Thursday, 12 August 2010

I love running

I love running, and while I don't want my identity to be in that and all that jazz. Every now and then you see something that is just cool. This made me want to go out for a run, which I did last night and this morning. Made me want to buy the product too, but I haven't done that yet.

Tuesday, 27 July 2010

Just very tired

So for the last few weeks I've done hardly any running. I have been so tired. Work has been busy, life has been challenging, evenings have been full. In the mornings I can barely open my eyes and by the evening I'm hungry and shattered.

So nothing for the last couple of weeks. Then on Sunday this happened and I suddenly have two weeks paternity break. So last night I went out and ran. Not far, just the usual 3.43 miles and went for it hard. I was minutes quicker for the first two thirds but came in at 25'59 so must have faded pretty badly over the last third.

Still it was a decent time and good to get some of the cobwebs out. Lets see if I can rediscover the running groove!

Thursday, 17 June 2010

Rodney's Pillar

Rodney's Pillar is an odd thing in Shropshire commemorating as it does a naval victory by Admiral Rodney. His boat was made of wood from the area so we thought 'I know why not stick a pillar on top of a hill'.

In keeping with silly ideas, every year there's a race up and down this hill, 3.9 miles in total. It's a bit tough.

2009 was my first entry and I finished almost last in 66th place in a time of 36'20.
I was determined to improve upon that this year and managed a slightly more respectable 50th place in 34'17.

As it was a handicap race I won a prize - a nice little England Lion! But knocking 2 minutes off a time was a big plus.

Thursday, 10 June 2010

Park Hall 5k 2010

It's time to get going again with my running, no excuses anymore. My knee is no longer sore, major events have passed and if I don't get back into the rhythm soon I'll miss the whole summer.

So last night I ran the Park Hall 5k just outside of Oswestry. Good conditions really but I was a bit late on arrival so felt a bit rushed. Still last year I managed 22'24 and I managed to improve that to 22'08 and still had something in the tank. I've got to learn how to push it more in the second third of a race because I'm finishing strongly.

Still it's a nice improvement and next week is the Rodney's Pillar race - straight up a hill and back down again

Tuesday, 27 April 2010

2009 and 2010 marathon in numbers

OK - so finished again but a bit quicker this year.

           2009                                     2010              Diff
5km     0:29:35                                0:30:48            +0:01:13
10km   0:58:09                                1:00:41            +0:02:32
15km   1:35:15                                1:30:27            -0:04:48
20km   2:04:53                                1:59:26            -0:05:27
HALF   2:11:35                                2:05:44            -0:05:51
25km   2:37:01                                2:29:42            -0:07:19
30km   3:11:52                                3:01:21            -0:10:31
35km   3:54:52                                3:34:46            -0:20:06
40km   4:31:22                                4:13:27            -0:17:55
FINISH 4:47:04                                4:29:08           -0:17:56

POSITION 
(overall)  22437                                 18666            +3771
(gender) 16962                                 14416            +2546
(age)     9504                                   7926              +1578

By my own stopwatch it went a bit like this (mile splits then total time)

                      2009                      2010        

1 mile            10:10                     10:55
2 miles           9:26  (19:36)          9:40 (20:36)
3 miles           9:00  (28:36)          9:15 (29:51)
4 miles           8:58  (37:34)          9:33 (39:25)
5 miles           8:56  (46:30)          9:16 (48:41)
6 miles           9:34  (56:04)          9:59 (58:41)
7 miles           9:34  (01:05:30)      9:46 (01:08:27)
8 miles          12:00  (01:17:30)     9:21 (01:17:49)   I had to make a toilet stop in 09
9 miles          14:24  (01:31:54)     9:34 (01:27:23)   A 2nd stop for the loo in 09!
10 miles          9:23  (01:41:17)     9:19 (01:36:43)
11 miles          9:23  (01:50:40)     9:18 (01:46:02)
12 miles          9:45  (02:00:25)     9:17 (01:55:20)
13 miles          9:50  (02:10:15)     9:22 (02:04:43)
14 miles         11:14  (02:21:26)    Forgot to lap this one
15 miles I forgot to lap this mile in 2009 and 2010
16 miles         20:22  (02:41:46)    29:48 (02:34:31)
17 miles         11:07  (02:52:53)    10:11 (02:44:42)
18 miles         11:01  (03:03:54)    9:49 (02:54:32)
19 miles         11:57  (03:15:51)    11:14 (03:05:46)
20 miles         13:11  (03:29:02)    9:52 (03:15:39)
21 miles         16:03  (03:45:08)    10:54 (03:26:34)
22 miles         12:22  (03:57:30)    11:04 (03:37:38)
23 miles         11:44  (04:09:14)    13:39 (03:51:17)
24 miles         11:30  (04:20:44)    12:06 (04:03:24)
25 miles         12:12  (04:32:56)    11:46 (04:15:11)
26 miles         13:50  (04:46:46)    11:32 (04:26:43)
26.2                       (04:47:09)     2:32  (04:29:15)
















Tuesday, 6 April 2010

Training Comparison *updated*

In October 2008 I found out I had a place in the 2009 London Marathon. My training progression over the next 7 months went a bit like this, on my longest runs:

02/10/08 - 2.2 miles in 00:21 minutes
05/10/08 - 6.3 miles in 01:09:11
20/11/08 - 6.98 miles in about 1 hr
30/12/08 - 12 miles. No idea of time
10/01/09 - 9.82 miles in 01:29:18
21/02/09 - 13.44 miles in 02:45 (this one should have been my clue!)
30/03/09 - 19.22 miles in 03:25:00 (5.6mph @ 10:40 minute miles)
26/04/09 - 26.2 miles in 04:47:04

December 29th 2009 and I found out I had a place in the 2010 Virgin London Marathon.

01/01/10 - 9.46 miles in 01:18:23
04/01/10 - 9.63 miles in 01:23:17
17/01/10 - 11.47 miles in 01:41:39
15/02/10 - 13.36 miles in 01:56:4
27/02/10 - 16.19 miles in 02:21:51
13/03/10 - 19.22 miles in 02:59:49 (6.4mph @ 9:24 minute miles)
20/03/10 - 20 miles in 03:13:04 (6.22mph @ 9.39 minute miles)
28/03/10 - 18.14 miles in 03:15:52 (5.6 mph @ 10.48 minute miles)
05/04/10 - 16.5 miles in 02:24:40 (6.8mph @ 8.48 minute miles) 

I'll update this as I do longer runs. Hopefully see some progress and improvement on last time!

Monday, 5 April 2010

16 miler and stiff knees

I ran this today



It's quite similar to this run except stayed on road for the last part which made it half a mile longer. It was tough going in strong winds today and I felt like I was running well, but ended up with the same pacing as before. Right now I'm stiffer than something that can hardly move.

The facts are: 16.5 miles, 02:24:40 6.8mph @8.48 minute miles. Not sure I can keep that up for another ten miles though