Henry's running blog

Shortened track session

2011-02-09T13:35:00.000-08:00

This evening's track session was due to be 10X800m with 90 second recoveries, with a 3 minute recovery after the 5th rep. This was the same session that we had run in mid October. Just 3 of us were taking part today: Mark I, David B & myself.

For the first 5 reps, I averaged just under 2:50, a second or so behind Mark each time & just ahead of David. After the long recovery, I started to feel soreness in my temperamental achilles. I completed another three reps at just about the same pace, but as we started the 9th 800m, the soreness got significantly worse, so I decided to call it a day.

It's a bit frustrating to not be able to complete the session, but stopping was the only sensible option. I'm now applying ice to the injury & tomorrow I'll have a rest from running. Hopefully there'll be no lasting damage, I've had a dodgy achilles now for about 2 1/2 years. With a bit of look, rest ice & stretching will ease it.

A walk & a run

2011-02-08T14:29:00.000-08:00

As A is away this week, I'm on dog walking duties, so this morning I decided to head off to Thruscross Reservoir. I've run this route once before, but have never previously walked it.

I parked at the top end of Fewston Reservoir, then headed over the A59 to then walk through the woods alongside the River Washburn towards the dam at Thruscross. After crossing the dam wall, it I followed the path that does a loop around the reservoir. It's quite mixed terrain with woodland, moorland & gravel paths.

I then returned to Fewston by the same path that I took on the outward leg. In total I was walking for 3 hours. I didn't have my Garmin with me, but I would estimate that it was about a

12k walk. Conditions were perfect: sunny, no wind & pleasant temperature for the time of year.

This evening I decided to go along to do one of the Ilkley Harriers club runs. It's the first time this year that I've done a Tuesday club run, as the timing isn't ideal with the Wednesday track sessions.

I joined a 'steady' group led by Paul S. There were 7 of us in total. We ran a route that was initially flat, but with some hills towards the end around Ilkley & Ben Rhyding. I was happy with the pace, which was comfortable for a conversation all the way round, it was interesting to catch up with the running activities of the other members of the group which included new members as well as longstanding Harriers. Including running to & from the club I ran about 12.5k

Tomorrow is the weekly Carnegie track session, so assuming the hamstring & achilles don't play up after today's steady run it will be an opportunity to run a bit more quickly.

Dewsbury 10k

2011-02-06T04:06:00.000-08:00

The intention this morning was just to do a steady run & see how things were with the sore hamstring & achilles. Conditions seemed to be OK, the overnight rain had stopped & the temperature was a mild 10 degrees (two years ago it had been minus 6 for this race), however there was quite a strong breeze blowing.

The strange thing about the wind today was that it seemed to be a headwind both on the way out & on the way back. I know that this is unlikely on this kind of course, but it certainly felt that way. I ran just marginally faster for the 2nd downhill 5k, finishing in about 39:30 (not seen the official results yet). That's almost 2 1/2 minutes slower than last year, but probably as good as I could have expected. It's my slowest 10k for 2 years.

Talking to other runners after the race, most seemed to find it quite hard in the wind & were a bit slower than they would have expected on a fast course. Sally M & Rob C had quite a close finish for the honour of being 1st Ilkley Harrier in the race, Sally just getting it on the line. I had a good view of their battle being about 15 seconds or so behind for virtually the whole 10k.

My leg has started to stiffen up after the race, but hopefully there's no damage done. I don't have any races planned now for 3 weeks.......then it's an indoor 1500m, so I'll have to try to find some speed from somewhere.

Planning a steady run

2011-02-05T08:01:00.000-08:00

Like many running bloggers I get a bit fed up of writing about recurring injuries. My hamstring problem that started just before the Brass Monkey half marathon is still troubling me a bit, but it's just a bit sore rather than anything major. I've also had a problem with my achilles on the same leg, whilst this is an injury that I've had before, I think that it's probably been induced this time as a result of slightly adapting my running style due to the sore hamstring.

I've taken 5 rest days in the last week & a half to give the leg a chance to recover. Lack of running seems to make my legs generally seize up, so I seem to have fewer problems when I run compared when I don't.

Tomorrow is the Dewsbury 10k that I entered several weeks ago. There is no question of running it quickly, but I'm tempted to just go and run at a very steady pace. I will need to avoid the temptation to set off at anywhere near race pace......hopefully I've learnt a lesson from the Brass Monkey. I'm sure that a sensible option would be just to give the 10k a miss, but I think that I will feel better to just go and do a steady well paced run, even if it means running a slow time.

A different Sunday run

2011-01-30T07:02:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday was the Brass Monkey half marathon, this week I opted out of running in the Peco cross country race as I was still feeling soreness in my legs (the hamstring problem seemed to lead to general tightness in both legs). So after a couple of days with no running at all to see if it would improve the situation, I decided to just go out for a run & see how things were.

I set off around the park in Ilkley, dodging the dogs & their owners, kids on bikes & the various rugby & football matches. It was then out along the Nesfield Road. My running seemed to be a bit sluggish, but the pace wasn't too bad for a steady run. The further I went, I was gradually able to speed up without too many complaints from the legs.

I turned back at the Devonshire Arms at Bolton Bridge, with a vague plan to see if I could run a bit quicker on the way home. Somewhat surprisingly I was able to keep increasing the pace, so that for the last 2-3km I was actually running quicker than some of the final kilometres of last week's race.....most odd.

So I ran just over 20k, with the second half considerably faster than the first half. The legs don't seem too bad, so we'll see how the recovery is before getting too excited. Next week it's the Dewsbury 10k, so it would be good to see if I can do a reasonable run there.

Pyramid track session

2011-01-26T13:34:00.000-08:00

This evening's track session was a pyramid: 1x200, 1x400, 1x600, 1x800, 1x1000, 1x1200, 1x1000, 1x800, 1x600, 1x400, 1x200. Recoveries were mainly 75 & 90 seconds. Mark I, David B & myself ran the session with Brit T joining us for some of the efforts. Coach Pete kept us focused on what we were meant to be doing.

Conditions were not too bad, a bit cold, but no ice, dry, but a bit of a breeze (unusually blowing against us on the home straight). My leg was still a bit sore, but didn't impact significantly on how I was able to run the session.....except on the 200m reps where I couldn't run too quickly.

My overall average was 85 seconds per lap, with a high degree of consistency, I was lapping in the 1200m only marginally slower than in the 400s. My running partners were generally faster than me on the shorter reps & slower on the longer reps.

I was quite pleased with the session & I don't seem to be making my leg injury any worse. I'll take it a bit easier over the next few days & hopefully there might be some signs of improvement. I'm probably going to give the Peco cross country a miss on Sunday as the last one did coincide with the start of my hamstring problems.

The Hound of Windgate Nick

2011-01-25T09:19:00.000-08:00

Today I went for a run up on to the moors. I decided to visit the 'Hound of Windgate Nick' (see story here).....it's certainly an impressive sight. The route that I took to get there was 10k virtually all uphill, via Hebers Ghyll Drive, Addingham Moorside & Light Bank Road on road, track, fields & moors.

For those who are wondering about the hamstring injury, following Sunday's race, it didn't seem to get any worse. I went for a very slow run around the park yesterday & despite general leg soreness, I didn't have any adverse reaction from the hamstring. My conclusion at the moment is that it doesn't seem to make much difference whether or not I run on it, the main thing that aggravates it is running quickly, but the effects seem to be only short term. Very curious.

Back to this afternoon's run. The good thing about running 10k uphill, is that I had a very long downhill to follow. I returned by way of the Swastika Stone, Parish Ghyll Drive & Grove Road (details here for anyone interested). It's a very enjoyable route, even on a misty day with heavy drizzle. Despite the weather it wasn't too muddy, so running conditions were quite good for the time of year.

Brass Monkey half marathon

2011-01-23T07:27:00.000-08:00

I decided to run after all, not 100% confident that the hamstring would survive. I wore compression shorts for the first time in a race just to give the leg a bit of protection. My plan was to set off at normal race speed & see how things went (I know that a more sensible option would have been to take it easy at the start & then to speed up if all was OK).

After only about 3k I realised the folly of setting off quickly. Even though I was running at about the same pace as last year (3:45 per km for the 1st 5k), my leg was tightening & complaining about going fast. From then it became a question of slowing down & nursing the hamstring to the finish. It was a bit frustrating getting overtaken by lots of runners & 17 or 18 km of slowing down is a long way. The 1st 10k took me about 38:20 & the 2nd 10k 40:14.

On the positive side I got to see lots of people that I wouldn't have seen if I'd run a more even paced race. Clubmates Steve W & Steve C both overtook me and had an epic battle to be the 1st Ilkley Harrier to finish, with Steve C just taking the honours.

There were lots of fellow bloggers in the race. Antony B was much nearer the front of the race than me & seemed to be quite satisfied with his run. Sarah J was treating the race as a training run & was looking far too comfortable & cheery when she overtook me, still finishing 3rd in the ladies race (well done to Marc on a PB). Simon A from Otley overtook me about halfway around. Andy W was running as part of his marathon preparation and was just behind me at the finish.

Special mention to clubmate Jane B who ran under 90 minutes for the 1st time being paced by Andrew M. She celebrated with a bottle of champagne & a prize for 2nd F40.

I finished the race in 84:14, almost 3 minutes slower than last year. Somehow I still managed to win £20 as 1st M55, & hopefully I've done no long term damage to the hamstring.

The winner of the race had apparently come all the way from New Zealand & set a new course record in 65 minutes & a few seconds (presumably he didn't travel over just for this race).

To race or not to race?

2011-01-21T07:38:00.000-08:00

That is the question. My sore upper leg is the problem, not sure if it's my hamstring that's playing up. I've never had a hamstring injury before...... I thought that it was something that sprinters & footballers suffered from. It's not a major injury as I can still run & isn't a problem when I'm walking around. The issue is when I run quickly that it becomes sore. I'm a bit nervous about racing with it as it may suddenly get much worse when I run at race speed.

Today I went out for a steady 11.5k run to Addingham. I was wary about putting in any fast bursts in case it would aggravate the problem. Generally I felt fine whilst running, it was quite cold, but dry & sunny.

I guess that I'll take a view tomorrow on the merits of racing on Sunday.

Ice again on the track

2011-01-19T13:57:00.000-08:00

This evening there was again a covering of ice on the Carnegie track, so spikes were certainly required. Richard R didn't have any spikes so he had to run around the outside. It was just Brit T & me to start with, but Mark I joined in part way through. The session was 600m, 800, 1k, 1.2k, then repeat, with 90 second recoveries.

I had two reasons to take it easy: firstly I've got a sore left upper leg & secondly it's the Brass Monkey half marathon on Sunday. I was a bit wary of trying to run too quickly and aggravating the injury, so my intention was to run no quicker than 90 seconds per lap......way off the pace of recent weeks.

From an effort point of view, the session was very comfortable, I was easily able to run all of the reps within a second per lap of the target 90 seconds average. However I was very much aware of my sore leg & was mindful that I could be making it worse by running on the track. Tomorrow will be another non running day - the second this week, which will hopefully give the leg a bit of a rest to recover in time for Sunday's race.

Half marathon preparation

2011-01-18T09:52:00.000-08:00

Feeling a bit sluggish this week, in the build up to the Brass Monkey half marathon, I decided to compare my preparation this year with last year. I decided to look at the 9 weeks up to the week before the race date. I guess opinions will be divided on what is 'good' half marathon preparation, but here is the analysis that I've done:

2011

distance run: 805 km (average 89 km/week)
distance of 5 longest runs: 108 km (21.5 km average)
4 races, 4 track sessions, 5 rest days.

2010

distance run: 726 km (average 81 km/week)
distance of 5 longest runs: 108 km (21.6 km average)
5 races, 5 track sessions, 8 rest days

Overall I've run about 10% further this year than last year, although there is no difference in the total length of my 5 longest runs. The three fewer rest days account for much of the difference in total distance run. The weather this year was much colder (with more snow) in late November & throughout December, but relatively milder in January. This affected when I ran races & track sessions...... The Thirsk 10 was cancelled this year & most of the December track sessions, whereas last year it was January when the majority of track sessions were cancelled.

Certainly there are quite a few other factors which will affect how quickly I run at this year's Brass Monkey race, for example last year the conditions were ideal (cool, dry, no wind) & I seemed to have one of those days when running seems easy (until the last 5k). Currently I feel as though running fast is hard work, although hopefully that will change by the weekend.

Today's run was an easy 14k out & back on the Nesfield Road to the A59. The outward leg seemed to be a real struggle, even though I was only going at a very modest pace. On the way back I did at least speed up a bit & running seemed a bit more comfortable. Not sure that I got much benefit from yesterday's rest day.

Peco cross country - Kirkstall

2011-01-16T05:38:00.000-08:00

I enjoy doing cross country races, however, I seem to be much slower running in mud than I am on the roads or track compared to other runners. Not sure if it's my build or running style or some other reason. Today's course in Bramley woods was quite undulating & heavy rain on Saturday meant that there was quite a lot of mud in places......but not as bad as it might have been.

I finished in 49th place, which is my worst result at a Peco race for a couple of years. I'm not too bothered about the result as the priority is the half marathon next week. I was feeling quite sluggish at the start, so it was probably just one of those 'off days'.....better this week than next.

The plan for the next few days is to take it easy with the running, I probably need a couple of rest days. I've only had 3 non running days since the end of November, so the batteries need recharging a bit.

Running slowly

2011-01-14T08:23:00.000-08:00

Thursday & Friday were both very slow runs. After the Wednesday evening track sessions I always find it difficult to run properly the following day. Yesterday I opted for an easy run to Addingham, one of my regular steady routes, about 11.5k. Today was a bit hillier, around Middleton with a loop around Rupert Road, just over13k. I was running a bit quicker today than yesterday, but nothing to get excited about.

