A TOUGH couple of weeks have passed since my 10,000m race mid July. Some major life changes had to take priority over my running.
I mentioned in an earlier post back in April that I had started a new job that had been a 'good move' for me, but the weeks following that only demonstrated that it was anything but a good move. The earning potential was nothing like I'd been lead to believe and it was clear I needed to make a change and quickly. Thankfully this has taken me no more than three months and two weeks ago I handed in my notice.
I am now self employed in financial services and passed the exams in double quick time. I am working alongside a guy I respect and have known for the thick end of 15 years. The future looks bright.
With the final exams, the handing in of my notice, a residential training and assessment course in Swindon and a very sick daughter in the last two weeks, my running inevitably suffered. I felt lethargic and listless on my runs, and disconnected from my training.
Knowing that you need to be 100 per cent committed to marathon training had me a little concerned 11 weeks from my next marathon in Toronto.
However, this weekend I feel I have regained my focus as things have begun to settle down. I had planned a 5,000m outing for my club on the track yesterday, but my daughter fell ill and my sleep was severely disrupted. I just could not focus on a race of any desription.
Training over the last two weeks has been largely devoid of any specific sessions, just standard runs. However, I now feel ready to move forward with a marathon build up phase. Longer reps, longer Sunday runs. I'm still committed to racing over 10,000m in the BMC race at Birmingham Uni on 13 August as I see this as beneficial to my marathon ambitions in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
M July 18 - AM 5.1 miles easy and tired, PM 8.9 miles feeling better
T - 6.4 miles off road in Swindon after a long day being assessed - tired 6.26 pace
W - AM 5.6 miles really tired, felt like shit. Mentally drained 7.03 pace, PM 8.2 mile home run after drive back from Swindon - much better 6.06 pace and last few miles well under 6 min pace
T - 10.5 miles after morning in London passing CF6 exam - sub 6 pace - felt ok
F - AM easy 5 miles 6.25 pace, PM 10 miles at 6.22 pace
S - AM session with Andrew Inskip - pulled it out of the bag as I felt very tired upon starting - 5 miles warming up/down, 6 x 100 strides then 12 x 550m on grass [off 60s]. Got stronger as it went on, PM 5.1 miles easy
S - 13 miles, most I could manage, myriad of niggles and felt totally detatched from it - 6.37 pace
89 miles
M - rest
T - AM 8.2 miles home run feeling ok, PM 6.4 miles tired
W - 8 miles to collect new car from dealership - felt tired but still 6.03 pace
T - AM 7 miles early after dropping old company car off at former employers! 6.53 pace, PM 5.1 miles hopelessly slow after a day with my daughter who is very sick
F - 10.5 miles at 6.30 pace feeling slightly better
S - Bad night with my daughter so withdrew from 5,000m and did fartlek session late in the afternoon with miles in 4.58, 4.46 and two mile segment in 10.09 - otherwise low 6 min pace
S - Up early with sick daughter so very early 20 miles at 6.22 pace - took 2:07
77 miles
Sunday 31 July 2011
Saturday 16 July 2011
10,000m track race
I ran my first 10,000m this week on the track, which was also my first track race for eight years.
I had no real expectation of how to play it, what it would feel like to clip off 25 laps and how this would play on my mind, but in the end I loved it.
In the weeks leading up to the race it was clear nobody was going to do anything to promote it. It was billed as the Herts and Beds County Championships, but this meant little if nobody knew the race was on. I noticed it was an 8.30pm start - this was ideal as the wind would more likely drop and the day, if warm, would turn mild.
We used facebook and eightlane to get some awareness out there and some enquiries came in. As it was entry on the day it was difficult to get concrete entrant details, but in the end Matt Janes, Darren Deed (Bedford & County), Aaron Scott (Notts), John Gilbert (Kent), Kev Mason (Brighton) and myself were on the start line. Of those six only Janesy and Kev Mason had ever run over 10,000m on the track before.
In the days leading up to the event I had spent two nights in a tent in the pissing rain in Norfolk and a night out watching Beady Eye. These three nights had saw me drink gallons of lager as I fancied some downtime. I wasn't feeling too much like an athlete for this one.
As anticipated the weather was ideal - 18 degrees and not a breath of wind. All warmed up and spiked up we took our marks in a field of about 15 and got things underway.
My first lap felt slow but I was eager to keep things under control and to be fair was not too far behind Deed, Scott, Janes and Gilbert. This was the same through the first km split of 3:10. I was still close to the lead group and wanted to go quicker.
My next km was 3:03 and I felt back on track. In fact, I was feeling pretty good and enjoying my first 25 lapper. I was within range of the leaders, which included two sub 30 men on the road.
My next two km splits were 3:08 and I hit the half way in 15:37, feeling I could up it over the second half. I had hoped to run near to 31:00 here, with the plan to go quicker at the BMC Birmingham Uni race next month.
