(EN) My data from the Two Oceans Ultra (56 km) - 23.04.2011

It's been my absolute desire to run a "sub 5" this year. Even if the Two Oceans was not only an event but also a "training run" for my Comrades in May, I had the desire not only to add the miles and go for this goal.

In 2010 I finished with 5h 13min, which equals a 5:35 min/km.

To finish sub 5, you have to run at least a 5:21 min/km. Taking the hills in the second half into account, you have to run faster at the flat and downhill sections.

The main uphill parts:
Chapmans Peak, km 28-34: 180 m uphill for 6 km
Constantia Nek, km 41-46: 215 m uphill for 5 km

In 2010 these two sections had cost me approx 10 min compared to running on a flat route.

Of course you can regain some time on the downhill after reaching the peak, but never as much as you lose on your way up.

My strategy: With an estimated 9 min more for the two uphills I calculated that I could regain 50% of this loss on the downhill parts. The remaining loss of 4.5 min had to be covered during the rest of the route. This means on the remaining 45 km (without the two hills) I had to be at least 6 sec/km faster than 5:21.

The result was a 5:15 min/km pace.

And this is the real result:

For 35 km I was faster than 5:15,
for 13 km I was not more than 10 sec slower than 5:15
for 8 km I was slower than 5:25.

The strategy did work out pretty well, since a 4h 54min is definitely a sub 5 ;)

I'm more than satisfied to see, that I did not crash down on the second half as in the past. At the half way mark I had 2h 24min on the clock. For the second half I needed another 2h 30min. If you take the hills into account, the 6 min are absolutely ok. My strategy, especially for the beginning of the race, seems to have worked well.

I was also able to controll my heart rate pretty well and even on the uphill sections there were only a few peaks beyond the 170 mark. The average heart rate for the full distance was 161.

I'll also write an article about the race itself within the next few days.