrs 21 mins. Speed has never been my trump card in any race; my strengths are in my ability to last really long without fading, and in climbing hills.

So in this period when i don't have the time to run long hours due to work commitment and marriage preparation, i decided to cover all my running in as quick a time as my body allows. Of course i listen to my body very carefully. If i had a really hard run yesterday, today i may go semi-hard, or i might rest to run hard the following day. Another thing i try to do is to add as much hills and elevation as possible in my running, and i thoroughly enjoy the process of treading up steep hills (slowly but never slowed to a hike), and blasting downhill afterwards.

So i have seen my timing go down in a variety of distances and my ability in holding a good speed for a long time improved. A few notable achievements in the past few weeks were,

I managed to cover 12km in 47 mins

A week later, i managed to cover 15km in 59 mins.

My best 3km time is 10m42s and 4km time is 14m20s.

Last week I managed to break a long-standing course record in an extremely hilly road run in Mt Mee. I did 12.9km with a total elevation of 300m in a time of 53m33s. The previous record was held by Ian Kent, current Towoomba Marathon record holder (2hr22m) in a time of 54m43s set about 10 years ago. Ian Kent set this record 3 years after setting the record in Towoomba marathon, when he was still running 35 mins for 10km. (unfortunately a poisonous fume accident released by an agricultural farm while Ian was out running resulted in his lungs being severely damaged and he was not able to run anymore after that).

I have been pleasantly surprised by what the body could do. Previously speed training has never been an area that i wanted to go near, simply because of its high intensity nature and that fact that it results in injuries easily. I dislike slogging out in the trail whilst i was supposed to take easy and enjoy my surrounding. Now that i am doing that quite often, i realised that it is not that difficult after all to run at a reasonably fast pace in a long time, so long as your body is conditioned to do it. I am curious to know how i would fare in 21km and 42km now that i have a lot more speed training under my belt.

Finally just some updates on the statistics for the past two weeks.

10-16 Dec 2012

Total distance: 48.5km
Total elevation: 1161m
Total time: 3hr52min
Average speed: 4.80 min/km
Speed work (Thursday): 2 X (5x400m). Each 400m around 1m 10-15s

17-23 Dec 2012

Total distance: 71.3km
Total elevation: 1547m
Total time: 5hr46min
Average speed: 4.85 min/km
Speed work (Thursday) : 5 X 800m. 2:40, 2:40, 2:38, 2:36, 2:33