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

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!

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?!

6k mix up of hard and easy.

Was due a training run with my niece, so I ran an easyish mile to her house, and then took her out for an easy couple of k, which was enough for her, although she had a sprint finish with me for a bit of fun and demonstrated amazing natural speed – I fear for my pride if she keeps it up!

Ran the mile back to my place as hard as I could and ended up with a one mile PB of 7:25

5k Time Trial – 24:32

5k time trial with 1.5k warm up jog.

Blasted the first k in 4:40 and felt good, then started to struggle a bit with the heat of the midday sun – kept it going at around sub 25 pace thereafter, but slowed to just under so by the end a sub 24 was out of the question as legs were getting heavier and heavier. So ended up with 24:32 – maintaining that pace for 10k would be hard, but you never know on race day as long as I can reign myself in for the first half then switch up a gear.

Felt good to run in new Adidas Supernova’s – no knee or thigh pain, so I think the cheap Asics I was using were past their sell by date, and had economy cushioning anyway. Have another pair of the cheap Asics which might come in handy for shorter runs or trails to keep my precious Supernovas for best!

Approx 6k altogether with niece, also first timed mile.

My niece Laura has decided to do the Race for Life and asked me to train her, so we got some suitable running shoes from Sweat Shop Hyde first and this was our first run out, she did quite well, running the first kilometre in 6:16 – I have run a lot slower!

I ran to her house as a warmup, measured on the Garmin as a mile, so did my first one mile time trial in effect in 7:36. Will be interesting to see how that speed comes on!