The Middle Ground

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  • The 610 sounds good Phil, probably not worth the near-£300 I'm seeing it advertised for but when the price goes down somewhat I might be  tempted to get one to replace my ageing 305 (which I've had for coming on 3 years now and is beginning to show its age). 

    prf, bloody hell not another race image 

    Hilly, don't want to get ahead of myself but there's something hopefully coming up.... could you just have some kind of extreme fatigue? Whatever it is hopefully it'll clear up soon.

    Simon, yesterday was good but I was a bit tight in various places today. I think being judicious on the downhill sprinting is advised as it's very intense. I was also surprised just how warmed up 1M easy then stretches+drills can get you!

    Ratzer, small niggles would be expected, achilles seems to be a common one when starting this kind of thing. Never had the problem myself, touch wood, hopefully Sharks has some advice if she's around.

    10M today, 8:01/m pace which was pretty conversational so a good session done. This week's shown my base fitness is good so I'm pretty happy cracking on with some more intense stuff soon. 

  • Phil, probably a good call. I think you could do yourself more harm than good racing when still sick. Coincidentally, I may very well have to invest in a new Garmin soon. Mine decided to go absolutely mental today at the track.

    Ratzer, thanks. Special is definitely better than Simple image I have to take care of my achilles. It definitely complains a little after speed sessions, but I think I have managed to work out how hard I can push it. And I am pretty sure there is a correlation between how often I perform eccentric heel drops and niggle factor.

    Duck, agree that the downhill striding should be approached very cautiously. I too have found that drills are great at getting me warmed up.

    I went out to the track in the wind and rain this afternoon and did one of the sessions I mentioned:

    2 x (3 x 400 @ 800; 4' rec) 8' rec between sets.

    I got absolutely drenched and the wind was against me into the home straight which made things less fun. As mentioned, Garmin decided to play silly buggers, and I had to use the plain old time of day for timing, but splits were:

    64; 65; 65; 66; 66; no idea - the watch gave up entirely here, but I estimate 67. Good prediction, Duck!

    It was a very good session and I think the balance between intensity and recovery was spot on. I'd thoroughly recommend it.

    The first set of three I found very useful for pacing judgement and although they were hard, they were not super hard and there was no abundance of H+ in the legs.

    The second set was less about pace judgement (since I was no longer fresh, and in no danger of going too fast) and more about speed endurance. The last was very tough and I started really tying up with 200m to go.

    So, it's easy runs planned for the weekend now after a rather tough week. I may try out a new parkrun tomorrow.

  • Not easy conditions for that session Simon! Hope you enjoyed the new parkrun.

    Fast downhill running always makes me nervous. If I try and run fast I feel I land very heavily so tend to be ultra cautious, concentrating especially on form.

    Ratzer take care of your achilles. Is it the one you had problems with before?

    Ten miles for me this morning including a sunny but breezy Gorleston parkrun in 21.17 by my watch. First time I've been first lady for awhile too and definitely getting used to the pain again image

  • Heh, just a bold prediction! I'll have to have a bash at the session myself soon. 

    Had a decent run this morning at Aberdeen. Set off and was about 10th at the first turn and did a BR/prf style prediction of finishing 2nd or 3rd. Hit the headwind which was worse than it had seemed during the warmup but sheltered behind the other runners while moving up the field and was 4th by the end of mile 1 (6'10). Top 2 were pulling away (one of them was a pretty young guy so I was wondering how long it would be before he dropped back after going off too quick) but third - Tattood, Headphone Wearing Man - was running at a pretty decent pace so I tucked in behind and let him take the brunt of the wind.

    Got to the turn with a big gap to the leaders and 5th place behind so I guessed at this point we were racing for third which was fine by me. Let THWM lead and just went with his pace. We were out of the wind now, but being sheltered by the top part of the boulevard we weren't getting the tailwind we deserved! Mile 2 in 6'09 and I was feeling pretty good and was content to sit behind THWM until the final 200m or so and kick past for third (the top 2 were long gone & the young guy ended up winning).

    THWM was starting to work quite hard by this point but I still stuck behind him. Coming up to the turn I guessed if he was going to try a late surge that would be the place to try it (it's what I do anyway) so I moved to the inside to make him take the long way round at least. Mile 3 in 6'08 but THWM had seemingly had enough so I pushed on, final 200m at 5:30/m pace to finish third in 19'02.

