Swiftsure

This weekend, the waters of the coast of Victoria played host to the 66th annual Switftsure Yacht Race, or as was the case for much of the morning, “Driftsure”, although thankfully not accompanied by fog or drizzle. For all the spectators standing on Clover Point watching the mass of 200+ boats the weather couldn’t have been better.

Fearing my date with the track would evolve into my own hellish Driftsure, I managed to coerce Carter to join me. As it was, after a gentle warm-up we toed the start line (sans shirts) on a gorgeous spring morning.

The plan was simple, run 5x800m at 3”-5” faster than 5k pace; based on my recent 5,000m this would have me aiming for 2:43-2:45 intervals. I’d like to blame it on an overeager appetite, but as is par for the course with my track w/o’s I stopped the clock after the first 800m slightly faster than I would have liked (but not entirely unexpected).

I made sure to hit my pace times for the next two pieces, but couldn’t help but notice how uncomfortable they felt. It never escapes me that whenever I focus on hitting my splits, my running feels laboured… distracted. With this in mind, I focused on relaxing on my fourth interval, making sure not to overextend myself. The result was pleasing.

2:35, 2:41, 2:40, 2:36, 2:26

For my last one, I decided to concentrate on “not concentrating” but rather ran by feel. I made sure not to go crazy, but let my legs stride out and with Rumon’s assistance, made sure my shoulders were relaxed. The result was entirely surprising particularly as I closed in a 36”, a mark I was struggling to hit while running 10x200m last week.

For those interesting in reading the phenomenal tale of Reid Coolsaet’s inaugural marathon, check out his site here… 2:17:08, congratulations!

I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend and until tomorrow…

Training:
Thursday: easy 37:39
Friday: day off (scheduled)
Saturday: 1:10:17 with 5x800 (3’)
Sunday: hilly 1:00:08

Weekly mileage: 5h23’52”, +/- 75k or 47 miles