Almost Time to Say Goodbye to Another Year

It's funny how things change. When I was at my running best, almost 20 years ago, I hated training and loved racing. I once ran 30 races in 3 months. Roll forward to today and I love pushing myself in training. Yes, I do the odd race here and there, maybe a half-dozen a year and yes, I do love the challenge of pushing to the limit but pushing myself to run a training loop just that little bit faster...

It's a fortnight of ups and downs. Last week I put in a decent set of 6 x 4min reps at faster than 5k pace off 90s. I also rode some solid bike sessions, mainly hill climbs - I bloody love hill climbing. The highlight was a new PB on the volcano climb and a surprise FTP increase of 5Watts. Of course, there were the usual zone 2 sessions to round things out.

This week hasn't gone so well. The first part of the week through to Thursday was marred by inner thigh muscle soreness. I managed a couple of very gentle sessions initially on the bike and then on the treadmill. I can only think I picked up the 'injury' clearing up and bagging all the leaves from the storm, where I was doing a lot of bending. I managed to get out for a decently paced 13.5k yesterday and some solid zone 2 today. Rest day tomorrow and then back on with some interval sessions. 

The Zone Two Experiment Continues...

There was no long run last weekend, blame Bert. Instead, I got out for shorter 9k blast Friday. Not quite a PB but I guess my legs weren't totally fresh - it was meant to be an easier week, but I can't help myself. Around the harder efforts it's been much ado about zone two. The other higher intensity session for last week was Tuesday's Zwift hill climb. The 14km 780m Trollstigen - and a PB.

This week, I started with a shorter Zwift hill climb Tuesday but full gas nevertheless, and, yes, another PB with some decent power, evenly laid down for once, as opposed to my normal go too hard and fade.

Zone 2 Wednesday ahead of the old down and up ladder intervals on the treadmill Thursday. I'm almost on the cusp of admitting that there might actually be something to all this zone 2 malarky. The ladder intervals felt easier than normal, to the point I increased the speeds on the way back up just get my heart rate somewhere near 160.

Today I headed out for a solid 10k tempo effort, focusing on steady efforts on the climbs. I followed that with a thirty-minute warm down on the Zwift. Up tomorrow is.... I wonder?

Up and Over in One

It has been a long time since I've run up and over May Hill starting from the A40 at Barrel Lane all the way to the top - without stopping for a walk. Oft it's only been a brief walk here and there, to recharge the legs and lower the heart rate, but there has unequivocally always been a bit of walking action. By my records it's been over eight years since I last scaled the south face of the Eiger - or May Hill as it is otherwise referred - without stopping to walk. Eight long, arduous years and the ravages of time have taken their toll. In truth, it's not the highest hill nor the longest route, but its 210m of ascent spread over 3.5km still holds a challenge, especially when 170m of the ascent is condensed into the last 2.2km. Not exactly a fell climb, it is nonetheless, a challenge I did not think I would defeat again. (The run was 11km total).

With the battle unexpectedly won, my thoughts turn to winning the war. I was, after all, only 60s shy of my 2016 best. There is life in the old dog yet...

Away from today, it's been the usual mix of zone 2 and targeted sessions. A fifty-minute, threshold, hill climb on the bike Wednesday and a threshold run Thursday. I'll finished with some more zone 2 tomorrow and then a rest day Monday.

Finally Set a New PR on the A4136 Climb Segment

It's been steady progress on the training front. More of the Zone 2 - obviously. Intermingled with some good interval sessions on the treadmill. Although I've been a bit slack on the Zwift bike sessions, only completing zone 2 training and no interval workouts. I need to put that right in the coming weeks. Overall, it's been a solid couple of weeks.

The highlight was today's PR - or PB in normal, non-Strava, speak - on the A4136 Climb segment. I've been threatening it and finally nailed it, at the back end of today's 14k run. Mission accomplished - although I do expect to push it further on future attempts...

That's Torn It

Well not really but I have slightly done my foot. Today's medium run ended slightly shorter than planned because I turned my foot on a stone - a big stone, not some tiny pebble. Practically a rock. Set in the path to booby trap us runners...

The forestry has been laying gravel on the tracks over the last few months, to fill in a some of the bigger holes. That's a good thing but the range of size varies from fine to proper lumpy. That's not been a problem until now. There's been a lot of leaf drop and it's now almost impossible to see what lies beneath - and I didn't see what lay beneath and turned my foot. It was instant pain, but it did ease within a minute, and I carried on.

It's feeling sore now so I'm not sure there's going to be any zone 2 running tomorrow and possibly none for the next few days. Hopefully I'll be okay for Zwifting on the bike.

Other than today's mishap, it's been a good couple of weeks training. A mix of zone 2, intervals and bike sessions.