    Pretty decent race (effort around 5M intensity) & I reckon the BS calculator can give me around 15 sec for the wind (most regulars seemed to be ~20 sec off of their pb's), and perhaps another 10-15 sec for not really forcing  the pace. Felt strong but lacked any real pace today which is what I was expecting. 

  • parkrunfanparkrunfan ✭✭✭

    forever - congratulations on the win. image Is it just a coincidence that you become first lady just after Duck announces that he is doing state visits. Is there a connection in there? Or is my mind getting carried away....? image

    Duck - 10th up to 3rd with even pacing, it just shows that the same formula applies everywhere. Nice strong running there this morning.

     

    It was the inaugural Dewsbury parkrun this morning with a turnout of about 150. Despite a month's rain (100mm) overnight it was dry for the actual run. A clubmate won it in 17:03, a mere 10 secs off his overall parkrun PB so Dewsbury is patently not a slow course despite all the comments you may read about 'the horrible hills'.

    My run tailed off a bit on the back of 2 races in the last 3 days but it was still 14 secs faster than the trial run for 3rd place (annoyingly I lost 2nd place towards the end - that is just wrong! image)

    18:24 - 5:40, 5:46, 5:56 (3rd)

    Going to run Harrogate and York parkruns this afternoon to see how the ground lies (literally) for tomorrow but I am almost certainly going to get sucked into a 8 x 300m session on Harrogate Stray along the way.

    Not before a pint at some nearby hostelry after having temptation put in my way by YD! image

     

    Oh and if anyone is interested in an entry for the Nike 10K in London at the beginning of July I know of a spare entry.

  • Mr VMr V ✭✭✭

    PRF - Good luck for tomorrow. Hope its stays dry for you. Good outing today.

    Duck - Sounds like a strong effort. I'm sure your pace will be back with you very shortly.

    Forever - You're really back into your racing now. Lots of PBs on the way I'm sure.

    Simon - Good session -sounds pretty rapid to me.

    Decided to miss the mile track race today. Felt very rough on my run last night and with really strong winds forecast as well I figured there wasn't really much point. Ran this morning and ended up doing 16 miles so whatever the issue was last night seems to have passed already.

  • Well done, first lady and nice strong runs there, Duck and PRF.

    Mr V, shame you missed the track race. I was looking forward to seeing how you got on. Any other plans to do something shorter in the near future?

    I tried out Wimbledon parkrun today. Quite a pleasant one I think and seems to be a pretty fast course. I made it an easyish run and completed in in 20:47. I love going that sort of pace in a parkrun because you get to overtake so many people. And if you overtake people continuously, you automatically make the pace progressive since you have to run faster to keep overtaking them.

  • WardiWardi ✭✭✭

    Congrats Forever, always nice to be 1st. image  Nice Parkrun from Simon too.

    Good racing Duck, excellent final position from 10th. 

    PRF.. nice effort at Dewsbury, well done on 3rd.  I ran the York parkrun this morning (my 1st ever!) but the usual service track course around the racecourse was unavailable due to a cycling event.  Instead we did 3 laps of a soggy, waterlogged field nearby.  Add in a stiff breeze and in my case a mild hangover and this was not a day for fast times.  A modest 22:07 here but great fun and a nice atmosphere.

    I suppose this means I've done a Parkrun that PRF hasn't!  image

    Hope you are feeling better soon Hilly, you haven't had much luck recently.

  • Nice parkrunning Simon, PRF, Duck and Forever. First lady, two thirds and a gentle overtaking jaunt. This thread continues to show lots of strength!

    Lymm 5k this afternoon. Although Alehouse said that Dunham Massey was the slowest course of the series, the race info promised a "fast start, then a couple of climbs to make up the height", so I started thinking that it maybe wasn't as fast as Alehouse remembers!

    I've been feeling run down recently, and a weird day at work yesterday meant that mentally I wasn't feeling up for a race. I was tired all day and struggling to hydrate, coupled with toilet trips I don't want to mention in case anyone's eating!

    However, in the warm up my legs seemed to be moving fine, and the running felt ok. I ran the last mile (ish) of the course backwards and forwards, and decided that with the hill just after 4k it probably wasn't going to be the world's fastest race for me. I decided to go out at 5k effort, and run a strong race if I could, if not drop down and aim for a 10k effort and salvage a decent workout.