The weather is very mild at the moment which makes running a bit more pleasant than the severe cold we had recently, it's also fairly dry which helps as well.

On Sunday I'm intending to do the Peco cross country at Bramley. For me it's a very low key race & really a chance to get used to racing again before next week's Brass Monkey half marathon. There's not really much comparison between an 8k cross country race & a road half marathon, but at least it will be a welcome break from regular road training.

Longer reps on the track

2011-01-12T13:50:00.000-08:00

This evening was perfect for running on the track. It was mild, dry & no wind - a complete contrast to last week's icy run. The session was also very different to last week's session. Instead of very short fast reps, we did longer efforts today: 1X2k, 5X1k, with 90 second recoveries. Three of us were running, Mark I, Richard R & myself with coach Pete in charge.

I felt much more at home with the longer reps. Considering the longer distances that I've been running in recent weeks & the lack of fast speedwork, it probably makes sense that running 2k & 1k efforts seemed easier than last week's 300s & 400s.

The slowest kilometre that I ran was actually the 1st half of the 2k, in 3:35. The fastest was the 2nd half of the 2k in 3:30. For the single kilometre efforts they were all between 3:31 & 3:34. This gave an overall average of about 85 seconds per lap, which is 4 or 5 seconds slower than last week's average, but getting a bit closer to the pace that I will be able to run next week's half marathon. Running 21.1k on the road is very different to 7k total of efforts on the track.

Overall I was pleased with the consistency of this evening's session. To prepare for my 3000m track races in February & March, I will need to do more short faster efforts, but as preparation for a half marathon, it was probably about right.

Leeds - Liverpool canal

2011-01-10T09:00:00.000-08:00

It's been quite a while since I ran along the canal towpath, maybe even more than a year. Today it was quite wet, with rain falling when I set off & big puddles on the path, but in places the canal was still frozen. I ran from Dowley Gap, near Cottingley.

My intention was just to go for a steady run, it was quite pleasant once I got used to the cold & having wet feet. There were few people around, just the odd dog walker here & there & a couple of other runners. I set off through Bingley & past the 5 rise locks, then to Riddlesden, before turning round a couple of km from Silsden where the path becomes very muddy.

As seems to be inevitable when I run alongside the canal, I try to run faster on the way back than I did on the way out. Even though I'd gone at a fairly easy pace on the outward leg (a few seconds under 5 minutes per km), once I turned around I found myself running 20-30 seconds per km quicker. Whilst this was still a fairly comfortable pace, it's a bit faster than I do most of my steady runs. In total I ran just under 20k.

Less than 2 weeks now to the Brass Monkey half marathon. I'll probably do the Peco cross country on Sunday, to get used to racing again, as I've not raced since before Christmas.

Running in the Strid Wood at Bolton Abbey

2011-01-06T09:14:00.000-08:00

It was a bit wetter today at the Strid Wood than when I took this photo last summer.

My run today could not have been much more different to yesterday's session. Despite the car showing the same temperature of 3.5 degrees, there was no ice & instead of laps of the track I was running alone through the woods at Bolton Abbey. My pace was also a long way off yesterday's efforts, the sub 3:30 minutes per km pace was replaced by something over 6 minutes per km.

The funny thing (to me anyway) is that today's run actually felt much harder than the one yesterday evening. My legs felt like lumps of lead. I certainly hadn't recovered from the short fast reps on the track. I managed to convince myself that 'active recovery' is better than just taking a day off......... in any case the route that I ran is one of my favourite routes & there were plenty of things to look at to take my mind off the less than fluid running style.

It's now just over two weeks to the Brass Monkey half marathon, so my plan is currently to mix a couple of fast sessions per week with plenty of slower running and an overall average of just over 100k per week. I probably won't do any more long runs (over 20k) & gradually reduce the distance I'm running generally before the race. Not sure how feasible it will be to improve on last year's time (81:31), my training is going well, but a lot depends how things feel on the day.....last year was one of those days when running fast seemed to be very easy (they don't happen very often).

Carnegie track micro-climate

2011-01-05T12:58:00.000-08:00

Arriving at the track, the car thermometer said that the temperature was 3.5 degrees, it had been 5-6 degrees most of the day, so I was a bit surprised to be told at reception that spikes were compulsory on the track due to ice. I assumed that it was a case of the Health & Safety bods being over cautious. However once on the track itself, it was really treacherous. The puddles from this morning's rain had indeed frozen & where there weren't puddles, there was a thin film of shiny frost.

We had a bit of a debate about the merits of trying to run quickly in the conditions, only three of us were present....Mark I, Rachael B & myself, with coach Pete. We decided to do a warm up around the perimeter track, then put spikes on & see what it was like for running on the track.

The consensus was that we would give it a go, but being very cautious on the corners........landing on the forefoot was fine, but when the heal came into contact with the surface it felt decidedly slippery. The session we were running was due to be mainly short fast reps: 8X400m (with reducing recoveries...2x1min, 2x50 secs, 2x40 secs, 1x30 secs), 4X300m (100m jog recoveries), then take a view on doing a couple of 800s after that.

I ran the first 400 in 82 seconds, with Rachael & Mark going a bit quicker than me. After that we seemed to get more confident with the conditions, I ran the remaining 400s in 78/79 seconds, which if anything is a bit quicker than I've recently managed. The 300s were marginally faster again in about 58 seconds.

Instead of 800s, Pete suggested that we do a slightly longer effort, with changes of pace....alternating the lead. We did 1200m in 4:18. After the 300s, this pace felt very comfortable, despite the uneven pace.

In total we did 5600m of efforts, which is less distance than we usually do, but it was quicker than average (especially considering the conditions).

Ilkley Harriers Hard Run

2011-01-03T02:55:00.001-08:00

Normally the IH 'Hard Run' takes place on a Saturday, but this week's run was delayed until today due to the New Year festivities. I hadn't run this session since October.....I'm not really an early morning runner, especially for speedwork. There were 6 of us this morning, including Lee A from Bingley Harriers who ensured that there was a brisk pace at the front.

We did efforts of 1X4 mins, 3X5 mins & 4X6 mins along the Nesfield Road. Considering that the route is quite undulating and there was a bit of ice on some sections, I was relatively pleased with the pace that I was able to run at. Overall I averaged 3:50 per km for the 11.3k of efforts, which is comparable to the speed that I ran this session in April last year & quite a bit quicker than in October (when I was still recovering from my viral illness).

With a warm down run around the park, I ran just over 19k, giving a total of 113k for the last 7 days, which is quite a bit more than I normally run & over 100k per week average for the last 4 weeks. With that distance in the legs, it's good that I can still do a relatively brisk interval session. With the track on Wednesday, I should hopefully now start to improve the speed that I'm running at, after lots of steady running.

Review of 2010

2010-12-31T06:44:00.000-08:00

I'm not really sure about writing a review of my running in 2010. On the one hand there are a fair number of positives to write about. On the other hand, I'm much more focused now on looking forward to 2011. I guess that the best approach is to use the results from 2010 to set higher standards for next year.

So here goes the review bit:

This time last year I set my targets for 2010 as getting under 18 minutes for 5k (achieved 4 times, with a best of 17:29), achieving Power of 10 UK ranking times for M55 (done at 5k, 5 miles, 10k, half marathon, 5000m & 10000m) & beating some of the Ilkley Harriers club records for my age group (achieved at 5k, 5 miles, 10k & half marathon). So far so good....... sounds like my goals weren't ambitious enough.

Before the start of 2010 I'd never won any age category prizes in road races, but I managed to be 1st M55 at the Brass Monkey half marathon, Dewsbury 10k, Wakefield 10k, Long Eaton 5 mile & Abbey Dash 10k (on chip time). In addition I got series wins for my age group at the Peco cross country, John Carr 5k & Harrogate & District race league. Having never previously raced on the track, I was pleased to win a British Masters silver medal (5000m) & Northern vets medals: gold (5000m & 10000m) & silver (1500m). Amazingly I was also selected as 1st reserve for the England team for the International cross country in Dublin (even though I'm not much of a cross country runner).

Comparing road race times between 2009 & 2010, I improved at 5k (by 47 seconds), 10k (by 26 seconds) & half marathon (by 7 minutes & 3 seconds). My best UK ranking for the year was 5th in the m55 age group (at 5000m) compared to a best of 163rd in 2009 (10k at m50).

On the downsides, the viral illness that I got in July was quite a big setback, with almost 4 weeks of no running at all, then a very slow process of rebuilding fitness over the following weeks/months. I was also disappointed to miss the chance of running a 10 mile time, as a results of the cancellation of the Thirsk & Garstang races due to ice.

I'm not too concerned about overall distances run, but I did run more than 10% further in 2010 than 2009, with a similar number of rest days. I averaged just over 10k per day throughout the year (despite the time lost through illness).

On to the more important bit, looking ahead to 2011. The European Masters 3000m indoor championships is a race that I'm looking forward to.....not sure what to expect having never raced that distance before, nor raced on an indoor track. I'd like to improve my 5k time again.....if I can continue to get faster at short distances, it should benefit my running at all distances. Overall however, the main objective has to be to run regularly & to enjoy it.

kilometre reps on Rupert Road

2010-12-30T08:46:00.000-08:00

I don't like doing interval sessions on my own, I seem to have difficulty pushing myself to run on my own as fast as I can in a group & the session always seems much longer. However, having done no fast running for a couple of weeks & with no track session this week and no race at the weekend, I decided that today I needed to do some kilometre reps.

I ran around Rupert Road/Denton Road, with a Garmin measured kilometre distance going slightly downhill. I figured that the downhill compensates for running the efforts on my own - it's my session so I can make up my own rules. I did eight reps with jog recoveries of 3-4 minutes.

My average was 3:43 per km, which is about 2.5 seconds slower than I did for the same session in mid November. Apart from lack of recent speedwork, my excuses are: it was colder, there was still some ice on the corners, I was wearing 3 layers of clothing, hat, gloves & heavy trainers. Overall it was an OK kind of session, but I do need to get back to the track to get running a bit more quickly.

Back to running in road shoes

2010-12-29T06:12:00.000-08:00

After more than a week of running in off road shoes battling against the snow & ice, I was today able to put my road shoes on. I have been doing plenty of distance in my recent running, but hardly any speedwork. Today I ran out and back along the Nesfield Road to the A59, with a couple of laps around Rupert Road to finish, just managing a fairly steady pace. On the way back I met up with Terry L and we had a good chat about running things.

My next target race is the Brass Monkey half marathon on 24 January. I'm intending to do a Peco cross country the week before, but that really will be a warm up race. Hopefully there will be a couple of Wednesday track sessions in early January to get a bit of speed back into my legs. I'll need to try and fit in some more faster running sessions as well.

Looking back at last year, the weather was quite bad at the end of December & much of January, but I was still able to do a reasonable race at the Brass Monkey, so it doesn't seem to be too much of a problem, especially if I can keep averaging around 100k per week.

Snow running pictures from Belgium

2010-12-28T01:03:00.001-08:00

Now back in England. Here are some photos from my snowy runs in Belgium. The lake is Lac de Genval.

Christmas Day run

2010-12-25T04:54:00.000-08:00

I don't think that I've ever run on Christmas Day before, but I went out today with son in law P for a steady 10k run in the deep snow & ice. We headed out over the fields on what is supposed to be a path, but with snow drifts in places several feet deep it was difficult to keep track on where we were going. When we returned to the roads, compacted snow & ice was equally challenging.

The priority wasn't running quickly, rather building up an appetite for Christmas Dinner & blowing off a few cobwebs.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Deep snow in Belgium

2010-12-24T07:39:00.000-08:00

It's been an unusual week of running. After Monday's jaunt around Fewston & Swinsty reservoirs, Tuesday was a brisk 16.5k along the Nesfield Road in a temperature of about minus 8 degrees. Wednesday I was in Ashford, Kent & went for a 14k run in the slush, mostly on back roads. Thursday in Belgium after a difficult overnight drive, endless delays & a 4:30 am Eurotunnel crossing I just about managed a very slow one hour run on compacted snowy trails.

Overnight we had a good 10 inches of fresh white snow, so today's Christmas Eve run was certainly a bit different. Not knowing the area around Lasne too well, I headed off on the trails to Rixensart, then around the lake between Genval & Overijse. So far so good, I then decided to follow a path through some woods, before getting a bit disorientated in a snow bound suburb of Rixensart. Eventually I found a main road that I recognised between La Hulpe & Waterloo, so was able to find my way back to Lasne, dodging the 4X4s, cars with snow chains & other cars struggling to make much progress. By the time I finished I'd run almost 20k, in nearly 2 hours, which wasn't too bad considering the conditions, it isn't easy running in nearly knee deep powder snow, but it certainly was quite entertaining.

Not too much fast running recently, but at least I've been running consistently & hopefully building up some endurance for the Brass Monkey in 4 weeks time.

Fantastic running in the snow

2010-12-20T11:38:00.000-08:00

I am fortunate to be able to run in daylight hours at this time of year when we have snow & ice on the ground. Today was bright & sunny, about minus 4 degrees at noon & I headed off for my run around Fewston & Swinsty reservoirs. Conditions couldn't have been more perfect...... a light covering of snow, compacted on the gravel paths, but not much ice (except on the reservoirs which were frozen solid). There was no wind & few people around.

My run was at a fairly steady pace after yesterday's race, no need to do any efforts, just run around & enjoy the scenery. I ran it as a figure of 8 circuit, so it was just short of 12k.

Recently since mid November I've been averaging around 100k per week, running for 6/7 days each week, with typically one long run (over 20k) and one interval session (ideally on the track) and a race or another fast run. My other runs are typically like today....10-14k, often off road & easy pace. I'm sure that I wouldn't be able to do this quantity & quality of running if I was still working full time & trying to run after dark midweek, with dangerous icy roads & pavements.

