Rob's Running Blog

A Sunny Sub 28 5k! But only just – 27:59

A pleasant sunny day prompted me to run a bit earlier, as I realise I need to get out of the habit of early evening running if I’m not going to feel half dead when I set off at the Great Manchester run mid morning!

My weekend plans have been a bit disrupted, so not sure whether I will now get a long run in on Sunday or Monday, but the plan was to do another brisk 5k, then rest up for 2-3 days before a long run.

Set off and felt pretty good, varied my route a little but kept to nearby streets. The first km ticked over in 5:58 so a slight improvement in doing the first km in under 6, then the next one ticked over in 5:45 – not super fast, but I noticed the Garmin pace creeping up and up so elected to just maintain my pace for the time being rather than going crazy. Was aware of keeping my strides short and heel striking so as not to put too much stress on my calves.

The next km went over in 5:30 and now I felt I was motoring along, wondering how close I could get to the 28 minute mark. I imperceptibly gained a bit of pace, but was now starting to breathe hard, but comfortably and happily so. With 2k to go I decided it was worth seeing if I could just run a little quicker and go for that 28 minute mark, and the penultimate km ticked over in 5:22, not a bad pace and at one point the Garmin pace went under 5 mins – bit too fast at this point! As the last KM began I nearly collided with a builder built like a brick crap house coming out of his van, his reactions in moving out of my way were rather slow, but am glad we didn’t smash into each other, after all he had a helmet on…

Thought I might be in with a shout of the sub 28 and I picked up the pace, breathing hard and feeling like I was flying along, with 100m to go I had 30 seconds left, and when it got to 50 metres and 15 seconds I sort of eased off a little thinking I had it in the bag, and then time went sort of weird as it sometimes does.

I heard the Garmin beep and staggered to a stop without remembering to stop the Garmin, but when I checked back the 5k lap marker was at 27:59 – a sub 28 5k in the bag and another season’s best.

And my calf was OK with that kind of pace, and even with some extra pace at the end. Don’t want to push it too much, and that may well be my last pacey run before the Great Manchester Run, but so far so good. Next plan is a nice long slow run and then I will look at the weeks leading up to the race and decide how I want to play it!

5k Tempo Run in 28:30

Had a busy day and needed to blow the cobwebs away. Got kit on and it felt a bit cold – had to faff around with my shoe as felt like I had a stone in there but couldn’t find it. Garmin got a signal quite quickly and I set off at a briskish pace, getting my lungs working quite quickly, but mindful not to go off at a crazy pace.

First km ticked over in 6:08 and I had to slow a little when I seemed to be touching 5 mins per km, but then the kms ticked over in 5:44, 5:34, 5:35 and a blistering last leg of 5:24. Still only about 57 minute pace for 10k, but then again a season’s best and fastest 5k for quite some time (would have to check back for how long, but it seems a while). I guess sub 28 before the Great Manchester Run would be a good target to aim for.

Still not entirely confident about my calf, every time the pace starts picking up I seem to be mentally bracing myself for an explosion of pain. I guess all I can do is keep building the pace gradually and maybe experiment with some pace towards the end of the race, rather than risking not being able to start.

So far so good, though!

A slow rainy 5k – 31:21

Had a bit of a funny day sorting out my coursework, felt frustrated as time was running out and didn’t get as much done as I wanted, plus pile of accounts to do. Also felt a bit nauseous and tired, decided a quick 5k might help blow away some cobwebs.

Was refreshing for starters to get out in the pouring rain, Garmin picked up a signal and off I went, feeling I was starting off quite quickly. Had to dodge a Chav mobile pulling out of a drive way, but apart from that no incidents, and started to warm up nicely. Felt disappointed when the first km ticked over in 6:40, and no matter what I did after that never went under 6 mins per km for some reason, though I got down to about 6. Tried to inject some pace but it wasn’t happening – didn’t feel puffed out or exhausted, I just couldn’t seem to go any faster even though I felt I was picking up pace, so ended up with a pretty sedate 31:21, which may have been due to some fatigue from the day or perhaps some residual tiredness from the longer run on Sunday.

Thankfully there was no calf niggle or anything, but I still don’t quite trust my right calf, sooner or later I will have to bite the bullet and put in some real strides, but I might save it for the finishing stretch of the Great Manchester Run. I received my pack today through the post and am pleased to say I have been promoted back into the White wave after ending up in the Pink one last year. Of course I’m not sure if I’m quite quick enough to justify starting in that wave but at least I can start in a later wave if I so wish (the down side of the white wave is having to get into central Manchester dramatically early!!!!!.

Not long to go!

5k Tempo Run – Sub 29 in a season’s best 28:55

Hadn’t planned to run today, but something came up for tomorrow so decided on an impromptu 5k. Didn’t really attempt to push the pace, but tried to be slightly brisk, and the 5k mark didn’t seem too far away considering I have been running 5 miles as a matter of course recently.

Felt pretty good at 1k which clicked over in 5:46 then consolidated a bit, and then just maintained pace and felt fine, breathed a little harder than usual in places but at no point had the inclination to gasp too much.

