It's been a funny old few weeks. The last week of December wasn't exactly what you'd call sedentary -- I even ran on Christmas Day -- but our trip to Japan and the virus I picked up afterwards have made for a slow start to the year. And knowing where to pitch your training after illness is always a tricky one.
But with relative abandon, I've run 22 miles and cycled 10 in the past three days. And none of it at a particularly forgiving pace. I guess it's a sign of the frustration I've felt at not being able to get out there. God help me if I ever end up on the sidelines for any real length of time.
You may have noticed my list of prospective races growing exponentially on the right, too. On the face of it, things are probably looking a bit too busy, but in reality I'll be treating one or two of those fixtures as practice runs for other events. For instance, I'll be running the Lliswerry 8 (apparently pancake flat) and the Llanelli 10 at target HM pace in preparation for the Bath Half. And the Llanelli Half I'll be running alongside Annie, lending moral support and/or kicking arse depending on how much she complains ;-)
There will undoubtedly be one or two early season triathlons in there, too. My swimming is coming along nicely (I can manage about a kilometre front crawl without much trouble now) and I'm going to be spending more time in the saddle over the coming weeks. That's in addition to the 4/5 runs per week that I've scheduled.
I'll be listening carefully to my body. I do have a tendency to jump in both feet first, but as I work towards my first triathlon I will effectively be cross training. So with the stomach bug now behind me, here's hoping for an injury-free start to 2012.
Sunday, 15 January 2012
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Forced hiatus
It's been over a week since that fantastic run and unfortunately that was the last time I got out. Shortly after getting back to the UK, I picked up a virus that categorically put me out of action for a few days. I managed a swim at the pool on Sunday and thought I was on the road to recovery, but then yesterday became inexplicably exhausted (struggled to stay awake at 5:30pm!). I'm still feeling achy and lethargic today, so I don't think I should leap back into anything just yet. How frustrating!
Monday, 2 January 2012
My first run of 2012
For the past few days we've been staying with my girlfriend's sister in Numazu, Japan. I brought my running gear with the intention of going for at least one decent run while I was here. Since we're heading back home tomorrow morning, today was really my last chance so I got up and out first thing. And I was glad I did.
Annie came with me and we followed the Kano River out towards Suruga Bay. Annie turned back after a couple of miles and I carried on until hitting the port area. The scenery had been pleasant enough until that point, but from there on in was nothing short of spectacular. I ran for another 3 miles or so along a dike between Numazu and Fuji City, with Suruga Bay on my left and Mount Fuji emerging from the early morning cloud cover on my right.
Speed and distance didn't really matter: it was all about taking in the surroundings. And here's why:
Distance: 13.80 miles
Avg pace: 8m 16s / mile
Avg HR: No HRM
Conditions: Clear, 5°C
Annie came with me and we followed the Kano River out towards Suruga Bay. Annie turned back after a couple of miles and I carried on until hitting the port area. The scenery had been pleasant enough until that point, but from there on in was nothing short of spectacular. I ran for another 3 miles or so along a dike between Numazu and Fuji City, with Suruga Bay on my left and Mount Fuji emerging from the early morning cloud cover on my right.
Speed and distance didn't really matter: it was all about taking in the surroundings. And here's why:
Distance: 13.80 miles
Avg pace: 8m 16s / mile
Avg HR: No HRM
Conditions: Clear, 5°C
Monday, 19 December 2011
Quedgeley Christmas 5-miler - Race Report
Just a brief report this time...
This was a small race in Gloucestershire, organised by the local methodist church to raise funds. There were only 60 or 70 runners, so the fact that I finished 7th wasn't as impressive as it sounds!
I lined up close to the start line and kept the leaders in sight for a short while, although when my watch chirped 6:03 for the first mile I did ease off a little. That's about 5km pace for me! A bridge over the M5 marked the end of any busy roads and the start of winding, picturesque country lanes. Great scenery and barely a breath of wind. I was enjoying myself by now.