Well That Was a Turn-up for the Books

So, after about eight years out of the orienteering game, I stepped back into the ring. I've kept my membership live in the hope that one day I would be lured back. That luration - not a word - was today as the orienteering quite literally came to town - or more accurately, my neck of the woods, Flaxley woods. It would have been rude not to...

It's been so long I've forgotten what the map symbols mean, what the map scale is, what the contour height is - and I forgot to check all that, caught up in the excitement [sad bastard] but hey, oh, I gave it a go. I decided on the Green course with its full technicality but shorter than the blue or brown. Flaxley woods are rough as a badgers ar** when you go off-piste and I didn't fancy being out there all day.

So, I set off and it wasn't long before I had completely lost my way. I was flapping around like a headless chicken by checkpoint 2. Yes, the second checkpoint of fifteen! - I thought, this is going bloody well, as I threshed around in the bracken... I probably spent the best part of 15-minutes not finding the control. Mind you, I wasn't the only one. It was like a police search over a crime scene - but with less organisation and no actual crime - other than impersonating an orienteer. Thankfully, from there I got going and actually navigated pretty accurately for the rest of the course. If I'm honest I've never been any bloody good at it, but it is fun - in a sadistic, evil sort of way.

It was a bit of a surprise to see I was actually 8th of 34 finishers/41 starters! I'll take that. Till the next time...

Training has been the usual mix of treadmill sessions, zone 2 and some Zwifting. The highlight was a new PB on the virtual Col des Aravis climb on Zwift and a solid tempo nee threshold run yesterday, almost culminating in a PB on the A4136 climb segment - and I wasn't even going for it. Honest. I was on tempo/threshold run and didn't see any chance of bettering my recent best time. I didn't want the mental disappointment of trying and failing, so I just took it steady - but still with some effort. It did not feel quick. It was with some sadness, as I analysed the Strava data, as you do, to see I missed my PB (set in 2015) by just 2 seconds. On the plus side, I know I'm going to smash it sometime soon.....

The Weekly Update

It's been another solid week of zone 2 but I did miss Wednesday's bike session. Tuesday's treadmill session was hard work as I went for the extended version with more reps. Yesterday I repeated last week's feat of running the full Velthouse Lane segment again - I'm making it sound like it's bigger, steeper hill than it really is, but it's challenging enough for me.

Now I've broken it and got my marker, I pushed a little harder this week. I'm going to keep applying a bit more effort each time until I get close to my old time from 2013. I'm not sure how achievable that is but we'll see...

Around the focused training there's been three 'zone 2' hour+ sessions, one on the bike, the others on the treadmill. Looking forward to my rest day tomorrow.

Psychological Barrier Down

The last couple of weeks has been a continuation of Zone 2 running and biking combined with one treadmill interval session and one Zwift bike workout per week and a weekend medium run.

The treadmill work outs have been pretty solid. The bike sessions hard, as I've let them slip a bit. I feel I'm getting some momentum going though. My jury is still out on the zone 2 but the verdict is going to be a few months away - the jury needs much deliberation.

The weekend runs have been good. Last Saturday was a pretty solid 13k road run with an attack on the final climb, only seeing me miss my segment PB by under 20s - I'm getting closer, as that was a twenty second improvement on my previous attempt. Next time.....

This Saturday I was back for the Flaxley loop, with the focus on the climbs. I wasn't going PB, but I did put in solid efforts. The highlight was managing to run the entirety of the Velthouse Lane Climb segment. A feat I've not managed since 2016. It wasn't the fastest I've done but I was determined I needed to run the whole 1.5km. So now the barrier is broken the gloves are off.... 

So I know I said I wasn't going PB, but buoyed by my vanquishing of the previous climb, I finished the run with a cheeky attack on the East Side Climb segment - and managed to equal my own (shared first place) KoM time of 2:26. Grrrrhh. I will be the one true ruler of the East Side KoM. I will!

A Solid Week

It's been a week of focused training. A solid Zwift hill climb on Tuesday, under/overs on the treadmill Wednesday, a sixty minute Zwift Academy session Thursday that culminated in a new 5-minute power PB. Friday saw me keeping my heart rate averaged at 127 for a 75 minute zone 2 treadmill run. Up yesterday, a very humid jog round the local woods. Couldn't get going. The humidity did for me. Then today it was an 80-minute zone 2 run on the treadmill followed immediately by 30-minutes in zone 2 on Zwift.

I hope this zone 2 training malarkey is legit. Do you know how much zen it requires to run for 80 minutes on the treadmill - slowly? I can tell you, it's a lot!

