SURF TO CITY 12K

G'day!  I will try to keep this a bit brief, - time restraints slightly :-)

Yesterday I participated in the Invercargill Surf to City 12k run!  This event isn't promoted as a race so there are no records of the position we finish in.  About 3500 people participated (the total of all the categories), there were options of: bikeriding the 12k, running the 12k, walking the 12k, plus a 6k run/walk and a 2.5k run for the kiddies.

Cost to enter the 12k run event, (what I did) was $10, (I think I remember entering the Perth 12k City to Surf to be at least AU$50 by comparison).  However we don't get a timing chip and the bus ride from the city to the beach is a tiny fee of $2 on top of that.

I thought it was a really well run race, - ok I mean event as this one is not promoted as a race! ;-)

At the beach, (where the 12k events started) there was complimentary water, sunscreen to apply, zumba styled moves for a warmup to all who wanted to participate.  The cyclists headed off first, - at 9.30am.  There were a heap of them, and even I noted some kids that looked about 5 on their bikes with trainer wheels (just removed) out with their families doing the 12k ride!

About 20 mins after the start line was cleared of cyclists, it was time for the 12k runners to leave, the walkers 3 mins behind that.

I have to say, Invercargill turned on an awesome balmy day by our standards for this event.  I arrived in Invercargill at about 8am, already was 21 degrees, (very rare here at this time of day) so I decided to not worry about wearing a sweater to wear to beach, hang around in, then leave in 'left luggage'.  Throughout the run we hit 25-26 degrees, - yeah baby!

For the 12k run, - I wasn't sure of an appropriate 'time goal' for myself at the moment.  I know my 14k race PB in Perth was 1:14:07 but knew I was FAR FAR off that pace.  My slowest Perth 12k City to Surf was 1:15 and I still felt I was quite a bit below that level going by recent run times.  Therefore, - my main goal was just to finish, - and hopefully below 1:30 I decided.  Up until yesterday my longest run in one hit, no stopping in about 6 months was the 7.5k I did last week.

As for yesterday, the race was on road, (not gravel), I looked at my Garmin GPS watch at when my Garmin clicked over 5k, and it was just over 29 mins, - I found that REALLY exciting as I'd not done a sub 30 min 5k in ages!  There was a quick water stop but I still hit the 6k mark in 35:44 so was really pleased still to be behind 6 min kms, just slightly at 6kms!  I did start to slow up a little after that, still kept running, but really put my foot down, sped up the pace and passed a couple of people in the last 300m straight.  That meant I had given it my complete all and crossed the finish line fatigued with some lactic acid build up!  I had run the whole way, my time was 1:16.

What I did notice:
* I have confirmed, - if on concrete or a road, my pace is always going to be slightly faster than running on quite loose gravel. 
* Nice flat course, - could be one to aim for a good time on if weather conditions suit if fit!

As for the latest: I got a 6.2k outdoor run done today after work, - fastest time I've done on that run since moving here by 20 secs.

Next race = 5k hilly trail run this coming Saturday.

Till next time

Pip :-)