Archives for Distance category
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!
Posted on Nov 20, 2011 under 5-10k, 5k, Regular Runs |
A dark, cold, rainy 5k, which was quite enjoyable. Ran around the local estate, had a few stops to tie pants and for traffic, but still broke the 32 minute barrier, with a more consistent split, was pretty pooped by the end!
Posted on Nov 16, 2011 under 5-10k, 5k, Regular Runs |
Another late run after an afternoon spent lunching and looking a Mummies in the Manchester Museum (not talking yummy mummies of course!) with a dear friend.
So wanted to get a run in so got he kit on and headed out into the cold dark November evening. Garmin took a while to find a signal, then I set off, scaring a youth eating his chips and gravy by flying past him. Realised I might be going a tad too quick so slowed to an easier pace and kept going, as 3k came up felt good and upped the pace, until an uphill stretch slowed me somewhat but managed a final km in 5:59 which is not a bad pace at this stage!
All in all felt good and almost 2 minutes off Sunday’s 5k outing – hard to believe this is only my 4th run back! The swimming must have helped keep up my base fitness 
Posted on Nov 14, 2011 under 5-10k, 5k, Jogs, Milestones, Regular Runs |
Seem to be running about once a week at the moment, with some swimming thrown in. Don’t generally run in the dark but today had some stuff on and it got to evening, but wanted to squeeze a run in. Was quite cold. Set off slowly and cautiously but after 2-3k was feeling OK and managed to speed up in the last km.
Running at night was an interesting experience, especially through the local estates. Of particular interest was waiting for the oases of street lamps so I could see the Garmin readout without trying to fiddle to put the light on.
First run I have managed since starting again without having to stop for walk breaks, and managed 5k as a bonus, am definitely on the comeback trail and the first 2 short comeback runs have paid off, and the swimming has been helping too!
Am planning a 10k run in Tatton Park week before Christmas with a very good friend, looks like I could be on schedule to make it!
Posted on Sep 04, 2011 under 10k, Races |
With the last 2 runs not being quite what I expected, I tried to lay their ghosts to rest and start with a clean slate. Was up early, having not really slept much. Last race I took some Nytol the night before to ensure sleep, but wondered if it had interfered with performance, so this time settled for a restless 6 hours with the saturday night wailers penetrating the ear plugs at times… Had breakfast of porridge then went to get the bus, then hopped on the Metrolink to Harbour City in Salford Quays, seeing some of the Manchester Frontrunners on the tram and a couple of others too, so I knew I was heading in the right direction (last time I got a taxi but the tram is rather cheaper at £2.20!)
My friend Chris had texted me that she was there already, so looked out for her but couldn’t see her, headed to the loos in the Lowry Outlet Mall, and when I came out saw Neil and Dawn in the distance so was nice to catch up with them a little. Wasn’t long to go at that point, so we went and lined up, and there was a bit of a delay as a big boat had gone through one of the adjustable bridges, and as we were running over it we had to wait for it to be lowered again!
So we set off and I kept to a sedate pace at first, running how I felt and feeling OK, wondering if this would be the race where the training actually paid off. Was quite cool and cloudy which was a help. Anyway, we went through MediaCityUk and out into the industrial part of Salford Quays approaching Trafford. My Garmin bleeped and I couldn’t resist a peak at the KM time – it read 4:40 for the 2nd km, so far so good I thought, I felt I wasn’t going hard and could maintain that pace. However, a good while after that the official 2k marker came up and it wasn’t long before I realised that the Garmin had gone a bit crazy and was short counting for some reason (when I looked back, they were all out after that one, including one that I did in 3:30 – yeah right!). So good job I wasn’t really relying on it!
At about 4k the great Ron Hill overtook me and as I know Ron runs about 50-52 pace these days, and he went past me quite quickly, I got a bit dispirited, but resolved to keep keeping on. Got past the 5k mark and someone shouted out 28 something, it was some way past the 5k mark but I kind of thought that was pretty slow considering my perceived effort at that point. Got a bottle of water at the drinks station and then really started to struggle as I saw the runners coming back the other way. Stopped and walked a few times to take a drink. Made it down the long stretch to 7k then turned around the little roundabout, and kind of jog-shuffle-walked for the next 2k.
Got to the last bridge and could see the end in sight but had no pace left at all, just forced myself to keep going up over the bridge, knowing this course has a cruel little trick whereby you run straight at the finish line, then turn and there’s actually another km to go in a loop before you actually get to it, along a tree line boulevard. Saw Neil as I turned the corner and he shouted some encouragement. I sped up past a veteran lady, and then realised I could only hold that gear for about 20 seconds and there was a long way to go, so I slowed and she caught me again, and we duelled a little until the last stretch, when I was able to put on a finishing burst that was pretty fast and powerful, and won the duel, but had my heart hammering and I felt sick for a few minutes on finishing. Was nice to have my name read out as I crossed the line. Was so off the pace I didn’t even bother to stop the haywire Garmin (which was probably caused by a lot of winding in between tall buildings early on) but the official time eventually came out as 57:39. Which wasn’t awful, but 4 minutes slower than last time I did this race, and well off the pace of the City of Manchester 10k. Wasn’t really an improvement on last week’s race, as am sure I would have been over an hour if there had been a few hills! But it was flat as a pancake really!