Enter the Zone 2

I've managed some pretty productive training these last few weeks. Some decent mid range weekend runs, a few tempo runs and some good speed work on the treadmill. Plus I've started to get into 'zone 2' training. Something I've never done before but I've been reading up on it and thought I'd give it a try. All my runs now, same as a decade ago, end up being hard efforts. Even my easy runs ends up as a hard effort. I just can't help it. So I'm trying this zone 2 stuff out on the treadmill where I can control the conditions and nudge the speed up or down to keep mt heart rate middle of the zone - now, whether the zone is calculated correctly is another matter.... but hopefully I'm in the ball park.

There's even been a few focused training Zwift sessions on the bike, rather than my more normal 'ride around a bit making it up as I go'. The highlight of the Zwifting, for me, are the hill climbs, and I've ridden a couple. There is nothing better than 5-10k at 7%.

All in all, it feels like it's been a productive few weeks.

Low Key Training

Been a very low key couple of weeks training. I've not been enjoying the heat plus work and other bits and bobs has meant training has been intermittent. I've missed a couple of sessions here and there but I guess that's just how it goes some times. Maybe it's no bad thing to have a quieter spell but I'd like to get a few solid weeks of training to rebalance things.

This week is picking up though, with tonight's solid virtual time trial on Zwift. It wasn't meant to be a time trial but it quickly went there and before I knew it, I was at threshold for a 30 minute steady state ride. Yesterday's 9k run was sluggish. When I set off it felt cool but I soon realised that was a false impression as ten minutes in I was sweating like a vicar in a brothel - or should that be, sweating like a priest in a kindergarten? Moving swiftly on, Monday was a solid hill climb on Zwift. Due another run tomorrow. Hopefully intervals but we'll see what tomorrow brings. 

On the plus side of the slight dip in training consistency, I'm still managing to squeeze in about an hour of piano practice per day. I feel I'm making good progress as an older beginner.

A Week With A PB Can't Be All Bad

It's been a low key couple weeks. I've had a several decent medium run including an out and back (14k total) to the summit of Fan Llia to marshal in the Four Fans Race last weekend, a solid 8k yesterday - which was meant to be 16k but it was just so god damn hot I cut it short, and a tempo 8+k today. There's also been a few solid Zwifts.

The highlight was Tuesday's Blaisdon 10k. My first road 10k, since last years Blaisdon. I was still feeling the effects of the mountains and since I haven't been focusing on speed, I was not expecting much. I was looking at sub 50 but hoping for something closer to last years time.

Anyway, on the race, and I managed to avoid getting caught up in the "starting too fast surge" on the downhill section in the first 500m and quickly settled in to a steady, controlled pace, a few seconds inside PB* pace. I wondered whether that was too fast but carried on. It's an undulating course with a surprising 100m of total ascent. I was definitely hanging on in there in the last 2k but managed to improve my time by 40s to 47:11. And looking at my splits, despite feeling I was fading towards the end, my pace didn't drop off so the endurance I've been building is definitely having a positive effect.

I'm going to move to a two week schedule where I do a long weekend run every other week vs every week as it was leaving me too empty to do the speed work. I'll put the speed work on the alternate weeks and other bits and bobs in between. That way I'll get my speed and my endurance. Well, that's the plan.

* For the record, when I refer to PB, I am referring to my post running re-boot 2.0 PB and not my 'life time best'.

Result! Didn't Get Soaked

It's been a week of very easy training ahead of today's race, the Fan y Big fell race. I knew it was going to be a tough test - and it didn't disappoint. The forecast was for rain throughout the race, which started midday. That rain didn't really materialise. The sun even made an appearance. The wind on the way out was pretty strong in gusts but I'd take that over continuous rain any day.

I was happy with my race. I ran a good amount of the ascent, which kicked in after about 500m out from the start and didn't stop until the high point at about 7km, climbing some 600+m at an average grade of 9.4%!. A year ago there would have been a very different ratio of running to walking so I'm really pleased about that. My long training runs have really helped my endurance and I felt strong - until the final couple of kilometres, where the pounding descent finally took its toll.      

Finished top half of the field and gained five or six places after the initial settling phase, so over all I'm very happy. Hopefully I won't be needing to descend the stairs backwards tomorrow but we'll see. Oh, and although the route was clockwise this year (first time ever) I was over 11-minutes quicker than the last time I ran it in 2019, clocking 1:47:20.

Another KoM

I've felt a bit tired this week. Not a huge surprise as last week was a solid week. I did slightly more Zwifting than standard, including solid climb portal ride. Run-wise, I did get out for that promised 10k on Monday, a lunch run from the office Wednesday (and by heck was that ever a hot one). Yesterday I ran an unusually short (for a Saturday) 6k but did claim another KoM segment, although I only equaled the record so there is still work to be done to claim it outright. Today was a hilly 10k. I pushed the climb and was rewarded with my fastest time so far, only 35s from my heyday best so I am closing in. Not sure it's going to be a viable KoM target as I am way off the time of the top spot. Maybe top ten...

