"Everybody Ought To Have A Ewen....."

....how else would I have been able to shake of this youngster & pass him & a few others to the finish line? It might have something to do with what Mae West said to Cary Grant in the movie "She Done Him Wrong", something like : Is that a gun you're carrying or are you just pleased to see me?

...on Motion Based.........

Program : Special Event..Blackmores 21.1km.

I suggested & had Ewen's approval to use this race as pacing practice that I would be able to run for Melbourne Marathon on October 7th. We fixed on a 7:35 minute km but, more importantly... staying with an AHR of 115 (76%)....not worrying about finishing time, etc...

A brilliant 6:20a.m. start (after a not so brilliant wake up call at 4:00a.m.!) & I knew from the very first step that I was going to have a good run & enjoy every minute of it!

I deliberately made a slow start to 'get into the swing' of things but after the first 3-4km found that with heart rate around 115bpm & 7:35m/k I was barely jogging ....this was just far too easy....so I decided to get a move on & shifted up a gear and ran the rest of the half marathon around 7:08m/k with heart rate still ranging between 115 - 120. I think this is what the mysterious Mr Hadd would have liked to hear : running faster than expected but at the same low heart rate... I'll check out that assumption with Ewen!

To sum up : It wasn't my fastest half marathon : that would have been my first one back in the "long ago" when I was 65+ when I ran 1 hour 56 minutes. But yesterday, I ran the easiest, most comfortable at all times, almost effortless half marathon of any! At the same time - though I realize they're different courses & therefore don't make for an accurate comparison - I was able to run 7 minutes faster than the SMH Half Marathon in May....& even if it isn't an honest comparison....I'm taking the victory!!

Septuagenerians are entitled!

And so...I'll say it again & again : "Everyone Ought To Have A Ewen"!

Time = 2:29:10. AHR = 120* (81%). Avg. Pace = 7:01m/k

*....what interests me about this AHR of 120 - which was so comfortable - is that it's exactly the heart rate I have been running during the upper aerobic track training sessions I've been doing for several weeks at Chev.

Back home in Mittagong, Ewen took an extra hour or so before driving on to Canberra, to get me started with "Sportstrack" which I've never been able to work out how it works! Should I thank or curse him for the extra hours I'm now going to be at the computer playing with this new toy!!!???

Fabulous weekend.....thanks to CR TazDevil for a tour of the beautiful northern foreshores on Saturday afternoon...lunch at a sidewalk cafe.

Coming Up : Melbourne Marathon!





Blackmores Half on Sporttracks........