Bridges 10km 2012 in 47min

Bridges 10km 47.00 (by wristwatch) HR 177 at end.
5k splits 22.35/24.25.

1km-3.55
2km 8.09 (4.14)
3km 12.39 (4.30)
and last 1km in 4.22...

The rest was the usual rubbish...maybe partly due to Gastro virus this week making my 2nd 5k weaker than it could have been... managed to find EVERY K marker this time though :-)...

Bridges 2012 photos from the day...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT3nLP2b_1w

Its groundhog day (except for the years when I did the 5km and the year I hit 5k in 19.32 for a 41.01 PB.)......no actually I was a bit more conservative at the start than in recent years, and stayed on the tail of the A-graders instead of succumbing to the urge to go past them as they slowly trundled off at the start...Reckon that reduction in lactic acid may have given me a slightly faster first 5km combined with the weight loss from the gastro virus had me at about as good a racing weight (lost 2-3kg due to virus this week) as Ive been able to find in recent years (78kg...pathetic...I need to take 3-10kg off that to have any chance of getting after the PB)...Overall pleased with the way I attacked the first 2km (3.55 and 4.14), and the 3rd K up over the Narrows at 4.30 was ok although I'd like another 15 seconds...After that I started to find it hard to stay attacking mentally and physically. Glad I managed to hold onto sub 5's long enough to get to 5k in my fastest 5k so far this year and well under 23 minutes which is encouraging...but really with a good gradual start like that I should be shooting for 20-22minutes soon I hope...After that I lost the focus on trying to keep my breathing ticking over optimally, and physically I felt like I was just trying to hang on, not really attacking enough...the 4.55-4.58 1k splits are the result. Felt weak (maybe low energy due to gastro this week to some extent and just lack of good hard training past the 5km level this year...), was getting passed by lots of people, and just wasn't motivated enough to hurt enough to get those 4.20-4.40 per K splits I needed to try and get into the 45's....Brought it home ok with a 4.22 including some striding it out strongly at the finish that just failed to get me into the 46's, but pushed me up the results page about a dozen places in the last 500m...

So a lot of positives and a good racing hitout. My 6th fastest Bridges 10k ever out of I think its 14 10k races in 16 starts (the other 2 were 5k Bridges events), so one of my better ones just, and best since 2005.

Thanks to the Maker for RHR 38 weight 78.6kg today and a new entry in my top 10 Bridges Fun Run 10km races;
My best 10 Bridges funrun 10k times are;
1998 41min 01
2003 42min 40
1997 43min 43
2005 44min 40
2000 46min 47
2012 47min 00 (by my wristwatch...unofficial)...

1999 47min 29
2006 48min 06
2010 48min 39.
2004 48min 50.


More importantly though its confirmation that I am in striking range of the 45.50 I did at Freo last year, and although not good enough today to seriously challenge the 45 minute barrier, the way I started off the first 3k, I almost put myself in position at 5k to pull off what would be a remarkable effort if I had been able to nail it. Think I would have had to have got to 5k in 22.00 to be any chance of going sub 45, and the way I faded today a 21.00 would have been needed? Anyhow my 7 point plan seemed to work pretty well, and I will consider using that or a variation on that again this year as it was good. So pretty happy with today, but need to find another 3-6 minutes to get within range of the PB. Hopefully in a few months I will be ready...but to get there I NEED 4-8 weeks consistent progression with 4-6 sessions EVERY week....maybe this year? I have at least 2 Perth 10k races in mind which I think suit me better rhythmwise for a PB attempt, and a 10k track race would be even better...

Saw a red Ferrari driving down Riverside Drive afterwards...

Thanks God for a good day of racing. Saw a red Ferrari driving down Riverside Drive afterwards...