    MIle 1 was pretty much all downhill. The usual crush at the start, I headed pavement bound and spent a while dodging slower runners and parked cars! After 400m or so we moved onto a wider road and the crowd started to thin, and I could settle into a rhythm. I glanced at the garmin at 0.4m, and it said av pace was 5:55! Oh dear, this might be a gentle first mile for PRF, but I was running faster than ever before. I decided to stick with the effort. The rest of the mile was gentle down or flat, and it ticked over at 6:01

    Mile 2 started with a gentle slope up. I was starting to feel the pain of my fast start now, and soldiered on up the slope, then tried to pick up the pace once it flattened out. I reasoned at this point I wasn't going to survive the uphills at this effort, and should slacken off the effort slightly on the ups, and pick it up again on the flats. It seemed to work, and although there were a couple more uphill sections in the second mile, I was still feeling strong at the end of it. 6:48

    Mile 3 was like mile 2, with a couple of longish, gentle uphill sections. I kept to the same tactic, and was feeling shattered, but in a good way. I had been at the back of the same group of runners since the end of mile 1, and towards the end of mile 3 I started to go past a few. 6:49

    The last section was flat then a slight downhill last 50m or so. I have no idea if anyone passed me here or if I went past anyone - I was just focused on the big black inflatable thingy that read "FINISH"! Pace for the last bit 5:58

    Overall 20:15 and a 10s pbimage. YD's patented BS calculator is telling me that I'm worth sub 20 on a flat course now - bring on the Sale Sizzlers!

    So in 2 days I've had a pay rise and a pb. I've hearde things happen in threes so I've bought a lottery ticketimage

  • A climb of 0.54! I don't think I'm inching my way up the table, but certainly a lot closer to 70 than I was in January!

    MIDDLE GROUND WAVA LEAGUE (March - June)
    Calculator here:
    http://www.howardgrubb.co.uk/athletics/wmalookup06.html

    85.56% Hilly (10K, 39:13, March)
    85.32%Treadmill (5M, 29:47, March)
    83.98% PhilPub (HM, 1:12:48, May)
    83.78% BR (10K, 34:10, March)
    81.40% PRF (5K, 17:25, March)

    78.78% Duck (60m, 8.2, March)
    78.46% forever (HM 1.31.49 March)
    76.47% Simon E (800m, 2:12.6, June)
    74.50% YD (5K, 17:31, April)
    73.94% Minni (10K 42.57 April)
    72.68% Mr V (5K 17.45 June)
    72.15% Ratzer (HM, 1:25:30, March)
    71.95% Dash (10K, 39:47, April)
    70.10% YoungPup (5K, 19:29, June)

    68.63% Dr.Dan (5K, 20:40, June)
    67.40% Darola (5K, 21:12, June)
    65.48% CB (5K, 20:15, June)

  • parkrunfanparkrunfan ✭✭✭

    Mr V - Good mileage and you were right about Chester-Le-Street (aka Riverside), it is actually starting on 14th July so some of us are going to do that and then Middlesbrough on the sameday as it starts at 11am.

    You may also be interested to know that there will be a 2nd parkrun in Middlesbrough shortly too.

    Simon - To my knowledge that is the only parkrun that starts and finishes next to a windmill. How did Ian Higgins to today?

    Wardi - I'll be doing it tomorrow image Well I will after I've marked it out and counted 15 trees up from the car park entrance etc. I was told that it wasnt too bad today by the RD, how muddy was it?

    Chubby - Superb effort. To hold on to land a PB after overcooking the first mile must have taken a determined and pretty painful effort.No wonder you're chuffed, there must be a sub 20 or near as dammit coming soon.

     

    For the second session of the day I had 2 pints with YD. image

    Then without any rest straight into the third session of the day consisting of 8 x 300m with Tom Williams on The Stray in Harrogate. A nice invigorating way to work off a couple of pints....image

  • WardiWardi ✭✭✭

    PRF.. no mud to speak of, just a fair bit of standing water.  If it helps here is my Garmin trace from today.. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/191751532.  Start at green at the top of the field, 2 full laps then 3/4 of a lap to finish at red.  The first section from green folllows the racecourse fence to start with - if you click on 'Satellite' it is easier to see this.  Heroic effort by the organisers to find & measure an alternative course!  Hope you have a good day tomorrow.