The week ahead will see me ease back as I head into the weekend as I'm back out to the Mountains for the Fan-y-Big fell race on Sunday, a testing 16.5km with 650+ metres of ascent. And it definitely will be a test. 

More Running in the Woods

It's been a middling week with only one treadmill interval session - but it was a solid one, the ol' ladder down and up hitting 4min/km.

Friday I got out for a run in the heat of the midday sun for around 6k. I pushed pretty hard on the church lane climb KoM and claimed a PB and sixth place on the leader board but a long way back from top spot - it doesn't help that there are four downed trees to navigate, one of which you have to crawl under on your hands and knees. After that one, came the eastside climb KoM. I went for it but paced it too conservatively, leaving too much in the tank, accelerating into the finish but with too much left that I should have used sooner. It might take another couple of attempts to pace it right but I only need 4s so it will be mine....

I was back out there today, for 10k. Feeling less fresh, I never-the-less took another crack at the church lane climb. Better but still the cigar eludes me. A 22s improvement and now only 14s off top spot - the hands and knees bit doesn't help, mind. Later in the run I tried the eastside KoM again but fell short as I was knackered by that point. Still, the hill efforts are bloody good training.

Other training this week as been, three sessions on the Zwift, including one slightly more tempo, hour session. More running tomorrow and Monday, as I push the rest day out to Tuesday in the coming week.

Back to the Intervals

It's put in some decent training over the last two weeks. After the strength and endurance work of the last few months I'm a bit ring rusty on the focused treadmill sessions. So the Tuesday before last, I was back on it with a decent enough set of 6-minute ramped efforts.

As I said the focus has been building my strength and endurance and the Zwifting (bike) has also been in cruise mode. I feel my FTP has dropped a little so it was with some surprise that I managed a 30s PB on the virtual Cheddar Gorge climb the previous Wednesday. Not gonna lie, I went for it. Out the saddle for the majority of the first half, the steeper bit. I am definitely an out the saddle grinder sort of climber vs the in the saddle faster spinner.

Last weekend, starting Friday, I ran back to back 9k tempo's and a 6k Sunday although that was more pruning than running as I cleared away the brambles and nettles from my local loop. I followed Saturday and Sunday's run with two zone 2 30-minute bike sessions.

This Tuesday it was more reps, five 1-minute sprints followed by six 3 minutes efforts. Wednesday I tried the new Zwift FTP test, which is, in essence, just a 3.5k hill grind at an average of around 10%. My legs had a bit of fatigue from Tuesdays treadmill reps so I wasn't holding my breath... but I still manage to clock 224W which is only just shy of my 227W best FTP, and well within the bounds of experimental error as these type of FTP tests are not exactly a precise science.

Up Thursday was more treadmill intervals. Short ones this time 3 blocks of five 1-minuute 'sprints' at 16kph with 30s recovery. Yesterday was a solid 45 minute Zwift and today, a 13k zone 2/3 run as my Garmin keeps shouting at me that I don't have enough 'low aerobic' runs logged. It's hard running slow, and when it's hilly the slow is easy but the zone 2 becomes hard as I'm not dropping to a walk - zone 2 be damned.

Hopefully, it'll be 10k-ish tomorrow and then back on the reps Tuesday after feet up Monday.

Twenty Four

The focus over the last month has been building distance, culminating in today's hilly 24km with 540m ascent. The last few k were hard work but through twenty I felt good and I'm definitely stronger on the hills. There's still a way to go but I'm definitely noticing that I'm able to keep running further up the hills before they claims me as victim.

Next week I'll be switching back to some focused interval sessions, while maintaining the strength I've gained on those longer runs. Hopefully, with my improved strength and endurance I can really push out some longer speed intervals.

It's only a few weeks till my next block of races and with a bit of fine tuning I'll be ready. The block starts with a proper test at the Fan y Big fell race, followed closely by the Blaisdon 10k (road) and rounding things out, the Waun Fach fell race. 

The Killing Fields of Ley Park

So it was long run day. I felt ready(ish). It was warm as I set off but soon got hot. Some like it hot - me, not so much. Anyway, I set off through Flaxley woods and out onto the road. The pace was steady. Not too slow. Not too fast. It was just about right.

Ten k in and I felt okay but I was starting to feel the sun bearing down. Today's route took me over to Northwood Green and through Ley Park woods. It was there things started to go awry. My mind wandered and I headed down the wrong footpath. Halfway across the rutted field this ragged rascal ran before I realised I'd gone the wrong way. No problem though, I knew I could carry on across and pick up a footpath in the next field to loop back and rejoin the original route. Maybe not the best decision I've ever made, as I forced my way through knee high grass. Anyway, I made it back on route and into Ley Park.