Hardly noticed the time until I got back and checked earlier running blogs and times – realised this was my first sub 29 in ages, something I had aimed for previously and failed at, and now it just came with little effort. Must be some truth in the proverb that things come to those who wait, and by not trying to force the pace and just taking the running easily and naturally, a target was achieved with less effort!

I was pleased to be able to run consistently under 5:50 per km and not to get too puffed, as well as pleased that the calf held up, though I was still wary of lengthening my stride. I guess the next step is to add in an 8 mile run, and on this evidence I am starting to look at sub 55 as a target for the Great Manchester Run!

3 Easy Evening miles in a post-calf-injury best so far of 32:18

Had a longish day and had lots of notes to write up, so thought a run as the sun was setting would be a good way to unwind! Not much time to warm up, so set off at a very sedate pace, and did the first km in 6:49.

Felt myself getting quicker as the run went on, and when I got to about 3k was going pretty well, noticed the Garmin dipping under 6 mins per km at times and felt that was a bit too quick at this stage, so slowed, but then my body quickened itself up again. Almost felt a twinge of some kind in right calf, could have been an insect bite it was that small, but it really made me slow right down again, until I got to the last KM where I sped up and was determined to get inside 32 minutes but somehow the quicker I got the less distance ticked over!

Finished in 32:18 with a 6:15 last km and no tenderness when stretching the calves afterwards. Am beginning to think I may be on the road to recover, and am quite enjoying this leisurely, pressure free running!

Phew – 5k in 32:42 with no calf pain!

My other calf twanged while going up a step last night, so that was a cause for some concern, and before this run I stretched a little to discover some serious tightness in both calves

With it being a lovely sunny day though, I really wanted to try a run, so I warmed up with some stretching and massaging of the calves, and set off quite tentatively, prepared for an immediate return to base… 100m and was fine, then made 1km, noticed I did it in well under 7 minutes this time so a bit of pace had imperceptibly come back, and I had to make sure not to get cocky and start going too fast. Slowed down a bit and monitored the calves, which were pain free, and the heat that was building up helped to keep me at a reasonable pace. Was hitting the kms in around 6:30 on average which wasn’t bad after the 7 minutes plus efforts of the last run.

Even managed a little uphill stretch, and had to force myself not to try sprinting the last 2 or 3 hundred yards, though I felt good, if sweaty. Hit the 5k mark in 32:42 so a big improvement on the last run without trying too hard, and no pain in the calves while running.

So far so good, just need to make sure I don’t get over confident and start doing intervals and sprints just yet, but if I can work up to a jogged 10k it will at least give me some confidence I can get round the Great Manchester Run, and as for a time, well as long as I can run, I will settle for around the hour mark I think!

A slow and steady 5k in 36:09

Lovely sunny day. Had some pains in my calf at rest today, while meditating, so not sure what that was about. Was a bit scared of setting off running but managed 1k, stopped for a bit of a calf massage, then continued at a slow sedate pace. Saw another chap a couple of times and we had a laugh about our paths crossing.

Felt the occasional pain in the calf but it seemed more like the resting pain – possibly something to do with my varicose veins in that leg which may need looking at. No explosion though and the calf was pain free on stretching.

Resisted the tempation to speed up too much, bit did run the last km at sub 70 minute 10k pace, lol – now there’s a speedster in the making!

5k Tempo Run in the Rain – 29:18

After the last two “easy” runs have turned into monumental struggles I was feeling some trepidation about today’s run and was in two minds about running at all. It was pouring with rain and an afternoon with a book seemed like a good idea, but after meditating I decided I would just give running a go and see what happened, and decided to run 5k at a tempo pace, as whatever happened, it would be over quicker! I think there is some weird reverse running psychology going on with my easy runs, in that in expecting them to be somehow “easy”, I end up setting up a false expectation and then when the perceived effort goes up I am not really prepared mentally to put up with it as I expect it to be “easy” whereas running is never going to actually be as easy as a walk in the park (unless your Mo Farah going at my pace, which would be a walk in the park for him, ha ha!)

In any case, I slipped out into the rainy streets and the Garmin got a signal almost right away, just walked a bit to warm up then set off expecting to suffer. A lot. Went at quite a quick pace and the first km was under 6 minutes, then followed the major downhill part which helped me recover a little, and did the next 2k in 5:37 which was a consistent pace given the hills and wind.

The big hill at 3.5k took it out of me somewhat and result in a 6.22 km, then just had to hang on. Looking at the Garmin I was starting to back pedal as I thought my season’s best was sub 29 and realised I wasn’t going to make that, and by the end I was more or less spent, but did recover quite quickly and felt really good for having pushed the pace all the way through the run, and hanging on when it felt really tough.

Turns out that the 29:18 is actually one of my fastest times for 5k since last summer, and I haven’t gone under 29 minutes for some time, and given the way I felt on the last few runs, this was at least a sign that the runs are paying off and I am starting to build some speed endurance.

Sooner or later I won’t have to say that sub 29 is my next target, maybe a time trial on the flat could see me break that barrier. We shall see!

A Slippery Slushy 5k playing dodgems with 4 wheel drives in the dark… 33:20

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!

Brisk 5k tempo run – 29:37

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!