Speed Session Fail

I stole one of @Mia79GBR sessions for speeding up her 5k. its as follows:

5x 4 min @10k pace off 1 min recovery, followed by 5x 2min @5k pace off 1 min recovery.

I dutifully put it into my garmin last night, setting 10k btw 7:50 and 8:00, and 5k@ 7:10- 7:20...

Was running the session ok, though on the 3rd interval was starting to feel it, and really struggling to keep pace.  I even allowed myself 3 minutes rest before starting the 5k intervals... 90seconds into the first one, I gave up... walked home.... totally wiped out!!  tee hee!  I guess that proves 1 of 2 things:

1) you shouldn't do speed work 2 days after a 10k

2) I shouldn't do speed work on my estate where it is so easy to stop, and anywhere is less than 5 min walk home... 

So, here is what i did manage

5 min warm up at 9:56 - this is slow for me at the moment, so I should have known something was up...

4 min 10k pace intervals

1. 8:01

2. 7:53

3. 7:57

4. 8:03

5. 7:57

I guess 5 half mile repeats with only 1 min recovery was actually pretty good going, given I've been doing similar sessions with a much longer recovery between repeats.

Felsted 10k

A scorcher of a week and playing in a concert yesterday meant my hydration plan was a bit off track. Luckily, the race had a late enough start that I could play catch up, so, a cup of tea a cup of beeple, a banana, 500ml sis go energy with chia seeds and a few swigs of water from the water fountain was my pre race prep.

This race was part of the Essex Championships, so was full of club runners. I decided to use my Adidas boost as race shoes, and that I would keep to an 8 minute mile, with the heat, I didn't want to risk pushing it beyond that. Got stuck behind a couple of slower runners at the start, but once I was past them, the field pretty much stretched out, and it was easy enough to get to pace. I ws on pace by about 0.4 miles, so remembering womens running tip, the plan was to sit at this pace until halfway. There were some undulations which would have been fine if it wasn't so hot, but the slight uphills were tough in the heat. I was also beginning to regret not carrying water with me, and couldn't remember if there would be any on the route....at 5km, I was beginning to struggle, the heat was getting to me. I remembered that the tip from womens running was to start chasing vests from 5k. The water station came up very soon after the 5k mark, so I stopped to take on 2 cups, and pour some over my head. Now I could focus on chasing bibs. It was a mind game now- had to keep reminding myself that I was well trained for this. But was also thinking to myself, this is the pace I want to be doing for a marathon, and whilst its fast, it doesn't feel as uncomfortable as previous 10ks, so maybe it's possible.... Wonder if I should be aiming for 8mm for Colchester Half Marathon next year?

I started counting bibs I was passing. Got to around 23 then lost my mojo for a bit, plus the men I was overtaking were playing mean, swinging out in front of me so that I couldn't just run straight but had to add extra distance to the run!

8k and it was time to go hard... I actually didn't have much left, the pace was up slightly, but it was all about focus to keep going. I kept looking at my watch, the sub 50 really relied on me keeping going and not stopping. I didn't want to risk blowing up with heroics, until I was past 6 miles.... Managed to overtake another couple in this last section, and went for the finish hard.

It was a tough finish. This was a tough race because of the heat, nice and low key, so great for setting pbs, except for some minor mishaps with other road users not being all that considerate, it was great. I guess I would have preferred it to start a bit earlier so i could get on with the rest of the day a bit sooner. And of course would have liked a medal! But I think that was me not realising where to get them from...I might contact the organisers to see if they'll send me one.

Mile splits:

Mile 1: 7:56
Mile 2: 7:57
Mile 3: 8:11
Mile 4: 8:02
Mile 5: 8:01
Mile 6: 7:50
Last 0.25 (garmin extra distance) 6:55

Total 49:42, avg pace 7:57

A bit of reflection...

I feel like patting myself on the back. When I started this blog, I was so far away from the idea of qualifying for Boston that I just wasn't sure it would ever be possible, especially as back then I think I would have struggled to do even 1 mile in 8 minutes. I have a good feeling I will do my 10k at that pace this Sunday though.