The woods afforded me some respite from the suns relentless onslaught but it was there I made my second mistake. Having not learnt the lesson of the first field, I once again deviated my route to stay in the shade of the woods a little longer but that brought me out onto even more densely grassed fields. As I crashed through the greenery my energy evaporated, and by the time I'd made it out of the fields and back onto the road I was broken. From there I jogged the 5.5k home on impulse engines, my warp engines offline, my reserves of dilithium crystals drained by those accursed fields. Still, it was another new longest long run at 21k and, as my Nepalese Guru would say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I sense some recovery Zwifting tomorrow as I watch the Giro d'Italia and like them, I too, shall be having a rest day Monday...

Well, That Were 'Ard Work

There comes a time when you just have to head to the mountains for a fell race. The Cwmdu Fell Race. It was cracking weather. Sun shining, birds, um, making bird noises? There was even a cuckoo to be heard echoing in air. It was almost too cracking, too hot but after all the rain we've had, I'll not be grumbling. I'd been sensible enough to lather myself up - ooh matron - with sun cream.

Half a mile into the race...

I set off steady. With almost 16km to cover and 900+ metres of ascent it was not a day to be getting too carried away. The views across the entire Brecon Beacons were fantastic. Not that I was really taking them in, mind.  I was in the racing zone, focused on the task at hand. Namely, breaking two-hours without, well, breaking.

I wasn't entirely sure if I'd pull it off - here we go again - ooh matron - as I haven't been training enough at all in the mountains, and my leg strength isn't there yet when it comes to those steep ascents. But as they say in the astronautical industry, shoot for the stars, and if you're lucky, you might not blow up thirty seconds into the flight, like one of Mr. Musks rockets...

Almost at Mynydd Llangorse (and not walking!)

The first half was okay. I held it together quite well. Running out from the Mynydd Troed trig at 1:05, I thought I was quid's in. Then after the descent, my legs felt smashed, and I was far from sure. The final climb hurt bad, and my pace slowed to a crawl, the tank emptied fast. The run across the ridge and down seemed to go on for an eternity and I'd stopped looking at my watch. By that point I just wanted the pain to end.

So, to the big question - or more accurately, the answer to the big question [drum roll] - yes, I nailed it. In the end I made my lowly target look silly. Two hours? Pffft, 1hr 59mins 13secs. Don't know why I was so worried...

That's me finished - quite literally!

Totally wrecked now. There's a low no chance I'll be fit for even a gentle recovery run tomorrow. To be honest, I'm just hoping I won't be reduced to walking downstairs backwards - come on, you know we've all been reduced to that at some point...

A Different Week

I was planning on k reps Tuesday, but I wasn't feeling it. After a new 5k time and my longest long run over the last couple of weeks I decided to defocus for a week and just do some running and Zwifting.

So, instead of the k reps I just went for a run. As I ran, I realised I was headed towards one of the Strava KoMs that's on my list to claim, so on the spur of the moment I attacked it. It goes up through the fields towards Hobbs Quary, about 1.2km and 100m of ascent. Mission accomplished, I took the KoM by 17s (and a PB by just over a minute).

The rest of the week has just been a couple of Zwifts and an easy run until today when I decided to see where my Zwift fitness is with a crack at the hour on the Alpe du Zwift - Zwift's virtual version of the classic Alpe d'Huez climb, a beast at 12km and 1040m of ascent. I've never broken the hour - until today, that is, 58 minutes 32s and a PB by just under 4 minutes and a new hour power average over what I set a few weeks. After that I put in an 8k zone3/4 on the treadmill as a recovery - and it felt surprisingly easy considering the hammering I'd taken on the virtual climb. I'll round out the week with another run tomorrow and then, after a rest day Monday, it will back into structured training once more...

Twenty

Yes, I've reached the milestone of my first 20-kilometre training run -  and it was not a flat one either, with some 500+ metres of ascent. It's a few weeks until the second anniversary of starting my comeback and the time has absolutely flown by. Progress has exceeded my expectation. I didn't think I'd ever get back to the levels of fitness I once had. I'm not there yet, mind, but I will get there...

 

Parkrun Overdue but How Did I Do?

My plan to run a Parkrun once a month has panned out more like every two months. But that's okay. Fitting in the long runs, short runs, hills, intervals and Zwift isn't always easy. Training and my mojo for it, continues unabated, and my desire to go faster, longer, higher unsatiated. My interval speeds have been moving nicely upwards so I decided it was time for another Parkrun this morning, pushing my long run to tomorrow - where it will morph into a recovery run because legs won't feel up to anything more. My resting heart rate is slightly elevated which isn't surprising considering my training load and I feel a bit fatigued, but I still felt it was worth a go.

Anyway, I'll stop stalling... I had a pace in mind - or more accurately, programmed into the watch, but the focus was hitting the far point in the course inside 12:47, the time check from my previous run/PB. I ran the first kilometre slightly too hard and worked hard on the ever-ascending trail. I hit the corner 14s to the good but I'd pushed just a little too much. I did not feel I was running quickly enough on the gentle downhill, fading back from the couple of runners I was with at the top.

