long run

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Creatures of habit – Hatuma time again

Date: 17 September 2017
Distance: 21.1km (+11.1km)
Time: 2:25.28 (+1:16)
Previous: 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016

Photo by Nicole Patterson. After about 7km, things were still going well.
Lake Hatuma in the back.
A beautiful run out in the country.
Photo by Caroline Williams.

For our fifth running of the Hatuma Lime Half Marathon, we decided to add a few kilometres before the event start to get to 32km. It might be partially psychological, but I like to do a 32km long-run three or four weeks out from a marathon. Luckily the event was on so we only had to add 11kms to make up the distance. Continue reading →

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In it for the long haul – Manawatu Striders Winter Series

Date: 26 July 2015

Distance: 15km

Time: 1:39

At the start, Kevin getting ready to get the show on the road.
Running along the Bridle Track.
The track was still in the shade, making for a rather chilly start to the run.
Beautiful tranquil Palmy on a lovely sunny morning.
David making sure everybody goes where they should.
On Massey campus, a small uphill stretch before looping around a car park and back down.
Another out-and-back stretch, making for a more social run.
The only water point, nicely positioned so you pass it twice.
We were too late/slow for the biscuits, but coffee and tea were still on offer.

The weekend long-run is probably the most important item in your weekly schedule on your way to fitness. Without the long-run, your endurance will not improve. Especially for okes like us who like to go far and long.

Not wanting to miss out on the Manawatu Strider’s Winter Series 15km event (which was too short for our build-up to the Taupo marathon), our only option was to fit in another few kilometres before the start of the Striders’ event. Wanting to cover about 30km, we could either do the course twice, or just do our own thing on a different path. We opted for the latter, and at about 7:30 in the morning we started out from the race start-and-finish area, heading out west through the Esplanade, past the swimming pool, turning onto the Bridle track at the Holiday Park, and ran all the way to the far end of the track and back to where we started. From the Holiday Park to the end of the track is 7.5km, so out and back is a nice 15km run. Continue reading →