To qualify for Boston, I was told my shorter race distance times need to look like this:
5k- 22mins
10k- 45 mins
Half marathon- 1:38

Which should lead to a 3:35 full marathon.

After only 3 weeks of speedwork, my 5k is already getting closer to that at 23:08 on a hilly Parkrun course. I would like to see if I can get it to 22 over the summer. I'm then going to build my endurance back up with a lot more off road for my long runs hoping to complete the Essex way.

I think the 45 min 10k and 1:38 half can come in 2014- although that half may take a lot longer to come- half marathons seem to all be on the same dates.

So in 7 months I have taken almost a minute off my 5k pb set in 2011, 3 minutes off my half marathon pb set in 2010, and 15 minutes off my marathon pb set in 2011. This is all off the back of marathon training. We'll see what I do with a 10k this weekend, and another one in September after a dedicated few weeks of speed work.

Fast intervals: tune up for the 10k

Today, I did session 10 from the women's running article:

"This session is completed perhaps five or six days before your 10k race. This is the time to feel quick and just turn your legs over. Five minutes of threshold (3 minutes of jog recovery). Then two sets of 4-5 x 400ms off a 60-second jog recovery. Run set 1 at 5k pace and set 2 a little quicker."

I put it all into the garmin last night. The threshold pace I set as between 8:20 and 8:50. 5k pace from my recent 5k was 7:26 so I put garmin to between 7:20 and 7:30, and then the 'quicker' at 7:00 to 7:15.

5 minutes at threshold wasn't too challenging. I think I was off pace on one interval as the last half of it was all uphill- incline really makes a massive difference in these sessions!

Paces as follows:

5 min threshold: 8:22
Set 1
Interval 1: 7:27
Interval 2: 7:17
Interval 3: 7:26
Interval 4: 7:08
Interval 5: 7:40- this is the uphill one

Set 2
Interval 1: 6:57
Interval 2: 6:39
Interval 3: 7:03
Interval 4: 7:11
Interval 5: 7:07

At the start of some of the quicker ones I was even below 6mm, although not for long! I did these in my Adidas boost shoes, which certainly helped with leg turnover. Uncertain wheth to race in them though?

Total distance run with all the jogs between was 4.6 miles in 41:58 so an average pace of 9:07. Despite having a watermelon slice, chocolate milk, 2 eggs and a whole meal English muffin, I am totally wiped out now! Strange as the session didn't seem all that hard!

Shiny new Parkrun and 5k pb

Race report for Saturday’s parkrun.  

So, I was never sure if I was going to make it for this parkrun on time, as I had a Dr appt at 8:30, however, luckily he got there and we started early, though we did spend much of the appointment talking about cycling and the best way to get a 6-pack!  He’s into cycling!  But fulfilled his doctorly duties and made sure to tell me not to take it too seriously.

Got to the park with about 10 minutes to spare, so thought I’d go to the toilet, but the chap was cleaning the ladies and wouldn’t let us in.  Eventually I was encouraged to use the men’s instead.  Not sure it would have made a huge difference other than to settle my nerves.  I said hello to the other Core group people and Gareth, who was doing the Para’s 10 later in the day, said he would run with me, so he didn’t push it too hard… charming! 

I tried not to go off too fast, since Colchester Castle Parkrun is quite a challenging course.  After the first 200 metres with a slight incline, it is downhill for the first couple of km, then flat, before coming up the tough hill to go around the castle for the second time – you get the downhill again, but you don’t get the respite of a long flat section before having to go uphill again.  The second time up this hill really saps your legs, and for me at least, left nothing for the sprint finish.  After that second hill, it was all about holding on.  Its hard to know whether to pace oneself on a 5k.  Now I have an idea of where my 5k fitness is, I guess that would make sense, but then again, I would probably be a lot faster on a flat course.  In 2 weeks time, Colchester has had to cancel the parkrun due to another event in the park, so I might travel to Chelmsford to do theirs, which is apparently quite flat!  There were a few parts of this where I might have stopped for a few paces, but having Gareth next to me meant I didn’t want to lose face.  He encouraged me up the hill the second time, reminding me to pump my arms, which did help, and also made me realise that I need to start doing weights again.  He asked if I had anything for the sprint finish, but I really didn’t.  This is certainly something I have to work on.

