Mid week update
As said in my last post I had another rest day on Monday so the week started on Tuesday with a gentle 10k at 7.15 min pace. I must have quickened in the second half as I was bang on 7.30 pace for the first couple of miles. I have to say that I felt really good so must have been down to the two days rest. I had originally intended to do a second lap but decided whilst out on the run not to bother, it just seemed like doing miles for miles sake.
Just 10 hours later at 5.45am on Wednesday I ran the 11.75 miles to work. I aimed for 1.30 and beat the time by just eight seconds although I had to increase my pace over the last 30 minutes by a fair bit to achieve this. As usual when I run to work I had my rucksack on, although I decided to do without the heavy coat which must be why the rucksack felt so heavy last time. The run was pretty good other than I set off an hour earlier than usual so meant the canal section was still pitch black. After 2.5 miles I did run past a camera crew by the law courts doing something presumably for the TV. They were taking up the whole pavement so was going to run between the camera and presenter, but had a last second change of heart and skirted behind the presenter! Still, not what you'd expect at 6.10am in the morning in the pitch black!
Today I went out for my usual 10.2km run. Have to be honest and say I really wasn't up for it, more so as its tempo run day which makes it even harder. Well, cutting to the chase I ran pretty hard and am amazed to see that I ran the course in 38.30 which is 6.04 min mile pace. Frankly, I'm surprised that I've gone so quickly around a course that you could hardly call flat. I went through 10km in 37.42 which is quicker than some of my 10k races in the first half of last year and this was done in training! Isn't it bizarre how sometimes your best runs are when you feel least like going out?! In terms of the marathon it doesn't mean much, though gives me extra evidence that my overall fitness is still improving.
I'm not sure how the next few days will pan out. Tomorrow is normally a rest day, but since I took Monday off I'm tempted to go out for a jog. I've also got to go in work at some point over the weekend so am not sure what distance I'll cover.
On another note I have decided to join Hinckley Running Club who are based only a few miles away from me. Why join a club? Well, although the MdS is at the back of my mind my primary focus has turned to the road. I feel that my fitness has come on leaps and bounds over the last few months and the best way to make another large step forward is to join a club. To be honest I prefer to do the majority of my running alone (de-stressing and can run at my own pace), but things like intervals etc are best done in a group when you really push yourself to destruction. I chose Hinckley as its main focus is the road/XC as opposed to athletic clubs, it has a mix of abilities with some top runners to help push me along and quite a few runners in the 20-40 age group. What helps things is that the membership was cheap and means I avoid the £2 surcharge for not being affiliated as well. At the moment I wont be able to go to training with them as I haven't moved into my new place yet, but hopefully will be some time in the next couple of months.
Finally, I received an email from the Thames Meander organisers asking whether I now wanted to run as they have had some cancellations. It took me all of a few seconds to decide against it, I would have to change my training and I think its difficult to build up the sort of motivation required at such a late stage. Not helping is that I would have to write off the cost of entering the Draycote Marathon.
Just 10 hours later at 5.45am on Wednesday I ran the 11.75 miles to work. I aimed for 1.30 and beat the time by just eight seconds although I had to increase my pace over the last 30 minutes by a fair bit to achieve this. As usual when I run to work I had my rucksack on, although I decided to do without the heavy coat which must be why the rucksack felt so heavy last time. The run was pretty good other than I set off an hour earlier than usual so meant the canal section was still pitch black. After 2.5 miles I did run past a camera crew by the law courts doing something presumably for the TV. They were taking up the whole pavement so was going to run between the camera and presenter, but had a last second change of heart and skirted behind the presenter! Still, not what you'd expect at 6.10am in the morning in the pitch black!
Today I went out for my usual 10.2km run. Have to be honest and say I really wasn't up for it, more so as its tempo run day which makes it even harder. Well, cutting to the chase I ran pretty hard and am amazed to see that I ran the course in 38.30 which is 6.04 min mile pace. Frankly, I'm surprised that I've gone so quickly around a course that you could hardly call flat. I went through 10km in 37.42 which is quicker than some of my 10k races in the first half of last year and this was done in training! Isn't it bizarre how sometimes your best runs are when you feel least like going out?! In terms of the marathon it doesn't mean much, though gives me extra evidence that my overall fitness is still improving.
I'm not sure how the next few days will pan out. Tomorrow is normally a rest day, but since I took Monday off I'm tempted to go out for a jog. I've also got to go in work at some point over the weekend so am not sure what distance I'll cover.
On another note I have decided to join Hinckley Running Club who are based only a few miles away from me. Why join a club? Well, although the MdS is at the back of my mind my primary focus has turned to the road. I feel that my fitness has come on leaps and bounds over the last few months and the best way to make another large step forward is to join a club. To be honest I prefer to do the majority of my running alone (de-stressing and can run at my own pace), but things like intervals etc are best done in a group when you really push yourself to destruction. I chose Hinckley as its main focus is the road/XC as opposed to athletic clubs, it has a mix of abilities with some top runners to help push me along and quite a few runners in the 20-40 age group. What helps things is that the membership was cheap and means I avoid the £2 surcharge for not being affiliated as well. At the moment I wont be able to go to training with them as I haven't moved into my new place yet, but hopefully will be some time in the next couple of months.
Finally, I received an email from the Thames Meander organisers asking whether I now wanted to run as they have had some cancellations. It took me all of a few seconds to decide against it, I would have to change my training and I think its difficult to build up the sort of motivation required at such a late stage. Not helping is that I would have to write off the cost of entering the Draycote Marathon.
Comments
Post a Comment