Race Report: RunWalk Series Race 4 - Highbrook

The fourth and penultimate race in the RunWalk series which was held on Sunday was the 7k event held at Highbrook business park. I quite like this course because, being a business park rather that a residential area, its really quiet. I imagine that through the week the place is bustling with people but on Sunday mornings there is hardly anyone around.

Official Stats:

Distance: 7 km
Time: 0:49:19
Pace: 07:02 min/km

Pre-Race

Keeping with the pre-race pasta dinner tradition, we had a nice pasta bake for dinner that had a little spicy zing to it and then we watched the Evil Dead followed by My Name is Bruce - but we only managed about half of the latter before I fell asleep on the sofa.

I had a good sleep and got up made us porridge and coffee for breakfast. Kane didn't sleep very well, but he assured me it wasn't because of the movie, it was his bruised and swollen ankle that was disrupting his sleep.

His ankle got kicked at indoor soccer, but it was able to bear weight and he was able to walk ok but he was having his doubts about running the race.

On The Course

0 - 3 km

Kane decided he was going to run the race, but take it easy and if his ankle felt sore then he would just stop. He went further up towards the start line and I placed myself further back in the race crowd and waited for the gun to go off.

I kicked off my playlist and quickly settled into in a nice jogging pace. The pavements were narrow, just enough for 2 people, but the crowd dissipated over the first 1.5 kilometre and by the 3km mark I had the same few people around me.

This first part has the best scenery of the race as you head out towards parklands and then you run next to open spaces.

3 - 6 km

My training runs are usually about 4km long, and at the 4km mark I could feel like I was done. The consistency of my pace was waning but I still had 3kms to go!

And at this point the scenery was warehouses and offices so I decided to try and have a little fun with my pace. I probably confused the people running near me as I would sprint off for about 20 seconds and then slow to a jog and then walk for about 20 seconds before sprinting off again.

// Kane having a good race

6 -7 km

My pace had settled back down to a jog and I remembered the finish from last year so I kept it steady until I saw the corner, then I started to pick it up and as I rounded the corner I opened it up as much as I could to finish strong and more importantly, beat my time from last year :)

Comparison with Last Year

2015	2014
0:49:19	0:50:42

Post Race

I was fairly pleased with how it went in the end. Kane was happy with his race too, he took it a little easier but he had no trouble from his ankle at all that was until he accidently kicked the kerb as we went to sit on a bench - ouch!

// Happy finishers

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, and I finally made the French onion soup I've been wanting to make for a little while. Today, which is the day after, my quads are feeling a little tight. I have hot yoga and then I'll do some foam rolling later.

The next race, which is an 8k will be the last in this series leading up to the 12k in November. I also have the last trail race this week and then Ekiden next month.