My training is currently geared towards two contradictory target races......coming up on 23 January is the Brass Monkey half marathon, then in March is the European Masters Indoor 3000m championships. In effect I need to be working on both improving my endurance & getting used to running short distances at a very fast pace. At least it makes running interesting.

Update on recent races

2010-12-19T10:37:00.000-08:00

No excuses for not blogging for a couple of months apart from laziness. Here is a summary of racing activity in the past couple of months:

Yorkshire Vets road relays. My main job at this event was organiser of the men's teams for Ilkley Harriers. With 28 runners in 8 teams, there certainly was a lot of organising to be done, especially with the usual late withdrawals & search for replacements. I put myself in the M50 A team, which on reflection was probably not the sensible option. I would have been better placed in the B team, due to lack of form & distractions before the start sorting out numbers & making sure that everyone was present & correct. Nevertheless we managed a team second place finish, mainly due to a storming run from Eddie I, we narrowly beat our M50 B team.

Ilkley 5 (Ben's race). This low key race on a very hilly course was mainly a fund raising effort to raise money towards sending a young lad from Ilkley to America for hospital treatment. Following a family party, curry & late night, I wasn't in the best shape to race, but it was more the taking part that was important, rather than the result. For the record, I finished in 12th place in 31:49.

International Open Masters cross country - Dublin. I travelled to Dublin as 1st reserve for the England M55 team. I wasn't required for the team, as all of the selected runners showed up, so I ran in the Open race for reserves & other local vets. I finished as 2nd M55 in the Open race in about 20th position overall. It was a really enjoyable weekend in Ireland. The standard of racing in the main races was of a very high standard.....not sure that I'll ever be a 'real' cross country runner. I was probably fortunate to get selected as a reserve for England based on my track & road results.

Abbey Dash 10k. I wasn't intending to run this race, only entering it a few days before (my intention had been to prepare for the Thirsk 10 the following week - which got cancelled due to the ice). In near perfect conditions I managed to knock a minute off my time from last year's Abbey Dash in 36:53. However, I was disappointed to get beaten on the line by Shaun Jordan of Bingley, who just got the better of me by 1 second in the M55 race - although I did beat him by one second on chip timing. We've been very evenly matched each time we've raced each other this year. It was the fastest 10k that I've run since 1983, so I probably should be satisfied.

Bradford Parkrun 5k. This isn't the fastest 5k course, with a challenging hill up the side of Emm Lane to be climbed 3 times, then an extra uphill section at the finish. I was reasonably happy with a 3rd place finish in 18:54. I was just 7 seconds slower than I'd done on this course in April.

Peco cross country - Rothwell. There was a light covering of snow & below freezing temperatures for this tour around Middleton Park woods in Leeds. I seem to be relatively much slower at cross country than I am on the road or track, but I try to convince myself that it must do me some good to run the occasional off road race. Not got the official results yet, but I finished in 33rd place, which is similar to my typical result last winter in this series.

Assuming that I can get motivated to blog regularly again, I'll do an update on training activities. Over the last two or three weeks, I've increased the volume & intensity of my training in preparation for upcoming races. Despite the recent snow & ice, I've been managing to run at least 100k per week with one or two fast sessions in addition to races.

Northern Vets 10000m track championships

2010-10-17T08:28:00.000-07:00

I seem to be coming something of a track specialist recently with all of my last 4 races being on the track. Today was the Northern Vets 10000m championships held at the Leigh Sports Village. There were about 30 people taking part in the race, with just 4 or 5 in my age group. Conditions were perfect for running, ideal temperature, sunny, no wind & no hills.

My intention was to try to run at 90 seconds per lap & see how it went from there. For the first 7 or 8 laps I was following Mervyn Ward from Warrington AC (who I'd raced against recently in the NVAC 5000m), we were the two main contenders for the M55 medals. For the first 5k I ran 18:53, which was fairly close to the 90 second per lap target, but I slowed quite a bit in the 2nd half to record 38:44. This is quite a bit slower than I've done for 10k on the road this year, but was quick enough to get me a gold medal, by about 10 seconds from Mervyn.

My relatively modest time was also enough to get me a 4th place UK ranking for 10000m for M55, which is more of an indication of the lack of long distance vets track races than any great speed from me. My recent spurt of track events has resulted in 2 gold & 2 silver medals (1st NVAC 5000m & 10000m & 2nd BMAF 5000m & NVAC 1500m).

Next up is the Yorkshire Vets road relay championships in Ilkley. We have a strong M50 'A' team of which I should be our slowest runner, so hopefully we have chance of doing well. Not sure that I'm looking forward to the 1 mile climb Of Carters Lane (nor the fast descent of Curly Hill).

800m reps on the track

2010-10-14T02:20:00.000-07:00

After a week with a tummy bug, then a sore throat, I was a bit apprehensive about yesterday's track session. We did 10x800m, in sets of 5, with 1 minute recovery between each rep & 4 minutes between the sets. There is a good group of us running at Carnegie now, with 7 of us attending yesterday.

My first 800 was a bit too enthusiastic in 2:45. The remaining reps in the 1st set varied between 2:50 & 2:54, indicating that I'd certainly set off too quickly. The 2nd set were hard work. I was tiring significantly, but managed to run all of the 5 800s at 2:54, apart from one in 2:56. The overall average for the session was just under 2:53 for each 800m, which is not too bad considering that I wasn't feeling 100% & I'd set off too fast at the start of the session.

Looking back at previous sessions, whilst it's difficult to compare precisely, I seem to be running about 1-2 seconds per lap slower on average than I was in the early part of 2010, but a similar amount faster than a month ago. Overall I think that I'm making steady progress from my illness in the summer, although it's frustrating to be running slower than I know I'm capable of running (especially as some of my training partners have continued to improve.

It will be interesting to see how things go when I start racing regularly again. Having only done one track meeting since early July, I'm certainly rusty. This Sunday is the NVAC 10000m championships. My plan at this stage is to not push it too hard, certainly for the first 7 or 8k, as 25 laps of the track is a long way when I'm not fully fit.

Running on the moors

2010-10-10T06:48:00.000-07:00

Today was a really pleasant day for running, quite warm for the time of year, sunny & not much wind. I decide to head up on to the moors for a longish run. It was good to just go out & run with no concerns about pace or distance.

I cheated a bit by taking the car up to near the Cow & Calf, rather than running up from home. My route then went up to the Trig point & across to the radio masts before heading over to Windgate Nick. It was quite boggy in places on the top, but that's fairly normal for most of the year. Once I got to the edge of the moors, I descended on the tarmac towards Low Mill at Addingham, before returning to Ilkley along the Dalesway path.

In total I ran for almost two hours & according to my Garmin covered a bit more than 18k, although pace and distance are not really relevant on that kind of surface.

It's good to run on different surfaces, over the next few weeks I've got races coming up on the track, road & cross country, so I need to be ready for each of these. Next Sunday it's 10000m on the track at the Northern Vets championships. I haven't really been training for that kind of distance, so it will be interesting to see how it goes, probably best to plan to not set off too quickly.

Track session at Carnegie

2010-10-06T14:34:00.000-07:00

This evening was a fast session with short recoveries: 12x600m in 4 sets of 3, with 40 seconds recovery between each rep & 2 minutes between the sets. There was a good group of seven of us taking part, with Rachael B & Huw I from Otley leading the way with Mark I not far behind. I spent most of the session trying to not drop too far back from Mark. Alan W, Dave J & Adrian B (doing his first track session) were all running strongly.

I did the first set of 600s a bit too quickly, averaging 2:02. For the next 3 sets, I gradually slowed with an overall average for the whole session of 2:06. The previous two weeks at the track I've actually got quicker throughout the session, so this evening certainly showed the effects of going too fast too soon. Nevertheless, the overall average of about 84 seconds per lap wasn't too bad for a longish track session (7.2k in total) with mostly short recoveries.

Whilst this kind of session feels very tough and I'm sure that I'll be suffering tomorrow, hopefully it's the kind of effort that will bring benefits in the future. It's good to experience running at a faster pace than I would normally run at in races.

Blogging again

2010-10-06T02:05:00.000-07:00

I was a bit in two minds about starting blogging again after a break of 3 months. The viral illness that I had stopped me running for 4 weeks & according to the doctors at Airedale Hospital, it would take me several weeks or months to fully recover......on the positive side at least it was nothing more serious.

I started running again (slowly) in mid August & during September I was running regularly, albeit at a reduced pace and shorter distances than normal. The weekly track sessions restarted & I had lost about 7-8 seconds per lap from my pre illness pace at the beginning of September. Now I'm closer to where I was, but still about 2-3 seconds per lap slower. I've done a couple of the Saturday morning Ilkley Harriers 'Hard run' interval sessions & it's been a bit frustrating to be struggling to keep up with people that I would have previously been able to match.

I was holding off from racing again, but decided to enter the Northern Vets track championships, just to get back into the swing of things with the intention to treat it more as a fast training session. I ran the 1500m, an event which I've never raced before and was pleasantly surprised to win a silver medal in 5:04, including a last lap of about 77 seconds overtaking several runners in the home straight. I followed that a couple of hours later with the 5000m. My strategy was to take it easy due to my lack of fitness and tiredness after the 1500m. A time of 18:46 was quite slow, but I did manage to win the gold medal for the M55s, by out sprinting the second placed runner in the last 50m.

Yesterday brought news that I've been selected as 1st reserve for the England team for the International Masters cross country race in Dublin in November. This was a bit of a surprise as I've run very few cross country races. Apparently selection was based on performances in championship races on road & track as well as cross country. I'll need to sharpen up my fitness now in the next 5 weeks.

No running for a while

2010-07-16T01:24:00.000-07:00

Still struggling with the virus that I've had for a couple of weeks. After a series of tests yesterday, medical opinion is that I shouldn't run until it clears up. It's a bit frustrating to say the least, but hopefully taking a summer break will do me some good.

Wednesday track session

2010-07-07T12:50:00.000-07:00

I've been suffering with a bit of a virus since Sunday's race, so I was a bit wary about pushing things too hard on the track this evening. It was quite a demanding session: 4X200, 4X400, 4X600, 4X400, 4X200, 1X800, with only short recoveries...... 8k of efforts in total. There were 4 of us doing the session: Mark I, Rachael B, Nick P & myself.

Rachael & Mark were both running quite a bit faster than me this evening. I was happy to just concentrate on completing the session at a moderate pace, rather than go too quickly & need to cut it short. My pace was around 80 seconds per lap for the 200s & 400s, 84 seconds per lap for the 600s and slightly slower again for the 800. I was happy with the session overall, despite not being the quickest. No real effects of the 'bug' & no after effects from racing on Thursday & Sunday.

I now have a good break from racing (apart from the Harrogate League handicap next week). My next race will be the BMAF half marathon towards the end of August, so I have about 6 weeks to recover, then prepare for that.

First ever track race - BMAF 5000m

2010-07-05T00:53:00.000-07:00

Not quite sure why I chose a national championship event in Cardiff for my first ever track race. I was well out of my comfort zone before the start of the race - there were 3 pages of rules & regulations: you needed to register before you signed the declaration sheet (whatever that is), these had to be done at least 2 hours before the race otherwise you were disqualified, you needed to be in a 'call room' at least 20 minutes before the race, 2 race numbers had to be worn & 2 lane numbers (all in the correct position). Asking the very efficient officials basic questions brought looks of incredulity (especially when I told them that I'd never done a track race before).

The weather was wet & very windy, quite a change from the recent dry, still, sunny conditions. I was at the track 3 hours before my race to give me sufficient time to ensure that I didn't fall foul of the various cut off times. Warming up was a bit difficult to ensure that I would be in the 'call room' at the required hour.

My race was the 5000m for M50 & M55s, so it was actually two races in one, with separate results for each. 14 runners had entered the M55 race & 9 the M50 one, but I think that there were only about 15 or so actually started in total. Four of the M50 runners set off at a very fast pace, so I decided to let them go, settling into a group of 3 M55s and a couple of M50s.

My plan before the race had been to try to run at an even pace around 84 seconds per lap, but this plan soon went out of the window mainly because of the conditions. It was clear that there wasn't much difference between the 3 of us leading the M55 race & which ever of us was setting the pace was making it much easier for the other 2, as they could just follow on the tough 'home straight' into the wind. In effect it became a very tactical race with each of us trying to break away, getting pulled back, then trying to avoid leading......... not a good recipe for running a fast even pace.

I made a tactical mistake of trying a final attack with just over 2 laps to go, which resulted in my opponents being able to follow me for the closing stages of the race. I did all the hard work until I was overtaken on the home straight & beaten into second place by 1 second.

I suppose that I should be pleased about winning a silver medal in a national championship in my first ever track race, but I know that I could have done better if I'd timed the finish differently. Having said that the guy who beat me, David Oxland of Notts AC, is a very experienced track runner & he may well have beaten me whatever tactics I'd adopted (he'd won this event the previous year by 17 seconds & was silver medalist in the European Masters Indoor track championships - only missing gold by 0.17 seconds).

Having had my first attempt at racing on the track, I'm tempted to give it another go - I'll certainly have a better idea what to expect next time around.

Harrogate League race 5 - Hudswell

2010-07-02T00:50:00.000-07:00

After a week of very easy slow running, with no session faster than 5 minutes/km, to try to overcome the recent lethargy, it was back to racing yesterday evening at the final race in the Harrogate League series. I'd had strong warnings from Coach Pete to take it very easy in this race, considering that I'm racing in the British Masters 5000m on Sunday.......he said that it would be better to give this race a miss altogether. However, I only needed to score a few points to secure the M55 prize for the series and we needed some team points as well.

I had run this same course 2 years ago, it's all on the roads, which is an improvement from most of the HL races this year. The first half of the race was uphill, then a turnaround with descent to the finish. I set off at a very steady pace comfortably behind a few runners who I normally run with.