    Nice one CB!  You're improving leaps & bounds.

  • Mr V shame about the mile. Are you still doing the HM you mentioned?

    Simon oh to do any easyish parkrun at that pace!

    CB uexpected good results are always the best. Sub 20 is verrrrry close! Well done!

    Wardi nice to see you running again.

    prf enjoy today and well done on just the two pints image

    An easy 15 for me today. The rain has stopped and the weather is looking promising for the next week. Not surprised as it's my daughter's birthday on Tuesday and it's always sunny on her birthday! Plus I have a hilly 10k race next Sunday and the three years I have done it the weather has been incredibly hot. Still one of my favourite races, even though two minutes down on your time is the norm

  • YoungPupYoungPup ✭✭✭
    Morning all,



    As always, some stonking training and racing going on by others on this thread.



    I don't know whether others are the same, but I find the thought of coming on here and telling you all about my training / racing a very useful mental "stiffener" when the going starts to get tough.



    Today is a great example, as I spent at least 3 miles of my 10k this morning thinking about this thread, and this definitely helped me to not give up when it became clear that my legs didn't really want to play image



    The good news from today is another 50 seconds taken off my PB, which now stands (according to my Garmin) at 40:39 image



    The bad news is that I really REALLY wanted to hit the sub-40 mark, and I think after today I probably have to admit that I'm just not in that kind of shape. image



    Splits were as follows:



    Mile 1 - 6:27

    Mile 2 - 6:28

    Mile 3 - 6:25

    Mile 4 - 6:33

    Mile 5 - 6:37

    Mile 6 - 6:28

    Last bit - 1:42
  • PhilPubPhilPub ✭✭✭

    CB - PB on a hilly course, very nice indeed.  Looking forward to the first 19.xx report.

    YP - Sounds like a fair effort to me.  I was thinking of you this morning as it was blowing a gale here in SE London. What were conditions like?  I'm guessing you could knock off a few of those 39 secs using the BS adjuster.

    I wonder how many parkruns have been run so far today?  What's the schedule? Has Yorkshire sold out of McFlurries yet?

    Confident I made the right decision in swerving the race this morning.  I joined a few club mates for a long run and was pleased enough to do 15 miles comfortably, but HR was probably elevated by 5 - 10 beats.  Just happy to be exercising again and burning off calories but still a way to go to completely shrug off whatever it is.  A nice bit of roast lamb will help things along, I'm sure.

  • Mr VMr V ✭✭✭

    Simon - Yeah I'm still keen to do a mile race if I can find one, though there don't seem to be many around here. I wouldn't have done myself justice if I had raced yesterday.

    Chubby - Sub 20 is just a matter of time now. Better pacing and/or a faster course and you are there.

    PRF - I had heard about the 2nd Middlesbrough parkrun. Look forward to the report later.

    Forever - No I'm not doing the HM either. All I seem to have done this month is skip races I said I was going to do image

    YP - 50 seconds is a massive PB - you should be pleased with that! Looks like your tactics were spot on and you just didnt quite have the legs for a sub 40 this time. Still 39 secs for someone who is improving as quickly as you isn't much and I'm sure you'll be there before long.

    Phil - Sounds like you made the right decision -what's up next for you?

    An easy 8 today to bring up 58 for the week. Just managed to dodge a serious downpour at the end.

  • YP celebrate image that is a nice chunk off your 10k pb......and you are marathon training!

    Phil I think you can never come back too slowly from an infection. All heading in the right direction though.

    Mr V plenty more races to do and a good weeks training in the bag.

    I didn't manage to dodge the downpour image Half an hour into my run the sun disappeared to be replaced by thunder, lightening and heavy rain. An hour later the sun reappearedimage Not the most enjoyable run but mission accomplished.

  • YoungPupYoungPup ✭✭✭
    Cheers Forever, Phil & Mr V - the conditions were pretty good today, and the wind wasn't strong enough for me to use it as an excuse.



    My plan was to run the first 7-8 kms at exactly 4 mins/km, and then to try and up the pace a little and chase down a few of the people in front of me as a means of getting under 40 mins. The first 3 miles went pretty much to plan, but then instead of upping the pace, I started slowing, and miles 4&5 were seriously tough



    However, I know that a 50 second PB is not to be sniffed at, so I am overall pleased image
  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭
    Good luck to YD and Mr V for your GNR places. image
  • RatzerRatzer ✭✭✭

    Same achilles, Forever, but the time I've given it off seems to have worked.  I've managed two tennis sessions over the weekend of two hours each and it responds to the pushes without complaint.  Nice easy three or four miles today and looking forward to whatever's on the menu for tomorrow!  Looking forward to hear of you racing a mile!

