Hallelujah! My calf held together for my first ever middle distance event, the Cleveland Steelman! That's 12 miles of running after not being able to scrape together no more than 20 mins jogging at a time since the Brize sprint!
I had decided to just run for about 20 to 30 mins at the Steelman but, as I was literally plodding along and enjoying the views, I found a pace that didn't aggravate the calf at all. It felt fantastic to be able to finish the race and I really enjoyed it! It also gave me a chance to rehearse my Ironman plans during the race, including kit and food. It's a good course with 2 laps of each discipline, the bike was not too hilly and the run was more cross country than road. My plan was to take each first lap steady then push the second to attain negative splits, and I actually stuck to this plan and it worked a treat for me. Although my times were relatively slow (bar the swim) I felt good and surprised myself by finishing the run too! As far as IM plans go, it threw up some minor points I need to change for the big one, so it proved useful in that respect too.
I finished 5th in age group and 19th overall and was only a couple of mins down from the 2nd age group spot which gives me something to aim for next year!
The timings....
2km swim - 30 min
90km bike - 2hr: 38
12 mile run -1hr: 28 min (dodgy stomach early on forcing 2 toilet stops!!)
With less than 4 weeks to go to IM, and although my expectations timings wise will have to be adjusted, I'm feeling a lot more optimistic about actually being able to run most of the marathon! It's now time to taper the bike and swim but I need to keep upping the 'very steady' run miles for another week or so to get my creaking joints used to the miles again!
Bring on Bolton!
Train well!
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