Archives for 5k category
Posted on Jul 30, 2012 under 5-10k, 5k, Easy Runs, Jogs |
Not been having too good of a time lately, quite a few plans have fallen through, a few people have let me down, and my financial security is buggered, to put it mildly, so I have not been feeling myself. I was supposed to go to the Sweatshop club today but didn’t feel upto it, after having about half an hour’s sleep last night and feeling shattered, so instead I went to my sister’s for a bit and was cheered up my my great nephew’s antics – and when I got home it was a pleasant sunny evening so just did a very gentle 5k jog, which even though it was nice and easy paced at around 6:30 per km, did have a nice little mood improving effect proving that even mild exercise can have positive effects on mental health and outlook.
I think for the time being I need to keep running in my mental health toolkit, I’d rather be able to jog a gentle 5k every day than start pushing for times etc. I might go to Weds sweatshop group, reserving the right to pull out if the pace is too fast, though I think that first time was just a bad run, we all have them – in life and in running 🙂
Posted on Jul 21, 2012 under 5k, Easy Runs, Jogs, Recovery Runs |
Just a nice easy 5k run, first km in 7 minutes and ran as slowly as humanly possible, even had to obey the Garmin a few times when I strayed under 6:20 per km, got quite hot and sweaty but the weather has been warm for a change and the sun was out!
Posted on Jul 13, 2012 under 5k, Season's Best, Tempo Runs, Time Trials |
Not done a 5k time trial as such for some time, with a proper warm up and going hard, so thought I would give it a go!
Managed to time it so I hit the school run, but it was entertaining. Did a couple of Km warm up, during which it stopped raining, then took a breather, turned off the fast pace alert on the Garmin, and set off hard downhill on the Town Lane circuit, which is pretty good for time trials, though not completely flat the slopes up and down cancel each other out, though I end up cursing the uphills by the end!
Did two laps and then took a detour so I could run the last couple of km flat. Was really hurting by 3km and had to dig deep, trying to maintain my running form even when my lungs were screaming at me that they couldn’t really give my legs any more oxygen. By the last km I was within the sub 27, only just, and went as fast as I could to make sure I didn’t get cheated by the Garmin missing a few metres!
Ended up with sub 27 in 26:55, hard work but a season’s best! splits were:
5:19
5:27
5:14
5:29
5:22
So fairly even paced, the slower ones were where I hit the uphills and the last one I was on the verge of collapse!
Did a very gentle 1km jog to cool down a little!
Posted on Jul 11, 2012 under 5k, Easy Runs, Jogs, Recovery Runs |
Had a bit of DOMS after the longish trail run with the Sweatshop Running community group on Monday, and some stiffness in my ankles, so wanted to do a very easy recovery run just to shake out my legs and ease them out of their complaining attitude!
Also decided to start breaking in one of my new pair of Adidas Supernova Glide 3s as my pair from Monday were still rather wet! And decided to start a spreadsheet so I can keep track of my trainer use, as I am sure I have been making errors in the amount of running I have been doing in each pair, and need to make sure I get at least 4-500 miles out of my shoes if I can in a budget challenged situation!
Set off and could tell I had new shoes on, but at the easy pace it wasn’t a problem. I had the Garmin set to warn me if I went quicker than 6:20 per km, as I really didn’t want to do anything strenuous on this run, and run very easy, and in fact had to speed up a little early on just to make sure the warning was working! Thereafer I did speed up unconsciously a few times, the Garmin warned me, and I was obedient to the technology!
The hills got me a little bit puffy, but in general I felt fine and at this pace (average 6:50 per k) it really was a nice gently easy run. Finished in 34:08 and breathing was almost baseline, and hardly broke a sweat 🙂 Will try to factor in more of these easy runs!
Next stop a 5k time trial!
Posted on Jul 06, 2012 under 5k, Easy Runs |
Not much to say about this run really! Was pouring when I left the house, and was determined to just run a very easy 5k after struggling on the last couple of runs. Got wet very quickly, and some early hills on the route tried to get me but just took them steady. Splashed through a lot of puddles, and kept the pace down, jogging down to a 5k in 32 minutes, very slow for me, but felt about the right pace, although I had a few bursts of speed.
Hopefully this, and 2 days rest, should see me ok for the “easy” group at the running club on Monday!
