Week beginning 20 June

Highlights of the week:


- Ran 38.33 miles (highest weekly mileage this year!) in 4h 48m 36s
- Started to inject a bit more speed into my training
- Completed my longest training run since Paris (13.98 miles)

- Experimented with foot plant, with some interesting results


Monday: 3-mile recovery run finishing with a small spurt

Distance: 3.05 miles
Avg pace: 8m 21s / mile
Avg HR: 142 bpm


Tuesday: 1 mile easy, 5 miles tempo, 1 mile easy. Felt uncomfortable, like the first speed session in a while, but I think I got the intensity just about right.

Distance: 7.00 miles
Avg pace: 7m 14s / mile
Avg HR: 165 bpm

Wednesday: 3-mile easy/recovery run

Distance: 3.03 miles
Avg pace: 8m 19s / mile
Avg HR: 149 bpm


Thursday: 5 miles starting at half marathon pace and ending at 10k pace. Felt it!

Distance: 4.97 miles
Avg pace: 6m 56s / mile
Avg HR: 165 bpm


Friday: Rest.


Saturday: 10km averaging target marathon pace. Before my run today I read a decent piece of advice in a triathlon book: imagine you're running with a string attached to your head, holding your body in place. In other words: run tall. So, I started off easy and slowly built up to 10k pace, concentrating on form: mid- to forefoot striking and good, tall posture. The result? I still had plenty left in the tank at 6:40/mile. I can't believe how much less energy I used when I didn't slouch. Looks like I may have turned over a new leaf!


Distance: 6.15 miles
Avg pace: 7m 19s / mile
Avg HR: 156 bpm


Sunday: Long slow run. Concentrated on form again, results similar. My heart rate remained relatively low and I didn't feel like I was running hard, yet I posted some decent mile times. Bit hot out there, mind!

Distance: 13.98 miles
Avg pace: 7m 40s / mile
Avg HR: 154 bpm

Week beginning 13 June

Highlights of the week:

- Upped my weekly mileage by just short of 10% to 32 miles
- Ran my third 10k race in 10 days

- Completed my longest training run since Paris (13.1 miles)

- Went running somewhere completely new

Monday: 3-mile recovery run following the Ross-on-Wye 10k

Distance: 3.07 miles
Avg pace: 9m 09s / mile
Avg HR: Forgot HR monitor

Tuesday: Rest before Wednesday's race

Wednesday: Malvern Joggers 10k

Distance: 10km
Avg pace: 7m 18s / mile
Avg HR: No HR monitor


Thursday: Slow run in a bid to shake off the aches of Wednesday's race. Very heavy legged!

Distance: 4.79 miles
Avg pace: 8m 36s / mile
Avg HR: 145 bpm


Friday: Rest.


Saturday: Long slow run, finishing around marathon pace.

Distance: 13.05 miles
Avg pace: 8m 08s / mile
Avg HR: 155 bpm


Sunday: Easy 5-mile run out on the common at Llantrisant while we were staying with Annie's cousin. Saw lots of horses and foals and very few cars. A bit hilly here and there, but most enjoyable!

Distance: 4.96 miles
Avg pace: 8m 26s / mile
Avg HR: 148 bpm

Malvern Joggers 10k - Race Report

Boy, was this tough! The Malvern Joggers 10k was my third race over that distance in 10 days, and felt like it! The event was relatively local but nonetheless well attended, with 271 runners competing in all. It was also very well organised, I must say: no veering off in the wrong direction this time! All I knew about the course beforehand was that it was 'undulating', which of course left a lot of room for interpretation. Not knowing what to expect, it was difficult to set a target. I thought 45 minutes might be realistic, but I really wasn't sure.

The starting area afforded everybody plenty of space (oddly, we were counted in by a pair of Chuckle Brother lookalikes!). From the off, I nestled in among a few runners just behind the leading pack and made my way along a remote tarmac road. Mile 1 passed by in 6m 49s -- pretty respectable, I thought, given the gentle incline. 

We branched left onto a woodland trail and the hills got a little steeper, just enough so that I could feel them. After another few hundred yards we emerged onto a grassy knoll, climbing all the while. I clocked mile 2 in 7m 44s. By this point I was pretty puffed but could finally see the brow of a hill. Over the first 2.25 miles, the course rose from 175 to 510ft. By no stretch of the imagination was it a fell run, but to an unsuspecting road runner like me it was a challenge!

As we reached that first peak, I thought I recognised one of my fellow runners (though there's a limit to how familiar the back of a person's head can be!). I pulled alongside him and sure enough, it was the guy I had spent the entire Ross 10k behind. We had a brief exchange and, knowing that he had finished a good few seconds ahead of me last time, I sat in just behind him. Ultimately, he would finish some 22 places ahead of me. I guess either he was more accustomed to the hills or his legs were fresher than mine! We coasted downhill for about two-thirds of a mile before beginning another brief climb just before the next mile marker. Mile 3: 7m 32s.

