Diary Of A Road Runner

Woodbank Park Run Saturday April 17th – 24:43

Felt strange not needing to walk the dog when I got up. Was a nice sunny day, albeit a bit cold so set off early, and this time managed to get to the park in plenty of time

Did some warm up laps of the track, few strides but nothing major, then lined up. Saw Mark the triathlete again, and we chatted, then we were off and I said I’d see him at the finish line. I was near the front and went off fast – I am used to seeing the leaders snake off around the track before heading into the park – but this time, I was with them, in the first 7 or 8 runners As we headed out into the park a few more overtook me as the faster runners zoomed off (either they quickened up or I went back to my normal pace!) – then it was the usual duel with the hills, trying to survive up them without them sapping the hell out of my legs too much, then the recovery, then the bloody hill again before the last k home.

A la the Salford 10k, I didn’t look at the Garmin, just ran how I felt, and I was starting to feel the pinch by the end. On the second lap Mark caught up with me and we took the hill together – he took a breather and I tried to launch myself off the top. The hills and the fast start were making me hurt. A gorgeous looking lady went past me and I must admit I tried to keep up with her as there is nothing like chasing after a lady to get one motivated, but she zoomed off and I didn’t have too much left. I got to the path leading into the stadium and Mark came past me yelling encouragement at me, I tried to put on a burst of speed for a duel all the way to the finish line but I was running on dead legs and my gasp rate was going off the scale – so he got revenge on my previous “victories” I think we both really helped each other along though so it was good teamwork in a way – and we both PB’d I got a sub 25 in 24:43 which is good going and who knows on the flat…

My splits were:

4:11
5:06
4:47
5:17
5:20

Easy to see where the hills took their toll – and no wonder I was up with the leaders with that first split! – if I’d kept up that pace I’d have been in the top 10 I think Still, it gives me confidence that I have that pace, I know I can run that fast – I just have to work on maintaining it, and also coming to terms with those hills – and they are getting “easier”

In all a good run and nice to have a chat with Mark afterwards. Well done Mark – good luck with your Triathlon training, and I look forward to a rematch in a few weeks

No pics as the Park Run site has been down since Saturday – evidently calculating my and Mark’s speed has broken it

5 mile sunny trail and road run – 44:29

Went out for a walk last night and spotted a nice little loop I could run, so tried it today. Starts off on road before hitting the woods/trails. Was a lovely day.

Went off quite quickly but slowed on the ankle-twisting terrain, then had to tiptoe over loads of cobbles, before powering up the big Stockport Road hill and then increasing pace a bit more off of that.

Lovely run

Long Run – 8 miles in 1:15

This was my longest run in 6 months. Set off slowly, for a planned 8 miles, and was struggling a bit at first as I went down Stockport Road and into Bredbury, having to tie my shoelace en route. Then I hit the uphill part of the course and just pushed myself to keep going. Then coasted off the hills on the flat and downhill bits and built up a real head of steam until the next hill, near the end. Slowed down a bit then and just jogged to the 8 mile point. Think I need a couple of rest days now to let my legs recover from the hard sessions lately.

Easy Paced 8 Miler – 1 hour 17 minutes

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.

8 Miles in the Sun – 1h 08m 19s

Very nice longish run in the sun, and hilly too – uphill most of the way in fact, and maintained same pace as on my last 8 mile run, so not bad at all – but felt a deserved the last 2 miles cruising downhill on the route I planned (followed at the end by a very steep incline which killed my legs in the end!)

6k Hill Work – 33:22

Last batch of hill work before my next race – want those legs to be fresh!  My natural pace seems to be just under 55 minute 10k pace when not pushing – about 5:25 per k is what I run when not trying to run slowly or quickly but just naturally.  Anyway, warmup k was at that pace, then powered up steep part of Stockport Road before maintaining pace on the long “gentle” climb up.  That got my heart pumping, although that k was the fastest I think – came back down the hill gently then powered up again, thought about doing a third rep but my back was twinging a bit and my left thigh has been a bit achey lately so thought 6k would do and best not to risk any kind of injury.

Splits:

5:23
5:40
5:36 (uphill)
5:37
5:40 (uphill)
5:22 (flat)

Average pace 5:34/k

Half a minute quicker than my last hill session on that route, so a little bit of improvement which should translate to an extra bit of pace on the flat

6K Hill Work – Sunny – 33:57

First session of hill work since my return to running.  Did the usual up and down Stockport Road route and the uphill bits were murder as usual, but felt good and not overloaded – didn’t attack to much with it being first session will aim to build up slowly. Only a minute slower than the 6k yesterday and with half of it uphill!

Splits:

5:21
5:38
5:54
5:29
6:02
5:29

Average pace 5:39/k

10k’s Worth of Hill Work – 54m 51s

Seeing as my next 10k is described as “undulating” I thought I’d better put in some hill work.

Weather cold to start off with, but sun came out about half way – went off quite slowly, 2nd k downhill was quick, then the hard hill reps began! Felt I went quicker up the hill than last time I did this routine, of course it hurt going up the hill but I held it together and even went for a fourth lap, but ended up only going half way down and back up the hill again (less severe incline at the top) as I could tell I was getting pretty tired – still managed to put on a little burst at the end until slowly jogging down to the 10k mark.

Hill Work Session – 8k – 44m 21s

First time I’ve tried to do some hill work – having experienced hills both at the beginning and end of races, I’ve learned that I much prefer them near the end – but thought it would be a good idea to prepare for any hill races might throw at me, while at the same time building up speed and endurance.

I started off with a 1k jog on the flat and down Stockport Road, then ran back up – up and down about a k each, so did 3 reps of this plus another k cool down. No idea how steep the hill is, but it starts off very steep and then gently rises over the course of 1k – takes it out of the legs the first half!

Really felt it doing me good, and running 8k with 3 of them pushing uphill was a good workout