Lucky Wombats have hard arses.....

A day of mixed emotions.... Firstly a big thanks to Bob Braid for saving the Wombats day as it nearly ended before it began...Thanks Bob.

Saturday was an easy 2 miles around my burrow and more stretching.. This morning began at 5am with a shower , two pieces of Vegemite toast and a white coffee with two sugars... sat at the table contemplating the day's racing.

A very light 2 mile warm up and some stretching..I felt really good and confident of a solid performance. My race plan was to lock into 3.15k pace which , if all went well would get me home 32.30..(that was the plan) I actually felt fitter than last year despite the long runs being down and the Wednesday tempo run missing (I would pay for this during the race).

Lined up feeling confident and having not brought my racing shoes there was no way I was going to make a wrong shoe choice this year. I was also determined not to go through the first km in under 3 minutes.. (fatal)

On the gun established a good rhythm however I always find the first km hard to gauge due to the adrenalin and atmosphere. I got the 1st Km in 3.09. The race leader Courtney Carter was already exerting himself on the field and watching him move I felt sure that he would be unchallenged throughout the race. (this turned out to be the case). Busso was chasing as was a young lad from Trinity and Kengi was showing that he well deserves the title of a "wombat Warrior".
Todd Ingraham, dymnicki, Simon Coates and Hamish Mcelwee were all in the mix but establishing their own tempos.

Hit 2km in 6.28 (3.18k) and felt ok and through 3km in 9.47 (3.19) . over the bridge and some places were changing but I could see that the main players were settled and beginning their runs proper. Busso had a short lived dip at Carter and Kenji tried to hang on but this was short lived. The gap would go on to increase between Busso and Carter and Kenji chased but was eventually caught by Ingraham and Dymnicki who worked together through to 8 km.

Between 3 and 4km Hamish and Coates surged past me and despite trying to go nothing happened. Ok I was not going to be able to accelerate quickly but I could wind it up. Through the 4km and a 3.31km split , bugga I was slowing. At this point I should have dug in (a real wombat would have) and pushed up out of the tempo that I was settling into in an effort to get up to a higher rating. ( this is something that I tell other runners for a little effort to stay on the pack you save a lot of energy later) through 5km and another 3.31 km (16.51 half way) the 6,7 and 8k splits would go 3.30, 3.33, 3.34.

Coming into the 5km point I caught a runner I was unfamiliar with as well as passing the young Trinity runner. This put me into 8th position, 4 places down on where I was last year at the same point. The huge bonus was I had no indication at all that I was going to cramp.. I chased hard, or so I thought but did not seem to be closing on Hamish Mcelwee or Simon Coates. Kenji was still working with Ingraham and Dymnicki. I could not see Busso and Carter was gone.

Through the approach to the causeway I got a sense that if I could just pick up the tempo a little more i might tag onto the back of Mcelwee then together we could work up onto Coates. This would not be the case.

As I went up onto the causeway I used the corner to glance over my shoulder.. No threats from behind me as that runner was looking back on the straight. this told me that he was more concerned with not losing his place rather than chasing me. My thoughts raced and I gave myself a little kick " come on soft XXXX dig" hit 9km with a 3.24split and finished with a 3.17. Giving me a time (my watch) 34m10s. This was 6 seconds slower than last year... shit.!(I will wait for the official time but I wont be holding my breath)
Last year Hamish ran 33.50 and Dymnicki was 33.59.. So I know that they have run considerably faster and this year Dymnicki was ahead of Mcelwee but he could not out kick Ingraham.

While I most definitely finished a lot stronger than last year I was over all disappointed with the time and the place..The positives were that i am back in a state where I can race without fear of breaking down... I finished the race and I feel that I can start to be competitive.(bring on your wombat)

On further reflection my Wednesday runs will now become a regular item in my diary and the Sunday long run will now need to sit up at 90minutes.. I found that I just could not sustain the pace that was required and I felt that this was due to my lack of long sustained pace runs.. Even though my reps in training have stepped up a notch I need to move the recoveries to an active recovery rather than a passive one and I most definitely need to get race fit...Something the young Kenji the hunter is doing well.


Splits
1: 3.09
2: 3.18
3: 3.19
4: 3.31
5: 3.31
6: 3.30
7: 3.33
8: 3.34
9: 3.24
10:3.17

Easy cool down with Carter..
Well done to the WAMC for once again putting together a great race. Thanks to all the officials and volunteers for giving up their time. Also to all the runners who got out there today and gave it their all in the 5 or 10k event..I know that there were some fantastic examples of the Wombat being displayed.....

Thanks also to Sibo and Trailbalzer for your encouragement on the blog..

Barrel on Wombats......