The next three-quarters of a mile were quite emphatically downhill, mostly on tarmac. I was tired, but I picked up my pace as best I could. At the foot of the hill was a water station. I grabbed a cup of water and, faced with another climb, I used the excuse to walk for a couple of paces. Mile 4 took me 6m 53s, thanks largely to gravity.

The hill set in just after the drinks station and seemed to go on forever. In reality, it rose by about 225ft over three-quarters of a mile. My quads were burning. I was slowing to a crawl. I wasn't going to stop, was I? Where had all my will power gone? Sure, I was tired, but what was new? Why should I stop here? Eventually, my legs conceded defeat. I walked. I was immediately disappointed in myself. I thought about my injury and the lack of speed and hills in my training. It had all knocked my confidence. I may still have been climbing, but in every other sense I had hit a trough. As ever, the other runners offered me a few words of encouragement, I picked myself up and slogged my way to the top. Mile 5: 8m 37s. If Garmins could laugh, mine would have been cackling like a hyena.

The remaining 1.2 miles or so were entirely downhill. I tried for a bit of a spurt and was hit by a stitch almost straight away. Probably all that stooping up the last hill! Gradually, the pain increased and my breath grew short and sharp. I felt like I was functioning on half my lung capacity. With the end almost in sight, I slowed to a walk again. I was no longer disappointed: I was angry. This was pathetic. I had to pull myself together. There goes mile 6: 6m 35s. A few hundred yards to go. I picked up the pace again, taking in what air I could. Another runner passed me by but I had no response. The finish line had never felt so empty. I think I'm going to have to exorcise this performance next year.

I'll be back

Distance: 10km
Time: 45m 55s (total ascent: 705ft)
Avg pace: 7m 18s / mile
Position: 43 of 271 (putting me in the top 16%)

GPS data here and official results here

Ross-on-Wye 10k - Race Report

Well, this was an interesting one. I knew a couple of other people running, which is always good for a bit of banter. Naively, I expected neither to pose much of a threat but one of them, my mate Will, almost pipped me at the post! The conditions were dire, unfortunately. Lots of rain and wind to keep us on our toes and lots of mud to bog us down! Still, a good atmosphere and a decent attempt by the organisers at staging a first event.

A small pack (I'm guessing around 70 runners) set off from the rowing club and followed the muddy banks of the River Wye. Immediately, one runner sped ahead of the rest (and ultimately won). I believe he was a sub-2:40 marathoner, so I for one wasn't about to try and keep up with him! A couple of other runners got giddy but started gasping for breath after about 1 mile, so I picked off a few of them and ended up in 5th place, quite a way behind the next runner. A gap also opened up between me and the next runner (my friend Will, who I only spotted with about half a mile to go!).

The first couple of miles were nice, flat and steady. At times it was difficult to get a purchase on the ground (the whole course was 'off road'), but I was happy to run the first mile 6m 33s and the second in 6m 40s. I pushed hard enough but didn't go all out. Just as well, as I knew next to nothing about the course and there was a hill around the corner.

After almost three miles we left the riverside and headed up a country lane ('up' being the operative word). We climbed steadily for 145 feet, just enough to labour the old breathing and force a change in pace! Mile 3 was steady enough at 6m 43s, and after 3.5m the hill petered out. The ensuing downhill stretch allowed me to catch my breath and make up for some lost time. All the same, mile 4 took 7m 13s (my slowest split time).

Mile 5 led us back out onto open fields. I took a look behind me to see the next runner had closed the gap a little. I had also made ground on 4th place, but not enough. We were being hit by some pretty nasty headwinds and keeping up the same pace started to become a battle. I was pleased, therefore, to see my Garmin show a split time of 6m 36s.

Things went a bit wrong during mile 6. I had been relying on the runner in 4th to lead the way as the course wasn't particularly well marked out. There were marshals but they weren't at all strategically placed. So when my pacesetter veered left, I naturally followed. Nope. Wrong way. The marshals in the distance furiously flapped their arms and we both muttered profanities under our breath and got back on track. The wind continued to howl and I just about managed to get my head down and hold my place until the end.

The course came up about a third of a mile short of 10k. I wasn't complaining at the time, but it's always a bit disappointing when you run an event and your time doesn't truly reflect your ability over that distance. This was especially true given that I came home in just under 40 minutes. But then this wasn't a target race by any means. It was something I had decided to do quite last minute and while recovering from various niggles. All in all, an enjoyable day.

Distance: 5.87 miles
Time: 39m 43s
Avg pace: 6m 46s / mile
Position: 5 of about 70

No official results yet. My Garmin data here.

A note on training

You might have noticed I've been posting less frequently. I've decided from now on I'm going to post a summary of my training at the end of each week. That way there should hopefully be less dross and a bit more quality!