For the first half of the race I felt as though I wanted to accelerate, but had Pete's warnings in my mind, so I continued at what seemed like a very easy pace for a race (averaging just over 4 minutes per km on the uphill half). At halfway I'd just managed to catch up to my regular track partner Mark I so we ran together for the start of the return leg. After a kilometre or so Mark decided that he'd try to catch another clubmate Mark M-W who was about 25 metres ahead of us, so he suddenly speeded up. I decided to not go with Mark's injection of pace, but to carry on at about the same speed.

As we got nearer to the finish I was still feeling very fresh & relaxed, quite unusual for me at this stage of a race, so I picked up the pace (with only about 1km to go I figured that I wouldn't do too much damage for Sunday). I managed to overtake both Marks as well as 3 or 4 other runners. My finishing time was 31:01 for just over 8k, which was 2 1/2 minutes quicker than I did on this course 2 years ago. I finished in 24th place with hopefully sufficient points for the individual age group series win & team wins in the vets team & super vets.

Looking at my Garmin stats after the race I averaged 3:52 minutes per km, which is nothing special, although I ran the last km in 3:05....probably the fastest km that I've ever run! I now have a couple of days to recover before my debut track race on Sunday.

York Race for Life - spectating

2010-06-27T11:14:00.001-07:00

My daughter Katie who until a few weeks ago had never been interested in running at all decided to run the Race for Life 10k in York. It's a women only event, which isn't really a race, it's very much a charity fundraiser. I was designated to be chauffeur & supporter, but also took on the role of water carrier, as it was the hottest day of the year and there weren't many water stations.

The course was a zigzag couple of laps around the Knavesmire in York, all on grass. Between the 10k and later 5k, there were over 5000 women running. Most of the women taking part weren't regular runners & it was a great achievement for most of them to run 10k, especially in the heat. I don't know who the girl was who finished first, but she looked to be flying around the course - most however were happy just to get around.

Katie set off at a steady pace, which was very wise, and she was was able to run the whole way, finishing tired but well satisfied. She also raised a lot of money for charity, so great credit to her & all of the other participants.

Somehow I managed to run 14.5k going backwards & forwards, offering support & sourcing as many bottles of water as possible. I don't think that I would like to have been racing in the hot weather today.

Not so sharp on the track

2010-06-23T13:33:00.000-07:00

There were only Mark I & myself running on the track this evening. The session was 15X400m, in blocks of five: 30 seconds recovery after each of the 1st 4 reps, then a 2 minute break, before repeating the 30 seconds for the next 4 sets etc.

I was still feeling a bit jaded after all of the recent racing, whereas Mark was clearly very sharp, so it was going to be a difficult session. After a first couple of laps getting into the swing of things, we settled into a consistent 80/81 seconds per lap, gradually getting a little bit quicker. I was following Mark around the track as he was more capable of setting the pace today. In the last set of 5 reps, we managed to get under 80 seconds for some of the 400s, but by the last one I'd clearly had enough, slowing to 82 seconds.

The good news is that I completed the session at a pace which was a few seconds per lap quicker than my 5k race pace. The bad news is that it was a bit of a struggle & I probably need to take it easy for a few days before next week's track race.

A change is as good as a rest

2010-06-21T10:27:00.000-07:00

After yesterday's 5k race around the town centre of Horwich, I decided to do something completely different today. Not the most obvious choice for a recovery run was a 21k route including Simons Seat, the Strid Wood and a section of the Dalesway on a hot sunny day.

My pace today was on the very slow side of slow, which was just about all I could manage, but it was really enjoyable just to go out & run. The route is very diverse with moorland, woods, fields, paths & short road sections. Underfoot conditions were very firm as we've had a very dry year so far.

No races for me this week. It's good to have a bit of a break from racing as I think I've become a bit stale over the last couple of weeks. Next week I've got a Harrogate League race midweek, then the British Masters 5000m on the track in Cardiff. That will be a new experience for me as I've never raced on the track before.

BMAF 5k

2010-06-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

Today was the British Masters 5k road race in Horwich. The course is 3 1/2 laps around the town centre, with an uphill finish. The standard of runners is very high considering that it's an all vets field. There were 155 people taking part with more than 30 managing to run faster than 17 minutes.

I was a bit disappointed with my time of 18:20, for 5th place in my age group. That's nearly a minute slower than I did at Esholt. I think that the combined effects of: 1) a slower course, 2) too many recent races & 3) lack of track sessions in the last few weeks accounted for this result. Having said that I don't think that I would have been able to finish in the first 3 M55s even on top form.

We were also disappointed to miss out on a medal in the M50 team event. It was a very competitive age category & less than a minute separated us from the silver medal position, although the winners Bristol & West were well clear. At least Ilkley did manage medals in the F35 category (Sally M) & M65 category (Geoff H).

Thanks for the vocal support around the course from Sarah J, Richard B & Pat L amongst others.

St. Ives trail race

2010-06-16T01:25:00.001-07:00

(photo: Dave Woodhead)

I didn't really need a second race in three days, but having done this race for the last couple of years, I thought that I'd give it another go, but just take it easy. It's a hilly course around the St. Ives Estate near Bingley, mainly on paths through the woods, but with a short section of moorland. We had a good representation of Ilkley Harriers at the race for the annual 'mob match' with Bingley Harriers.

Tempting fate at the start, the organiser said that the course was well marked & had plenty of marshalls & no one had ever got lost. So sure enough there were quite a few runners who took a wrong turning & missed out part of the course. I became aware of this with about 3k to go when I saw a couple of Ilkley vests ahead of me when I wasn't expecting to see any; Tom A was off in the lead (not wearing a club vest anyway), Mark M-W was ahead but he's much quicker than me on that kind of course, Dave C was ahead of me, but only by a couple of seconds. So who were the mysterious Ilkley runners appearing in front? Paul S, Neil S & Alison B had all gone the wrong way, along with several other runners.

The organisers seemed to be quite relaxed about the course issue at the finish & decided that the results would stand as they were, with runners being allocated their actual finishing position & time, regardless of which route they ran! Some of those who'd inadvertently gone the wrong way even picked up prizes - good job it wasn't a very serious race - no one seemed to be too upset about it.

I managed to finish in 20th position out of 92 runners. I was also 1st M50 (there wasn't a M55 category), narrowly beating Nick P. I hadn't seen Nick all of the way around the course, but he was only 4 seconds behind me at the finish. He'd done a 23 mile fell race at the weekend, so had even more excuse than I did for running with less zip than usual. My prize for the age category win was a bottle of wine. Last year in this race I also was 1st M50 - that was the first time I'd ever won a prize in a running race. This year I was just over a minute quicker than last year.

In the 'mob match', Ilkley beat Bingley again for the 3rd consecutive year.

I certainly need a rest from hard running for a few days now before the BMAF 5k on Sunday, so tomorrow's Harrogate League race is certainly off the agenda. Hopefully we'll still have sufficient Ilkley runners in the race to do well in the team competitions.

Long Eaton 5 miles

2010-06-13T07:16:00.000-07:00

It was ideal conditions for the Long Eaton 5 today: flat course, no wind, dry, just a bit warm (about 19 degrees). The winner, Bruce Raeside from Notts AC ran 23:55 which is one of the 10 fastest 5 mile times in the UK this year (most of the other top 10 times were run at Alsager). It was unusual to run in a race where I didn't know anyone at all.... most of the runners were from local clubs in Derby, Notts & Leicester.

There was a mad dash at the start as we left the playing fields at to join narrow paths in the park. I set off at quite a brisk pace, but soon found myself having to overtake people who had started as if it was a 200m sprint race. My first mile was 5:48, which felt quite comfortable, especially once we got out of the park on to the roads. The next 2 miles were 5:53 & 5:51. However, after the three mile point I started to slow down, recording 6:13 for the 4th mile & it was starting to feel like hard work (maybe I've been doing too many 5k races). I recovered a bit to do 5:57 for the last mile, chasing after someone who I thought might be another M55 (it turned out that he was only 45). So my finish time was 29:42.

Mixed feelings about this result. On the one hand I was pleased to beat my target of 30 minutes, finishing 1st M55 & set new club records for M50 & M55 for 5 miles. On the other hand I was disappointed to slow down so much after 3 miles, I think that I should have been able to run closer to 29 minutes (I guess we're never satisfied). Considering that I'd been feeling well below par for the last few days, it's probably not a bad result all things considered.

Next Sunday is the BMAF 5k at Horwich. I'll need to be running quite a bit faster than I was today if I want to post a respectable time for that race.....certainly I won't be doing a hard track session on Wednesday this week.

Not much zip in the legs

2010-06-12T07:27:00.000-07:00

After Wednesday's fast track session I had a rest day on Thursday, I felt that it would be the most sensible option. Friday & today I ran my regular 'two bridges' route to Addingham & back. Yesterday I was feeling particularly sluggish, it was hard work to run at all. Today was marginally better, but not much. I think that the combined effects of a lot of racing recently then a very tough track session have taken their toll.

Tomorrow I've got an early start to drive to Long Eaton for a 5 mile race. Hopefully I'll find a bit of sharpness for the race from somewhere. My target has been to get under 30 minutes for 5 miles. It's supposed to be a very fast course & the weather looks good for tomorrow, so we'll see how much energy I've got in the tank.

Much faster on the track

2010-06-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

This evening we did a session of fast short reps. The session was 5X300m with 100m jog recoveries, 8X400m with 45 second recoveries & 3X500m with 100m jog recoveries. The idea was to run the 300s & 500s at a much faster pace than normal. In total that's 6.2k of efforts which is a bit less than we normally do....to facilitate the faster running.

We had a good evenly matched group: Richard R, Mark I, David B & myself, with Dave W doing the session on his own a bit quicker than the rest of us. We averaged 57 seconds for the 300s (equivalent to 76 second laps), 81 seconds for the 400s & 100 seconds for the 500s. So the overall average for the session was 80 seconds per lap. This contrast with 84/85 seconds average per lap for the very different mile rep session a couple of weeks ago.

The view of all of us was that this was a really good session. We were running quite a bit faster than normal, but it felt comfortable throughout....mainly because of the short reps & shortish session. It will be interesting to see the benefits of this faster paced running when it comes to racing again (although I think that Sunday's 5 miler come too soon for any positive effects).

Old MacDonald had a farm

2010-06-09T07:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening's Ilkley Harriers club run was a tour around the fields above Denton & Middleton. I didn't go out with the fast group as I wanted to save a bit of energy for today's track session.

We had quite a few encounters with the local farm animals. First of all we got to a field with about 50 cows & a rather large bull. They were looking quite threatening & a number of our group were not happy about running through them. Eventually we managed to persuade the cows to go to the far end of the field so we could get past. We then came across a couple of riders on horses. The horses were a bit unsettled by us, but fortunately there were no mishaps & runners & riders all parted amicably. In other fields we came across: goats, sheep, geese & chickens. In addition to the farm animals, there was plenty of wildlife: rabbits, herons etc.

In total we ran just over 12k at a very easy pace, even allowing for the delays caused by the farm animals, gates & stiles, regrouping etc. This evening's track session will be very different indeed. I've just heard that we will be doing short fast reps....should be fun!

One hot one, one wet one

2010-06-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

Saturday's run was very hot, out along the Dales Way path from Ilkley to Bolton Bridge. I returned along the Nesfield Road until I got to the Addingham footbridge, crossing over it to then return to Ilkley on the Dalesway. Temperature was in the mid 20s & there were lots of people out enjoying the sunshine (although it was disturbing to hear that an 8 year old boy died in the River Wharfe at Bolton Bridge shortly after I'd gone past there).

Today's run was also out to Bolton Bridge & back, but this time sticking to the Nesfield Road. The temperature was at least 10 degrees less than the day before & it rained continuously.

Today's run was a bit faster pace than yesterday, which is not unexpected considering that it was all on the roads, but I was probably putting a bit more effort in as well. Both runs were around 17k & relatively flat. It made a pleasant change to not have any hills like I've had in recent races.

I've got a week without a race now before the Long Eaton 5 miles next Sunday. The plan is to do generally easy paced running with just the track session on Wednesday to hopefully put a bit of speed in the legs.

Harrogate League race 3 - Yeadon/Esholt

2010-06-04T03:08:00.000-07:00

Opinions were divided on this course. Some people that I spoke to afterwards thought that it was a brilliant route: paths through the woods, hills, twists & turns. Others said that it was a really difficult tough course. I was more of the latter opinion. The first couple of kilometres were OK, slightly downhill on a tarmac path along an old railway line. Then we disappeared off into Esholt Woods descending until we eventually reached the road at the start of the John Carr 5k course.

From the halfway point it got really hard: initially steep uphill on a narrow rutted path through the woods, then an even steeper short descent followed by a steady climb back up to the old railway path & back to the finish, near the start.

We had a great turnout of Ilkley Harriers & were the 1st team in the main team competition, the vets competition & the supervets (over 55) competition. I was beaten in the M55 category by Nick P again (after he beat me at the Ilkley Trail race on Saturday), he was really flying up the hills. I did enough, however, to retain my lead in the series.

My next race is a week on Sunday at the Long Eaton 5. Hopefully it will be flat & have a smooth, firm surface, unlike recent races that I've been doing.

Trying to prioritise races

2010-06-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

There are so many races at the moment it's difficult to know which ones to do & which ones to miss. To achieve optimum performance, I'm sure that it makes sense to race sparingly & concentrate on particular key events. The problem is that I enjoy racing regularly & am not keen on having a structured training plan building up to specific races.

In a couple of weeks it's a real dilemma: on Sunday 13th I've entered a 5 mile race at Long Eaton (I've set myself a target of beating 30 minutes for 5 miles & there are very few 5 mile races on the calendar), on Tuesday 15th is the St. Ives Trail race (I've done this race the last 2 years & it's a great race also it's a counter in the Ilkley Harriers league), on Thursday 17th it's a Harrogate League race (currently I'm leading in the series for M55 & we are trying to win 3 of the team competitions), on Sunday 20th it's the BMAF 5k at Horwich (I would like to do well in the individual race & we should have a good team in this national championship).

