Yet another pre-race easy run where I felt utterly awful, couldn’t get any pace up, and just wanted to stop and was damn relieved, albeit breathing hard and hot and sweaty when I did stop.
Not sure how well this bodes for the race tomorrow – it could be psychological, as I know a race is coming, and feel there is not much to be gained by just trotting round, who knows?!
Am not really sure what’s up with me at the moment – have not slept well for over a week now – even when I do drop off, something wakes me within minutes, or I wake at 5 am, a few hours after nodding off, and can’t even catch up by lying in. Last night I was up at 2.15 am eating toast and ice cream (not at the same time!)
So I am a bit concerned about my back to back race week if I still haven’t slept by Weds 
Will just have to take it as it comes with the insomnia – I have periods like this and then it goes OK again.
As I was feeling very tired, decided to just do a nice slow run through the woods in the evening sunshine and take in some of the sights and sounds of the area.
Managed to keep a nice slow (over 6:00/k) pace all the way, and only got puffed coming up the Stockport Road hill, but felt good apart from groin chafing badly with new shorts, slowed right down at end and resisted temptation throughout to throw in some speed, making it a proper slow run although it was quick enough to end up with flies splattered all over my face, as I discovered when I looked in the mirror!!
Have just not been sleeping this week, and felt really tired all day after a night with 2 hours sleep and then a rather hectic day.
However, I had to run for a bus and it felt good, so I decided to get out for a short sharp three mile tempo run. For some reason set off at some weirdly fast pace and fartlekked the first k instead of warming up gently – just felt good so stretched the legs out and threw in a 3:45/k burst but I paid for it later and just ticked round then at just over 5 mins/k to make it an even tempo pace after that, averaging 5:10/k which was just about right, but felt a bit done in and right meniscus was niggling a bit but settled after a bit of a rub. Will rest tomorrow and hope to go for easy run with Laura on Sunday, then may run easy mon or tues before Weds race but if knee is playing up will take the uphills easy as don’t want to ruin chance of a sub 50 in sunday’s flatter course.
Upping the pace last week and Sunday’s long 10 miler seem to have hit me!
Felt tired all day yesterday so planned an easy 3 miler – was very hard work and shin/lower legs on left leg was complaining a bit, so a few days rest are in order – no major problems but I was glad to come to a stop and just need to take it easy before next week’s races so plan not to do anything too hard in the meantime as it will not do any good now, just need to keep things ticking over!
Lungs felt a bit tight and I was feeling a bit tired when I got up this morning, Guinea Pigs Rachel claims she has swine flu and I only saw her the other day, so I did wonder if I was starting with something horrible!
Also felt a bit sick and light headed drinking my morning coffee, so wondered about even running today never mind doing a 10 mile long run. So I thought I would set off and take my bus pass and some cash so I could always make an emergency stop and get back if I needed to!
It turned out to be a great run and any feelings of tiredness, nausea or tight-lungedness soon dissipated. I was targeting a sub 1 hr 30 time and felt good after a few k’s, and felt I could keep going around 5:30/k pace but I was running a new, more or less random route, and it turned out to have some monster hills! Very long and quite steep, as well as a shorter one in Vernon Park (which has some killer hills as part of my next 10k!) which I sprinted up and astonished this lad on his bike as I blasted bast! Good thing about the run was that the hills slowed me down, but I was able to resume pace once things flattened out again.
I was feeling good at 12k and thought I might be able to push a bit as I was behind schedule for the target time due to the hills, but I was on course for a certain 10 mile PB, until the long snaking hill back up into Bredbury, which I dealt with OK, but after nearly a mile of it getting steeper I had to walk for a couple of minutes and after that I was flagging for the rest of the run, and had to just keep the legs turning over, with the thought of stopping and raiding the Spa shop in the garage keeping me going. Ticked over only 20 seconds off my 10 mile PB in the end, but I regard this as my best 10 miler, as it was pretty hilly and the PB one was totally flat albeit along the canal – a route I am still avoiding after picking up my injury on it last year.
Appropriately raided the Spa for Gatorade, Monster Munch and chocolate then walked the last few miles home. I must take more cash next time as I could have done with an extra chocolate bar to sustain me 
Well the PB’s seem to keep coming in training – this 5 mile tempo run I wanted, after an initial warm up spell, to run at or around 5 mins per kilometer, as I am hoping to run one of my upcoming 10k races slightly faster than that in order to get under 50 minutes.
