New personal best

I regularly run a 3.43 mile (5.52km) route from my house, it fits my routine. But for a while I've been stuck at just over 26 minutes. 26'09 to be precise. Even allowing for waiting for traffic on one of the 4 road crossings I was still slower than I thought I should be on this run.

Today was good though - 8am Saturday morning. Virtually no traffic so I hardly had to cut my pace to cross the roads at all. I made an effort to get the pace up early and dig in to keep it up if I could. Got home in 24'48. Really pleased. 1'21 off my previous best and even allowing for the lack of traffic that was a big improvement. But it's still over 7minute miles and I think I can do better than that.

If I turned that into a 5km race it would be over a minute slower than my PB. Time to raise my sights a bit

Another personal best

A week or so ago at the club we had a time trial and ran a measured 5k. I came in at 21'11 which is another 10 seconds off my personal best. It was a bit tougher course too, so I'm pleased. Sub 21 minutes is my next goal.

See the route here

Personal Best

I ran in the Telford Town Centre 5k tonight and managed a new personal best. Two months ago I ran in the Park Hall 5k and managed 22'24, tonight I managed to knock a minute off that with 21'21. It was quite quick with a fast downhill section to begin with, this had the inverse effect of making me slow down a bit because I didn't want to run out of steam.

Still, I was pleased with the time because it shows I'm progressing and that's what matters. So lets see if I can keep that progress up.

Getting quicker

This run has become my stock run at the moment. It takes me half an hour on a slow day, so is manageable with work and family. But it also offers a nice opportunity to run by the river, and put in some quick times if I want. I'm trying to push myself on this run at least once a week - yesterday I managed 26' 08. Those 8seconds were a bit disappointing, because it would be nice to get to a 25min, but a sub 25min for 3.43miles is what I'm aiming for.

Getting back into the groove

So it's a while since the marathon now (about 6 weeks) and I'm just beginning to get back into the running groove. I've done a couple of club runs but mostly I've been jogging this 3.43 mile route.
I've felt various aches and pains but I've managed these times:

1. 29' 36
2. 30' 17
3. 30' 31

Which is OK but I need to push myself a bit more and pick the speed up. Tonight I ran in a 5k race at Park Hall, Oswestry and finished in a time of 22' 24. I'm reasonably pleased as I twice had to do up my laces and finished with plenty in the tank. Good to be back on the road

Stupid - 2 years in a row

So I've done it. I've applied for a place in the 2010 London Marathon. What an idiot.

The hardest day of my life

So yesterday I ran the London Marathon and it was hard. 10 things I learned were

1. South East trains at London Bridge were rubbish. Twice we were moved platforms and twice hundreds missed their trains. On the third attempt after a third platform change we got on a train.
2. The organisation of the marathon was phenomenal.
   
3. Getting stomach cramps and needing the toilet at 8 miles and then again at 8.2 miles slows you right up. Thank the Lord for a handily placed McDonalds to nip into.
   
4. Running in the sun is bad for me. Stag day - hot day and I get cramp. Triathlon challenge - hot day and I get cramp. Marathon - hot day and I nearly cramp and crash into the wall
5. People talk about the wall but until you hit it you have no idea. Chris Boardman sums it up well, "Towards the last three or four miles I just couldn't care less. I just wanted somebody to shoot me but since they wouldn't I had to keep going,"
6. From 21 miles I could have cried every time someone called my name, after the finish I could have sworn at every spectator getting in my way. Exhaustion does that to you.
7. I drank Lucozade at every stop, ran through every shower, took water on every other mile and still ran out of energy. Ran out of steam and ideas long before the finish.
8. 4 hours 47 was OK but I'm a bit disappointed. Cue another attempt.
9. I'll need to up my miles next time around.
10. You can't finish without saying something about the crowds. Unbelievable support every step of 26.2 miles. Just incredible, never experienced anything like it, would like to taste it again.
    

Here are the facts:

PERSON
Name	WHITTALL, PHIL R (GBR)	Club
Runner No.	12807	Age group	M18

TIMES
5 km	0:29:35	25 km	2:37:01
10 km	0:58:09	30 km	3:11:52
15 km	1:35:15	35 km	3:54:52
20 km	2:04:53	40 km	4:31:22
half	2:11:35	finish	4:47:04

TOTAL
Position (overall)	22437	Position (age group)	9504
Position (gender)	16962	Finish time	4:47:04

By own stopwatch it looked like this:

1 mile 10'10
2 miles 9'26 19 min
3 miles 9'00 28 min
4 miles 8'58 37 min
5 miles 8'56 46 min
6 miles 9'34 56min
7 miles 9'34 1 hr 05
8 miles 12'00 1 hr 17 (Toilet stop 1)
9 miles 14'24 1 hr 32 (Toilet stop 2)
10 miles 9'23 1 hr 41
11 miles 9'23 1 hr 50
12 miles 9'45 2hr 00
13 miles 9'50 2hr 10
14 miles 11'14 2hr 21
15 miles I forgot to lap this mile which is why the next number is...
16 miles 20'22 2hr 42
17 miles 11'07 2hr 53
18 miles 11'01 3hr 04
19 miles 11'57 3hr 16
20 miles 13'11 3hr 29
21 miles 16'03 3hr 45 - at this point I was walking
22 miles 12'22 3hr 57
23 miles 11'44 4hr 09
24 miles 11'30 4hr 21
25 miles 12'12 4hr 33
26.2 miles 13'50 4hr 47

So that was the story of my race. A big congrats to my friend Tony Thompson who did it in 3hr 5 min (and 69th for his age group) and Simon Pierce who finished in 3 hr 55. Well done fellas.