print newsletter 21

Dear Runners,

In this newsletter 21, you will read about:

- CPC: inside the race, by Ole Nielsen
- Cooper Test on 27/03/2008: the results are on-line
- Run4Fun and core stability: we are in the Gazette

CPC: inside the race, by Ole Nielsen

I was a little bit in doubt if I should register for this local race taking place just 4 weeks before my first marathon. According to my training scheme I should really do a long 30 km long slow distance run in this particular weekend. On the other hand I really wanted to run this half marathon again. It would also be a good test of the current fitness level and I decided to give it a go, promising myself I wouldn't run it at full power.

The weather was excellent with 15 degree C, only a light breeze and mostly cloudy, perfect running weather. That in contrast to the weather in the days around the race where we had strong winds, rain, showers and much lower temperatures. I chose to run in summer dress (short tights and short-sleeve shirt) and it was plenty warm for that. Being a local race I took the tram to the city centre, found the changing tent (very crowded) and made a bit of a walk-around before the start including watching the 10k race that was in progress at that time. The entire area between Malieveld and Central Station was buzzing with people, most of them in running shoes but also many spectators. I entered the start area half an hour before the scheduled start. However, we had to wait another 15 minutes before the start gun (a small canon!) finally fired because the police apparently had some delays in clearing parts of the race course for traffic.

Just like last year the first few kilometres through the city centre were very crowded. I had to do a lot of zigzagging and other acrobatic manoeuvres to get around slow runners, in particular business runners (grrr!) that had started in front of me. Anyway, somehow I managed to get going at a good speed at which I still felt at ease. The first 5k went in 23:09 which surprised me considering all the two-legged traffic I had to negotiate. As usual I used my heart rate meter to control my efforts. My goal was to keep the HR at 148 bpm and for the most of the race it stayed pretty close to that.

We went down the long straight Laan van Meerdervoort with faster runners cruising over tram rails, sidewalks and wherever they could get around the slow crowd, continued up along the wide Segbroeklaan and van Boetzelaarlaan towards the sea resort of Scheveningen. The Boulevard with the Pier was next and I could now start to feel my legs a bit but I had no problems keeping up the pace. Around 16 or 17 km I was still feeling relatively comfortable and noticed that a personal best was within reach just by keeping the current pace. It was not my original plan to go for a PR today but now I decided to get that record so I increased the pace a bit. The heart rate went into the 150'es but with only a couple of kilometres home that was no problem. The long straight Koninginnegracht can be a bit demoralising as it appears never to end but the crowd of enthusiastic spectators helps carry you along towards the finish. I increased my pace further and the heart rate was now approaching the red zone. After a last right turn the finish line came in sight and I cruised over the line in a personal best time of 1:37:11 beating the old record from the Rotterdam half marathon by 42 seconds. Official result: http://evenementen.uitslagen.nl/2008/cpcloop/details.php?s=6830

I ran a very flat race increasing my pace a bit in the latter part and without pushing myself to the limit. This compared to last year's race where I had it difficult on the last few kilometres and finished almost 11 minutes slower than today (that race was my very first half marathon). I feel that I could have run the half marathon a couple of minutes faster if I had decided to go fully for it from the beginning. Maybe next year? A good sign before my first marathon in Rotterdam in April.

Cooper test on 27/03/2008: the results are on-line

The first Cooper test of 2008 was held on Thursday 27/03/2008 at 12:15. We would like to thank all the runners for their participation and all the volunteers for making this test possible. The results are available here.

Run4Fun and core stability: we are in the Gazette

In the April 2008 issue of the Gazette, page 45 an article about the Amicale Jogging Club was published. Take a closer look at the reprint herebelow.

subscribe to the newsletter