Rob's Running Blog

A Faster 4k in 24:23

Set out hoping to do 4k in sub 25. Was quite sunny but a bit cold to start with. Was warmed up after 1k and started to go a bit faster, and after 6:20ish first 1k, did the second and third in 5:56, which is the fastest I have run consistently since January. Slowed in the last k but was really struggling and hurting by that point – the moderate increase in speed was tantamount to an exponential increase in discomfort but I managed to keep going

5K Milestone achieved for the nth time!

It seems to be the benchmark for when I am starting to achieve some kind of fitness again – or at least one of them. The 5k milestone always seems significant – I have gone from running a couple of miles, to running over 3 miles, and to me means my basic fitness level has been achieved, and that 5k can now be a platform to start increasing speed a little and gradually adding more distance. I’m not running that quick at the moment – time today was 31:31, but I wasn’t trying to run too quickly, just settling into a comfortable (relatively speaking – I was breathing very hard by the end!) pace and going with it.

To run 5k in under 30 minutes will be the next milestone, but may take a few more runs to get there, I also hope to get above 5k in terms of distance soon too, and keep fingers crossed I stay injury free and can run 10k by May 15th!

2 Miles – made it – just!

Haven’t really got a running plan at the moment, am just taking each day as it comes, and today I had decided to run 3k, then thought why not make it 3.22 and round up to 2 miles.

Set off rather quick and knew I had to slow down, struggled a bit for the second mile and lungs were gasping all the way – but managed to stuck it out and do the 2 miles in sub 20. Few weeks and I will be up to 5k and can start thinking about longer runs and a bit of speed… lol..

5k on a sunny but cold day – 31:26

Finally got a few hours of sleep last night after a rotten few days where I didn’t sleep for 3 nights Had meant to go for this run yesterday, but was a bit worried about running when feeling exhausted and I had an important event to get to so didn’t want to feel even tireder (even though running usually wakes me up a bit, I was feeling VERY tired).

Anyway, wanted to reach the 5k milestone after a couple of 4k runs recently, so this was my goal. Set off at a gentle pace, without any weights or situps as a warmup today. Slowly started to breathe harder, but was determined to keep the pace slowish and not go for speed, but just to get my body used to running a little further again.

Did start to struggle at 4k, had to force myself to keep going – have not run 5k for some time, so knew it wasn’t going to be a fantastic time. By the end was petering out, 5k was my limit today, but good that I reached it, in 31:26. So my next target is to run 5k under 30 minutes and then take it from there

4k that beat the downpour!

One of the many things I like about running, is that usually (not always, of course), the perceived effort produces rewarding results. This can give a real psychological boost. You put the work in, you get the reward. Bit like with lab rats… But anyway, today I had to force myself out again, it’s a grim day, rain, clouds, and while I was warming up it was pouring down, but I wasn’t going to let that deter me – I needed to wake up somehow!

So out I went and trudged the streets until the Garmin found its satellites and locked in, and then set off, just wanting to get the run over with so I could get back to the house. It had stopped raining by now. Don’t get me wrong, I love running in the rain, I especially love long runs in the rain, but rain at the start of a run, before you’ve warmed up, can be more of an annoyance. In any case, I set off, and felt good, and noticed that I was breathing hard by about half a kilometre – checked Garmin, and I was going a bit quick, and I ended up doing the first k in under 6 minutes, which is what my last k had been in my last run (I often seem to start off as I left off!). I tried not to slow, but inevitably a bit of a faster paced start had got me into oxygen debt, so I just tried to maintain pace and complete the 4k. Some rain would have been good at that point!

At 2k, I was breathing very hard and wondering if I would even make 4k, but I also knew if I did make 4k, I was going to run it in sub 25 and quite a bit quicker than the 4k effort I did in the week (25:11). That kept me going, even though I had to grit my teeth and was grimacing. I just kept going, kept going, no pain, no pain, whispering the Mantra of Rocky

By the last K I was starting to feel an endorphin rush, I passed a woman I had already passed once in my looping route, and at that point my legs felt like feathers, I sped up to near 40 minute 10k pace, feeling like I was flying, before dwindling down to a jog and stopping the Garmin at 24:02. I was really pleased to knock a minute off the time for the same distance from only a few days ago, and pleased that my effort had paid off. I worked hard, and got my little reward. I also beat the downpour that started just after I got in!

Of course one of the other things I like about running is that, I will soon be running that kind of time with far less effort, and increasing the effort will result in faster times, and I hope some longer runs too.

One thing is for sure, running wakes me up, which is one of my biggest perceived daily efforts

4k target accomplished!

