Diary Of A Road Runner

8k Regular Run – Freezing, Pouring, Windy! 42m 38s

I’ve still not slept well, had some work stress late last night and ended up in bed late and tired but couldn’t drop off, very sluggish on waking, didn’t want to get up. Did eat better yesterday though.  Had a slight issue with guts before I set off – must be carrying something!

Didn’t want to go out to run at all especially in weather, having got used to the milder weather of earlier – now facing freezing cold, gusty wind and pouring rain – but forced myself again (as I will have to get used to it!) and started to feel my old self once I’d got past 4k and warmed up a bit, and even got a bit annoyed with myself and sprinted up a hill to get the endorphins flowing. Was planning 7k but threw in an extra k to make it 8 and threw in a speedy last 300 metres.

Managed average pace of 5:20 per k, which is faster than my comeback run over 5k at the weekend, so I am coming backfor real now – felt knackered by the end of this one though. But glad to get back into the over 5k territory and will slowly build back up

5k Regular Run – pouring rain – 25m 53s

Had not slept much over the weekend (I had a horrible case of RLS for some reason), so I was feeling tired and unmotivated and had to force myself out of the door into a cold grey day and had to force myself to start running!

I was pretty ok once I started, albeit breathing hard, and the legs were turning over a lot quicker than in the last 5k I did on Sat, so without really trying I ran under 26 mins on what was planned as just a nice easy paced run. It started pouring down second half of run and I couldn’t keep rain out of my eyes! I think I need a few more 5k’s under the belt before I really get going again, felt a bit knackered at the end of this, but then again could be down to the lack of sleep and had no appetite at all yesterday and didn’t eat much over the weekend. Cold going round so maybe I am symptomlessly fighting it off.

5k Recovery Run – Fairly Sunny – 27m 31s

I’ve had 8 rest days out of the last 9 days, and the only run out of that was my PB race – so I figured it was high time I got back out on the road before I lost my motivation altogether, as it would be all to easy to sink into lazy habits!

Planned a 5k jog around random streets. It felt a bit cold to start with but soon warmed up and the sun seemed to be beating down.  Pace was nothing special but legs were feeling a bit heavy.  This was my first run of my “off” season – I have no races planned, and the next 10k (my preferred race distance at the mo) looks like being not until next year. It was a bit strange running without the motivation of an upcoming race and the possibility of a PB – so just made sure I completed 5k, and think I will need another few recovery runs like this back to back just to get back into the swing of things, before I start attempting time trials and hill work and long runs again

Boggart Chase 10k Race – Hot & Sunny – 51m 40s PB!

This was a race I had been a bit apprehensive about, not least because I had been feeling so tired earlier in the week. I took 3 days off running to try to let my energy levels return to normal, and concentrated on some other stuff. I was also thinking the nature of the course (undulating) would prevent me from another PB, just when I was on a roll!

The race started at 11:15, so I had ordered my taxi for 10. I got there with plenty of time to spare and managed to locate the toilets. I also had chance to enjoy watching the 3k fun run for young athletes before getting myself geared up for the main event. I did some stretches and for a minute thought I had damaged my hamstring but it was just a spasm as I managed to go and jog around the track a few times, and after a few trips to the loo it was time to be under starters orders!

This was quite a small race compared to some I’ve done, so I milled around near the back of the pack as usual, and then the horn went. Starting off on the track was a bit confusing – we did 2 and a bit laps before heading off on to the road, so I asked this lady I was passing if it was all on the track, lol! I set off pretty slowly, trying not to go off madly, and just get into a rhythm, as I knew some hills were coming and didn’t want to blow up half way through the race. Off we went on to the road and things were already thinned out where I was. A veteran lady (Louise Gilchrist) I have seen at other races came past me, and we headed into the park, down something of a slope, as I clocked the first k in 4:39, and then another couple of ladies overtook me, then we reached the first hill, where I powered up and overtook the ladies and the veteran, and left them behind, as well as leaving behind some people who were clearly knackered by the top of the hill and I must admit my legs felt a bit wobbly, but I just carried on trying to maintain my pace. Weaving around the park was lovely, it was lovely and sunny but I was feeling pretty hot already, just kept reminding myself of all the training, and just to keep going.

Further on, the veteran lady and the other two ladies came past me again as we went round an out and back cone extension thing, and then we got to the biggest hill of the course and I took them again there and left them behind again. Just after the cone extension there were some small dogs wandering around off leads, the marshall nearby had obviously told this woman to leash them, because she was yelling, “Yeah, I’m selfish aren’t I, you miserable, nasty old bast&*$”. I’m sure she would have been delighted if a runner had run into one of the beasts injuring the thing. By that point I had been running sub 50 pace, my splits for the first 3-4 k were all under 5 minutes but the hills were double whammies – first slowing me going up them, and then the sapping effect they had on legs and energy, so about k’s 6. 7 and 8 I lost quite a bit of time. I kept digging deep, and there were some people in the distance in front of me who I caught over the last 2k. The ladies and veteran caught me again, but I left them on the hill again, and thereafter I overtook some people and there was one chap I clung to like glue but he still passed the line a second before me – the hills had taken it out of my legs, and although I was motoring the last 200m, I couldn’t really call it a sprint! I stopped the Garmin at 51:40 – and was amazed that I had had taken a chunk off my PB again – when the last PB was gained on a flat PB course in perfect conditions

