Rob's Running Blog

5k Time Trial – 26:05

Been a while since my last time trial, and wanted to see where I was at after all the hard running and work at the Sweatshop running club, etc.

Had been an exhausting day mentally so really needed to get a run, set off gently for a 2.5k warmup and was surprised that my legs felt a little niggly as they had felt so strong yesterday! Felt ok but warm at a gentle pace, then walked around for a bit to psyche myself up for the time trial, as I know 5k time trials often mean one thing – PAIN!

Set off on the usual route so it could compare to the last outing. Glanced at the Garmin and was doing about 4:40 to start off with, and the first km ticked over in 4:53 – so far so good! But I was starting to breathe hard and wondered how long I could maintain that kind of pace! The inclines hit my pace slightly to bring in a 5:09 second km, and then the third ticked over in 5:01. I was feeling very puffy by then and working hard to try to maintain that pace, but once the inclines took their toll I ended up with a 5:18 4th km. As I took the slope down Town Lane towards St Anne’s Road, I felt a little stab of pain in my right calf, and not wanting to risk an injury, I had to slow a little, and as much as I tried to increase cadence with shorter strides, I felt pretty done in by that point, knew I wasn’t going to get near sub 25, and ended up with a pretty slow last km.

Still, it was 50 seconds off my last time trial, and a season’s best, and I probably still had some of last week’s miles in my legs! At least I know I have the pace to run at sub 50 10k pace, I just need to work on the speed endurance now!

5k Time Trial – 26:55 Season’s Best!

Not done a 5k time trial as such for some time, with a proper warm up and going hard, so thought I would give it a go!

Managed to time it so I hit the school run, but it was entertaining. Did a couple of Km warm up, during which it stopped raining, then took a breather, turned off the fast pace alert on the Garmin, and set off hard downhill on the Town Lane circuit, which is pretty good for time trials, though not completely flat the slopes up and down cancel each other out, though I end up cursing the uphills by the end!

Did two laps and then took a detour so I could run the last couple of km flat. Was really hurting by 3km and had to dig deep, trying to maintain my running form even when my lungs were screaming at me that they couldn’t really give my legs any more oxygen. By the last km I was within the sub 27, only just, and went as fast as I could to make sure I didn’t get cheated by the Garmin missing a few metres!

Ended up with sub 27 in 26:55, hard work but a season’s best! splits were:

5:19
5:27
5:14
5:29
5:22

So fairly even paced, the slower ones were where I hit the uphills and the last one I was on the verge of collapse!

Did a very gentle 1km jog to cool down a little!

A Sunny Sub 28 5k! But only just – 27:59

A pleasant sunny day prompted me to run a bit earlier, as I realise I need to get out of the habit of early evening running if I’m not going to feel half dead when I set off at the Great Manchester run mid morning!

My weekend plans have been a bit disrupted, so not sure whether I will now get a long run in on Sunday or Monday, but the plan was to do another brisk 5k, then rest up for 2-3 days before a long run.

Set off and felt pretty good, varied my route a little but kept to nearby streets. The first km ticked over in 5:58 so a slight improvement in doing the first km in under 6, then the next one ticked over in 5:45 – not super fast, but I noticed the Garmin pace creeping up and up so elected to just maintain my pace for the time being rather than going crazy. Was aware of keeping my strides short and heel striking so as not to put too much stress on my calves.

The next km went over in 5:30 and now I felt I was motoring along, wondering how close I could get to the 28 minute mark. I imperceptibly gained a bit of pace, but was now starting to breathe hard, but comfortably and happily so. With 2k to go I decided it was worth seeing if I could just run a little quicker and go for that 28 minute mark, and the penultimate km ticked over in 5:22, not a bad pace and at one point the Garmin pace went under 5 mins – bit too fast at this point! As the last KM began I nearly collided with a builder built like a brick crap house coming out of his van, his reactions in moving out of my way were rather slow, but am glad we didn’t smash into each other, after all he had a helmet on…

Thought I might be in with a shout of the sub 28 and I picked up the pace, breathing hard and feeling like I was flying along, with 100m to go I had 30 seconds left, and when it got to 50 metres and 15 seconds I sort of eased off a little thinking I had it in the bag, and then time went sort of weird as it sometimes does.

I heard the Garmin beep and staggered to a stop without remembering to stop the Garmin, but when I checked back the 5k lap marker was at 27:59 – a sub 28 5k in the bag and another season’s best.

And my calf was OK with that kind of pace, and even with some extra pace at the end. Don’t want to push it too much, and that may well be my last pacey run before the Great Manchester Run, but so far so good. Next plan is a nice long slow run and then I will look at the weeks leading up to the race and decide how I want to play it!

5k in the sun – sub 29 remains elusive this year!

With more running in my legs I was hoping to be able to run around 28 for a 5k time trial, but it was not to be, although was my fastest run in a month. Admittedly a couple of big hills on this route stopped me going sub 29 for the first time, and so the run is not to be grumbled at – was nice to run consistently at sub 30 pace and just get the legs used to going a a bit of speed. Hopefully the longer runs, and some shorter quicker ones, will all come together and get me close to 55 minutes on race day…

I have entered a 5k race (East Manchester Legacy 5k) the weekend after the Great Manchester Run so hopefully can aim for a time at that! 🙂

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 😉

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 🙂

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. 😀

5K Time Trial Without Garmin – Running Blind & Slow!

Did a couple of K usual warm up then set off for an experimental 5k time trial, without time showing on Garmin. Felt good at first, going fast, then the invisible force field appeared, I struggled to keep it going and was dead by the end.

When I flipped the read over to show time elapsed, it showed 25:40. First K was 4:39 then I just seemed to slow and was over 5 mins/k thereafter, which I haven’t been that slow over 5k in ages.

Maybe running without the Garmin doesn’t suit me… Maybe my legs have yet to get back to normal speed after my break?

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! 🙂