Diary Of A Road Runner

Another 2.5 miles and a little extra speed!

Did another 2.5 miles run to make it 5 miles for the week – phew I am getting towards the realms of high mileage running Seriously, it was good, and though I started to melt when the sun came out for a bit, I was able to inject a little extra pace for the last k, which helped to make the run some 50 seconds quicker than the 2.5 miler I did earlier in the week.

No niggles so far, thankfully, and amazing how the fitness starts to build back up – but as I’m just going to increase the mileage gradually, and then maybe worry about speed next spring!

A leisurely 4k run – or approx 2.5 miles!

Not a very warm day to say the least so I donned my light tracksuit bottoms and hooded top. Was quite breezy. Planned to run 4k, adding 800m on to my furthest distance so far. Not sure how that works out in terms of the 10% running rule, but I’m not great at arithmetic so I just approximate

Anyway, off I went and felt good, just keep the pace slightly slower than Sunday’s run as didn’t want to burn out and the idea was to increase the distance and endurance just a little, not go out all guns blazing. So I ran a pretty random route. It was nice to get a bit more into a run – the ones lately have been pretty short, so no sooner have I got myself geared up and going, than it’s time to halt again, and that can play some pretty odd tricks with the old running psychology! But this time, at 2k, I was able to settle into a steady rhythm and keep going for the remainder of the run, and it felt pretty good to do so. Was breathing hard but steady and not wincing with the effort as I was on Sunday, and clocked 24:41 for the 4k, so at least am now running for around 25 minutes at a time and will keep upping the pace and distance very gradually.

No speed work, intervals, or madness like that for me just yet! No races planned, so I can progress at my leisure now, though this is the first season where I have pretty much missed all my favourite races And to think I got that PB sub 50 10k right at the beginning. Ah well, let’s see how I come out of the blocks after, fingers crossed, a gentle winter’s build up to great things

A brief update from the comeback trail!

Well it’s been a while but I haven’t disappeared off the face of the earth! I’ve just not been keen on updating the running blog everytime I’ve run a couple of k’s – hardly seems worth the trouble!

Still, I have managed to keep running with no re-injury problems so far, fingers crossed. It has been proving quite hard to claw the fitness back but I am slowly getting there, increasing the distance in very small increments.

I am now up to the grand old distance of two miles. I ran this last week in 19:43, and then this Sunday just gone, I went out and ran the 2 miles in 18:56 – so my speed and endurance are very slowly coming back and the plan is to persist with the gradualism and not try to do too much too soon.

I have also been swimming on and off, though my discipline for getting to the pool isn’t great at the moment, what with all the kids throwing beach balls around and being annoying.

Onwards and upwards!!

Gasping and Wheezing Like A Dead Man walking on a green mile

Title aside, felt good.

First run since Bolton 10k on April 25th. Ran 400m, back felt a bit odd so walked for a bit, then ran the next 1200m. Actually ran further than I thought, could have gone further I expect, but didn’t want to push the legs in any way. That I’ve run a mile is a miracle. Ten minute mile seems to be my absolute slowest possible pace without walking!

Will try another in a few days.

No knee pain, so far. Fingers crossed, eh?

Salford 10k Race Report – A Tale of Pain, Sweat, and Tears of Joy!

My preparations for the Salford 10k, at least in the run up to the race, had a bit of a setback with the onset of my back problem. At first it seemed to be a minor thing, but after my easy run in the week, another sleep seemed to do more damage and I was in real trouble, eating painkillers like candy, and barely able to move without wincing. There were times when I considered pulling out of the race, because the pain was THAT bad, and I didn’t want to make it worse. But then I thought, I wrecked it somehow sleeping in bed – maybe movement would actually do it some good, or at least do me some good, so I decided to turn up, and even if I just trotted round, I would finish the race.

Didn’t get much sleep the night before, every time I got comfortable for a few minutes in one position, the pain would flare up again. I got up, had some toast for breakfast, then walked the dog, and then the taxi came. I chatted with the driver but felt very uneasy about the whole race deal – wondering if I would have to pull out half way through, if I would be screaming in pain with the jolting – or what? I got dropped off and found the changing rooms, it was a struggle to even pull off my jogging pants. I pinned my number on my top, then stowed my stuff in a locker and decided to go outside for a little jog to see how I fared. It was freezing out there! I managed to do a bit of jogging then came back inside. The back had hurt, but I figured I might be able to sustain a decent run if I could run through the pain.

Eventually, we were all at the start line, dodging buses and cars. It seemed a little further back down the road then when I did it last year. Anyway, I set the Garmin to only display the distance and time of day, and resolved not to look at it, but just run to how I felt. I felt quite good setting off, and settled into a pace that seemed to not bother my back too much – the only problem was, with it being a pinched nerve, my left arm was twingeing a bit and my thumb was getting progressively number… I enjoyed the first lap, and felt pretty good, then had to deal with the psychology of doing it all over again and seeing the same scenery. I was breathing very hard at 5k, but felt if I could just stay at the pace I was and save a little for the last few k. As the 2nd half of the race got more intense, I started to find myself drawing level with people in front of me, then overtaking them, I put on extra little bursts of speed to overtake a few packs. By the last 2k, I was really gasping for air and hurting, but just kept my legs turning over, turning over. As the 9th K turned over I did risk a quick look at my Garmin and saw I’d done that one in 4:51. I got a bit frustrated as the 9K marker showed up when the Garmin was showing 9.3K and indeed the last k seemed short from where the marker was. In any case, I thought, only 800 to go, it’s just like an interval session now, just one burst and I can do this in less than 4 minutes. I couldn’t quite see where the finish line was, there were a few of us neck and neck, a bloke with a stopwatch shouted “48:06″ as we went past him. Then it registered – if I could reach the finish line in another 1 minute 53 seconds, I would have a sub 50. I pelted it, thinking I could do it, then thinking the finish was going to play tricks on me and be much further than I thought, I was gasping almost screaming by this point, totally at my limit, then suddenly I was over the line and stopping the Garmin. As I walked down the funnel, I flipped it over to display my time:

