Diary Of A Road Runner

10 Mile Long Run – 01:31:49 – PB!

Nice long 10 mile run on a hot and sunny day. Wanted to run it at a decent pace instead of just jogging along easily as I have been lately, and managed a 10 mile PB by 2 minutes – and did it 10 minutes faster than my last effort and faster than recent long runs in general, and only stopped once to eat a gel. Felt like a drink in the later stages but resisted the temptation to have a shop stop but kept going, and tried to gradually speed up the harder things got, rather than petering out like I normally do. Still felt fresh at 12k though the last couple of k’s were hard and was overheating in the sun at times. Not a bad run at all though, ended up in central Manchester, went past the gay carnival thing, and got the bus home.

Splits for my k’s were:

5:39
5:48
6:05
5:56
5:52
5:54
5:40
5:41
5:39
6:09 (gel stop/slow)
5:38
5:24
5:24
5:25
5:43 (struggling with pedestrians!)
5:11 (clear road and a sprint!)

The Moonraker 10k 2009 Race Report – 50:21 – PB!

Ok, I finally found out why it’s called the Moonraker 10k – apparently locals in that area call themselves moonrakers, and it goes back to a tradition when poachers, about to be apprehended, would throw their spoils into a pond and then pretend to be raking the moon’s reflection, for the cheese…

Hmm, anyway, this was a rematch with what was my third ever race last year, but to date my slowest 10k time unless you counted my first 10k. Last year I found the course really tough, with a big hill and heat, but after this race my times started to improve dramatically. So this time round, I was really looking at it as preparation for my next 2 flatter 10k’s, and was just hoping to get a course PB, and see what racing with the Garmin switched to ignore mode was like.

What a change from last year in so many respects! I had a different cabbie from my usual one, and the motorway was all shut down and diverted. Instead of sunshine and the hottest day of the year, it was threatening rain, and this duly started to come down before the race. I did a bit of a more sedate warmup than usual, trotting around for 15 minutes but resisting the temptation to start bombing around like a mad thing.

The time came, and we were off. I set off at what I hoped was a manageable pace, and kind of let the flow of people around me dictate my speed for the first k. I resisted a look at the Garmin, which I had set to silent so I could ignore the lap alerts. I felt OK as we came up to the hill at 2k, and was determined to take this easy come what may, rather than attacking it with gung ho bravado and paying for it later. A few people came bombing past me, full of confidence, but they started dying like flies as the hill took its toll and I started to overhaul them. I kept my pace steady enough but once I got to the top of the hill I was filled with adrenaline and went flying down the other side, determined to make up, and I enjoyed the downhills before it became a bit flatter. I had no idea what time I was headed for, but just got into a pace I felt I could keep up, and ramped it up a bit when I felt I could, focusing on runners ahead and taking them one by one. By the last 3k it got really cat and mouse, I overtook a group, but for a while I could hear them on my heels and I was starting to hurt. Someone overtook me but I just tried to stay with them. I just had to keep going somehow! A few from an earlier group overtook me in the last 200, and I had a sprint finish in which I pulled away from another chap. It was all good fun. Those little mini races helped me keep going! I crossed the line feeling tired yet really good. I looked at the Garmin, flipped it to show my time, and I had done 50:21 – not just a course PB but a lifetime PB, and with that bugger of a hill as well!

Looking at the splits, the hill added a couple of minutes on to my time, really slowing me for a couple of k’s, but the good news was I had handled the hills well and left myself enough in the tank to run a negative split – did the first 5k in 26, the second in 24:21 – which equates to my 2nd or 3rd fastest 5k best. The reason I could do that, was I didn’t know I was doing it. Normally I would look at my 5k on the Garmin, feel I was behind, and maybe give up on some level, or feel there was no way I could run fast enough to make up the time. Without the Garmin to refer to, I didn’t know, and I just seemed to run faster in the second half quite naturally, without all the mental guessing games. From now on this is how I am going to race, if this performance is anything to go by, it really helped!

Considering what happened last year, this race was a springboard to real improvements – if the same happens again, in the 3 remained 10k’s of the year I hope not to just to beat the 50 minute barrier, but to smash it once and for all

5 Mile Tempo Run – 40:01 – PB!

Well the PB’s seem to keep coming in training – this 5 mile tempo run I wanted, after an initial warm up spell, to run at or around 5 mins per kilometer, as I am hoping to run one of my upcoming 10k races slightly faster than that in order to get under 50 minutes.

