So a week later and 70 minutes faster. I can give no reason why other than it happened. At Centennial Park I felt fatigued from the start and I think starting a walk/run from about 12k to the end. At the Tan I felt comfortable all the way.
I did not walk a step except to get a drink. The 11 laps and so 11 times up Anderson Hill were all run - perhaps slowly but it was a running stride not walking. So no walking was the first aim - ticked. The second was to run steady.
I really thought that just under 6 hours would be the best I could expect. The loop in about 3.9k and I thought maybe start out at 30 minutes a lap and if I could hold on that would be 5.30 or so. First lap in 27 and it felt comfortable that was about 6.42 pace. I then decided that I would try to maintain that pace for as long as I could. It felt comfortable and not pushed.
The 11 laps take well ... 11 laps. They seemed to go more quickly that the time. Anderson Hill is about 750m from the start/finish and the drink station. So run into the drink station and take what was needed and start running again and mentally prepare for the hill that is maybe 600 metres. Get to the top and it is flat or downhill to the start finish and that section is about 2k. So relax and stride out back to the start finish and repeat 11 times.
Never boring.
All my laps were between 25/27 minutes. So steady all the way with a finishing average of 6.45 per k. Not quick but i achieved what I set out to do and as a bonus a huge time improvement.
Recover and get ready for a trail marathon at Glenbrook on Sunday. In the lower Blue Mountains just west of Sydney. So sleep at home and an hours drive to the start.
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