I set off with a 5:17 k and then sped up slightly, finding it tough to make the pace early on and wondering if I could keep it up for 5 miles. At some points I felt I needed to be going quicker as I felt I was slowing down, but those k’s ticked over in under 5 minutes, so although it was feeling harder, I was actually maintaining the tempo pace as the lactic acid in my legs built up to its threshold. By the last kilometre I thought I may well go sub 40 but that last k seemed quite long and I was feeling maxed out, but maintained the pace and still threw in a 4:48 last kilometre. All in all I had 5 of the 8 kilometres under 5 minutes, and under race conditions I should be able to maintain that pace for another 1.2 miles, which should result in a nice sub 50 either at Offerton (hilly, but who knows!) or the City of Manchester 10k. Did 40:01 for the 5 miles which is 1.5 minutes off my PB a couple of weeks ago
Some bloke on a forum has challenged me to run a sub 6 minute mile by July 2010. While this seems patently crazy for someone who spent 20 odd years smoking, drinking and doing other naughty things with various chemicals, I thought why not, I will give it a go, and it will be fun seeing how close I can get.
So today I decided to do a mile time trial just to see where my starting point is, having a previous mile best of 7:25. I planned my route as the same one for my 5k trials, as it is reasonably flat and traffic free, and any uphills and downhills cancel each other out in the course of the circuit.
Did a 8:22 warm up mile then walked for a bit, feeling almost as nervous as before a race! Got to my start off point, paused for a few moments, then hit the start button on the Garmin and blasted off. Nearly careened into a bunch of school yobbos but at that point was going at 3:29/k, which I couldn’t maintain and I slowed a bit as I settled into the middle part of the run, still going through the kilometre mark in 4:14 – the fastest kilometre I have run by about 20 seconds! I knew than I just had to keep going and I only had to keep going for another 600 metres or so, and in the end I staggered over the mile mark in 7 mins and a few tenths of a second, with which I was pleased, but also felt my lungs and heart rate were totally maxed out. So I walked for a bit then did a cool down mile in 9:30 and really couldn’t have run any more – but very nice to get the PB and now only a minute to shave off in the next year lol.
Will be interesting to see how close I get – today was hard, and I think it will get even harder the closer I get to the magical 6 minutes!
Just a nice easy recovery run, first time out since the Dennis the Menace Race on Wednesday. I have been feeling a bit tired last few days – in fact totally knackered not to put too fine a point on it (lot of stresses and strains like PC blowing up, legal bills and being messed around by people!) and lower legs had been aching a lot, but trotted round 5k at a reasonable pace unfortunately a fly shot right down my throat at one point which wasn’t pleasant! Felt very hot and puffed out by end, my easy recovery runs either seem flying or I struggle a bit but I think I just a bit tired from a busy week with other stuff as well.
This was my first 5 mile race, and the most local of all the races I have done – indeed, the pub they used for registration is just around the corner from my mum’s house, so after I got my number I jogged there to hydrate and warm up a bit while checking the mail as well.
I knew this was a multi terrain race and knew where the course was roughly. It had been raining so I knew there would be a bit of mud, but didn’t know what else to expect. Anyway, from previous race results I thought there would not be many entrants but there seemed to be quite a lot, so it appears the race is catching on and that’s good as it’s a special race to raise money for St Mary’s Neo Natal Unit and WIllow Wood Hospice (my mum spent some time there so it’s a worthy cause).
Anyway, they had a little kids race, then suddenly we were off too. I was already sweating from my warm up but felt good. I went off at sub 50 10k pace but quite soon I realised it was going to be more of an assualt course than a PB course! I was faced with mud, hills, grass, lake-like puddles, stiles, steps, more hills, huge mad dogs, and even a leap over a stream, and even queues for stiles at points (good job I hadn’t charged off in front of someone fast !!)
I really enjoyed it though, the best thing for me was that I was giving everything and when I hurt I kept going. I was astonished when I was one minute struggling to keep level with someone, but found some more, and then pulled away from them, and looked round to see they were a speck far behind – and then in front there was a speck which I reeled in. Best bit was taking people out on the hills, I just went mad and powered up them and was never overtaken after the first 2k. I enjoyed running it as a race in fact, and in the last 100 yards I was neck and neck with someone and although I felt half dead I found a sprint finish and managed to power on in front.
Will definitely do it again, a flat 5 mile road race would be handy for a PB though, he he, otherwise next up are my back to back 10k’s in 3 weeks, one of which is hilly, I think I will be doing more hill work in the meantime as I love taking them out on those hills
Easy Run just to keep legs turning over before tomorrow’s race.