My Garmin went a bit haywire in the last 2k – it was clocking k’s just shy of the markers all the way round, and then towards the end it showed 8.4k, and next time I looked it had gone down to 8.27, and was stuck at 8.5 when I went past the 9k marker. Figure it must have been the extesive foliage overhead, as I don’t have a supersensitive GPS model, just the old Forerunner 101! Still, it did me good for the time and the early splits – I know now on a flat course, I can run sub 50 pace for the first 5k, and without hills to sap my speed and energy, I feel confident I could maintain that for another 5k. Now I just need another 10k race, but there may not be one until the spring, so it’s time to look at my winter strategy and I aim to smash through 50 minutes first race back next season

5k Easy Run – random streets – 27m 21s

I had been feeling tired the night before and all the morning before this run, and in fact didn’t really relish the thought of going out running at all But I thought a nice easy 5k jog would shake off the lethargy, so off I went, and although I felt OK, I didn’t feel great – and after finishing 5k in a very leisurely 27+ minutes, my lungs were working overtime, my legs were dead, and I was sweating like a pig on what was a pretty cool day – and still felt very tired for the rest of the day. I can run 5k 3 minutes faster than that and feel 3 times better when I’ve finished so unless I’m coming down with an illness I conclude the following:

It seems the recent race and hard training miles all coming one after another have finally caught up! I was going to run easy on Friday, but might try to gain something from a full 2 days rest before a light jog on Saturday before Sunday’s race. Or I may even take 3 days off altogether, as my body is telling me it needs to recover, and there is no point being knackered for what could well be my last race for sometime!

Lesson learned: Increasing mileage and including hard hill reps leaves you needing a rest, so I am going to take one, and try to catch up on sleep and eat well

5k Easy Run – St Lawrence Road random streets – 26m 43s

Just a nice easy/recovery run after last week’s hard miles (total of 23 miles for the week including longest run and hill work). Felt fine with no hangover effects from long run or mileage.

17km Long Run – Sunny – Canal towards Marple – 1h 43m 07s

First really long run in a couple of weeks, and at 17k or about 10.5 miles, the longest I have done to date!

There was a carnival parade on outside my house, so I took a detour round some back streets instead of heading straight down the road to the woods. This got me nicely warmed up though. I was planning to do 8 miles, but to carry on beyond that if I felt like doing more, so I got to the canal trail heading towards Marple, and whereas last time I had turned back at the long tunnel (Woodley Tunnel), this time I braved this dark and dank 160 metre long affair, with a nice splash into God knows what in the pitch darkness near the middle of the tunnel! Running through a dark tunnel with uncertain footing was certainly a test, but I kept going and made it through to daylight!

I decided to keep going along the interminable canal path until I got to 10k, and then turn back – anything else was madness, as the path goes on for many miles and branches off onto other canal networks further on, so I didn’t want to get carried away and strand myself!

I was feeling good all this time, and even managed little bursts of extra pace now and then, but was generally going very slowly (about 6 mins per k). On the way back I did start to look forward to stopping, and by the time I got to the 17k mark, I considered carrying on up Stockport Road to make it a round 11 miles, but decided my legs had had enough without adding a steep hill into the equation, and I think I was right as my legs felt very wobbly on the 10 minute walk home.

All in all a good run and didn’t feel too bad afterwards, apart from feeling pretty sleepy a few hours later!

5K Time Trial – Warm Day – 24m 14s PB!

Today it was back to my regular (weekly if possible) 5k time trial as haven’t done one for a bit with races and stuff.

I did a bit of jogging to get warmed up, then set off, aiming to go hard and keep going somehow! I managed to run a fairly even pace, towards the end I thought I might break 24 minute barrier if I went hell for leather but Garmin seemed to tick distance over slower the faster I went and I ended up at 24:14 – still a PB by some 25 seconds but still needs work as I feel I should be improving faster!

Splits for this run were:

4:51
5:02
4:41
4:58
4:42

I hope to include my splits now I’ve figured out how to set it up on my Garmin Forerunner 101 (can’t afford the Garmin 405 and besides the kit I’ve got does me just fine for what I want it to do!

10k’s Worth of Hill Work – 54m 51s

Seeing as my next 10k is described as “undulating” I thought I’d better put in some hill work.

Weather cold to start off with, but sun came out about half way – went off quite slowly, 2nd k downhill was quick, then the hard hill reps began! Felt I went quicker up the hill than last time I did this routine, of course it hurt going up the hill but I held it together and even went for a fourth lap, but ended up only going half way down and back up the hill again (less severe incline at the top) as I could tell I was getting pretty tired – still managed to put on a little burst at the end until slowly jogging down to the 10k mark.

Recovery Run in the cold and grey! 5k 26m 23s

Easy recovery run after Trafford 10k on Sunday. Found a lap’s worth of streets going down Town Lane and leading back to Stockport Road.

Legs and CVS system still felt fresh – no hangover from racing. Ran a pretty mixed pace run, started off a bit quickly, did a kilo as slow as 5:30 but went quicker for short bursts, slowed down for the last one, completed 5k in 26 23. Felt fine and could easily have gone quicker for longer – but it was an easy recovery run!