22 miles in 2:44 - 7:28/mile - 145bpm average HR.
Set off steady and soon got into 7:3x/mile pace. Felt pretty good up to 12 miles when climb up the locks in Marple raised my HR. Seemed to recover well and got back into a decent rhythm. However, the weeks' mileage began to take its toll.
Managed to stay on pace target and finished strongly, last mile fastest (7:11).
Dry and cool conditions with a little wind in last two miles.
Saturday 29 September 2018
Friday 28 September 2018
Thursday 27 September 2018
10 miles with 6 miles tempo - 70 mins - 6:59/mile - 146bpm average
2 mile warm-up
6 miles tempo - 38:58 - 6:29/mile average - 156bpm (equivalent to HMP)
Splits:
6:39
6:34
6:24
6:31
6:20
6:25
2 mile cool-down
Steady effort which felt comfortably hard until the last half mile of the effort when breathing got a little harder. HR climbed steadily throughout the effort by 10 beats (153/163)
Weather warm, no wind, ran along canal tow path.
2 mile warm-up
6 miles tempo - 38:58 - 6:29/mile average - 156bpm (equivalent to HMP)
Splits:
6:39
6:34
6:24
6:31
6:20
6:25
2 mile cool-down
Steady effort which felt comfortably hard until the last half mile of the effort when breathing got a little harder. HR climbed steadily throughout the effort by 10 beats (153/163)
Weather warm, no wind, ran along canal tow path.
Wednesday 26 September 2018
Saturday 22 September 2018
Best 20 miler this campaign in that it felt relatively comfortable the whole way and I was able to pick the pace up in the last 8 miles without feeling it was ever hard.
Ended up running the 20 miles in 2:28. 5 mile splits went:
37:55 142 7:35
37:38 146 7:32
37:00 148 7:24
35:57 149 7:11
Really pleased as HR didn't increase too much over the last 10 miles despite the pace increase.
Conditions were perfect with no wind or rain and quite cool. Usual route down the canal tow path although still having to start and finish on road whilst bridge repairs continue.
Ended up running the 20 miles in 2:28. 5 mile splits went:
37:55 142 7:35
37:38 146 7:32
37:00 148 7:24
35:57 149 7:11
Really pleased as HR didn't increase too much over the last 10 miles despite the pace increase.
Conditions were perfect with no wind or rain and quite cool. Usual route down the canal tow path although still having to start and finish on road whilst bridge repairs continue.
Sunday 9 September 2018
Vale of York Half Marathon
This was my first half marathon since Wilmslow 2015 where I ran 1:23 on the way to 2:57 at the short Manchester marathon the same year.
All I had this year to work from was the 3:12 ran in Manchester this year. I knew therefore that pace would be a factor having not done too much speed work.
What little speedwork I had done would surely not be enough to get close to 1:23. However, this is what I decided to push for in the early stages of this race.
By mile three it soon became obvious that running at 6:20/mile pace was not going to be possible for the duration. I slowed to a more realistic 6:30/mile and tried to settle into a ryhthm.
The course was exposed in places and a strong wind prevailed at one or two points on the outward stretch of the route. I overheard a marshall tell another runner that the route goes out for 5 miles, does a 3 mile loop round a village before returning back to the areodrome we started from.
I held the pace steady over the next few miles and tried to work off other runners who were coming back to me. One particular section I surged a little to catch a group in order to shelter from the wind. I soon realized they weren't going as fast as me so had to duck out from cover and push on to the next target up ahead.
I was joined briefly by another runner who seemed to be cruising along. He mentioned he had run a 10k the previous week but preferred this distance as it enabled him to relax and take in the scenary, nice if you can I suppose. I moved past him around 10 miles with the end in sight.
One more tiny climb over a road bridge and on towards the left turn taking us back towards the aerodrome. It was here that the wind really got into our faces and made it difficult to keep pushing hard.
I did feel tired at this point but not flat out. I felt the pace just fall a little and as the wind increased in the final 1/2 mile I didn't have the desire to bury myself.
This would prove the story of the race as the comfortable guy came last me in the last 200m I saw the clock ticking towards 1:26 and realised I had run a fairly mediocre race.
After a little while I decided the race wasn't a disaster and the workout proved I am not a million miles away from where I need to be. Ideally I would have run closer to 1:23 for confidence that the training was pointing towards a 3 hour marathon performance. However, the goal race is still 8 weeks away and as I step up the sessions I should have plenty of confidence boosting runs ahead of me.
This was my first half marathon since Wilmslow 2015 where I ran 1:23 on the way to 2:57 at the short Manchester marathon the same year.
All I had this year to work from was the 3:12 ran in Manchester this year. I knew therefore that pace would be a factor having not done too much speed work.
