Monday, Week 12

4 Miles, Easy

Sunday, Week 11

Race, Wilmslow Half Marathon

Prepared perfectly for race day by having a beer and half a bottle of wine on Friday night, and thus poking the embers of my cold back to life, so that I woke on Sunday morning with a lumpy sore throat.

Added to the facts that I slept on the living room floor to avoid waking the house, and that I lost an hour due to the beginning of British Summer Time, and it was amazing that I felt as good as I did when I lined up at the start, still ready to make an attempt on my half marathon pb.

I stood by the 1hr 20min sign, looking around me at the surprisingly unathletic looking elite runners, and sure enough as the race started I spent the first mile threading through people unlikely to crack 2 hours, let alone 90 minutes. Resorted to elbows once.

The first few miles went by well, once I'd calmed down, and was almost on target at 6 miles at 40 mins 22 secs.

Then it started falling apart just as it did 2 years ago. I put the slow 7th mile down to an incorrect measurement, but when the 8th was similarly slow, I lost my togetherness. By the time I reached 9 miles I has lost a minute and a half, and then there was the long hill past the church.

By now it was getting hot too. I managed to pull myself together enough to remind myself that:

a) This isn't the important race
b) I had felt at 6am that it wasn't even worth getting out of bed
c) I could still beat my record for Wilmslow

Picked it up a bit for the last couple of miles, and finished feeling Ok to be handed a heavy piece of glass, a classy T-shirt, and more importantly a Mars Bar.

Official time (which includes the 30 seconds getting to the line from the elite start) was 1hr 31min 31secs.

My watch time was 1:31:07 which apparently equates to a 3:09:58 marathon. That would be spot on.

Next race - 4 weeks time on Blackpool seafront.


Friday, Week 11

3 Miles, Slow

Thursday, Week 11

6 Miles, Slow

Wednesday, Week 11

11 Miles, Steady

Long tempo run home from work which felt pretty good despite the rain and the long hill from 5 miles at Kirkstall Abbey all the way up the the Emmott Arms in Rawdon at 9 miles. Did it in just over 7m30s per mile pace, so slower than marathon pace, but then Blackpool is a bit flatter.

Have just finished reading 'Feet In The Clouds' about Fell Running, which has both inspired me and made me reposition my achievements. It's also made me think very hard about whether to give a fell race a try or not.

Tuesday, Week 11

1 mile jog, then 5 X 1 mile fast with 200m jog recoveries, then 1 mile jog

My cold had now come back and filled up my head, but managed a good set of repeats during a long lunchbreak at work all under 6m40s without the expected drop off towards the end.

Not as spectacular as I would have liked, but it matches up well enough to previous years, and is another day nearer the end of this cold.

Monday, Week 11

4 Miles, Easy

Saturday, Week 10

20 Miles, Slow

The cold that had cast its shadow over the last week of runs finally came out and I decided to miss the Thursday tempo run and the Good Friday recovery run.

So, woke up early on Easter Saturday ready for a gentle, easy run to nurse me back to into training, pulled back the curtains and was blinded by the three inches of snow that had fallen overnight.

I had no excuses or chance to postpone because the In-laws were coming the next day, so out onto the virgin pavements.

The first two or three miles were slow going, but not too slippery as the snow was so deep. I kept thinking that my feet would get frozen solid, but I never even felt the wet. The cushioning was great for my knees too.

So, feeling positive I managed not to get too wound up by the drivers out early, driving too fast and obviously in too much of a hurry to do anything beyond switching their windscreen wipers before setting off. Heading through Guiseley I heard, then saw a Ka who had come off worst in an argument with a lamppost.

Up to the top of Hollins Hill, and I completed my full set of views - a snowscape stretching off towards Keighley and Haworth to go with the sun, cloud, rain and wind I have seen from up there in the last few weeks.

Amazingly got to my Baildon checkpoint under the hour, then past a family with a fully built snowman at 8:30 and on to Bingley.

Still hitting my ordinary targets despite the slow start I came back along the canal, which was just wet, not snowy, but once again struggled coming up the big hill to Rawdon, and then was back to snow underfoot for the last two slow miles.

Great run though - definitely a character building one to inspire me in low points during the marathon, and it was back home for a hot bath and a chance to look forward to the Easter Weekend

Wednesday, Week 10

9 Miles, Slow

Run home at the end of a long day.

Hard work again. Think positive, think positive.

Tuesday, Week 10

1M jog, then 4 x 1.5M fast, with 400m jog recoveries, then 1M jog

Mapped out a complicated list of points to stop and start my mile and a half repeats round the mile circuit near my home.

First repeat was good - roughly 6:20 min/mile pace.

Second felt terrible and took 50 seconds longer. Blamed it on mismeasuring the distance.

