The first group of three races for this year's Scott2Run competition kicked off on a bad footing for me on 22 March, continued with a close to disastrous performance a week later, but was concluded with a fine, fine run on race number three today.
Vilvoorde 12km - 22 March 2014
I had long been looking forward to this. I had been training well, putting in some fairly long runs as well as speed sessions, so I took a fair degree of confidence with me to Vilvoorde. But the day turned out to be cold and wintry, and I was never able to fire myself up properly.
The event consists of two loops - each one with a long steep hill during the first half followed by a flat mid-section and a final downhill stretch. The uphill part of the second loop I suddenly slowed down to a walk. It happens sometimes. A number of other runners passed me while I recovered my breath (and some strength in my legs). I started to jog again after two or three minutes, and began to re-overtake some of the runners who had passed me during the walking stage.
All considered, the final timing of 56:48 wasn't so bad. The field of participants was rather small, so I still managed to collect a useful amount of points.
Furaloop 16km (Tervuren) - 29 March 2014
Mostly in one of my 'haunts', the Arboretum part of the Zonienbos (Foret des Soignes) that straddles Jezus Eik in Overijse and Tervuren.
I realised there was a hills 'issue' in this one, so I checked the height profile on the Furalopers' website the days before. I found that most of the uphill parts were in the first half, while the second half was generally downhill. So I went to Tervuren determined to make up for the previous week's disappointment while being careful not to overdo it in the first, hilly, part.
The first 8km were, indeed, very hilly, but I managed them quite well, overtaking a large number of rivals in the process. The second half, as predicted, was generally flat or downhill.
Up to a certain point.
Suddenly I saw looming up ahead a steep hill. I thought it would be a short stretch, and then we would resume going downhill. But then we came to another hill. It went on and on. Determined as I was not to slow down to a walk this time... slow down to a walk is exactly what I did. Once. Lots of rivals going by. Restart at a slow jog. Another hill, one I've done lots of times in my training. Another stop! What a disaster.
I lost about four minutes from my normal time at the end, though I did manage to recover enough energy in the final 2 or 3 km to have a respectable finish, at a sprint. Official timing: 1h18:58.
Picking up the pieces - Wednesday 2 April 2014
I had been looking forward to a good year of running, with lots of ambitious plans, and here I was slowing down to a walk in the very first two races of this year's edition of the Scott2Run.
I'd never slowed down to a walk in two successive races. I sorely needed a morale booster, so I decided to risk a make-or-break long run. I'd gone up to 25 km - 2h15 in my pre-Scott2Run preparation. Next long run: 27km - 2h30. That's what I set out to do, and that's what I did without any particular problem.
That's how I found out that there's nothing seriously wrong with my current form. With the wisdom of hindsight, I can lay the blame for my recent mishaps on:
a. Having done a short run on the day before the race;
b. Having had a stressful morning a few hours before the race, doing the weekly shopping and such stuff;
c. In the case of the Furaloop 16km, bad mental preparation for the route.
I also seriously need to improve my form going uphill. I used to be very good at this, but, seemingly, not any more.
Perk, Kasteeljogging - 11.5km - 6 April 2014
This used to be a triple loop in a park, with long stretches where runners are forced to go single file or risk twisting a knee or an ankle while trying to overtake on very rough ground. They have now changed this into a more sensible double loop, finishing with a long lap around the club football grounds.
Except for the initial two or three minutes, that were rather crowded and where overtaking was next to impossible, the going for me was very smooth. Most of the time I was overtaking other runners without exerting myself too much. While I ran, I realised that I hardly need to make any effort to run on flat terrain, which is what we had throughout today. Having 'rehearsed' the final lap around the club football grounds during warm-up before the race, I was prepared for this too and finished strongly at 53:19.
So, I guess, I'm back on track for a (still) promising 2014 running campaign.
