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.
Monday, 3 January 2011
Friday, 31 December 2010
Review of 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, 30 December 2010
kilometre reps on Rupert Road
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.
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.
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Back to running in road shoes
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.
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.
Tuesday, 28 December 2010
Snow running pictures from Belgium
Now back in England. Here are some photos from my snowy runs in Belgium. The lake is Lac de Genval.
Saturday, 25 December 2010
Christmas Day run
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.
The priority wasn't running quickly, rather building up an appetite for Christmas Dinner & blowing off a few cobwebs.
Merry Christmas everyone.
Friday, 24 December 2010
Deep snow in Belgium
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.
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.
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