Posted on May 31, 2008 under 10-15k, Long Runs |
Having done 10k plenty of times now, I figured it’s time to start building up some distance stamina, so following the 10% rule, decided to do an 11k run today - and slowly build that up, mainly to build strength and stamina for my next 10k race, but also to push a few more personal boundaries and have some variety from working on running races faster (although am sure the distance runs will help with that too).
It was pretty hot and sunny and I had to drag myself out, but felt motivated once I’d done my walking warm up. I decided to set off at the start of the route where I first started running, and felt great as I picked off each spot where, back when I started, I used to stop out of breath and walk - and I picked the lot of them off before extending the run into unknown territory (at least as far as the geography is concerned - although nonetheless known to me from walks I take in the area). It was pretty hot and as usual for me, it took about 2k to settle into a rhythm and for my lungs to stop fighting for air, and I tried to maintain a slightly slower pace but realised I was running at 26min 5k pace, which was a bit too fast at my current stage. In any case, I got to a rather steep hill and carried on running up it, and I was going to carry on the trail, but the trees were thick overhead and I realised my Garmin would not be able to see thru all that foliage so I decided to come down a hill further on. Going up the hill was pretty painful and I felt like I was at the end of a 10k - my lungs were really fighting for air… But I carried on, and did a circuit of the lake, and was feeling pretty knackered by this point - but looking at my Garmin I hadn’t even reached 5k yet! I headed off back towards civilisation, which was slighly uphill, and tried to go slowly to recover a little - I kept cursing my Garmin as I would seem to cover ground, then check it, and it had hardly ticked over any distance at all (this is something psychological perhaps!). Anyway, I ticked off the first 5k in under 27 mins, but had to keep telling myself this run was for distance and speed/time was not so important, as it would be a distaster to me if I didn’t make my distance goal!
By the time I was getting back to near my house, I was starting to struggle and my pace had slowed - it was very hot. I was so tempted to stop at various points, and even considered stopping at 10k - but I tripped over 10k in about 58 mins, and just pushed on a 100 metres at a time until I finally stopped having done the 11k in about 1hr 05 mins, a pace of just under 6 minutes per k (not sure what that is in miles) - I was pleased with this, as previously I had struggled to maintain that kind of pace for 5k, so the training seems to be helping to get me running quicker for longer, which is what is needed - although just running quicker OR longer is enough some days.
Posted on May 28, 2008 under 5k, Tempo Runs |
First time I’ve done what’s called a tempo run - running moderately fast for an extended period in order to get used to running at near race pace. My idea was to run 5k at a faster pace than I have managed so far (29 mins), as I want to work towards maintaining this over 10k to get a vastly improved time in my next race (City of Manchester 10k in July).
Weather was pretty cold and rain threatening - put on my winter jogging pants and top as it seemed cold enough, but once I’d warmed up I braved my shorts and running top! Went off a little slower as I’d promised myself in last blog entry, although not that slowly, had to remind myself to slow down a little more, and as is usual for me, got quite puffy after about 1k. I generally only get into a real rhythm and feel comfortable after 3 k/15 minutes, so getting that to happen more quickly is something I need to work on if I want to concentrate on 5k and 10k runs (which I do for now, predominantly 10k, which may give me a little more time to make up pace on the mid and end stages of races)
Anyway, I got going and felt ok getting up to 2.5k, and then checking my Garmin I seemed to be on schedule to smash my 29 mins, so I got to a pace I felt I could maintain and kept going, only had a slight hitch crossing road as I had to stop for a bit (which probably added 10-20 seconds to my finish time).
Over last 2k I pushed hard, I was breathing hard and probably at 90% capacity, but felt exhilarated and when I crossed the virtual 5k line and pushed the stop button on my Garmin, I had done 26 mins 06, a vast improvement on my 29 mins last time I did 5k (and had broken 26 minutes if I allow for the road crossing stop!). According the the various race calculators, I should already be well on target for my first goal of a sub 55 in my next race - but with a month still to train, perhaps I can really build on what I’ve achieved so far, and who knows what the race may produce if I keep improving at this rate. I plan a slower 12k run next, as have not done any more than 10k before (but done it quite a few times now), followed by a 10k to see how I maintain a slightly quicker pace over that distance.
Posted on May 24, 2008 under 10k, Regular Runs |
First time I have run 10k since the Great Manchester run last Sunday. Had run 5k in the week, trying for extra pace, and it took it out of me without actually managing to run any faster over 5k than I did over 10k a few days before.
So today went back to my strategy of starting off quite slowly and building up, intended to run 10k but not kill myself. It was sunny but a little chilly and very blustery. Started to feel a little puffy after 2k but settled into a rhythm, and when I checked my time for 5k I had knocked off 2 minutes of my previous split of 29 mins, just over 27 mins, but still another 5k to go! Started to feel a little tired but kept going, although my pace slowed considerably for a few k’s, and I took a bit of a wrong turning on my usual route so ended up covering some more uphill terrain than usual, and had the usual stiles and grass to jump over and wade through, before I got to my flat finishing stretch in the woods, where I pushed hard over the last 2k, and was happy to press the stop button and slow down to a walk as my Garmin ticked over to 10k completed! Felt like I had been in a race all over again, but enjoyed a warm down walk back to my house, despite it being very windy.
Managed to knock 7 seconds off my race time of the week before, and a couple of minutes off my best training time.
Next part of it for me is to now get into that 5k 27 mins pace and maintain it for 10k, so I can break the 55 minutes for the first time (in training at least!). I will run a 5k in a couple of days (am at cricket for 2-3 days so usual routine is trashed) and work on pacing and speed a little more, but keep to my rule of starting off slow - as I find the quicker I start off, the slower my time ends up being!