...but I needn't have worried, I crossed the line 21:51 for another PB, 19s to the good. So, despite feeling I wasn't going well on the way back, I still managed to grab another 5s on the downhill. It's sounds better now the PB starts 21...

The rest of the week has seen me complete two interval sessions on the treadmill, long and short intervals and a couple of Zwift sessions, an all-out hill climb effort on the simulated Col du Rosier and the other, an easy ride.

Enjoyed That...

..Wednesday night's group ride. A cracking 46km tempo group ride on Zwift. Despite being in a big group I was pushing on the front like a time trial. Two 23k laps with a decent cat 4 climb near the end of each lap - my killing ground. Despite not pushing to the absolute limit - except for the climbs where I ground it out hard each time, I still managed my 2nd best ever hour power, and that was literally only a couple of watts shy. If I knew I was so close to the power hour I'd have put the hammer down. Bodes well for my fitness.

Treadmill Tuesday was longer intervals, treadmill Thursday was a ladder of faster efforts 60s down to 150s and back up. Friday was an easy ride - albeit with my best ever 30s power sprint. After that, I was feeling a slight ache in my left achilles do I didn't go for a long run yesterday. Up today was a short - but pretty fast - run on the treadmill followed immediately by a Zwift climb portal blast. Happy to have claimed the Polka Dot Jersey on the Col du Rosier. It's not often I claim a Zwift vest so I'll take 'em when they come. 

Longest Run of the Return

It took me a week to get over the Howling Bull race the week before last. Training last week was on the easy side although I enjoyed a solid Zwift group ride with a hill finish the Thursday before last. It was hard work to keep in the group for the first 30k. It threatened to drop me a few times, but I managed to stay on. Once at the hill, a cat 3 climb, and what I consider the strongest part of my game, that and sprinting, it was eyeballs out to the top. I reckon I was probably top 20% from the group.

There was no long run last weekend but I made up for that today with my longest run yet, 18.3km with 380m of ascent. I felt strong. My old climbing legs are, little by little, returning. I was able to grind the hills where a few months ago I would have been reduced to a walk. The rest of the week has been a mix of intervals and recovery.

And now I'm off to plan the route where I will break the twenty km barrier...

Howling Bull Mudfest

Up Tuesday was a double header of the ol' down and up the ladder treadmill intervals. Intervals from 60s to 150s and back to 60s at fast to steadier and back to fast pace. It was straight off the treadmill into a 30 minute Zwift mass group ride where I started steady and finished hard. A good solid evening of training. Wednesday was a long day at work and I felt knackered. Thursday a Zwift interval session on the Bike. Thursday an easy 8k treadmill run - with Today's race in mind and yesterday was an easy leg turner on the bike setting me up nicely for today.

So, to today and the race, the Howling Bull Run. With it being only ten miles away I decided not to use the car and rode my bike there and back. The race itself was a total puddle filled mudfest - and I'd slipped down in it before the end of the opening field! My quick reflexes saved from a total wipeout and I survived with only the merest of contact with said mud on my left buttock.

The route was far more energy sapping than the 10k would have suggested. There was maybe 3k of solid going and the rest was a mix of slippery mud, boggy mud or totally submerged paths with about 250m of ascent - and the same of slippery AF descent. I was totally knackered by the end, trudging through the mud to the finish but you know what? It was kind of fun... Very happy with my 16th place (I think - not I think I was happy, I think I was 16th place). Best result of the return so far.

Back Building the Long Run

After last week's snow filled long run hiatus, I was back on it today with 15½km. An off-road, uphill start (170+m of ascent) with an undulating road second half. I pushed it pretty hard and felt my lack of endurance in the last three or four kilometres, but I didn't fade off the pace much. Next week I'll be skipping the long run again as I have a race but following that, I shall be looking to go 17k.

Earlier in the week I ran some shorter, faster intervals. A really tough Zwift bike interval session and an easy, steady run Thursday. Tomorrow will be a recovery run.

Soggy Underfoot

So the long run wasn't such a long run. The unexpectedly snowy conditions meant it was soggy, boggy and slippy. My feet were wet through in the first five minutes - and four minutes of that was on the road. The steeper sections where energy sapping on the way up and 'fun' on the way down. To top it off, one of the main tracks had four large trees down, meaning a scramble in the boggy undergrowth to get around. All of which meant things started to ache, so I cut the run to just over 10k. Anyway, it was something a bit different to be running in the snow.

Up today, with the sun shining brightly, it would have been rude not to have got out there, so I ran a quick out and back of just over 6k in a decent time.

