About Average

It was a couple of solid sessions at the front end of the week. Minute reps on the treadmill, fastest pace I've managed so far, towards 3:30min/km pace followed by the final Zwift spring group session on the bike on Wednesday. Yesterday I ran the short Flaxley loop in a new fastest time followed by a twenty-minute Zwift recovery - although I did set a pb on the Leg Snapper climb segment. Couldn't help myself. Today I went for the long Flaxley loop. I felt tired but still had a solid run. I was a few seconds down on my fastest time, but happy with the result under the circumstances. It'll be a gentle Zwift tomorrow - no segment PBs... and then hopefully all fresh for a longer run Monday.

One Year On...

It seemed only right to mark one year since I was able to start running again with a celebratory outing to the Mallards Pike Parkrun. In my training notes for the session on this day last year, I noted it as being "the first 'run' for a very long time that was faster than walking pace"... Although looking at the stats, it wasn't faster by much...

Back then, I covered some 3km in just under 28 minutes. Roll it on one year and I can cover that same 3km in under half the time! And I've clocked up over 400 training sessions. That's averaging more than one a day. What a difference a year makes - and some vitamin D3. I have not felt so energised, so well for a decade....

Bringing things forward to today and I nearly decided not to run. My legs are still a bit achy here and there from that night out at Skirrid. I've put in a couple of decent training sessions, but everything aches a little. In the end, I gave myself a quick slap and got on with it. You can't run fast every time.

Turned out not to be as slow as I was expecting though. I ran hard but knowing I couldn't pb this time, I didn't really push. Turns out that was a schoolboy error as I was actually a few seconds up on pb pace to halfway, but it felt slow. Now I didn't exactly jog the downhill, but I didn't push into the hurt zone, like I have the previous times. In the end I was only 7s back. Now I'm not saying I could have made all that up, because 7s is more than it sounds in a 5k, but if I'd realised there was any chance, I'd have absolutely pushed into the hurt...

So, it's one year complete for Running Reboot 2.0 and I'm pleased with how far I've come. I've exceeded my expectations so now it's onwards into year two... Oh yeah, and while I remember, I've now handed in my entry for my first actual, real fell race. It's in July.

Almost Felt Like Fell Running...

It's been both a good week and a bad week of training. The week started on track with a solid Zwift and treadmill session, shorter reps on both fronts. Thursday was the highlight though. I marshalled the summit of Skirrid in the night race of same name. I had a good bit of kit in my rucksack weighing me down but decided to run the route out and up to the summit.

As the racers approached up the steep climb the mist descended, reducing the visibility still further with the sun now descended below the horizon. I was pleased with my run as I wouldn't have been last if I'd been racing. Once the runners went through, I packed up my kit and ran the descent. I couldn't see much in the mist, my glasses almost totally fogged but after descending a bit, it cleared, and I picked up the pace. I started to push, and it felt good. I was bloody roasting by the end, mind, because I hadn't taken off enough layers.

Anyway, that was where the week's training turned bad. Who'd have thought just over 2km of running could pound your legs so badly? It's Sunday now, and my quads are still sore. I managed a very gentle hour on the bike yesterday and a gentle 5k on the treadmill today but I'm hoping my legs feel better tomorrow. Thursday's pounding was worth it. It was good prep for what's to come in the summer.

I've Only Gone and Done It!...

... Entered a proper race wot you have to pay to enter with real money! None of this freebie 'not really a race but it is kind of' Parkrun - and I'm not knocking Parkrun because Parkrun is possibly the greatest invention to have ever happened to running. It's somehow different when you have to hand over hard cash though!

I've got 40 days to hone my 10k pace. It won't quite be back to the fells, but I'll at least be able to see the mountains not far distant... 

An Average Week

It has been a decidedly indoorsy week of training. Just when you think we're heading towards summer, the gods of the seasons kicks you squarely in the nuts. It has been decent training though. I added on an extra kilometre to my race prep reps on Tuesday and a fraction more speed. That was after a double header recovery day Monday. Wednesday was an easy bike session with a couple of efforts. Thursday, I felt a bit tired, so I gave it a miss and Friday was another double header. A solid workout on the bike, third of the Zwift Spring training sessions and an easy 5k on the treadmill. Finally, up today, sub-optimal weather led me to stay indoors for 6.5k on the treadmill followed by a 30minute session on the bike, medium-to-high effort. Going to have to do that long run tomorrow...