Third felt even worse. Struggling with breathing, legs not working on the long uphill. Took over a minute longer than the first repeat. Blamed it on mismeasuring the distance again.

Last was slightly better, but still hard work.

However, on getting back home and remeasuring, I found I wasn't doing a lot further than the mile and a half each time, and have to put this down to either an accumlation of tiredness in my legs or an approaching cold.

Think I was hoping for soemthing spectacular after the last two times I've done these repeats (in week 2, and also the same workout in week 10 last year which was amazingly good).

Back to a long run home from work tonight, and will just write this one off.


Monday, Week 10

4 Miles, Easy

Went very slow, but still didn't feel easy. Felt like I did at 18 miles yesterday.

Snake Lane Pics from Sunday, Week 6

Slipstreaming or just trying to keep up?
Looking thoughtful or wiped out?

Sunday, Week 9

20 Miles, Slow

Another late night; this time it was 1 o'clock when we and our friends finally put down our Wii remotes and called it a night. Out on the road at 7:45am.

Felt pretty leaden footed, and not quite right, but got to the 13 mile mark in 1hr 40mins, when it was taking 1hr 45mins last year.

Tried pushing on for a really fast time, but hit some kind of wall going up the long hill from Apperley Bridge, and my legs got heavier and heavier, although I consoled myself that:

1. This will make Blackpool feel REALLY easy
2. I wasn't doing the mad 33 mile fell race being run this weekend by a work colleague's brother.

Home in a time 3 seconds slower than last week.

Friday, Week 9

4.5 Miles, Easy

Easy run, looking forward to my trip to Panic At The Disco in the evening.

Thursday, Week 9

9 Miles, Steady

Continuing an irritating habit my mind has got into recently, I spent the whole of the run from the first checkpoint at Beyton Lane thinking that I was getting further and further behind my scheduled timings.

This led me to wonder why I felt so bad when I wasn't going as fast as I should, which made me try to run harder which made me feel even worse.

Got home to find I'd mismemorised the times and in fact finished only about 30 seconds behind my fastest time.

Learning nothing, I did the same thing on Sunday

Wednesday, Week 9

8 Miles, Slow

Running home from work I had possibly my most unpleasant running experience ever.

It was really windy, and as I ran up behind an wavering old man pulling a shopping bag on wheels on Kirkstall Road, I debated which side to pass him.

Atthe last minute he jinked left, I went through on his inside, and he put his finger to his nose and propelled a huge gunky mess out. I tried to dodge it but it hit my shorts, leaving me to hope the heavy rain would have washed it off by the time I got home.

It hadn't.

Tuesday, Week 9

1M jog, then 15 x 200m fast, with 100m jog recoveries, then 1M jog

Sunday, Week 8

20 Miles, Easy

Somehow out of the house at 7:30am despite babysitting until past midnight last night.

First few miles felt slow as I felt tired, but reached my Baildon 'hour benchmark' in 58 minutes, and set out along the road to the north of Saltaire for the first time this year feeling like I was back at home.

Coming towards Primrose Woods in Bingley, the copse was framed by a beautiful looking rainbow.

Leaving Primrose Woods 10 minutes later howevre, the casue of the meteorolgical beauty had soaked me to the skin as I turned back along the canal for the run home.

Sun was soon out and felt great all the way home, even up the big hil from Apperley Bridge, and got home in a faster time than any of the 20 milers last year.

Still going well!


Friday, Week 8

4.5 Miles, Easy


Thursday, Week 8

1 mile jog, then 3 miles brisk, then 1 mile jog.

Felt like really hard work due to stomach cramps, but ended up being a nice quick pace.

Wednesday, Week 8

9 Miles, Slow

The becoming regular run back home from work. Followed tomorrow morning by the regular panic that something like a wallet or set of keys has been left in the wrong location.

Tuesday, Week 8

1M jog, then 200m fast, 400m fast, 800m fast, 400m fast, 200m fast, all with 100m jog recoveries, then extra 200m jog. Repeat sequence once, then 1M jog

Down round the streets of Beeston instead of any posh running track, and none the worse for it.

Monday, Week 8

4 Miles, Slow

Sunday, Week 7

18 Miles, Slow

After having friends over until latish on Saturday night, it was a shock to be out of the house at 8am.

Not as much of a shock as the wind though. For the first hourI ran directly into it, being buffetted and generally disheartened. Got to my checkpoint at Baildon under the hour though, which was my benchmark on these long runs last year and turned onto the canal to head back home.

On the canal, the wind was now my friend. I felt like I could have lifted my feet off the ground and been blown along.

Saw loads of other runners and cyclists out and all were cheery and ready with a wave which made a great change.

At Newlay Bridge I turned back into the wind for the uphill section back home. Arrived back 2 minutes slower than my final 18 miler last year, when I'd had 100 miles of long runs in my legs, so all still boding well for the next few weeks.