    Duck, Simon, I guess niggles are inevitable when throwing yourself into something new.  During the VLM campaign I found that my achilles, both, started to protest if I hadn't done eccentric heel drops during the week.  However, a combination of gym and sprints is too much at this stage, so plyometrics are out for the moment whilst sprints are in and I'll move them back in again when I'm confident.

    CB, getting very close!  Do you ever wonder if the barrier might be psychological?  After I broke 20 for 5k by intentionally going to a quick parkrun course the PB seemed to drop almost every time I went for it!  And YP, you've not got far to go for that sub-40.  I've never done it.  (Haven't raced 10k for about 5 years though...image)

    Tennis, badminton, sprinting, gym.  Do I belong on here?

    Oops, can't forget to say apologies, prf.  A very late decision on work travel meant I wasn't psyched to come to Yorkshire at the last minute, and Girl Ratzer was breaking her PBs in a swimming gala anyway.  I hope you all had a wonderful day!

  • Well my weekend consisted of 3 parkruns a 10k race, wet feet and my first running prize! image

    On Saturday I bimbled round a very wet Harrogate parkrun in about 22 mins. Nothing much to report here other than I ticked off another parkrun from my Yorkshire and North East to do list. As you know I met prf for a couple of pints in Harrogate on Sat afternoon and he dangled a very interesting challenge in front of me…….more of that later.

    Sunday was the Rainton 10k, its part of the Yorkshire Dales Series (formerly Black Sheep Series) that I am taking part in. I haven’t run the race before but was told its mostly flat, but you have to run through a rough field near the end, and that this normally affects times here. Well, I wasn’t sure what to expect as I have couldn’t even break 20 minutes at a parkrun the previous week due to illness, however, I had been feeling better as the week had gone on so had it in mind to set off steady and see how things progressed. On the start line I noticed a few local rivals but told myself not to get sucked into a race early on. Off we went and as per everyone just shot off like they are all 33 minute 10k runners! The first mile ticked by in 5:50, a bit quicker than I had planned but it felt pretty good, I was in something like 20th – 25th position here and just decided to hunt people down one by one, quite an enjoyable prospect.
    Mile two and three went by in 5:57 and 5:56, and I just carried on overtaking folks, the course was fairly quick here, a few small hills, a few twists and a bit of wind but I was feeling ok to kick on and push for a sub 37. However, at the start of mile 4 we hit the first of the off road sections. It was basically 1 mile uphill of rough muddy, stony puddle filled track. Not good for pushing the pace, however I did continue to overtake here and moved within sight of some local rivals by the end of the mile, split 6:11.
    Mile 5 was a nice long straight road, however the head wind here was horrendous. I just got on with working through the field, towards the end of the mile I overtook three runners including a former 2:26 marathoner (Gary Dunn) and we turned off the road onto another farm track, 6:07. Mile 6 was through more rough muddy tracks, around the edge of some farmers fields, not fast going. I was gaining on the runners in front but not fast enough, and this pretty much marked the end of my overtaking, the mile ticked by in 6:20. It seems slow but considering the terrain and that I was gaining on the runners in front I am happy enough with it. The last section was on road and ran in unchallenged at 5:38/mi pace for a 37:37 clocking (Garmin).

  • Not exactly sure what position I came, but I am sure I was top 10, probably 8th or 9th. Oh and I won a prize for first local runner, my prize is a polo shirt and a medal, I have to go to the club on Wednesday to collect it. A good mornings work. Now for the afternoon…..

    As you probably know prf was running the Longest parkrun, basically 7 Yorkshire parkruns in one day. One chap was attempting to run them all in sub 20 minutes and prf wanted pacers. He basically asked me to come along in the afternoon to pace one or two of the runs depending on how I felt after my race. So off I went to meet them all in Dewsbury for event 5 of the 7. My plan was to simply run 20 minute 5k pace so the guy could use me as a reference point, well that I did (finished in 19:43) but he didn’t need me, he shot off and ran the parkrun in 18:xx. That 20 minutes was tough, very tough, my legs complained the whole way round and on the uphill sections my hamstrings complained quite a bit. Fortunately, my pacing services were not needed again and I was able to bimble round the Huddersfield parkrun route in 23 minutes or so. No doubt prf will be along with his account of the day, I only took part in two of the seven runs, but mighty enjoyable it was and I got to meet Davex75 as well (stop lurking and get posting!)

