Official City to Surf Results:
- Time: 1:04:20
- 4,323 overall (out of 37,000+)
- 3,575th male
- 610th in the 40 - 49 category
- 5th out of 43 for VDM Group - company I work for
So I’m still basking in my City to Surf glory! 
However, as I mentioned in a previous post there is a half marathon coming up and I need to get into training for it.
I found this (and the author, Ben Wisbey) has agreed to allow me to publish it.
Half Marathon Training Program
So feel freee to visit Ben’s site and get some more cool information.
I thought I’d add in some weird and wonderful learning’s from the City to Surf. This is more from a beginner’s point of view so feel free to have your own views and share them via the comments if you have some particularly crafty strategies.
1. Go at your own pace - I had little choice in this with all the walkers getting in the way but my first goal was “the hill” (Malcolm St) and I made it, partly due to having to go slow at the beginning but hitting that first goal was important.
2. Drink stations are essential (and dangerous) - I couldn’t get to the first one it was so crowded but I also learnt that people drink and just drop the cup. So you have a combination of broken plastic on a wet road. Slippery and dangerous, watch your footing.
3. Drink stations require their own training - the 3rd to last drink station was where I needed to remind myself to swallow and not breathe in at the same time! I was choking for the next 100m. <– loser!
4. Run all inclines - I learnt this way back in 2000 when I went training with a real athlete. “No matter how slow you go, always run up hill.” It’s stuck in my mind and I kept to it. Hitting that goal was a thrill each time.
5. Small Goals make a BIG difference - running with over 37,000 others there was always someone to catch up to, even if they were only 5m ahead. These small goals kept me moving forward and running until I either kept a steady pace with them or overtook them, thus improving my time.
6. Music - I was listening to Ultravox all the way (Ultra-who??) and it was great. All the old songs of the 80’s were good motivators, even Sleepwalk! The only crazy thing was at the end where the song Vienna was banging in my ears and as I ran the last 50m the words were “This means nothing to me!” which, obviously, was completely untrue.
This Weekend …
… is Father’s Day so I get breakfast in bed but then it’ll be off to the Bridges for a 10k run.
Enjoy YOUR Father’s Day (if you’re lucky enough to be pampered) otherwise, just keep running!
Bill
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Andrew(AJH) 09.05.08 at 11:01 am
Ultravox - wow there’s a blast from the past. Congratulations on the results - it seems like you’re like me, love to pour over all the race stats!
Andrew is getting fit 09.06.08 at 10:45 pm
That half marathon plan looks pretty good. I’m going to have to study it.
Bill Wallace 09.07.08 at 1:23 am
AJH, I never got into the whole new romantics thing with Ultravox but I did like their music. I emailed one of the band members a couple of years ago just to say “Hi.” He was nice enough to email back.
@Andrew: the plan is pretty good I think. Pretty detailed. Most of my learning will be to keep to the pace and times. I tend to get to a point of “just getting it done” which kind of defeats the purpose of training. I’ll log my training and see how far I get.
Fitness Surfer 09.08.08 at 8:10 pm
Drinking but not while breathing really rings a bell. I did that just the other day and almost killed over from coughing.
steve 09.15.08 at 11:14 pm
how was love’s great adventure?
nice stats!
–steve