I think the following reasons perhaps had bearing on my result on Saturday.  The last parkrun I did was 24:19

-          It was 6 days after my marathon (Its possible my legs were still a tad tired)

-          I’ve been doing speed work recently

-          I had Gareth as a pacer

-          I knew I was in pb shape, based on the last parkrun- at that time I didn’t know I could go sub 24, so didn’t try for it

-          I knew the course better.

I rather suspect I will set a pb on this course the next couple of times I run it without specific training, just as I become more familiar with it.  I was speaking to one of the Colchester Harriers afterwards who said it’s a really tactical course, because of the incline.

Splits:

Mile 1: 7:17

Mile 2: 7:37

Mile 3: 7:31

Last 0.11 @ 6:13 pace

Making an average pace of 7:26

My max heart rate went as high as 205, which I don’t think I’ve hit since I was 20 and on a rowing machine!  I think this was down to the heat, so Sarah, you’re right, it did have an affect.  That said, my legs definitely could have given a bit more, which is good for doing it on a cooler day.

My first club run

Today I decided I was going to give Colchester Harriers a try. I see so many of them at local races that it seems silly to keep on paying £2 extra to run them. Plus, I can get to know them and hopefully make some new friends and get a bit faster....

Arthur, who is a regular at the Parkrun, both as a runner and as a volunteer, is the ladies coach, so I said hi to him when I arrived, although this was after about 5 minutes of not really knowing what was going on. Turned out many of the regulars had other things on tonight, including a local race, which I had thought of doing, and lots of end of term school things... As a result, I was the only lady there, so it was in fact just me and Arthur. We went out for an 'easy' 6 mile run. I found it quite hard going at first as we were doing 8:51mm, and I hadn't run since the mersea island race. It was really nice to have someone to chat to though. He's number one in his age group, nationally, so he's gracious enough not to enter too many races so its not always him who wins.

It was quite hot and barely a stop, so I didn't really get to take on any drink. I had thought we would be doing something hard so had planed to drink between intervals. In reality, I probably didn't need any more than water, but carrying it was a bit of a faff. Just after 4 miles we bumped into one of the men who is a regular at Parkrun, Andy, he came second last week. We stopped for a chat, which allowed a breather, but messed with my pace!! This could have been my fastest 6 mile run otherwise. Arthur said it was 6 miles easy. I could keep conversation up, so I guess, technically it was, however, I reckon I would have been shattered had it been 12 or 18 miles at that pace.

I think I'll try the harriers out again, hopefully when there are some other ladies there. Certainly enjoyed having the company of someone who could run without having to stop to walk, although not sure it was the best introduction to running for a brand new runner!!! Good job I'm not then ;)

Splits:

Mile 1: 8:52
Mile 2: 8:52
Mile 3: 9:06
Mile 4: 9:13
Mile 5: 12:15 - this is where we stopped for a chat, I did pause garmin after a while
Mile 6: 9:18

Time 58:00

All in all a good run. I probably could have done intervals last night if I hadn't been partying, but will rest tomorrow in prep for hopefully doing Parkrun on Saturday.

Mersea Island round the island race

Well, I woke up feeling pretty dehydrated from the bike ride the day before, and feeling silly that I hadn't even mustered up the energy to make dinner or a snack before bed. I thought I would fix this with Sis energy mixed with chia seeds and a bowl of porridge... Unfortunately the milk had gone south so had to go out to get some more. Being outside at 8 o'clock when it was already so hot made me realise that it was gonna be a toughie! Didn't want to make the heat worse with hot porridge so had oats with some cold milk and dried fruit instead.

We left home at 8:45- race registration was between 8:45 and 9:45 for a 10:30 start. I had registered online before but never got around to sending my cheque off. Anyhow, if I do this race again I'll just enter on the day- was only a tender and no bother, though David pointed out there were no emergency contact details on the back, which was a cause for concern. Given the heat and my exhaustion from the day before, this was another reason to take this one really easy. I thought sub 2 hours for a 12.2 mile race was realistic, so that meant just under 10 minute miles. Clearly, not having lived in Australia for 3 years, I have forgotten how tough running on sand is.