Had a chat with Neil then went to get my goody bag, and then saw Chris lining up for hers so Neil went off to find Dawn who was doing some shopping, and I caught up with Chris while we had a coffee. Caught a few of the presentations and then it was time to go home and I went off feeling rather tired and deflated, without a good time to finish my 10k season, but at least no nasty injury!
I know have to figure out what went wrong over the last month. Possibly my half marathon training run took more out of me than I thought, although I did rest very sensibly afterwards, and I tapered somewhat down tot he final 2 10ks of the season, to no avail. I’m also aware that I’ve not done many all out 5k time trials this season (in fact none!) and this may have taken off some of my edge and mental toughness – I do wonder if it was partly to try to protect myself from another injury that I’ve unconsciously been trying to take it easier than I have in the past!
Oh well! Time will tell. Will now get in some base miles and enjoy it a little bit (after a rest of course) and maybe start doing some 1 mile and 5k time trials once recovered, to see if I improve over the next few months! And then maybe enter the Stockport 10 mile and possibly even the Wilmslow half next year…
Posted on Sep 02, 2011 under 3k, Easy Runs, Jogs, Recovery Runs |
Not sure what has happened to my form, but the race last week didn’t go according to plan, and I thought I’d just put in a very easy loosener to shake any bits of rust off my legs. Lower legs felt a bit niggly, not sure if it’s the older trainers I was running in, but in any case although I felt OK to begin with at 2k I walked for a bit and then jogged very very slowly to make up another km and still felt very hot and puffed out….
I think targeting anything quicker than sub 55 at the City of Salford 10k is going to lead to potential disappointment, so I’ll set myself the goal of getting around in 55 and anything else will be a bonus!
Posted on Aug 28, 2011 under 10k, 5-10k, Races |
Given my training this year, with long runs, and a sub 54 in my last race, and feeling good in the week, I had some hopes of a reasonable time in this race, possibly sub 52. But it was really not meant to be!
It was quite a chilly morning, I had to stand in the sunlight at the bus stop just to stop shivering, and was glad to get on the warm bus! Got to the venue in plenty of time and did the usual stuff of milling around and finding the toilets, before doing a gentle jogging warmup and joining in with the mass warmup a little bit.
They lined us up in 3 waves, fast at the front, medium, and walkers etc – though I wasn’t really sure what fast or medium meant so just put myself a few rows back. We had a countdown, then the horn didn’t go off, then it did, and off we all went! I started the Garmin but just had it set to show the time, and set off running how I felt, trying not to go too fast early on.
There was a bit of an incline then a descent, where I gathered speed, and then another descent. Then, as I thought, the payoff was some hills going the other way. I took these slowly, determined to conserve a bit of energy for the second half of the race, and tried to go back to a more normal pace when coming off the top of them.
At around 3k I tucked in behind another runner, and had a mini race with her, sharing the work, and it felt like we were doing a pretty decent pace, I was starting to breathe hard, but kept going, then we came to some more hills. When we got to 5k I glanced at the Garmin and to my chagrin in was showing 10.30 as the time. The race had started bang on 10, so it looked like my pace was actually horrendously slow… A little further on there was water station, I stopped to get a quick drink, at which point my companion seemed to speed off into the distance, I could see her for a while after that, and set myself a challenge of trying to catch her again, but it wasn’t happening. At about 7k there was a squall of torrential rain, which I would normally relish, but just found it irritating as it washed suncream into my eyes. By that point I had given up on the race, really, and decided to just use it as preparation for next weekend’s season finale – there was no point trying to push the pace and risk an injury. My Garmin felt much the same as when I glanced at the time for a prediction of just how bad my time would be, I saw that it had died in protest!! I got overtaken by people who had been a long way behind me, tried to stay with them, but couldn’t. By 9k I just wanted to see the finish line and stop, I walked a bit, a lady from the Steel City Striders gave me some encouragement, which helped me to actually run the last half km of the race.
As I approached the finish arch I saw the clock, I was surprised in fact that it was only just over the hour, as in my head I had got the time to 1hr 15 minutes!!! I smiled to myself as the PA man said “Stop being so casual about it number 46″ as I guess I had just gone into a nonchalant jogging mode and to be honest had nothing left!
Felt really shattered after getting my t-shirt, and after cheering in some more runners, went and got a coffee in the cafe tent and sat mulling things over. I really had felt I was doing a half decent pace, and have run close to 50 minutes on courses with worse hills, and even my most unpleasant race ever which included the Vernon park mega hill 3 times on a monstrously humid evening, had not resulted in a time over one hour (in fact 55 mins I think). So I have no idea what happened apart from the fact it was just an off day. My last race was sub 54 in blistering heat, and I have done quite a bit of training since then, so didn’t really expect to run my SLOWEST EVER 10k race!
At this stage there is not much to be done before the City of Salford 10k next weekend, but once that’s done maybe I need to look at the drawing board again. I have complained of feeling slower in my intervals this year compared to last, maybe I am just getting slower. One thing I have not done this year is much in the way of 5k time trials, or tempo runs, so maybe that has been my achilles’ heel, or maybe I just had a bad day.
Will see how Salford goes. At least it will be very much flatter! 