Clearly I can't do all of those races & even doing 3 out of the 4 is a bit much if I want to run well in the 5k. Not sure how to prioritise things. It also means that it's difficult to fit in speed training. On the positive side at least I'm not injured (although I may be if I race too often).

Today was another warm day and I opted for an easy two bridges run to Addingham and back. I would have much preferred to go to the track this evening, but again with a Harrogate League race tomorrow I can't fit everything in.

Busy Bank Holiday

2010-05-31T13:13:00.000-07:00

A bright & sunny Bank Holiday brought lots of people to Ilkley. After spending most of the day gardening, I headed off for a run late afternoon. I just set off running today without any plan of where I was going to go. Even though I'm not one for following schedules, this is unusual, even for me. I normally decide where I'm going before leaving the house.

I started off running through the park, but it was a bit busy with the holiday crowds, so I cut through to Leeds Road before crossing the bridge near Denton. I didn't really fancy a hilly run after yesterday's trail race, but somehow I found myself running up Carters Lane. From the top I went along to Middleton Grange & joined the bridlepath that joins the top of Owler Park Road. From here I new that there were several footpaths that go towards Nesfield, but I managed to find one that I'd never been on before.

After crossing a field I got to a very steep wooded valley, not really sure what had happened to the path. After a bit of scrambling through the undergrowth I eventually found a proper path which led to the road near the top of the hill in Nesfield. I returned to Ilkley along the road & finished with a lap around the park. By now a lot of the day trippers had already left.

In total I ran about 13.5k at a very sedate pace. It was quite an enjoyable run, but next time I think that I'll choose a different route from Middleton to Nesfield.

Ilkley Trail race

2010-05-30T06:26:00.000-07:00

(Thanks to Terry Lonergan for the photo)

The route of the Ilkley Trail race is great for just going out for a run, but it's a tough course for a race. Having run this race the previous 2 years, I knew that it wasn't really my kind of race: long uphill to start with, tough moorland section in the middle & a fast descent to finish, almost 11.5k. Fortunately this year it was quite dry underfoot, despite yeaterday's rain.

I felt fine going up the hill, but was overtaken by several people on the moorland section, which was hard going into the strong wind. Once we got on to the short road section before the downhill, I seemed to get my energy back, maybe it was just the effects of having tarmac under my feet. I managed to get back passed a few people on the descent, having struggled on that section last year.

My finishing time was 50.14, which was about 3 1/2 minutes faster than I did last year & 36th position compared to 79th. I was second in the M55 category, beaten by Nick P who is much more at home on this kind of terrain than I am. Overall it was a reasonable run, although it is a bit frustrating to be relatively much slower than I am on the roads.

A few days easy running

2010-05-29T05:31:00.000-07:00

On Thursday & Friday I ran the two bridges run from Ilkley to Addingham & back both days. This tends to be my 'default' run that I do when I don't feel particularly inspired to run anywhere else & I want to do an easy/steady run. So 11.5k each day at an easy pace.

Today I thought that I should run somewhere different, but with the Ilkley Trail race tomorrow I didn't want to do anything too demanding. I opted for a hilly run around Ilkley & Middleton, just over 11.5k. Again my pace was quite slow, but it didn't make sense to try to run quickly.

The Ilkley Trail race is a very enjoyable route which I often use in training, but I'm not particularly suited to racing over the hilly off road terrain. I'm even worse at running quickly down steep hills than I am at running up steep hills. So my intention is really to use it as a fast training run, rather than with any expectations of doing well in the race. Normally I'd reduce the distance that I run in the week before a race, but I've done the opposite this week, clocking close to 100km, so I'm getting plenty of excuses in. There are more important races to come in the next few weeks.

Carnegie track session

2010-05-26T13:26:00.001-07:00

This evening's 'official' track session was cancelled, but as we didn't hear about the cancellation until we arrived at the track we decided to go ahead with one anyway. We had a good evenly matched group of 4 of us taking part: Richard R, Josie H & Mark I, with Terry L acting as timekeeper.

The session was 4X1 mile with 4 minute jog recoveries. Given that we were all running at the same speed, we alternated the pace making which certainly helped with motivation. The time for each of the reps was: 5:41, 5:41, 5:44 & 5:42 so very consistent, marginally slower than my 5k race pace, so probably just what was required.

It was really good to be back running on the track after several missed weeks due to clashes with midweek races. I think that I really benefit from running regular track sessions & that much of my improvement this year is a result of the work done on the track.

Club run on the moors

2010-05-25T14:03:00.000-07:00

This evening I ran with the Ilkley Harriers club run. We had a really good mixed ability group & headed up on the moors. I haven't done a Tuesday club run for a few weeks, so it was really good to have a pleasant run & a great chat.

Initially heading along the Dalesway path, we then headed up towards Addingham Moorside & near to Windgate Nick, before heading along the ridge to the trig point. This route would normally be quite muddy, but given that we've had very little rain for several weeks it was easily runnable today.We returned to Ilkley via Keighley Road, with an off road detour where the true fell runners were able to show off their descending skills....I was steadily bringing up the rear of the group at this point.

We ran just over 13k, plus a bit more for me running to & from home. It was a very enjoyable run, with plenty of opportunity for running chat. Tomorrow's track session will be different!

Some like it hot

2010-05-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

It's been quite warm the last few days, up to about 28 degrees. Yesterday I went for another longish run, following Saturday's long run on the hills. I went out along the Nesfield Road to Bolton Bridge & back, with a bit of a loop around the park. In all I ran 17k at a very slow pace: combined effects of two races during the week, after effects of a cold & previous days run.

Today's run wasn't much quicker, about 5:25 minutes per km pace.....very slow for a flattish road run. I ran my regular two bridges route, about 11.5k. Not too worried about the slow pace, it's more an opportunity to take it easy without taking too much of a break from running.

Wednesday should be back on the track at Carnegie for the first time in about a month having had a layoff for the John Carr series & Harrogate league races.

Back to running slowly

2010-05-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

Two races in two days & the remains of a bad cold mean I need some active recovery. Today I headed for the hills on the hottest day of the year so far. My route took me up through Middleton Woods, then on to concrete square, before heading up to Round Hill.

There were great views all around from Round Hill, with perfect visibility. Normally it's pretty boggy up there, but today it was bone dry as we've had very little rain for a couple of months now. I then went along to Beamsley Beacon, before descending down to the Langbar Road & back to concrete square.

Once back down in Ilkley, there were hordes of people in & around the river & the park, quite a contrast from the solitude up the hill. In all I ran 19.5k. My pace was well over 7 minutes per km, which doesn't mean a lot given the terrain, but it was quite a contrast to the 3:32 pace that I was running on Wednesday.

My next race will be the Ilkley Trail race a week tomorrow, which covers part of the route that I did today. I can't run quickly in that kind of race, so I'll be using it mainly as training for races to come.

Harrogate League race 2 - Temple Newsam

2010-05-21T07:04:00.000-07:00

(photo: Paul Wood)

Temple Newsam is a terrific venue for a race with acres of scenic parkland & we had warm sunny weather. There are downsides: it's very hilly & most of the running is off road. My plan for the race was to take it fairly steady as it was only 24 hours since my last race & I was still feeling the effects of a cold & chest infection.

The race set off fairly quickly down a steep tarmac section, but after about 500m was on to the dry dusty tracks & the first long hill wasn't far away. I settled into a steady rhythm as well as I could, a few metres behind Richard R & Steve C. We did a couple of laps of a loop through the woods, before heading back to the uphill tarmac section to the finish.

The guy from Wetherby (in the picture) overtook me just before the start of the final climb. I managed to follow him most of the way uphill before finding a sprint from somewhere to just beat him to the line.

I finished in 30th position, covering the hilly 8.6k in 34:31, just under4 minutes per km pace, which was OK, all things considered. The result meant that I was able to maintain my lead in the M55 category for the series, finishing a few places ahead of clubmate Malcolm P who's in 2nd place. In the team results Ilkley Harriers finished first in both the vets & supervets (over 55) categories.

It was a successful evening as far as the results were concerned, but I'm not sure that racing on consecutive days is really a good idea. I need to take it easy for a few days now.

John Carr 3 - 5k

2010-05-20T02:53:00.000-07:00

Running has been taking a low priority for the last week or so. My youngest daughter's wedding at the weekend was a major event, we had a great day, although it meant drinking too much alcohol, almost not sleeping for 2 days & having a house full of visitors for several days. On top of that I developed a bad cold & chest infection. To say that I wasn't well prepared for the final John Carr race would be quite an understatement.

In the series I had a lead in the M55 age group of 21 seconds over Shaun J from Bingley Harriers, so my real target for the race was to try to make sure that he didn't distance me. I really wasn't sure that I'd be able to run properly being dosed up with Lemsips, paracetamols & Benylin.

Somehow I managed to run at a reasonable pace, although I was struggling on the fast downhill finish & Shaun managed to sneak a couple of seconds or so in front of me.....but not enough to put much of a dent in my overall lead. Another Bingley M55 runner also finished a few seconds in front of us this week, so on the night I was only 3rd M55. It's only the 2nd time this year that I've been beaten in my age category, but I can't complain too much in the circumstances & I still got the prize for winning the series.

My time was 17:39, which up until a couple of weeks ago I would have been over the moon about. Now I regard it as being OK considering that I wasn't feeling very well. Some people are never satisfied! Looking at the Power of Ten UK rankings, 4 of the fastest 7 5ks in the UK this year have been set at the John Carr series for the M55 age group. Either it's a very fast course or we have some very competitive old runners in this area (or both).

I feel as though I need a good long rest now, however, this evening is the second race in the Harrogate League series. Given that I'm leading in the senior vets category & we need points in the club team race, I'll have a go at running again. I'm sure that this is a bad idea!

John Carr 2 - 5k

2010-05-12T14:11:00.000-07:00

This evening was the 2nd John Carr 5k. I didn't quite have the pace that I did last week & recorded 17:37. If I hadn't run 8 seconds faster last week I would have been delighted with that time. I set off more slowly than a week ago, 5 seconds more for the first km. For the next 3km, I ran at a similar pace to last week, then slowed again in the last km.

I should really be quite pleased with this run, but inevitably it's a bit disappointing to run a bit slower. The official results aren't out yet, but hopefully I will have maintained my lead in the series for the M55 category.

I've not been blogging much about my training runs recently as there has been little to write about. I have been running every day (apart from Thursday last week), but only slowly & on my regular training routes. My plan is to take it relatively easy again for the next few days before the 3rd race in the John Carr series next week.

Running up Simon's Seat

2010-05-07T08:25:00.000-07:00

My run today could not have been more different to the 5k race around Esholt on Wednesday. I ventured out on one of my favourite runs, although it's the first time this year that I've done it. The route includes the climb of Simon's Seat. I was running at a very gentle pace, taking it easy all the way round & stopping to take photos along the way.

I started from near a cafe called the Buffers where it's possible to park without needing to pay the £7 (or whatever it is now) to park

in one of the Bolton Abbey Estate car parks. The disadvantage of this starting point is that it's at the top of a very big hill, which would need to be climbed at the end of my run. My route took me past the Cavendish Pavilion, then up through the Valley of Desolation (top photo).

It's a long steady climb up to the summit of Simon's Seat, but the view from the top on a clear sunny day like today makes it worthwhile. The wind was quite brisk at the top, so I didn't hand around for too long. For the descent I took the path down to the

River Wharfe at Howgill. This then gave me a run back of about 8k along the side of the river, including my regular running route through the Strid Wood.

Pace really doesn't matter on an off road run like this, especially taking it very easy, but it was interesting that my Garmin recorded more than more than 7 minutes per km, compared to faster than 3:30 per km on Wednesday.

My plan is to take it relatively easy again for the next few days before the next John Carr 5k on Wednesday.

John Carr 1 5k - Yorkshire vets championships

2010-05-05T13:46:00.001-07:00

Today was the main race that I've been preparing for this year. I had a target of trying to get under 18 minutes & hoping to get a medal in the Yorkshire Veterans championships. I was quite nervous all day in advance of the race, which is unusual for me.

The race set off at a frantic pace as usual for this brisk 5k course. The 1st km is downhill, but even taking that into account I was surprised to run 3:17, which is 9 seconds faster than I ran last year for that split. In the 2nd km I was aware of a Bingley runner just in front of me who was probably in the same age group as me, so I put in an effort to catch up to him, then overtake him in the 3rd km.

My next 'target' was Richard R who had run a fast 10k on Monday at Rothwell, he seemed to be slowing on the uphill section in the 4th km. The last km is downhill & very quick, so I put in a real effort to get in front of Richard just before the finishing line. I was amazed to look at my watch & see my unofficial finishing time of 17:28, with a split for the 5th km of 3:10!

I was successful in winning the M55 category of the Yorkshire vets championships, the first time that I've had a medal of any sort in a championship race. I believe that my time is also the 2nd fastest 5k time for my age group in the UK this year & a Ilkley Harriers record for M50 & M55. Needless to say I'm very pleased with the evening's race.

There were also some very good performances from other Ilkley runners, Sally M was 1st lady & won the Yorks vets F35 championships. Jane B was 2nd F40 & Alison B 2nd F45.

Still taking it easy

2010-05-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

I seemed to be taking a while to get over the effort of Thursday's hilly race & with half a mind on the John Carr 5k on Wednesday my two runs this weekend were not at all strenuous. Yesterday I did a hilly route which was similar to the Harrogate League race route, but in the opposite direction. I was certainly going quite slowly up Carters Lane, & not much quicker on the descent of Owler Park Road.