Earlier in the week, I ran my fastest set of six 1k reps at 4:08. That pace is significantly than my current 5k pace, so I'm happy things are moving a pace - boom, boom - towards taking my 5k into the 21's... Wednesday was a resumption of the monthly work run. For one reason or another it hasn't happened for a few months but hopefully back in the calendar now. And interspersed here and there a few Zwift sessions on the bike.

Looking forward to my rest day tomorrow.

Building Begins

With the weather improving.. I mean, with the weather as $#!7 as ever, I can't put off building the long run any longer. I'm aiming to build my weekly long run by one to two kilometres per week with the aim of getting towards 20km by June. With that in mind, I headed out for 12km today and came home just shy of that, clocking 11.6km.

It was a good run. I tried to force myself to run nice and slowly - but as usual, I ended up steadily putting in more and more effort. It culminated in a crack at the Hope Wood East Side Climb KOM. I missed the target but only by 3s, down from 10s on my previous attempt. It won't be long until it is mine... Looking on Strava, I actually think my watch beeped for the finish too soon, as Strava has my pace tailing off before the end of the segment where in reality I actually picked up the pace in the last 50m. Suffice to say I shall be running through the line for an extra 50m next time to be on the safe side. I thought my days of vying for KOMs ended a decade ago, and I know they're only local ones, for the locals but having claimed one last year I'm definitely going to claim a few more.

The rest of the week has seen a couple of good treadmill interval sessions. Medium reps Tuesday and shorter, faster ones yesterday. Zwift-wise I destroyed my virtual Cheddar Gorge climb time on Wednesday and it was a medium pace ride Thursday.

Roll Out the Barrel...

For today's run out and back along Barrel Lane. It was meant to be a steady run of about 10k. It started off that way. The first couple of k's were solid but comfortable. I started putting in little efforts and before I knew it, I was churning along at a good pace. I wasn't on race effort but I was certainly no longer cruising. As I hit the halfway turn around, I decided to see if I could get inside 50 minutes without redlining. I sustained the effort on the way back.

I completed the 10k in 49:08 which is only a minute 20 off my PB from Blaisdon and today's route was 50% hillier. I was running hard by the end but nowhere near my all out, edge of oblivion race effort. I feel pretty confident that my current PB is only going to last until my next road 10k race...

Other training, after my two rest days, was a solid speed pyramid Wednesday on the treadmill, ramping FTP intervals on the bike Thursday and a steady 5k 4% inclined treadmill run yesterday. I am definitely recovered from the fatigue that caught up with me last weekend.

Gonna Pull a Double....

Because sometimes you need to. Monday is absolutely a full rest day and Tuesday too. However much I'm itchy on Tuesday I'm not going to scratch.

This week has been solid training, the highlight was Tuesday's 6 x 4:15 kilometer reps but I don't think I gave myself chance to properly recovery culminating in a bit of a tired run yesterday and today. My legs are proper tired. Hence, I must enforce two days rest - which, on the plus side, means more time for piano and guitar practice.

In other news, I've another race on the books and looking for others...

Not Exactly the Pro Way...

It's been another solid week of training. A steady run Tuesday followed by a couple of more focused interval sessions on the bike and treadmill on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. They were medium to high intensity rather than at the limit as I was mindful I was hitting the Parkrun today to gauge where I am on the 5k front. A course PB maybe? It's not an ideal route for a PB but stranger things have happened...

I have to admit it went a bit wrong yesterday. It was meant to be an easy recovery ride completion of Stage 7 of the Tour de Zwift (bike) but I royally ballsed that up. The start came - and then it went... My virtual avatar refused to move as the field of 652 left me alone to my thoughts. Thoughts like, f~*% why aren't I moving? Cue twenty seconds of faffing to realise I was connected to my footpod - not a lot of good in a bike ride.

So, I got connected and set off, dead last. I almost got off as it's a bit boring with no other riders around, but I continued, thinking I'd catch up if I pushed a little, but I didn't want to go too hard. After a few minutes I was at the back but no longer last. Even at an easy effort I was moving through the field. I didn't really realise it at that point, but the racing part of brain had kicked in and I was little by little putting down more and more power. Suffice to say, by the end I was up to 175th and eye-balls-out, hitting pretty much my PB 30-minute power average. Doh!

Anyway, I decided to get up and do the Mallards Pike Parkrun knowing I was probably going to fail but I didn't think I'd be far away as my legs felt surprisingly good considering the hammering I'd given them yesterday. I had my course PB pacing worked out and decided to stick to it. Lose time to the first half climb and then gain it back on the descent home... I hit the halfway point, puffing like a bastard. Heart rate 178 but importantly, inside the schedule by a few seconds. I then hit the accelerator and nailed the descent to hit home in a new course PB by 48 seconds but better yet, a new PB by 19 seconds. 22:11. It is not going to be long before it starts 21..,.. 

