Archives for Distance category
Posted on Feb 05, 2012 under 5-10k, 5k, All Weather Running, Easy Runs |
Wanted to get a run in despite the snowy weather, so kept an eye on the melting snows outside as running in snow can be rather tricky! The powdery stuff is OK, but once it freezes it can be very treacherous and I wouldn’t want to risk my dodgy knee springing out of its socket, never mind a broken neck or a flat face!
I was a bit wary when I finally got out as the pavement felt very slippery. I saw a poor lass wobbling all over the place just trying to walk and had thoughts of abandoning the run. But I found a long stretch of quiet back street with very little traffic which was clear of ice and just nice black tarmac, so although it wasn’t ideal decided to run up and down that, abandoning any thoughts of a tempo or time trial pace to get under 29 mins.
Felt good so settled into a comfortable pace, got to the extreme end of the road then turned back, whereupon there emerged a mass exodus of church goers from the church that’s got a roof like the Sydney Opera House. Suddenly there were 4 wheel drives everywhere and running down the middle of the road was suddenly not an option!
Rather than get killed by these crazy people, I took a detour and found another stretch of road, which saw me passing a house several times, the smell of which suggested that the occupants, if not baking, were just very, very baked… Also passed a young chap who smelled of a similar substance, and noticed some youths playing snowballs in the (locked) playground.
Had to dodge a few cars and ended up running on the pavement slush anyway, it wasn’t really that bad, although the having to run gingerly made me feel rather heavy legged and I couldn’t get any pace up, so my finishing time was a dismal 33:20, but understandable since I was running in snow.
All in all it was quite fun, though will be glad to see the back of the snow so I can try to work on my pace, as running at speed in the conditions would not have been a great idea!
Posted on Jan 26, 2012 under 5-10k, 5k, Tempo Runs |
Set off at a briskish pace and had to slow a little since I knew I needed to warm up my legs and lungs. Felt fine at about 2k though was still heading for over 30 mins, increased the pace and after a frustrating stop at a main road crossing sped up quite a bit.
Felt I might be in with a shout of sub 29:30 but not even a last frantic 5:35 minute km could get me there, although the last 3 kms were all under 6 minutes and I had an average pace of 5:57. Looks like the 29 minute barrier is going to be significant and the heady days of running sub 25 are still some distance away, so that remains a goal to reach by the spring!
Posted on Jan 15, 2012 under 5-10k, 5k, Tempo Runs |
Had spent Saturday dog sitting for a friend, and was up early this morning, and hadn’t really planned a run, but I had some time to spare so decided to get out and do a quick 5k. The weather was very cold so for the first time I put on gloves, and also my Nike running beanie, to keep out the cold a bit.
As I walked out of the house a lady runner jogged passed, and as the Garmin found a signal very quickly I elected to see if I could catch up to her, as she seemed to be heading in my planned direction anyway, and it took my mind off how cold it was. So I set off at a bit of a pace, nothing too crazy, and could see myself steadily eating away at the distance, which started off at about 300m. I clocked the first KM in 6:07 so was going a bit faster than recently, but nothing too mad.
In any case, I was soon catching up my unofficial pacemaker, my lungs and legs were starting to work, and I was ready to switch up another gear and go flying past her. At this point, she looked around to cross the road, saw me, and must have read my mind or thought I was a mugger, as she just went kind of whooooosh! and legged it up the incline far faster than I was willing to go. At that point she went left and I turned right, so I hope she enjoyed the rest of her run 
There was a big downhill for me to coast down then, and I was warmed up by this point so the gloves and hat came off and I settled into a pace that was comfortably hard, although the uphills made it seem very hard at times. At one point I felt I might have to stop after a steep incline but carried on, and felt that sub 30 was really on the cards, but I would have to maintain the pace, so I pushed as hard as I could and breathed deeply to feed my legs and heart with oxygen!
A glance at the Garmin and I knew I was going to do it with plenty of time to spare, I trotted to a stop and stopped the Garmin, and saw that I’d not only done it under 30 mins, but under 29:30 too in 29:29, which is among my fastest times for 5k since my injury last year. Still haven’t gone sub 29 since last summer so that will be the next target, and I will continue to mix up longer slower runs and shorter faster runs for the time being, before starting to think about race season and speed work and intervals!
Posted on Jan 11, 2012 under 5-10k, 5k, Regular Runs |
Still not sleeping well lately, but I heard magnesium and calcium can be good for insomnia so I got my Boots double points and threshold tokens and stocked up on my vitamins and minerals, including some iron, and will see if this helps!
Meanwhile, back to the running, it had been raining earlier and not having slept was in two minds about a run, but knowing that this weekend I have some things on where I can’t run, I thought I’d better get at least a short sharp run in, so got my jogging pants and top on and ventured out.
It felt quite mild, and had stopped raining, so as soon as the Garmin found a signal I set off at what felt like a fairly brisk pace – however the first km ticked over in 6:40 so it seemed to be my usual pattern of thinking I am running slower or faster than I really am continues! I felt good and seemed to speed up in reality after that, posting two sub 6 min kms as part of the run, including the last one which was 5:47. I had hoped to get under 31 minutes once I got going and felt ok, but had to motor hard in that last km to make it with just 10 seconds to spare.
