Archives for 10-15k category
Posted on Mar 18, 2013 under 10-15k, Club Runs, Long Runs |
Not been to the Sweatshop Running group in Hyde for a while due to my work commitments, but a rare free Monday evening saw me champing at the bit! Setting off reminded me of runs just before Christmas in the middle of winter, so cold was it, my hands were going numb waiting for the bus – hard to believe it’s mid March, spring needs to get a move on!
Anyway my plan was to double up and do both the 5k and 10k runs. There was a nice greeting when I walked in the shop from some familiar friendly faces and I enjoyed catching up with some people, then we were off for this “flatish” affair that had some suspicious hillyish bits thrown in. Ended with a nice run along the old railway lines at Hyde where I discovered a different exit route to the one I was expecting!
Then it was back to the shop and attempted to keep warm and supple while waiting for the next run to start, and then off we went, with the darkness almost fully descended now, I felt I was starting off at a good pace but people I used to run with were off miles in front their training has obviously been paying off! Was wary of trying to go too fast and make the same mistakes as before, with injury or just blowing up, so reigned my speed in quite a bit, sometimes running at the back or moving up and down. By the end was feeling it in my lungs and legs but maintained form, and even managed a spurt of speed up Norbury Street or whatever it’s called (just a long steepish hill!), and made it up the hill, then eased down on the last few 100 yards to the shop, not wanting to risk an injury with some pointless sprint finish.
So with both runs was 15k or roundabout 9 miles ish, not bad, and no problems with my legs apart from a bit of tiredness!! Good to be back and hope my schedule allows me back some more soon!
Posted on Mar 10, 2013 under 10-15k, All Weather Running, Long Runs, Milestones, Trail Running |
Time for the Sunday long run, and for a spring day in March the weather was a bit grim – blowing a strong icy wind, freezing cold. Still, the sun was out and shades went on, but only managed to sweat and feel warm when shielded from the wind at brief times in the woods.
Started off towards Hyde, went past Sweatshop and glanced in the window but didn’t see anyone, then headed up to the old railway tracks and ran to the end out towards the hills, then all the way back to Denton. Bumped into a number of friendly dogs and a chap who asked for directions to the canal paths, to get to a pub outing with some mates, I was a bit lost at the time so just told him to head for Gibraltar Bridge and he could get the canal from there.
Got quite muddy in places and the ascent up Stockport Road was a bit of a killer, but made it, then trundled and plodded the last km and rounded off to 13k, or just over 8 miles, just as the Garmin was about to die!
Posted on Mar 03, 2013 under 10-15k, Health, Long Runs, Milestones, Trail Running |
Something of a Sunday long run, and just under 7 miles is certainly quite long considering my breaks due to injury lately. Was nice to get a substantial distance under my belt, and felt good, though the first few K and the last few were quite tough, in different ways.
Set off down Town Lane, plan was to run out to Reddish Vale and see how I got on. Felt pretty cold to start with, and took it easy, enjoying the the uneven ground and the greenery around me. Bumped into a bunch of vans who looked like they were getting ready for pony trekking, then began the descent to the park, where I started to feel a bit odd, and had to stop for a moment as my heart felt slightly odd and I felt a tingling in my fingers. I put my hand on it and it seemed to have a weird fluttery extra beat, which occasionally happens at rest. I walked for a little while and it went back to normal, and I carried on slowly, and felt no ill effects after this, despite going uphill after this.
I took a few detours and ended up going uphill into Reddish, did a loop of some houses and got a bit lost so went back the way I came, through the park, and then the climb back to Denton, passing ponies along the way. The long steady incline had me working hard and by the time I got to Town Lane I was starting to drag a bit, a chap sweeping his path pulled aside and said “won’t get in the way of your training, stay cool mate,” so I gave him a thumbs up and dug in for the last couple of km. Was just about out of steam by 11k, and petered out, but was nice to have been out running for well over an hour with no niggles, and at times was running as fast as 10 minute miles! Will work on that, one run at a time, for the moment I am just enjoying getting out and enjoying the trails, will be even nicer when the sun pops out!