The next km was 3:07 and I noticed the lead group had upped their game and Janesy had fallen off them. He still seemed a fair way ahead, over 100m. I knew he had been struggling a bit following a disappointing 5000m and didn't really want to catch him as he's my mate and catching him meant he was having a bad day. Over the next km (3:09) that's exactly what happened. I seemed to catch him quickly.
As I moved alongside with about 3400m to go I admit it felt I was going to go past quite decisively as he had slowed a great deal, but as I passed him he latched on and we were together. I had caught him but wasn't about to run on alone and had company for the first time in the race.
The next 2km were the slowest of the race and in hindsight I may have backed off once I had caught Janesy, or possibly had put an effort in to catch him and was having a breather. Possibly I just showed a lack of bottle to really go for it.
Into the last km and we upped the pace. I knew regardless of his condition he would be able to beat me if we were together at the bell because my four year old daughter could (my finish isn't my strong point).
We ran down the straight and took the bell just as Aaron Scott and Darren Deed were finishing neck and neck behind us (nice to avoid getting lapped). Aaron took it in 30:14 - which was a big jump for him. I obviously didn't see this but by all accounts it was a close finish, the classic 'thickness of a vest'.
My last km was 3:03 and I clocked an official 31:22.2. Matt got me by a couple of strides but I wasn't too concerned. This was always going to be a race to experience the distance before another crack at it next month in Birmingham. After that it's marathon training all the way for Toronto and that cherished England vest.
The official results of the top 6 :
Aaron Scott (Notts AC) 30 mins 14.5 secs
Darren Deed (Bedford & County) 30 mins 14.7 secs
John Gilbert (Kent AC) 30 mins 22.8 secs
Matt Janes (Bedford & County) 31 mins 19.8 secs
James Lawler (Bedford & County) 31 mins 22.2 secs
Kev Mason (Brighton & Hove) 32 mins 42.3 secs
My training from the day after the City of Manchester 10k to the 10,000m as follows:
Monday 4 July - 16.6 miles at 6:18 pace - hot but felt good after yesterday's race
T - AM 6.1 easy, PM 5.7 easy
W - AM 6 miles warming up/down, 6 x 1000m on track [90s jog] bloody windy on my birthday, last two really windy 2:59, 3:00, 2:57, 2:59, 3:00, 3:00, PM 5.5 off road easy
T - AM 5 miles easy, PM 7 miles steady then 6 x 100m strides
F - 10 mile tempo run winding it up to 5:21 pace
S - 15.1 miles very tired before leaving for camping
S - AM 6 miles from campsite tired 6:47 pace, PM 6 miles as this morning, very tired 6:35 pace
93.5 miles
M - rested
T - 6.4 miles 6:26 pace feeling rubbish
W - 6.4 miles feeling rubbish then 4 x 100 lethargic strides
T - AM 4 miles jog, PM 10,000m track race (31:22) with 5 miles of warming up/down
I had no real expectation of how to play it, what it would feel like to clip off 25 laps and how this would play on my mind, but in the end I loved it.
In the weeks leading up to the race it was clear nobody was going to do anything to promote it. It was billed as the Herts and Beds County Championships, but this meant little if nobody knew the race was on. I noticed it was an 8.30pm start - this was ideal as the wind would more likely drop and the day, if warm, would turn mild.
We used facebook and eightlane to get some awareness out there and some enquiries came in. As it was entry on the day it was difficult to get concrete entrant details, but in the end Matt Janes, Darren Deed (Bedford & County), Aaron Scott (Notts), John Gilbert (Kent), Kev Mason (Brighton) and myself were on the start line. Of those six only Janesy and Kev Mason had ever run over 10,000m on the track before.
In the days leading up to the event I had spent two nights in a tent in the pissing rain in Norfolk and a night out watching Beady Eye. These three nights had saw me drink gallons of lager as I fancied some downtime. I wasn't feeling too much like an athlete for this one.
As anticipated the weather was ideal - 18 degrees and not a breath of wind. All warmed up and spiked up we took our marks in a field of about 15 and got things underway.
My first lap felt slow but I was eager to keep things under control and to be fair was not too far behind Deed, Scott, Janes and Gilbert. This was the same through the first km split of 3:10. I was still close to the lead group and wanted to go quicker.
My next km was 3:03 and I felt back on track. In fact, I was feeling pretty good and enjoying my first 25 lapper. I was within range of the leaders, which included two sub 30 men on the road.
My next two km splits were 3:08 and I hit the half way in 15:37, feeling I could up it over the second half. I had hoped to run near to 31:00 here, with the plan to go quicker at the BMC Birmingham Uni race next month.
The next km was 3:07 and I noticed the lead group had upped their game and Janesy had fallen off them. He still seemed a fair way ahead, over 100m. I knew he had been struggling a bit following a disappointing 5000m and didn't really want to catch him as he's my mate and catching him meant he was having a bad day. Over the next km (3:09) that's exactly what happened. I seemed to catch him quickly.