The race started right on time, on the sand. I had positioned myself toward the back of the field, so I wasn't tempted to go off too fast. There were about 3/4 mile on the sand before going onto a narrow footpath where everybody had stopped to walk! Craziness! I was frustrated at being forced to stop so early in the race, and as a result went off too fast for miles 2 and 3, before arriving at the first drinks station- the heat was already having an effect, and I took a couple of cups here. I really think that I need to get a light coloured cap, as the visor protected my face, but didn't keep the sun off my dark hair.

The next section was plodding along the sea wall, and most of the middle part of the race was like this- the path was very narrow and surrounded by very tall grass. This could be irritating if you caught up to a slower runner, as you were stuck behind them for a long time, but equally, if somebody caught up to you, you felt you had to push it so as not to slow their race down. At the next drinks station at 4.5 miles, bumped into Paula, one of my Parkrun buddies. I was really in a bad way at this point and the sun was getting really strong, with little relief from the wind and no shelter. We ran together for a long section, i figured it was good luck to run with someone named Paula, up to around 8 miles, then she got ahead, I had to walk to calm my breathing down, but I kept her in my sights. The plan had been to take it easy until 9 miles, when I would start picking off runners to overtake, relying on my endurance, and them having gone off too fast. At 9 miles we were back on the beach with a very strong headwind! Argh! No overtaking for me then! I could spot Paula ahead and she was still running! Wow! I found that the speed that I could run wasn't much different to the speed that I could walk, so I got down to the sea edge for some firmer ground and commenced power walking. After I'd got my breath back, I could start running again, but wow, this was really really tough! Much harder than the pub 2 pub run I did in Sydney in 2009! That involved beach running, heat and serious hills, but the beach running was only the first 800m- the rest was road, so I could actually run.

We got back on some concrete and another drinks station at mile 10, I had finally caught back up with Paula again, and I was in my catching bibs mode, so after only 1 cup of water, I started running again- figuring I could put in more speed on the solid ground before softer ground sapped my low energy leg muscles. I passed a chap in a purple shirt, he asked how was I still running, I told him coz I stopped to walk so much in the middle! I had an Ipswich triathlon chap ahead of me, far in the distance- he had actually parked next to me. I thought I could catch up to him, but it was a long shot, only 1.5 miles to go, and almost all of that on beach. I decided counting down from 300 would keep me running, and for the most part, it did, but there were some really soft sandy bits that brought me to a walk. I kept getting closer to Ipswich triathlon man, and kept him in my sights, when we came off the beach and onto the road, clearly, like me, he had more road speed and I lost him around the final corner, but luckily, Gareth, another Parkrun buddy started yelling and cheering me on, and that gave me the boost I needed for a sprint finish!

My finish time was 2:13:52

I saw Paula's husband at the end as well, and told him I had been running with her most of the way, she was only a couple of minutes behind, just enough time for me to get my energy back and start cheering her!

I think on a cooler day this race would have been absolutely perfect. The marshals were great, and it was a really well organised race. I love that I could drive from home in the morning and didn't even have to wake up that early, and I didn't realise I had a beach that's only 15 minutes drive from home! The club has a 5 mile race later in the season. I wasn't planning on doing it, but I think I'll add it to my schedule now. Obviously they can't control the weather, and the narrow footpaths were a bit annoying in the early stages, but that's part of off road running. Would recommend this to anyone who perhaps hadn't done cross country before but an experienced long distance road runner. Certainly wasn't as hard as the other off road races I've done this year- Orion 15 and Karrimor great trail challenge, as it was almost completely flat, but the heat and wind made it really tough.

Splits:
Mile 1: 11:06 - that annoying stop
Mile 2: 8:57
Mile 3: 9:34
Mile 4: 10:03
Mile 5: 12:24
Mile 6: 10:34
Mile 7: 11:04
Mile 8: 10:48
Mile 9: 13:11 - just so windy!
Mile 10: 11:22
Mile 11: 10:24
Mile 12: 12:13
Last .26 @ 10:58, but I didn't switch the garmin off for over a minute so probably more like 8:30