This morning was back to the two bridges route, a bit quicker than yesterday's run, but still on the easy side of steady. So that's two shortish runs in two days. I've become a great believer in the merit of easy paced recovery runs as an alternative to rest days. Running 10-12 kms at a pace slower than 5 mins per km seemed to give me the benefit of taking it easy whilst not being totally lazy.

I'm looking forward to the John Carr series. It's 3 5k races on consecutive Wednesday evenings on a very fast course & usually a high standard of competition. It's not everyone's cup of tea, being run mainly around the local sewage works.

Easy recovery run

2010-04-30T07:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's race in the Harrogate League was a bit harder than I'd expected, so today I was feeling quite sore in the legs. A very slow easy recovery run was called for. I ran my regular two bridges run to Addingham & back. My pace was more than two minutes per km slower than yesterday's race (on a much easier route), but it was as much as I could sensibly manage.

The official results for the race show that I finished in 31:42 (8.1km very hilly) in 26th place out of 284 runners. We managed to finish in first place in both the vets & senior vets team races. I was happy enough to be first M55 (the first 3 were all from Ilkley Harriers), but surprised that I'm now also leading the series on the age graded handicap. I was intending to use these races as fast training runs, but I may have to take them a bit more seriously now.

Harrogate League race 1 - Ilkley

2010-04-29T14:15:00.001-07:00

This evening was the first race in the 2010 Harrogate & Distraict Summer Race League, organised by Ilkley Harriers. The course was 8.1k including a 2k climb up Owler Park Road & a 2k descent down Carters Lane, with a bit of flat at the beginning & end. After several weeks of warm sunny weather, it was raining & the temperature dropped a few degrees.

I decided on a cautious start heading towards the climb. Once we started going up I felt OK & started overtaking people, usually I'm not quick on the hills. There were plenty of Ilkley runners around me, Ben S a few places in front, I managed to overtake Andy W & Steve C near the top of the hill. There were quite a few Otley runners around as well, including Josie H with whom I'd been warming up earlier. At about halfway I was told that I was in 29th place (not sure how many were running - probably about 250).

I managed to overtake a few people on the descent, but was overtaken by a few others, including Mark I in the last 100m who was absolutely flying - the track sessions had clearly helped his finishing sprint. My finishing time was 31:44, which wasn't too bad for 8.1 k with those hills. Checking my Garmin stats I ran one of the kms in 3:12 - which is almost certainly the fastest kilometre that I've ever run (although it was down a steep hill).

Not seen the official results yet, but I'm hopeful of having done well in my age category & we should have done quite well in the vets & super vets (over 55) team competitions. Quite a satisfying evening's race, but really it was a fast training run in preparation for the John Carr 5k series which starts on Wednesday.

Running without a watch

2010-04-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

Normally I always wear my Garmin when I'm running, even if I'm not concerned about how far or how fast I'm going. Today, I was just about to set off on my run when I realised that all of the charge had gone from my watch, so I had the option of waiting half an hour or so for it to have sufficient charge or going without it. I chose to run without it.

I'd taken another day off from running yesterday & my plan for this week is to take it easy before racing on Thursday evening. I now have 4 races in 4 weeks, so I don't want to be worn out before I even start. So just going out for a slow steady run was what was required today. I ran my regular two bridges route, so I knew how far it would be & I really wasn't interested in the pace, so not having my watch wasn't a problem. Even so it felt a bit like setting off running naked.

Thursday's race is a fairly low key one in the local Harrogate & District Summer League, a hilly 4.9 miles course. I've been preparing more, however, for the John Carr 5k series which starts next week. I'm not intending to do any more speed sessions in the next few weeks apart from the races.

Three peaks race (spectating)

2010-04-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

Up early this morning to run the Ilkley Harriers 'Hard run' interval session, before heading off the Ingleborough to watch the Three Peaks race. With it being the weekend of the London marathon as well as the Three Peaks, I wasn't expecting too many of us to be running this morning. As it turned out there were 6 of us, including Richard R & Jeff P to push the pace along.

As usual we ran efforts of 2X3 minutes, 2X4 minutes, 2X5 minutes & 3X6 minutes, with about 3 minutes of recoveries between the efforts. The course is out & back along the Nesfield Road to the A59, which is quite undulating, with a couple of significant hills up to Nesfield (which always are part of effort sections). Overall I averaged a bit less than 3:50 minutes per km during the efforts, which I was quite happy with considering that I was still feeling the effects of Wednesday's track session. In total I ran 16k, including regrouping & running from & to home.

Not much time to get showered, changed & something to eat, before driving up to Clapham. Arriving at Clapham at 10:45, I reckoned that I had about 1 hour 45 minutes to get to the top of Ingleborough before the first runner. It was therefore quite a brisk walk, especially after running an interval session. I managed to get to the top with about 10 minutes to spare.

The weather was perfect for the many spectators: warm, little wind, sunny, very dry. Not sure that the runners would be so enthusiastic about the temperature (the car showed 23 degrees when I got back to Clapham).

I've never watched the Three Peaks race before. I was surprised how slowly the leading runners were walking up the final climb to the summit of Ingleborough.....by this stage they had run about 30k, climbing Penyghent & Whernside along the way, so I guess that it's not really surprising that they looked worn out. There were some seriously quick runners, including Ilkley's Tom A & Dave W, who were looking well tired going up. The really impressive thing though, especially for the leading runners was the speed that they went down the steep rocky descent from the top. I have no idea how they can run so quickly downhill on boulders.

After about an hour of watching runners reach the summit, I headed off down the path towards Horton, which was the same route that the runners were taking, so I was mindful about keeping out of their way. There were some very weary runners making their way on the long descent to the finish....it must be about 10k into Horton. One runner in particular took a really bad fall just in front of me, he just lost concentration.

I turned off back to Clapham from Sulber Nick, making a walk of about 18k in total. Quite a lot of exercise & fresh air today covering more than 34k, so I'm going to have a couple of beers now.

Effects of Wednesday's session

2010-04-23T06:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I didn't run, but this morning I could still feel quite a bit of stiffness in my legs following the fast track session on Wednesday...... I guess that I'm just not used to running at that kind of speed. Today I decided to run my regular two bridges route & just see how I felt when I got running.

Surprisingly I was running faster than I normally run this route when I'm just out for a steady run. I added on an extra loop around Addingham, to make the total distance just short of 14k, at an average of a bit less than 5 minutes per km. I was quite happy with that, even though my legs were still sore at the end of the run. Good job that I'm not racing until next Thursday.

It's a busy weekend for long races with the Three Peaks on Saturday & the London Marathon on Sunday. Good luck to everyone taking part in both. I'm thinking of maybe going to watch the race on Ingleborough tomorrow.

Fast track session

2010-04-21T12:57:00.000-07:00

This evening's track session at Carnegie was very different to previous sessions. We did short fast reps with relatively long recoveries. The sessions was: 6X150m, 12X200m, 8X300m with walk/jog recoveries of similar time to the efforts.

I was running in a group with Mark I, David B & Nick P. We averaged 27 seconds per 150m, 37 seconds for the 200s & 56 seconds for the 300s, which is considerably faster than we would normally run in a track session. The idea, according to coach Pete was to get used to running at a much faster speed, out of our normal comfort zone and to sharpen us up for the forthcoming 5k races.

The average pace for the efforts was equivalent to running a 15 minute 5k, albeit with about 15 minutes of recoveries along the way.

I didn't write a blog about Monday or Tuesday's runs. On Monday I ran up on the moors past the Swastika Stone & Windgate Nick covering about 13k very slowly. Yesterday was a similar distance covering the course of next week's Harrogate League race in Ilkley with laps around the park at the start & finish.

Same again - only different

2010-04-18T08:11:00.000-07:00

Today I ran the same distance as yesterday, about 18.5k at a very similar overall pace, but the two days of running were really very different. Yesterday was the 5k Parkrun in Bradford plus warm up, then a hilly warm down run having a good chat along the way. This afternoon I set off intending to run a steady two bridges run to Addingham & back, but once I got underway I decided on a change of plan.

Instead of turning left over the suspension bridge after Nesfield, I carried straight on to Bolton Bridge. Rather than running the same route on the way back, I reverted to plan A & went over the bridge to Addingham for the return via Low Mill to Ilkley. So I did complete the run that I was intending to do at the start, I just added on an extra 7k or so in the middle.

My pace today was 5:10 minutes per km which is fine for a longish steady run & probably a bit quicker than I would have expected after racing yesterday. Having said that, the race yesterday was more like a fast training run, as I hadn't really prepared for it, with some hard training runs over the previous two weeks.

Bradford Parkrun

2010-04-17T03:31:00.000-07:00

Today was the first ever Parkrun at Lister Park in Bradford. Conditions were perfect: dry, pleasantly warm & sunny. The park which is better known to most of us from Bradford as Manningham Park was looking at its best: flower beds in bloom, well maintained paths & Cartwright Hall as impressive as ever. There were quite a lot of non runners around, but this wasn't a problem at all as the paths are 4 or 5 metres wide throughout the park.

I did a couple of laps of the course as a warm up (the race is 3 & a bit laps), then at the start saw plenty of familiar faces, including Andy W & his young daughter, Justin P, Josie H from Otley AC & Richard B from Bingley Harriers. There was a good attendance of maybe a hundred or so runners, which is good for a first event.

The pace was brisk as ever at the start of a 5k, after a few hundred metres I was in about 10th place with Justin not far ahead & Josie alongside. The problem with the course is the hill which comes after about 1k on the first lap, it starts of quite steep, then levels out a bit, but is continuously uphill for about 500m. This certainly makes the route much slower than it otherwise would be.

I worked my way past a few runners, including Justin, who is recovering from illness. The finish of the race is just after the 3rd time up the hill, with an extra incline added on for good measure.
I finished in 18:45 (unofficial timing, not seen the results yet) in 5th place. The time was nothing special, but considering it includes three climbs up the hill I was quite happy with my run.

After the race I joined Justin, Josie & Richard on a 9.5k warm down run, including plenty more hills & a good chat. There was a pleasant section through Northcliffe Park, which covered part of my old school cross country course. All in all it was a very enjoyable morning's running, covering about 18.5k in total including the race.

Just an easy run

2010-04-16T10:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a rest day, but I've still run more than 100km in the last 7 days, so today another easy run was called for. I ran a variation of the two bridges route, with an extra loop around Addingham, just over 13.5k. Pace was steady at about 5:10 minutes per km.

Tomorrow if I can persuade myself to get out of bed early, I'll go over to Bradford to do the new Parkrun course at Lister Park. I've not run around there for at least 40 years, so it should be interesting. The course looks to be better than the Leeds Hyde Park course, so it should be a bit quicker....we'll have to see. There is a short sharp hill up the side of Emm Lane, although I'm not sure whether we go up or down that.

Miles on the track

2010-04-14T12:49:00.000-07:00

This evening's track session was 2X1600m (approx 1 mile) with 2 minute recoveries, 2X800m with 1 minute recoveries then 3X400m with 30 second recoveries, followed by optional 200m sprints.

I was running in a group with Mark I, Nick P & a guy from Otley. We ran the 1600m reps in 5:45, then the 800s in 2:49 & the 400s between 1:21 & 1:23. I was quite happy with this session as I felt very strong during the 1600s & whilst it seemed like hard work for the 800s & 400s, we were running at a faster pace. Following yesterday's 23k run & 10k walk, I was pleased to be able to run quickly this evening with no ill effects.

The average pace for the 6k of efforts was 3:32 minutes per km - comfortably quicker than my target of 18 minutes for 5k, so that's good news.

During the 400m reps, even though I'd speeded up from the longer reps, I was slowing compared to my running partners, so I wasn't terribly enthusiastic about finishing with some 200m sprints. I only did one of them, most of the rest of the group ran two. I managed to run 34 seconds which made me the slowest in the group (having been at the front for the mile reps). Coach Pete asked me to write in my blog that he was faster than me over 200m....well done Pete!

Out along the Dalesway

2010-04-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

This morning I ran out along the Dalesway path. Even though it starts within 100m of where I live I don't often run along this path as it tends to be quite muddy, however, given that it's not rained for a few weeks I gave it a try today. The last time I ran this route it was thick snow..... no problems with the white stuff today, it was warm & sunny again.

I ran as far as the Cavendish Pavilion, before turning & heading back to Ilkley, covering just about 23km. It was quite a long run, especially a couple of days after the 20km run on Sunday, but I was only running at a steady pace. The route is almost all off road & fairly flat, so it made a pleasant change from running on tarmac.

This afternoon's activity involved a 3 hour dog walk along the canal towpath from Gargrave to East Marton & back. So I've certainly had sufficient exercise today. I'll pass on the Ilkley Harriers club run this evening.

Just an easy Monday run

2010-04-12T07:51:00.000-07:00

The weather was perfect for running again today, so it was a pity that I was feeling quite tired after recent running and another long off road route was certainly out of the question. I opted to run the two bridges run, which is my regular shortish easy running route.

Pace was steady today: 5:15 minutes per km is about average for this route. It still surprises me that I can speed up by about a minute & a half per km when I'm racing or doing an efforts session, as it seems like hard work when I'm just out running at a steady pace.

This week should be a chance to get in some solid training, tomorrow I might do another longish off road run, then Wednesday is the Carnegie track session. On Saturday there is a new 5k Parkrun starting in Bradford, so I might go along to that & treat it as a fast training run.

Not quite as planned

2010-04-11T08:26:00.000-07:00

When I set off for my run today the plan was to run around the course of the Ilkley trail race. I headed off by the river to the bottom of Middleton Woods, then up through the first section of the woods & across Curly Hill to join the actual route of the race.

On the track up to the moor I met Andrew & Alison B who were running in the opposite direction, they had just run around the trail race route. I reached concrete square, the conditions were perfect for running, warm, sunny dry underfoot & no wind. I then decided on the change of plan, Round Hill was looking very inviting in front of me, so I deviated from the trail race route at headed upwards. I'd never been up Round Hill from this direction, but I figured that there must be a path.