The Boys Were Back in Town on Wednesday

For the first ICA Team (work) lunch run for over five years! A decade ago, it was once a week, we're just hoping for once a month. It felt good and it wasn't too shabby a time, quickest on the route by over a minute.

Monday was a treadmill session, 400's. Tuesday was the second of the Zwift spring training sessions. We've covered Wednesday. Thursday was more on the bike, more of a recovery than anything else and Friday was an easy treadmill jog ahead of today's hard tempo run. It was probably edging towards threshold really. 11k in the heart of the forest, just outside 5min kilometre pace. I went at it hard. Even managed to get close to a few segment times from 2013 - that was a surprise as I'm still nowhere near where I was back in 2013. Still, it bodes well that things are still heading in the right direction...

Back to the Park for a PB

I've decided I'm going to try and do a Parkrun once a month or there abouts. It should keep me sharp and help gauge how my trainings going. With that in mind, I set off in the fog this morning. Destination, Mallards Pike.

After a relatively high training load this week, I wasn't expecting to go super quick. My legs didn't feel great. I was hoping I could get somewhere near last month's comeback time, but I wasn't going to beat myself up if I missed it by a margin as I've put in some solid work this week.

Anyway, with that said, I did cheekily set my pace target ten seconds up on last months' time. Well, it never hurts to be optimistic... And as it turned out that that optimism was well placed, as I smashed through the 23-minute barrier by a full one second. Twenty seconds improved from last month. Happy and more than a little suprised with that. Back of the net.

Recapping the week's training for the record. Tuesday, I ran a random mix of 500, 600 and 700m reps. A solid session. Wednesday was just a Zwift ride. There was no plan, but when I was underway, on a randomly picked route, I realised it was a 3km climb and I decided to hammer it. I was out the saddle for two thirds and was rewarded with a PB. Not actually by many seconds because my previous time was in an event with the pelotons draft. My power average this time, was way higher. Thursday ended up being a treadmill hill session and Friday was the first stage of the Zwift spring training (bike). A surprisingly hard session. Rest day tomorrow...

A Decent Week

So, the away day didn't happen Monday. I couldn't face a long run; my legs weren't feeling fresh enough. Instead, I ran the short village loop, and I was right not to do the long run. I set off at a fair whack but was hanging on by the end. It was my fastest time on the loop and a good time to bring down the curtain on five back-to-back days of running and my highest weekly mileage so far (and I'm not including this run). 

The rest of the week has been decent. A mix of runs and Zwift. I thoroughly enjoyed Thursday's race prep reps. I pushed up the pace to 4:25 for the kilometre reps and 4:00 for the 5 off 30s reps. Three sets in total. It was the fastest I've run that session and I wasn't anywhere near falling off the back, so the next one will be a little faster, but probably I'll add another set.

I enjoyed yesterday's longish run. I didn't push it hard, but it was, as is normal for round here, hilly so it wasn't a walk in the park. And when the sun came out, it was, overall, very pleasant. Today was an easy 5k on the treadmill as my legs didn't feel overly fresh and the spring of the treadmill reduces the impact.

A Pair of Nines

After last week's pair of sixes, I upped the ante with back-to-back 9k's. I do wish it was a little less hilly round here though. Just once I'd like a nice flat pootle. Both Friday's run and todays were at a decent pace for a hilly run, and I wasn't fresh on either day as I'd fitted in an interval session on the Treadmill Thursday. Up at the front of the week was a bike session and an easy jog. So, it's been another good week of training. May slip in a rest day tomorrow and then possibly an away day somewhere Monday.

Something A Little Different

Different but not exactly earth shattering. I didn't do a long run last week. After my longest long run the weekend before, this weekend, because it was peeing down, I decided to cut back on the long run and head out for a couple of 5-6k runs outside - that's it was p!$$ing down didn't at all influence my decision....

It was the first time I've run non-treadmill consecutive days and I was feeling it Sunday afternoon. But I need to toughen up a bit and shift more of my runs from the treadmill. Maybe to 50:50 run to treadmill or even higher. The treadmill is good for avoiding injury though and is a boon for the intervals, but I definitely need to toughen up a bit - without getting injured, of course, so it'll be careful transition.

Today I ran a 40-minute recovery treadmill session. Nice and gentle as my legs felt terrible in the first couple of k's and I almost stopped but I persevered and by the end I was actually feeling really good. That is the one thing or rather, one of things I'm finding in my old age, that everything takes much longer to get going....