As I moved alongside with about 3400m to go I admit it felt I was going to go past quite decisively as he had slowed a great deal, but as I passed him he latched on and we were together. I had caught him but wasn't about to run on alone and had company for the first time in the race.
The next 2km were the slowest of the race and in hindsight I may have backed off once I had caught Janesy, or possibly had put an effort in to catch him and was having a breather. Possibly I just showed a lack of bottle to really go for it.
Into the last km and we upped the pace. I knew regardless of his condition he would be able to beat me if we were together at the bell because my four year old daughter could (my finish isn't my strong point).
We ran down the straight and took the bell just as Aaron Scott and Darren Deed were finishing neck and neck behind us (nice to avoid getting lapped). Aaron took it in 30:14 - which was a big jump for him. I obviously didn't see this but by all accounts it was a close finish, the classic 'thickness of a vest'.
My last km was 3:03 and I clocked an official 31:22.2. Matt got me by a couple of strides but I wasn't too concerned. This was always going to be a race to experience the distance before another crack at it next month in Birmingham. After that it's marathon training all the way for Toronto and that cherished England vest.
The official results of the top 6 :
Aaron Scott (Notts AC) 30 mins 14.5 secs
Darren Deed (Bedford & County) 30 mins 14.7 secs
John Gilbert (Kent AC) 30 mins 22.8 secs
Matt Janes (Bedford & County) 31 mins 19.8 secs
James Lawler (Bedford & County) 31 mins 22.2 secs
Kev Mason (Brighton & Hove) 32 mins 42.3 secs
Monday 4 July - 16.6 miles at 6:18 pace - hot but felt good after yesterday's race
T - AM 6.1 easy, PM 5.7 easy
W - AM 6 miles warming up/down, 6 x 1000m on track [90s jog] bloody windy on my birthday, last two really windy 2:59, 3:00, 2:57, 2:59, 3:00, 3:00, PM 5.5 off road easy
T - AM 5 miles easy, PM 7 miles steady then 6 x 100m strides
F - 10 mile tempo run winding it up to 5:21 pace
S - 15.1 miles very tired before leaving for camping
S - AM 6 miles from campsite tired 6:47 pace, PM 6 miles as this morning, very tired 6:35 pace
93.5 miles
M - rested
T - 6.4 miles 6:26 pace feeling rubbish
W - 6.4 miles feeling rubbish then 4 x 100 lethargic strides
T - AM 4 miles jog, PM 10,000m track race (31:22) with 5 miles of warming up/down
Tuesday 5 July 2011
K-Swiss City of Manchester 10k
I had hoped to go into this race ready to run under 31 minutes for the first time since 2008, but it didn’t quite happen for me and I’m starting to wonder if it’s going to over 10km.
I’d had a good week of training, much lower miles but with some real quality thrown in by doing sessions with Matt Janes and Andrew Inskip. In the ten days before the race I’d run a session of 4x400, 6x300 and 8x200 on the track, a set of six very tough efforts of over 3:40 with a whopping hill in Chicksands Woods, and 12 x 550m on grass off 60 seconds recoveries. The last of these was on the Tuesday before this Sunday race, so I wasn’t dragging fatigue from these efforts into race day.
The pattern of 10km races for me this year has been fairly consistent – on pace for something just inside 31 minutes until 4km, head dropping as I start to struggle in the middle stages, rallying somewhat in the final 2km but not enough to rescue the race. End result, disappointment.
The course seemed quick, starting and finishing at Sportcity, Manchester. There seemed a decent little contingent on the start line, so I knew I’d have bodies around me at my target time. It was a bit warm, 21 degrees maybe, but pleasant.
At 4km I checked my watch and could see things were going well, although clearly the 4-5th km was not the most accurate (3.20) and the halfway split was 15:42. This had coincided with me starting to struggle to keep the pace where it needed to be and my head dropped.
It was during this time that Paulo Natali went by me fairly decisively. Somewhere between 7km and 8km as we emerged back out onto the road after running through Sportcity to end the first lap Chris Wright of Leeds, who pipped me to win the Peterborough 5km last month, went by. In my tired state I made a reasonable job of keeping Chris in range and my last 2km must have been ‘decent’ as when he went by me he was threatening to run away, but by the finish line it was only a three second gap. Chris has just turned 19 and ran 31:36 – great running and a really mature way to race. I clocked 31:39 for 6th.
I’m struggling to see what I’m doing wrong over 10km right now, I’m not going off too fast, but fast enough to run ‘just’ inside 31 minutes, and that’s not overly ambitious because I’ve run well inside 31 on a few occasions.
Maybe it is my age and my background and hopefully this is going to assist me in my marathon ambitions this autumn, principally because my runner profile lends itself to rattling off 26 consecutive 5:25 mile splits and not six 4:58 splits!
My next race is 10,000m on the track, and I’m totally committed to it. What doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger. This is a race I’m hoping attracts a very decent field and myself and Aaron Scott are doing as much as we can to ensure a decent standard up front. So far Matt Janes, Darren Deed are confirmed and both will expect sub 30 minutes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)