Chris Truscott – Doha Bound!
It’s been a little while since my last update and as such I’m pleased to advise that training has been going well AND that the 100km World champs in Doha are still on in just two weeks.
There will be four men and four women travelling over to compete in what may be gruelling conditions. I’m hopeful of the temps dropping over the next two weeks and given it starts and finishes at night, we may be ok.
My last update included the Blackmores half in Sept. Since then I have competed in just one event, the Melbourne Marathon. The plan was to try and run a marathon from start to finish without blowing up – at least more so than my last 6-7. So I revised the target to sub 2:35 given I was in the middle of training for the 100km and didn’t want to taper too much.
I quickly found myself in a great pack of runners who I soon learnt were targeting sub 2:30. “Oh well let’s see what happens” I said to myself. I felt really comfortable running along at 3:33’s until a few lifted the pace and I had to drop back a little. The group broke apart by halfway and I was on my own through in 74:26 which was certainly faster than sub 2:35 and typical of me.
Long story short, I didn’t hit the wall or feel any sharp pains anywhere however my legs just naturally tired a little and I faded to run 2:34:07 for 20th position. It was weird as I tried to push it a few times later on to run quicker but my 100km legs said no. The good news was that after 20-30mins watching others cross the finish line, I ran 3km back to my hotel which I took as a positive sign for Doha.
Two weeks later I ran a 60km training run at 4:30 pace around Centennial Park mimicking the 5km laps we will be doing in Doha. It was also quite a humid, hot morning so all went well for becoming even more confident. Especially as I could wake up the next morning and run another 20km.
So my average weekly mileage has fluctuated between 110km and 155km depending on my general fatigue, time schedule and slight taper for the marathon. I have maintained some great speed sessions throughout as I have tried to balance the short with the long stuff. With the JP Morgan 5.6km race looming next Wed and a potential win in the biggest super series ever devised (that between myself, Johnathan ‘Barts’ Bartlett and Tom Highnam), this will be my last sharp little hit out before flying out a few days later.
I’m looking forward to the experience of running in an international event and the pre and post race hype. But I won’t be going over there with the intention of just making up the numbers. Given the climate conditions, it will be a tactical race and it will go to the person who manages their intake and running efficiency the best.
We will also be remembering Jackie Fairweather as we run. Jackie was not only a champion triathlete but she also made quite a mark in the ultra marathon scene – even clocking up an impressive 7:48 over the 100km distance.
I’ll check in again post World champs – hopefully with a positive race report.
Cheers for now
Chris Truscott