Getting Hilly Nowhere Near Caerphilly

Up yesterday was my first run for a while on what I call the Longhope three peaks, on account of it having, yes, you guessed it, three peaks. May Hill, Brights Hill and Huntley Hill. The biggest climb, from the A40 to the trig on May Hill, is about as close to a fell running hill as you can get in the forest (but it's not really that close). I wasn't far off my time from 2015. I think I can break that later in the year as I was slipping around in the mud on parts of the climb.

Things got slower in the last third on the second and third climbs as it got boggier and boggier. I almost went down on my arse a couple of times but managed to 'ski' myself upright. Anyway, it was a solid 10.5km with a surprisingly decent amount of ascent at 410m, in a time only a few minutes down on my best from 2015 and most of that lost time was down to the mud-fest. Definitely a route I'm going to see more of - but maybe once things start to dry up a little later in the spring.

Up today was another stage of the Tour de Zwift and I didn't go all in, although I put in hard efforts, above FTP, in patches. A sort of fartlek session but on a bike. By the end, a 4km climb to the finish, my legs were cooked.

My training earlier in the week saw me complete a reasonably steadily ramped tempo 5+k on the treadmill (2%incline) Tuesday. Followed by a hard effort on the Zwift (bike) Wednesday, Stage 5 of the Tour de Zwift. The route was a simulation of part of the 2018 world champs in Innsbruck, and a cat. 2 climb. I took it easy till the climb then hammered it. I started to cramp slightly into the final km but managed to keep pushing and get over the top in a new time of 25:16, over a minute inside my previous best effort. I pulled a rest day Thursday as my legs were suffering a bit from the previous days cramping and Friday my legs felt like they needed a fraction more recovery so it was just a lower than tempo 5k on the treadmill, 3% incline. Rest day tomorrow and then back on it.

Getting Hilly Near Caerphilly

An easier week of training with today's race in mind. Up Tuesday was the 3rd stage of the Tour de Zwift on the treadmill where I ran intervals 300-400m on, 150m off with a final hard effort kilometre to the line. Wednesday was stage 3 on the bike and below FTP in the first half, and above FTP in the second. Took a rest day Thursday before an easy stage 4 (bike) in the tour yesterday - although I did go all in on the sprint segment on each lap (3 in total), and I mean all in! It was only 300-400m. Not everyone sprints so it doesn't really count, but I topped the leader board and set myself some new all-time 15s power numbers.

Up today was, of course, the Craig yr Allt Winter fell race over near Caerphilly. 6.4km with 350m ascent. Conditions were pretty good. It didn't rain and it was way hotter than of late, a balmy 3°C. I surprised myself how well I went up the ascents, especially the first. I was able to run most of the way to the top with only a couple of teensy-weensy walk breaks - and I do mean teensy-weensy. Now the third climb... well that was a bit different as by then I was bloody knackered, although I did force myself to run whenever the gradient eased a little. "come on, we can run this bit.....".

I finished just over three minutes quicker than the only other time I've run this race, five years ago, so I'm happy with the result. Can't grumble at 30 seconds faster per kilometre.

Decent Week of Training

It's been a lower intensity week of training but not without some strong sessions. The highlight was Tuesday's kilometre reps. They were substantially inside my current 5k pb pace but there is room to go faster still. Wednesday, I rode the second stage of the tour de Zwift. A two lapper, I sat back on the first to sit towards the back and then hit out above FTP as a time trial to see how many places I could gain. A thoroughly hard effort. There's been a few other runs and rides with the other notable session being today's climb portal ride. I was feeling yesterday's run in my legs but still managed to get within a minute of my best on the 630m of elevation simulated 9km climb up Bealach na Ba.

It's now under a week to my first race of the year...

Back on Track

After that touch of Covid two weeks ago, I spent last week building back up slowly. I felt absolutely fine and my vital statistics were all back to normal barring being a bit phlegmy in the mornings. This week normal service has resumed. I started the week with a 10k run (not a race) on New Years day down in hilly Sidmouth in a not too shabby 50 minutes - not bad considering my PB is currently only just inside 48 minutes. The highlight was the 50m long puddle with the water above my knees - more of a low-light if I'm honest.

Up Tuesday was a medium effort bike session followed by kilometre reps inside 5k pace Wednesday. Up tonight was a double header of the Tour de Zwift. A decent 5.6km treadmill in 4:45 pace followed by a solid effort on the bike (claiming 5 segment |PBs in the process) to complete Stage 1 in both categories.

Looking forward, as one does at the dawn of a new year, I'm intending to race a bit more than last. Kicking that off, I've got my first race entered in the calendar for January the 20th. I'm also aiming to run most - which will almost certainly end up being some, if not just one or two - of GLCL road races. Plus I'm aiming to do a few of the Chepstow champs races...