Posted on Jan 13, 2013 under 10-15k, All Weather Running, Jogs, Long Runs |
Approx 6.5 miles on a very cold dark night with the sleet coming down.
Ran to Ashton via Cemetery Road/Asda, then looped all the way back to Denton, added a little extra on to make it above 10k. Struggled in places but had just warmed up at the end, when it was time to get back indoors!
Posted on Jan 05, 2013 under 10-15k, Long Runs, Milestones, Slow Runs |
Been running but couldn’t be a*sed updating this blog for a while – too much going on! Might just do a short entry for each run from now on, unless I feel like writing more.
First run of the year, after a New Year’s Eve run with Sweatshop Hyde, where I seemed to run a bit faster than of late (was nice to be near the front instead of languishing at the rear).
In any case, set off tonight aiming to do over 5 miles, went via Dane Bank and Reddish out towards Stockport then turned back, at which point started to feel very energy depleted. Had to find a cash machine and grab a bottle of gatorade from a shop. When I got to 12k had visions of running 10 miles, but when I went up the motorway bridge near Sainsburys I had to just stop, my legs suddenly went to jelly. It was all I could do to keep going very slowly and was just feeling worse and worse, so stopped the clock at 13.22km, or 8.21 miles, and went to the nearest shop for a drink and a snack to replenish my failing reserves.
My niggly leg held up well – and this is the furthest I have run since my injury in September, so very positive despite imploding at the end!
Posted on Aug 14, 2012 under 10-15k, Club Runs, Fartlek, Regular Runs, Trail Running |
Another Monday, and time to head out to the Sweatshop Running Community again! Was a nice day but threatened rain when I set off, and my plan was to run very easy after struggling last week, since the hard run on Monday.
The best laid plans often change though, I set off slowly and tried to keep my pace down but still ended up near the front, though was mindful not to try to keep up with the very front runners until I had got properly warmed up. Quite a few people had raced at the weekend and were taking it easy, so I just jogged along for a while, and we had fun going the wrong way and then having to catch up, which was fun!
Once we got into the run I started to pick up pace and kept nearer the front, I find these runs are more fartlek than anything for me, as I seem to get a real mix of pace from easy to tempo to sprinting with the odd rest stop and on this route some hills, so I suppose it’s good for going through different heart rate zones, not that I measure such things!
When we got to Mill Lane we were given a choice of going through the woods or the quicker route back to base, I elected to go the longer way, aware that this involved the steps and a fair few big hills at the climax! As I had been running quicker in bursts, I started to feel this extra distance and fell back a little at times, conserving my energy, but maintaining form, and gritting my teeth!
The last 3 hills up to Church Street (I think it’s called, there always seem to be church bells ringing when I run up those three big slopes, or maybe it’s just my heart hammering in my ears!) were very tough, and a few people pulled away from me, I felt I had nothing left and was really gasping, my legs turning to rubber, and I honestly felt I might die any second. Then as we crested the hill and reached flat ground, I had my moment of what must have been Mo Mania, as I just couldn’t resist accelerating and sprinting the last 2 or 3 hundred yards and seemed to find this burst of energy out of nowhere! One of the top runners came pelting past me and I worked really hard to stay in touch, even though the pain was excruciating by this point, real oxygen debt spreading through my body. Got a tap on the arm from the coach and a well done, which was nice, and I think those sorts of finishes on runs are really going to pay dividends in the last stages of the City of Salford 10k, I could perhaps knock half a minute off going at that pace, which might make all the difference to a PB one day!
Need an easy run and a longer run this week. The good news is the niggles that I felt at last Monday’s run and the day after have disappeared, so the few days off seem to have had the desired effect!
Thanks again to everyone at SRC, is really fun running with you all 🙂
Posted on Aug 06, 2012 under 10-15k, Club Runs, Regular Runs |
Another Monday and time to head off to the Sweatshop in Hyde for the running group.
When I got there the shutters were down, turned out the owner had gone out with the 5k group, but they opened it up again when the 5k group got back, was a bit of hanging around while some new people sorted out there cards and others got their new t-shirts. There were quite a lot of new people.