49:24

I gasped, and almost sobbed. I’d finally done it. I wandered round in a daze, tears brimming at my eyes, and had to find a quiet spot for minute. 2 years of trying and I’d finally run a sub 50 10k. It had been a challenge worthy of the name! It took a while to sink in as I went to get changed, and had a bit of a chat with a nice chap who said he was running a 5k later in the month and had done this one as a training run. I went off to get the bus, still feeling elated, as the rain started to come down…

My splits were interesting:

4:58
4:56
5:00
4:54
5:00
5:15
5:06
5:02
4:51
4:16

It shows that I can afford a bit of a lull in the mid stages to regroup for the end – if I had been pacing myself off the Garmin, I could easily have though “5:15 for that K, I am stuffed now…” So that’s 2 PB’s where I have just run to how I felt, it seems to work – won’t always of course, but it saves on the psychological games!!

Well, as it coincides with the anniversary of my mum’s death, I guess I will always run this one in her memory – and today have a PB/Sub 50 to dedicate to her

5 Mile Tempo Run – 40:36 – Season’s Best!

Today’s effort was a 5 mile tempo run. Ran the first kilometre in 5:27 as a warmup, and then increased the pace, intending to run around 5 mins/k or better pace, remembering that in my intervals the other day, I had “slowed” to 4:30/k and felt it was reasonably sustainable. Powered up the hill near Sainsbury’s and the 2nd k clocked in 4:59 – so I just decided to see how long I could hold that pace, and apart from a couple of k’s where I slowed a little, I managed to hold it all the way, over 5 miles.

Kilometre Splits:

5:27
4:59
4:55
4:53
5:05
4:56
5:13
4:50

Was interesting that the last k was the fastest, I did push, but felt I was barely moving as by that point I was keeping going by sheer will power and really hurting! But the split shows I managed to keep up the pace until the bitter end! The slower penultimate k had a big uphill over the motorway bridge which slowed me a bit – if not for that and the warm up k, I may have gone sub 40.

Still, a season’s best by over 2 minutes – and gives me confidence I can hold that kind of pace in a 10k race, despite not having done any big long runs as of yet. In fact it’s made me rethink my strategy, as my injuries have always seemed to coincide with long runs – and so far, I seem to be doing fine without them, though need a few 8 milers to improve 10k stamina. Will see how Salford 10k goes, just over a week to go, eek

Finally Joined the Sub 7 minute mile club – 6:52

Was wondering what kind of run to do today after yesterday’s recovery, didn’t want to do too much, but wanted to feel I’d had a run out, so figured I’d have a go at a one mile time trial again to see if I’ve made any speed progress.

Warmed up with a gentle 2k, with some faster strides in the second k. Felt pretty good. So walked a little bit, did some stretches, and got to my starting point. Felt a bit nervous – how would I do? Then off I went…

As seems to be usual for me, set off at a blistering pace, almost sprinting, then settled into something that felt reasonably sustainable. Pacing for running one mile is something that will come with experience, but for this run, I knew I could run an 800m split in 3:12, or at least sub 3:30 – so wondered if I could put two of those together. Started breathing really hard, my body responding to what was demanded of it, and it was hurting already – but I only had to keep this up for another kilometre now, I told myself, then it would be over. Glanced at the Garmin at 800m – wahey, 3:24, I was on schedule for sub 7. Then I hit a headwind and the uphill bit of the course which kind of flattened me a little and had me gasping for air, then I was almost staggering, just trying to keep going, thinking if I can just hold on for another 400m at this pace, I’m going to break my PB and go sub 7!

It was pure willpower that kept me going for the last 100m. I was gasping, hurting, my heart was hammer, and I got over 1.61k, or one mile, and stopped the Garmin on 6:52.

Started to sink in as I recovered, and did a very gentle 1k jog back to the house, feeling very pleased to have finally gone under 7 minutes, and now be only 52 seconds off my sub 6 minute mile target. I can see pain and anguish as those 52 seconds are whittled away – but also a lot of fun

Maybe in a few months of hard intervals and races and other running, I will be signing in to say I have joined the sub 6 minute mile club. But the interim target is 6:30

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.

One Mile Time Trial – 7:16

Not done a one mile time trial since June 2009, and am supposed to be on course for a sub 6 minute mile challenge – if only I hadn’t been injured for several months etc!

Anyway, did a one mile warm up going pretty easy, walked and stretched, then set off for my mile trial. Went off hard and just tried to maintain it, glanced at garmin and I was doing close to 4:00/k. Was hard to judge the pacing since I have not done it for so long – and by the end I was really breathing hard and was going all out. Managed it in 7:16, which at this stage, being only 16 seconds off a PB I gained last year with a lot more running in my legs, is pretty good going.

Will keep it up and have another time trial in a few weeks and see if there’s any improvement.

5k Time Trial – 25:02

Did a ten minute mile to warm up, and felt as if my body might not have another 3 miles in it! But I grabbed the bull by the horns and set off, setting a good pace; actually it may have been too good, as I did the first k in 4:36 and the first mile in about 7:30ish, and suffered for that later, with the last km taking 5:24 so I was losing steam by the end.

However, I managed 3 sub 5 minute k’s, and it’s so long since I ran like that, it will take time to learn how to pace it again – I do feel that I am coming back to fitness in leaps and bounds now, and won’t belong before I am challenging my 5k PB.

This run did hurt quite a bit though! But also felt good too, and was nice to run at pace again.