Posted on Jun 12, 2012 under 5k, Season's Best, Tempo Runs |
Had an odd afternoon and did some bits of decorating (mainly trying to get a bit more of border off the room I am converting in a therapy room and trying out my new paint!), and needed a run to clear the cobwebs away, but not having eaten properly earlier decided a fast 5k would be the best option rather than a medium to long run.
One of my left toes was a bit painful so trimmed he nail, then got out into the cool evening air. Set off at a brisk pace, wary of going too fast but not wanting to go too slowly either, and felt fine, with the first km ticking over in 5:37, which is pretty fast for me these days, and I just aimed to keep that going, figuring if I ran around 5:30 per km I could come in at around 27:30, although not having done a fast 5k for a bit, couldn’t remember what my season’s best actually was at that point.
Second km ticked over in 5:33 and I was on target, though just slightly starting to wonder if I could maintain that kind of pace for another 3k. While my intention was just to maintain pace, when I felt good I just seemed to quicken up, and this was revealed in the splits, as the next kms were 5:30 and then 5:19. By the last lap I was starting to struggle just a little and really breathing very hard, and was really glad to peter out to a well deserved stop, clocking 5:17 for the last km and 27:20 for the 5k, which is a season’s best by some margin. I checked through the Garmin history to see if it was a season’s best and came across a 26:33 5k in February, which puzzled me until I realised that had been an intervals session and I had been running those 1k intervals pretty flat out, so to be under a minute away from that on a continuous run seems a good sign of progress!
So all in all a good, fast hard run which left me breathless and shows my running is starting to get closer to where it was a couple of years ago!
Posted on Jun 06, 2012 under 5k, Easy Runs, Musings |
Have had something of a personal retreat over the long bank holiday weekend, avoiding facebook, forums and text messaging as much as possible. Well to be honest have avoided facebook altogether, forums altogether, and just maintained brief contact with a select few. Have spent a lot of time meditating and entering into some quite blissful states, and this morning I needed to go the the shops, which was an interesting walk, I had to stop and marvel at the beauty of a single red rose in a garden, and everything had a certain aliveness.
So I wondered what a run would be like, and was due a run, so had to resist the urge to contemplate my navel for another 24 hours and slowly got my kit on (deciding to wear my casual La Santa t-shirt rather than a proper running top for a short easy run), then stepped out into some nice early afternoon sunshine, though there were dark clouds here and there. Sunglasses and baseball cap on, I set off and played slalom with the bin men, one of whom kindly let me past before he dragged two bins to the van. Quite often I feel aggressive and irritated at people in my way when I run – probably hormones and adrenaline and all that, but on this occasion I felt quite at peace with the world around me, slowed without complaint for cars and road crossings, and just concentrated on my breath and running at a nice easy pace after a high mileage week last week.
Even the hills didn’t get a curse and I felt a sense of flow about this run, I did get quite puffy with the hills but didn’t overheat and kept the pace nice and easy and enjoyed really engaging with my surroundings – cars, leaves, cyclists, litter, tarmac, sky, it all had this quality to it that is hard to describe.
My weather control faculties were fully operational, as I had nice cloud-filtered sunshine for the run, and as soon as I got home and opened my back door to cool off, the heavens opened! In keeping with the tone of the last few days I walked out into it and embraced the sensations of the rain cooling my skin and felt quite at one with everything.
Am not sure a hard 5k time trial would have left me feeling quite so peaceful, but I think these easy mindful runs should definitely form a more regular part of my schedule in the future!
Posted on May 29, 2012 under 5k, Easy Runs, Jogs |
Having seen my counselling clients this afternoon, and written up my notes, felt like getting out into the evening sunshine for a little run to see if I actually still could run at all, after the weekend’s apocalypic performance in the roasting heat.
Not sure if it was the time of day that made a difference, or the fact that the previous run had acclimatised me a little, as it was still hot, but I found it a lot easier going. Set off at a very easy pace and generally kept this to about 6.15 per km, so quite sedate, chose a slightly new route by heading towards Hyde, then down Mill Lane, but avoided the massive hill and ran up through the estate instead which is a much more gentle incline, though it was still an incline, making it a bit of a hilly jog in places!
Felt fine at 3k and even powered up a stretch of hill, then felt good enough to run the last kilometer at a fair old pace, completing it in 5:43. Was pretty hot by this point and if I was going to run any further I would need to use sunblock or consider starting at about 8pm!
Posted on May 03, 2012 under 5k, Season's Best, Tempo Runs, Time Trials |
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!
Posted on May 01, 2012 under 5-10k, 5k, Season's Best, Tempo Runs |
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!
