PR in a dress

As human beings,
our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world
but in being able to remake ourselves.

-Mahatma Gandhi

The World-Record Perth 5-mile Kilt-Run is over. We got to spend some great time with our family in Kingston.  The race was better organized this year and a lot more fun, (although we missed the sheep shearing from last year).  The run was tough again.  I don't know whether it was the later start of 6:30 pm (all my races are usually in the early morning) or because it was a summer-run just after the solstice and the full sunlight and heat, or maybe something else, but it was tough.

Kieran Day won the race with a time of 27:50.  I was a close 697th with a time of 51:35 (1727 finishers).  Kieran had ate, finished 4 interviews, showered, and received his award by the time I finished.  This is his third year in a row as winner.  Now that is a guy who knows how to run in a dress!

No alcohol for this race - no alcohol for 1 week before this race.  Of course I drank alcohol right after!  Hydration and electrolytes were well managed, I ate small meals and added a little extra carbohydrates for the last few.  I was well rested.  I trained well, and kept a good attitude for the race.  But it was still tough!

I felt much better for the first 35 minutes of this run.  I kept to a good 10:18 minutes/mile pace, setting myself up for (I thought) negative splits at the end, and then at a the 40 minute mark about 3 3/4 miles into the 5 miles I started to fade.  I felt like I was cooking on a grill.  At the 40 minute mark my heart rate was 160 BPM (92% of Maximal HR).  I was breathing easy, smiling at the pipers, the harp, and flute players.  I started to slow down, more to give my heart a break than because I felt my muscles were tired.  I was doing good, but my body was fighting the heat.  Definitely all the extra weight I was carrying.

One high-light was that for the last 400 yards I managed a sprint that brought my split pace down to 7:50 minutes per mile.  For others that's not a sprint that's a pace, but for me it was a sprint.  At one point near the finish line I had accelerated to 5:18 minutes/mile.  (My finishing HR was 174 - 100% maximal HR.)

In brief, I improved in every area in this race, even if only slightly.  A minute and 17 seconds improvement should count for something.  I didn't keep to my running strategy entirely and this will be addressed later.

	2011	2012
Time	52:52	51:35 (PR!)
Avg Pace	10:34 min/mi (6:34 min/km)	10:20 min/mi (6:25 min/km)
Best Pace	6:35 min/mi (4:05 min/km)	5:18 min/mi (3:18 min/km)
Avg HR	150 bpm	153 bpm
Max HR	168 bpm	174 bpm

Here's the start, I'm the blue-shirted guy in the middle of the road from 0:46 to 0:51 - slow and lumbering 11:15 pace out from the start.  (It took almost 5 minutes to get all the runners out of the gate!)

Perth Kilt Run 2012 - The Start from Bastou on Vimeo.