Back at it

Things seemed to get back to normal in the last week after a grim few days feeling very tired.

I sensed a return to normal following a really encouraging fartlek session over 10 miles around Bedford Park midweek last week.

Cracking on early morning before work, I set the GPS to notify me mile splits and then set about a session of one mile steady, one mile fast for 10 miles. This went pretty much 6:20/4:55 throughout and was one of the most enjoyable sessions I’ve done for some time. I felt great, really controlled.

By the weekend I stuck in my favourite 1 min/1min fartlek on the road during a 9 miler, and again felt pretty much there or thereabouts. The next day was an easy 15.6 miles with my mate Matt Janes in advance of a midweek race outing in the Bedford 6.

I’m not a fan of evening racing at all as I just find it hard to get focused after a day at work. It’s almost like I can’t get myself up for the race until I leave the office. And this was no exception. However, I think for an evening race on a testing course with a stiff breeze on the return I raced ok.

We set off and it was clear Neilson Hall was going to be time-trialling as he was well up after just the half mile. I went through one mile with club mates Andrew Inskip and the aforementioned Welsh Wizard Janesy, who to be fair is a sub 29:30 10k man when fit, but has had a calf injury.

Shortly after this I eased away from Inskip and Janes and was moving quite well. The early splits had a following wind, so I galloped through 3 miles in under 15 minutes. I was feeling ok, apart from needing the toilet badly. This felt horrible.

The feeling came and went until about 4.5 miles when I developed an unwelcome gut ache, which at times was forcing an involuntary groan from me. I worked into the windy part of the course and was in real pain for the last mile. I must have lost some seconds as the feeling of needing a crap was unbearable and surely impacted on how I was running.

Still, 30:56 is sub 32 for 10k, and with no company on a less than ideal course I’m happy with it. It was a good workout for the London 10k later this month, and with a few sessions and two more weeks I should be in shape by then to clock a similar time or faster with the addition of another 0.2 of a mile.

I ran back home five miles after the race and got that light headed feeling you get when you’re running low on sugar. I managed to get home before passing out.

Domestic 10k races
It was great to see a glut of good runs over the two 10k races in Manchester and Bristol over the weekend, some great times from many guys who work hard. Well deserved. I really wanted to be there racing myself when watching the Manchester race on TV, but will have to wait until London on 30th. That field is going to be STACKED.

Wanjiru
Finally, what a loss the death of Sammy Wanjiru was. The guy was an absolute phenomenon. His slowest marathon in six outings was 2:06:39. Unbelievable. People forget he ran 26:41 for 10,000m and had the world record for the half marathon at just 18. Dead at just 24 years old and so much to live for. His surge after surge to beat Kabede in Chicago last year was typical of his style, in a race with half a million dollars up for grabs.

Wanjiru wins Chicago Marathon 2010

It does makes me wonder how you can experience running into the Olympic Stadium to claim the marathon gold medal (the pinnacle), and having had that experience you then take your own life. I find that hard to believe.

Beijing was a masterpiece in running and running with unbelievable confidence from the front. Amazing talent.