Mile 2 took 6:20, which I felt was too slow. So from then I tried to maintain a slightly quicker pace. I was just off a pack of runners chasing the lead for the entire race. Nobody overtook me, nor did I overtake anyone. My remaining 3 splits were pretty even and I managed a time of 31:05, knocking a huge 55 seconds off my previous PB, set in May. All in all I was thrilled. A thoroughly enjoyable race!
See my Garmin data here and the official results here.
Distance: 5.00 miles
Avg pace: 6m 13s / mile
Avg HR: No HRM
Conditions: Cold and clear
This was a small race in Gloucestershire, organised by the local methodist church to raise funds. There were only 60 or 70 runners, so the fact that I finished 7th wasn't as impressive as it sounds!
I lined up close to the start line and kept the leaders in sight for a short while, although when my watch chirped 6:03 for the first mile I did ease off a little. That's about 5km pace for me! A bridge over the M5 marked the end of any busy roads and the start of winding, picturesque country lanes. Great scenery and barely a breath of wind. I was enjoying myself by now.
Mile 2 took 6:20, which I felt was too slow. So from then I tried to maintain a slightly quicker pace. I was just off a pack of runners chasing the lead for the entire race. Nobody overtook me, nor did I overtake anyone. My remaining 3 splits were pretty even and I managed a time of 31:05, knocking a huge 55 seconds off my previous PB, set in May. All in all I was thrilled. A thoroughly enjoyable race!
See my Garmin data here and the official results here.
Distance: 5.00 miles
Avg pace: 6m 13s / mile
Avg HR: No HRM
Conditions: Cold and clear
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Keeping it short and sweet
I wanted to post separately about this. See, while it's true I have been slacking off in some departments, I've been pulling my socks up in others, especially speed work. I've been consistently joining Cardiff Triathletes for their Monday evening run, which typically entails fast intervals or hill sprints, and hammering out the odd lung-bursting tempo run.
And it seems to be paying off: on 3 December I knocked 12 seconds off my 5km PB, posting a time of 18:47 at Cardiff Parkrun. And at last night's regular Monday evening session I had sprung on me a 2-mile time trial, but surprised myself with a time of 11:22. That's the first time I've ever been timed over that distance (other than as part of a duathlon), so whatever time I ran was always going to be a PB. But it felt good to be the first runner home and to average a blistering pace of 5:41/mile.
So now I just need to keep up that speed work as well as the long runs, cycling and swimming. Easy! Next major test, though, is a small 5-mile race on Saturday, and I have my current PB of 32:00 in my sights. Let's end this calendar year on a high!
And it seems to be paying off: on 3 December I knocked 12 seconds off my 5km PB, posting a time of 18:47 at Cardiff Parkrun. And at last night's regular Monday evening session I had sprung on me a 2-mile time trial, but surprised myself with a time of 11:22. That's the first time I've ever been timed over that distance (other than as part of a duathlon), so whatever time I ran was always going to be a PB. But it felt good to be the first runner home and to average a blistering pace of 5:41/mile.
So now I just need to keep up that speed work as well as the long runs, cycling and swimming. Easy! Next major test, though, is a small 5-mile race on Saturday, and I have my current PB of 32:00 in my sights. Let's end this calendar year on a high!
Note to self: get back on it!
Over the past few weeks my long runs have been a bit sporadic: I've surpassed 10 miles only three times in 16 days. My cycling has also fallen by the wayside: nothing for the past week-and-a-half and only a handful of spin classes before that. Even swimming is down to one weekly session. I could lay the blame on a whole bunch of things -- not least my work schedule -- but excuses are for losers. I think what I need is some kind of forfeit system for every time I have that 'let's give tonight a miss' feeling. No biscuits for 24 hours, perhaps?
Monday, 21 November 2011
DB Max 'Chilly' Duathlon, Castle Combe
This was my first ever duathlon. Running I can do, but as I waited eagerly on the starting line I had an attack of bike-related nerves and jitters: would I be penalised for unwittingly drafting, would I cycle one too many laps, what gear had I left the bike in again? Argh! However, ultimately my concerns were ill founded and the race panned out as smoothly as I could have hoped for.