I set off with a 5:17 k and then sped up slightly, finding it tough to make the pace early on and wondering if I could keep it up for 5 miles. At some points I felt I needed to be going quicker as I felt I was slowing down, but those k’s ticked over in under 5 minutes, so although it was feeling harder, I was actually maintaining the tempo pace as the lactic acid in my legs built up to its threshold. By the last kilometre I thought I may well go sub 40 but that last k seemed quite long and I was feeling maxed out, but maintained the pace and still threw in a 4:48 last kilometre. All in all I had 5 of the 8 kilometres under 5 minutes, and under race conditions I should be able to maintain that pace for another 1.2 miles, which should result in a nice sub 50 either at Offerton (hilly, but who knows!) or the City of Manchester 10k. Did 40:01 for the 5 miles which is 1.5 minutes off my PB a couple of weeks ago

1 Mile Time Trial – 7:00 – PB

Some bloke on a forum has challenged me to run a sub 6 minute mile by July 2010. While this seems patently crazy for someone who spent 20 odd years smoking, drinking and doing other naughty things with various chemicals, I thought why not, I will give it a go, and it will be fun seeing how close I can get.

So today I decided to do a mile time trial just to see where my starting point is, having a previous mile best of 7:25. I planned my route as the same one for my 5k trials, as it is reasonably flat and traffic free, and any uphills and downhills cancel each other out in the course of the circuit.

Did a 8:22 warm up mile then walked for a bit, feeling almost as nervous as before a race! Got to my start off point, paused for a few moments, then hit the start button on the Garmin and blasted off. Nearly careened into a bunch of school yobbos but at that point was going at 3:29/k, which I couldn’t maintain and I slowed a bit as I settled into the middle part of the run, still going through the kilometre mark in 4:14 – the fastest kilometre I have run by about 20 seconds! I knew than I just had to keep going and I only had to keep going for another 600 metres or so, and in the end I staggered over the mile mark in 7 mins and a few tenths of a second, with which I was pleased, but also felt my lungs and heart rate were totally maxed out. So I walked for a bit then did a cool down mile in 9:30 and really couldn’t have run any more – but very nice to get the PB and now only a minute to shave off in the next year lol.

Will be interesting to see how close I get – today was hard, and I think it will get even harder the closer I get to the magical 6 minutes!

Medium Paced 5 miler – 42:43 PB

After getting a 5k PB the other day I felt I needed an easier run, but a little longer, so opted for a nice easy five miler, although I guess it ended up being my 5 mile PB even though I wasn’t running for a time.

Good thing was, I ran it much easier than my last five miler, felt better, and did it several minutes quicker, including a couple of later K’s where I unconsciously ran nearly at race pace without trying.

Definite improvments in speed and endurance lately – starting to get excited about the Great Manchester Run now, if I can weave around the Scooby Doos and Marshmallows quickly enough, I may well PB and go sub 50, in fact I know I can do it! Just depends on the speed of the runners around me and if I get crowded I think, but it might work in my favour if I take the outgoing half quite easy then go full pelt on the way back into Manchester

5K Time Trial – Smashed the 24 minute barrier! PB!

First 5k time trial for a while, and have finally shattered the 24 minute barrier – 23:38! It’s been a long time coming, a PB by 22 seconds and 40 seconds than my previous best this year but definite improvement now after being stuck just over 24 for some time. Was definitely helped by more mileage last week then a 3 day rest, I think, so I felt fresh and raring to go.

By the end I was almost ready to collapse – felt very tempted to stop at 3k, thinking I had gone way too fast and couldn’t go any further, then I thought I might even break 23 minutes if I could just keep going and that gave me some motivation to keep going, but I was tiring in the last 2k and lost quite a bit of time just hanging on during kilometre 4, but still kept it below 5 mins/k and just sprinted as best I could in the last seconds, focusing on a lampost up ahead which I duly hugged/fell around as I finished!

Splits were:

4:34
4:44
4:38
4:54
4:46

This time I had the endurance to blast off and then just keep it thereabouts, so the training is working! The Macmillan race calculator now predicts 49:06 for 10k from this 5k time, and in recent times it has been pretty accurately predicting my 10k times from my 5k trials

I am now looking for sub 23 within the next few months – and who knows – sub 20 within a year?!

Salford 10k – 50:36 PB – For Mum!

Well I had a race report here, but it vanished

I posted it on a forum though so it can be read at:

http://www.runnersforum.co.uk/10k-5-miles/7606-salford-10k-2009-race-report.html

5k Time Trial – 27:41

Felt confident enought today to go at my 5k run as a bit of a time trial – set off quite hard, and did the first k in about 5:30, and felt it was suicidal at first, but managed to stay there or thereabouts throughout the run and ended up with a time of 27:41 – was hard in the latter stages but still somehow ran the last k as the fastest split apart from the first, which were as follows:

5:22
5:32
5:35
5:41
5:29

Still work to do – but feel the benefits of the last few weeks’ runs are not truly apparent yet, and am happy to keep knocking 70 seconds at a time off my 5K, which goes as a 2009 PB so far!!