Set off at the front at a very easy pace, and got a bit confused at first when we ended up along the canal, stopped, and people started running back, so then I ended up near the back, and there wasn’t much room to overtake without danger of a swim in the canal! Got back to the front, feeling comfortable, then went the wrong way and had to backtrack so ended up at the back again.
Started to work a bit harder midway through the run, attacking hills and putting in some bursts of speed, then taking advantage of leads I developed to take a rest while waiting for the rest of the group. About 5k in I started feeling a twinge in my left leg so slowed a bit, which seemed to ease it, and also felt my back hurt going up a hill, so just took it easy for a while.
At one of the rest points one of the ladies asked for a drink of my water to help her swallow a fly which had only got half way, lol… pesky insects!
At the last stage we went the long way back, including the steps and the hills up from the canal. I attacked the hills and maintained my pace, then started to struggle a bit up the last hill. Then when I came off the top of it I found another gear and sprinted the last 400 metres to the shop.
Think 2-3 rest days are in order, especially as I was feeling a bit niggly in the run and don’t want to overdo it with only a month to go till the City of Salford 10k!
Posted on Aug 01, 2012 under 10-15k, Injuries, Milestones, Trail Running |
After my first outing to the Sweatshop running group, related here, I elected to try the Monday “improvers” group for a while and have enjoyed running up hills and down dales, and have felt a definite improvement in my running form of late, also helped by learning to build some easy runs into my schedule, and slowing it down on my long runs rather than running fast just because I feel good (while slowly breaking down tissues too quickly!)
Anyway, I decided I wanted to give the Weds group another go, and this time I would know what to expect, so it was planned in my week as a hard run, and I made sure I hadn’t just done an insane long run the day before with a race coming up at the weekend on this occasion!
On the way to the shop it started raining heavily and seemed pretty miserable, when I got there I presented my card and in return got my “5 week” prize, a bright yellow Sweatshop Running Community running top! I immediately jettisoned my grey top and decked myself out like a bumble bee! I chatted to people and then went outside to try to get a Garmin signal, and then we set off. The route was headed towards the canal, so I issued a silent prayer of gratitude that there were unlikely to be insane hills tonight! It was also pleasing that the rain had stopped and the sun decided to show itself!
I noted the faster runners from last time, some of them went off really quickly but I didn’t try and fly after them, but did keep them in sight. As luck would have it I had forgotten again to switch off my Garmin pace alert so it was going bonkers at me while I was definitely not in the mood to slow down, I managed to switch it off when we paused to let the runners at the back catch up, but I had to stop it and by then the lap thinggy was off so in the end I left it running but didn’t really bother with it.
The route now looked like it was going to be the same route as the last time I ran with the Weds group, but in reverse, so it was a nice trip through the woods again. The front runners did keep disappearing, but after a second “pit stop”, I found myself on their tail and stayed with them for a bit before they once again zoomed off, but I wasn’t massively behind. I knew I was running faster than I have for a while, but that was part of the plan!
We crossed Stockport Road at the end of the woods and headed into the fields at the other side which lead up to the farm and Town Lane, funnily enough where I used to run back when I very first started, though I had never seen it quite as muddy as this! We reached a stile to get through to the next field, and had to line up, and as a lady was telling me it was nice to see me back at the Weds group, suddenly my feet were going from under me and I was freefalling – all the way down onto this rock in the ground, the base of my back smacking into it hard. For a moment the world blurred and the wind was really knocked out of me. I had visions of ambulances skidding through the muddy fields to rescue this broken runner, and thought of my Dad and how he had never really been the same after a similar incident caused by a bag of frozen peas in the Co-op (mind you he did get a compensation claim for that!). All these things ran through my mind and Tony the coach came to see if I was OK, but I managed to get up and had to run a bit gingerly for a little while, up some hills towards the farm.
It was at this point that the faster pack and those of us in the middle and back got separated, much to Tony’s consternation, we didn’t even know which way they had gone, but I pointed out that if they had gone left, they would be in Reddish Vale before long, and that we should go right! We cantered up Town Lane while I suggested to the lady at the back it would be a good idea to sneak of and get an ice cream from the ice cream van that had nearly run us over, and then eventually we regrouped with the faster runners.