Back On It

So, with my lighter week out of the way, it was time to get back to the grindstone. I started the week with a gentle treadmill and bike session. Into Wednesday and I ran a favourite of mine. The 'race prep' treadmill session at 2% incline. Three sets, consisting of a 4-minute effort at 105% race pace, 90s recovery at 65% and five 30s/30s efforts at 110%. It felt hard but there's definitely more to come. I think it'll be four sets next time out on that one.

Thursday was a short but killer bike session. It didn't sound killer, but I didn't read the stats. It started with a three-minute interval at 120% ftp followed by eight 1min/1min efforts at 110%. I almost died on that first interval. I had to set a new 3-minute power pb in order to complete it! The eight reps were hard but nothing like that first one.

On Friday I took a rest day in preparation for today's longest long run so far, weighing in at 14.6km and 300m of ascent, mostly on the road. With the recent rain the woods round here are operation bog-fest, so I avoided that. Finished off with a gentle 25 minutes on the bike. It'll be an easy jog and easy bike tomorrow to round out the week. It won't be too long till I break the 20km barrier....

Slightly Quieter on the Western Front

After completing my comeback last weekend, last week's training was lower intensity as my thoughts now turn to the next goal. Obviously, I'm looking to keep nudging the 5k time downwards. In theory, having done some calculations based on my all-time PB a sprinkle of age grading and other such b*!!*(%s, it should be possible to approach 20 minutes.... but I think that's too ambitious. Old father time is continuing to march on, and by the time I'm trained to get there, the age-grading will have moved the target. So instead of setting the myself the potentially impossible, my goal on the 5k front is to keep knocking out some 5k specific training and see where it takes me. I'm also going to start looking at the 10k. Forty-five minutes by sometime in the Autumn? And of course, there's the holy grail of getting back to the mountains. I'm thinking June for that....

Felt a Bit Flat....

After smashing my target last Saturday. A target I wasn't sure I could actually reach. If I'm honest, back in May when the mission started, I didn't really believe I could achieve it. It felt impossible but as the months progressed it seemed more possible, but I still didn't really believe.

The moment I knew. The moment I really knew, was New Year's Day. After an autumn and early winter spent exclusively on the treadmill, I ventured back out into the real the world. It was a run in Sidmouth. An unexpectedly hilly run. An unexpectedly hilly run that I managed to run in its entirety. No stopping. It was at that moment I knew I was back. I knew I still had work to do but I knew the target was going to be hit. 

So, after all that. The culmination of ten months of training. Ten months of blood, sweat and tears - without any actual blood or tears - I felt a little flat Sunday...... for all of about a day! By Monday, having taken it easy Sunday, I was back on it with an interval session on..... yes, you guessed it, the treadmill - well, somethings aren't going to change....

Twenty-minute 5k here I come - and you can take that to the bank....

And Now It's Official

It was the day of the parkrun 5k. My race marshalling duties had been cancelled due to the snowy conditions in the mountains, so I had no excuse. I chose the Mallards Pike parkrun and I can't believe I felt so nervous. I was definitely feeling the pressure. I was feeling a ton psychosomatic niggles. My left calf felt tight. The soles of my feet felt achy. On the warmup jog over to the start I felt I was getting a stitch. It felt like it was all going Pete Tong. I knew it was all in my mind but that didn't stop me feeling the symptoms.

As the start approached, I tried to calm my nerves. I shook out my ever-tightening muscles to loosen up and tried to think happy thoughts. I had an ambitious time of 23:30 in mind. That didn't help to reduce the pressure. 4:42 pace. All I could do was believe in the training...

Without further ado, we were off. I'd forgotten how much of an incline the first half is. It's not fell running steep, but it is definitely 'adjust the pace' steep. I didn't and my 4:43 first kilometre was too fast. On the upside all the psychosomatic niggles had evaporated so I was glad of that, at least.

My second and third kilometre splits were not good, 5:06 and 5:01. I was beginning to panic. They were uphill but that didn't stop my demons. I had a lot of time to make up and despite knowing it was all downhill, I was on the ropes and taking a pounding.

I battled on. I wasn't losing without a fight and thankfully kilometre number four took me somewhere towards redemption in 4:19. I was blowing. Heart rate was 170. A few runners came tearing past, but I hung in there for a final 4:18 and crossed the line in 23:19 so it all worked out all right in the end but by 'eck I thought I'd blown it there for a while.

Onwards and upwards from here....