Had to get up early for a delivery, almost fell back asleep once it had arrived! Since assignment and hectic Uni stuff been feeling very tired lately and going to bed too late and getting up too early (for me!) Anyway forced myself out for a run as I had planned to do 4k today. Really didn’t feeling like running but it woke me up a bit, just ran slow and completed 4k without any heroics, though did speed up to sub 6 minute/k pace in last k which wasn’t bad… considering I was just about at my limit of endurance by then!

Still, onwards and upwards, 5k is next target!

2 miles and a Happy New Year!

So 2010 will go down as the year I got my sub 50 10k, and didn’t really do a hell of a lot else runningwise! First it was the shinsplints, and a slow comeback, followed by the PB – then the massive injury at Bolton 10k, a long layoff, physiotherapy, frustration, and then a nice gentle comeback, just getting really back into it, upping the distance – then snow and flu hits and suddenly 2010 is done and gone!

Decided to do my comeback run on the first day of 2011 and hope it sets a trend! Was worried I would have lost all fitness again after a layoff of over a month, and of course losing some fitness is inevitable – but I kept to a gentle pace and completed two miles without feeling under significant duress, which bodes well. Two 10.5 minute miles is not bad to start with considering the time off my feet, and since I usually find the first few runs back really hard, I am quite pleased that I wasn’t feeling half dead! Looking forward to getting back out regularly, and building back up to some nice long runs. As spring approaches, am thinking of entering some more races – will just have to be careful with my frayed finances!

Happy New Year to all readers of this running blog!

4 miles in the frost – 40:40

A very cold day – frost still on the road outside at 12pm. Didn’t sleep too well, but wanted a run today. Donned the running clobber and the beanie Louise gave me for my birthday. Breath was pluming like smoke!

Set off and felt good straightaway, then hit a bit of a wall at Crown Point North shopping centre, – a wall of shoppers! Dodged through them but I was under the glass awning and this seemed to affect my Garmin, for once I was out from under the awning, it shot up to 1.6k when I done 1.2 at the most. That made the pacing of the run confusing thereafter, so I just tried to settle into a rhythm and run and added half a km on to the target to make sure I did the 4 miles. Soon got warm enough to remove running beanie. Big hill over Guide Bridge negotiated OK, then a long sloping ascent up the road that leads back to Corporation Road, then coasting in a straight line for a while before getting back to my neck of the woods.

Felt I was running faster at times but couldn’t really sustain it and the splits show I was just over 10 minute mile pace, but running in the cold didn’t help. I’ve done 14.62 miles this week, if I include last Sunday’s run, 20 miles, which is more than I have run in a week for quite some time. I am going to need a couple of rest days now as I could feel the miles in my legs a bit – need to take a step back and just let my legs strengthen up and the CV system have a break before coming back fresh again. Wish I could run every day, it would help with the SAD etc – but I need to be sensible as the last thing I need right now is overdoing the running and getting yet another 2 month disabling injury!

9km in 55:47 – longest fastest run so far this winter!

So, after a couple of rest days it was time to attempt another slow 5 miler in Britain’s arctic weather; fortunately, for the time being, this area has escaped the snow despite being rather bitterly cold.

Set off very slowly to get warmed up, and with the intention of my head of completing 5 miles, never mind the speed. As usual took a while for my CV system to get into it, I ran down St Anne’s Road, then up Windmill Lane, and through Dane Bank to Reddish. At about 3-4k I was feeling pretty good and thought I might actually be able to run a little further than 5 miles without too much trouble. Due to traffic I went down the lane that leads back to Hyde Road eventually and goes past Cedar Mount, etc and I was feeling good. As 7k ticked over, I was on 43 minutes on the Garmin – I could easily do a sub 50 five miler, which would be a milestone! I managed to inject a little speed, and indeed this last km of the 5 miles was my quickest, though not very quick by pre-injury standards. In any case, 5 miles ticked over in 49:00 and that was quite a delightful feeling – it was still a ways to Hyde Road though, so I ran another km, at a slower pace, as a kind of cool down, and ended up finishing on the Showcase Cinema car park,whereupon I fished my trusty student annual bus pass from my pocket, and after cooling down with a walk, got the bus back home, having done 9.05km, my longest and fastest run since the April injury – and I felt quite comfortable in places and enjoyed it.

6K in 36:50

Had a bit of an enforced break from running after my lower back twinged a few Mondays ago – decided to rest up till it went away entirely, then had a few easy runs to ease back into it, and fortunately no further back pain (or a repeat of the leg injury I had the last time my back twinged like that!)

So on Sunday I did a 5k and managed sub 30, and today wanted to run a sub 37 6k, which I just about managed in 36:50. The route has a couple of tough hills which slowed a few k, especially the penultimate one, otherwise I could have got nearer 36, at least I managed to run the last k fastest despite feeling tired – good for mental toughtness, feel confident the times will start getting quicker week by week now. I hope1