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
After Tuesday’s heroics and some swimming in between, decided to run another 10k at an even pace, to make it my highest mileage week for quite a while (a mere 12.5, but better than before!). Was tough in places, didn’t feel like I was going quick, and no heroics over last k, as some was up hill, but wound down at the end to finish in 54:57, another big improvement, without really pushing it (and only my second trot out at this distance since the injury)
Clocking up the swimming miles almost daily really seems to be helping to get my fitness up there, hopefully it will pay dividends after Christmas and into the spring racing season, as long as I can stay injury free – will keep building slowly.
Had a stressful morning, and was already running late, by the time I got my kit on my window was closing in (had Uni later). So, I was going to do a half hour run and make do with that, trouble was I headed out on a usual run route, and kind of got carried away and by the time I realised I had gone too far, I had already done 6k – so I decided to run back to the main road and get a bus, by which time I had completed 10k.
Sprinted the last k and the Garmin was flying along – 4:40, which was good for the last 1k of my longest run for a couple of months.
It’s been a busy week since the race on Sunday, my uni course has now started, and I have been socialising a bit as well, together with work and what have you! Managed to swim 40 lengths on Tuesday, and aim to build in some swimming as cross training while my leg gets fully back to normal.
Wanted to do a bit of a long slow recovery run today, so warmed up indoors, then set off at a very gentle pace on the Bredbury and Hyde circuit route. Rain helped keep me cool, and at the gentle pace I was running at, I didn’t start to hurt until near the end of the run, and even managed the hilly parts quite well.
There is still something up with the leg, but it seems to be reacting well – will just have to avoid anything too intense in the way of speed work or harder paced long runs for the time being, until I am sure the leg is up to it.
But felt great to be back out running in the rain
EDIT November 22nd – This run turned out to be too much for the leg, which reacted quite badly over the next few days. That’ll teach me to go out doing 8 mile runs with shin splints
Have not updated my running blog for a few weeks due to picking up a bit of a niggle somewhere along the way – was worst after my last 8 miler in the preceding post, the next day, but had been lurking for a while but the 8 miler really seemed to be the last straw in a slow build up of overuse. Probably shin splints, but not sure. In any case, rested for three days then tried a gentle 2 miles, and no go – was really bad to walk on, so had to quit for a couple of weeks and miss both the Trafford 10k (my favourite race) and the Boggart Chase 10k
Earlier this week, I felt there was considerable improvement, so swam 50 lengths on Wednesday and then tried a very tentative 3 miler on Thursday. I was going to stop at the first twinge, but it didn’t come, and the leg felt the same after the run as before – so I elected to run the City of Salford 10k, being my last race of the season; I didn’t want to end on a miserable note, and felt fit enough to be able to jog round a 10k, so decided to monitor the leg, and if all well, go for it.
Even as late as Saturday night I wasn’t 100% sure I would run, but I got my number pinned up, my chip fastened to my Adidas Supernovas, and went to bed. Woke early on Sunday, and thought yes, let’s do it! So I walked the dog, then got the bus into town and a taxi out to the Lowry. Already some athletes around, I did some warmup stretches indoors, but no running warmup. I wasn’t going for a time here, so I would use the first part of the race as the warm up, having had no running in my legs for a bit, I felt 10k was my limit, without a few k’s warmup on top!!
The inflatable arch went up, and I positioned myself right at the back. The horn went, and off went the front runners. It felt quite surreal to start off plodding along at a very slow trot, without the slightest inclination to bomb out in front of people, but I felt a certain camaraderie with these runners at the back, even as I slowly started to find my form and overtake them. I heard someone beside me tell their mate the first K had gone by in 5:30 and figured I wasn’t running THAT slowly, then, and at 2k I felt Ok and started to go a bit faster, steadily overtaking people, which gave me a lift.
Somewhere along a big main road, I spotted two girls running in frilly pink skirts, and decided I would just have to catch them and enjoy a bit of flirting and banter about the skirts, so I kept them in my sights and slowly reeled them in. They said they thought the skirts might cheer people up on the way round – which they certainly did But it seemed to affect also their running aerodynamics I passed them, and waved to them again later when they were on the other side of the road.
The girls in frilly pink skirts who cheered me up en route
I passed a drinks station, which was two people trying to fill one cup at a time from a barrel of water, so passed on joining the queue I was feeling OK as I passed 5k, but was into unknown territory by then, as had not run any further than that since back at the beginning of the month. At about 6k I saw Ron Hill going down the other side of the road, and shouted “Go Ron!” and got a thumbs up from him, which motivated me, and then it was the long slog back to the Lowry Plaza over the bridge, by which point I was grimacing, but still going as hard as I could, and still overtaking people (in fact I was only overtaken once in the whole race). Got over the bridge and it was torture to see the blue finish arch straight ahead, but know their was still another k to go around in a big circle. I overtook more people, swearing blue murder at myself and pushing even though I was really hurting, and made a sprint over the line, to find I had tied my chip so tightly to my laces, that half the lace had to be sacrificed to get the chip off I hung around and cheered in the very last runner. You can see me in the official video at the end, grinning away and there’s also a glimpse of the girls in the skirts
My time was 53:26, a very similar time to my first race of the season, and very similar in tone. I really enjoyed this race, the atmosphere, the banter, took it easy at first and ran harder near the end. Not a bad time at all considering my preparation hit such a hitch, and nice to finish the season on a bit of a high after the low of picking up an injury.
Ron Hill finishes a minute before me!
Now if I can keep injury free this winter, and build up a solid base, I might just get that sub 50 next year.
But my main goal is – to enjoy the journey
Pictures and video courtesy of Sports Tours International, who ran both the City of Salford 10k and the Salford Cycle events, and who organise lots of different sporting events and holidays
Pretty slow run with plenty of undulations, but felt fine throughout. Ran the reverse route up through Hyde over the hills then back up Stockport Road. Nice easy pace but didn’t feel the hills were too hard and recovered very quickly for an enjoyable run. Lower left leg seems to have a bit of pain on impact, but been there for a bit so just need to be careful with up and coming 3 races in a row.
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!
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.
