This was a bit of a tough run. This time my lower leg held up with no twinges, but it was very cold. Felt a bit of a groin niggle. Plodded round 5k in over 31 minutes and didn’t feel all that comfortable. Just not such a good run, but felt pleased to have run without the leg playing up! But it was a bit of a struggle!
Garmin went haywire so not sure exactly how far I ran or what the real pace was. First k was about to tick over in about 5:30 when my Garmin flipped back to 700 metres and ended up clocking the first k in about 6:30 – felt I was running faster than that, in fact that is my dead, dead slow pace – and all the other k’s were evenly paced around 5:30 mark, so I added an extra 300 metres to the completed distance for this run. Overall time was about a minute slower than I would expect for 5k, so seems as if I did gain the 300 metres. Thankfully it wasn’t a serious time trial, but is funny how Garmin sometimes does that.
Did struggle a bit at times on this run, with heart hammering, but was good to complete.
Was a lovely bright sunny day so I decided to complete my week’s running today and relax on Sunday. Did another 5k, set off at what I thought was a sedate pace and did it in 5:07! Then suffered a little bit later on for that. However, got through the last k in 5:22 and kept going through the pain barrier, and was pleased to finish in a quicker time again, with an average pace of 5:30/k, so am running at sub 55 10k pace with not much running in the legs yet. My CV system is responding well, heart didn’t feel too hammery, and I felt I recovered quickly today.
Will have a rest day or two as am aware I’ve been building up quite quickly – but then I am coming back from a previous base of decent fitness and leg strength, so can probably take a few liberties!
Went out for another run, for the first time going on one of my old routes instead of sticking to the comfort zone of more or less going round the block in case part of me packed in 
First k ticked over in 5:31 then had a couple of slower ones before I consciously had a go at upping the pace at times in the last 2, and did them both sub 5:30/k. Felt really good though at times tough, but was nice to be getting up a bit of speed instead of trotting within myself because of legs or lost fitness.
For the first time since last year, I felt a rush at about 4.5k when I was going fast, and it felt really good, and set me up for the rest of the day
My first 5k since the fateful Dec 28th run when my shins exploded in the cold weather!
This time, have built up gradually to this epic distance, and the legs seem to be responding.
It was an oddly tough run, the first k felt very hard, and the Garmin ticked over in 6:16 – way off my normal pace of late. Not sure if it was having one of its haywire moments as I finished overall with an average pace of 5:45/k, but the main thing was I was suffering a lot in the early stages, but ran through the pain barrier – partly because I had a bit of a personal issue to work through, and was feeling in a stubborn mood and thought I might as well take it out on my CV system. So managed to keep going, and at times felt quite good, and was pleased to complete 5k. Now I just need to keep building things gradually, and my 5k times are usually a good indicator of where my running fitness is, so hope to get back to around 25 minutes, then can start thinking about speedwork and 10k’s and one mile PB’s
Easy recovery run after 2 harder longer runs. Ran at a fairly decent medium pace.
Garmin went totally screwball on me at 4k though – started reading 3.22k, then 4.49 and kept jumping all over the place, don’t know if it’s knackered or the satellites were just jumping around? Got to 4.99k then it jumped back to 4.8 but given the time and pace I think I did about 5.5!
This was supposed to be an easy 5k I went off at an easy pace and by the end I was dying! It hadn’t felt warm when I went out, but pretty overcast, and seemed to be extremely humid which made an easy run feel a bit of a struggle. Legs felt heavy, think I’m still recovering from last week’s increased mileage – and will soon need to taper a bit for the Birchwood 10k in 2 weeks.
I checked the weather and humidity was at 95%. Explains it – my body is a useful humidity detector!!!
Nice easy run around the Mill Lane circuit so uphill going into Hyde then some downs then another big up! Actually felt comfortable, got into a way of running slowly that didn’t feel like trotting or half walking, which felt good, noticed I sped up unconsciously at times and was forefoot striking again, so slowed it down, and am pleased I can now resist the temptation to go fast as running at this pace seems to be doing my basic aerobic fitness a lot of good, rather than possible junk miles at a slightly quicker pace.
Did a couple of K usual warm up then set off for an experimental 5k time trial, without time showing on Garmin. Felt good at first, going fast, then the invisible force field appeared, I struggled to keep it going and was dead by the end.
When I flipped the read over to show time elapsed, it showed 25:40. First K was 4:39 then I just seemed to slow and was over 5 mins/k thereafter, which I haven’t been that slow over 5k in ages.
Maybe running without the Garmin doesn’t suit me… Maybe my legs have yet to get back to normal speed after my break?
Looking back, I ran my recovery run the other day far too fast, so no wonder it hurt especially after a mini break. Did not have the best few days leading up to my second run back. Have had a 24 hour stomach bug thing and not much sleep for a couple of days, and felt like I pulled my hamstring in bed as well, so decided on a 3 mile easy run, easy being 10 minute miles, and managed to stick to the plan and enjoyed running in the rain. Felt I could have gone on, but don’t need to rush back, thankfully legs were fine for running with no twinges. Just need to build it up slowly and peak at optimal fitness for the Moonraker 10k