    So all in all a good days running, 15 miles run, with 9.3miles between 5:50 and 6:30/mi. Plenty of good training in that lot, my legs are knackered now!

    Now for a read back…….

  • forever – excellent work on being first Lady at parkrun, good to see your competitive side coming to the fore again.</a>

    Duck – a very nicely judged effort at parkrun from you. It would be interesting to see what you do on a fast course in good conditions if you went eyeballs out.

    Mr V – shame about the mile but good mileage all the same.

    Well done on running your first parkrun Wardi, they are pretty good arent they?

    CB – really well done and very well toughed out, sub 20 is round the corner for sure, good work that man!

    YP – like CB a very good effort and it shows you were right to target sub 40. It wont be long now!

    PP – hope the Lamb was good enough conselation for not racing!

    Thanks Minni, fingers crossed my wordsmithing is up to scratch.

    Ratzer – I hope the achilies holds out for you and its just an early warning and nothing more serious.

    In other news, for Maltloaf fans, Soreen have a new flavour (new to me anyway), Apple and Sultana, delicious it is too.

  • CB, well done. That sub-20 is definitely within your reach.

    PRF, I see Ian Higgins in the results, and it looks like he took it easy based on his PB, but who is he?

    That's a nice big PB, YP. I wouldn't worry about the sub-40, but based on your 5k time you can't be that far off of it.

    YD, nice race. It sounds like you really earned that time. And congrats on the prize. I'm not surprised you're knackered after all that.

    YoungPup wrote (see)
    I don't know whether others are the same, but I find the thought of coming on here and telling you all about my training / racing a very useful mental "stiffener" when the going starts to get tough.

    Today is a great example, as I spent at least 3 miles of my 10k this morning thinking about this thread, and this definitely helped me to not give up when it became clear that my legs didn't really want to play image

    Ha ha! I have done exactly this a few times. I am always shocked by how much my resolve can waver when I am in the second half of a race and.

    My Garmin's officially dead, so I have some decisions to make. Shall I complain and get it fixed or just go for the 610? Shall I speak to the missus first or just buy it?

  • RatzerRatzer ✭✭✭

    Simon, just buy it.  No point speaking to the missus first as you're going to have to apologise anyway, so you might as well do something wrong!

  • Good parkrunning everyone this weekend. I think YD deserves a lie-down!

    Shame about your mile Mr V but you should jump into an open 1500 and see what you could do.

    cb - well done and the sub-20's coming, that much is for sure. You've been doing a sterling job griding out the good training recently so it'd be very deserved.

    YP, good pb! Bit of a positive split but you look like you did well to hang onto the pace as you did.

    Ratzer, i brought a book off of amaon with pylometric exercises in it (hasn't turned up yet) but I'm looking at getting some in from now on so hopefully we can compare notes or something. 

    prf, a bit of a look on fb shows you rallied your troops well! I have images of you leading them around like a mother duck (all with mcflurries in hand of course)... perhaps you should consider changing your name? image 

    YD, not sure what I could do right now but one of the goals for summer is sub-18 before I cut mileage right back for next year. Hopefully it'll come as a consequence of training for the mile, but there's plenty of time. 

    Simon,not sure if the 610's worth the price it's being offered for tbh.... although can't argue with Ratzer's logic!

    9M yesterday and 10M today and it felt like I had a piano on my back today - really not enjoyable at all. 60M (inc. tempo, sprints & parkrun) in the last 8 days probably has something to do with it. 

  • YP - Well done on the PB! 50s is a big chunk and sub 40 will come. Patience!!

    YD - Well done on the prize and the raceimage It sounds like a fun series.

    Ratzer - I don't think it's a mental block. I didn't think I was in sub 20 shape coming into the race, so the fact that I got a pb and the time I did tells me that I'm very close. It will happen, and I'm a lot further along than I thought I would be at this stageimage

    Ratzer wrote (see)

    Simon, just buy it.  No point speaking to the missus first as you're going to have to apologise anyway, so you might as well do something wrong!