If there was a path, then I didn't find it! The ground became very boggy, alternating with big clumps of heather making running very difficult. I persevered and eventually reached the summit of Round Hill. From there I headed off along the ridge to Beamsley Beacon. The views were spectacular from up there, with the clear visibility: towards Simon's Seat & the Dales on the right hand side, Pendle Hill in front & Ilkley off to the left hand side. From Beamsley Beacon I descended to the road, then rejoined the trail race route from the log piles.

In total I ran almost 20k, most of it off road. I was running very slowly for most of the way, but I was quite happy with that given the number of fast sessions that I've done in the last week. It was a really pleasurable run & remarkable how few people were around, contrasting with the hoards of people who had descended on the park back in Ilkley.

Saturday morning hard run

2010-04-10T02:00:00.000-07:00

I decided to have a day off from running yesterday. It would have been perfect conditions for a run, but I reckoned that I would benefit more from a rest day following two races & track session this week.

This morning I got up early to do the Ilkley Harriers 'Hard Run'. It's an interval session out & back along the Nesfield Road. Conditions were again really good: sunny, dry, no wind although the temperature was a bit low at 7:45 am. The last time I'd done this session, there was ice & snow on the roads.

We did 2X3 mins, 2X4 mins, 3X5 mins & 2X6 mins with regrouping & jog recoveries in between. I was running the efforts with Steve W who normally is faster than me, but he's training for the 3 peaks race at the moment, so I was a bit sharper than him today.

In total we did 41 minutes of efforts, covering about 10.7k, that is around 3:50 minutes per kilometre pace. I was quite pleased with that as the Nesfield Road is fairly hilly & generally I don't run fast early on a morning. In total I ran 15.7k.

No fast running today

2010-04-08T09:53:00.000-07:00

After 2 races & a track session in the previous 4 days, today's run was definitely going to be a steady one. It would have been perfect conditions for a long run today, pleasantly mild, no wind, no rain, dry underfoot, but again a long run would have been a bad idea.

I opted to run the 'two bridges' run but I extended it by setting off to the road bridge out along the Leeds Road. This added about 3k to the normal route, making about 14.5k in total. I felt fine, but certainly could not have run quickly. There was a slight twinge from my achilles on the way back, although I don't think that it's anything serious.

Tomorrow should be another easy running day, it would be good to get off road somewhere, providing it's not too busy with the Easter holidays.

My next scheduled race is still 3 weeks away, so I'm not too concerned with being a bit fatigued at the moment. The plan is to have a couple of weeks of longer runs, before sharpening up for the John Carr 5k series in May.

2 races in 3 days then a track session

2010-04-07T13:07:00.000-07:00

Not sure that it was wise to run a track session this evening after the 5 mile race on Sunday & yesterday's Bunny Run fell race. I enjoy the weekly track sessions & so I decided that I'd go along anyway & just do a steady run.

The session from coach Pete this evening was 4X300m, 3X500m, 2X700m, 2X900m, 1X1100m, with 100m jog recovery after each effort, plus an extra 90 seconds recovery before the 1100. We were quite thin on the ground this evening, with only Mark I from my regular running partners able to make it.

Mark set off on the 300m reps at a very brisk speed, equivalent to about 80 seconds 400m pace. I was running considerably slower than that closer to 92 seconds equivalent. As the session went on, Mark slowed a bit & I was able to comfortably maintain 91/92 seconds per 400m. By the time we got to the 1100m, I was able to run relatively much more strongly covering the 1st 1k in 3:37, less than 10 seconds slower than Mark.

The really encouraging thing is that I was able to maintain a constant pace throughout this quite long session, despite the fatigue in my legs. Even though the pace was 5 or 6 seconds per lap slower than I'd normally run on the track, it was still equivalent to less than 38 minutes for a 10k. At no time during the session did I feel to be running at more than 80% effort.

I now don't have any races planned for 3 weeks (we were unsuccessful in getting a team together for the National road relay). It will be good to get some solid training in without the distraction of races for the next couple of weeks.

Bunny Run

2010-04-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

This evening I ran the Bunny Run on the moors above Haworth. Technically it's a fell race, but it's more like a cross country race really. It's only about 4.5k, there were more than 320 runners with plenty of youngsters.

The start was like a cavalry charge with everyone seemingly going off at a manic pace. I found myself well down the field after the first 400m or so, with the kids in particular setting off really quickly. Then it was a question of trying to work my way past as many runners as possible for the rest of the race. The conditions were quite good, not too wet underfoot, no rain & reasonable temperature.

Ilkley Harriers were well represented in the race, I guess that there must have been 35 or 40 of us. Tom A finished second. I finished just behind Steve W. My time was unofficially 20:27, which is about 35 seconds faster than I did over this course last year, so I should be quite happy with that.

The results of Sunday's Halton 5 have now been published. I was 21st out of 696 finishers in 30:24. The winners time was more than 2 minutes slower than the previous year, which shows the effect of the strong headwind. Looking at the Power of Ten UK rankings, this result should put me in 6th place this year in the M55 category. I was 2nd M55 in the race, the guy who beat me is the fastest M55 in the UK at 5 miles.

P.S. According to the official results, I was 73rd in the Bunny Run out of 308 finishers in 20:27. Last year I was 93rd, out of 286 in 21:03.

(Bunny Run photos by Paul Wood)

Running in reverse

2010-04-05T04:36:00.000-07:00

It's strange that we get used to running regular routes in a certain direction. Today I decided to run my regular Two Bridges run the opposite way to the way I normally go. Even though I run this route at least once a week, it's only the second time that I've run it in a clockwise direction.

My pace was suitably slow after yesterday's race. No ill effects, just a bit of general sluggishness. Conditions were OK today, no rain, not too cold, not much wind. There were quite a lot of other runners out, I guess because it's Easter.

Reflecting on yesterday's race, I still haven't seen the official results, I was quite happy with the run. I'm sure that I would have been well under 30 minutes for the 5 miles if it hadn't been for the strong headwind for the whole race. Indeed, my Garmin showed me running 29:50 for 5 miles, but the actual race finish was about 150 metres beyond this.

Tomorrow I'm intending to do the Bunny Run at Haworth. It's supposed to be a fell race, but it's actually more like a 5k cross country race, so it should be fast & furious. I won't be taking it too seriously, so not too bothered about timings or placings.

Halton 5 miles

2010-04-04T06:47:00.001-07:00

It was actually a very enjoyable race this morning, although I'm not quite sure why. The course is just about flat and fairly straight & potentially very quick. The problem is that it's a 'point to point' course & today that meant that we had quite a strong head wind for the whole race. Normally you get some respite from the wind, but not today.

I travelled to the race with Richard R, neither of us had run a 5 mile race before, so we were both guaranteed PBs. There were about 800 people running, of which the majority weren't club runners, the clubs that were represented were mainly local ones from the Merseyside area, so there were no familiar faces at the start line.

The race starts going over the Runcorn Bridge, which apparently is the same design as the Sydney Harbour Bridge (although I'm sure that it would have been a lot warmer running in Sydney today). Richard set of at a blistering pace, being close to the lead at the end of the bridge and within half a mile was at least 20 seconds ahead of me. It wasn't that I set off slowly, going through the first mile in about 5:37.

My intention had been to try to run under 30 minutes, my mile splits gave me some confidence of being able to achieve this: 5:37, 5:47, 6:02, 6:02 for the first 4. Throughout the race I stayed about 20 seconds behind Richard. By the last mile the headwind was taking it's toll & I was slowing, the problem was that my Garmin beeped for 5 miles (in about 29:50) still about 150 metres from the finish. So my actual finish time was about 30:22 (not seen the official results yet). Richard reckoned that he was about 30:04.

In some ways it was disappointing to not run faster than 30 minutes, but I probably finished in the first 30 or so runners out of about 800 which wasn't too bad. If the wind had been blowing in the opposite direction, I'm sure that times would have been well over a minute faster.....maybe another time?

It's a well organised race, well marshalled on closed roads & with a goody bag, t-shirt, free coffee, water & hot cross buns at the finish & free coach ride back to the car park at the start. Not bad for £7 entry fee (why do some races charge 3 or 4 times that amount?).

A bit like Malaysia

2010-04-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

Before going for my run this morning I watched the qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix. The weather looked very much like it was in Ilkley; bursts of heavy rain followed by short dry spells.

I ran the two bridges route, out around the park, then along the Nesfield Road to the suspension bridge & over to Addingham, then back through Low Mill & along by the A65. I got very wet for the first half of the run, then it dried up for the second half, before heavy rain again just as I got home.

My pace was very steady as I'm racing at the Halton 5 tomorrow. I felt very sluggish, but hopefully everything will be fine in the morning. It's a very early start tomorrow, as it's about an hour & a half drive to Widnes & we need to be there before 8:30 as Richard R hasn't got his number yet. No partying tonight then.

1st quarter review

2010-04-01T06:14:00.000-07:00

We've now finished the first 3 months of 2010 & I thought that it would be worthwhile to check on my running progress, compared to the first 3 months of 2009. The main difference is that in 2009 my training was affected by a series of injuries which had started in 2008, affecting both lower legs (calf, achilles, ankle), in contrast in 2010, I've only had minor disruption from injury.

This year I've raced 9 times, compared to 8 races in 2009. The only road race that I did in both years was the Dewsbury 10k where I improved from 39:57 in 2009 to 37:04. This year I've been 1st M55 at Dewsbury 10k, Brass Monkey Half Marathon & Wakefield 10k, whereas last year at the Dewsbury 10k I was 9th M50 & was also beaten by 7 M55s. In the Peco cross country series, last year I was 4th M50, this year I was 1st M50.

This year I'm currently ranked 5th in the UK at 10k for M55 & 11th at half marathon, last year I didn't get a qualifying ranking time until December when I was 163rd at 10k for M50. For a few weeks I was ranked 1st at 10k for M55.

Up to the end of March in 2009, I ran a total of 600.3 km, averaging 46.7 km per week. This year I've run 1022.7 km averaging 79.8 km per week. The main difference in my training is the addition of weekly track sessions, which have helped to improve my running speed. Last year as a result of the injuries I did more cross training: bike riding, gym, walking etc.

Overall, I've made good progress in comparison to the start of 2009. On a week by week basis, progress isn't always obvious, but over 12 months it becomes clearer. The challenge now is to continue to improve. This will inevitably become harder as realistically I should be getting slower with age.

Today I went for an easy recovery run in the Strid Wood, about 14.5k. It was bright & sunny, but a bit breezy. Given that it's almost Easter there were ice cream vans out around the place, but they didn't seem to be getting much business as it was less than 5 degrees & near to zero with the wind chill.

Comfortable track session

2010-03-31T13:06:00.001-07:00

This evening's track session was a shorter one than normal: 8X400m with 30 second recoveries, then a 2 minute recovery followed by another 8X400m with 30 seconds recoveries. I was very mindful that I'd pushed it a bit too hard last week, so decided to take it a bit easier this time.

I was running with Nick P & someone from Otley AC. We did the first set of 400s at 87/88 seconds, then the second set at 86/87 seconds. Considering that it was very cold with a very strong wind, this was a quite respectable pace, equivalent to about 3:37 per km.

I felt as though I could have run another 8X400 at the same pace & most importantly I had no adverse reaction from my troublesome achilles/calf. Overall it was quite a satisfying session.

Things look OK now for the 5 mile race on Sunday. My target is to get under 30 minutes, which should be feasible if the weather isn't too bad.

I heard today that Ilkley Harriers have been offered a place in the National road relay on 17 April. It's only the 2nd time we have qualified for this. I now have some work to do to get a team together as some of our runners from the Northern relay aren't available.

Just an easy run

2010-03-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

I managed to avoid the heavy showers today. I did a steady hilly run around Ilkley on both sides of the valley, about 14k in total. My intention was to take it easy to avoid aggravating the achilles injury.

Not sure about the track session tomorrow evening & the race on Sunday. I think that I'll go to the track, but not do to much of a hard session & then decide after that whether Sunday's 5 mile race is feasible.

I've now slipped down the UK 10k rankings for M55 to 5th place. It's not really surprising as there are quite a lot of 55 year olds who are faster than me, but it was good to be top of the rankings for a few weeks. So far I've still got a 100% record for M55 category wins in the road races that I've done.

Route of Harrogate League race

2010-03-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

Today I decided to risk running on my dodgy achilles/calf, the idea being that I'd stop or cut the route short if it became sore. I ran the route of the forthcoming race in the Harrogate & District Summer Race League organised by Ilkley Harriers. It's a hilly 4.8 miles starting near Ilkley Rugby Club, then going uphill along Owler Park Road to the top of Middleton, before descending Carters Lane & back along Denton Road. I added on a section through the park at the beginning & end to make it almost 12k in total.

My achilles wasn't causing me any problems during the run, although I was taking it fairly easy, running around the actual race route in about 38 minutes (looking at the results of the last time the race was run that would've still put me in the first half of the field). It was quite wet during the run with fairly continuous heavy rain & not too warm.....it's even forecasted that we could have some snow in the next few days.

Not sure about racing the Halton 5 on Sunday. If my achilles is causing me problems, it's a long way to travel. The only reason to go is to try to run a fast time, so if that's not possible, I'd be better giving it a miss.

Wakefield 10k

2010-03-28T07:10:00.000-07:00

Today I had an off day at the Wakefield 10k. My finishing time of 39:16 was my slowest 10k for about a year. It was an early start with the clocks going forward an hour. It was bright & sunny, but the wind was certainly quite strong.

I was surprised how tough the course was, it was mainly uphill for the first half with a headwind making progress difficult. On the return downhill section, I seemed to struggle to get the benefit from the tailwind. My km splits were all over the place from a fastest 3:37 (6th) to a slowest 4:22 (5th).

