Diary Of A Road Runner

5 Mile Tempo Run – 40:01 – PB!

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

Dennis the Menace 5 Mile Multi Terrain Race Report – 41:50(ish)

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

5 mile Tempo Run – 41:47

Not bad in almost 80 degree mid day heat, a five miler I set off at 5:08 and even blasted one sub 5 minute k, had to slow down a bit but all in all kept up a nice tempo (even my jog was at sub 5:30/k pace so managed to just keep it going).

Think it was a good run despite being slower than last five miler – I will consider it warm weather training, certainly made me work hard and I kept going even though I at one point decided to give up at 7k!

5 Mile Tempo Run – 41:29

5 mile tempo run, started off with a sedate 1.5k warmup before kicking up to a faster pace. Tried to push the pace harder at points but never went into real top gear, with a fastest k of 4:54 but some slower ones too, so didn’t manage a sub 40 five mile, but did get a PB by over a minute

5 Mile Easy Evening Run – 50 mins

My niece is a bit ill lately so is taking a break from her training, I had held off running today to see if she was up to it; as she wasn’t, I ended up going for a run in the early evening sunshine. Intended to run aroun 6 mins per k and started off at 5:59, then slowed a bit due to inclines and wooden steps in hills! Took the scenic route which was nice, and running at a slow pace was almost like walking used to be, felt I could just keep going, although would feel a bit puffy after hills.

Saw more runners around than I normally do in my daytime runs! I am doing the Dennis the Menace 5 mile race in June so a few evening runs will be good preparation, but took it really nice and easy today.

Hamstring seemed to twinge a bit when I did a burst of race pace for a few 100 metres, but doesn’t seem to be anything major. Think I will rest for a couple of days before another easy 5 miler, and then prepare for the Great Manchester Run 2009!

Medium Paced 5 miler – 42:43 PB

After getting a 5k PB the other day I felt I needed an easier run, but a little longer, so opted for a nice easy five miler, although I guess it ended up being my 5 mile PB even though I wasn’t running for a time.

Good thing was, I ran it much easier than my last five miler, felt better, and did it several minutes quicker, including a couple of later K’s where I unconsciously ran nearly at race pace without trying.

Definite improvments in speed and endurance lately – starting to get excited about the Great Manchester Run now, if I can weave around the Scooby Doos and Marshmallows quickly enough, I may well PB and go sub 50, in fact I know I can do it! Just depends on the speed of the runners around me and if I get crowded I think, but it might work in my favour if I take the outgoing half quite easy then go full pelt on the way back into Manchester