This week I managed 28.8 miles, including a 10k race today. Recently I've been avoiding hills and speed work with a strained gluteus medius, so I'm not at my sharpest. Still, at least I'm able to run. I think I'd go mad if I had to rest for a week!

Highlights of this week's training:

- I went swimming for the first time in a long time and enjoyed the workout :-)
- I upped my total weekly mileage by about 10%
- My osteopath told me the strength was returning to my right hip.
- I came 5th in the Ross-on-Wye 10k!

Monday: 3-mile recovery run following the Magic Roundabout 10k

Distance: 2.98 miles
Avg pace: 9m 41s / mile
Avg HR: 135 bpm

Tuesday: 1km swim before work and 6 miles easy to steady in the evening  (I'm a dreadful swimmer: I usually resort to breast stroke because my front crawl is so inefficient it's exhausting. Good for a low-impact workout, though!)

Distance: 5.91 miles

Avg pace: 7m 33s / mile

Avg HR: 153 bpm

Wednesday: Another 3-mile run at recovery pace.

Distance: 3.09 miles

Avg pace: 9m 43s / mile

Avg HR: 134 bpm

Thursday: Long(ish) slow run -- felt pretty sluggish being out of the door by 6:50am, but got into the swing of it eventually. Finished at marathon pace.

Distance: 7.94 miles

Avg pace: 8m 11s / mile

Avg HR: 147 bpm

Friday: 3 miles at dead on 8 minutes per mile. Felt harder than it should have. My heart rate suggests the same. Think I was a bit dehydrated.

Distance: 3.00 miles

Avg pace: 8m 00s / mile

Avg HR: 150 bpm

Saturday: rest (aka climbing up the walls)

Sunday: Ross-on-Wye 10k

Distance: 5.87 miles

Avg pace: 6m 46s / mile

Avg HR: No HR monitor

Magic Roundabout 10k - Race Report

I didn't go into this race with the right mentality, or even in the best shape. I had been taking it easy all week with a strained gluteus medius, an injury that was still nagging at me when I woke up. Not running had crossed my mind, but only fleetingly. I decided instead to take it easy. Easier said than done, of course! I set myself a target of 45 minutes, which would turn out to be pretty realistic.

The morning's preparations were all a bit rushed. I loaded up with porridge a couple of hours before the race and then got my stuff together. Argh! Garmin not charged and only 20 minutes before we have to leave! Contingency plan: bring the laptop and carry on charging the Garmin in the car! Sorted.

We got there to discover the starting area was the best part of a mile from the car park, which further complicated matters! I ended up having to jog up a sizeable hill to make it on time -- consider it a warm-up, I thought! When I lined up at the start, I noticed a lot of club runners in the crowd. The event was quite small and local but immediately friendly and very well organised. After a quick briefing and a 5-4-3-2-1, we were away.

The first two miles were almost entirely downhill. And having seen the course profile, I knew I would need to make the most of the descent. And sure enough, those two miles went by in 12m 49s, a pace I was pretty happy with.

Shortly afterwards, a deceptively long climb seemed to stop the entire field of runners in its tracks. It didn't look much to begin with but got gradually steeper, totalling 250ft over 0.8 miles. If I'm honest, it probably caught me out, too: I was really short of breath by the time I reached the top. Helpfully, an unhealthy-looking spectator with a camera chirped 'ah, that's not a hill!'. So whoever you were, thanks for that!

It's never nice getting to the halfway point and feeling completely knackered, but that's how I've felt for the past couple of races. Some of that has to do with the events I've chosen, but ultimately it's down to me. I needed a lesson in pacing, and that's what I got! What was nice, however, was seeing my girlfriend and her family just before the 6k marker. I wish now that I'd had the energy to look more enthusiastic when I saw them! Miles 3 and 4 took 15m 47s - quite a drop in pace, but one I was expecting.

Shortly before the 6k marker

I was glad to discover that mile 5 was mostly downhill. I sat behind a club runner who had just overtaken me on the last slope. He had been kind enough to offer a few words of encouragement as he passed my tired and slumped frame, and I just about found the breath to thank him! But just as I was starting to get comfortable again, the course took a hairpin bend, directing us up another energy-sapping hill. Mile 5 took only 7m 02s, but the final 300ft ascent was a real test, and mile 6 staggered by in 8m 24s.

I came over the brow of the hill to see the finish line -- what a relief! Almost straight away I heard the thudding feet of another runner on a mission to gain a couple of places. Not today, squire! I mustered up all I could and sprinted home, averaging 6m 32s over the final 0.2 miles and -- most importantly -- keeping my place :-)

Next to the course profile with a brew and a banana!

Distance: 10km
Time: 45m 16s
Avg pace: 7m 19s / mile
Position: 21 of 144 (putting me in the top 15%)

Official results here and my Garmin data here.