Aim now to work towards sub 25 by the time I run my first 10k race, which should see me on course for at least a sub 55, but if I keep getting back to it at this rate, who knows – although these runs are hard at the moment, I do not feel I am over pushing myself, with some longer slow runs thrown in, I could get back into a nice groove quite quickly

5k Time Trial – Cold and Grey – 24m 00s PB!

I haven’t slept much all week and have had some kind of stomach bug. Was feeling really tired this morning and had restless legs again as well as still feeling a bit queasy from the bug/food poisoning or whatever it was.

Although I didn’t feel up to it much, I wanted to get out to keep the legs turning over, so planned a 5k jog. It was freezing, so I didn’t hang around too much but set off a bit quickly to get warm. Did the first k in 4:50 then just decided to keep it going. Fourth k really hurt as the split shows, slowed to 5 mins per k after doing my fastest k split to date of 4:34. Desperation to get under 24 minutes kept the legs going near the end but staggered over 5k as Garmin clocked the last metre and 1 tenth of a second over 24 minutes

Still, a PB despite feeling totally rubbish when I walked out the door, and didn’t do much of a warmup either, so there has been improvement even though I took a week off, which must have done me some good too!

Splits were:

4:50
4:45
4:34
5:00
4:48

Boggart Chase 10k Race – Hot & Sunny – 51m 40s PB!

This was a race I had been a bit apprehensive about, not least because I had been feeling so tired earlier in the week. I took 3 days off running to try to let my energy levels return to normal, and concentrated on some other stuff. I was also thinking the nature of the course (undulating) would prevent me from another PB, just when I was on a roll!

The race started at 11:15, so I had ordered my taxi for 10. I got there with plenty of time to spare and managed to locate the toilets. I also had chance to enjoy watching the 3k fun run for young athletes before getting myself geared up for the main event. I did some stretches and for a minute thought I had damaged my hamstring but it was just a spasm as I managed to go and jog around the track a few times, and after a few trips to the loo it was time to be under starters orders!

This was quite a small race compared to some I’ve done, so I milled around near the back of the pack as usual, and then the horn went. Starting off on the track was a bit confusing – we did 2 and a bit laps before heading off on to the road, so I asked this lady I was passing if it was all on the track, lol! I set off pretty slowly, trying not to go off madly, and just get into a rhythm, as I knew some hills were coming and didn’t want to blow up half way through the race. Off we went on to the road and things were already thinned out where I was. A veteran lady (Louise Gilchrist) I have seen at other races came past me, and we headed into the park, down something of a slope, as I clocked the first k in 4:39, and then another couple of ladies overtook me, then we reached the first hill, where I powered up and overtook the ladies and the veteran, and left them behind, as well as leaving behind some people who were clearly knackered by the top of the hill and I must admit my legs felt a bit wobbly, but I just carried on trying to maintain my pace. Weaving around the park was lovely, it was lovely and sunny but I was feeling pretty hot already, just kept reminding myself of all the training, and just to keep going.

Further on, the veteran lady and the other two ladies came past me again as we went round an out and back cone extension thing, and then we got to the biggest hill of the course and I took them again there and left them behind again. Just after the cone extension there were some small dogs wandering around off leads, the marshall nearby had obviously told this woman to leash them, because she was yelling, “Yeah, I’m selfish aren’t I, you miserable, nasty old bast&*$”. I’m sure she would have been delighted if a runner had run into one of the beasts injuring the thing. By that point I had been running sub 50 pace, my splits for the first 3-4 k were all under 5 minutes but the hills were double whammies – first slowing me going up them, and then the sapping effect they had on legs and energy, so about k’s 6. 7 and 8 I lost quite a bit of time. I kept digging deep, and there were some people in the distance in front of me who I caught over the last 2k. The ladies and veteran caught me again, but I left them on the hill again, and thereafter I overtook some people and there was one chap I clung to like glue but he still passed the line a second before me – the hills had taken it out of my legs, and although I was motoring the last 200m, I couldn’t really call it a sprint! I stopped the Garmin at 51:40 – and was amazed that I had had taken a chunk off my PB again – when the last PB was gained on a flat PB course in perfect conditions

My Garmin went a bit haywire in the last 2k – it was clocking k’s just shy of the markers all the way round, and then towards the end it showed 8.4k, and next time I looked it had gone down to 8.27, and was stuck at 8.5 when I went past the 9k marker. Figure it must have been the extesive foliage overhead, as I don’t have a supersensitive GPS model, just the old Forerunner 101! Still, it did me good for the time and the early splits – I know now on a flat course, I can run sub 50 pace for the first 5k, and without hills to sap my speed and energy, I feel confident I could maintain that for another 5k. Now I just need another 10k race, but there may not be one until the spring, so it’s time to look at my winter strategy and I aim to smash through 50 minutes first race back next season