My troublesome right achilles & calf didn't give me any pain during the race, but was very sore afterwards. I think that I need to take it easy for a while now to let this injury properly recover.

Overall it was disappointing to be more than 2 minutes slower than I ran at the Dewsbury 10k at the beginning of February. Talking to club mates after the race most were a few seconds slower than at Dewsbury, so I seem to have been relatively much slower.

Two bridges run again

2010-03-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

After not running yesterday, it was not really going to be an option to have a run free day again today. I didn't get chance to go running until late afternoon, just as we started to have some heavy showers. I wasn't sure how my temperamental right calf & achilles would react after Wednesday's track session.

I headed off on my regular two bridges run for the second time this week. My pace was quicker than my slow steady run pace, but still about a minute per km slower than my 10k race pace. No real problems with the calf/achilles, just a bit of minor soreness, nothing to worry about.

Not sure about running tomorrow, the sensible option would be to rest before Sunday's race, but I may well go out for a very easy run if I really feel the urge.

Shortened track session

2010-03-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

I cut short my track session this evening as the calf above my troublesome achilles became really tight & I didn't want to risk doing any serious damage to it. The planned session was 4X400m, 3X600m, 2X800m, 1X1000m, 3X400m, 2X600m, with 30seconds recovery between the 400s, 40 seconds between the 600s, 1 minute between the 800s & 2 minutes before the 1000m. The idea was to run the efforts faster than 5k race pace, especially the 1000m.

I was running with Mark I & Dave B for most of the session as well as someone from Otley AC. The first set of 400s averaged 81 seconds, the 600s 2:08 & the 800s a bit slower at 2:55. For the 1000m we then picked up the pace again to run 3:29. By the time we got to the second set of 400s, I was starting to feel the efforts in my achilles/calf and slowed to 86 seconds. I then opted out of the final 2X600m.

Not sure how serious the injury is, tomorrow I won't run as I'm driving to Norfolk & back. I might not run on Friday as well to give it more of a chance to recover. Apart from the calf problem, I was very pleased with the way I was running, particularly the sub 3:30 km - although that's probably what triggered the muscle tightness.

Slowly does it

2010-03-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

Another day, another slow run. Still feeling a bit lethargic & with tomorrow's track session & Sunday's Wakefield 10k, I opted for a short easy run today. It was the favourite two bridges run from Ilkley to Addingham and back, 11.5k.

Conditions were OK: dry, not too cold, not much wind & not many people around. My pace was comfortable, but I seemed to be quite tired in my legs. I guess that I'm getting used to running most of my training runs at a very slow pace then being able to speed up considerably for track sessions & races. It is curious that as I do most of my training runs at an ever slower pace, my race speed seems to continue to improve.

I'm looking forward to the race on Sunday, it will be interesting to see if I can run quicker than my recent time at the Dewsbury 10k. According to the Power of Ten UK rankings, that is still the second fastest 10k for my age group in the UK this year (and there is a question mark over the time that's faster than mine, as the runner is unidentified).

Running in the woods

2010-03-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

After yesterday's race, I didn't want to do anything too demanding today, however, given that I'm racing again next Sunday I wanted to get in a longish run early in the week. I decided to head to the Strid Wood & run for a couple of hours at a very easy pace.

I set off from near Bolton Bridge, across the fields near the Devonshire Arms & on to Bolton Abbey. From there I went past the Cavendish Pavillion, the Strid & Barden Bridge before joining the back road to Howgill. At Howgill I turned around & came back along the Dalesway path to Barden Bridge, then along the path at the opposite side of the river to my outward journey to Bolton Priory before returning across the fields.

It is a very pleasant route following the course of the River Wharfe, a few small inclines, but on very runnable paths most of the way. The weather was OK with a bit of drizzle & a bit breezy on the way back. My pace was really very slow, especially as I got tired running into the wind.

This week will be another not too strenuous week in preparation for the Wakefield 10k on Sunday. My only hard session should be at the track on Wednesday. On Sunday my objective will be to try to beat the time that I did recently at the Dewsbury 10k (37:04). Not sure how realistic that is, it depends a lot on how I feel on the day & what the conditions are like. I think that my fitness levels won't have changed a lot.

Northern 12 stage road relays

2010-03-21T14:03:00.001-07:00

Today's Northern 12 stage road relay was a really good event with nearly all of the top road racing clubs in the North of England taking part.
Ilkley Harriers have more only entered this race 3 times before & the average age of our runners was considerably older than the front running teams. We were slightly disappointed to finish in 29th place (out of 46 teams that finished the race), although our average pace of 5:47 minutes per mile for the whole race was just about as good as we could have hoped for. Our Ladies team did really well, finishing in 14th place out of27 teams.

As team captain, I was a bit pre-occupied with organisational issues, so I wasn't particularly stressed before the start about my own race. However, once I got going it seemed to be quite a brisk pace, fortunately I had other runners around me to race with. The course started & finished on a running track, then was on paths around a park, often quite muddy (not sure why it was called a 'road' relay, it was more like a trail race). I ran my 4.9k leg in 17:50 at an average pace of 3:38 min/km (5:51 min/mile), so I was quite happy with that, given the surface.

It was a good day out, with most of our team travelling together to Manchester by coach, then having a beer when we got back to Ilkley..... and it didn't rain.

Running before a race

2010-03-20T05:03:00.000-07:00

I decided to continue my habit of going for a run the day before a race. Many people consider that it's better to have a rest, but I feel better for going running. Today I did a shortened two bridges run, missing out the loop around the park, just over 9k.

It was raining today for the first time for a few weeks. I don't mind running in the rain, providing it's not too cold, today was fine. Not too many aches & pains, the achilles seemed to be less tight than yesterday. Overall I felt OK & glad that I'd been running.

Tomorrow will be a new experience at the Northern 12 stage road relay. We're travelling to the race in Manchester by coach. There should be more than 50 teams taking part in the men's race (with 12 runners on each team), plus the 6 stage women's race as well. The start & finish of each leg is on a running track & the course seems to be flat. My leg is only 4.9k, so it'll be fast & furious. Our target is to be in the first 25 teams & qualify for the National 12 stage, I really don't know how realistic that is.

I got my number yesterday for the Wakefield 10k, on the 28 March. The course has changed completely from when I previously did this race in 2008. It seems to be a much faster course, out & back on a main road closed to traffic, with a gradual incline to halfway, then downhill on the way back. It will be interesting to see how my run will compare to the Dewsbury 10k, on a similar course, at the beginning of February.

Bright & breezy on the moor

2010-03-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

After yesterday's rest day, I decided to head up on to the moor today. Starting from the car park below White Wells, I went up past the Swastika Stone to Windgate Nick, then a loop around the road & back before retracing my steps back down, about 13k in total.

It was pleasantly warm & sunny, but there was a very strong wind against on the way out which made for very slow running for the first half of the run. Given that we've had almost no rain for about 3 weeks, the underfoot conditions were very dry, in fact it was more like mid summer conditions than mid March.

My achilles was still a bit sore, so I was taking it steady on the fast descent, not wanting to aggravate it any further. Should be fine for the relay on Sunday, as I won't do any fast running tomorrow.

Mile efforts on the track

2010-03-17T13:57:00.001-07:00

This evening's session on the track was a 6 minute time trial followed by 3X1 mile efforts with 400m jog recoveries. I ran the time trial following Simon A, according to my Garmin I managed to do 1.78km at 3:24 minutes per km. Coach Pete gave me a bit of a rebuke for running too fast in this time trial......he was concerned that I shouldn't overdo things before the road relay on Sunday. It's the first time he's ever told me to slow down!

For the mile efforts, I decided that it would make sense for me to take it a bit easy, so I ran the first two in 5:58, then the 3rd one in 5:53. It's strange to think that running at faster than 6 minute miles is taking it easy, but it really did feel as though I was running quite a bit slower than I could have done at full speed.

One negative is that my temperamental achilles was getting a bit sore towards the end of the session (maybe Pete was right to tell me to slow down). It'll probably make sense for me to ease off a bit more between now and Sunday to avoid aggravating it any further.

Continuing easy running

2010-03-16T15:24:00.000-07:00

This evening I ran a Ilkley Harriers club run - the slowish variety. We just ran about 10k around Ilkley at a very comfortable pace, which is exactly what the doctor ordered. I've not done a hard run now since Friday, so hopefully that will be beneficial in terms of recovery & preparation for races over the next 2-3 weeks.

After the club run we had a talk from physio Mike B on injury prevention which was quite interesting. It is clear that there is no magic formula for avoiding injuries, but having sufficient rest between hard sessions seems to be most important. Other than that, a lot of it depends on individual physiology & finding what works well for you.

Tomorrow is the track session at Leeds Carnegie. After last week's short fast reps, I think that we'll be having a less intense session. A number of us will be doing the road relay on Sunday, so hopefully no injuries will be forthcoming.

Slow running

2010-03-15T03:52:00.000-07:00

Today was definitely a slow run day. I ran my usual two bridges route, around the park in Ilkley, then out along the Nesfield Road, over the suspension bridge into Addingham & back through Low Mill & the A65.

My pace was at the slow end of very slow & I still felt tired & lethargic. Still better to feel like this on a windy Monday morning run than during a race. Good job that I'm having an easier week this week.

Sunday it's the Northern 12 stage relay. We have a good team running for Ilkley Harriers, providing that everyone stays fit for the next few days. I've not run this event before, but it seems to attract all of the top clubs in the North of England & some very fine runners. Our target is to be in the top 25 teams & try to qualify for the National 12 stage.

Age category win in the Peco cross country series!

2010-03-14T05:44:00.001-07:00

I just found out today that I won the M50 category in the Peco cross country series that finished last Sunday. In reality I was a bit fortunate to win, as there were several M50 runners who were faster than me but they didn't run the 4 qualifying races. Malcolm P won the M55 category & Ilkley Harriers were 1st in the vets team & second team overall in the series, so it was a very good result for us. I certainly never expected to win anything at cross country as I'm relatively much slower on mud than tarmac (the reason that I was in the M50 category for this series, rather than M55, is that was based on age in Nov 2009).

Yesterday I had a rest day, so today I was happy to get out running again. I was still a bit tired after last weeks efforts & also a late night out on Saturday. I headed up on to Middleton Moor, going up basically following the route of the Ilkley Trail race. I ran two laps of the moor section & then a lap around the park at the end, making 18.6k in total. The pace was very slow, but that didn't really matter today.

My plan is to have a fairly easy week this week, probably no more than 80k.

Good chance for a chat

2010-03-12T07:31:00.000-08:00

Today I went for a run with Paul O. We ran 19.5k out along the Nesfield Road to Bolton Bridge and back. The pace was quite a bit faster than I would have run on my own, averaging about 4:30 minutes per km, with the return a little bit quicker than we ran on the way out.

It was good to have a chat along the way, it certainly helps the distance go more quickly, whilst comparing notes on training, racing & running things in general.

After a hard week of running I'm going to have a rest day tomorrow & then an easier week next week to let the legs recover a bit before the road relays the following weekend, then 2 more races the subsequent weekends.

Running slowly

2010-03-11T10:38:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure that I fully understand the rationale behind recovery runs, but today was certainly one of those. After 4 tough days, a cross country race, mile efforts & a track session with an average of more than 16k per day, it was a choice between a rest day & a very easy run. I opted to run the two bridges route, from Ilkley to Addingham & back, about 11.5k at a very easy pace. I was running about 2 minutes per km slower than during the efforts of yesterday's track session.

The run felt reasonably comfortable, but my legs were certainly tired, so I couldn't have run much quicker. Apart from any physiological effect, I think that these recovery runs are beneficial to just get out in the fresh air & enjoy running, without any pressure of times or pace.

Tomorrow is planned to be a longish run with Paul O, which will add some more variety to the week.

Short fast reps on the track

2010-03-10T13:03:00.000-08:00

This evening's track session was different to recent weeks. We were doing mainly short reps at a faster pace than normal. The session was 4X300m, 4X600m, 1X1000m, 4X600m, 4X300m with jog recoveries of 100m after the 300m & 200m after the 600m & 1000m reps. In total it was 8.2k of efforts, which is about average for Wednesday track sessions.

I was running with Mark I & Simon A for most of the session, which helped motivation when tiring. For the 300m reps, we realised midway through the first set that we were running to the wrong line on the track (there are lots of lines close to 300m), doing an extra 10m or so. We decided to continue running to this line for the whole session for the 300m for the benefit of consistency.

Throughout the session we were very consistent on all the reps, running the 310m in 58/59 seconds, the 600m in 2:06 & the 1000m in 3:33. The average lap pace on the 600m & 1000m was 84/85 seconds, which is 2 seconds or so faster than I normally run on the track & equivalent to about 17:30 for 5k. Considering that we were doing the 300m reps quite a bit faster and did 8.2k efforts in total, I was quite pleased with that.

Including the warm up & warm down, I ran 16.3k in total, which is quite a long session.

Club run with a couple of mile efforts

2010-03-09T13:33:00.000-08:00

I decided to do one of the Ilkley Harriers club runs this evening. The fast group wasn't a sensible option with the track session tomorrow, so I opted for a steady run out to Burley roundabout & back. The group were intending to do a couple of mile efforts along Leeds Road, but I convinced myself that I didn't need do the efforts.

When we got to the start of the first effort a few people set off at a brisk pace, I chose to set off right at the back. Unfortunately some kind of reaction happened & I found myself overtaking everyone & even chasing then catching the group that had set off about 10-15 seconds before I did. So 5:41 for the first mile effort, supposedly taking it easy. For the return effort I figured that it would be a better idea to set off near the front of the group then I wouldn't be tempted to give chase. This one was a bit more steady at 5:55, but still quite quick for an effort that was still keeping something in reserve.

Including running to & from the club I ran 15.4k in total averaging about 5 minutes per km. This was OK for the day before a track session, but I would probably have been better advised to have done the efforts at a slower pace.