From the off I was immediately whipped up in the mass hysteria, zipping off at 6:00/mile pace and failing to heed my friend's pragmatic words of 'bugger this'. The race format was 2-mile run, 10-mile bike, 2-mile run and my strategy was to hit the first leg of the run at about 5km pace (mainly to make up for the last leg, which I knew would be considerably slower!). I made good ground and overtook quite a few folk.
Transition 1 went pretty well. Shoes changed, helmet on and away. On the bike I looked to average about 20mph, which I thought would stand me in pretty good stead. But not long after I hit the circuit, the more accomplished cyclists were already passing me. I figured I had ended the first leg pretty high up the field, so didn't take it to heart. This was, after all, my first ever competitive bike ride!
The best bit about the bike ride was passing the spectators five times, which gave me a continual boost. In fact, I really enjoyed the cycling -- full stop. I played cat-and-mouse with some of the riders around me and really got into the swing of it, before giving it a bit of welly for the final half a mile and filtering into the dismount area for transition 2.
Having done a few brick runs in training, I had some idea of what lay ahead of me. So while T2 again went pretty smoothly, I didn't run so much as hobble off for the final two miles. It was like wading through treacle, or trudging the wrong way up an escalator. I felt like I was running 10-minute miles but was actually cruising somewhere around 7:00/mile. I was expecting my calves to loosen up but that never really happened. My breath was short and sharp, too. Thank Christ it was only two miles, I thought!
I found a spurt for the final few hundred yards, pulling away from a couple of fellow runners and overtaking another. By the time I reached the finish line I was wearing my trademark grimace, but I was more than pleased with my overall effort. So, did I make it under the hour mark?
Results
Run 1: 12:09
T1: 01:10
Bike: 28:13
T2: 01:16
Run 2: 13:38
Total: 56:29 (putting me 80th of 251 finishers)
See official results here.
Just to get even more stat-tastic, here are my bike splits:
5:29; 5:33; 5:32; 5:37; 5:37
From the off I was immediately whipped up in the mass hysteria, zipping off at 6:00/mile pace and failing to heed my friend's pragmatic words of 'bugger this'. The race format was 2-mile run, 10-mile bike, 2-mile run and my strategy was to hit the first leg of the run at about 5km pace (mainly to make up for the last leg, which I knew would be considerably slower!). I made good ground and overtook quite a few folk.
In the fray: can you spot me? ;-)
Transition 1 went pretty well. Shoes changed, helmet on and away. On the bike I looked to average about 20mph, which I thought would stand me in pretty good stead. But not long after I hit the circuit, the more accomplished cyclists were already passing me. I figured I had ended the first leg pretty high up the field, so didn't take it to heart. This was, after all, my first ever competitive bike ride!
The best bit about the bike ride was passing the spectators five times, which gave me a continual boost. In fact, I really enjoyed the cycling -- full stop. I played cat-and-mouse with some of the riders around me and really got into the swing of it, before giving it a bit of welly for the final half a mile and filtering into the dismount area for transition 2.
Prising off my cycling shoes for something a little more comfortable
Having done a few brick runs in training, I had some idea of what lay ahead of me. So while T2 again went pretty smoothly, I didn't run so much as hobble off for the final two miles. It was like wading through treacle, or trudging the wrong way up an escalator. I felt like I was running 10-minute miles but was actually cruising somewhere around 7:00/mile. I was expecting my calves to loosen up but that never really happened. My breath was short and sharp, too. Thank Christ it was only two miles, I thought!
I found a spurt for the final few hundred yards, pulling away from a couple of fellow runners and overtaking another. By the time I reached the finish line I was wearing my trademark grimace, but I was more than pleased with my overall effort. So, did I make it under the hour mark?
That trademark grimace I was talking about
Results
Run 1: 12:09
T1: 01:10
Bike: 28:13
T2: 01:16
Run 2: 13:38
Total: 56:29 (putting me 80th of 251 finishers)
See official results here.
Just to get even more stat-tastic, here are my bike splits:
5:29; 5:33; 5:32; 5:37; 5:37
Would definitely do this again!
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