What little speedwork I had done would surely not be enough to get close to 1:23. However, this is what I decided to push for in the early stages of this race.
By mile three it soon became obvious that running at 6:20/mile pace was not going to be possible for the duration. I slowed to a more realistic 6:30/mile and tried to settle into a ryhthm.
The course was exposed in places and a strong wind prevailed at one or two points on the outward stretch of the route. I overheard a marshall tell another runner that the route goes out for 5 miles, does a 3 mile loop round a village before returning back to the areodrome we started from.
I held the pace steady over the next few miles and tried to work off other runners who were coming back to me. One particular section I surged a little to catch a group in order to shelter from the wind. I soon realized they weren't going as fast as me so had to duck out from cover and push on to the next target up ahead.
I was joined briefly by another runner who seemed to be cruising along. He mentioned he had run a 10k the previous week but preferred this distance as it enabled him to relax and take in the scenary, nice if you can I suppose. I moved past him around 10 miles with the end in sight.
One more tiny climb over a road bridge and on towards the left turn taking us back towards the aerodrome. It was here that the wind really got into our faces and made it difficult to keep pushing hard.
I did feel tired at this point but not flat out. I felt the pace just fall a little and as the wind increased in the final 1/2 mile I didn't have the desire to bury myself.
This would prove the story of the race as the comfortable guy came last me in the last 200m I saw the clock ticking towards 1:26 and realised I had run a fairly mediocre race.
After a little while I decided the race wasn't a disaster and the workout proved I am not a million miles away from where I need to be. Ideally I would have run closer to 1:23 for confidence that the training was pointing towards a 3 hour marathon performance. However, the goal race is still 8 weeks away and as I step up the sessions I should have plenty of confidence boosting runs ahead of me.
Tuesday 4 September 2018
I wanted to do some speedwork tonight and after reading about various sessions online, notably the runnersworld sub3 forum, opted for a session that Bournemouth AC do during marathon build-up.
The session is fairly straightforward being warm-up, 22 mins at MP, 4x4 mins fast, 22 mins at MP, cool-down.
The main aim of the session is to get 44 mins of MP running into the legs. The faster reps in-between are to increase leg speed and to buildup lactic to tire the legs for the second 22 mins (I think)
Session went fairly well seen as how I haven't done much speed work, especially in this format.
Breakdown of the session in numbers:
22 mins 3.32 miles 6:38/mile 162
The session is fairly straightforward being warm-up, 22 mins at MP, 4x4 mins fast, 22 mins at MP, cool-down.
The main aim of the session is to get 44 mins of MP running into the legs. The faster reps in-between are to increase leg speed and to buildup lactic to tire the legs for the second 22 mins (I think)
Session went fairly well seen as how I haven't done much speed work, especially in this format.
Breakdown of the session in numbers:
22 mins 3.32 miles 6:38/mile 162
4:00 mins 0.67 miles 5:58/mile 169
4:00 mins 0.65 miles 6:09/mile 167
4:00 mins 0.64 miles 6:15/mile 168
4:00 mins 0.61 miles 6:33/mile 168
22 mins 3.1 miles 7:06/mile 162
Happy with that and despite probably running first MP section too fast, i didnt unravel too much in the last session. 13.2 miles in 1:37 so decent miles for midweek.
22 mins 3.1 miles 7:06/mile 162
Happy with that and despite probably running first MP section too fast, i didnt unravel too much in the last session. 13.2 miles in 1:37 so decent miles for midweek.
Monday 3 September 2018
Sunday 2 September 2018
20 miles done this morning in dry and warm conditions.
Set off nice and easy But despite this felt a little tired from 12-16 miles. I allowed my concentration to wander during this period too. I took on board my carbohydrate gels at 5, 10 and 15 miles together with isotonic fluid.
Towards the end of the run it got a bit fragmented due to the tow path being shut. I had to divert onto local roads which I had recce'd yesterday but still upset my rhythm. I also stopped to pass on directions to a couple of bemused cyclists who were not as prepared and unsure how to rejoin the tow path.
In spite of this inconvenience I managed to rally and put together 4 decent closing miles.
All in all a decent long run which brought the weekly total to 61 miles.
Set off nice and easy But despite this felt a little tired from 12-16 miles. I allowed my concentration to wander during this period too. I took on board my carbohydrate gels at 5, 10 and 15 miles together with isotonic fluid.
Towards the end of the run it got a bit fragmented due to the tow path being shut. I had to divert onto local roads which I had recce'd yesterday but still upset my rhythm. I also stopped to pass on directions to a couple of bemused cyclists who were not as prepared and unsure how to rejoin the tow path.
In spite of this inconvenience I managed to rally and put together 4 decent closing miles.
All in all a decent long run which brought the weekly total to 61 miles.