    Agreed!

  • Hmm, maybe I'll get drunk and buy it.

    High mileage there, Duck. I am averaging 20-30 at the moment.

    Vet's league tonight and I ran the 1500 and 400.

    I wanted a PB in the 1500. There were 10 in the race and one guy (Stuart) who is a good 15-20 seconds faster than me. the plan was to stay not too far behind him and let him drag me under.

    That was the plan anyway. Off the gun nobody wanted to take up the lead and I ended up doing it. The pace felt a little slow and this was confirmed with a 76 second first lap.

    I knew nothing spectacular would be on the cards with that start, but I was still after a PB, so I got stuck in and went through the second lap in 73 seconds, still in 1st place, but with 2nd breathing down my neck all the way. And I felt OK.

    As I've said before, the next 300 is always the toughest in a 1500, but I got my head down and went through in 56 seconds (74.6/400).

    Into the last lap I kept a strong pace and although still in the lead I was wondering when Stuart would make his move.

    With 200 to go I picked up the pace a little more, and with 150 to go he shot past me like a rocket. I tried to follow, but I had nothing left and he managed to gain 2 seconds on me. I went through the last lap in 72 seconds.

    So that all adds up to a new PB of 4:37 (previous 4:40.2)

    I had less than 20 minutes before the 400, which I didn't really want to do, but the club was low on numbers. I was still out of breath and coughing and feeling rather sick and dizzy as we lined up. I knew nothing special was going to happen, and I confirmed it by finishing in 62.7. That was my split for the first lap of an 800 two weeks ago image

    I was looking forward to running the 800 leg of the 1600 medley relay (2 x 200; 1 x 400; 1 x 800), but we didn't have enough people, so I didn't.

    No takeaway to celebrate tonight, but I've got a nice double caramel magnum in the freezer.

  • YoungPupYoungPup ✭✭✭
    Simon - great running and congratulations on the PB. I suggest you buy a nice new Garmin as a way of celebratingimage



    YD - some great running from you as well, and congratulations on the prize. The race series sounds great, and it must be a very nice part of the country to run in. I have to admit that when I first read your post I thought you had met prf for a couple of pints and then decided to go and run the sub-20 5ks the same afternoon. This would have been a guaranteed up-chuck for me ( for some reason, I can't mix any booze with running) However, having re-read it I see it was the day after....



    CB - In my haste to tell everyone of my 10k I forgot to mention your race and new 5k PB.... Sorry about thatimage I agree with others that it is probably now just a question of picking the right race (flat, with plenty of other sub-20 runners in the mix)



    PhilPub - hope the recovery has continued. Some of your clubmates were absolutely flying around the course at Richmond, and hopefully you're close to being back on full form for Saturday.



    Some very impressive mileage numbers being talked about by Duck, Mr V and forever as well - my week last week was my highest week ever at 55 miles, and I'm hoping I can get a couple more weeks in at that kind of level before my next cutback week.



    Happy runnings to all...
  • PhilPubPhilPub ✭✭✭

    Simon - Congrats on the PB. You're ahead of me now, although I suspect you'll be doing something about improving it further before I try again!

    YD - A busy old weekend.  Your first prize - semi-pro! image

    YP - I reckon the club wanted to put on a good show in front of the Surrey League XC oppo for next season as we enter Div 1 for the first time. On a particularly good day I'd be lucky to make "10 to score".

    And yes, recovery continues I think, thanks.  Waking up before the alarm goes off is normally the sort of thing that pisses people off, but the fact that it's happened to me the last couple of days strongly suggests my normal sleeping pattern is coming back. Still slightly elevated HR on an easy run yesterday but everything basically feels normal.  We've got 10 x 400 planned for track this evening, so I'll try some fast running without completely hammering it and see how it feels.

    Oh and I wore my Garmin 610 on the velodrome last night.  (Simon - even the multisport functions are better!  You need one!  image )  I've never recorded any data on the track before so that was interesting. Average HR for bimbling around at 18mph was 106 (lower than I expected), average HR for a 15 lap (~4.5M) scratch race was 162 (sounds about right) for an average speed of 27.6mph, and max HR 192 - which was higher than I expected ("working estimate" for running max HR = 200.)  Possibly further evidence that things still aren't completely back to normal, but getting there.

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