Next target is to break 30 minutes again, and will factor in a few longer runs now I seem to be back from the colds and distractions of Christmas.
Meanwhile, I have assignments to do for my Uni Course too!
Posted on Jan 08, 2012 under 5k, Regular Runs |
Just a quiet Sunday 5k – was dark but didn’t feel all that cold. Had sleeping pill last night as been sleeping atrociously, so may have been a bit of hangover from that, but managed to trot round, no fireworks but a run’s a run!
Posted on Jan 04, 2012 under 5-10k, 5k |
Christmas and New Year seem to have really messed with my sleeping patterns (despite not partying, drinking, staying up, etc – just the change in normal routine has been enough!) and the pre-Christmas cold didn’t help with my running routine either!
So after my aborted attempt on New Year’s Day, I decided I needed to get out there and at least run more than 1.2KM or whatever it was, so I had porridge for early breakfast then hummus on toast and peanut butter for a light lunch, and set off for an early afternoon jog.
Was pouring down to start with so was glad to get going, maintained a steady sedate pace and was soon having to wipe rain out of my stinging eyes. When I got to 3k I was feeling puffy and a bit wobbly but managed to keep going, and ended up doing the 5k in a not altogether too bad 31:13, considering I just plodded along for the most part and the weather was truly awful.
Will no try to maintain a schedule and hopefully the running today will help me sleep later!
Posted on Dec 27, 2011 under 5-10k, 5k, Easy Runs, Health |
First a cold stopped me dead, only lasted a mere 3-4 days, but running with a cold that was a bit chesty was out of the question, and then all my Christmas gatherings took over. Liz had an injured hip so our run around Tatton Park had been called off anyway (may have been just as well, our get together was delayed as it was when her car battery conked out at Sainsbury’s just before she was due to pick me up!).
In any case, Christmas came and went, and on the day after Boxing Day, decided a few days of bad sleep and fatigue might be helped by getting back to the running, so I went out into the relatively mild evening air and set off at a very sedate pace. Felt good at 1k, but just kept it nice and slow, and by 3k was starting to feel it. Had to hang on a bit for the final half a k and was ready to stop by then, but the enforced break doesn’t seem to have done too much harm and in a few runs time I should be flying again and attacking that 29 minute mark and raising my distance to 10k soon!
Posted on Dec 14, 2011 under 5-10k, 5k, Tempo Runs |
Bit of a weird run, as on my last 5k outing I was trying to slow down and ran quicker than on this run, where when I felt comfortable I was trying to speed up!
Think the first KM was a bit long, set off with a purpose and ran hard all the way, with the intention of getting sub 29, so felt a bit cheated when I was almost 20 seconds over instead. Ran the first 3 kms all slower than the last 5k, the saving grace was a 5:35 last KM where I was able to put on a consistent burst of faster pace.
Thought I might actually do it when the Garmin said 4.92 with 15 seconds to go, but almost 30 seconds later the Garmin finally bleeped and so did I! Felt good to feel like I was running at a faster pace even if I wasn’t actually going any quicker for most of the run.
Will need to try to fit in another couple of runs this week if possible.
Saw some nice Christmas lights, one had a whole 3D Santa’s Sleigh lit up outside the front of their house.
Posted on Dec 01, 2011 under 5-10k, 5k, Regular Runs, Tempo Runs |
Not run since my 4 miler on Sunday, and had a quiet slot this afternoon, so went out for first daytime run in a while.
Seemed pretty cold as I set off, having had to fiddle with Garmin as had somehow got it set on bike/kmph mode without having touched the settings!
Felt I was going a bit quick and the first k ticket over in 6:01 – not far off my fastest pace of late, and I tried to slow it down but ended up putting in consistently under 6 minutes for the next 4k, including a couple of 5:36 kms which is pretty fast for me at this stage so it can be called a tempo run I think! Slowed in the final km as this pace took its tool and it took me a while to recover, but I do seem to be picking up with every run, and hopefully th 2 month layoff won’t have taken off too much fitness, and I definitely feel I am running more comfortably than I was over the summer!
Posted on Nov 24, 2011 under 5-10k, 5k, Milestones, Season's Best |
Am not really going out to try to run faster, but just run how I feel, but seem to be getting a bit quicker on each run. This run was a bit of a different route than of late, taking in a gentle incline and a big downhill before some gradual uphill and downhill running and more uphill with flat to finish. The downhill probably wiped out the uphills, so may have not had much impact on overall time, but ran a little quicker than last 5k and felt fine.
Even overtook one bloke who I caught up with from some distance, mind you he was running with a backpack and was probably running 20 miles but it was a change from being overtaken and felt like there was a bit of speed back in my legs.
A long way to go till I am pushing sub 25 for 5k, but am at least running again and seem to be doing so fairly comfortably at the moment!