As we ran along St Lawrence road, I realised I was up with the faster runners and for a short time I moved in front of them, am sure they were just taking it easy but it felt good to be up there for once and although I was pushing myself it felt quite good. On the way through to the fields to Mill Lane they zoomed off again, and then on the final leg to the shop we did another big hill, one I imploded on last summer, just past the railway station. I held my own on this, and although the top runners went off quite a way, I wasn’t miles behind this time, and worked hard on the hill even though my legs were turning a bit rubbery by this point!
Arrived at the shop and felt great, chatted a bit and checked the distance we had done, which was about 6.36 miles, in some tough underfoot conditions. My back felt OK, but I took some painkillers just to keep the inflammation down and so far as I write this it’s not complaining too much, I guess it could have been a lot worse!
I think I have definitely improved and it will be interesting to see what time I can knock out a 5k time trial in, this weekend. Better give it a few days for my back and legs to recover though!
Thanks to Sweatshop for my brand new top. It needs a wash though as it certainly got christened when I fell in my back into mud and rocks!!!
Posted on Jul 19, 2012 under 10-15k, All Weather Running, Regular Runs |
Had a few things on so had to somehow fit in a run – would have liked to do 8 miles or more but only had about an hour, so I set off just aiming to run for about that time, at an easyish pace, with no real goal in mind other than time on feet.
It was drizzling as I set off, and I was careful to keep my pace slow to begin with, I head off on one of my usual routes then changed my mind and headed in a different direction, at which point the rain began to get harder. At 2km I was finding the 6:30 kms eminently manageable, and started to warm up and feel good. I did a bit of a sprint up the hill at Guide Bridge, then reminded myself to slow down and carried on at a more sedate pace. The rain was coming down a little harder by this time, but was quite refreshing. I ran past the Pearl restaurant, where I was due to go for a meal later in the evening!
On the way back I chose a longer way round to make sure I would get over an hour’s running, and it looked like the distance was going to be about 10k. At this point I was feeling very good, and it was now that the rain really started lashing down. I was a few miles from home so there was nothing I could really do except enjoy it, and it was not unpleasant at all. There were lots of deep puddles which I splashed through, and in the last few km I was very giddy, and my pace increased without any extra effort, and I was almost gliding along, splashing through deep puddles, and soaked to the skin as the rain came down harder and harder. I even got splashed by traffic going through those big kerbside puddles, which was great fun, and finished with 10.6km in 1 hr 8 minutes.
When I got in the house I wrung about a pint of water out of my shorts and top, it’s probably the wettest I have ever been without actually swimming. Thankfully my trusty old Garmin was up to the task as well as my body, which seems to be enjoying a new lease of life, and really finding itself “in the zone” on runs lately.
Just plan a very easy run if possible on a busy Saturday, then apparently it’s hill reps with the Sweatshop club on Monday!
Posted on Jul 09, 2012 under 10-15k, Club Runs, Trail Running |
Decided to brave the running club again, but this time the Monday group, which was supposed to be a little easier, though when I got there, I saw a few familiar faces from the faster Wednesday group so I got a bit of a sense of deja vu, though it was nice to chat to people.
Headed out onto exactly the same route as last time, the canal paths were very muddy and I held a silent funeral for my Supernovas as I hit the puddles and prayed my kneed wouldn’t bugger itself with a mistimed slip on some mud. Managed to hold some conversations and found myself right at the front, this time it was me waiting for the back markers and I felt good and strong, even as the run got well underway, and although I was running at tempo pace at times I felt good and just kept tucking into people in front of me.
Towards the end there was a series of hills as before, this time I didn’t need a short cut or an escort, and powered up a particularly nasty hill with no problems, and then on the last stretch the other Rob in the group powered ahead and I rolled up to the shop and we waited for the others to catch up.
Given that some of the people behind me had left me for dead on the last outing, I was quite pleased to have sort of redeemed myself, but the main thing was I felt good and strong and was never struggling, so it seems I have finally got rid of the rust and can look forward to some good running now.
Maybe one of these days I will brave the fast group again and surprise them with my new improved running!
Apparently next Monday we are doing a massive hill session. The hill is massive, that is. I’d better check my diary is clear! 🙂
